Louis Dreyfus hungry for more agricultural assets-document

* Dreyfus taps bond markets twice in 12 months

* Seen focusing on agribusiness after energy exit

* Says asset base rose nearly 60 pct since 2010

By Emma Farge and Tom Miles

GENEVA, July 26 (Reuters) - Trading giant Louis Dreyfus plans to invest in assets ranging from orange groves to sugar refiners, it said in the first glimpse of its strategy following the departure of its long-serving CEO in June.

Privately-owned Louis Dreyfus outlined its plans in a prospectus seen by Reuters as the firm seeks to raise 400 million euros ($529.4 million) via a five-year bond issue.

The bond is the firm's second in less than a year as it seeks to expand its global portfolio of fixed assets which it said amounted to $3.7 billion at the end of last year, up nearly 60 percent from 2010.

"The Group intends to exploit opportunities for building and/or acquiring assets all along the value chain, both upstream and downstream, ranging from production assets such as orange groves through processing assets," the company said, mentioning oilseed crushing plants and sugar refineries specifically.

"This sourcing and processing asset expansion will be supported by targeted acquisitions and expansion on the logistics and infrastructure side, for example, by investing in deep-sea port terminals and storage facilities in key sources and destinations," it added.

The firm had entered an agreement to build a port terminal for agriculturalcommodities in the Black Sea region, it said, without elaborating or giving details.

Dreyfus is the "D" of the so-called ABCD majors that dominate trade in agricultural products, a quartet that also comprises Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill. Last year it said it aimed to increase investments in the five years from 2012 by 40 percent over 2006-2011.

The prospectus said that expansion would focus on regions where demand is high such as China, India and Africa as well as key sourcing areas such as Indonesia and the Black Sea.

Louis Dreyfus, a 160-year-old company with French roots and trading operations in Switzerland, agreed to buy Dutch-based dairy trading group Ecoval as well as Imperial Sugar Co last year.

It said in the prospectus it would also consider expanding into new commodities, including further development in the dairy industry. It was also continuing to invest to meet growing demand for sustainable and traceable coffee.

It also plans to develop a network of feed mills, having begun operating three mills in China in recent joint ventures.

The firm plans to use its presence in China to beef up its metals merchandising business, while expanding its logistics in source countries such as Peru

, Bolivia, Zambia and Namibia.



RESHUFFLE

Investors have been eager for news on the firm's strategy following changes to its leadership, with the departure of Serge Schoen in June who oversaw a tripling of turnover and record profits during his eight-year reign.

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, the widow of former head Robert Louis-Dreyfus, has also increased her stake since late last year via Akira Trust to 65.1 percent from about 50 percent a few years ago.

The expansion plans suggests the group will likely focus on building scale further in its core agribusiness following the sale of its energy business last year, allowing it to better compete with top rivals like Glencore and Cargill.

The firm gave no indication on whether it would pursue a public share offering to fund acquisitions. It has already increased its debt funding, with net debt rising to $2.8 billion at the end of 2012 from $2.4 billion a year earlier.

A breakdown of its financial results over the past three years showed that the group was generating a rising portion of sales from emerging markets, with 40 percent of total revenues in Asia last year.

But Louis Dreyfus said it was also facing growing competition as some developing countries relaxed entry barriers to new participants, enabling the firm's own customers to compete by sourcing products directly.



"Increased competition may reduce the growth in customer base, reduce the profit margin and the market share that the Group currently has, and result in higher selling and marketing expenses," the company said.

Original Article Here

New Study Documents Agricultural Chemicals in Sierra Frogs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Scientists have known for years that pesticides drift from California's agricultural heartland and accumulate in frogs at remote locations in the Sierra Nevada.

Now they have a better understanding of exactly which pesticides collect in the frogs' tissue.

A study by the U.S. Geological Survey released on Friday tested for nearly 100 of California's most commonly used pesticides. It found concentrations of two fungicides – pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole – and one herbicide – simazine – in Pacific chorus frogs.

"Our results show that current-use pesticides, particularly fungicides, are accumulating in the bodies of Pacific chorus frogs in the Sierra Nevada," says Kelly Smalling, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of the study. "This is the first time we’ve detected many of these compounds, including fungicides, in the Sierra Nevada. The data generated by this study support past research on the potential of pesticides to be transported by wind or rain from the Central Valley to the Sierras."

Researchers sampled seven sites across Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Stanislaus National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument. They collected and analyzed water and sediment samples and frogs for more than 90 different types of pesticides. The Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) was chosen because it is commonly found in water bodies across the Sierra Nevada, allowing researchers to compare results across locations.

"One notable finding was that among sites where pesticides were detected in frog tissue, none of those compounds were detected in the water samples and only a few were detected in the sediment samples," adds Smalling. "This suggests that frogs might be a more reliable indicator of environmental accumulation for these types of pesticides, than either water or soil."

Scientists say the study is a first step in determining why amphibian populations are declining. Climate change and habitat degradation from livestock grazing also are thought to contribute to the decline.

"Documenting the presence of environmental contaminants in amphibians found in our protected federal lands is an important first step in finding out whether the frogs are experiencing health consequences from such exposure," says Patrick Kleeman, a USGS amphibian ecologist who collected the frog samples. "Unfortunately, these animals are often exposed to a cocktail of multiple contaminants, making it difficult to parse out the effects of individual contaminants."

Original Article Here

Frogs ingest pesticides from agriculture fields 100 miles away

Frogs living in remote mountain ponds in the Sierra Nevada are ingesting pesticides used to grow crops 50 to 100 miles away in California’s Central Valley, according to a study by government scientists. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey

identified 10 distinct chemicals in the frogs’ tissues, including residues of DDT, an insecticide that’s been banned for more than 40 years.


No Kermit, it’s not easy being green.

While the new study, published Thursday in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, found only trace amounts of the agricultural chemicals, researchers say that’s almost beside the point: The mere fact that the pesticides had made their way to distant sites in national parks and other public lands was their primary concern.

Amphibians are considered excellent indicators of ecosystem health due to their sensitivity to environmental change. And while they’re not as charismatic as polar bears,“they are a part of the food web,” said study leader Kelly Smalling, a research hydrologist who monitors pesticides in amphibians for the U.S. Geological Survey.

