Source: Wisconsin Ag Connection

The Midwest Cover Crops Council has reformatted its popular field guide to create the Midwest Cover Crops Field Scout mobile app for cellphones and tablets. The app allows farmers, crop advisers and conservation professionals to access vital cover crop information from mobile devices.

“The app improves upon the printed pocket guide by providing useful links to more in-depth articles on many topics covered in the printed guide,” said Anna Morrow, MCCC program manager. “The digital version of the guide also provides additional photos beyond what’s found in the printed guide.”

Once downloaded, the content of the app will be available at any time on a mobile device. Internet connection will not be required to view cover crop information in the field.

The app is available for both iOS and Android devices with an annual subscription for $2.99. The subscription fee allows the MCCC to periodically update the app throughout the year with the latest available content.

Users will receive a renewal reminder when their subscription is nearing its end. Bulk purchase will be available for companies and field day organizers, allowing groups to offer free downloads at special events.

The app can be found by searching ‘cover crop’ in either the App Store or Google Play, and direct links are available on the MCCC website at http://mccc.msu.edu/.

Source: Rob Schultz | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin, with an economic backbone of manufacturing and agriculture, has become a heated battlefield in the trade war that was started by President Donald Trump earlier this year as part of his quest for more equitable agreements with the United States’ primary trading partners.

Steel imports from China, Canada, Mexico and the countries of the European Union were slapped with a 25 percent tariff, and aluminum imports from those four entities were hit with a 10 percent tariff.

All four trading partners, among the strongest historically with the U.S., responded with retaliatory tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, as well as other products from states perceived to have strong connections to Trump.

Enter Wisconsin, where state products like kidney beans, motorcycles, cranberries, cheese and corn have become entwined in international trading policy.

The president of a Dunn County company caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war didn’t hide her frustration over losing millions of dollars in sales.

“Honestly, I don’t understand why farmers aren’t taking their tractors down Pennsylvania Avenue in protest,” said Cindy Brown, the president of Chippewa Valley Bean in Menomonie.

The nation’s leading exporter of kidney beans was on pace to ship about 50 million pounds of kidney beans to EU countries this year, but everything stopped when a 25 percent tariff went into effect June 22, Brown said.

“I don’t know how the U.S. agriculture is going to survive this,” she said.

Foreign leaders wanted Wisconsin targeted because they likely believe that House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Janesville, is in position to influence the Trump administration on global trade, according to Kurt Bauer, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.

And in general, a Wisconsin economy that relies on the manufacturing and agricultural sectors makes it more vulnerable to a trade war than other states, experts say.

“They’re trying to get our attention,” Bauer said.

Retaliation takes effect

In late May, 25 percent tariffs were imposed by the EU on kidney beans manufactured by Chippewa Valley Bean; Harley-Davidson motorcycles made in Milwaukee; and cranberry juice manufactured in many parts of the state.

Starting later this week, tariffs will be imposed by Mexico on Wisconsin’s specialty cheeses and cranberries, and by China on soybeans, corn and corn products, wheat and cranberries. On Friday, Canada announced that yogurt made in Wisconsin will be subject to tariffs starting Sunday.

The retaliatory strategy appears to be working. Wisconsin lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Washington are focused on the tariff situation and are regularly in touch with the White House and U.S. trade representatives, according to John Holevoet of the Green Bay-based Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative.

The co-op has 800 members with farms of all sizes in nine Midwestern states. Holevoet witnessed “a lot of anxiety and a lot of uncertainty” from legislators in Wisconsin and other states after visiting with them last week in Washington.

“The conversations (with the White House and trade reps) are happening but at the same time they’re unsure of what’s about to happen,” he said.

Sartori, a cheesemaker from Plymouth, has seen sales in Mexico plummet 20 percent since the restrictions were imposed three months ago, said company president Jeff Schwager.

