Arkansas Agriculture for Fall 2018

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From Fall Forward: Planning for the Next Planting Season

Plus: UA Fruit Research Station

Indigo Ag’s Arkansas Roots

FEATURES From Fall Forward: Preparing for the Next Planting Season Maddison Stewart Stone and Rob Anderson | Page 6 World-Class Fruit in a World-Class Setting Gregg Patterson | Page 18 Seeding the Future of Agriculture Rob Anderson | Page 26

COLUMNS

Farm Bureau Perspective Zippy Duvall | Page 3

Policy Update

Michelle Kitchens | Page 22

Ag Law Update

Harrison Pittman | Page 32

COVER DESIGN

by Bryan Pistole

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FALL 2018

Edition 51

Farm Bureau Perspective

by Zippy Duvall | President, American Farm Bureau Federation

Broadband Shouldn’t Be a Luxury

T

here was a time when high-speed internet was a luxury, but that time has long passed.

Broadband is essential for doing business today and having access to the latest resources and information. Yet much of rural America still has no access to do business at the speeds of the rest of the country. Thirty-nine percent of rural households are without a high-speed connection, compared to 4 percent of urban households. That’s unacceptable for modern farmers and their rural communities.

Arkansas is among the most deficient states when it comes to broadband access, ranking 45th in connectivity availability. There are more than 600,000 people in Arkansas without access to a wired connection capable of 25 megabits per second, the FCCdefined standard for “broadband” access. There are more than 660,000 people in Arkansas that have access to only one wired provider, leaving them no options to switch. And another 226,000 people in Arkansas don’t have any wired internet providers available where they live.

The 21st century is an exciting time for American agriculture. We have tools at our fingertips that our parents and grandparents never dreamed of. Thanks to precision ag tools, farming is more sustainable because we can focus and conserve our resources better than ever. But those tools require broadband to truly be efficient and effective. The latest farming techniques and tools allow farmers to analyze data to make careful decisions from the number of seeds they plant to the amount of water and nutrients they apply to their crops. Farmers can now make those decisions down to the square inch, but that requires getting a signal out to their tractors in the field. For a

farmer struggling to get by in today’s down economy, conserving their inputs and resources might make all the difference for being in business one season to the next.

Lack of rural broadband doesn’t just put rural America behind here at home. It also can make us lose our competitive edge abroad. U.S. agriculture is part of a global marketplace today. Farmers and ranchers need to connect with customers around the world and stay up-to-date on the latest market developments.

Without high-speed connectivity, it’s far too easy for farms and ranches to lose out on customers and business, and the whole ag economy suffers.

It’s time to bridge the rural digital divide. Farm Bureau has been calling for action here, and we are encouraged to see the Administration working to close the gap. President Trump pledged action to Farm Bureau members at the start of the year at AFBF’s Annual Convention in Nashville, where he signed an Executive Order to expedite broadband deployment on federal lands.

Since then, Congress has provided $600 million in funding for USDA’s new e-Connectivity Pilot Program under the Rural Utilities Service. Additionally, the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill include the AFBF supported “Precision Agriculture Connectivity” provision that creates a task force to focus on the broadband connectivity and technology needs of precision agriculture.

We are encouraged to see this critical issue become a priority this year for the Administration and Congress, and Farm Bureau continues to advocate for the needs of farm and ranch businesses to bring us all into the next century of agriculture. *

Arkansas is among the most deficient states when it comes to broadband access, ranking 45th in connectivity availability

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An official publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation distributed to more than 43,000 farming and ranching households in Arkansas.

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From Fall

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Forward:

Preparing for the Next Planting Season

by Maddison Stewart Stone and Rob Anderson

As Arkansas farmers and ranchers wrap up a turbulent 2018 harvest season punctuated by weather woes and price and trade battle complications, planning next year’s equipment needs and crop acreage may be as challenging as it’s ever been.

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A sprayer in the field.

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evertheless, some recent events – particularly free trade initiatives and the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, or USMCA – have brightened some farmer outlooks for 2019, according to the October Ag Barometer released by Purdue University and CME Group.

Whether apprehensive or excited, farmers and livestock producers know that adequate planning and preparation for a new year can go a long way to making sure planting season is a success. That’s why we’ve put together some tips for 2019 planning from some Arkansas agriculture equipment dealers, bankers and lenders and financial advisors.

