Zimfo Bytes 11/15

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Premier Crop Systems announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Darren Fehr as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors effective immediately. Fehr previously held the position of Director, Sales & Marketing with Premier Crop Systems and will succeed Dan Frieberg.
  • Minneapolis-based ag-tech company Calyxt joined Agtegra Cooperative to celebrate the revival of the St. Lawrence Grain Elevator and recognize Midwest farmers for doing their part to make the foods consumers love a healthier choice.
  • In a move designed to bring additional synergy to Bayer‘s agency relationships, Crop Science U.S. Marketing announced it has named three firms its Agencies of Record beginning in the 2021 crop year: BBDO, HLK, and OBP. BBDO Atlanta will support the Bayer Crop Protection portfolio, including herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides for row crops and horticulture, as well as the company’s new Bayer PLUS Rewards program. HLK, which is based in St. Louis, will support Channel brand seed, regional seed brands, Bayer’s trait portfolio, and integrated systems such as the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System. St. Louis-based OBP will support DEKALB, Asgrow, Deltapine and WestBred seed brands.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation announced that Barbara Stinson has been named President of the organization, effective January 4, 2020.
  • Farmers looking to capitalize on sustainability for their cotton farms should make plans to attend the first ever Cotton U on Dec. 5 at the Amarillo Farm & Ranch Show in Amarillo, Texas, to learn about a new pilot program initiated by the National Cotton Council.
Zimfo Bytes

CARBO Ceramics Signs Agreement With INNOVAR AG

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

CARBO Ceramics and INNOVAR AG, LLC have just signed an agreement that combines CARBO’s manufacturing and material science expertise with INNOVAR’s new Encapsulated Infused Fertilizer (“EIF”) technology, and extensive experience with Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers (“EEF”), with benefits for both the agricultural and turf markets.

The companies have worked together on a new product that reduces nitrogen loss, increases microbial populations, and enables phosphorus, potash, sulphur and micro nutrients to be released from the soil profile and become better utilized by plants.

CARBO CEO Gary Kolstad says the partnership is another step in their strategy to utilize the company’s core strengths in the fast-growing agriculture technology space. “INNOVAR AG is a leader in developing EEF technology, which ultimately helps to make crops more productive to better serve the increasing global demand for food products, but also reduces the environmental impacts associated with the inefficient fertilizers used today,” Kolstad said. “We will continue to look for more client opportunities to grow our presence in EEF technologies and agriculture.”

“Combining our knowledge and experience in EEF technologies with CARBO’s extensive material science and precision manufacturing capabilities was critical in allowing us to develop InnoSolve 45NTM,” said INNOVAR AG CEO Andrew Semple. “We expect strong adoption of this product based on positive research studies that support its efficacy. As an example, one research study performed on corn crops with InnoSolve 45N components showed an approximate 24% increase in yield, with an approximate 5-to-1 return on investment.”

Learn more at www.carboceramics.com and www.innovarag.com.

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Facebook Live from #NAFB19

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Trade Talk is an event like no other. The centerpiece event of the NAFB National Convention, Trade Talk features over 100 companies and organizations being interviewed by farm broadcasters in attendance.

Based on previous years, NAFB estimates that an average of 2,542 interviews are conducted by about 124 participating broadcasters. It’s six and a half hours of non-stop talking! Chuck did a walk through of the event today – for those who have never seen it and for those (like me) who are not there this year.


NAFB, Video

NAFB Scholarship Winners Honored

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

The NAFB Foundation presented $20,000 in college scholarships to four outstanding students during the opening luncheon of the 76th annual NAFB Convention Wednesday.

This year’s winners are (pictured left to right)
Jillian Parrent
Iowa State University
George Logan Scholarship

Kolt Buchenroth
Ohio State University
BASF Grow Smart™ Scholarship

Darby O’Connor
Texas Tech University
Orion Samuelson Scholarship, sponsored by CME Group

Macey Hurst
Missouri State University
Glenn Kummerow Memorial Scholarship,

Chuck talked with Kolt and his scholarship sponsor representative Casey Allen of BASF: Interview with scholarship winner Kolt Buchenroth & Casey Allen, BASF

2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Content Creation from the NAFB Convention Thanks to
Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, BASF, NAFB

Prospects for a Prosperous Dairy Economy

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is now president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), is hopeful about the future for the nation’s dairy industry despite current struggles.

“Domestic consumption of dairy products has, for the first time in a long while, equaled the production of dairy,” said Vilsack during a Newsmaker Session at the NAFB Convention in Kansas City Wednesday. “94 percent of American households have fluid milk in their refrigerator which suggests a continuation of a healthy 100 billion dollar industry.”

Dean Foods, the nation’s oldest and largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy this week citing “challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption.”

Listen to Vilsack’s remarks followed by questions from farm broadcasters:
NAFB19 Newsmaker Session with Tom Vilsack (58:00)

2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Content Creation from the NAFB Convention Thanks to
Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, Dairy, NAFB

#NAFB19 is 76th Annual Meeting of Farm Broadcasters

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

“The Engine That Drives Agriculture” is the theme for the 76th annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) being held this week in Kansas City.

The 2019 Convention got underway Wednesday with three newsmaker sessions, various NAFB committee meetings, and the NAFB Scholarship Awards Luncheon.

