Recently, a question that drew the attention of many farmers across the U.S. was regarding Maximum Residual Limits (MRLs) and its abidance of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). An MRL is the maximum amount of pesticide left as a residue in commodity or food items.
Greetings! Thankfully, the restrictions that have come with the COVID-19 challenge are beginning to thaw, at least here in Iowa. And…thanks to an exceptional team and great clients the steady drumbeat of projects continues here at DIS.
One honeybee only makes 1/12 a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, but the honeybees' products and service as a pollinator are all but minuscule. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating over 90 commercial U.S. crops including almonds.
The spread of COVID-19 has created disruptions in livestock slaughter facilities. At the first of April, hog slaughter facilities began to operate at less than capacity. The first hog plant to close was the Tyson plant at Columbus Junction, IA which closed on April 6, 2020. It was closed for two weeks.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a virtual conference sponsored by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) on the 20th of May. According to their reports, “approximately 900 global customers and soybean industry representatives from 60 countries” attended the conference. The subject of the conference was “COVID-19 and the Implications to Aquaculture”.
The U.S. is the largest producer of poultry meat and one of the largest producers of eggs in the world. The level of domestic consumption of poultry meat (turkey, broilers, and other chicken) is very high. Although the total poultry meat consumption is less than the total red meat consumption in the U.S., it is considerably higher than either pork or beef consumption individually.
There is likely to be some slaughter backlog yet in July 2020, but much of that backlog should be worked through by Labor Day. The amount of slaughter-ready hogs increases for much of September, October, and much of November. Nevertheless, the number of backlogged hogs in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 are expected to be less than 30% of the levels seen in the second quarter of 2020.
In the past three months, we have been through a unique and difficult situation due to the COVID-19 virus. Because of the pandemic, the demand for gasoline dropped dramatically, which reached the lowest demand within a couple of decades. This led to the demand for ethanol decreasing significantly. We analyzed and updated this series article that was previously done in the summer of 2019, which talked about how the Iowa ethanol gross production margin (GPM) behaved.
According to the California Air Resources Board, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is formulated to lower the carbon intensity (CI) of California's transportation fuel pool and to offer a growing selection of low-carbon and renewable alternatives. CI is measured in terms of grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per megajoule of energy (gCO2e per MJ). The program has set a declining annual target in the CI of California's transportation fuel pool. The 2020 target is a 7.5% reduction relative
Every five years since 1980, the USDA updates the dietary guidelines which are primarily used by health professionals and nutritionists for the general public aged two and above. These guidelines inform nutrition programs, health policies, and more. Much of the guidelines have remained the same over the years, such as recommending increasing consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, low- or non-fat dairy, lean meat, and poultry.