“If frog populations decline, you’re going to have an increase in insect populations,” Smalling said. By by protecting them, “you’re keeping the food web balanced.”

And their populations are declining. Badly.

A recent study of frogs in the U.S. showed that even populations of species thought to be doing well aredisappearing at a rate of almost 3% per year.

They’re so fragile that Congress created the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative in 2000 to keep track of the vulnerable animals.

Study co-author and herpetologist Gary Fellers of USGS began monitoring frogs in California in the early 1990s. In 2009, as Fellers prepared to do his usual counts, Smalling decided to tag along to see whether pesticides were contributing to amphibians’ demise.

Before long, she was in Yosemite, wading around ponds at night and imitating mating calls When a male responded, she and Fellers would “scoop them up in a net” and then euthanize them, she said.

The pair collected frogs from seven sites in the Sierra Nevada, ranging from Lassen Volcanic National Park in the north to Giant Sequoia National Monument in the south. All of the animals were members of the species Pseudacris regilla, an impossibly bright green creature about the size of a half-dollar, according to the study.

Back in the lab, the researchers ground up the frogs and screened their tissues for evidence of 98 pesticides. They found 10, including a degraded form of DDT, which was outlawed in 1972. Several of the compounds had never before been observed in frogs.

The three most common chemicals were pyraclostrobin, tebuconazole and simazine, all of which are used to kill pest fungi and plants.

The amount of pesticides found was considered “trace,” but Smalling said it’s impossible to know whether it was enough to cause damage, since these chemicals have never been found in frogs before. “Every pesticide is going to affect organisms differently,” she said.

While the chemicals are not used in the vicinity of the frog ponds, they can travel through the atmosphere.

“They’re moved by the prevailing winds,” she said. “They’re either released via dust or precipitation.”

The researchers were surprised that none of the pesticides discovered in the frogs were detected in water samples from the ponds where the frogs lived. Very few of the chemicals were found in sediment samples either.

Many studies examining the effects of chemicals on wildlife place more emphasis on collecting samples from water and soil rather than the animals that live in and on them. But the results of this study highlight the problems with that approach, Fellers said.

“The frogs are being exposed to much higher concentrations than we would have suspected just by doing the basic environmental sampling,” he said.

Now that pesticides have been in frogs, the next step is to figure out their effects. Death is not the only outcome that concerns Smalling and her team. “Even if concentrations are not high enough to be lethal,” the chemicals could leave the frogs more vulnerable to diseases, they wrote.

Original Article Here

President’s Sona and agriculture

P-Noy’s recent Sona is a portent of good things to come to the agriculture sector.

It also supports a joint circular signed by the secretaries of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) advocating a mechanism for strong public-private partnership (PPP).

This is between the DA and DILG on the one hand, and the private sector-led Agriculture Fishery Councils (AFCs) on the other.

The subject of the circular is “the extension of full support to the local Agricultural Fisheries Councils as private sector partners in the implementation of local development policies and programs.”

Since the Local Autonomy Code became law in 1991, the primary responsibility of agriculture development was given to the governors and mayors in their respective localities, no longer to the DA.

All former DA extension workers were subsequently placed under the supervision of the local government units (LGUs).

Since then, our agriculture development has stagnated. Many blamed the lack of coordination between the DA (which has the budget and the technology) and the LGU (which has the extension workers and agriculture development mandate).

Since 1991, there have been two Memos of Agreement forged by the DA and the DILG for better coordination. Unfortunately, this has not happened. The recent joint Circular has added an important dimension. It now includes the private sector-led AFCs in the governance mechanism. The Circular directs both DA and DILG to give full support to the AFCs by their “involvement in the local planning and budgeting process,” and “the designation of a full-time AFC Secretariat Coordinator at the provincial and municipal levels.”

The private sector-led AFCs will now be the focus of the planning and implementation of agriculture development.

With this circular, an important seed has been planted.

The AFCs must show diligence, determination and dedication so that the President’s confidence in the private sector will not be wasted.

In the Sona, the President identified the strengthening of the agriculture sector.

He said: “The proof is in the data. This sector grew 3.3 percent in the first three months of 2013. This is triple the 1.1 percent growth recorded in the same time period in 2012. That is why we continue to sow initiatives that will certainly bear the fruits of even greater progress of our farmers.”

We support this statement in the context of a four-year time frame.

Under the previous administration in 2009 and 2010, agriculture did not grow at all. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala turned this around to 2 percent and 3 percent growth in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The 3.3 percent growth in the first three months of 2013 shows that we are indeed on an upward trend.

Nevertheless, we fall short of the 4.3 percent to 5.3 percent targeted agricultural growth in our government’s Midterm Development Plan. With a budget of P19 billion in 2007, DA was able to post a 5 percent agriculture growth. This year’s budget of P65 billion is more than three times the 2007 budget. It is now the responsibility of the private-sector led AFCs to work closely with the DA, DILG, and the LGUS to meet the 4.3 percent to 5.3 percent government agriculture growth target.P-Noy’s recent Sona is a portent of good things to come to the agriculture sector.

It also supports a joint circular signed by the secretaries of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) advocating a mechanism for strong public-private partnership (PPP).

This is between the DA and DILG on the one hand, and the private sector-led Agriculture Fishery Councils (AFCs) on the other.

The subject of the circular is “the extension of full support to the local Agricultural Fisheries Councils as private sector partners in the implementation of local development policies and programs.”

Since the Local Autonomy Code became law in 1991, the primary responsibility of agriculture development was given to the governors and mayors in their respective localities, no longer to the DA.

All former DA extension workers were subsequently placed under the supervision of the local government units (LGUs).

Since then, our agriculture development has stagnated. Many blamed the lack of coordination between the DA (which has the budget and the technology) and the LGU (which has the extension workers and agriculture development mandate).

Since 1991, there have been two Memos of Agreement forged by the DA and the DILG for better coordination. Unfortunately, this has not happened. The recent joint Circular has added an important dimension. It now includes the private sector-led AFCs in the governance mechanism. The Circular directs both DA and DILG to give full support to the AFCs by their “involvement in the local planning and budgeting process,” and “the designation of a full-time AFC Secretariat Coordinator at the provincial and municipal levels.”

