National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Bart Schott and his wife Linsey of Kulm, ND were pleased to present this year’s NCGA President’s Award to their Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) during Corn Congress events this week in Washington. The President’s Award is given annually to a leader who has worked to advance issues important to corn growers and agriculture.
“I have had the privilege of working with Senator Conrad for several years both on the state and national levels,” NCGA President Bart Schott, a grower from Kulm, N.D., said. “NCGA greatly appreciates his continued leadership and support for the agriculture community, including his work on biofuels legislation and two previous farm bills.”
“I am honored to receive this award from the National Corn Growers Association,”Sen. Conrad said. “America’s agriculture producers are the backbone of our nation. They deliver the safest, healthiest and least expensive food supply anywhere in the world.”
Senator Conrad is a fifth-generation North Dakotan and has represented his home state in Washington for five successive elections. During his 20-plus years as an advocate for North Dakota and agriculture, Senator Conrad helped write the 2002 and 2008 farm bills and fought unfair trade practices that hurt North Dakota’s economy. He has also introduced comprehensive energy legislation that would make the United States more energy independent.
2011 marks the seventh year for Wyffels Corn Strategies and it just continues to get bigger and better. I talked with event coordinator Matt Barnard and Wyffels Hybrids director of marketing Jeff Hartz, pictured here together enjoying the Illinois event on Wednesday.
The concept for the event started in 2005 when the company gathered a small group of growers at a hotel in Springfield, IL. “There wasn’t really anything in the industry that just educated growers to get better at what they do,” Matt told me. “We now are moving them around Illinois and Iowa and last year we had about 1200 folks that joined us.”
Jeff says Corn Strategies is not a high pressure sales event, it’s just a way they can help the “freethinkers” they serve. “We define a freethinker as somebody that knows more about their operation and their soil than the average farmer,” he explains. “Those kind of people who take the time to really get inside their acres really can find value with a company like Wyffels.”
Jeff adds that Wyffels’ customers have come to look forward to the Corn Strategies event each year. “They keep coming back and more of them keep coming back every year,” he said. “We think we’re on to something pretty special that really embodies our company and what we’re all about.”
There’s a pile of old tools sitting in the shed and they look a little bit like this. Included are wrenches, tire irons, scissors – and that’s just the top layer! This collection got me to thinking about other life tools necessary to build a family, a career and relationships within our communities. I wanted to share my short list, along with some examples from my own life:
Patience – When my 2 ½ year old wants to stop to empty his bladder on every fencepost between our house and the babysitter’s house, I remind myself that it’s new and exciting and he’s proud of himself.
Love – for the land, the animals and the people around us.
Faith – a firm foundation that He has a purpose in life for us and that we’re all meant to influence and impact each other, no matter how small the gesture.
Understanding – Miscommunication can be damaging. Communicate often and clearly and I’ve learned that if I don’t understand, just listen. (What’s the saying? I’m from Venus?)
Humility – With an English/Communications background, I’m used to red ink but I can’t hit backspace in life. A friend said last week, “If I’m going to eat my words, I’d like them to be soft.” Use soft words.
Patience – I’m still working on this one, that’s why it’s on the list twice.
Humor – My husband took my son for a tractor ride…on his lawn tractor that’s for ages 3+ and daddy was driving.
Happiness – A husband who appreciates my cooking. Clean laundry. Our closest neighbors are ½ mile away.
This list is just a start. I hope my pile of “tools” will still be around in 100 years via my son. And even though they may be a bit rusty, if he blows off the dust he will see that these are an absolute “must have” in this life.
The Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 event in Illinois this week was hosted by one of the best looking farm families you’ll ever see.
Pictured here, starting with Bill Wyffels on the left, are Mike and Susan Pratt, Peter and Emily Pratt, Andy and Katie Pratt, and the absolutely adorable Natalie and Ethan, who are the 5th generation in the Pratt farm family. They were all the gracious hosts to about 600 farmers who attended the Wyffels event. (Click on the photo for a bigger version.)