“I get the feeling that the Wisconsin delegation is listening” to companies affected by the tariffs and other issues, Schwager said. “The question is: How quickly can something get done before all of this really causes damage?”

Looking for solutions

Noah Williams, a UW-Madison professor of economics, said that when the Trump administration first announced its tariffs, many predicted they would be a short-term negotiating ploy. Since the retaliatory tariffs have been announced, “those hopes are dwindling,” he said. “I don’t really see any signs of people stepping back.”

Steven Deller, another UW-Madison economics professor, believes the Harley announcement could be “just the tip of the iceberg” of businesses responding to the tariffs. He said many Wisconsin manufacturers use steel and aluminum imports, especially from Canada, and that leaves them vulnerable to the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.

Aside from scaling back or relocating their production plants, Deller said manufacturers can do little for now except urge Congress to press Trump to unwind the tariffs. “If Congress is fearful of standing up to him before the elections, this period of uncertainty is just going to get worse,” Deller said.

Sartori, which employs over 500 people, thinks it has found a creative short-term solution by initially agreeing to split the cost of the tariff imposed by Mexico with its buyers for a three-month period, according to Schwager. He said that exports account for about 11 to 12 percent of Sartori’s business and Mexico is the top international destination for its cheese.

“For us, it takes us from making a little bit of money to hoping we can break even during that time,” Schwager said. “We thought it was better to preserve the relationships right now. In our retail business, if we give up the shelf space, it’s awful hard to get it back.”

Bean export business

It’s a different story at Chippewa Valley Bean, which buys beans from 100 family farms located throughout the Midwest and processes them at its Menomonie factory that employs 33 people.

Brown said the company in 2017 earned $25 million on export sales, which account for 60 percent of the company’s business.

It has been recognized twice by the state for its international sales prowess that focuses on food safety and the quality of dark red kidney beans craved in Europe and other parts of the world. It also has overwhelmed competition from China because it does a better job of honoring contracts and working with customers, Brown said.

“The entire world was poised to buy our beans,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

The company’s buyers are either canceling orders, stalling shipments or asking the company to cover the 25 percent tax that the U.S. is adding to each pricetag, she says. Chippewa Valley Bean can’t absorb the cost of the tariff because its profit margin is too small, according to Brown.

A long trade war won’t put Chippewa Valley Bean out of business, she said, “but its going to be detrimental to our farmers, to our employees and it’s going to take a long time for the industry to recover.”

Source: Judy Newman | Wisconsin State Journal

Zurex Pharma, a Middleton company with a new type of antiseptic for surgical wounds, is getting a boost from investors as it prepares to file for approval of its first product from federal regulators.

Zurex has added $9 million to its coffers, raising the total received so far to $28 million.

Zurex president and CEO Carmine Durham said ZurexPrep is a new type of antimicrobial solution designed to prevent infections from forming after surgery. Durham said isopropyl alcohol does “a pretty good job by itself” in killing bacteria, but it dries quickly.

“Our proprietary formula actually supports the effect of the alcohol better,” he said. “We have a unique formula using small amounts of paraben and citrate.”

Paraben is commonly used as a preservative for cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. The citric acid works with the paraben to make the antimicrobial effect last longer, Durham said.

ZurexPrep is applied to the skin before surgery to decontaminate the area.

Durham said two studies of more than 1,300 people, in all, showed favorable results compared to the leading product on the market.

He said healthy volunteers were prepped for hypothetical surgery on the abdomen and groin area, “but you’re not cutting them.” Their skin was tested before they were prepped, and at three times after the application, up to six hours later.

Durham said infections at surgical sites are the most costly hospital-acquired infection, with the total price tag estimated at $3.5 billion to $10 billion a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Durham said he expects to submit a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “within weeks” and if all goes well, the product could be on the market after a 10-month review period.

The equity part of the new financing was led by existing investors. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board and Baird Capital continue to own a majority of the company’s preferred stock. A debt portion of the funding was led by Square 1 Bank, a division of Pacific Western Bank, which is based in Los Angeles.

