Pivot Bio Invests in the Future of Farm Families at FPS

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Sec. Rollins and Pivot Bio CEO Chris Abbott

Pivot Bio got a little help from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in supporting the future of farm families at the Farm Progress Show this week.

Pivot Bio CEO Chris Abbott announced a multi-million commitment to the the next generation of American agriculture through Pivot Pathways: A Generation Grant. Beginning with the 2027 growing season, eligible farmer customers can receive annual Generation Grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 per farm family to support a child, grandchild or someone connected to the future of the farm, with the opportunity to invest those funds through a Trump Account.

“This is a grant program that extends not just to our employees, where we will make Trump account donations for each of our employees’ children, but also for each of our customers,” said Abbott. “These are thousands of customers we reach every single year. And the Trump account program allowed us to do that.”

“President Trump’s vision is that our children will begin adulthood with an asset of their own and an opportunity to participate in America’s economic success,” said Rollins. “And today, a private American agricultural company is stepping forward to build on that vision with their own dollars. Pivot Bio is currently the only agricultural company to publicly announce a commitment tied to these accounts. And I hope, Chris, that you start a new trend of many, many ag companies that will do the same for their customers and for their employees. We are investing in America’s children, Pivot Bio is investing in America’s farm families and together we are investing in the future of American agriculture.”

Sec. Rollins later joined Abbott in presenting $3,000 to Evelyn, Hudson, and Hans Fenner, the children of Devon and Jonathan Fenner of Michigan – $1,000 for each child. “This is just the beginning,” Abbott promised. This is going to happen every year. So this is something we’re committed to investing in the next generation of agriculture.”

Listen to the presentation here:
FPS26 - Pivot Bio and Rollins 8:08

2026 Farm Progress Show photo album

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show, Precision Agriculture, USDA

RFA Connects with Farmers at Farm Progress Show

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RFA at the Farm Progress Show

The Renewable Fuels Association has been connecting with farmers at the 2026 Farm Progress Show this week in Boone, Iowa.

“This is one of our favorite events of the year because it really gives us a chance to put our finger on the pulse of what farmers are talking about,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We have some amazing conversations with farmers who come up and kind of tell us about what’s happening on their operations and the things that are keeping them up at night, answer a lot of their questions about what’s happening in the ethanol world and with policy and regulatory developments. But more than anything, it’s just a good way for us to make sure we’re connecting every year with farmers, who of course are tremendously important to what we do in the ethanol industry.”

Cooper says the farm economy is suffering right now, but ethanol continues to be a bright spot and farmers know it. “There was farming before ethanol and there’s been farming after ethanol and the two could not be more different,” said Cooper. “It has just been such a boon to these rural economies, these farming economies. It has helped to add value to commodities. It’s helped create jobs in these communities. It’s helped create new economic activity. in these communities across the country and farmers get that. They know that. They come up to our booth and tell us, thank you. Thank you guys for doing what you’re doing because ethanol has really saved the farm economy.”

To help the situation in farm country now, Cooper says we need the next new wave for ethanol. “And that next wave needs to be nationwide, year-round E15, continuing to grow our export demand, getting into new markets like maritime fuel and aviation, and just continuing to build and expand those markets,” he said. “Year-round E15 alone, if we were able to replace E10 nationwide, if every gallon of gasoline was E15, that’s another 6 billion gallons of ethanol demand…about 2.5 billion bushels of new corn demand.”

In this interview from Farm Progress Show, Cooper comments on EPA’s granting new small refinery waivers, California E15, record ethanol exports, and more.
FPS26 Geoff Cooper, RFA 13:17

2026 Farm Progress Show photo album

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, RFA

Last Day of Farm Progress Show

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Syngenta team at Farm Progress Show

Today is the last day of the 2026 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa after a weather-shortened day on Wednesday, and the team at the Syngenta Seeds field plot on site is on-hand to talk with growers about what is new with Golden Harvest and NK.

