The man who started us using the term googlable is none other than Nick Fassler, Technical Market Manager, BASF. In fact, he’s also the inspiration for the google juice served at the ZimmComm booth during the Agri-Marketing Conference this year. So let’s make him even more googlable, especially because BASF is one of the sponsors for my coverage of the Agricultural Media Summit that I’m about to hit the agriblogging highway for. Also sponsoring my coverage will be AgHaven!
I saw Nick during the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies in Malcom, IA. BASF was one of the companies supporting and displaying at the event. Here’s Nick talking about all the products the company is offering corn growers today. He offered advice for growers facing challenging weather this season. “Now more than ever it’s important to protect that crop from stress and add in late season disease control,” he says. I know I saw a number of planes flying fields traveling to Iowa and back. I’m betting they were applying some Headline fungicide! Someone’s taking his advice. I sure saw some corn showing some effects of stress. I hope we get a little temperature break and some moisture.
The winner is Jeff Peterson of Port Byron, IL. He’s flanked by Rick Hofer, Iowa Territory Manager (left) and Travis Goedken, Minnesota Territory Manager. That’s a nice prize to go home with!
While I was at this event I spoke with Katie Beeler. She says Ag Leader Technology is very happy to participate in a Corn Strategies event. Looking ahead to harvest she says auto steer and yield monitoring will help corn growers. The company will be at a number of summer farm shows and I know I’ll see them again soon.
Wyffels Hybrids showed their appreciation to the Cummmings family for making their farm available once again for the 2011 Corn Strategies in Iowa. Pictured is the Cummings family with Marty Cummings receiving a very nice award from Bill Wyffels, Jr., company president. Marty was asked how long the family has been planting Wyffels products and what he likes about the company. Although he couldn’t remember how many years they’ve been using Wyffels products he said, “Of all the companies we’ve done business with, the President (Bill) came out personally to see what he could do to make it (their farm) more profitable. I thought that was pretty good for a President to come out.”
Wyffels also announced that the location of next year’s Corn Strategies will be in a new location. I spoke with Matt Barnard to get a wrap-up of this year’s event. He says that as soon as they leave this location they’ll start on next year’s event. It will be held at Harmon Farms in Vincent, Iowa.
We heard what Iowa farmers thought about the 2011 Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies, now let’s hear from some Wyffels people. First up is National Sales Manager, Brian Humphries (pictured on the left). Brian gets a chance to travel throughout the Wyffels territory so I asked him to describe the crop conditions he’s seen. In Kentucky things are wet and as you move through Illinois the crops are below average up through the middle of the state above which they look good. Then moving into Iowa the crops for the most part look good, especially in the northern part of the state. With all the weather challenges in the corn belt Brian says Wyffels has more research testing locations than their competitors to take a broad look at a broad range of genetics. The weather has provided some very real world “test” situations this year. He says the biggest concern he’s hearing from growers is grain marketing. That’s why Wyffels has made sure their Corn Strategies program has experts to talk about it.
Next up is Chris Eichorn (pictured on right), Product Development Manager. He says that’s a fancy way of saying he’s a corn breeder. Chris says the company has one of the largest research programs for a company of their size. They don’t like surprises so when they release a hybrid with a Wyffels number on it they are confident they know what that hybrid can and cannot do. One of the new ones he especially wanted to point out is W5077 (pdf), a 107 day hybrid that has “popped to the top.” He’s also high on W7477 (pdf) which they call the “corn breeders nightmare” since they can’t find anything wrong with it.
And finally we have Rick Buresh (pictured left), Central Iowa Region Manager. In his territory he says growers have been very fortunate. The wind that blew through recently mostly affected the eastern part of the territory. Now the main concern is heat. Rick says that being in pollination like the crop is right now, the plants need a rest at night. He says customers are upbeat but are asking questions about increasing input costs. I saw mostly smiles and he says, “They deserve to smile.”
