Iowa Great Grower Pleased with Progress

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Cindy

Another of our 2012 BASF Great Growers is Steve Miller of West Union, Iowa in the northeast part of the state. He farms with his dad Henry and is pictured here with his adorable son Cam – the picture of a true family farm!

I was actually supposed to interview Steve and his dad back in the freezing December of 2009 for BASF Headline Harvest reports, which was certainly not the best harvest year to do interviews! It just so happened that the frigid day we were scheduled was the same day that little Cam decided to enter the world, so dad and granddad both were a little tired and preoccupied. We did interview Henry but Steve had other matters on his mind that took priority.

This year, little Cam is big enough to start learning about farming and the season so far has been fabulous. As of last week, Steve says they were already half done with beans and the corn was coming up. “We got the corn sprayed so we’re sitting pretty good,” Steve said.

According to USDA, nearly all of the corn in Iowa is planted already and over 80% is emerged and most of it in good to excellent condition. Steve probably has the rest of his beans planted by now since 85% was planted in the state as of Sunday with over a quarter of the crop emerged.

Last year, the wind blew all their corn down, “so we definitely took a look at height on corn and root structure and doing more of the smart stacks,” he said. They are sticking to their normal 50/50 rotation and were happy to be able to get lots of preparation for planting done last fall.

Steve said they did change their herbicide program for corn this year. “We went to a pre-emerge herbicide. Last year, we went post-emerge and we got caught when it started raining and rained for about two weeks,” he explained. “So we’re doing things differently to make sure we get the chemical where it needs to be at the right time.” They scout both corn and soybeans to determine the best time to apply Headline.

BASF wants to know – what types of crop protection products are you using this year on soybeans? Answer the Production Poll here.

Listen to or download my interview with Kip here and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up. BASF Great Grower Steve Miller

Dr. Pearse Lyons Wraps Up Alltech Symposium

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Chuck

The 2012 Alltech International Symposium has concluded. The “Magic Man” as he was called more than once during the event is Dr. Pearse Lyons. Here he is on stage during the closing session this morning.

I was able to ask Pearse his thoughts in closing at the end of the session. He says “What a pity it’s over.” He’s ready for another three days! Looking to the future continued growth of Alltech his key word is “speed.” Not speed that compromises quality but speed that grows the company quickly and perhaps even bigger than they currently envision.

Listen to my closing interview with Dr. Lyons here: Interview with Dr. Pearse Lyons

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

An Alltech View of China

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Chuck

His presentation was titled, “The Great Call of China.” Dr. Mark Lyons talked about what he has learned about the culture and opportunity represented by the China market. In fact, he’s learning the language right now and Alltech predicts that the country may represent 25% of their business in the future.

At the 2010 Symposium we got a glimpse at this market from Joaquin Pelaez is the Senior Vice President for Product Excellence at Yum! Brands, Inc. In this morning’s closing session Mark expanded greatly on some of those ideas from what he has found out from his time in China. For example, he says he conducted a survey in which the word Respect came up over and over. In his presentation you’ll learn from his observations and perhaps these will serve you well if you ever work in the China market. Mark concluded his remarks saying that it’s the perfect place for the aspiring CEO!

Listen to Dr. Mark Lyons talk about the China market here: Dr. Mark Lyons on China

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech’s FoodPrint Discussion Dinner

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Jamie

The Carbon FoodPrint was the topic of debate for one of the Discussion Dinners at the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. Moderator, Damien O’Reilly, Irish National Television and Radio Broadcaster, lead the dialogue on perception vs. reality. Delegates enjoyed a tasty chicken dinner while chatting about how much of the carbon footprint hype is branding and how much is changing operations.

“It is a very timely discussion because everybody in the world knows more or less what we we mean when we say your carbon footprint. It is a relatively new phenomenon I suppose, but people are becoming more conscious about it and their impact on it.”

“I hope we can provoke a debate here about the food industry and food companies and what they are doing. Some have signed up for the foodprint idea which is to say we have reduced our carbon footprint by 5 or 7%. But some questions asked are how can we monitor them?”

Listen to moderator, Damien O’Reilly’s interview here: Interview with Damien O'Reilly

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

2012 Alltech Smart Debate

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Chuck

This year the Alltech debate session is titled Smart Debate. Topics include: feeding 9 billion people; is Africa now Brazil? What’s next for biofuels and more. Our panelists include Tom Arnold, CEO, Concern, Ireland; Sean Richard, Senior Lecturer in Business Economics, Cranfield University, UK; Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, Former Minister of Agriculture and Food Supply of Brazil and Tom Dorr, CEO, U.S. Grains Council. Our moderator again this year is Aidan Conolly, Alltech.