The money will be used to help support Zurex’s new drug application, for sales and marketing of ZurexPrep, and for more product development.

Regulatory approval will “further validate our antimicrobial platform and open up numerous opportunities for a portfolio of new infection prevention and wound-care products,” Durham said.

Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Games Alliance (WGA), in cooperation with the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), is following up on the success of its 2017 event with the second annual M+Dev Conference in the Madison Region on October 19. To be held at the Alliant Energy Center, the conference expects to attract more than 500 engineers, designers, and coders from across the Midwest. Early bird tickets will be available until August 1 and can be purchased at mdevconf.com.

“With the success of our inaugural conference and the rapid progress the WGA has made in the months since, we are excited to showcase the achievements of our members, companies, and organization at M+Dev 2018,” said Tyler Krucas, executive director at the Wisconsin Games Alliance.

2017’s inaugural game developers conference provided an experience our 400+ attendees could find nowhere else in the Midwest. The conference offered the first real opportunity for much of the industry to come together in one place, creating a unique and effective networking experience.

“This year’s event will feature new sessions on a variety of topics, including design, development, software engineering,” explained Tim Gerritsen, studio head for Fantasy Flight Interactive. “We are currently seeking presenters and are working to attract speakers from all categories of games development companies.”

According to the recently released Madison Region Economic Development Guide, the Madison Region has long been known for its innovative businesses in the information technology sector, including many games development companies.

“Our first foray into a conference on game development proved to be wildly successful. We now have an opportunity to build on that by drawing even more people and attention to the great things that are going on in the region and through the WGA,” said Paul Jadin, president of MadREP which developed the Wisconsin Games Alliance. “We are much further ahead than we expected to be when we created the alliance in 2016.”

Current conference sponsors include Adtalem Global Education, Alliant Energy, Epic Games, Fantasy Flight Interactive, Filament Games, Gear Learning, gener8tor, Guild Software, Human Head Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, PerBlue, University of Wisconsin–Stout, WEDC and Madison Region Economic Partnership; additional sponsorships available. Visit mdevconf.com to learn more.

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 About Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP)

MadREP is the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region, founded by business and community leaders to create a dynamic environment where people and businesses prosper. MadREP and its partners aim to proactively and strategically position the region to take advantage of economic and business development opportunities. www.madisonregion.org

About Wisconsin Games Alliance

WGA is a statewide network of over 200 active participants representing game studios, independent developers, faculty, investors, and economic development organizations with the shared mission of promoting Wisconsin as a premier site for game development and design. www.wisconsingamesalliance.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison, WI – The Madison MSA was named the top metro for industry diversity out of 382 Metro MSAs in the Industry Diversity Rankings published by Emsi Developer, a data reporting tool designed for economic development organizations.

“This is another impressive ranking for the Madison Region/MSA and another example of how it has distinguished itself by excelling in our legacy industries of manufacturing and agriculture while building world-renowned bio-tech, info-tech, health and fin-tech sectors,” MadREP president Paul Jadin said. “The report validates the collaboration among our counties as the rural areas are clearly more dense in agriculture and manufacturing while Dane County excels in the new and emerging sectors. By itself, Dane County ranks 10th while, with the other three in the MSA, the Region becomes the most diverse economy in the country.”

A diverse economy is vital to the health and stability of a region. According to Emsi, diverse economies tend to have lower unemployment rates, less volatility and recover quicker in the event of a downturn.

About Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP)
MadREP is the economic development agency for the eight-county Madison Region, founded by business and community leaders to create a dynamic environment where people and businesses prosper. MadREP and its partners aim to proactively and strategically position the region to take advantage of economic and business development opportunities. Visit madisonregion.org for more information.

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Madison, WI Industry Diversity

(Source: economicmodeling.com/2018/06/06/diversified-economies-matter)