Still lots more in store for the rest of this week, with Trade Talk, elections, awards and an appearance by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Friday afternoon, and topping off with the President’s Banquet on Friday night.

The job of convention planner each year goes to the president-elect of NAFB, who this year is Rita Frazer of RFD Radio Network in Illinois. Chuck sat down with Rita to talk about this year’s convention and what her goals are in the coming year as president of NAFB.

Interview with Rita Frazer, RFD Radio

2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Content Creation from the NAFB Convention Thanks to
Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, NAFB

Survey: Women in Ag Seek Leadership Opportunities

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) confirms that a high percentage of women in agriculture already advocate for the industry, but they are looking for more leadership opportunities at all levels.

“There’s still quite a group out there that we need to engage to become involved and I think they just need to know that we want them to be involved and then also give them the training to have the confidence to get out and share their story,” said Sherry Saylor, chair of the AFBF Women’s Leadership Committee.

Saylor, an Arizona farmer, said 95 percent of women surveyed indicated they advocate for the agriculture industry frequently, but about 90 percent of respondents felt there should be more women in leadership roles. She said AFBF already provides training for media interviews, advocating politically and public speaking. She hopes the results of the survey will drive increased programming in the areas of leadership, advocacy and engagement training.

“I’m excited about the future and the fact that we can engage these other women who maybe haven’t been involved and know that there is a place for them to share their story about the wonderful job that farmers and ranchers are doing in this country,” said Saylor.

Complete results of the survey are available on the AFBF website under the Women’s Leadership Programs link.

Listen to the interview with Sherry here: Interview with Sherry Saylor, AFBF Women's Leadership Committee

AFBF, Audio, Women

ZimmComm at #NAFB19

Chuck Zimmerman Leave a Comment

ZimmComm at NAFBThe ZimmComm Team is a little smaller than normal this year at the annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention. Cindy is staying home for the first time since 1987 to take care of our puppy who is recovering from some surgery. But, Jamie Johansen will join me tomorrow, Trade Talk day, to help me with interviews.

I have started a virtual ag newsroom on AgNewsWire.com which will include all the content we create this week here at the convention.

Of course you’ll be able to find a lot of photos over these few days and you can find them right here: 2019 NAFB Photo Album.

A big thank you goes to FMC for once again working with us and making it possible to attend and create some great content for broadcasters who can’t be here as well as all ag media. That’s what we do!

Media, NAFB

Precision Ag Bytes 11/13

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Syngenta announced that it has sued agrochemical maker Atticus LLC for patent infringement. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges, among other things, that Atticus’ Acadia 2 SC, Acadia ESQ, Aquila XL, Artavia 2 SC and Artavia Xcel products each infringe certain Syngenta patents relating to the manufacture of azoxystrobin fungicide.
  • CLAAS has announced a global partnership with The Climate Corporation, Bayer’s digital farming arm, and its industry-leading FieldView™ digital farming platform, providing farmers with seamless connectivity and unlimited storage of machine-generated agronomic data directly to their FieldView account.
  • Marrone Bio Innovations Inc., an international leader in sustainable bioprotection and plant health solutions, announced positive results for the 2019 field trials for its novel bioherbicide, known as MBI-015.
  • Learn more about AgIntegrated by visiting the company’s new website. AgIntegrated builds APIs and tools for service providers and software vendors to help collect, clean, and move agronomic data to and from different agricultural related systems, software, and hardware solutions.
  • Pioneer® brand corn and soybean product yields across the country continue to set records thanks to rigorous research and testing programs. Despite what may be the most challenging growing season in recent history in terms of weather, yields from Pioneer brand corn and soybeans continue trending up.
  • USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service seeks public comments on its interim final rule for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP is the nation’s largest conservation program, designed to help farmers have more robust conservation activities. The rule – now available on the Federal Register – takes effect upon publication and includes changes to the program prescribed by the 2018 Farm Bill.
  • October 2019 saw increases in U.S. sales of self-propelled combines while both 4-wheel-drive tractors and 2-wheel-drive tractor sales fell modestly compared to October of last year, according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
  • Topcon Agriculture announces the Topcon Technology Roadshow for North America featuring the Topcon Agriculture Platform. Event stops are planned to showcase the cloud-based farm workflow improvement tool integrating state-of-the-art connectivity, cloud services and data analytics. Four stops are planned for November and December across Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska, with more on the way for the North American tour in 2020. The up-to-date schedule is available at topconagriculture.com/roadshow.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

NPPC Launches Pork O’Clock Somewhere

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

What would Jimmy Buffett do for a pulled pork sandwich in paradise?

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has launched a new campaign, “It’s Pork O’ Clock Somewhere,” to highlight the importance and benefits of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. The campaign focuses on pork and the many ways it’s enjoyed across North America.

“Ratification of USMCA is the top priority for U.S. pork producers and there is no better way to highlight its importance than a campaign that illustrates how pork is enjoyed across United States, Canada and Mexico,” said David Herring, NPPC president and a pork producer in Lillington, N.C. “A USMCA agreement provides much-needed market certainty for U.S. pork producers, ensuring zero-duty market access to two of our largest export markets.”

Last year, more than 40 percent of U.S. pork exported went to Canada and Mexico. The campaign thanks lawmakers for making USMCA ratification this year a priority and highlights the history behind pork-related dishes in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

To learn more about NPPC’s campaign, visit www.porkoclock.org.

Exports, NPPC, Trade