Blog - Root Agricultural Advisory

Thought Pieces

Soil-As-A-Service Startup Aims to Reboot Land’s Natural Potential

MyLand is a startup in agriculture with a focus on amplifying the natural microorganisms within soil. Specifically, the company has a system that take soil samples from a farm, extracts native microalgae, reproduces those on-site, and then reintroduces the algae back into the field in mass quantities.

Will Carbon Markets Drive Farmers to Collect More Data?

About 37% of farmers use a data software package on their farms, according to the 2021 Farm Journal Technology Survey. Of those who are collecting agronomic data, they’re most often collecting yield maps, planting and chemical and fertilizer applications.

New US rules to protect animal farmers expected soon

The Biden administration plans to issue a new rule to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors as part of a plan to encourage more competition in the agriculture sector.

Keep the Good Times Rolling

High commodity prices have farmers willing to spend more on nutrients and crop protection products to maximize crop yields. But only if it's worth the investment.

Staying safe while working in agriculture

by: Ariana Schumacher Working in production agriculture comes with its dangers. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), every day, about 100 agricultural workers suffer a lost-work-time injury.

Speculators Keep Piling Into Agriculture Commodities

Futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex, bonds and stock indices up until last Tuesday, April 27. A week where U.S. index futures resumed their ascent, the dollar continued lower while US Treasury yields ticked higher, but staying within their established ranges. Commodities surged higher led by very strong gains in […]

HOW DO YOU MEASURE CARBON?

Reading the book Mindset by Carol Dweck transformed the way Tom Oswald thought about farming.

Europe boosts organic supply, but what about demand? ‘Consumers dictate the food chain

By Flora Southey Does the European Commission’s ambition of achieving 25% agricultural land under organic farming risk tipping the scales of supply and demand? REPOSTED FROM FOODNAVIGATOR.COM - READ FULL ARTICLE HERE GettyImages/Zbynek Pospisil

Rediscovering ancient crop varieties

Old and diverse crop varieties are packed full of nutrients and adapted to local environmental conditions. But since the 1900s, some 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost with big implications for food security. REPOSTED FROM DW.COM - READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Biologicals: the next agricultural technology revolution

Decades of adverse agricultural practices and chemical pesticide use have depleted the supply of natural beneficials. Beneficials are organisms that benefit the growth of crops and include insects, microorganisms, and plants. Beneficials provide pest control and pollination, and they encourage crop resilience and soil health.

'I’M STILL HERE': Agriculture breathes a sigh of relief after a year of pandemic

The spread of COVID-19 forced the closure or curtailment of many sectors of the economy last spring and sent shockwaves through all facets of agriculture. Restaurants and other venues were shut down, and many Americans shifted their eating habits to cook-in or take-out. Agricultural supply chains were disrupted as processors scrambled to switch from foodservice […]

Agriculture ETFs Surge Following a Surprise USDA Report

IAN YOUNG APRIL 1, 2021 Agricultural futures and ETFs surged Wednesday, as the CME Group’s farm reacted strongly to this morning’s USDA data dump. U.S. farmers will plant lower corn and soybean acreage than the trade expected, according to the USDA. May corn futures surged 4.64%, to move 25¢ higher to $5.64½, making an explosive […]

Soil Health – Three Improvement Opportunities

By: Skye Root, Brent Lawson, Jim Redmond & Nikki Rogers Lots of variables go into having a successful farm, but it all starts with good soil health. It is easy to look at soil and just see some dirt. However, there is a lot happening invisible to the naked eye. Imbedded in soil are dynamic […]

5 Things I’ve Learned About Agriculture

By Anne Marie Moss Guest columnist Anne Marie Moss is communications director at the Oregon Farm Bureau and shares insights gleaned since joining the organization in 2004.

USDA will distribute $12 billion in COVID relief

Following up on his promise to reevaluate the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and identify gaps in funding, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Wednesday that USDA plans to distribute additional financial assistance to those who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions. USDA says the new initiative—USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers—will reach a broader set […]

NASA data powers new USDA Soil Moisture Portal

Farmers, researchers, meteorologists, and others now have access to high-resolution NASA data on soil moisture, thanks to a new tool developed by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in collaboration with NASA and George Mason University. The tool, Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics (Crop-CASMA), provides access to high-resolution data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive […]

Four Farmland Selling Tips

By Nikki Rogers, Skye Root & Brent Lawson Selling farmland for respectable prices requires effort, diligence, and target marketing. It can be easy to assume your farmland will bring top of market pricing as-is, but presentation and information are important. Having information like historical crop rotation, verifiable yield history, accurate water right information (depending on […]

WHY REAL ASSETS LIKE FARMLAND ARE THE FUTURE

By Joseph Byrum In these uncertain times, tangible investments provide comfort to the risk averse. Unlike buying shares in a company enjoying a spike in publicity, or taking up more complex instruments like derivatives, land is something you can see, touch, and smell. Real holdings don’t just exist on a computer screen — they can […]

RECORD CORN AND SOYBEAN CROPS POSSIBLE AS FARMERS CHASE HIGH PRICES

PLANTINGS OF CORN AND SOYBEANS WOULD BE 5% LARGER THAN LAST YEAR, CORN UP BY 1.2 MILLION ACRES, AND SOYBEANS UP BY 6.9 MILLION ACRES.