I talked with Katie about what all is involved in hosting such an event. “We took approximately ten acres out of one of our corn fields, six of that was planted to grass where the exhibit area, parking and tents were set up, and the rest of it was set to plots,” she said. They were all set up and ready to go on Monday, when that straight line windstorm that blew across Illinois and Iowa hit. “But, amazingly, the weather is wonderful today and the corn is standing back up again, thank God!” Katie said.
Katie also talked about her other job, as an Illinois Farm Families blogger on WatchUsGrow.org. “That’s where several women are blogging just about daily life on the farm and answering questions,” she said.
Listen to or download my interview with Katie here: Katie Pratt
The farmers who attended the Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 event in Dixon, Illinois on Wednesday were challenged to “learn at least one new thing” to help improve their operations, but most probably got lots more than that out of the day.
Dr. Mike Boehlje, agricultural economist with Purdue’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, shared his thoughts on “All Things Volatility” with the growers. “We are seeing volatility at an unprecedented level,” he said, both in terms of corn prices and the cost of inputs. “I mean, when you lose about a buck off the price of corn in two days – that used to be the price of corn, a buck, and we lost that in two days.”
Dr. Boehlje’s main advice for growers is to determine their cost of production per bushel, not per acre. “That’s what you sell,” he said. “Knowing your costs is a critical part of any successful business, whether it be manufacturing widgets, or automobiles, or corn.”
Another presenter at the event was Jim Bower, owner and president of Bower Trading, who talked about some of the factors growers should consider in making decisions out ahead.
“These next two to three weeks are going to be terribly important to price discovery,” he said. “They’re going to do themselves well to pay really close attention to the models of weather and how they impact the market on a daily basis.” Jim says he is particularly concerned right now about a potential weather pattern developing that would push the extremely hot and dry weather that has been sitting over Texas and Oklahoma up into the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt, which could push yields down.
Jim talked about other important factors that are more long term than the weather, such as increasing global demand for protein.
Listen to or download my interview with Jim here: Jim Bower
One of the participants on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour was Mike Plummer. Mike was representing the Illinois Corn Growers who are one of the stakeholder group supporters of the project. I sat down with him to get his perspective on the project.
Mike says that the Illinois Corn Marketing Board is working with the project in an advisory capacity. He says the participating farms are putting some very good management practices in place from which they are collecting data to study. From a corn grower perspective the watershed is a great place to start since it is highly tile drained. The management practices developed will be useful in other parts of the state. He hopes the project will show which management practices will improve quality without harming yield. You can listen to my interview with Michael here: Interview with Michael Plummer
Sam Lockhart, FMC Technical Sales Manager (pictured on right), is one of the teachers on the company’s Summer Plot Tour taking place this week. I visited with Sam after the activities in York, NE. He works a northern territory that has had a lot of moisture, in fact too much. That presents some challenges. Farmers have struggled to get weed control products out. Some have had to do aerial application. But those who were able to get early applications of the FMC Authority line of products have seen much cleaner fields.
Some of the questions Sam has received from retailer participants deal with weed resistance and how to control these weeds early on. He say they want to know how to “switch out the modes of action they’re using from doing the same old thing they’ve been doing for years which has worked until the last couple years here – Roundup, Roundup, Roundup. How do I break that up?” The answer he says is the FMC Authority line and their new product that will be out soon, Anthem.
Sam was also out in the test plot and one of our presenters showing us how well a combination program of Authority and Anthem has performed as you can see in this video:
What’s new in the world wide web? Lots of things. In this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Quentin Rund, PAQ Interactive. Quentin’s company is putting on the InfoAg Conference that’s taking place right now in Springfield, IL. We sat down and chatted about websites, apps and social media. PAQ Interactive is a technology services company specializing in Web and GIS solutions. Our web design and development work focuses on the web as a communication tool. More than static pages, we assist our clients through the design of interactive, content rich, fully customizable web sites that allow our clients to use their web technology investment for internal and external communications. In GIS services, PAQ consults with clients in creating and maintaining a business-level GIS. We provide training, custom programming, data analysis, and GIS project management solutions to create or expand on our clients initial investment in GIS.