The New Holland Oscar in Agriculture Award “recognizes the high levels of journalistic performance in broadcasting by agricultural communication professionals who are members of the NAFB.” Now is the time to enter this year’s competition. You can find the entry form and rules on the National Association of Farm Broadcasting website. The entry deadline is October 7, 2011. All work submitted must have aired since September 1, 2010. Here’s some information from the rules.
RULES
The New Holland Oscar in Agriculture program is designed to recognize and encourage excellence in broadcast reporting on
a wide variety of issues.
Broadcasters interested in applying for the Oscar should consider submitting entries that:
• Relate broadly to food, agriculture, natural resources, rural affairs and related matters of vital public interest;
• Have the necessary components to potentially cause or encourage positive changes, or neutralize negative
issues impacting agriculture;
• Encourage a call to action by listeners to improve themselves, their communities, their industry or the
communities in which they live.
• The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in reporting skill, thoroughness and attention to audience
interest. Each entry should describe the approach used to develop the reporting and coverage of that issue.
• The nomination should also include enough examples of articles or taped programs to illustrate the scope of
the work.
• All work submitted must have been aired since September 1, 2010.
JUDGING
The New Holland Oscar in Agriculture program is administered by Kansas State University.
ELIGIBILITY
The intent of the New Holland Oscar in Agriculture program is to provide recognition to an individual who is a professional agricultural communicator and is a voting member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has named John Larson as its new Chief Executive Officer. Currently serving as Executive Director of the Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD), Larson has worked directly with conservation districts for more than 15 years, including several years as President of the Washington Association of District Employees (WADE). Larson is a lifetime resident of Washington State and an alumnus of Washington State University, where he studied Agricultural Economics.
Larson has served as WACD’s executive director since 2004, having previously worked as manager of the Conservation Districts Partnership—a consortium of four central Washington conservation districts—and district manager for the Othello Conservation District. Prior to his work with districts, Larson ran his family’s irrigated farm in Royal City, Wash., for six years.
A registered lobbyist in Washington State, Larson and his wife, Shanon, currently live in Olympia with their two children, Tyler, 17, and Cassandra, 15. Larson will officially begin his new role with NACD in Washington, D.C. on August 8.
As part of its continued commitment to responsible antibiotic use and milk and meat drug residue avoidance, Pfizer Animal Health introduces a new Residue Free Guarantee along with a website.
Swanson Russell welcomes Kara Cordell and announces the promotions of Zeljka Hassler and Justin Young.
The USDA announced that it is adopting the final rule to add two importer seats and change the boundaries of all districts under the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan.
Merck Animal Health announced that it has embarked on the expansion of a vaccine manufacturing unit at its Biosciences Center Boxmeer campus in the Netherlands.
This week the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance announced an ad campaign to encourage participation. So what if you’d like to get involved? There are a number of ways which you can find on the USFRA website. So take a few moments and raise your voice and join the conversation about the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement and dedication to producing healthy food for people everywhere.
The campaign includes advertisements that are featured in Meat & Poultry, The Packer, AgWeb.com and Agriculture.com. Other elements of the campaign will include:
Digital media and banner ads
Town hall style meetings
Social media and peer-to-peer networks
We want to hear from you and invite you to raise your voices! Please visit our newly redesigned website at www.USFRAonline.org where you can share your ideas and opinions. In fact, we invite you to go to the site and tell us what you wish Americans knew about their food.
Join us in leading the dialogue with Americans about where their food comes from and how it is produced. After all, as America’s farmers and ranchers, you’ve raised pretty much everything. Except your voices.
Farmers attending the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies feel like they get real value from their experience and investment of time. I spoke with three Iowa farmers during the event in Malcom, IA. Let’s start with Sue Utt who farms on the central southern edge of the state. Sue is also a sales person for Troy Elevator. She brings a couple of her customers to Corn Strategies and says she she learns a lot from all the speakers on the program. She says that conditions in her area are pretty good although the corn is somewhat uneven from having too much moisture early in the season. However, she’s very optimistic about the crop this year.
