Farm Progress Show is always a great venue for policy makers to meet with farmers and talk about issues important to them, like a new farm bill and government regulations.
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) First Vice President Garry Niemeyer brought his own U.S. Representative Bobby Schilling (R-IL) in for a press conference on Tuesday to share some of perspectives as a freshman congressman and new member of the House Agriculture Committee. “I think as most people are aware, it’s been quite a storm in Washington DC the last seven months,” Schilling said. “Coming out of the business sector right into Congress, it’s been quite frustrating for me to see what’s happening in our nation’s capitol.”
As far as the Farm Bill is concerned, Schilling says the “super committee” on reducing the deficit may make decisions that will impact farm programs so the agriculture committee needs to make recommendations on how spending could be cut. “Because if we don’t they will just go after dollar amounts without looking at where appropriate cuts could be made,” he said.
Listen to some of Congressman Schilling’s comments during the press conference here. Cong. Bobby Schilling
Congressman Tim Johnson (R-IL), who also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, came by the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to visit with leadership of the Illinois corn and soybean growers associations. He is pictured here(striped shirt) with Illinois Soybean Association (ASA) treasurer Doug Winter, Illinois Corn Growers president Jim Reed and ISA president Matt Hughes.
Johnson says he is optimistic that they can come up with a Farm Bill that is workable, meets budget constraints and still has a safety net for farmers. “And we need to make sure the House Agriculture Committee and people who know American agriculture are the people framing policy,” Johnson said.
Johnson also shares the concerns that farmers in the state have about government regulations making it more difficult to farm. “USDA, USDOT and most particularly EPA tying our left hand is a real burden,” he said. “This administration more than any other administration in history has done more to damage the ability of farmers to make a living.”
Meghan Grebner of Brownfield Ag News and I interviewed Cong. Johnson together. Cong. Tim Johnson
This is the ZimmComm Team at work early this morning in the Farm Progress Show media tent. Thanks to Willie Vogt for capturing the moment.
Well we have done some interviews, shot some video and collected lots of photos today. We took off a little early to clean up, get some blogger fuel and now we’re working on all this stuff. It’s amazing how many interviews you can get in a day!
There’s been a media tent at the Farm Progress Show for twenty five years and Gene Hemphill, New Holland Agriculture, has sponsored and supervised it for all of them. He gets everything set up and that includes early morning coffee and donuts. Whatever the ag media need, they know they just ask Gene.
Well today the Farm Progress Show officially honored Gene for his years of hard work, dedication and easy disposition no matter what challenge is presented. On stage in the media tent to present him with a plaque are (L-R) FPS Show Manager Matt Jungmann, Jeff Lapin, President, Farm Progress Companies and Don Tourte, Farm Progress director of sales and national events. After receiving his plaque Gene took the microphone to make a few remarks I think you’ll enjoy.
John Deere announces eight new or updated Ag Management Solutions products, which will be rolled out from now through early 2012.
With the launch of its newest 1,200-gallon sprayer – the Patriot 4430 – Case IH once again sets the industry standard for power, fuel-efficiency, productivity and comfort.
Broadhead announced that Beth Burgy and Troy Schroeder will assume the roles of chief operating officer and chief marketing officer, respectively.
Syngenta in North America has released 19 new NK brand soybean products for the 2012 growing season.
It’s a beautiful day in the Farm Progress Show neighborhood and to get an update on how it’s going I spoke with Willie Vogt, Editorial Director, Farm Progress Companies. Willie says the first day was huge. Exact numbers are not known yet but with today traditionally being the biggest day for attendance this year’s show has some potential to maybe set a record. Willie says that sun with no rain is a big help and we’ve had hotter temperatures too.
Field demos are in full swing so if you’d like to see some new technology in action Willie says this is a great place to do it.
We see so much focus on corn and soybean row crop farming at the Farm Progress Show that it was refreshing to learn about growing blackberries! We also got to eat some of my favorite berry. Of course I remember coming home from picking in our patch where I grew up covered with scratches and picking out thorns. Things are different today if you want to get into commercial growing of this healthy crop. The experts are at Trellis Growing Systems who are partnering with Bedford Reinforced Plastics. They are sponsoring our coverage of the show here and I stopped in at their media reception to learn more. I spoke with Richard Barnes, Trellis Growing Systems founder and Shannon Foor, Bedford Reinforced Plastics. They told me how the partnership was formed, progress they’ve made and where their efforts are focused for the future.
