MOUNT ANGEL, Ore. (AP) — On a bright day this fall, tractors crisscrossed Gayle Goschie’s farm about an hour outside Portland, Oregon. Goschie is in the beer business — a fourth-generation hops farmer. Fall is the off-season, when the trellises are bare, but recently, her farming team has been adding winter barley, a relatively newer crop in the world of beer, to their rotation, preparing barley seeds by the bucketful. In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley — a region known for hops growing — Goschie will need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike. All of a sudden, climate change “was not coming any longer,” Goschie said, “it was here.” Jose Vasquez, left, and Eloy Luevanos fill up a grain hopper with winter barley seeds before planting at Goschie Farms in Mount Angel, Ore., Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Fall is the off-season, but recently, the farming team has been adding winter barley, a relatively newer crop in the world of beer, to their rotation. In the face of climate change, Goschie will need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike. Jose Vasquez, left, and Eloy Luevanos fill up a grain hopper with winter barley seeds before planting at Goschie Farms in Mount Angel, Ore., Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Gayle Goschie, co-owner of Goschie Farms, stands in front of a barn on her family's fourth generation farm after planting winter barley in Mount Angel, Ore., Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Fall is the off-season, but recently, her farming team has been adding winter barley, a relatively newer crop in the world of beer, to their rotation. In the face of climate change, Goschie will need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike. Gayle Goschie, co-owner of Goschie Farms, stands in front of a barn on her family’s fourth generation farm after planting winter barley in Mt. Angel, Ore., Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Climate change is anticipated to only further the challenges producers are already seeing in two key beer crops, hops and barley. Some hops and barley growers in the U.S. say they’ve already seen their crops impacted by extreme heat, drought and unpredictable growing seasons. Researchers are working with growers to help counter the effects of more volatile weather systems with improved hop varieties that can withstand drought and by adding winter barley to the mix.
Hops can be a finicky crop when it comes to their climate, and without water, you simply can’t make beer, said Douglass Miller, senior lecturer at Cornell who teaches a class on beer. He added that the price of beer might rise due to climate impacts on the supply chain — but so will the price of everything else on the menu. “All beverage categories are being impacted by this,” he said. No matter what farmers and companies do with hops and winter barley, climate change may affect what beer-lovers are able to buy in the future.

By Global Ag Tech Initiative

Global private equity firm Yellow Brick Capital have released a new report into why 2023 is a key time to invest in the fast-growing precision agtech arena. The report reveals that factors such as failing global economies, high inflation, supply chain challenges and an international food crisis all contribute to a redirection of investment out of more traditional markets and into precision agtech start-ups and technologies. The report found that shifting investment from the volatile and uncertain bonds and stocks markets into tangible product such as sustainability focused start-ups and operating companies, were providing notable returns on long term investments. And doing so at a more manageable risk. The investors are more in control of their money with product performance, development control and sales reports offering a sense of security on their investment. Alongside this, the report also found that looming global recessions and high inflation was driving money out of high-net-worth property markets across the world and into emerging markets such as ag-tech, fin-tech, and med-tech. On a practical level, this newer channel of investment (out of the financial markets and into more emerging markets), offered corporate investors ESG (environmental, social, governance) credentials; especially when their investment was in the agtech arena. By drawing their money out of stocks, shares, and bonds and into precision agriculture, investors and companies have been able to pledge their support for global food security and the bettering of our planet, whilst still maintaining their own financial interest with net positive returns, financially and societal. Johan van Zyl, CEO of Yellow Brick Capital commented: “The release of Yellow Brick Capital’s newest report finds an interesting shift in global investment trends. Though interest in tech markets has been steadily increasing over the past decade, over the past 24 months there has been a notable withdrawal from the financial markets into more tangible products, proven to offer returns while playing a role in making our planet sustainable. Alongside factors such as the COVID 19 pandemic, the battering tech companies have experienced leading to massive lay-offs, and the Ukrainian war, investors are now seeing the benefit in committing to the betterment of our planet through agtech as an investment vehicle. 2023 and beyond will undoubtedly see even greater investment into this market as more technological advances are made and the market scales.” Yellow Brick Capital, the London based private equity firm has itself boosted its precision ag-tech interest over the past five years, with plans for greater investment in the coming year. Technologies and companies falling under the Yellow Brick umbrella include precision fertilization software i-Plant Nutrition and Gro-Plant, fertigation hardware I-Feeder Technologies and ground-breaking plant sensor PlantMetrics. Yellow Brick Capital is also overseeing a new, landmark venture in Cambridge, YB IndoorFarm, that will see research into indoor farming and other agricultural advancements, while being an incubator for agtech start-ups.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced that state-specific use restrictions for three dicamba herbicide products will be in place for the 2024 growing season in Minnesota. The restrictions are aimed at curbing off-site movement of the products. The affected dicamba formulations are Engenia by BASF, Tavium by Syngenta, and XtendiMax by Bayer. These are the only dicamba products labeled for use on dicamba-tolerant soybeans. The three products will have the following restrictions in Minnesota in 2024: DATE CUTOFF: No application shall be made south of Interstate 94 after June 12, 2024. North of Interstate 94, use is prohibited after June 30, 2024.
TEMPERATURE CUTOFF: No application shall be made if the air temperature of the field at the time of application is over 85 degrees Fahrenheit or if the National Weather Service’s forecasted high temperature for the nearest available location for the day exceeds 85 degrees Fahrenheit. “These restrictions have been effective over the past two growing season at decreasing complaints of off-target movement,” said Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “These products must be used without impacts on neighboring homes, farms, and gardens. The Minnesota-specific restrictions are based on scientific evidence and have proven to be effective.” During the 2023 growing season, the MDA received 11 formal complaints and four responses to an informal survey, all alleging off-target movement. This is a major decrease from a peak in 2021 which saw a total of 304 formal complaints and survey responses. The MDA implemented the date and temperature restrictions in 2022, which resulted in 32 reports of alleged off-target movement. There are also other federal requirements for the products that appear on the product labels. They include: Requiring an approved pH-buffering agent, also known as a volatility reducing agent, be tank mixed with dicamba products prior to all applications;
Requiring a downwind buffer of 240 feet and 310 feet in areas where listed endangered species are located (visit the EPA website to determine whether a 310-foot buffer is required); and,
Additional recordkeeping items. In addition to the cutoff dates, Xtendimax and Tavium have crop growth stage cutoffs. Since dicamba was first registered for use on dicamba-tolerant soybeans in the 2017 growing season, the MDA has fielded complaints each year of alleged off-site movement onto neighboring property. The chemical is highly volatile and can damage non-target plant species through spray drift and/or volatilization. Volatility is influenced by several factors including temperature, relative humidity, rate of application, and crop stage. The annual totals of complaints were:
2023: 15 reports
2022: 32
2021: 304
2020: 128
2019: 20
2018: 51
2017: 249

Engenia, Tavium, and XtendiMax formulations of dicamba are approved for use on dicamba-tolerant soybeans only and are “Restricted Use Pesticides.” The dicamba products are only for retail sale to and use by certified applicators.

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