“A lot of the old grain is going to oxidize some of their metal. Whether it’s a tractor or a combine, ultimately what it’s going to do is devalue their equipment.”

– Tommy Hall of Greenway Equipment.

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“When you talk about cutters, or rakes and hay balers, the most important thing is to check your blades and make sure everything’s greased when you put it up.” – Taylor Gwin of Heritage Agriculture of Arkansas.

Storing Equipment for Winter “The biggest question I typically get from a row-crop farmer is, ‘Should I wash my equipment completely clean or should I put it up dirty?’ and I tell them to wash it inside and out, dry it and then put it up,” says Tommy Hall of Greenway Equipment. “It keeps the rodents out of your harvesters, and out of your tractors and wiring. The rodents like to eat the wiring when they get up in there to look for any leftover grains on that combine or tractor.”

Hall says other common concerns he hears are, “Is it ready for next year?” and “Do I need to look at trading it?” and, he adds, many worry about when to make repairs, particularly if they are having cash flow problems.

To help farmers ensure that their equipment is ready for next year or ready to sell, he offers these tips: • It’s best to have the equipment washed and completely serviced to keep condensation out of the inside and prevent rusting and oxidizing.

• If equipment sits out in the elements and it isn’t washed or cleaned, there will be rodents, which will mean wire damage. “A lot of the old grain is going to oxidize some of their metal. Whether it’s a tractor or a combine, ultimately what it’s going to do is devalue their equipment,” he says.

• The best environment for storing equipment is in a spacious, enclosed containment – a shed of some sort.

However, if you only have something to cover the top of the equipment, that’s better than simply leaving it out in the elements.

• If cleaned and serviced properly, the equipment will generally hold its value. When a customer is looking for a piece of equipment, he says, the first thing they ask about is condition. “They want to see what it looks like up front and then they want to see the maintenance records,” Hall adds.

• Most farmers in Arkansas store their equipment for a couple of months at a time – generally in the DecemberJanuary time frame, and Hall doesn’t recommend storing it much longer than that. “I wouldn’t leave it more than three or four months and then I would want to check on it regularly,” he says. “I wouldn’t worry about cranking it up if they’ve got it in a contained shed. I would just go over it to be sure there’s no rodents or anything unexpected.”

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•

Completely drain sprayers, put winterization fluid in them and cover them up as effectively as possible. If they have outside well units, these should be covered as well.

Taylor Gwin of Heritage Agriculture of Arkansas concurs with Hall on the storage of large equipment, explaining that owners should “definitely keep it under a shed” because “it’s just like a car. You keep it under a shed and in five or six years when you go to trade in, it’s going to look pretty new from the outside.”

Gwin also offers some tips for ranchers whose primary large equipment is for “making

sure the cattle have got grass and they’ve got hay and feed throughout the winter months.

“When you talk about cutters, or rakes and hay balers, the most important thing is to check your blades and make sure everything’s greased when you put it up,” he says. “With a hay baler, you need to look at your bearings and your belts, just (to prevent) some of the things that can go wrong out there, like a baler catching on fire.”

Gwin recommends having the baler checked by a professional in the offseason in order to be sure no major parts need to be replaced.

New Equipment Purchases “Upgrading to new technology increases efficiency and production and dealers and manufacturers are regularly introducing new technology designed to improve management and operation of equipment to maximize efficiency and increase uptime,” says Bill Midkiff of Greenway Equipment.

For those interested in updating or replacing equipment, Midkiff recommends the following: • Take advantage of Sec 179 Advanced Depreciation and Bonus Depreciation Tax savings. A producer may be able to offset as much as $480,000 in tax savings for the 2018 tax year alone.

Experts agree that cleaning and proper storage of large equipment during the winter months is critical for maintaining its value and proper functionality.

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Jill Evans Edwards, a row-crop farmer near Mayflower, stands in front of her tractor.

“Warranty plans have become a ‘must have’ for producers who run all major makes and models of equipment because, in today’s economy, uptime and managing unforeseen expenses are a must.”

– Bill Midkiff of Greenway Equipment.