NK Soybean Product Manager Jared Benson is excited to talk about Enlist E3® soybeans with Expance™ trait technology, due out in 2028-29 pending regulatory approval. “This platform we’re excited to bring forward (will have) the broadest active ingredients in HPP inhibitor control on the market,” said Benson. “So that’s going to have four modes of action, six different active ingredients, three different group 27 active ingredients on top of what we have today in the market.”

Benson explains that the name “Expance” is “alluding to the fact that we’re going to have more versatility, more flexibility for growers and how they want to tackle weeds on their farm.” The trait stack is intended to provide additional herbicide options for soybean weed-management programs, pending regulatory approvals and anticipated launch for the 2029 season.

Learn more in this interview and go by and see the team if you are at FPS today.
FPS26 Jared Benson, NK Soybean Product Manager 2:49

2026 Farm Progress Show photo album

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, NK Seeds, Precision Agriculture, Seed, Syngenta

New Corn and Soybean Products at FPS

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Farmers can learn more about the latest corn and soybean producers from Syngenta and Golden Harvest the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa this week.

Matt Dolch, Syngenta Corn Products Manager

Matt Dolch, Syngenta corn product manager, says they have 14 new corn hybrids in the 2027 Golden Harvest portfolio.

“We look every year at advancing the very best products to bring into our Golden Harvest brand product portfolio,” said Dolch. “When we look at some of the needs that we’ve got across the industry, we certainly prioritize insect and pest pressure and then we also want to obviously increase yield potential in our corn hybrids and bring forward some of those agronomic solutions like enhanced root and stock strength, early seasons vigor and emergence, and then just broad adaptability so farmers can place those with ease out in their fields.”

Ryan Dunsbergen, Golden Harvest Soybean Product Manager

Ryan Dunsbergen, soybean product manager for Golden Harvest Seeds, says soybean growers have lots of new choices this year. “We actually have 22 new varieties coming out for 2027. 15 of those are actually on the Enlist trait platform side. And then we’ve got another seven on the Extend Flex platform side.”

In addition, Dunsbergen says they are fighting soybean cyst nematodes with a Peking source of resistance. “So for 2027, we’re actually launching three brand new varieties that carry that Peking source of resistance for soybean cyst nematode,” he said, and two of those varieties are on display in the field at the show. “We’ve got GH2027E3S that carries that Peking source of resistance, as well as GH2777E3S. So I’ve started to lovingly refer to that as the 2777 soybean.”

Learn more in these interviews from FPS.
FPS26 Matt Dolch, Golden Harvest 2:18

FPS26 Ryan Dunsbergen, Golden Harvest Soybean 4:00

2026 Farm Progress Show photo album

Audio, Corn, Farm Progress Show, Golden Harvest, Seed, Soybean, Syngenta, Technology

Diamond K Gypsum Introduces New Prilled Product Line

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Diamond K Gypsum is pleased to introduce its new prilled gypsum line, providing solutions for growers during times of high sulfur prices and water shortages. Premium Prill Gypsum allows precision nutrient delivery of both sulfate sulfur and calcium in a single application that cuts nutritional, application costs, and saves water by reducing runoff and soil crusting.

The primary ingredient of the new Diamond K prill line is organic calcium sulfate dihydrate gypsum which is mined, processed and manufactured into prills in Utah. The new prill line is engineered for accurate blending and broadcast application post-harvest and pre-season to bolster depleted sulfur and calcium levels The new prill line is available at leading agrichemical dealers nationwide.

“As growers and their crop consultants contend with record high sulfur and sulfate fertilizer prices, Premium Prill and Premium Prill HA offer enormous cost savings,” says Tom Tankersley, director of sales at Diamond K Gypsum. “The sulfate in our calcium sulfate dihydrate gypsum costs hundreds of dollars less per ton than sulfate fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate. Better yet, the organic calcium sulfate dihydrate gypsum in our new Premium Prill line also provides calcium which enables growers to reduce supplemental calcium applications.”

Premium Prill Gypsum is designed for ease of application, accurate blending, and precise placement in the field.

Read more.