The private sector-led AFCs will now be the focus of the planning and implementation of agriculture development.

With this circular, an important seed has been planted.

The AFCs must show diligence, determination and dedication so that the President’s confidence in the private sector will not be wasted.

In the Sona, the President identified the strengthening of the agriculture sector.

He said: “The proof is in the data. This sector grew 3.3 percent in the first three months of 2013. This is triple the 1.1 percent growth recorded in the same time period in 2012. That is why we continue to sow initiatives that will certainly bear the fruits of even greater progress of our farmers.”

We support this statement in the context of a four-year time frame.

Under the previous administration in 2009 and 2010, agriculture did not grow at all. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala turned this around to 2 percent and 3 percent growth in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The 3.3 percent growth in the first three months of 2013 shows that we are indeed on an upward trend.

Nevertheless, we fall short of the 4.3 percent to 5.3 percent targeted agricultural growth in our government’s Midterm Development Plan. With a budget of P19 billion in 2007, DA was able to post a 5 percent agriculture growth. This year’s budget of P65 billion is more than three times the 2007 budget. It is now the responsibility of the private-sector led AFCs to work closely with the DA, DILG, and the LGUS to meet the 4.3 percent to 5.3 percent government agriculture growth target.

Original Article Here

Agriculture Chief Predicts Resumption of Japan Wheat Buys

Japan, which stopped buying U.S. wheat after a genetically modified variety was discovered in an Oregon field, may resume purchases as soon as next month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

“We’ve come a long way in terms of the Ministry of Agriculture in Japan to reassure them,” Vilsack said yesterday in an interview with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television’s “Capitol Gains” to air July 28. “I think that hopefully they’re getting their questions answered and that sometime, perhaps as early as August, we would see a resumption.”Monsanto Co. (MON), which developed the wheat, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investigating how a gene-altered plant that hasn’t been approved for commercial use was found on an Oregon farm eight years after nationwide field tests ended. After the USDA’s May 29 announcement, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan suspended some U.S. wheat purchases.

South Korea and Taiwan have since resumed buying, and Japanese officials visited the U.S. last week to discuss new sales. Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, reported $13.5 billion in 2012 sales, led by corn and other crops genetically engineered to tolerate Roundup, the world’s best-selling herbicide. Corn accounted for 43 percent of last year’s sales.

The experimental wheat, designed to survive the weedkiller, may have gotten into an Oregon field by an “accidental or purposeful” act, Chief Technology Officer Robb Fraley said last month.
Contamination Limits

Vilsack declined to comment on possible causes of the contamination.

“I think it’s better that we let the investigation run its course and find out at the end of that process what we know,” he said. “We’re very sure it doesn’t pose a safety threat to the food supply.”

Separately, Vilsack urged Congress to pass an agriculture bill that includes food stamps as well as farm aid before provisions of the current law begin to expire Sept. 30.

The Senate last month passed a plan with both elements at a cost of more than $95 billion a year. The House of Representatives this month approved a package without nutrition aid to poor families. Without farm and food aid together, farm-policy legislation is unlikely to win support needed to pass both houses of Congress.

“By having the food assistance programs in the bill, you basically have a good message point to suburban and urban legislators who may not fully understand what agriculture contributes to their constituents,” Vilsack said. “You’re going to get that coalition of members in Congress to be able to pass a bill.’

Original Article Here

Virginia's top agriculture officials urges farmers to keep agriculture at forefront

BEDFORD — Virginia’s top agricultural official urged Bedford farmers and area leaders Thursday to plant the industry’s message of recent success with both candidates for governor.

Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore talked briefly about the Nov. 5 election during a speech to about 50 people who gathered for a breakfast held by Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg at the Liberty Station restaurant.

Haymore did not mention the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Ken Cuccinelli, or his challenger, Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe.

No matter who the next governor is, Haymore said that leader needs to build on the foundation Gov. Bob McDonnell started in placing agriculture and forestry “on equal footing” with every other industry in the commonwealth.

“We put in place a template that wasn’t in place before,” Haymore said. “It needs to stay there.”

Keeping agriculture and forestry at the forefront is vital over the next four years, he said. He pointed to the McDonnell administration’s achievements in agriculture, describing the governor as the first in modern history to make the industry part of his overall economic development platform.

A native of Pittsylvania County who grew up on his grandparent’s farm, Haymore said he believes government has a “constructive role” in helping facilitate growth and opportunity in agriculture and forestry. It’s the state’s largest business and generates about $80 billion annually and half a million jobs.

Haymore said he and McDonnell focused on two key areas to help the industry: working to increase exports and promoting economic development.

Exports drive 30 percent of farm income and 90 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States, which he said cultivates opportunities for sales and cash revenue.

The state had one international trade office, in Hong Kong, when Haymore became secretary. Locations since have grown to include India, China, Europe, Russia, Costa Rica and, later this year, Canada, he said.

Exports in the past three years reached new highs and last year set a record of $2.6 billion, he said.

“We’re only scratching the surface as far as the world is concerned,” Haymore said. “That’s why we’re ramping up Virginia’s position in the global marketplace.”

He spoke of the success of the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund announced last year. The $2 million set aside in the AFID program helps localities further economic development and job opportunities related to agriculture, which Haymore said trickles back to farms.

Agriculture is the lifeblood of Bedford County’s largely rural economy, totaling more than $23 million and accounting for nearly 3,000 jobs, according to recent U.S. Census reports.

County officials six years ago established a board of representatives with various backgrounds in the farming community to give direction on agricultural-related matters.

The county also launched a “Bedford Grown” program to market locally grown products, such as food and wines.

Haymore said he realized he was “preaching to choir” in touting the importance of the farming industry in Bedford.

“As my grandmother was famous for saying, sometimes the choir needs to be preached to,” he said.

One person asked how new stormwater regulations the state is imposing on localities to offset runoff and pollution in the Chesapeake Bay would affect farmers.

Haymore replied his deputy secretary is dedicated to representing the farming community during discussions at the state and federal government levels.

He said there are voluntary steps that farmers can and do take to protect the environment and his office has tried to ensure resources are available. He spoke of his grandfather taking care of his land and water.