•

•

Take advantage of current financing offers. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising interest rates over the next 12 to 18 months, but many manufacturers and dealers still offer low rate financing options on new and used equipment purchases and can structure payments to fit individual needs.

Utilize equity in current units to make down payments or offset initial lease payments.

“This is a way for producers to improve short-term cash flow in some cases,” Midkiff explains. When evaluating the off-season repair needs of their current fleet, it may be a good idea for farmers to discuss the value of their equipment and explore trade opportunities with a local dealer before investing large amounts into a unit that may already have fallen under market value.

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•

Purchasing new or used equipment is, in most cases, the only way to ensure coverage under extended warranties, so it may be best from that standpoint.

Having the safety net of an extended warranty plan which will cover most major repairs for a small deductible is a very large part of transforming variable cost of production into a fixed cost that can be budgeted and accounted for upfront. “Warranty plans have become a ‘must have’ for producers who run all major makes and models of equipment because, in today’s economy, uptime and managing unforeseen expenses are a must.”

Heritage Agriculture of Arkansas’s Gwin has a few additional tips for heavy equipment owners: • Don’t just look for special winter discounts on new equipment, but also search for specials on repairs, parts and labor.

“I generally like to get started on the 2019 crop season as soon as, if not a little before, the 2018 harvest is complete. Getting started early helps get a game plan in order and identify any hurdles they may need to be overcome. The first step is for the farmer to come in and we fill out his financial statement.” – Cameron Stone, loan officer at Stone Bank.

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•

•

Don’t focus solely on price when looking for a new deal or trade. Be sure you find a salesman or shop that you trust. “A lot of this is used equipment, so if it’s been through a lot of wear and tear and somebody didn’t take the best care of it, you need to be able to trust that someone will tell you whether or not it’s going to be able to last for you.”

If numerous repairs are needed on an older machine, it may be better to think about using that repair money more wisely. Some crops, particularly certain hybrid rice, can be very hard on combines, he says, “so if you start looking at your rotor and your cages, you’ll see it’s knocking or getting holes in it from the wear and tear of it throughout the year. Farmers will come in willing to pay an amount of money to kind of get it back into working condition. But, when you start putting $40,000-60,000 into a combine that’s already five or six years old, you could go ahead and use that for a down payment to upgrade to a newer one.”

“One thing I’ve learned from helping hundreds of Arkansas farmers with loans is that it’s never too early to plan ahead financially.” – Chad Pittillo, Simmons Bank vice president and lending manager.

Financial Preparations Cameron Stone, loan officer at Stone Bank, says farmers should start preparing financially for the 2019 crop season before the end of 2018. “I generally like to get started on the 2019 crop season as soon as, if not a little before, the 2018 harvest is complete,” said Stone. “Getting started early helps get a game plan in order and identify any hurdles that may need to be overcome. The first step is for the farmer to come in and we fill out his financial statement.”

“One thing I’ve learned from helping hundreds of Arkansas farmers with loans is that it’s never too early to plan ahead financially,” said Chad Pittillo, vice president and lending manager for Simmons Bank in Pine Bluff.

“Prepare a financial statement to include your crop inventory and remaining supplier debts. Whether you sell the crops now or in the spring, your banker needs to know where you stand.”

Pittillo notes that farmers should be “looking into next year as soon as they get out of the field,” focusing on their inventory, or “all the crops they have stored in the grain bins or grain facilities,“ and put it down on paper.

Then, he says, they should look at all their outside debts, supplier debts, seed debts, flying service and so forth, and record those as well.

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“If they’re going to have a shortfall for this year, we need to go ahead and deal with it now,” says Pittillo. “Whether that be refinancing equipment, refinancing land, maybe selling a piece of equipment, the sooner we identify a problem or an issue, if we have one, the better. If we don’t have an issue, it gives them room to continue planning for next year.

Greg Cole, president and CEO of AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, notes that farmers should also start organizing materials for their crop loans. Cole says they should prepare updated balance sheets with crop inventories, tax returns/income statements, a cropping plan, Farm Service Administration farm program details, marketing plans, booking/hedging activities, plans for equipment and capital item purchases or sales, entity ownership structure and other entity documents.