Basically, Trellis approached Bedford for a product material to make their unique growing system that was designed for midwest growers. Bedford’s reinforced plastics product is custom made and designed to resist corrosion and aging, making it ideal for blackberry growing. Trellis has sold systems throughout the country including some of the largest growers in the industry. In the midwest they’ve sold systems into Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky and other states.
Besides selling their systems Trellis provides a full meal deal that includes consulting and advice, setup, product selection and even marketing. They’ve also partnered with Bedford on several farms of their own! What better way to talk farming to a farmer than being one yourself?
On opening day of the Farm Progress Show our sponsor, New Holland Agriculture, held a press conference to talk about new products and projects. Abe Hughes, New Holland Agriculture Sales & Marketing Vice President, led things off. I’ve recorded the full presentation that includes additional New Holland representatives providing product area updates in addition to Abe’s comments for you which you can listen to or download below.
The press conference focused on several new product areas like:
. . . Tier 4A engines with the addition of five new CR Series Twin Rotor® combines and three new CX8000 Series Super Conventional combines equipped with ECOBlue™ Selective Catalytic Reduction engine technology.
. . . an industry-leading 5-year Boomer Guard5 limited warranty on all Boomer™ 30/35/40/50 deluxe compact tractors.
. . . anniversary edition of New Holland’s FR9000 Series self-propelled forage harvesters.
At the 2011 Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK is showcasing CropNAtion “the place for busy, progressive farmers and ranchers” to connect.
GROWMARK’s Heather Miller was signing people up for the agricultural social media site at the GROWMARK tent and Chuck talked with Cory Winsted about it. “You could say that CropNAtion is a virtual coffee shop, where a producer can be at home or in the shop on a computer and they can communicate with other producers all over the world,” Cory said. There’s no cost to sign up for CropNAtion – which you can do here at FPS this week, or on line anytime at cropnation.com.
Last week we asked the question, “What is your opinion on ag-related sponsorships of sporting events?” 46% of you said Great way to reach certain audiences. 34% said Some are good, some not. 19% said Waste of money. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments below. There are ag related sponsorships in just about every kind of sporting event that sells them. Which do you think are best? Which are the worst?
Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “How many years before cellulosic ethanol matches corn ethanol production?” Your input and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
Hello and welcome to day two of the Farm Progress Show. It’s a beautiful day but things are going to heat up today and even more so tomorrow. Put on some sunscreen, dress light and come on out and enjoy the show! The flags are flying and welcome you in.
I don’t know what the attendance was yesterday but I’ve overheard folks here in the media tent speculating that it may have been a record. I don’t know about that but it sure seemed like we had a big crowd out here all day.
Last night we got our photo album up to date. So take a look and see what you’re missing.
This here’s a story about a tractor called “Lil Tug.” Lil Tug is a New Holland Boomer that did duty in Jay Leno’s Garage for years. His story is about to enter a new chapter though since Jay has taken possession of a New Holland Boomer 8N! Lil Tug will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to the Fisher House Foundation. This photo is one I took in Jay’s Garage back in May of 2007. You can still listen to my interview with Jay. So let’s get back to the story (chapter 1), which was announced today at the Farm Progress Show.
You can listen to Abe Hughes, New Holland Agriculture Sales & Marketing Vice President, talk about the project during a press conference at the Farm Progress Show here: New Holland Press Conference Audio
It started four years ago when a little blue tractor rolled off of the New Holland assembly line in Dublin, Georgia, prepared to proudly face its future of doing the work it was built to accomplish. The little blue tractor knew it could faithfully carry out the smaller chores as it would watch the big muscle tractors leaving the machinery shed with the power needed to tackle those more demanding jobs in the fields that stretched to the horizons.
But, as fate would have it, the story didn’t quite turn out that way. Instead, the little blue tractor was placed on a truck and headed westward across the nation, past massive fields, over mountains, and finally taken off the truck outside of a large garage in Burbank, California. A short time later the little blue tractor was driven into the large garage and introduced to scores of vehicles of all ages, shapes and sizes — the likes of which it had never seen. (more…)
The Illinois Soybean Association is offering a special deal for Illinois farmers to become members during Farm Progress Show that offers a pretty substantial return on investment.
“For $145, they’re going to get a three year membership,” says ISA chairman Matt Hughes of Shirley, Illinois. “They also get a free toy semi, $100 worth of free biodiesel and 100 units of free Optimize seed, which is valued about $400 – so you’re making money on that deal.”
