While most of the seed decisions have come and gone for the 2010 growing season, farmers are always thinking about the next year and marketers are always thinking about how to encourage farmers to buy their seed. This year, Successful Farming (SF) conducted a seed study, (and they also do a Farmer Insight Study each year) one that they have done every two years for the past 12 years. This year, there was a pretty big surprise.
What wasn’t a surprise said Curt Blades, the Director for Sales and Marketing for SF, is that farmers continue to have a favorite seed company and this has remained consistent for the past six years. But what has changed is the loyalty to that seed company. SF’s research has shown that in the past, a farmer’s favorite seed company mirrored the farmer’s loyalty to that seed company. Yet this year’s research has shown that company loyalty has fallen sharply in the last three studies.
So what does this mean? “In the past six years there’s been some pretty phenomenal advancements in the technology and there have been some wide swings in the genetics some companies have had, explains Blades. “Also, in the same token, there have been some ownership changes and changes in the way seed has been brought to market.”
It will be interesting, continued Blades, to see how it all plays out.
Another interesting element of the Seed Study was that for the first time SF asked if the price of seed was justified and 40 percent said yes. This is good news for the seed companies said Blades.
To learn more about the Seed Study, listen to my interview with Curt below. Still want to learn more? Current SF advertisers have access to the study for free.
Join the American Agricultural Editors Association for a Webinar on Tuesday, May 11, 2 p.m. CST — Headline Writing Creativity vs. Practicality: One sings on the printed page, the other draws readers to the Web. Contact Linda Smith (lsmith@farmjournal.com) for more information.
The Agribusiness Association of Iowa has donated $100,000 to Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for scholarships.
FalconScan, LLC, is collaborating with the AgJunction division of GVM Inc. to offer standardized work order and data delivery solutions for aerial imagery services to growers and agricultural service providers.
DuPont made history this week when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted approval for the first “refuge in the bag” with commercial registration of Optimum® AcreMax™ 1 insect protection for Pioneer® brand corn hybrids.
“This decision is not only a regulatory milestone, but also great news for corn growers,” said Paul E. Schickler, president — Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business. “Optimum® AcreMax™ 1 products will offer growers increased convenience, reduced refuge and an additional tool for maximizing field-by-field productivity. We are demonstrating the product in farmers’ fields this year to show its value and support the 2011 ramp up.”
To help deter corn pests from developing resistance to biotech traits, the U.S. EPA requires growers to plant some corn without a specific insect protection trait to serve as a “refuge.” The process of planning and planting a traditional separate insect refuge is time consuming, and refuge corn is at risk for damage and yield loss. Optimum® AcreMax™ 1 insect protection reduces the traditional 20 percent corn rootworm refuge by half and puts it in the seed bag, eliminating the need for separate rootworm refuge while increasing the ease and flexibility of planting the corn borer refuge.
Agwired’s Joanna Schroeder interviewed Pioneer’s Bill Belzer about the product last year as they were awaiting approval. “What this technology does is allow growers to be able to plant more in-plant traits in more acres leading to higher yields,” he says, which is a win-win situation.
I’m pretty sure most AgWired fans like a good steak or hamburger and some, myself included, like a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Right? We support our farmers and ranchers and that includes meat producers of all types. We know that in order to be successful they have to take good care of their animals. That’s partly why we get so annoyed with animal rights wackos who try to paint a whole industry with a misinformed brush just to further their own views which they try to force on everyone else. The worst offenders are groups like HSUS who use emotional misinformation campaigns to try to get unnecessary and devastating laws passed, like they’re doing here in Missouri with their stupid ballot initiative to damage legitimate dog breeders.
Now the World Society for the Protection of Animals has an “Eat Humane Food Guide” iPhone app. You get a flavor for where they’re at right up front in the description of the app which states that most food found in American grocery stores comes from poor animals who have endured extreme suffering and raised in conditions that are “linked” to health and environmental problems. Of course that’s not exactly true is it? There’s plenty of science to the contrary which I’ve linked to on AgWired in the past. I just love the irony of their concern for animals and how they’re treated before they’re turned into hamburger or a variety of roasts.
So, if you want to take their word for it and find “humane” meat then get their app. Hopefully though you won’t buy into their rhetoric about modern food production that’s being done by hard working farmers who care about their animals and the land they live on.
For those of you in the agriculture business, you probably have spent countless hours wondering what farmers are thinking and how best to reach them. Well, there is no need to wonder any longer, now you can just know. How? Through Successful Farming’s Farmer Insight research.
Here is a quick fact: did you know that farmers under the age of 40 are more likely to be online than the general population? Knowing this should affect how you advertise to this generation of farmers.
I spoke with Curt Blades, the Director of Sales and Marketing for Successful Farming (SF) to learn more about their Farmer Insight research and I also learned, that through their parent company, Meredith Corporation, they also have consumer insight research. He explained that every decision from editorial content to revamping a media outlet to counseling advertising partners, is driven by the knowledge they hold of what farmers think and what makes them tick.
Well, here is a bit of information that made me think: 26 percent of consumers consuming food in the U.S. are very concerned about the safety and quality of their food. Blades explained, “As a farm kid, that concerns me…farmers take pride in providing American consumers with the cleanest, safest, cheapest food supply in the world.”