“A farmer looking to grow acres needs to make sure they are profitable acres. If the additional acres don’t enhance efficiency, it will not be a good decision to expand.” – Greg Cole, president and CEO of AgHeritage Farm Credit Services.

Adding Acres For farmers or ranchers interested in expanding their land, both Stone and Pittillo have words of advice.

“When you want to add land, the main factor to consider is the cost or rent structure,” says Pittillo. “With lower crop prices, you should be careful not to overpay on rent because the cash flow margins are already tight. The land type is also very important. Minimize risk by choosing a good mix of sand and heavy ground.”

Stone explains that the decision to increase farm acres is different from farmer to farmer, but it is important for them to first decide if they will need to purchase additional equipment to handle new farmable acres.

“In some cases, adding more equipment debt doesn’t justify increasing acres,” Stone says. “It usually benefits a farmer to pick up additional acres if they can farm it with equipment they already have and not add a significant amount of equipment to their operation.”

AgHeritage Farm Credit’s Cole adds that “a farmer looking to grow acres needs to make sure they are profitable acres.” If the additional acres don’t enhance efficiency, he says, “it will not be a good decision to expand.”

Additional acres should be good quality with dependable irrigation at a reasonable rental rate and the addition should enhance equipment and labor efficiencies. In times of low commodity prices like we are experiencing now, if additional acres do not add efficiencies then it just increases the risk profile of the operation.” *

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An official publication of Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation distributed to more than 43,000 farming and ranching households in Arkansas.

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WORLD-CLASS

FRUIT

IN A

WORLD-CLASS

SETTING A UA success story for 70 years

by Gregg Patterson

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The setting is idyllic.

The mountain views are spectacular.

The land is nestled in the beautiful foothills of the Ozark Mountains near the small community of Ludwig.

It’s a special place in Johnson County where special things have gone unnoticed — for the most part — for decades.

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T

he University of Arkansas Fruit Research Station got its start in 1948. It was known then as the Peach Substation. Peaches were encouraged as a crop in Arkansas following the Civil War. At one time, more than 1,000 acres of peaches were grown in Arkansas. The Johnson County Peach Growers Association and the county Farm Bureau combined to secure the substation’s 40acre site. In 1959, it moved to its present location, originally on 50 acres, and now totals 230 acres.

After the move, research eventually expanded to include other fruits like cherries, blackberries, blueberries, apricots, grapes, nectarines, plums, pears and apples. During its 70-year existence, the Fruit Research Station has become a powerhouse in developing fruit breeding programs, especially for blackberries, grapes and peaches. Dan Chapman is its resident director. The station employs 10 fulltime employees and often hires up to 10 seasonal employees.

“Blackberries are now our biggest crop, and we’re known worldwide for our blackberries,” Chapman said. He is justifiably proud of the innovative research work done at the Fruit Research Station. “From this station, we’ve released over 60 varieties of fruits.” That list is extensive for blackberries, grapes, peaches and nectarines.

A clingstone or processing peach – one for canning – is a firmer peach than a fresh, freestone, melting flesh peach – one for eating straight from the tree that you would buy in a grocery store. Chapman says the idea is to cross the best characteristics of both.

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“You can let them sit on the tree longer,” Chapman said. “You also get a riper peach and bettertasting peach for the grocery store. We’ve developed quite a few peaches that have a lot of different characteristics that should improve peaches that you can buy in the store.”

The benefits of these new fruit varieties are multifold. Fruit growers in Arkansas often benefit, because these new varieties are often tailored to growing conditions in Arkansas. Or the new varieties increase the window of opportunity that growers can harvest and sell their product.

Consumers benefit by having more time to get and enjoy eating that fresh product. Chapman says the university also benefits, because it patents the majority of these new varieties, and the university gets paid royalties for their use.

“Eighty to 90 percent of our varieties are patented, so the university is getting money back for that,” he said.

Chapman says it’s important to have the Fruit Research Station to help growers. “If there’s some kind of problem for the growers, hopefully, we can work it out,” he said. This year, they experimented with growing wine grapes in a high tunnel, a greenhouselike frame and plastic covered structure. It helps protect what’s being grown in it. (Strawberry growers have been able to extend the season by using them.)

“It’s pretty bizarre. We’re doing grapes in one,” he said.