But, as they say on the infomercials, wait there’s more. “The legislative work we’re going to do with that (your membership) is gonna bring a lot more money back to your farm than any membership dollars going out,” Matt said. “It’s not about the money to be a member, it’s about standing up and being counted.”
Kind of like this little piggie outside the Illinois Soybean exhibit is standing up to be noticed for the important market livestock represents for the soybean industry! Stop by the IL Soy tent at FPS 11 and find out more.
There are two launches today – the Farm Progress Show kicked off in Decatur, Illinois this morning and Bedford Reinforced Plastics has unveiled its new solution-oriented website – a perfect tool for growers.
Many in the agribusiness arena may not be familiar with Bedford. The company manufacturers custom FRP (fiberglass-reinforced polymers) for many different industries. But the company actually has its roots in agriculture. This I learned from Eric Kidd, the Director of Marketing for Bedford.
The founder of the company was a dairy farmer and when he started the business, they started out making fencing. Last couple of years Kidd said they have been working with fertilizer companies because fertilizer is a very corrosive material and their FRP doesn’t corrode. Bedford is also a good fit for poultry barns and other livestock sheds – going from the traditional wood structure to a non-corrosive FRP structure.
“Poultry feces is very corrosive so you’re constantly replacing many parts of the barns,” said Kidd. “Whether replacing one wood structure at a time or building a brand new building from composites, you don’t have to deal with maintenance issues.”
Other unique areas the company has a solution for – blackberry growers. Bedford was approached by Trellis Growing Systems when the company was looking for a unique material to become a major component of their RCA (Rotating Cross Arm) System. This trellis technology now allows farmers to grow blackberries in the Midwest and one reason is that FRP is not affected by extreme weather conditions.
FRP isn’t a cheap building material, but for those ag customers who have built structures with the material, the money has been well spent. Kidd said a grower must have a significant need and his sales team works with you to evaluate your operations and determine if FRP is a good fit. This is the same philosophy that has been carried through to their new website – custom FRP design for a grower’s custom needs.
Click here to view Bedford in Action at the 2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album.
Welcome to the first day of the 2011 Farm Progress Show.
A crowd gathered at the opening gates to enter at 8:00 am, led by a custom Orange County Chopper, sponsored by DeKalb. Chuck was up on the Sukup grain bin and shot video of the entrance, which will be added here soon. We are having a few connectivity issues here at the show – both internet and cell phone – so bear with us! It’s a little challenging.
Post Update: (From Chuck) Here’s that video clip from this morning. We’ve been able to get Cindy’s computer connected but not mine. Severe deficiency in internet/phones in the media tent this morning that I hope gets resolved. . . I was shooting stills at the same time as shooting this clip with my iPhone and it was windy at the top of the grain bin.
One of our first stops coming in on pre-opening day at the Farm Progress Show was at the Illinois Corn Growers tent, where Chuck posed with his Illinois Family Farmers t-shirt and Illinois Corn Communications Director Tricia Braid while I got to interview her.
Tricia says the IL Corn exhibit really has two main themes – with race cars outside and regulatory concerns inside. “Illinois Corn Growers Association and our sister organization Illinois Corn Marketing Board, we’re both here, so we’ve got the checkoff side of things and the association – the regulations, litigation, policy,” Tricia said.
So, race cars on the outside – the checkoff side – features the Clint Bowyer American Ethanol NASCAR show car and the Nationwide Series Kenny Wallace car sponsored by Family Farmers. “By the way, that’s the actual car that he (Kenny) ran in Chicagoland,” Tricia said.
Inside the tent, it’s all about regulations and what you think is happening on your farm compared to what Washington thinks. “Couple of weeks ago we heard the president answer a question from a farmer to throttle back on the regulations and the president’s answer – to paraphrase – was ‘don’t worry about that’ – well, we’re worrying about that,” Tricia said. Farmers have a chance to find out more about proposed regulations and action to take to make their voices heard.
And, of course, there’s lots of info about ethanol and ethanol-blended fuel.
This is an awesome sight to biker fans. They are the Beck’s Hybrids 75th Anniversary custom built Orange County Choppers motorcycles. You can find some more photos in the photo album. The one on the left has a combine corn head with ears of corn for handles and both have vintage farm scenes on the gas tanks.
