Bloomberg writer Lydia Mulvany reported yesterday that, “Hurricane Michael is expected to whirl through areas of southern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, idling chicken and egg farms and fertilizer mines.

“Preparations have already begun in Georgia, the No. 1 chicken-producing state, with companies closing down operations early and relocating birds, said Will Sawyer, an economist at CoBank. The storm will touch areas comprising 30 percent of the U.S. chicken market, Sawyer said.”

Unites States Broiler Production. Graphic from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Economist.

The Bloomberg article added that, “‘I would expect to see bird losses in south Georgia over the next 24 hours’ due to flooding, Sawyer said by phone Wednesday.

“Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the biggest egg producer, on Wednesday closed down operations in Quincy, Florida, which has about 800,000 birds. The company isn’t expecting other locations to be affected. Meanwhile, Nutrien Ltd., a fertilizer producer, is shutting down mines and some plants at its White Springs, Florida, phosphate facility.”

“While the storm may idle plants and disrupt supply chains, it likely won’t move the needle on low breast-meat prices, Sawyer said.”

Bloomberg writer Lydia Mulvany reported Friday that, “For Pete Zimmerman, a Minnesota farmer, the age of gene-edited foods has arrived. While he couldn’t be happier, the hi-tech soybeans he’s now harvesting are at the crux of a long-running debate about a frankenfood future.

“Zimmerman is among farmers in three states now harvesting 16,000 acres of DNA-altered soybeans destined to be used in salad dressings, granola bars and fry oil, and sold to consumers early next year. It’s the first commercialized crop created with a technique some say could revolutionize agriculture, and others fear could carry as-yet unknown peril.

“In March, the top U.S. regulator said no new rules or labeling are needed for gene-edited plants since foreign DNA isn’t being inserted, the way traditional genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are made. Instead, enzymes that act like scissors are used to tweak a plant’s genetic operating system to stop it from producing bad stuff — in this case, polyunsaturated fats — or enhance good stuff that’s already there.”

The Bloomberg article noted that, “In a March 28 statement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said his department has no plans to regulate new plant varieties developed with gene editing, countering a European Union decision to designate the technique as producing GMO crops.

“In his statement, Perdue called gene-editing an ‘innovative’ technique that’s ‘indistinguishable from those developed through traditional breeding methods.’

“The end result: Gene-edited plants can be developed and marketed in the U.S. much more quickly and at less cost than GMOs that blend DNA from different plant varieties, a highly regulated technique with mandated field trials that can take a decade or more to develop.”

Bloomberg News writer Andrew Mayeda reported today that, “The U.S. trade deficit widened in August to the biggest in six months as soybean exports plunged and a measure of the gap with China hit a record, showing how the Trump administration’s trade war is dragging on economic growth.

“The gap in goods and services trade increased 6.4 percent to $53.2 billion, from a revised $50 billion in the prior month, Commerce Department data showed Friday. Imports rose 0.6 percent and exports fell 0.8 percent. Soybean exports dropped $1 billion, or 28 percent, to $2.58 billion, reversing a run-up earlier this year ahead of retaliatory levies from China.”

“MONTHLY U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES, AUGUST 2018.” U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (October 5, 2018).

The Bloomberg also noted that, “At the same time, trade tensions have eased with Canada and Mexico. This week, the U.S. reached a deal with the two nations on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump plans to sign the new deal, to be renamed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, by the end of November.”

A recent update from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) by Peyton Ferrier, stated that, “In 2006, large and mysterious losses of honey bee colonies led entomologists to classify a set of diagnostic symptoms as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and spurred major efforts to measure, quantify, and understand pollinator loss. New data show that between 2007 and 2013, winter colony loss rates in the U.S. averaged 30 percent, which is approximately double the loss rate of 15 percent previously thought to be normal.   Although average loss rates fell to 24 percent between 2014 and 2017 and CCD symptoms are less frequently associated with colony losses, colony health remains a concern.”

The ERS update noted that, “Elevated winter colony losses, however, have not resulted in enduring declines in colony numbers. Instead, the number of honey bee colonies in the U.S. is either stable or growing depending on the dataset being considered.”

“Despite Elevated Loss Rate Since 2006, U.S. Honey Bee Colony Numbers Are Stable,” by Peyton Ferrier. USDA- Economic Research Service (October 01, 2018).

The ERS article added that, “The stability of colony numbers and pollination services fees, however, suggests that beekeepers have, in aggregate, adjusted to elevated rates of colony loss. Since 2006, almond pollination fees have dropped slightly from earlier highs despite ongoing growth in almond acreage. At the State level, loss rates are statistically uncorrelated with year-to-year changes in the number of colonies, suggesting that beekeepers are able to replace lost colonies within the course of a calendar year.”

Christy Couch Lee reported recently at Prairie Farmer Online that, “In his 81 years, Bill Flamm has seen many changes on his family’s Flamm Orchards in the rolling hills of Union County, Ill. But until mid-July of this year, the leaf curl and tree stress on the orchard’s peach and apple trees was foreign.

“Nephew Jeff Flamm says they’ve yet to get a definite answer on the cause.

“When leaf curl began to appear on peach trees, the Flamms sought expert opinions: a horticulturist from Southern Illinois University’s Department of Plant, Soil and Agricultural Systems; a representative from the Illinois Department of Agriculture; an Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association agronomist; a technical agronomist from Southern FS; and a representative from Bayer.”

The article stated that, “‘So far, everyone has told us the same thing — it’s a growth-regulating herbicide, likely dicamba — except for the Bayer rep, who didn’t really have an answer to what it is,’ Jeff says. ‘We’re basically left with more questions than answers. This is all-new territory.’

“According to IDOA, as of Sept. 17, the department had received 329 dicamba-related complaints — up from 240 at the same time in 2017.”

Ms. Lee added that, “The issue of dicamba drift as it relates to row crops has been widely debated. But what about chemical trespass as it relates to orchards and other specialty crops? It appears there are more questions than answers.”

“A decision by EPA on dicamba herbicide registrations was expected by late August. But as of mid-September, the agency has not yet acted…Raghela Scavuzzo, local foods program manager in governmental affairs and commodities with the Illinois Farm Bureau, says the organization is watching for a decision on the issue,” the article said.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that, “A federal judge has upheld North Dakota’s Depression-era anti-corporate farming law.

“U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck ruled Friday that the law meets constitutional requirements.

“North Dakota Farm Bureau sued in 2016 to do away with the law that voters approved in 1932 to protect the state’s family farming heritage.”

The AP article pointed out that, “The Farm Bureau and other plaintiffs argued the law limits farmers’ business options and interferes with interstate commerce by barring out-of-state corporations from being involved in North Dakota’s farm industry.”

“Farmers Union maintains that family farming is the backbone of North Dakota agriculture. The group led the fight to create the corporate farming law in the 1930s,” the AP article said.