“What’s really amazing is it’s a wine grape. It usually takes three years to mature in a traditional vineyard. These are fruiting in the first year.”

That kind of research could prove promising. It’s why the UA Fruit Research Station has proven to be a success story for 70 years. *

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PolicyUPDATE Michelle coordinates the policy development process for Arkansas Farm Bureau and regularly updates the membership on legislative and regulatory issues. She grew up on a cattle and poultry farm in southwest Arkansas and earned a degree in communication management from Harding University.

A

By Michelle Kitchens, Assistant Director, ArFB Public Affairs & Government Relations

sa Hutchinson begins his second and final term as governor in January of 2019. During his campaign, Gov. Hutchinson and his team laid out a legacy-building plan for the next four years, but with many returning leaders in the General Assembly with goals of their own, the state will be taking on some major challenges in 2019. Here are some thoughts on just a few of the major issues that lie ahead: Tax Reform Citizens will see some form of tax cuts from the 2019 session. Both the governor and the legislative taskforce have said they want to lower income taxes.

This cut could be coupled with a bill that would require the collection of taxes for goods sold online.

It is also anticipated that the legislature will attempt to repeal certain tax exemptions, though none related to agriculture, and close tax loopholes. The governor is advocating for a reduction in the top income tax bracket phased in over the next four years. The goal is an overall reduction in tax collections but significant budget needs exist. The budget will be the biggest factor in how any tax reform is implemented. The passage of the casino amendment has created an initial loss in tax revenue from gaming. The state also has significant infrastructure and education needs.

Infrastructure Highway funding for maintenance and construction will be one of the hottest topics and most expensive.

Many agree an increase in base funding for highways and infrastructure is needed. What is not agreed upon is how to create the increase: an increase in sales tax on fuel, diversion of car related sales tax to infrastructure funding instead of general revenue, higher taxes on fuel efficient vehicles, increased registration fees. Will some of these be adopted by the legislature or referred to the ballot?

Government Reorganization Gov. Hutchinson campaigned in part on a government transformation plan. Many legislators have shared their support for reorganization as well.

In October, the Governor revealed a plan to reduce the number of state agencies from 42 to 15. The plan would merge agencies with related missions. It’s a bold plan and will likely involve a several-hundred-page bill (if the plan holds) to introduce only one piece of legislation.

Ethics Reform Public corruption among some former legislators, lobbyists and private businesses has spurred calls for improved ethics standards. The legislature has created a committee to identify ethics reform that could prevent future corruption scandals. At a minimum, legislators will adopt enhanced disclosure rules. Improved enforcement authority for the Ethics Commission, lost pensions for violators and campaign finance changes will also be considered.

Healthcare Recent polls revealed that Arkansans considered healthcare the most important issues of the 2018 elections. The legislature will continue to tweak our own version of Medicaid expansion. The Governor and legislature will also consider more legislation to address the opioid crisis. There is more support than ever for access to mental healthcare and additional consideration will be given to improved services there.

Education Gov. Hutchinson wants to increase pay for beginning teachers by 13 percent. This would make Arkansas one of the most competitive states in the region for beginning teacher salaries. The governor is proud of his administration’s efforts in computer science education and more work there can be expected. The Governor hopes to continue progress in workforce training and literacy.

Public Safety The legislature has made significant changes in the corrections laws in recent sessions. The biggest public safety change on the agenda this year could be related to school safety. The legislature created an interim working group to develop some policy changes to improve school safety. Another issue with support is improved incarceration to re-entry programs. Improving the success of former inmates with job placement and other elements is a possible solution for prison overcrowding and recidivism.

The session will last around 100 days and much will be accomplished in that time. However, few, if any, of these issues will be wholly solved within the session. Nevertheless, legislative leadership and Gov. Hutchinson have signaled their goals to make changes in each of these areas and bill drafters are already working on legislation. *

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Indigo researchers look over plant seedlings in a greenhouse.

avid Perry says he doesn’t recall ever waking up before his father. This served as a valuable lesson for him and became an essential part of who he is today.

“You see your parents’ work ethic and it becomes ingrained as a result of that,” Perry says.

“It sort of gives you a clear sense of what it takes to be successful.”