Blades said that while farmers have known this food safety trend has been increasing in recent years, this research validates this concern. It looks like the ag industry has some work on their hands, but Blades, through SF’s Farmer Insight research can help guide us on the best messaging and tools to lessen this consumer concern.
While Blades said that research was a very important tool for them, it is also a very important tool for their partners. Not only is their research available to their advertising partners, but their advertising partners can also commission proprietary research.
You can learn more about SF’s Farmer Insight research by listening to my interview with Curt here.
I was in the grocery store last night and just happened to find myself in the cracker isle when a box caught my eye. It was the new branding for Triscuits. What struck me was that NabiscoWorld is now promoting “home gardening” on the box. When you look at the back of the box there are instructions on how to plant your own garden as well as some seed. On this package it was dill but there are four different packages with four different seeds.
What initially upset me was not so much that NabiscoWorld is promoting growing your own garden. What upset me is that there are so many companies and organizations engaging in campaigns against production farming. Ironically, at the same time, there are companies and organizations trying to end organic farming as well, such as the Grocery Manufacturing Association, because organic farming is cutting into their profits.
What alarms me with these organized smear campaigns is that not only does all type of farming have its place – your own garden, organic gardening or production farming–but that you’re being giving a pack of lies on all sides to get you to quit eating a carrot that wasn’t (or was) organically grown. If you eat organic, you’ll die because the food supply isn’t safe; if you eat a carrot commercially produced, you’ll die because of the pesticides used in the growing process.
I believe in choice. Each person should have the choice to eat food that is grown in a way that corresponds to his or her own belief system. However, what I don’t believe in, is how people are vilifying production farmers for the safe food they produce to feed us here in America and around the world. And maybe most amazing is that each year they do this on less land with less inputs.
The real issue that consumers should be concerned about is how America is going to take the lead to feed more than 9 billion people between 2040-2050. If you end production farming as we know it, then you remove the only viable way to feed to world in the future. So let’s quit bickering and rally to support ALL American farmers.
Thanks to that volcanic ash cloud I could not attend this year’s IFAJ Congress in Ostend, Belgium. To get a retrospective from someone who did attend I spoke with IFAJ President, Mike Wilson, Editor, Farm Futures. Mike found the event inspirational in a number of ways and wrote about his experience on the IFAJ website.
To start with, he marveled at the determination of people who went way out of their way to make it even when it involved extra expense and time to get there. Additionally, he was impressed with the organizers who never lost their cool and kept a positive attitude. Fortunately, IFAJ always has pre-Congress tours and these were well attended this year. That meant that a lot of people were there before the ash cloud problem started. So give the program a listen and let’s all look forward to a great Congress in Canada next year!
Since the IFAJ Congress was in Belgium the program ends with a song titled, “Strolling Through Belgium” by Three Fine Lines from Music Alley.
Record planting progress continued around the country last week, despite the rain, and corn planting is breaking records.
USDA reports that 68 percent of the corn crop was planted by Sunday. That’s 28 percent more than the five year average and five percent more than the previous record for this time of year in 2004. Emergence is at 19 percent, ten percent more than normal. Kelly Robertson of Benton, Illinois had time to take some creative shots of his corn breaking ground last week. USDA reports that 39 percent of the crop in Illinois has emerged already – way ahead of normal – with 87 percent planted. Amazing progress!
Soybean planting is now underway as well, with 15 percent planted, seven percent more than average. Cotton and sorghum are also doing well.
Here is another corn planting video – uploaded via TwitVid last week by Mark McHargue of Nebraska.
Bayer CropScience has announced the completion of their $15 million expansion of the company’s Muskegon, MI crop protection manufacturing site. You’ve got to love getting pictures with a release!
Area elected and civic officials joined company global and local executives for a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate completion of the two-year project. The expansion is adding 10 full-time employees at the site, bringing total employment there to 60.
“The expansion demonstrates our company’s on-going strategic commitment to providing agronomic solutions for U.S. corn, cotton, canola and soybean farmers,” said Wolfgang Welter, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Industrial Operations at Bayer CropScience. “This multi-million investment in our glufosinate ammonium plant provides the capacity increase we need to further expand our highly successful Ignite brand herbicide in the United States.”
Pictured left to right at the Muskegon ribbon-cutting event are: Chris Evans, Head of Manufacturing, Americas; Michigan State Senator Jerry Van Woerkom; Andy Hurst, Bayer CropScience Product Manager; Michigan State Representative Mary Valentine; Wolfgang Welter, Head of Industrial Operations; Harold Lofton, Plant Manager; Lothar Doellinger, Head of Technology, Investments & Site Support; and Karl Bloss, Senior Process Engineer.
The Livestock Publications Council and AAEA are live streaming their Midwest Regional Workshop right now. Just got the notification.
At the last minute we were able to go ahead and stream today’s workshop in Des Moines. Join us now as Crystal Young discusses videography. Followed by a tremendous line up of speakers.