Wind energy gives American farmers a new crop to sell in tough times

Elizabeth Weise - USA TODAY Across this central northern county, wind turbine blades slowly slice the cold air over winter-brown fields. The 67 wind turbines of the Meridian Way Wind Farm straddle dozens of farms and ranches, following the contours of the land and the eddies of the wind above it. The turbines are tall […]

Cover Crops: Impacts to Long-Term Soil Fertility and Producer Bottom Line

With an ever-growing population, farming is more important than it ever was before. 200 years ago, people were self-reliant and grew their own food to live, but now that is no longer the case. Farming methods have become more efficient to produce higher yields in order to keep up with the increasing demand for food […]

GOP congressman pitches $34 billion plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest

By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times environment reporter For nearly three decades, the region has been stuck in unending litigation and spiraling costs as salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers decline toward extinction. But in a sweeping $34 billion proposal from an unlikely source, at an auspicious moment, comes a chance for a fresh […]

LAND O’LAKES, MICROSOFT IN CARBON CREDIT PROGRAM

By Chuck Abbott Truterra, a subsidiary of farmer-owned Land O’Lakes, launched a carbon credit program on Thursday in which Microsoft, its first buyer, will pay $20 per ton for carbon sequestered in the soil. The program, called TruCarbon, “will help farmers generate and sell carbon credits to private sector buyers,” said the company.

Investors can now trade water futures

By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business There's a new commodity in town for investors to trade: water.

FarmLab thinks it can get 1m farmers to sequester 1bn tonnes of CO2 by 2025. Here’s how

BY Jack Ellis Do you reckon 1 million farmers globally can sequester 1 billion tonnes of carbon — removing the rough equivalent of 217 million cars from the road — and all within the next five years?

Idaho Water Rights – Understanding The Gem State’s System

Part of our Water Rights Guide Idaho has over 880 square miles of surface water area and 3.3 million acres of irrigated land, much of it part of the Snake River system. It also has 50 administrative basins in charge of coordinating water use within each region, as well as separate irrigation districts that build and manage diversion […]

New Industry Formation in the Ancient Agricultural Industry

Farmland owners are increasingly thinking critically about the development of “sustainable” practices and effective structures to record, measure, and provide transparency to farming operations. To date, despite persistent global efforts, there has been little coordination and cooperation between agricultural reporting standards. Until now, no uniform metric system existed to enable farmland sustainability comparisons, across region, […]

Leading Harvest Sets Universal Standard for Agriculture Sustainability

New non-profit removes barriers to sustainability, empowers producers to innovate, and launches with two million acres committed to enrollment.

Three Benefits of a Farm Manager

The term farm manager is loosely defined and means different things to different people, depending on context and audience. In this article, we aspire to clarify terminology and clearly define the accretive value a Farm Manager can provide a farming operation.

How covid-19 affects the farmland market

FARMLAND RETURN ON INVESTMENT IS SOLID AND STEADY. AND THAT’S OK. By Bill Spiegel In the 2014 book, The Death of Money, author James Rickards writes there are five assets people invest in over time to preserve their wealth. In order of importance, they include gold, undeveloped land (including farmland), fine art, hedge funds, and […]

Redistribution of U.S. Farmland Balance Sheets

U.S. Net Farm Income has navigated a “rocky road” over the past seven years. Despite declines in Net Operating Income, farmland asset prices have continued to rise. The November 2019 - USDA Farm Sector Indicator report provides deep insight to farmland profitability and operational shifts that have occurred. As displayed below, Net Farm Income has […]

Farm Economy: Debt to Income Signals Caution

Over the last few years we have documented a number of important trends in the financial condition of the U.S. farm sector. These have included a decline in liquidity, rapidly growing amounts of real estate debt, and deteriorating repayment capacity. While falling interest rates have helped to mitigate the impact of increased debt use, farm income […]

COVID 19 And Global Agriculture: 5 Datasets To Watch

The team at agtech company Gro Intelligence is launching a full dashboard dedicated to COVID 19 and its effect on global agriculture. “The potential impact can’t be understated,” says Will Osnato senior research analyst with Gro Intelligence. “We are aiming to provide direct insights on the impact the outbreak is having.” Boiled down, here are the 5 […]

Purdue Agricultural Economics Report

Welcome to our annual outlook issue of the Purdue Ag Econ Report (PAER), where we look back at last year and ahead at economic conditions for agriculture in 2020.

Macros, Myths and Methods – Agriculture as an Investment

Food is one of mankind’s most basic survival needs and yet, the means by which is it produced, is largely misunderstood and underrepresented by the investment community. Agriculture is one of the oldest investment sectors in the world, time-tested and proven to weather economic uncertainty. Yet even today as farmland is widely acknowledgedas an alternative […]

Continuing Education for Farm Management

Why Adaptability Matters on the Farm: Staying on Top of Trends through Education is Crucial for Farm Managers and Consultants The agricultural industry is ever evolving. Not only has the industry experienced paradigm shifts in technology and operational efficiencies, but the market for agricultural investment and management has shifted drastically over the past 30 years. […]

Leading Harvest Sets the Standard

A new coalition of farmland owners and operators will introduce a sustainable agriculture standard in 2020. BY CARY ESTES If Earth is our home, then the kitchen takes up half our house. According to the World Bank, 50 percent of the world’s habitable land is dedicated to agriculture uses. In essence, our planet is a […]

The Science Behind Microbial and Biological Products

MICROBIAL PRODUCTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HELP FARMERS BETTER MANAGE NUTRIENTS AND SLAY PESTS. IMPROVING PRODUCT CONSISTENCY, THOUGH, IS KEY.

Four Issues Affecting Ag Customers this Year

The following four topics address what we believe are our clients’ biggest concerns for 2019: INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONCERNS This issue continues to be at the forefront for the agriculture industry. Much of the price volatility we have seen in the past 18 months has been directly related to trade conflicts and uncertainty. This hits the […]

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