Another NFMS edition of the Machinery Newsletter coming to inboxes

Mar 28, 2024

Farmers can expect to see it on April 1

Readers of Farms.com’s weekly Machinery Newsletter are in for a special treat – just in time for the Easter long weekend.

Arriving in subscriber inboxes on Monday, April 1 will be another special edition of the newsletter dedicated to the National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS).

“We had more than 4,700 people open the first special NFMS newsletter we sent out last week,” said Ryan Ridley, digital marketing and PR manager with Farms.com. “We’re excited to bring farmers a new batch of content about the equipment they can use to be successful on the farm.”

Ridley and his team traveled to the NFMS in Louisville, Ky., in February and conducted more than 70 video interviews with machinery reps and other industry experts.

Here’s a few examples of the equipment and technology farmers can learn about when the special newsletter hits inboxes early next week.

Noah Pendry, a field marketing specialist for New Holland Agriculture, for example, will discuss the company’s new Pro-Belt 450 baler.

This round baler comes with IntelliBale, which automates the stopping, bale wrapping, tailgate raising and lowering functions of the baling process.

Fendt has introduced a new size option on its Momentum planters.

Kirby Woods, a product specialist with Fendt, talks about the new 30’ size and how it’s ideal for maneuverability.

And Cory Buchs, a senior product director at Trimble, introduces farmers to Bilberry.

Bilberry's Intelligent Spot Spraying System can be added to an existing sprayer to enable spot spraying of weeds in Green-on-Brown and Green-on-Green applications.

This technology can scan and analyze fields in real-time using AI and machine learning—with incredible accuracy.

If you’re not a subscriber to the Machinery Newsletter, visit the Farms.com Agriculture Newsletter page to sign up for it, or any other free newsletters.

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.