“Farmers are the best stewards of the land out there,” he said. “My grandfather was an environmentalist before the word was invented.”

Del. Garrett said forums like Thursday’s are a way for public officials to listen to concerns and use that feedback to implement “common sense” practices in government.

He told the crowd area lawmakers continue to focus on job creation.



“Regardless of who prevails in November, it’s about getting Virginians back to work,” Garrett said.

Original Article Here

'Faulty' agriculture programs keep farmers poor - PIDS

MANILA -- Despite efforts of the government to increase funding for the farm sector, poverty incidence among agriculture households remain high.

This was part of the findings of the study, titled “Impact Assessment of the Agricultural Production Support Services of the Department of Agriculture [DA] on the Income of Poor Farmers and Fisherfolk,” authored by Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) senior research fellow Dr. Roehlano Briones.

Briones said poverty incidence among households dependent on agriculture was 40 percent, while the poverty incidence among non-agricultural households was only 19 percent.

“Poverty among agricultural households remains high; conversely, the bulk of the country’s poor derive their livelihood from agriculture. According to the government’s logical framework for agricultural development, the ultimate goal of public spending on agriculture is to raise rural household welfare and reduce poverty,” he said.

Briones, a rural development and agriculture economics expert, said this level of poverty is due to problems in agriculture. He said many agriculture programs suffered from “design and implementation problems.” This, more than insufficient funding or other external factors that affect programs, is the main problem in the agriculture sector.

“[This is] a suitable explanation for the lack of impact, using a case study as well as review of international evidence on development strategies similar to those pursued in the country,” Briones said.

The study stated that incidence of chronic poverty or long-term poverty among agriculture households is 27.6 percent, higher than the 10.8 percent among non-agriculture households.

Data also showed that transient poverty or short-term poverty was also higher among agricultural households at 12.3 percent, while transient poverty among non-agricultural households is at 7.8 percent.

“Poor households, the proportion of the chronically poor is greater for those in agriculture. Conversely, of all poor households the overwhelming proportion is in agriculture; the share is even higher for households who are chronically poor,” said Briones.

Earlier, National Statistical Coordination Board Secretary-General Jose Ramon G. Albert said poverty incidence among population was estimated at 27.9 percent during the first semester of 2012.

Comparing this with the 2006 and 2009 first-semester figures estimated at 28.8 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively, poverty remained unchanged as the computed differences are not statistically significant.

Original Article Here

Agriculture must market itself for next generation

Shane Oster, an agronomist based in Keith, says that there just aren't enough young people encouraged to consider careers in agriculture, and that graduate numbers are dropping.

He says it's difficult to staff his business and that other agribusinesses have found it hard to find new graduates.

But as to whether industry needs to market itself better, Shane believes that the marketing is non-existent.

"I think you could probably just sum it up by saying agriculture needs to be marketed - not necessarily better, it's not marketed at all.

"People have the perception that if you are going to be into agriculture you are going to be a farmer - and the reality is, there's a lot of excellent jobs in agriculture that aren't just reliant on being a farmer - but that's certainly not sold within our school system and probably is not sold well enough through the agricultural system as well.

"We all know the hardships that are associated with agriculture and probably people have a lot more negative connotations about agriculture than they do positive ones, and I think that probably reflects on the amount of people that choose to come in to the industry."

Original Article Here

Kern County teachers learn about agriculture

BAKERSFIELD, CA - Some Kern County teachers are getting a hands-on lesson in agriculture this week. Forty-five educators are visiting farms and food production sites in the area. It's an effort to teach kids about where food comes from.

Kern County Farm Bureau Director Tom Bracken said, "Enlighten them as to just what's involved in growing the food, processing the food, getting the food into the store and ultimately to what they eat."

He says in some cases -- kids don't realize what goes into making the food they eat.

"If they haven't been around a farm, or just don't happen to live in an agricultural area, what it's all about, where it all comes from. At the end of the day, everything you and I eat and they eat, comes from the ground," said Bracken.

The three day course gives educators the opportunity to learn from those involved in local agriculture.

North High School teacher Elizabeth Bledsoe said, "Our kids ask us all different basic questions with agriculture. So, when we do units on dairy, when we go and tour dairies, then some of that will come in too."

It's a learning experience Bledsoe says she wouldn't otherwise have.

She said, "It keeps you current with what's going on in the industry. There's a lot of tours like Grimmway that you can't go on your own unless you're involved in this group. So, you get to see different agriculture, production agriculture."

Bracken says that's the idea behind the seminar.

Bracken said, "Tours of farms, processing facilities, and a lot of speakers and hopefully they'll walk away a little bit more enlightened about just what farming is all about."

The seminar is put on through donations from local agencies and businesses.

Monday, teachers toured a potato chip factory and watched a cattle auction. Tuesday, they will tour a local farm and nursery.

Original Article Here

Seminar to help educators understand local agriculture began Monday, teachers tour farms

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A program to help educators better understand agriculture and context of their

county began this week.

The 2013 Teachers' Ag Seminar was designed to teach the intricacies of agriculture through educational interaction with those who are constantly in the production of food and fiber.

The seminar includes tours of local production centers, like the Western Stockman's Market, Frito Lay, Grimmway Carrots, and Willets & Newcomb Citrus Nursery.

The highlight of the program is tours with local ranchers and farmers so that teachers get a first-hand experience of agriculture.

The seminar started Monday at the Kern County Ag Pavilion. There were 44 teachers registered from Kern County.

Teachers can take their knowledge to their schools, integrate it into curriculum and give students a better context of the county.

The seminar is sponsored by the Kern County Cattlewomen, Kern County Farm Bureau, Kern County Water Agencies, Farm Credit West, the Lake Foundation and many other local businesses and agencies.

Original Article Here

How To Prevent Hunger In Upcoming Decades? Try Precision Agriculture

How many mouths will the world be feeding by 2050? It is an estimated 9.2 billion, up from 7 billion today. To keep pace with this growing population, global food production will need to increase by 70 percent.

