E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. announced Thursday that it has formed an advisory committee on agricultural innovation and productivity for the 21st century, which will be chaired by former U.S. Sen. Thomas Daschle. The committee is part of DuPont’s focus to meet the world’s increasing demands for food, feed, fiber and fuel. Among other initiatives, the advisory committee will build upon existing research, while examining the best public-policy mechanisms to ensure that by 2050 the world’s farmers will have the tools to increase agricultural production in order to fill the looming global food needs. The advisory committee, chartered today, will meet with DuPont’s senior leadership, including Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. President Paul Schickler, and will present its public-policy recommendations to the company in March 2011.

Amid new Department of Labor (DOL) regulations requiring employers that sponsor retirement plans to file their annual Form 5500 report electronically and to provide more information, Principal Financial Group Inc. announced Wednesday that it has developed two online tools to help streamline the plans sponsor’s data collection and investment expense disclosure. In a release, Principal said its new Consolidated Disclosure Tool helps large-plan filers – those with 100 or more participants – meet the eligible indirect compensation requirement mandated by the DOL. It has also updated its Data Collection Tool, which is intended to plan sponsors comply with the new requirement to file forms electronically through the EFAST2 DOL filing system.

FCStone Carbon LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of FCStone Group Inc., announced Wednesday that it has entered into a new consulting agreement with Heartland Co-op that will evaluate Heartland’s risks and opportunities in the context of upcoming and existing environmental regulations and legislation. Coinciding with the new agreement, FCStone’s carbon affiliate will now be operating as FCStone Environmental LLC and will provide an annual environmental assessment of West Des Moines-based Heartland’s entire enterprise, as well as specific recommendations regarding sustainability opportunities.

Total December exports of $142.7 billion and imports of $182.9 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $40.2 billion, up from a $36.4 billion deficit in November, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced Thursday. In their release of U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services numbers, the agencies said December exports were $4.6 billion more than November exports of $138.1 billion and December imports were up $8.4 billion from November’s import level of $174.5 billion.

Iowa Workforce Development is preparing to launch a new a new online filing system for Iowa’s Unemployment Insurance Tax Bureau. My Iowa UI will replace a nearly 40-year-old version of the filing system with an updated and more functional application, which is expected to give employers, accountants and other third-party filers the power to manage their tax account securely and conveniently. A series of two-hour presentations will be held to help explain the differences between My Iowa UI and the current system. For more information regarding the My Iowa UI seminars, contact Andrew Harrison at Andrew.Harrison@iwd.iowa.gov or by calling (515) 281-7126.