Post Update: There were up to 70 people viewing the live stream today which is more than attended the event. I guess we got the word out, eh? It really shows how valuable this tool can be. Great job by Jeff Caldwell and others I don’t have names for. It’s my understanding the organization members will find videos of the presentations on their websites within the next week.
The Population Research Institute is seeking to debunk the myth of overpopulation with a series of simple but clever YouTube videos. Our daughter Chelsea alerted us to the latest one – “Food: There’s Lots of it.” Some very good points in here about modern agricultural production and the real causes of hunger.
Here’s the winning photo in the National Beef Ambassador “Farmers and Ranchers Care” Earth Day photo contest. It was taken by Kaylyn Groce of Silver City, N.C.
In order to participate, the first requirement was to become a fan of the National Beef Ambassadors on Facebook and upload a photo to that page showcasing how they, as beef producers, are involved in caring for the environment. To date, the Facebook page has more than 2,000 fans.
Voting took place by ‘liking’ the photos and the winners were determined by the number of ‘likes’. On Earth Day, the winners of the photo contest were announced.
In total, 83 photos were posted. The winning photo became the National Beef Ambassador’s Facebook profile picture for one week and was also featured in Beef Ambassador Malorie Bankhead’s blog post on Earth Day. The winner of the contest also received a $50 beef gift certificate; 2nd and 3rd place winners each received a $25 beef gift certificate and appeared in Malorie’s blog post on April 23.
The winners were: 1st: Kaylyn Groce of Silver City, N.C.; 2nd: Sunny Taylor of Kaycee, Wy.; and 3rd: Allison Boggs of Martin, S.D.
Demeter Communications has asked consumers some questions about food production and you might find the answers interesting. They launched a proprietary market research tool called SEGMENTrak to do this.
Demeter Communications has set out to track opinions about food production practices among “indicator consumers.”
“We want to shift from a defensive position to one of proactively talking to consumers about how their food is produced,” said Claudine Wargel, M.S., senior partner with Demeter Communications, and the market researcher who heads up the project.
These data are part of Demeter’s targeted market research tool, SegmenTrakTM, a nationally-representative consumer opinion tracking survey fielded for the first time earlier this year. The online study focused on those likely to adapt perceptions and practices ahead of the general public – what Demeter calls “”indicator consumers.”
“Successfully explaining in consumer terms how food is produced has really become a requirement for product acceptance,” said Claudine Wargel, senior partner with Demeter Communications. The firm specializes in helping agricultural companies and associations connect with consumers and their influencers. Demeter’s first SegmenTrakTM study was conducted in February 2010. The data show that while indicator consumers think favorably of farmers, they have a number of questions about their on-farm practices and how they impact food. SegmenTrakTM explores what consumers want to know from farmers and what they would change about modern food production, as well as where they currently get their information about how food is produced.
More than three-fourths want to know more about “measures used to produce safe food” (76 percent “agree/strongly agree”). The next response was “ways they ensure animal care” (68 percent “agree/strongly agree”). Also ranked highly were “measures they take to protect the water” (64 percent) and “how they make farming sustainable” (61 percent). Wargel said that while this was an aided response question, it reveals a significant point.
At the recent NAMA Convention I met Mitch Rouda who has just moved up at Farm Journal to President of their e-Media division. He has responsibility for all e-Media activity, including growth of the company’s 20 current e-titles and all online development, merger and acquisition activity. Mitch is a long time web guy who had his own business before joining Farm Journal
I interviewed Mitch in between his own interviews that he was conducting at the Farm Journal reception to announce their new re-build of AgWeb.com which will be published this summer. He says it will be a complete re-do. One of the main changes will be in navigation to find information you’re looking for. He says there are 8,000 pages on the site now. It will also have a mobile version available too. You can see pictures and video from the reception on their Facebook page.
We also talked about other things including, blogs and their rise as an information source. . At the time he was waiting on his iPad since he wanted a 3G version. He sees a lot of potential for the device to be a great tool to revitalize publications.
Sandra E. Peterson (51) is to be the new Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG. Click here for a complete listing of Board appointments.
Dairy producers, through their checkoff investment, will once again award 20 academic scholarships to students currently enrolled in programs that emphasize dairy and who have shown potential to become future dairy leaders.
Ag Leader Technology, Inc, added dual product control for application operations to the popular EDGE display.
A decade after it first asked the federal Food and Drug Administration to crack down on the misappropriation of dairy terminology on imitation milk products, the National Milk Producers Federation sent another petition to the FDA, asserting that the practice has gotten worse in the past 10 years.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
What wasn’t a surprise said Curt Blades, the Director for Sales and Marketing for SF, is that farmers continue to have a favorite seed company and this has remained consistent for the past six years. But what has changed is the loyalty to that seed company. SF’s research has shown that in the past, a farmer’s favorite seed company mirrored the farmer’s loyalty to that seed company. Yet this year’s research has shown that company loyalty has fallen sharply in the last three studies.
Thanks to that volcanic ash cloud I could not attend this year’s 
Record planting progress continued around the country last week, despite the rain, and corn planting is breaking records.
I interviewed Mitch in between his own interviews that he was conducting at the Farm Journal reception to announce their new re-build of 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