That means getting a lot smarter about how we raise crops. With 38 percent of the world's land already dedicated to agricultural production, our existing infrastructure has the potential to meet these demands. But farmers and manufacturers will need to rethink some of their existing practices so they can make better decisions about how and when they plant, grow, irrigate, harvest and transport crops.

Consider "precision agriculture" by using smarter analysis of big data to make more precise and predictive farming decisions. Such systems can have a big role to play in changing the future of farming.

Traditionally, set schedules determine when to plant, irrigate or harvest. These schedules may not reflect the dynamics of current environmental conditions and how they can vary over a farm. But by collecting data about weather, soil, crop maturity, and even equipment and labor costs, analytics can be used to make more timely and informed decisions.
Here's how precision agriculture can play out. Measurements of the weather and the soil, including data from sensors dotting a farm, multi-spectral images of fields taken from spacecraft or airplanes, characteristics of irrigation systems, requirements for fertilizer and pesticide coupled with precise weather predictions, all can enable optimization of a farmer's decisions. IBM's Deep Thunder can help enable such capabilities. Deep Thunder can forecast future conditions based upon the physics of how the atmosphere interacts with the soil, which is needed to understand the impact of weather on farming operations.



Precision agriculture systems can help predict exactly how and when different fields need to be watered, fertilized, or harvested and what the weather and other conditions are forecasted to be for undertaking each of those different tasks.

It's these kinds of jobs that Deep Thunder was designed to address, although it is not limited to agriculture. It incorporates a weather model that utilizes data from many public and private sources. It also provides hyper-local forecasts of weather and weather impacts up to three days ahead with great precision and accuracy.

Consider some of the key instances where precision agriculture can make a real difference for a farmer armed with such detailed weather forecasting information:
90 percent of all crop loss is caused by the weather. Using predictive weather modeling, this weather-related crop damage can be slashed by up to 25 percent. In fact, a new report by the National Climatic Data Center found that May was the 339th consecutive month, which adds up to more than 28 years, with a global temperature above the 20th century average.


70 percent of the world's fresh water is used for irrigation. If a farmer can predict more accurately if, and exactly where, it will rain within the next 48 hours, he won't waste water irrigating a field that won't need it, helping conserve an increasingly precious resource. And he can delay fertilization of an area of the farm if expecting heavy rains.




Sending labor into the field is time consuming and costly. Through the understanding of different variables, such as humidity, frost and rain forecasts, better decisions can be made in advance about where field workers should work.




Most food waste happens while food is being shipped from the farm. By knowing what weather is anticipated, companies can make better decisions on which routes will be the fastest to transport their food. In Brazil, for example, many of the roads are dirt and heavy rain can cause trucks to get stuck in mud.




The island nation of Brunei is turning to precision agriculture to bolster its food security by improving its local agriculture and increasing rice production to account for 60 percent of the rice used in the country by 2015, up from 3 percent now. In partnership with the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, we are using Deep Thunder to develop precision weather forecast models to help Brunei achieve this goal.

Coupled forecast models, which is meteorology driving hydrology, will help farmers know not just when it will rain, but how much, for how long, and where the runoff in the hilly countryside of the island will go. Depending on the forecast, adjustments can be made to affected parts of fields, including changes to irrigation systems to drain off excess water, or decisions such as holding off on applying fertilizer or pesticides.

Using technology and science to meet -- along with smart, long-term use of resources -- the challenges of our ever more crowded planet is becoming more crucial than ever. We have only one Earth. But there are going to be a lot more humans on it. We need to become smarter and more responsible about how we go about increasing food production and minimize the impact on the environment.

Original Article Here

State of agriculture

President Benigno Aquino III yesterday cited the fact that the agriculture sector grew by 3.3 percent in the first half of this year, a figure three times its 2012 equivalent.

We appreciate this improvement since growth in this sector is expected for an agricultural country .

The growth figure, however, is not much to crow about, a small one compared with progress in other segments of the economy.

We are still far from being self-reliant in rice production.

President Aquino’s castigating the Bureau of Customs for its outright connivance in smuggling operations was timely.

Rice smuggling has kept many local farmers and their families in a rut with the undetected or whitewashed cases of rice smuggling apart from the haul earlier this year of at least 600,000 sacks of rice in Cebu and at least 400,000 in Subic ports.

Yes the Philippines has imported 350,000 metric tons of rice, a smaller volume than the 2 million metric tons of 2010 but this doesn’t sound so impressive in the face of the entry of illegal rice shipments.

Meanwhile, we hope that the President’s plan to facilitate the opening of 434 more intercropping sites for coconut farmers in addition to the 90 existing ones takes off.

The program would have big gains if guidelines are immediately adopted to source funds using the coconut farmers’ shares of the United Coconut Planters Bank.

Planting coffee and cacao amid coconut groves is a brilliant idea not only economically but as a means of retaining water in our soil in this age of global warming.

Funding for the program would show the government’s seriousness in preserving the “golden goose” that would bring in profits to farmers and their families through “coco water.”

We hope that some time soon, the intercropping program of the national government fuses with the farmer-scientists program of Magsaysay awardee Dr. Romulo David, which will be expanded by Gov. Hilario Davide III, so that Cebu’s rural areas will benefit.

Cebu City and other locales that have food baskets should also take advantage of this fresh impetus from the Aquino administration for development in agriculture.
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Agriculture loan crosses target in FY13

The specialised and commercial banks have disbursed agriculture credit of Tk146.67bn during the fiscal 2012-13, which was 3.8% higher than the period’s target of Tk141.30bn.

According to Bangladesh Bank data released on July 23, 4 nationalised, 3 specialised, 29 private and 9 foreign banks disbursed the loans.

Under the central bank’s special refinance scheme for sharecroppers, non-government organisation Brac disbursed TK4.49bn and Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) TK5.95bn in the FY2012-13.

During the fiscal year, 446,516 sharecroppers received TK11.06bn agricultural credit, which is 7.55% of the total amount disbursed.

An amount of TK93.02bn of agriculture credit disbursed in favour of 2.4m small and marginal farmers, which is 63.51% of the total disbursed amount.

Banks have disbursed Tk12.45bn of farm and rural credit among around 445,000 female farmers, which is 8.5% of total disbursed loans.

