Welcome to iGrow News, Your Source for the World of Indoor Vertical Farming
USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum Extends Reduced Hotel Rates
USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum Extends Reduced Hotel Rates
02/01/2018
USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum Extends Reduced Hotel Rates
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2018 – The USDA’s Agricultural Forum has extended its discounted room block rates through Tuesday, February 6, 2018. This two-day gathering is the Department’s largest annual meeting, and will take place on Feb. 22 and 23, 2018 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.
Now in its 94th year, this year’s forum theme is “The Roots of Prosperity.” More than 80 speakers will present at 30 sessions; the forum also offers a host of agriculture-related exhibitors. The forum offers a platform for conversation on key issues and topics among producers, processors, policymakers, government officials, and non-governmental organizations, both foreign and domestic.
Presentation highlights include:
- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and members of his cabinet
- Distinguished Speaker Akinwumi Adesina, African Development Bank Group president
- Dinner Speaker Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo vice chairman and chief scientific officer
- “The 2018 Economic Outlook for Agriculture,” presented by USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson
- A plenary panel with agricultural industry leaders
Session topics include:
- The economic impact of opioids on rural America
- China’s evolving markets and policies
- Restoring America’s watersheds
- Animal disease outbreak preparedness
- Responding to hurricane disasters
- Right sizing regulation
- Emerging issues in food safety
- Outlook sessions on commodities, farm income, food prices, and organic agriculture
Learn more about the program and sessions; plenary speeches will be webcast on Feb. 22 after 6:00 p.m. EST. Register at USDA 2018 Agricultural Outlook Forum. The forum offers discounted room block rates through Tuesday, February 6, 2018.
Follow the Agricultural Outlook Forum on Twitter @USDA #AgOutlook.
Open Prairie Announces Initial Closing on $100 Million Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund and USDA License as a Rural Business Investment Company
Open Prairie Announces Initial Closing on $100 Million Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund and USDA License as a Rural Business Investment Company
NEWS PROVIDED BY Open Prairie
Jan 24, 2018
EFFINGHAM, Ill., Jan. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Open Prairie is pleased to announce that its newest growth-stage private equity fund, the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, L.P., has received a license from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to operate as a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC). In conjunction with its licensure, the fund has also completed a first closing with strategic partner commitments of over $55 million from lead investors comprised of institutions within the Farm Credit System, commercial and community banks, family offices, farm organizations and individuals passionate about advancing agriculture and growth throughout rural America.
The global food and agriculture system is on the precipice of unparalleled change. World population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and agriculture continues to represent the largest environmental footprint of any economic sector. Globalization and development of emerging markets have resulted in a burgeoning middle class with disposable income, an expansive palate and greater focus on food safety, health and convenience. Additionally, caloric demands are expected to increase more than 70% by 2050 as consumers incorporate more proteins into their diets, resulting in crop demand growth requirements of over 100%.
Open Prairie Founder and Managing Partner, Jim Schultz, stated, "Open Prairie has worked closely with its lead investors to establish the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund as an investment vehicle uniquely positioned to capitalize on the challenges facing today's agriculture environment." The Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund is a balanced private equity fund offering debt and equity capital to growth and later-stage companies across the agribusiness value chain.
"Compeer Financial, along with our Farm Credit Associations and partners, is committed to the growth of agribusinesses, jobs and new innovations in agriculture and rural America. We're excited to partner with Open Prairie, 11 banking institutions, and other investor partners to provide leadership, expertise and expand rural networks through the USDA's Rural Business Investment Program," explained Compeer Financial's Chief Mission and Marketing Officer, John Monson.
The U.S. remains a global leader in agriculture, particularly with respect to creation, development, and implementation of technologies with worldwide applications. Pat Morand, Open Prairie Partner and President, said, "With our multi-generational connections to rural America and a history of success in facilitating growth for its portfolio companies while generating top-tier returns for its partners, the Open Prairie team will leverage its expertise to identify opportunities in areas such as crop protection, ingredients, processing, storage, data management and logistics. The fund has begun cultivating a rich pipeline of prospects and will continue to raise capital with additional closings expected during the first half of 2018."
About Open Prairie
Open Prairie, based in the heartland of America with headquarters in Effingham, Illinois, and offices in Champaign, Illinois, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Olathe, Kansas, is a multi-faceted private equity fund management firm with deep roots in rural America. Founded in 1997, Open Prairie has consistently focused on facilitating capital accessibility in underserved markets. The Open Prairie team has managed funds ranging from technology-based venture capital to farmland portfolios. Through its expertise across all functional business disciplines and an extensive network of professionals, Open Prairie works in partnership with its portfolio companies to accelerate growth while providing top-tier returns to its investors. For more information about Open Prairie, please visit www.openprairie.com.
