Agri-Pulse Open Mic Interview

This week’s Open Mic guest is Paul Bertels, Principal and Senior Consultant for Farmgate Insights. Much attention is given to the potential demand for billions of bushels of row crops should they be included as acceptable feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuel. Drawing from his long career with the National Corn Growers Association and the ethanol industry, Bertles says the SAF market won’t be a...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Bryan Humphreys, CEO of the National Pork Producers Council. Swine producers are coming off a period of negative returns thanks to ample demand from domestic and global consumers. Humphreys says pork producers are concerned about the consequences of potential tariffs on global market access and hope for a farm bill which would include limits on state mandated producti...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Greg Tyler, President and CEO of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council. Tyler spoke with us while he was visiting Asian customers and dealing firsthand with issues like avian influenza, potential tariffs from the coming Trump administration, as well as a weak global economy and a strong U.S. dollar. Tyler says new trade negotiations and trade enforcement will be crit...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging. The global packaging industry is expected to grow to over $600 billion dollars by 2033. Kelly says packaging is essential to limit food waste and maintain fresh produce quality for consumers across the country and around the globe. But just as health experts encourage higher consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, several sta...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Paul Myer, CEO of Athian. The company is creating an industry-led platform to assist in funding carbon projects within the livestock value chain which enables producers to make systemic change while optimizing their operations. The company values both the economic viability of producers and the health of the environment. The platform helps to combine, certify and fund...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. As trade tensions with China have shifted more of their imports from Brazil, U.S. soybean farmers have successfully diversified their global demand base. Sutter says domestic supplies have higher quality than soybeans from anywhere else in the world and thus prove a better value for customers both in raw beans and in...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Duane Highley, CEO of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. This western cooperative is embracing the growing need for electric power among its one million customers and 200,000 square miles of challenging terrain with an “all of the above” approach to power generation. Highley says the cooperative is utilizing advanced battery technology to add wind and...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Mariah Scott, CEO of Rantizo. Drone technology is being utilized at an amazing pace across many aspects of industry and especially agriculture. Spray drones now cover millions of acres of crops and the potential for growth is astronomical. Scott has been instrumental in forming the American Spray Drone Coalition, which is speaking out against legislation that would li...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Dr. Tom Zacharias, President of the National Crop Insurance Services. Crop insurance companies have proven effective in providing risk management resources for farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses from various extreme weather events over the past several months. He outlines many of the changes the industry has undergone and how the public-private partnership...

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. Farmers continue to help feed the hungry, but the number of Americans who are hungry and food insecure is greater today than during the Covid pandemic. Babineaux-Fontenot says the food lines may have moved back inside the buildings, but the need for food continues to grow as contributions are down and federal commo...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Ryan Heiniger, Executive Director of the Conservation Technology Information Center and Iowa farmer. He explains why CTIC has high expectations for the Sustainable Agriculture Summit scheduled for this week in Minneapolis. Heiniger discusses government programs and industry interest in helping farmers embrace sustainable agriculture practices. He previews a new "Conse...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Michael McAdams, President of the Advanced Biofuels Association. After an extensive career serving on Capitol Hill, McAdams founded the ABFA in 2006.  The group represents all aspects of the advanced biofuels in the nation from large refiners to major feedstock providers and new technology groups.  McAdams believes government statutes for advanced biofuels are not wor...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Kip Eideberg, Senior Vice-President Government and Industry Relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.  Like the industries they serve, equipment manufacturers are familiar with the cyclical turns in farming, forestry, construction and mining. Eideberg says higher interest rates, a lack of trade agreements and sluggish economies around the globe and in...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Randy Russell, President of the Russell Group. The race for the White House and leadership of the 119th Congress is coming down to the wire. The majority of polls show very narrow margins, but Russell suggests some trends may be developing as indicators of a Harris or Trump administration. Russell says history could be made in this Congressional election but control o...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Dan Basse, President of AgResource Company. With over 45 years of experience in the global grain market, Basse has seen cyclical swings in commodity prices and farm income many times before. Unlike years gone by, the United States farmer is no longer the primary supplier of grains to the international market and is politically and financially being squeezed out of wha...

This week’s Open Mic guest is former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.  The Minnesota Democrat is concerned how misinformation in the campaign for the White House is impacting voters across the nation. Peterson believes there’s still time for the Congress to approve a new farm bill, but admits the results of the election could determine the political will for approving new poli...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Mike Seyfert, President and CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association. Most in the ag industry were relieved that dockworkers were back on the job following an agreement on wages that allowed East Coast and Gulf ports to reopen last week. Seyfert says container shipments are an integral factor in meeting global customers demands for a number of U.S. agricultural...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Representative Mark Alford. The Missouri Republican joins the chorus of other farm state representatives calling for a new farm bill this year. Alford supports the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill with updated reference prices and improved SNAP benefits. He believes the EPA is overstepping its authority on tail pipe emission standards and regulation of crop pes...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union. He says the ag economic climate is burdening farmers with high input costs and lower crop commodity prices and some may have difficulty obtaining financing next year. Larew talks about the importance of passing a new farm bill, expanding exports and securing an adequate workforce in county FSA offices.

This week’s Open Mic guest is South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson. Last week hundreds of farmers were in Washington calling on legislators to press forward to approve a new farm bill. Johnson says deadlines drive achievement in Congress and the challenges farmers shared with their elected leaders was more than enough to try and beat the political odds to deliver new risk management tools and...

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Alex Dunn, President and CEO of CropLife America. Dunn joined CLA in March of this year and brings an extensive career in environmental and regulatory leadership to the association, including her previous service as Assistant Administrator for the EPA office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Dunn and her team are intently monitoring the EPA’s process of...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Ben Alfi, Founder and CEO of Bluewhite.  Alfi spent over 25 years in the Israeli Air Force as a combat pilot and as Head of Unmanned Systems Research and Development programs. He leveraged his experience to form the autonomous technology company in 2017. Bluewhite provides add on autonomous capabilities for tractors primarily in the specialty crop space of  agricultur...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Dave Puglia, President and CEO of Western Growers. Consumers are showing an increased demand for fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets, but U.S. growers of these crops are facing increased headwinds from a reduced water supply, increased input costs, a shortage of farm workers and increasing state and federal regulations.  Puglia says their members are looking fo...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Mark Eisele, President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The Wyoming rancher says even though profits are now better for cattlemen than row crop producers, they still need a new farm bill to ensure herd safety and provide opportunities to maintain and grow global markets. Sustainability is important and Eisele discusses how cattlemen are working to produce...

This week’s Open Mic guest is Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. The renewable fuels industry has clawed its way into a significant portion of the liquid fuels industry. Potential growth for both refiners and farmers hinges on regulatory decisions by government agencies and litigation in the court system. Skor says the Treasury Department’s decision on what sustainable agriculture practices will be...