The American Farm Bureau Federation will open online applications for its third Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge on May 1, to coincide with National Small Business Week, which runs May 1-7. Entrepreneurs will compete for $145,000 in start-up funds. The competition provides opportunities for individuals to showcase ideas and business innovations that will benefit rural regions of the US. It’s the first national rural business challenge to focus exclusively on innovative entrepreneurs working on food and agriculture businesses. Competitors are invited to submit for-profit business ideas related to food and agriculture online beginning May 1 at strong rural America dot com. All applications that include a business plant, video pitch, and photo, must be submitted online by June 30. The top ten teams will be announced in October, and the final four will compete in a live competition at the AFBF Annual Convention in Phoenix on January 8.

Australia’s government is pushing back a decision on whether to permit the sale of one of the nation’s largest cattle operations. A joint Chinese-Australian group has reached an agreement to buy Kidman & Company, Australia’s biggest farming estate. However, as Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports, the agreement needs approval from regulatory bodies in Australia and China. Australia has chosen to defer approval until after the country’s federal elections in July. A takeover had previously been blocked by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board because Kidman’s Anna Creek cattle station in South Australia is close to a military rocket test site. Sellers have since removed the property from the offering. The 33,000 square miles of ranchland equals one percent of all land in Australia, or an area bigger than Ireland, and is home to roughly 150,000 head of cattle. The deal is worth 370 million Australian dollars, or 288 million U.S. dollars.

Research by the University of Illinois shows herbicide resistance in waterhemp continues to grow. A new study by the University found some populations of waterhemp, resistant to many commonly used herbicides, are also resistant to alternative herbicide options. University of Illinois weed scientist Aaron Hager says the study “essentially confirmed that we can’t control this population with three classes of herbicides.” The study, focusing on the waterhemp population in central Illinois, did find the population was sensitive to glyphosate. But, researchers cautioned that if farmers switch to a class of herbicides that works today, it is unlikely to work for very long before waterhemp develops resistance to that herbicide. The University offers an alternative method for farmers to beat waterhemp. Researchers say if farmers attack waterhemp at the seed, where the weed is at the most vulnerable stage, then farmers could beat the weed in five to seven years. The University recommends that farmers let seeds germinate, then mechanically work the soil before planting a crop. The researchers say farmers should repeat this strategy for multiple years until the seed bank is diminished.

The National Cotton Council vows to fight the findings of an anti-dumping investigation by the Turkish government that claims U.S. cotton was dumped into Turkey, injuring the domestic fiber market. The Council is challenging a three percent duty that’s being imposed on all U.S. cotton fiber imports into Turkey, effective immediately. Turkey is the second-largest export market for U.S. cotton with shipments ranging between 1.5 and 2.0 million bales. The duties, according to the Council, automatically put U.S. cotton at a competitive disadvantage to cotton produced in other countries. NCC Chairman Shane Stephens said the investigation, which was initiated in October 2014, was clearly in response to several U.S. trade investigations of Turkish steel imports. The Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Union says the cost of the duty, however, will be shouldered by the fiber industry in Turkey, because U.S. cotton has specialty use and is “not something it could give up.”