Under the special refinance scheme of Tk5bn, an amount of TK4.49bn farm loan has been provided through Brac to 2.6m sharecroppers, who are out of reach by any institutional credit.

BB data showed Habib Bank is the top performer in disbursing farm loans during the FY 2012-13, followed by Citibank N.A, Islami Bank, Standard Bank, Premier Bank, Jamuna Bank, NCC Bank, First Security Islami Bank, UCBL and Trust Bank.

Bangladesh Bank also informed that transactions like credit disbursement, savings, inward and outward remittance of Tk4.6bn took place through the Tk10 account of the farmers.

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Teys workers petition for vote

WORKERS at Teys Australia’s plant at Beenleigh, Queensland, will vote by secret ballot on a new enterprise bargaining agreement next week after many petitioned for the move.



Teys Australia has confirmed the vote by 800 workers at its beef processing plant will be held on August 1 and 2 after more than 300 workers petitioned for the secret ballot, despite opposition from the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU).



The move comes nearly two weeks after Teys Australia said it wasconsidering closing the plant after wage talks broke down.



As previously reported by Fairfax Agricultural Media, the AMIEU refused to put Teys' 3 per cent pay offer to a staff ballot on July 11, leaving 800 Brisbane jobs at risk.



Teys Australia took to Twitter yesterday, tweeting that “if workers at Teys Beenleigh plant vote to accept EBA next week, it will be a great step forward for much needed industry reform".



It's the latest move in wage negotiations that saw a 24-hour strike at the plant on May 31.

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Koondrook–Perricoota project complete

AN $80 million project to deliver environmental water to more than 17,000 hectares of forest has been completed at Torrumbarry, Victoria, a day after a new report found investment in on-farm water efficiency projects leads to wider economic, social and environmental benefits than buybacks.



The report, released on Tuesday by Dairy Australia, showed that on-farm water efficiency programs result in longer lasting and more effective benefits to the farm and the region, confirming the National Farmers’ Federation's (NFF) long-held view that water purchases should be the option of last resort.



NFF president Duncan Fraser said, “There is a way to make sure that the best interests of both farmers and the environment are taken care of, and it’s through farmers and government co-investing in on-farm water efficiency – not through water buybacks.”





“The NFF has been calling for a greater focus on government investment in on-farm water initiatives in the Murray-Darling Basin for some time, and this report shows the benefits that such programs have,” Mr Fraser said.





The completion of the Koondrook–Perricoota Forest project - part of the Environmental Works and Measures Program, funded jointly by the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and ACT governments under The Living Murray program – was announced by Federal Minister for Water Mark Butler and NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson on Wednesday.



Ms Hodgkinson officially commissioned the works at Torrumbarry, joined by local member John Williams MP.





The major infrastructure project, located on the River Murray between Echuca/Moama and Barham, involves a series of channels and regulators and included the construction of a 3.8-kilometre inlet channel and a 43km series of levees and control regulators to enable water to be diverted into the creek system that feeds and drains the forest, while protecting the surrounding farmland from artificial flooding.

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Agriculture science sows success

products, and further the development of agricultural markets in growing areas similar to Thunder Bay.
Research station president Bruce Forrest described the work they’re undertaking at the facility as “variety

trials of different crops,” including wheat, winter wheat, barley, and soy beans, among others. Their research also includes analyzing rates of fertilization, trials on micronutrients, and experimenting with different variations of crops to see how they will grow in our area.
“What we’re looking for is ways of optimizing the yield, minimizing the cost, and the environmental issues that go along with it,” Forrest said, putting it in technical terms, adding that they are trying to “diversify the cropping in the Thunder Bay area, and looking at ways of increasing yield through winter cropping, and those things.”
The station held its annual summer tour on Tuesday, playing host to an audience from all across the province that included local MPPs or their representative, Mayor Keith Hobbs, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food specialists, Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines officials, and researchers and students from Lakehead University and Confederation College.
(For the full story, please see the Wednesday, July 24, 2013 print edition of The Chronicle-Journal, or our new Digital Epaper. You may subscribe to the electronic version by clicking at the icon at the top right corner of this page.)

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DuPont turns its focus toward agriculture Add to ..

Shares of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. jumped to their highest level in 13 years on Tuesday after the company said it’s looking to sell its once-prosperous performance chemicals business to focus on growth in agriculture and nutrition.

The announcement comes as the chemical industry shifts away from its traditional business model and toward products that help to increase crop yields and nutrition to meet the needs of a growing global population.After an initial spike above $60, DuPont shares settled at $57.12, down 5 cents.

The potential unit sale also follows recent reports that activist investor Nelson Peltz, known for taking stakes in companies and forcing change, has taken a large position in DuPont.

Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont said it’s considering a full or partial sale of the unit that makes titanium dioxide pigment and Teflon coatings, to better protect it from market volatility.

“It has to do with the cyclicality, the volatility and low growth,” DuPont chief executive officer Ellen Kullman told investors during a conference call on Tuesday.

Demand for titanium dioxide pigment is considered a barometer of economic health, given that it’s used in a wide-range of products, from sunscreen to car paint. Prices fell last year after some of the world’s largest producers restarted production that had been halted during the recession.

DuPont said sales of performance chemicals dropped about 9 per cent in the second quarter compared to last year, while volumes increased 12 per cent. That contrasts with its agriculture business, which saw 7 per cent sales growth in the second quarter ended June 30, due in part to higher seed prices.

Ms. Kullman positioned DuPont as becoming more of an “integrated science” company focused on biotechnology uses to increase crop yield and protection. DuPont also announced management changes on Tuesday to help drive that vision.

“We need to make sure what the right future of the business is,” Ms. Kullman said, adding that DuPont has been considering the potential spinoff of its performance chemicals unit for months.

Still, there was talk on Tuesday the move was spurred by an investment from Mr. Peltz, co-founder of Trian Fund Management, after reports last week that he had recently purchased a stake in DuPont. Mr. Peltz is known for taking a position in Cadbury Schweppes in 2008 and encouraging the split of its candy and beverage business. His latest project is pushing food and beverage giant PepsiCo to buy Oreo cookie maker Mondelez.