Brad Klodt (pictured left) is a little further east in Iowa than Sue. He says conditions in his area are pretty good although sub surface moisture is starting to disappear. He’s very happy about his corn even though there are some spotty areas due to early season moisture. The heat has really evened up his corn. He says he takes away “a little bit of everything” from Corn Strategies. He says the program opens his eyes to a lot of things like the fact that we’re all in a global marketplace.
In a completely different part of the state, south of Spencer, is Marcia Langner. She says that conditions are good but pretty wet. There was quite a bit of rain last week for example. She says educational opportunities like Corn Strategies are very valuable and she likes to get as much out of them as possible. I asked her what she heard that would be a take-away for her. She laughed about hearing the range of prices discussed by all the speakers but says that it’s good information you have to consider and figure out how it will work for you.
Here’s a new blog to add to your feeds. It’s called, Tractor Parts Talk, from TISCO. The company provides “all-makes of aftermarket tractor and agricultural equipment parts and accessories in North America.”
“Tractor Parts Talk is an informative hub where everyone in the agriculture community can connect,” said William Stuckert, president of TISCO. “Our goal is to translate our many decades of experience serving the ag industry into an easy to use resource to help the farming community — whether they are a farmer in the field on their smartphone or a parts distributor in a store on their laptop.”
Tractor Parts Talk blog topics to date have covered the effect of heavy spring rains on the 2011 growing season, tractor part tips on air filter maintenance, a refresher on farm safety, and the importance of agriculture in creating jobs, stimulating the economy, housing wildlife and improving the environment. At tractorpartstalk.com, visitors can also find and purchase tractor parts through tractorpartmart.com to keep their equipment running in the field and connect with a local parts dealer in TISCO’s extensive dealer network.
The majority of you who responded to our latest ZimmPoll think USDA’s acreage predictions are way off. We asked the question, “How accurate do you believe the USDA acreage predictions are?” 55% said Way Off while 41% said Close and 4% said Spot On. So there you have it. Take ‘em with a grain of salt. Hey, they’re a prediction after all. Does anyone know what the future looks like?
Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Are you worried about how government regulations will hurt your business?” This is a big topic in Washington, DC right now and applies to all businesses. Please chime in and let the world know what you think. Thanks.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
It’s time once again for peanuts on the beach in Panama City, Florida – where it’s cooler than it is here in the Midwest!
It’s the 13th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference (SPGC), being held once again at the beautiful Edgewater Beach Resort, July 21-23, and I will once again be the official SPGC blogger. This will be the fourth year we have been providing this forum for all the action from the event – photos, interviews and video – officially kicking off today with registration and yummy grilled PB&Js! Follow all the action, and check out the past three years of SPGC on the blog.
The theme this year is “Windows of Opportunity” and the schedule is packed full of powerful peanut production presentations, like the general sessions on “The Marketplace” and “Production Agriculture & The Land Grant System” as well as “Challenges for Agriculture,” including insight on the next Farm Bill debate coming in Congress. In addition, the motivational keynote speaker for lunch on Friday will be none other than AgChat Foundation founder Michele Payn-Knoper!
The annual event is hosted by the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, which includes the producers associations of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi and has a whole host of great sponsors. The blog is once again jointly sponsored this year by Trimble Agriculture and Ag Technologies. Be sure to check it out and feel free to download and use any of the photos or audio you happen to find there.
As a parent, it’s hard NOT to steer your children toward a career path. However, it IS our job to introduce them to new ideas, give them a solid foundation then let them decide for themselves. Some kids are born with the desire to be a doctor at age 5; others get through years of school only to find that the job wasn’t what they thought it was and go back to school for something entirely different.