Listen to my interview with Aidan in which he summarizes some take away points from the debate here: Interview with Aidan Conolly

To give you a flavor for the debate here’s each panelists answer to the question: What does the future hold for us?

Listen to Tom Arnold’s answer here: Tom Arnold Answer

Listen to Sean Rickard’s answer here: Sean Rickard Answer

Listen to Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes’s answer here: Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes Answer

Listen to Tom Dorr’s answer here: Tom Dorr Answer

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech’s Nutrition Revolution

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Chuck

He’s a revolutionary in the area of nutrition. Dr. Karl Dawson, Chief Scientific Officer, Alltech, took the stage the opening session of the 2012 International Symposium. The company is doing breakthrough research in nutrigenomics to find new ways to feed our animals to enhance their performance, health and longevity and enhance the consumer experience. Dr. Dawson also talks about how Alltech is branching out into new research strategies for addressing human health and wellness. I interviewed Dr. Dawson during the press conference held after the opening session and have included it as well as Dr. Dawson’s remarks on stage this morning.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Dawson here: Interview with Dr. Karl Dawson

Listen to Dr. Dawson’s remarks here: Dr. Karl Dawson Remarks

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

The New Holland Field Smart Blog

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Chuck

ZimmCast 350 New Holland has a new blog called Field Smart. It’s part of the New Holland Field Smart campaign.

At New Holland we’re dedicated to continuing this tradition, and we’ve launched our Field Smart campaign to celebrate not only our approach to delivering new innovations to the marketplace, but the farmers that put this technology to use.

To learn more about the project, Cindy interviewed John Elliott, New Holland, Director, Marketing NAR. That’s the feature of this week’s program. ZimmComm is providing content creation assistance to New Holland for this project.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: The New Holland Field Smart Blog

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

Alltech Symposium Press Conference

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Jamie

A press conference was held following the morning session of the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. Panelists included Dr. Pearse Lyons, President/CEO of Alltech, Governor John Y. Brown Jr., Dr. Mark Lyons, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Alltech, Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech’s Chief Scientific Officer & Tim Gannon, Co-Founder Outback Steakhouse. Catch a recap of the question and answer session as these panelists share the importance of Alltech’s efforts to preserve the future of agribusiness and food production.

Listen to the complete Alltech International Symposium press conference here: Alltech Press Conference

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Medal of Excellence

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Chuck

During the opening general session here at the 2012 Alltech International Symposium Gov. John Y. Brown, Jr. received a very special award. Here’s Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech, presenting the 22nd Alltech Medal of Excellence to the Governor.

I’ll have comments from Gov. Brown to add a little later today. He bought Kentucky Fried Chicken from Colonel Harland Sanders when he was 29 years old and is considered one of the pioneers of the fast food franchise industry.

Post Update: Listen to Gov. Brown’s remarks here: Gov. John Y. Brown, Jr. Remarks

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech International Dinner

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Chuck

Since the first time I saw Dr. Ronan Tynan sing I was hooked. I can’t say how glad I was to see him on the program again here at the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. Tonight at the International Dinner Dr. Tynan sang one of Dr. Pearse Lyons favorites, Danny Boy. I recorded it so you can hear this great tenor voice.

We also heard songs tonight from Dr. Everett McCorvey, University of Kentucky, and his students. There were many standing ovations. These are world class voices and a real highlight to the start of an Alltech Symposium. I’ve got photos from all of them in the photo album. I’ll add a link to them later after they finish uploading.

Listen to Ronan sing here: Ronan Tynan Sings Danny Boy

Post Update: Here are photos from the conference, including the International Dinner: 2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Communicating With MustangRED

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Chuck

MustangRED Communications was announced just before the 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference. During the conference I had a chance to visit with founder and owner and good friend, Sally Behringer.

Sally says MustangRED works with a network of industry professionals to provide full service communications services. Sally has been in the business for a long time and really understands a wide variety of types of agricultural businesses, including government relations work. So, if you’re in need, give Sally a call!

Interview with Mustang Red Sally

Farm Wars! Podcast

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Chuck

I love seeing new farm podcasts. This one just came to my attention in my email inbox. It’s the Protect The Harvest, Farm Wars! Podcast. This relatively new pro-agriculture advocacy group has jumped into some very important issues of concern for everyone involved in farming today.