DuPont noted on Tuesday that it could pursue a different strategic alternative for each business within the performance chemicals unit. The division generated $7.2-billion in sales in 2012, or about 20 per cent of DuPont’s revenues. BGC Financial analyst Mark Gulley estimated the entire unit could be worth about $8.9-billion before tax, noting the sale was being announced “at the bottom of the cycle.”

DuPont could have trouble selling the unit given its leading position in the global market, which analysts estimate is about a 20-per-cent share and 57 per cent in North America. “We believe a transaction with another current producer of TiO2 [titanium dioxide] will be challenging,” said RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Chris Nocella in a note.

However, he said other segment in the unit, including fluoro-products used in air conditioning to electronics, could be attractive to such competitors as Arkema, Honeywell and Huntsman.

As part of its shift away from traditional commodity chemical products, DuPont sold its auto paint unit last year to investment firm Carlyle Group LP for $4.9-billion. In 2011, it purchased food ingredients maker Danisco for about $6-billion. “This is another step in the transition of DuPont that has been going on for quite some time,” Gordon Reid, president and CEO of Goodreid Investment Counsel, said of DuPont’s announcement Tuesday. “They’re becoming more of a high tech science-based organization. The predictability is greater and long term earnings growth rates are better.”

Overall, DuPont reported second-quarter profit of $1.03-billion, or $1.11 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared to $1.17-billion, or $1.23, for the same period last year. Revenue fell 1 per cent to $9.8-billion.

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AGRICULTURE: Promising quarter for local farmers

This year stands to be a profitable one for local farmers, in terms of crop yields and high commodity prices.

But, developers still aren't knocking on any doors, wanting to buy acreage, turning farm land into

subdivisions and strip malls.

“The farmers are buying ground now that developers were buying four years ago,” Porter County farmer Tim Stoner said.

Stoner, who represents the Agriculture sector on the Times Board of Economists, said that trend might change as developers' interests change.

The ground in our region is prime for crops, especially corn and soybeans, Stoner said.

Growing conditions have been good this year, said Stoner, who dismissed the adage, “Knee high by the Fourth of July,” meaning if corn reaches that height by then, it is growing at a good pace.

It's an old way of thinking, he said. If corn is only knee high in early July, it is a bad sign.

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A Stinging Rebuke of Anti-Agriculture Environmental Activists

An estimated one hundred people braved scorching outdoor temperatures to attend a memorial service earlier this month. The honorees, however, were not heroes, community figures, or even human. They were bees apparently killed by accident in Wilsonville, Ore. Deemed a "bee kill," the insects were found dead in a Target parking lot after a pesticide was sprayed on trees infested with aphids.

Media attention to the incident has been heightened by anti-agricultural pesticide activists trying to score political points off the dead bugs. According to experts, however, the problem wasn't the pesticide, it was the application.

"The mistake was that the trees were sprayed while they were in full bloom," said Dr. Dewey Caron, an affiliate professor of horticulture at Oregon State University. The pesticide was sprayed during a window of time in which bees were most attracted to the trees. "It was a bad oversight," he said. "They should well have been aware that there could have been some collateral damage on some unintended targets."

It turns out that failing to read and follow the labels is a big threat to bees. According to Tim Wessels, president of a beekeeper association in Portland, improper use of legal retail pesticides contribute to the death of four out of every 10 urban pollinating bees. Bees play an important role in pollinating many agricultural crops, from fruits and nuts such as oranges, blueberries, apples and almonds, to row crops such cotton, canola, and soy.

Instead of blaming the apparently inept users, the Oregon Department of Agriculture is blaming an entire class of pesticides. The agency has instituted a six-month ban on spraying any plants with any product containing dinotefuran, the active ingredient in the pesticide, Safari, thought responsible for the dead bees. In its statement of justification, the department illogically claims that the temporary ban will protect pollinating insects till their investigation is complete.

As long as people fail to heed product labels, misuse will have consequences. This is true whether the label warns, "do not ingest" or "not for use on blooming crops or weeds." By banning products containing dinotefuran, the Oregon agriculture department is blaming a product for simple (and blatant) human error. That's like banning electricity because improper use can cause electrocution. While it is truly unfortunate that bees were killed by misuse of a safe product, subsequent regulatory over-reach over the deaths is a different matter.

Why the hysteria? Activists, already engaged in litigation, lobbying, media campaigns and fundraising are seeking a broad ban on the class of pesticides that were misused in Oregon. With bee memorial services, Facebook pages in honor of the dead bees, and Twitter hash tags, they've created an environment where their advocacy-driven claims are taken at face value.

Consider the wildly differing claims about the number of bees actually killed. Estimates have ranged from 25,000 to more than 50,000. A spokesman for the Oregon Department of Agriculture admitted that the agency never even attempted to count the bees. Instead, they relied entirely on a claim by an advocacy group, the Xerces Society, which reached the 50,000 number by extrapolating based on a count of bees in one confined area. Now, that unchallenged estimate has turned into unquestioned fact which became the basis for drastic regulatory action.

Adding to the absurdity is the fact that in the name of protecting pollinators, activists are in fact going to harm them. If activists who prefer fear to facts had their way, the class of pesticides to which dinetefuran belongs - " neonicotinoids - would be banned.

Nevermind the fact that "neonics" are a safer alternative to other pesticides, which ironically, activists also sought to ban. As environmental economist Richard Tren explains, "If neonicotinoids are banned, farmers will have to use older insecticides such as organophosphates, which are potentially more harmful to the environment. These older insecticides have been banned in some countries. Without alternative or better means of pest control, crop yields would likely decrease. More land would be needed for agriculture, leaving less habitat for wildlife - including wild bees."

By banning a safe product, the Oregon agriculture department is playing into activists' hands who want to demonize an entire class of pesticides that are safe when used properly.

The problem in this bee kill wasn't the product, it was the misuse. Instead of demanding that a useful product that has been tested extensively be banned, activists would do more for bees by mounting a public information campaign about the importance of heeding label instructions. But they haven't, and they won't. Perhaps it is time to question not the pesticides, but the activists.

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New study shows agriculture is Grant County's biggest money maker

MOSES LAKE - Compared to other industries in Grant County, agriculture and agriculture manufacturing are collectively the largest economic contributors in the county, according to a recent study.