Good old email is still dominating our attention when we get online according to our latest ZimmPoll. I can relate to that! Anyone want to come help me clean out my inbox?
So here’s the results in answer to our question, “What’s the very first thing you check online each day?” 47% of you say it’s email. 24% say news; 15% say social media; 8% say weather; 4% say markets and 2% say other. I’m tempted to say that more people are checking social media than weather and markets but we’re not “scientific.” However, these are interesting results don’t you think?
Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “How accurate do you believe the USDA acreage predictions are?” Let us know what you think.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
The USDA announced that industry producers and importers voted to approve a national research and promotion program for processed raspberries. The vote was taken in a referendum from June 8 to June 24, 2011.
CrescoAg LLC, introduced its suite of crop decision and risk management tools that will help growers and their trusted advisers better analyze data and make decisions to maximize profitability.
The Insect Shield program is being offered to oil and gas, mining, forestry and farming companies and their subcontractors in locations where insect-borne disease is endemic.
The American Seed Trade Association membership elected Mike Gumina Pioneer Hi-Bred, Johnston, Iowa, to serve as chairman; Blake Curtis of Clovis, NM, to serve as first vice chairman and Craig Newman, AgReliant Genetics, Westfield, Ind., to serve as second vice chairman.
The official event gets underway bright and early on Wednesday morning, but the pre-event kicked it off Tuesday evening at the Pratt Family Farms. The festivities included a delicious steak dinner, homemade ice cream, an opportunity to hear from some of the event partners, and the recording of a segment for this weekend’s U.S. Farm Report with John Phipps. Even though the evening started with a good downpour after everyone got into the tent, by the time it was all over there was a rainbow and a beautiful sunset! Got some nice photos in the photo album already.
I had a chance to visit with Wyffels Hybrids president Bill Wyffels Jr. about the company that was started by his father in the 1940s. “He started experimenting with seed oats and from experimentation with oats and being successful, evolved into hybrid corn,” he told me.
Bill says they are very proud of the people who make up the Wyffels team and they enjoy hosting the Corn Strategies sessions each year for producers in Illinois and Iowa. “This is really a learning day and it’s a chance for us really to give back and bring some of the best minds in agriculture all in one place,” he said.
Listen to or download my interview with Bill here: Bill Wyffels Jr.
The CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour included a stop at Kilgus Dairy. The family dairy farm is the only one in the state bottling their own milk. They also grow corn and soybeans and have land for the cows to graze on. They move those cows periodically, allowing the paddocks to grow back. In the picture you can see Matt Kilgus showing our group how to pour our own ice cream in the on-farm dairy products store, Kilgus Homestead.
Matt says they started the grazing system which got them involved with watershed management. Matt’s uncle was on the steering committee for the CTIC project so they’re conducting several tests and programs, including the use of different types of cover crops. He says that they hope to see some results that will benefit them while also be better stewards of the land.
I have now moved from Nebraska to Illinois for the 2011 InfoAg Conference. This is all about precision agriculture so most of our coverage will be found on Precision Pays. Thanks to Cindy we have coverage already started since I was a little slow moving this morning. Here’s her report on the opening session:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative Project (ACRSIP) may well be the “most important thing that USDA has ever done,” according to Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse.
Scuse talked about the initiative as the keynote speaker at the opening of InfoAg 2011 in Springfield, Illinois on Tuesday. The concept is to simplify and provide new reporting options for producers. “Rather than a farmer or rancher going to the local FSA office to do their crop reports as they do now and have to give a second report to their agent, they can actually do the report from home,” Scuse said. “Our ultimate goal is for those that have precision ag equipment in their planters and combines to actually use the information that’s collected from that equipment to be downloaded directly to their Farm Service Agency and to the crop insurance agent, to simplify the process even further.”
Scuse says they plan a pilot test of the program this fall and hope to have it implemented by 2013. “This is how we’re going to provide a better service for farmers and ranchers,” he said. “It will ultimately save the taxpayers a great deal of money with this initiative.”