AgWired Precision, Nutrient Management, Precision Agriculture

Sec. Rollins Visits Farm Progress Show

Cindy Zimmerman 2 Comments

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins visited the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa Tuesday to announce a new data collection plan for USDA and comment on recent actions taken by the administration on biofuels, fertilizer, and beef.

Rollins says USDA’s new Data Modernization Plan is designed to put Farmers First, reduce unnecessary burdens on producers, and improve the timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness of the agricultural data that informs decisions across American agriculture. “These changes will reduce the duplicative requests that you receive over and over and over again. It will limit the amount of time that our producers spend reporting information and get you back to what you do best, which is growing food and fuel for our country,” said Rollins.

For biofuel producers, Rollins touted the administration’s action to preserve the highest renewable volume obligations or RVOs in the history of the Renewable Fuel Standard by reallocating all volumes being exempted under the large number of small refinery waivers granted by EPA this week. “We’ve also issued summer waivers for E15 and continue to support E15 year around for our congressional leaders to finally get that done,” said Rollins.

Addressing high input costs for farmers, Rollins said, “We’ve got to drive down the cost of our inputs…Just last week, USDA broke ground on two fertilizer plants in Louisiana, one will be the largest ammonia plant in the world when it’s finished and the other will allow us to reshore 60% of our potash back to America phosphate back to America just in the next few years.”

Following up on last week’s action by the administration to import lean beef trimmings for ground beef, Sec. Rollins spoke about USDA’s Ranchers First Initiative announced Monday. “The fact that we are at the lowest herd in 75 years is not lost on anyone,” she said. The plan includes the Beef Retention and National Development (BRAND) endorsement for Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) that will allow producers to insure the economic value of retaining a heifer for breeding over a two-year period. The endorsement would establish a protected value based on the expected slaughter value of the heifer at the time of enrollment.

Listen to Rollins’ comments here:
FPS26 - Rollins remarks 39:46

2026 Farm Progress Show photo album

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VANE Named Finalist for E&S Underwriting Award

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Congratulations to VANE, a leading provider of unique, field-level revenue insurance solutions for agribusinesses, which has been named a finalist for “E&S Underwriting Team of the Year” at the 2026 Insurance Insider US Honors. The nomination recognizes the success and impact of VANE’s E&S Basis Risk Revenue Insurance.

“Being named a finalist alongside some of the most respected names in E&S underwriting is a strong validation of the work our team has done to close a real coverage gap for agribusinesses,” said Don Preusser, Founder and President of VANE.

The Insurance Insider US Honors celebrates standout performance, innovation, and excellence across the United States insurance and reinsurance market. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on September 30 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.

Agribusiness, Crop Insurance

Learnard Seed Services Celebrates 90 Years of Service

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Learnard Seed Services in East Central Illinois, is celebrating 90 years of serving farmers across Vermilion County and surrounding areas, a milestone that reflects decades of trusted relationships, agronomic expertise and commitment to agriculture.

Founded in 1936 by Elmer Learnard during the Great Depression, the business began by selling seed corn and later expanded into soybeans for neighboring farmers. Originally located northwest of Georgetown, Illinois, the dealership now operates one mile south of Catlin.

Today, Learnard Seed Services remains family-owned, led by third-generation owner Greg Learnard with fourth-generation involvement. Over the years, the business has grown from part-time seed sales into a full-service operation focused on seed, agronomy and advancing technology. Learnard has maintained a relationship with DEKALB since the company’s early farmer-dealer model and continues that legacy today with both DEKALB and Asgrow products.

“I have the benefit of offering my customers the full lineup of Bayer’s seed and crop protection portfolio and industry-leading traits,” said Learnard. “I can also provide the strong network of product and agronomic support that customers require today.”

That long-standing partnership, combined with consistent product performance, has helped build strong, multi-generational customer loyalty. Many farm families have worked with the dealership for decades.

The dealership is celebrating the milestone this year with custom apparel, advertising, and a customer appreciation event later this summer.

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Bayer, Corn, Seed, Soybean

AgGateway Announces Annual Meeting Agenda

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The 2026 AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference is set for November 9-11 this year at the Hilton Nashville Downtown in Nashville, TN.