Perry does, in fact, know a thing or two about being successful. An Arkansas native and Harvard MBA graduate who started and sold multiple companies, Perry is now the CEO of fast-growing agriculture industry startup Indigo Ag, Inc. Indigo Ag develops microbial and digital technologies targeted at farmers, with a goal of “improving grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health.” According to the company, it uses “beneficial plant microbes to improve crop health and productivity.” In other words, it uses unique seed treatments to improve plant health and increase yield, and its technology is currently focused on cotton, wheat, corn, soybeans and rice.

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Seeding the Future of

AGRICULTURE

by Rob Anderson

Based in Boston – with both Harvard and M.I.T nearby, a hub of microbiology expertise – Indigo Ag now has a major office in Memphis focused on sales, marketing and supply chain operations. In September, the company announced a $250 million round of funding, bringing the total capital the company has raised to more than $650 million.

“We’re not dabbling. This is a significant effort with money and expertise behind it,” says Perry. “We see an opportunity to make fundamental changes in agriculture and enable farmers to produce higher-quality products and connect to buyers. If we’re right, this will bring significant change to farm economics.”

For Perry, the journey to his leadership role at Indigo Ag began on a farm outside of Magnolia (Columbia County) that focused on corn, cattle and timber. His family also had a fertilizer distribution business. In addition to his family’s work ethic, Perry’s path was influenced by his experience with the family business.

“It fostered a certain sense of independence,” he says. “One of the benefits of growing up on a farm is that you learn to figure things out and get it done for yourself.”

Perry and his family moved to Harrison during his high school years and he went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tulsa and, ultimately, that Harvard MBA. It was after earning the MBA that Perry began his real entrepreneurial journey, founding and running various tech companies focused on software and human health.

“When I left my last company in 2014, I had an opportunity to decide what to do next and I had reached a conclusion that one of the biggest problems we will face over time is how we will feed a growing population in a way that’s economically viable for farmers,” explains Perry. “Farming may be the most important industry in the world, but increasingly it is somehow not an economically viable profession.”

Perry made it his mission to change this by exploring ways to not only alter the business of farming, but to make it more environmentally stable and less chemical-dependent.

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“You see your parents’ work ethic and it becomes ingrained as a result of that...

It sort of gives you a clear sense of what it takes to be successful.”

– David Perry

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Inside the Indigo Ag labs, researchers work to identify microbes that may help plants be more resilient and fruitful.

“We realize this is a big ambition,” he notes. “There is a lot more money going into software and human health, and about a hundred times more startups in those areas. For some reason, new business models haven’t taken hold in agriculture like they have in others, even though it’s one of the largest industries. No major company – like an Amazon or Airbnb – is disrupting it on a large scale.”

Perry says he and his team are really attempting to “de-commoditize” farming by allowing farmers to grow specific or special varieties – higher or lower protein corn, for example – store on-farm and deliver directly to buyers who are seeking those specific varieties.

“It’s impossible to get paid for producing higher-quality or sustainable products without somehow segregating from the products of other farmers,” he explains. “This is about separating or getting away from producing commodities and producing exactly what buyers are looking for.”

To this end, Perry says, his company has an entire group in his company focused on identifying and building relationships with buyers.

This allows his company to not only offer a product designed to help improve yield, but also help the farmers with marketing by connecting them with buyers who will pay more for that yield.

“We can talk to our farmers about improving profitability,” he says.

“There are a lot of companies interested in selling something to farmers, but not as many offering to help improve profit.”

Perry is excited about the business side of Indigo, but he is also enthusiastic about the science that his team is engaged in and where it could lead.

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Some of Logan and Andy Jett’s Indigo crop.

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Identifying microbes that might help plants be more resilient and fruitful is the challenge, he says, and that involves data, machine learning and DNA sequencing to shrink the possibilities and limit the number of experiments needed to determine which microbes to use.

“The core idea here is that we’re leveraging microbes that evolved with plants over hundreds of millions of years. It’s about harnessing nature and improving on what’s found in nature,” he says. “It’s simple in concept, but the hard part is that there may be a trillion microbes that could help plants, so you have to work your way through them. We’re very early in the science, but we’re seeing yield improvements of 10 to 15 percent and we’re very optimistic.”