Chuck and I are tag-teaming this InfoAg Conference. He will be covering tomorrow while I head to Dixon, IL for a Wyffles corn strategies field day. Chuck will be doing a presentation on using social media here at the conference on Thursday.
A large group of retailers attended the FMC Summer Plot Tour in York, NE. They were there to learn what’s new from FMC and have the opportunity to see test results and interact with FMC product managers. We divided up into three groups and rotated field stations. To get a perspective of what these folks were learning I spoke with three of them.
First up is Jim Jensen, Andale Farmers Coop. He made a point of saying how little rain they get down in Kansas. The area we were in for the tour has received a significant amount of rain by comparison. In fact, we had some overnight before our tour. Jim says that Anthem looks really good on tough weeds. He thinks he’s really going to like it in combination with Authority. He deals with both corn and soybeans. Seeing the products in real world tests is very helpful for him.
Next, I spoke with Roland Martin, Pawnee County Coop. He says they’ve been applying FMC products for years. He says FMC products have helped them to have a “phenomenal business.” He was very impressed by what he saw and although he uses other products, is very excited to have some new options.
I also spoke with Jason Perdue, agronomist for a local aerial applicator. He says that it’s great to see new options in the market. With Anthem coming out soon, he says it will give them flexibility with both corn and soybeans especially where they have irregular fields.
There was a lot to learn from Spence Farm on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour. Specialty corn varieties for connoisseur chefs is another lesson we learned last week. Iroquois White Corn has an unusual earthy flavor and a varied texture that chefs love and it’s worth about $840 a bushel for Marty and Kris Travis of Spence Farm in Livingston County, Illinois.
Marty and Kris started growing the heirloom corn several years ago. “We harvest it, dry it and then we roast it over an open fire, shell it and run it through our stone mill to make a roasted corn meal,” Marty said. “We sell that to the general public and to chefs for $15 a pound.”
The Travis’ have also started growing a red flint corn from Italy this year, a typical polenta corn that took them two years to find and is in high demand with chefs right now. “The red corn has this incredible, floral flavor that is unlike any of the corns that we’ve ever tasted,” said Marty.
Watch them talk about their specialty corn crops and how they’ve found a market for just about every part of the plant!
Dr. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. On her web site, Dr. Temple Grandin describes herself simply as “a designer of livestock handling facilities.” The world knows her as so much more. Hers is the most respected name in the area of animal care and handling. Her research has extended the scientific knowledge base in the areas of animal behavior, metabolism and meat quality.
She has given all meat scientists a better understanding of how animals perceive their surroundings and the biological basis for improving animal care. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants.
Hey farm podcasters. Here’s another option for your gear bag. The Zoom H2n from Samson.
No matter the application, the H2n brings the very best in stereo recording to a convenient, user-friendly package that fits in your pocket.
Zoom H2n Handy Recorder. The new standard in portable recording.
FEATURES
Five built-in mic capsules provide Mid-Side (MS) stereo, 90° X/Y stereo, 2-channel and 4-channel recording modes
Records in WAV up to 24-bit/96kHz and MP3 up to 320kbps
Newly designed user interface
Additional functions include Lo-cut Filter, Compressor/Limiter, Auto Gain, Pre-Rec, Auto-Rec, Tuner, Metronome, Variable Speed Playback, Key Control, A-B Repeat, File Dividing, Normalize, MP3 Post-Encode, Marker and Surround Mixer
Data recovery function protects against unexpected recording errors
Over 20 hours of operation using two standard AA batteries
Operates on battery, AC or USB bus power
1.8-inch backlit LCD display with 128 x 64 resolution
Analog-type Mic Gain wheel
Built-in reference speaker
High-speed USB 2.0 card reader function
1/8-inch Mic/Line Input and Phones/Line Output stereo phone jacks
Accommodates up to 32GB SDHC memory cards
Includes Steinberg WaveLab LE 7 editing software, 2GB SD memory card and two AA batteries
Optional accessory package (APH-2n) includes remote control with extension cable, windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and a mic clip adapter.