About the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund
The Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund is a targeted $100 million private equity fund licensed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC). The institutional investors that participated in the first closing in December, 2017 include: Farm Credit organizations – AgriBank (St. Paul, MN), CoBank (Denver, CO), Compeer Financial, FLCA (Sun Prairie, MN), Farm Credit Mid-America (Louisville, KY), Farm Credit Services of America (Omaha, NE) and FCS Financial (Jefferson City, MO); commercial and community banks – Dieterich Bank (Effingham, IL), FarmerMac (Washington, DC), First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust (Mattoon, IL), First National Bank of Omaha (Omaha, NE), Investors Community Bank (Manitowoc, WI), Prospect Bank (Paris, IL), Sauk Valley Bank & Trust (Sterling, IL), Security Bank (Laurel, NE); farming organizations – Farmers Union Enterprises (Alexandria, MN), North Dakota Farmers Union (Jamestown, ND); and individuals committed to the growth of rural America. The Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund is focused on providing debt and equity capital of $2 - $10 million to growth companies in food and agriculture.
For more information on the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, please visit www.openprairie.com.
In Columbia South Carolina, Small and Organic Farmers Talk Farm Bill with US Ag Secretary
In Columbia South Carolina, Small and Organic Farmers Talk Farm Bill with US Ag Secretary
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, City Roots Farm Manager Eric McClam and S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers discuss amaranth seedlings that City Roots sells as microgreens. Perdue visited City Roots Jan. 27, 2018.
Eva Moore
- By Eva Moore
-
- Jan 27, 2018
President Donald Trump's agriculture secretary visited a small urban farm in Columbia today, a stop that highlighted the sometimes conflicting political interests that face farmers.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue toured City Roots, a Rosewood farm that grows microgreens prized by local chefs. The farm also grows flowers and mushrooms, hosts events, teaches classes, gives school tours and acts as a sort of incubator for farm talent.
This year, Congress will take up a new Farm Bill, something it does roughly every five years. Perdue was in the Capital City to ask farmers what they want to see in it.
The answer from the small crowd, several of them younger farmers from small-scale, organic or sustainable farms: 1, keep programs alive that help launch and boost farms like theirs, and 2, change regulations that are designed with large farms in mind.
Perdue held City Roots Farm Manager Eric McClam up as an example of someone who has "mined the USDA very successfully," making use of its many grants and programs for small farms.
Added S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, who was also in attendance, "City Roots is a good advertisement for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I tell you what."
At a few points, Perdue tried to draw connections between the small farmers' requests and key Republican values.
For example, Roland McReynolds, executive director of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, asked for Perdue's help in addressing the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. It's an FDA program, not a USDA program, but it sets standards for food handling that could end up costing small farms a lot of money.
"It is going to be a burden for small-scale farms such as [City Roots] to come into compliance," McReynolds said, noting that farmers have an in obvious interest in food safety but face regulatory burdens. "Farmers want to do the right thing. They don't want to kill their customers."
Perdue took the opportunity to knock some other federal regulations that he said have "unintended consequences," such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act.
Meanwhile, City Roots Farm Manager Eric McClam asked for help eliminating a $20,000 annual cap on payments that organic farms can receive for certain conservation practices under the USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program. A large part of the program's funding is set aside for livestock operations instead.
Perdue, who started the job last April, said he hadn't been aware of the cap. But he noted that any changes to the USDA and the Farm Bill will be "evolutionary, not revolutionary."
And at several points, Perdue was sure to emphasize — in subtle terms — that he's not looking to favor the kind of farming City Roots is doing at the expense of bigger commodity crop operations.
Ben DuBard, organic farm manager for massive Walter P. Rawl Farms in Lexington County, as well as a board member of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, asked for some consideration in the Farm Bill of what are called "specialty crops" — a category that covers most non-commodity crops, from fruit to spinach, as opposed to commodities like cotton and soybeans. Specialty crops have a more direct connection between eater and farmer, DuBard suggested.
"People who grow specialty crops grow food that people eat," DuBard told Perdue. "I just want to make sure that specialty crops remain a very strong part of the Farm Bill. I feel like specialty crops are the rock stars of farming because the consumer can directly identify with it."
But Perdue pushed back a bit.
"I think you'll see more interest [in specialty crops] because of the movement and how the organic community has been in creating the demand, but we don't need to do that at the expense of any other part of agriculture," Perdue said. "It's all important and we're all in this together. So we don't need to say we're better than they. Everyone can be successful."
DuBard also made a common request for larger farms like WP Rawl, which employs some 800 people: keep immigrant labor coming.
"At our scale it is very difficult for us to find Americans who really want to do the work," DuBard said. "The immigrants who come in from Latin America do a really great job for us and they're getting harder and harder to get."
Perdue said, "The president's very mindful of the need for a legal farm workforce," and namechecked a proposal by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte to reform the guestworker program.
The visit put a national spotlight on City Roots, which was started in 2010 by McClam's father, Robbie McClam, though Eric quickly took on the top job.
Perdue noted that the 32-year-old McClam is part of the "millennial resurgence" in farming.
"We see a resurgence in interest in the therapeutic nature of running your hands through the ground," he said at one point.