Another busy week is in the books. Did you miss some agricultural news? We’ve got you covered. Here are seven stories to catch you up.

Russia’s invasion and soaring wheat prices

Russia and Ukraine were expected to combine for 29% of global wheat exports in 2021/22. But Russia lost access to SWIFT, leaving no buyers booking new sales of Russian wheat. Even if the conflict is resolved, planting, harvest and supply chain disruptions could keep exportable wheat supplies tight in the Black Sea region. – Farm Futures

Bird flu spread continues

On Wednesday, Iowa had a confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Pottawattamie County in western Iowa. The virus was detected in a non-commercial backyard poultry flock. On the same day, USDA APHIS reported a positive case of HPAI in Connecticut. – Wallaces Farmer, USDA

John Deere rolls out See & Spray Ultimate

The new See & Spray Ultimate offers in-crop weed control for corn, soybeans and cotton using both targeted technologies combined with the option for broadcast spraying. The system includes 36 cameras along a 120-foot carbon boom to differentiate weeds from the growing crop. Watch the video of the machine in action. – Farm Futures

USDA invests $80M in dairy initiatives

USDA is offering $80 million in funding to expand the capacity of four initiatives at University of Wisconsin, University of Tennessee, Vermont Agency for Food Marketing, and California State University Fresno that received $18.4 million last November. Funding will support processing capacity expansion, on-farm improvements, and investments in supply chain resiliency. – Wisconsin Agriculturist

President takes aim at ocean shippers

During President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, he took aim at ocean shippers as an industry leading to the rise in prices for businesses and farmers. However, the President failed to offer energy solutions during his address, even though ethanol offers a solution today to trend away from foreign petroleum reserves. – Farm Futures

Purdue to develop rapid ASF test

Researcher Mohit Verma is using funding from the U.S. Farm Bill to create a rapid, pen-side test to aid in the surveillance and diagnosis of African swine fever. The test will detect the virus within 30 minutes using a saliva or blood sample and indicate results on a color change paper strip. – National Hog Farmer

Bayer sales climb 11% in 2021

Bayer Crop Science grew sales significantly across all regions last year, especially in Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Sales increased by 11.1% to $20.54 billion. The main drivers were price increases for glyphosate-based products and higher Fox Xpro fungicide volumes in Latin America. The company expects a significant increase in 2022 sales and earnings. – Farm Futures

And your bonus…

Gearing up for #Plant22

Farmers in southern states are already rolling, and it won’t be long before farmers across the country are wrapped up in spring planting. Check out how to make high-speed planting successful. Also,  will weather cause planting delays this year? Weather forecasters share with us where they expect some problems could occur this spring. – Farm Progress