By moving back to the farm, I hope to have a little influence on our son’s passion for agriculture. Whether it be farming or ranching or cowboying, as long as he knows where his food comes from and appreciates agriculture, that’s fine by me.
We took him to a rodeo in Kansas a couple weekends ago and he LOVED bull riding. Now here’s the caveat about me loving rodeos: I love the dirt, the boots, the horses, the smell, the calves and the people. But the one thing that scares me about rodeos is bull riding! I enjoy it as a spectator but talk about an adrenaline rush knowing that someone’s son just sat down on a 2,000-pound pile of rage and muscle! That’s enough to give any mom the hand sweats.
And maybe that’s something a woman can’t understand – a man’s desire to conquer the great beast – to battle the fiercest warrior and win. And if that’s what my son decides to do, I guess I’ll have to learn to be a better spectator.
I personally think trail riding with horses sounds much more enjoyable, but then again, I’m his mom.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has just released a clever new YouTube video calling attention to the current administration’s onslaught of “burdensome, costly and scientifically unfounded regulations as a way to cut spending and prevent further job loss in rural America.” When you see the list of regulations coming down the track that will impact agriculture, you will have to agree it looks like a train wreck in the making!
Kudos to NCBA’s Mike Deering for the production of this video, which is also posted on the Beltway Beef blog.
Last time, it was Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) who had negative comments about USDA’s controversial Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard’s Administration (GIPSA) proposal. This time, it’s Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), chairman of the House Small Business Committee’s Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee. Earlier this month, Tipton held a subcommittee hearing entitled “How USDA’s Proposed GIPSA Rule Hurts America’s Small Businesses.”
Tipton says if the “Job-Crushing GIPSA Proposed Regulation” is adopted it “has the potential to reduce gross domestic product by over $1.5 billion and cost the U.S. economy nearly 23,000 jobs.” He’s most concerned that USDA “fully comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and ensure that USDA understands the private-sector costs of the regulations it is imposing on all sectors within the livestock industry.”
One of the witnesses at the July 7 hearing was USDA Undersecretary Edward Avalos, who said the agency is “fairly close” to completing the final economic analysis on the proposed rule, but that it was “too early in the process” yet to answer any specific questions related to economic impact.
Robbie LeValley of LeValley Ranch in Hotchkiss, Colorado was also a witness at the hearing. “The proposed GIPSA rule will destroy our small business model, force us to lay off our employees, cripple our ability to market our cattle way we want to and limit consumer choice,” she said.
Other witnesses with similar messages included Gary Malenke of Sioux-Preme Pork Products and Joel Brandenberge, President of the National Turkey Federation.
The third AG CONNECT Expo will be held January 29-31, 2013 at the Kansas City Convention Center, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), which started the global agribusiness trade show in 2010. The show is now on a biennial schedule synchronized with Agritechnica, the global agriculture trade show in Hanover, Germany, owned by the German Agricultural Society, DLG. The two global agriculture trade exhibitions – Agritechnica in Europe and AG CONNECT Expo in North America – coordinated timing of their show dates for the convenience of exhibitors and attendees with global business interests.
“Agriculture today is increasingly global, and AG CONNECT Expo is a global trade show offering industry professionals the best information and the best people possible, without boundaries,” said Tim Merrett with Deere & Company, who is serving as AG CONNECT Expo 2013 chair. “We have succeeded with this goal and will continue to provide a quality gathering place for sharing global agricultural ideas and management trends.”
Exhibit space sales for AG CONNECT Expo 2013 are now open, and deadline is September 15, 2011 to receive priority status with the first round of exhibit space assignments.
AG CONNECT Expo and AEM will be visiting with attendees at the 2011 AMS InfoExpo next week in New Orleans, so we will be sure to find out more there!