In 2011, direct and indirect revenues from the two sectors totaled $4.3 billion, which represents about 38 percent of the county's total. Additionally, the two sectors contributed $1.3 billion in returns to labor, capital and payment of taxes that same year, or 42 percent of the county's total.

The agriculture sector employed about 10,139 workers in 2011, and the agriculture manufacturing sector employed about 7,027 workers. Together, the two sectors employed about 40 percent of the county's total workforce that year.

The two sectors paid a collective $509 million in direct and indirect wages in 2011, which represents 34 percent of the total wages paid in the county that year.

The figures come from the recently released Grant County, Washington Irrigated Agriculture: Economic Impact Analysis study. The study was funded by the Ag Water and Power Users of Eastern Washington.

Author Elizabeth Sieverkropp, of Moses Lake-based Sieverkropp Consulting, said the study shows a bigger picture of the impact agriculture has on the county.

"We know how important agriculture is in Grant County, but at the same time we don't realize just how big it is," she said.

According to the study, 63 percent of acres in Grant County are used for farming, 43 percent of which are irrigated.

That equates to about 1,403 farms, or 75 percent of county farms, having irrigated ground.

Grant County's 469,790 acres of irrigated farmland make it the largest irrigated county in the state, according to the study.

In addition, more than 40 different crops are grown in Grant County, Sieverkropp said.

"It's amazing to start looking at where we rank compared to other counties," she said.

Sieverkropp said the study compared the economic contributions of 10 major sectors in the county, including manufacturing, construction, trade, service and government, among others.

She said some sectors may have contributed more in direct revenues, wages, employment and contributions of returns to labor, capital and payment of taxes than the agriculture and agriculture manufacturing sectors.

However, once the indirect contributions were accounted for, agriculture and agriculture manufacturing beat out the other sectors, she said.

The study also highlighted the importance of agricultural exports to the county.

"Exports are an important economic driver of any region," read the report. "Exports bring in new money from outside Grant County and fuels purchases and job creation from within the county or stimulate additional county imports."

According to the study, the county's agriculture sector exports about 75 percent of what it produces. Agriculture was Grant County's largest exporter in 2011, with exports of about $1.2 billion.

Fruit and hay were the main exported crops that year.

The county's agricultural manufacturing sector also does a lot of exporting, according to the study. Nearly 90 percent of its output is exported.

Frozen food manufacturers export 97 percent of their product and fruit and vegetable drying operations export 95 percent of their product.

Multipliers are used to measure the economic impact of exports.

A large multiplier means large amounts of output are generated from exports, according to the study.

Grant County agriculture has an economic impact multiplier of 2.65, which means that for every dollar of agricultural products sold or exported, an additional $1.65 of economic impact occurs within the county.

The standard agricultural multiplier is 2.51.

According to the study, irrigated agriculture in the county is expected to continue to evolve and expand over the next few years. Sieverkropp said one example of that evolution can be seen in the shift of traditional crops to orchards.



"We're already seeing a lot of traditional crop acres being torn up and put into higher valued crops, like fruit farming," she said.

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Farm bill gives legal, environmental protections to agriculture

A regulatory reform bill for the agricultural industry has sailed through the General Assembly and was signed into law last week by Gov. Pat McCrory.

SB638 provides protections to farmers and "agri-tourism" interests against what its backers call frivolous lawsuits. It is also intended to make it easier for businesses to find insurance for petting zoos, educational programs and other operations; protect farmers' water rights when there are water shortages; and give agriculture leeway in building and maintaining dams.

Another provision keeps from public scrutiny livestock and poultry operations' business records that might personally identify them, while allowing the state veterinarian to make public information affecting health.

The bill's co-sponsors were Sen. Brent Jackson, a Republican from Sampson County, who is also a farmer, and Sen. Andrew Brock, a Republican from Davie County.

State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler issued a statement thanking Jackson for his work on the bill.

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Food Stamps Hamstring Agriculture Talks

WASHINGTON—Senators of both parties are rejecting removal of food-stamp funding from a multiyear farm bill, setting up a clash with conservative House Republicans who want to pare back federal nutrition programs that have grown steadily in recent years.

The face-off will come to a head as the House and Senate try to negotiate a final five-year agriculture policy plan before the next fiscal year begins in October. Congress has struggled to approve updated farm and nutrition legislation, requiring temporary extensions since last year. Continued differences on food-stamp spending also have clouded the chances for a final bill ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline."Food-stamps funding has been part of the wider farm bill for 40 years and Senate Democrats will continue to insist that it remains part of a comprehensive bill," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the assistant majority leader.

Two GOP senators among the 17 Republicans who support the Senate farm bill—Sens. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) and John Boozman (R., Ark.)—also said that food stamps must be included in the legislation in order to pass the Senate.

Funding for nutrition programs has doubled to about $80 billion a year since 2008 in the face of the weakened economy and now accounts for about 80% of spending in the roughly $950 billion Senate version of the farm bill. Whether and how to curtail that increase is a primary stumbling block to completing the farm bill.

The House wants at least $20 billion in cuts to food stamps over the next decade while the Senate trimmed $4 billion in its bill, creating a significant divide on spending levels.Republican aides said steeper cuts are likely necessary to win conservative support in the House for a final farm bill. House Republicans have endorsed food-stamp reductions of as much as $135 billion over 10 years.

The Senate in June approved a farm bill by a bipartisan majority that funded nutrition programs, known as food stamps, and set in place federal support levels for farmers over the next five years.

The House, meanwhile, stripped out food-stamp funding in its version of the farm bill that passed two weeks ago after conservative Republicans and most Democrats opposed the broader House bill.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) on Friday said Republicans intend to bring a separate food-stamps bill forward for a vote, although he provided no sense of timing or details of what that bill would look like.

"I'm just not sure what the final solution will be, and if I can secure a majority of the House for any particular plan," House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R., Okla.) said during a radio interview with a syndicated farm program this week.

Mr. Lucas tried to get support in the House for a farm bill that included food-stamp funding along with restrictions that recipients take drug tests, not have any felony convictions and, if able, be looking for work. That effort failed, leading to the decision to separate out nutrition funding for a separate debate.

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