The three-day agenda includes three general sessions and four exceptional expert presentations designed to get attendees up to speed on the state of digital connectivity in agriculture, the ongoing impact of artificial intelligence, and government policy and priorities in the wake of a historic mid-term election.

Among the conference keynote presentations will be “A Farmer’s Warning to the Industry: AI Is Changing What Farmers Will Pay For. Are You Ready?,” presented by Paul Windemuller, a first-generation dairy farmer and an internationally recognized authority on the integration of artificial intelligence in agriculture.

Back by popular demand for the second year in a row, agriculture policy expert Mary Kay Thatcher will share her perspectives on the direction policy and regulation will be headed in the wake of one of the most highly anticipated mid-term elections in history.

All digital connectivity stakeholders in agriculture are welcome to attend the AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference to share ideas, work on key projects, assess the state of connected agriculture, and set a course for the future of the organization. An important goal for the event is getting volunteer leadership and members together to discuss current and future projects that AgGateway is coordinating.

Visit the conference web page for more information and registration

AgGateway, Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Animal Ag News 8/25

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  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a coordinated, phased reopening of southern cattle ports, beginning August 24. USDA opened the Douglas, AZ port of entry to cattle trade, while simultaneously initiating the operational steps necessary for subsequent openings at the Santa Teresa, NM, and Columbus, NM, ports. Every animal entering the United States through these ports will undergo a full USDA inspection to ensure it is free of any signs of New World screwworm (NWS).
  • National Pork Producers Council President Rob Brenneman, a pork producer from Washington County, Iowa, applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announced pork purchase for federal food assistance programs under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935.
  • USDA is making available $35 million for partnerships to respond to the threat feral swine pose to American agriculture, landscapes and human and livestock health. This partnership opportunity is part of a broader $105 million investment for the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program, where USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are working together to target feral swine.
  • The Meat Institute announced the publication of new peer-reviewed research in Frontiers in Climate that gives livestock and meat companies a practical way to better account for emissions and disclose methane’s role in their greenhouse gas inventory. The study, “Bridging the Climate-Corporate Gap: Utilizing GWP* with GWP100 for Livestock Companies’ Greenhouse Gas Inventories,” was authored by Sarah C. Klopatek, Logan R. Thompson, Sara E. Place and Matthew R. Beck. The research addresses a challenge facing agriculture and food companies: how to report methane, a short-lived greenhouse gas, in a way that reflects both current reporting requirements and the latest science on warming over time.
  • The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) is pleased to welcome Abigail Tierney as manager of global policy. In this position, Tierney will educate policymakers, represent the AFIA in trade discussions and advocate for science-based regulations to reduce non-tariff barriers. She will also represent the U.S. animal food industry at meetings both domestically and internationally, analyze global trade trends and develop tools to support industry members.
  • The leader in intelligent nutrition announced the launch of the NOVUS® Raw Material Compendium, a digital platform designed to support more informed, data-driven feed formulation strategies. The platform provides nutritionists and feed formulators with a centralized resource to evaluate ingredient variability, compare nutrient values across the most relevant databases, assess internal ingredient data, and explore alternative raw materials. By bringing multiple data sources into one tool, NOVUS is helping to simplify a process that is often complex and time intensive.
  • The Dairy Alliance, a nonprofit organization funded by dairy farm families in the Southeast, recently hosted its “Dairy Does More” initiative, a community effort in partnership with Ingles Markets and regional dairy processor Milkco to support families recovering from Hurricane Helene across North Carolina.
  • New artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools could help poultry producers detect Salmonella more quickly using smartphone images and bird activity patterns, according to a newly published study conducted at the University of Georgia. The project was funded by the USPOULTRY Foundation to advance innovative solutions for poultry health and food safety. The research is part of the Association’s comprehensive research program, which encompasses all phases of poultry and egg production and processing, and is made possible in part through proceeds from the International Poultry Expo, part of the International Production & Processing Expo.
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