You can stop by the Beck’s tent to enter to win one of these bikes in the We Care for Orphans Adoption Fund Sweepstakes. You can get more details in the booth. The drawing will be held on Feb. 22, 2012 and the winner will be announced at Commodity Classic in Nashville, Tenn., March 1 – 3, 2012.
“My great grandfather and grandfather started Beck’s 75 years ago, following the principle of providing our customers with the best in seed quality, field performance and service,” said Scott Beck, vice president of Beck’s Hybrids. “In celebration of our 75th anniversary, we commissioned OCC to build two custom choppers, with one of the choppers being featured on the popular Discovery Channel TV show, American Chopper. A second bike was built to raise money for the We Care for Orphans Adoption Fund.”
The bikes were designed by Paul Teutul Sr., CEO of Orange County Choppers and will touring farm shows throughout the rest of the season.
Here’s the media tent maestro, Gene Hemphill, New Holland Agriculture. He’s making sure we’re all being taken care of.
The weather here on the final day of set up is beautiful. Let’s hope it stays that way although the forecast is for it to turn much warmer by Thursday. The ZimmComm team is on location and Cindy’s off getting our first interview with the Illinois Corn Growers.
This is the layout of this year’s show. By Thursday afternoon we should have photos from all over the place. We’re on our way today to get set up and check things out.
You can expect lots of story posts this week and we have to thank all our sponsors for making our attendance possible. You can see them below. We love you sponsors!
Besides getting show updates right here you can get them on your phone with the AgWired App and the Farm Progress Show is offering audio updates via Max Armstrong. So, there’s no excuse not to know what’s going on even if you can’t be there! See you from the show.
Living out in the country, I don’t have the luxury of just running to the grocery store around the corner if I find myself in the middle of a recipe, missing ingredients. The closest grocery store is 10 miles away and it’s no bigger than my kitchen. The next store of any size is 25 miles away and it’s still a drop in the bucket as compared to bigger cities. So our pantry is quite large and I keep multiples of everything on hand.
Did I mention we have three freezers, too? Is that overkill?
Last week though, I ran out of eggs. I had to make a cake for a funeral and that used up the last of my supply. So the next night when we were making French toast and bacon for supper (yes, it’s called supper around here), I sure was missing the side dish of scrambled eggs.
If I had one of these egg cases around – and a few chickens – maybe I wouldn’t have been in that situation. This is a Quality Egg case from Dannen Feeds and it held 12-dozen eggs and had flats and fillers to keep the eggs from cracking.
That’s a lot of busy chickens. And, there was a super-size version of this egg case that held 30-dozen eggs!
Now if only I could convince the grocery store to put in a drive-through window for bread, milk and eggs, we’d be all set.
Ted Haller has accepted the position of Media Director for the Brighton Agency in St. Louis.
The new Farm Progress Show app presents a wealth of show information by using the latest technology for smartphones and additional app-compatible hardware. Locate the app in either marketplace by searching for “Farm Progress Show.”
The 2011 Summit, sponsored by the Center for Food Integrity, the International Food Information Council and the National Restaurant Association will address the theme, “Food Choices – Challenges – Realities.”
A pro-ethanol documentary, “Freedom”, has been released, which gets back to basics about ethanol, noting that it creates jobs, it displaces more polluting fossil fuels and doesn’t take away food from humans.
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) First Vice President Garry Niemeyer brought his own U.S. Representative Bobby Schilling (R-IL) in for a press conference on Tuesday to share some of perspectives as a freshman congressman and new member of the House Agriculture Committee. “I think as most people are aware, it’s been quite a storm in Washington DC the last seven months,” Schilling said. “Coming out of the business sector right into Congress, it’s been quite frustrating for me to see what’s happening in our nation’s capitol.”
Congressman Tim Johnson (R-IL), who also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, came by the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to visit with leadership of the Illinois corn and soybean growers associations. He is pictured here(striped shirt) with Illinois Soybean Association (ASA) treasurer Doug Winter, Illinois Corn Growers president Jim Reed and ISA president Matt Hughes.
At the 2011 Farm Progress Show, 
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But, as they say on the infomercials, wait there’s more. “The legislative work we’re going to do with that (your membership) is gonna bring a lot more money back to your farm than any membership dollars going out,” Matt said. “It’s not about the money to be a member, it’s about standing up and being counted.”
Welcome to the first day of the 2011 Farm Progress Show.
One of our first stops coming in on pre-opening day at the Farm Progress Show was at the 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