This is Jim Evans leading an FFA reporters workshop sometime in the 1960′s. The Endowed Chair in Agricultural Communications in his name at the University of Illinois, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences just got a large donation. If you haven’t made a contribution, please consider doing so.
GROWMARK, Inc. announced today a $100,000 award to the University of Illinois initiative between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media designed to address the growing need for effective communications in the fast-changing world of agriculture, food, feed, fiber, bio-energy and rural development.
“There has never been a more critical time for agriculture to speak clearly and effectively as an industry,” says Ann Hastings Kafer (Ag Comm ’86) and GROWMARK Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing Services. “GROWMARK is excited to support the Evans Endowed Chair in Ag Communications because this faculty position will advance such clarity through undergrad curriculum and professional education for all involved in this great industry. I know our investment will yield great returns.”
The Midwest Technical Lead for FMC Agricultural Products is Gail Stratman. He conducted one of our FMC Summer Plot Tour classes both inside and outside today. I sat down with him afterward to learn what’s new with FMC.
Gail says Anthem is what’s new. Anthem is a new pre-plant, pre-emergence and early post herbicide currently being developed by the company. The summer plot tour series features a wide variety of test plots using the new product. One of the key features according to Gail is the fact that it can be used on both corn and soybeans which provides outstanding crop safety. He describes it in comparison to other options as “it’s stronger and lasts longer.” It will also be very flexible for the control of both grasses and broadleaf weeds. It is hoped that the label will be approved early next year.
All of the tour test plots have had some very challenging conditions. Gail says they’ve seen very good control and residual under very dry conditions and staying power under wet conditions. They’ve also dealt with a wide range of weed and grass species. If growers have questions Gail suggests contacting their local Star Retailer since these are the folks who are attending this series of plot tours.
The Arkansas producer chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board has resigned for personal reasons, according to the organization.
Tom Jones, Pottsville, Ark., tendered his resignation as chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board today. He also notified the Secretary of Agriculture of his resignation as a member of the Beef Board. Jones cited personal and family reasons for his decision, including the deteriorating health of his father. Jones was elected chairman of the Board in February of this year.
“I remain dedicated to the ideals of the checkoff and will be a strong supporter of the beef industry in the future,” Jones said. “However, there are times when decisions become very clear and choices are not hard to make. My faith, my family, and my farm come first. With my dad’s illness, both my family and my farm need more of my attention.”
Beef Board Vice Chair Wesley Grau, Grady, NM, will lead the organization until the next convened board meeting, scheduled for August 4 in Orlando, Fla. At that time, the board will decide on further action.
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.
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Bart Schott and his wife Linsey of Kulm, ND were pleased to present this year’s NCGA President’s Award to their Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) during Corn Congress events this week in Washington. The President’s Award is given annually to a leader who has worked to advance issues important to corn growers and agriculture.
2011 marks the seventh year for 
The farmers who attended the 
Another presenter at the event was Jim Bower, owner and president of 
One of the participants on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour was Mike Plummer. Mike was representing the 
What’s new in the world wide web? Lots of things. In this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Quentin Rund, 
The stage is set for the 
The CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour included a stop at Kilgus Dairy. The family dairy farm is the only one in the state bottling their own milk. They also grow corn and soybeans and have land for the cows to graze on. They move those cows periodically, allowing the paddocks to grow back. In the picture you can see Matt Kilgus showing our group how to pour our own ice cream in the on-farm dairy products store, 
I have now moved from Nebraska to Illinois for the 2011 InfoAg Conference. This is all about precision agriculture so most of our coverage will be found on 
GROWMARK, Inc. announced today a $100,000 award to the University of Illinois initiative between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media designed to address the growing need for effective communications in the fast-changing world of agriculture, food, feed, fiber, bio-energy and rural development.
Tom Jones, Pottsville, Ark., tendered his resignation as chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board today. He also notified the Secretary of Agriculture of his resignation as a member of the Beef Board. Jones cited personal and family reasons for his decision, including the deteriorating health of his father. 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