Hosted by Wayne Yocum and co-hosted by Dan Kleinsorge, the operations manager of Missouri Farmers Care, the Farm Wars! Podcast is a bi-weekly look at the growing conflict between modern agriculture and extremists within the animal rights and environmental movements.

“Wayne and Dan provide a fresh, inviting and informative take on this very important issue,” explained Iowa State Representative Erik Helland, Protect The Harvest Board Member. “Too many Americans are unaware that their food supply is under attack from extremists who want to control their lifestyles and choices. Hopefully, the Farm Wars! Podcast will be an effective wake up call.”

Released every two weeks, the Farm Wars! Podcast includes in-depth interviews with news and policy makers along with news coverage and discussion segments like “This Week In Insanity” and “Warm Fuzzy/Cold Prickly.”

Take a listen to the latest episode here: Farm Wars! Podcast

GROWMARK Keeps IT Growing

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Cindy

As a multi-state agricultural co-operative system with over 6000 employees and numerous brands, information technology (IT) is a vital aspect of GROWMARK‘s ability to communicate on a number of levels.

GROWMARK was honored with the first CropLife America and AgGateway Information Technology Innovation Award for CropNAtion

That keeps GROWMARK Manager of Network Services Scott Bross busy keeping up with the latest on-line communications tools – from improved websites to blogs and all the various social networking platforms. Last year, Scott and his team launched the redesigned GROWMARK.com, with all new functionality. “We’re continuing to add new functionality as we go,” Scott said, noting that the Media Center was one of the most exciting to develop. “To be able to provide multi-media formats, to be able to do video and audio and bring in news releases in pdf and Spirit Magazine.”

The new design won GROWMARK first place in the Heartland region NAMA competition this year and GoFurtherWithFS.com won the Merit award in the same category. CropNAtion.com was selected by CropLife America (CLA) and AgGateway to receive the first annual CLA Information Technology Innovation Award. “It’s neat to be able bring these technologies together and then get recognition and positive feedback,” Scott said. “That’s really strong affirmation.”

CropNAtion has been a very ambitious project for GROWMARK to create a social media platform that serves as a 21st century “coffee shop” for today’s farmers. “It’s about what they want to talk about, not what someone else is putting in front of them to talk about,” he said.

Scott says they have new projects in the works, such as designing a new website platform for member cooperatives, but just staying on the cutting edge of communications technology keep them busy. “Technology and social media are moving so quickly these days that by the time you begin to evolve something there’s three other things out there,” he said. Tell us about it!

Listen to my interview with Scott here: Scott Bross Interview

Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit Wrap-up

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Chuck

To get a wrap up of the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit I spoke with President/CEO Kay Johnson Smith. Kay was given these beautiful flowers in recognition of her service during the organization’s celebration of its 25th anniversary.

Kay says this year’s Summit was a little different than normal since it focused more on how to effectively communicate with the consumer and better understand what the consumer wants and needs to know. It also provided a cross-species networking opportunity which is one of the benefits to this type of meeting. I asked Kay what stood out in her mind after listening to the presentations. One was a step by step method to communicate with the consumer which gave specific workable ways to accomplish this. Another was presentation on the PennAg Industries Association Today’s Agriculture display at the 2012 PA Farm Show.

You can hear my interview with Kay here: Interview with Kay Johnson Smith

2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.

AgRacer Leading The Race

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Chuck

ZimmCast 349 Just over 100,000 downloads! That’s a big number and that’s how many iTunes downloads there are in under three months for AgRacer by Fastline, the first ag game app for mobile devices. I got the update this morning from Tim Hess, Fastline President. That number will continue to grow now that the app is fully available for Android devices as well. Tim says the pace of daily downloads has been pretty consistent since the app was introduced during the National Farm Machinery Show. So, when it comes to creating a new communications tool in today’s world in the ag sector it looks like Fastline has set the bar.

Tim says the app has surpassed their expectations and has met their initial goals which include introducing Fastline to a younger age demographic. He says feedback has been great and includes from users in countries outside the United States. So they’re reaching a global audience! There are also some creative sponsor opportunities like product placement within the app available according to Tim, some of which are already in the works. He says AgRacer will soon have new upgrades and updates, including two additional vehicles and a new track. By the way, AgRacer is free to download!

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: An AgRacer Update

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

Advocating For Animal Agriculture

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Chuck

The Chairman of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, Chris Ashworth, closed out the 2012 Stakeholder Summit after introducing our final speaker. I visited with him to learn how things are going with the organization.