According to Perry, Indigo currently has farmers growing their crops on close to a million acres across the Midwest, and the Memphis office has helped them make inroads in Arkansas. The company has account managers that approach and sign up new farmers and help them manage their accounts on an ongoing basis because, Perry says, farming is a “relationship business” and face-toface contact is key.

Arkansas farmers Logan and Andy Jett of Success in Clay County began working with Indigo this year and are excited about the possibilities. The brothers farm rice and soybeans on 2,500 acres and they grew up farming with their father, Joe, who is state representative for District 56.

“Agriculture is a constantly evolving industry,” says Logan. “To remain profitable, I believe farmers need to constantly be on the lookout for technology to improve their business efficiency.”

The brothers are wrapping up harvest and will soon know just how successful their Indigo trial has been, but they’ve enjoyed the experience so far. They have appreciated the work of the account manager who first brought Indigo to their attention and, Logan says, they hope “our relationship with Arkansas Agriculture

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Perry looks over plants with Indigo co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Geoffrey von Maltzahn.

the company only grows stronger and more profitable.”

“I believe farmers get in the rut of doing something because that’s how they’ve always done it,” he says. “But, if something new makes business sense and seems like it could be a profitable opportunity, I’d tell other farmers to not be afraid to try it.”

For his part, Perry is appreciative of the farmers who are working with is company, and he is pleased with the results he’s seen so far.

“I’ve been doing things like this for 20 years and I’ve yet to find something easy. This is no different,” he says. “Farmers are rightly skeptical about new things and we have to prove that it makes sense for them. We happen to have the benefit of a product that works.” *

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Ag LawUPDATE Harrison M. Pittman is director of the National Agricultural Law Center, which serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The Center deals with legal issues around the country that impact agriculture at the state and federal levels.

by Harrison Pittman, Director, National Agricultural Law Center University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture

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all has been full of important rulings, decisions and issues that will have an impact on farmers and the agriculture industry in 2019. Let’s break down some of these, along with other ongoing issues: Dicamba. On Oct. 31, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a two-year extension of the registration for “over the top” use of dicamba. The extension comes with several new and noteworthy restrictions that producers, landowners, certified applicators, and others will need to know. For example, only certified applicators are will be allowed to apply dicamba. Individuals working under the supervision of a certified applicator are no longer allowed to apply dicamba. Dicamba cannot be applied to soybeans 45 days after planting. For cotton, dicamba applications are prohibited 60 days after planting. A full listing of the new requirements is available on the EPA website. Next, Arkansas and other states must determine whether dicamba will be allowed in their states and, if so, whether additional restrictions will be placed on use of dicamba.

Glyphosate. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup Ready products, and is commonly used in agricultural production throughout the U.S. and the world. Recent legal and policy developments could have serious long-term impacts on the availability of this important technology. For example, a California jury recently awarded a plaintiff nearly $300 million for his claims that glyphosate contributed to his development of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. That verdict was later reduced to $78 million, but more than 8,000 additional cases have been filed. This is a major issue for the agricultural industry to watch in months ahead as developments unfold both in the U.S. and overseas.

Chlorpyrifos. Similar to glyphosate, the fate of chlorpyrifos – an insecticide widely used in corn, soybean, and other row crop production – is under intense pressure. In August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered the EPA to revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations of chlorpyrifos. In other words, the Ninth Circuit effectively issued a ban on chlorpyrifos. If this

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decision stands, this technology will no longer be available to U.S. producers of more than 50 crops, including corn and soybeans.

Farm Bill. The 2018 Farm Bill saga continues without conclusion or a clearly predictable path forward. House and Senate leaders were unable to negotiate a conference report prior to the September 30 expiration of most provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill. If an agreement is not reached before the end of the year, the new Congress will return to the farm bill drawing board in January 2019 to consider new legislation, an extension of current legislation, or some combination of both alternatives.

Ag Trade. In addition to possible farm bill deliberations, the next Congress will consider whether to ratify the new NAFTA, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement” (USMCA). While members of both parties will likely seek some changes to the agreement, it currently appears that the new agreement will be ratified in the next Congress regardless of the outcome of mid-term elections. Given the importance of international markets to Arkansas and other states, the USMCA is welcome news to an otherwise anxious agricultural industry. *

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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LITTLE ROCK, AR PERMIT NO. 1884