Check our advice monitor on ProFarmer.com for updates to our marketing plan.
MAHA Digs-in to Soil Health…
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), chair of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Caucus has proposed nearly 30 bipartisan bills toward codifying processes aligned with RFK Jr’s designs for a healthier America. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Senator Marshall highlighted four pillars of the legislation including increased efficiency in agriculture; healthier, more nutrient-rich food; affordable access to primary care healthcare; and addressing mental health challenges among young people.
Marshall says the path forward begins with the soil, itself. “Soil health seems to be the common ground. So healthy soil meets healthy food meets healthy people.” One of the proposed bills, The Plant Biostimulant Act, would encourage the use of organisms placed into the soil that latch onto the roots of plants to help them absorb nitrates and more water.
The bill ties-in directly with Marshall’s lean toward regenerative agriculture, which uses fewer fertilizers, less water and other status-quo farming techniques to produce healthier foods on more sustainable farmland. Marshall believes this would yield a cheaper, more nutritious diet for Americans by, "…growing more with less.”
The Senator acknowledged, returning to an entirely organic food production process devoid of fertilizers would create healthier food, but also crank up the costs on consumers and strain farmland.
Earlier in the week, Senator Marshall held a roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to bridge the gap between farmers and the MAHA Caucus, believing the Trump administration has created a window for a dramatic shift in the nation’s food system – a window he hopes will lead to more healthy consumers.
“We think heart disease, hypertension, is really an inflammatory reaction… to the food we’re eating and the constantly high sugar levels in our blood system,” said Senator Marshall. “So absolutely, I think, seize the moment. This is it.”
Nebraska Increases Soybean Crush Capacity… Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) announced the completion of their new $700 million soybean processing and degumming facility in David City, Nebraska. Michael Dolch, director of government affairs for AGP, says the plant is the result of a six-year journey, noting, “The stars kind of aligned for us. There was a lot of demand and growth in the renewable diesel space, which means more demand for soybean oil.”
The new facility is expected to crush around 50 million bushels of soybeans annually to produce 1.75 million pounds of soybean oil per day and employ around 80 workers.
“Simultaneously, we’re expanding the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Washington. Currently, it exports about three million metric tons of soybeans annually. We’re going to double that capacity. Over the next year, it’s that opportunity to look at additional international markets in those Southeast Asian countries,” said Dolch.
CountryMark announces major expansion at their Posey County, Indiana facility to increase production of renewable diesel fuel from soybean oil and other renewable feedstocks.
Matt Smorch, President and CEO of CountryMark told Hoosier Ag Today, “We ended up having an investment in our refinery that’s over $100 million, which is probably one of the single biggest investments that we’ve had probably since the refinery has been built.”
The company broke ground last fall on its Mount Vernon, Indiana diesel expansion project, and diesel fuel production is expected to increase later this fall, once expansion of the crude unit is complete.
South Korea Eyes U.S./Japan Trade Accord…
We reported this morning: The U.S. and Japan announced late Tuesday a trade deal has been reached that will impose 15% tariffs on Japanese imports into the U.S., including automobiles, while Japan will create a $550 billion fund to make investments in the United States. President Trump called the trade deal the “largest ever.”
Reports have since surfaced South Korea is watching the proceedings very closely. According to a Reuters report, “Investors see the Japan-U.S. deal as a benchmark for the Korean deal,” said Kim Sung-rae, an analyst at Hanwha Investment & Securities, adding that the agreement “would put pressure on Korean negotiators to come up with a similar, or better, deal.”
The Finance Ministry and the top trade envoy of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, South Korea, are planning high-level talks with U.S. negotiators in Washington on Friday.