Chris talks about the fact that they are celebrating 25 years of advocating for animal agriculture representing all animal species. He says that this past year they’ve had a lot of success at the state level impacting legislation that supports agriculture. He says the Stakeholders Summit had a record attendance and that social media came to the forefront as a tool to communicate agriculture’s message. Yes indeed!

You can hear my interview with Chris here: Interview with Chris Ashworth

2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.

AgCareers are Hot!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Cindy

Careers in agriculture are hot right now, a bright spot in the overall economy.

We talked with Eric Spell, president of AgCareers.com, at the recent National Agri-Marketing Association annual convention, where the company was actually born 12 years ago as a student presentation by the University of Florida. (Go Gators!)

“It is an exciting time to be in agriculture,” Eric says. “Through the first quarter of 2012 compared to 2011, we’ve seen a 17% increase in the number of jobs, which is great.”

Eric says one of the biggest growth areas in agricultural jobs is in precision. “It’s everything from aerospace to people who can service the equipment within the dealerships,” he said.

The tenth annual AgCareers.com Ag HR Roundtable is coming up August 7-9 on the campus of Tyson Foods in Springdale, Arkansas, which Eric says will also include their sister company, CareersInFood.com. “The speaker lineup will be the best yet and it will be a great celebration,” he says of the educational and networking event. Last year’s conference was attended by a record of nearly 200 participants and they expect this year’s conference to be even bigger. “The first one that we had, I think we had 87 attendees.”

Attendance is limited to 220 and Eric told us at NAMA when registration had just opened that they already had 30 registered – so if you want to be there, it would be good to register as soon as possible. It’s well worth it for agricultural HR people and anyone involved in food or agriculture education. Find out more on the conference website.

Listen to my interview with Eric here: Eric Spell Interview

Becoming Authentically Agriculture

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Chuck

ZimmCast 348 Let’s talk “Authentically Agriculture” with Michele Payn-Knoper, Cause Matters and founder of the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation. Michele was a presenter at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Michele says her presentation title means “that agriculture really needs to do a better job of connecting on a human level.” She spoke about the values, validation and voice that’s needed for agriculture and challenged the group to think about these ideas. Even though you may be a farmer you’re still a human being first and to start at that level to connect with other human beings is the basic first step. Sounds like good advice to me.

We also talked about AgChat and the AgChat Foundation which both Michele and I serve on the board of. It is amazing that the weekly Twitter conversation has been going for over 3 years and Michele says there has been participation from over 15,000 people from 15 countries. She says the outcomes from the conversation are fascinating. I’ll also use this chance to promote this year’s AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Conference which will take place August 23-24 in Kansas City. Submit your application here.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Authentically Agriculture with Michele Payn-Knoper

Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

New Holland MegaCutter at Mega Media Event

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Cindy

One of the new offerings from New Holland featured at last week’s Mega Media event was the MegaCutter™.

We already heard about this new mounted triple disc mower-conditioner when it debuted at the National Farm Machinery Show in February, but we got another look last week in more detail with the help of New Holland Hay and Forage Segment Marketing Manager Mike Cornman.

Mike says the MegaCutter was designed for the professional customer looking for more capacity and more productivity. “It will provide 30 foot width of cut at one time with a T7 or T8 series New Holland tractor equipped with a front three point hitch and PTO,” he said. “We have a good customer base with our self-propelled forage harvesters and this is the type of machine that those customers are looking at.”

New Holland is holding a “Ready to Roll” sales event happening right now through June 30. The event includes various incentives for all of New Holland’s hay and forage products. “In addition, there’s also a demonstration program that many of our dealers participate in,” Mike adds. “It’s an opportunity for new customers to try a mid-range tractor, round baler, or a disc mower conditioner on their farm as part of their buying decision.”

Listen to my interview with Mike here and watch a very short video clip with him below:
Mike Cornman Interview

New Holland Media Event album

Building Relationships With Consumers

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Chuck

The moderator for the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit was Tom Steever, Brownfield, who is currently the President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Tom was also one of our presenters so it was interesting seeing him introduce himself, speak, thank himself and then present himself with the AAA coffee mug token of appreciation. It was also hilarious. Tom took over moderating duties for Tom Brand, NAFB, Executive Director, who could not attend due to a family emergency.

Tom’s topic was “Strengthening the Bond.” I took that to mean a discussion about relationships and I was right. His message was that “the farmer has a story to tell and that the farmer should tell to consumers.” By doing that we can build the relationships that will help them better understand where our food comes from. And he also points out how farm broadcasters can help tell the story of the farmer.

You can hear my interview with Tom here: Interview with Tom Steever

2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.