During the 2011 Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies held in Malcom, IA, growers watched the taping of a U.S. Farm Report show, hosted by John Phipps. That show will air this weekend. Guests included Sue Martin, Ag and Investments Services, pictured here with John. Sue had a pretty strong message for corn growers. She says, “I don’t think that we’re done trying to rally this market, that we’re just too vulnerable, late planted this year and all hopes are pinned on the old crop corn that is with the huge basis we’ve got.” She says there’s a good potential for a rally in September. Of course there are a lot of factors coming in the play when you look ahead to Dec corn.
Another guest on the show was Chip Flory, Pro Farmer. Chip told corn growers that the way the market uses crop condition information from USDA has changed a lot in recent years with hedge funds coming into the market. Most of them plug it into a model that tells them what to do. He says we’re probably going to see conditions continue to deteriorate in the next report and it will trigger another round of fund buying. But he says weather may not be the most important factor he says. It all depends on what they’re looking at that day. He says, “We’re in a corn economy. Watch corn. It’s calling the shots for the whole grain complex.”
I also spoke with John before the program got started. He says the message he has for corn growers is that if you’re not careful you’ll start thinking you’re disassociated from the rest of the world. He wanted to talk about the “end of the outside world.” We’re inundated with too much information and we need to realize that on the farm we’re part of the rest of the world. He finds it interesting that people seem to be unwilling to think about “what if things get better?” He has a very positive message for growers and says they need a backup plan for when things get better. He’s a pretty good “nonsense filter!”
Due to widespread planting delays, the final entry deadline for the popular contest was extended an extra 10 days, to July 25. Entries must be submitted online or postmarked on or before that date and are subject to the standard entry fee of $110 per entry, according to NCGA.
“It was a late, long planting season for many growers throughout the Corn Belt,” said Steve Ebke, chairman of the Production and Stewardship Action Team. “At NCGA, we recognize the strain farmers experience while attempting to get the crop in the ground. Furthermore, early delays can cause tasks to pile up. We want every grower interested to have an opportunity to participate in the contest and hope that by extending the deadline we make it easier for them to do so.”
Winners receive national recognition in publications such as the NCYC Corn Yield Guide, as well as cash trips or other awards from participating sponsoring seed, chemical and crop protection companies. In Nashville, Tenn., during the 2012 Commodity Classic, state winners will be presented awards at the NCYC Breakfast and national winners will receive awards at the Awards Banquet.
Iowa corn growers are learning strategy today out on Cummings Farms at the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2011. Like last week in Illinois, they’re hearing words of wisdom from Dr. Michael Boehlje, Purdue and James Bower, Bower Trading, Inc. You can hear interviews from them with Cindy at the Illinois event.
I’m collecting other interviews today which I’ll feature during coming days. In the meantime I hope you enjoy some photos from the field and an air conditioned tent!
The EPA is proposing secondary air quality standards to protect the environment from nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx).
ZACTRAN (gamithromycin), a new antimicrobial from Merial, provides producers with a rapid-response weapon in the battle against BRD.
United Cooperative received the Environmental Respect Award for its environmental stewardship efforts in liquid crop nutrient storage, spill prevention and safety in the area of dry fertilizer.
The Chicago Farmers is asking you to join them on a tour of two very unique places in Wauconda, IL.
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.
The man who started us using the term googlable is none other than Nick Fassler, Technical Market Manager, BASF. In fact, he’s also the inspiration for the google juice served at the ZimmComm booth during the Agri-Marketing Conference this year. So let’s make him even more googlable, especially because BASF is one of the sponsors for my coverage of the Agricultural Media Summit that I’m about to hit the agriblogging highway for. Also sponsoring my coverage will be AgHaven!
It’s time once again for peanuts on the beach in Panama City, Florida – where it’s cooler than it is here in the Midwest! 
The theme this year is “Windows of Opportunity” and 
Last time, it was Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) who had negative comments about USDA’s controversial Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard’s Administration 
The third AG CONNECT Expo will be held January 29-31, 2013 at the Kansas City Convention Center, according to the 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
