Getting Ready For Japan

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ 2007In just a couple days Cindy and I will be winging our way to Japan and the IFAJ Congress 2007. What a week for ZimmComm New Media. Cindy’s in Brussels now as you’ve probably read and I’m back from Canada. Actually I got back last night and went up to Des Moines today to host the first in a video series project we’re working on. More on that in coming weeks. So we’re racking up some agrimiles lately and it’s not going to slow down any time soon.

We’re hoping to be able to meet with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. That’s a position that’s seen a little bit of turnover lately. Their website says the current Minister is Masatoshi WAKABAYASHI. We’ll be arriving next Monday and the games (I mean program) will begin that evening.

I’m sure our friends in Japan have a wonderful agenda planned for us. Actually we know what it is but it’s hard to imagine it until we experience it. You’ll get to experience it with us as we cover the conference right here on AgWired. Once again and for the third year in a row I want to thank Pioneer Hi-Bred for making our trip possible.

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2007 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

IFAJ, International, Pioneer

US Ag Journalists Meet With Top BASF Officials

Cindy Zimmerman

The agricultural journalists on this week’s media event in Germany had the honor of being able to personally interview some of the top corporate executives of BASF Agricultural Products.

BASF GroupYou have to admit, this is a darn good looking group. We do clean up well. Along with myself, the seven other journalists on the trip and our BASF communications manager hosts are pictured BASF Ag Products division president Michael Heinz, with group VP for strategic marketing of ag products Emmanual Butstraen to his left and group VP North America Ag Products Markus Heldt to his left. Top middle is Peter Eckes, Senior VP for Global R&D. I already posted an interview with Michael and will feature interviews with the others here in future posts.

I will identify everyone else later. It’s late here in Brussels where we arrived this evening. We had a nice dinner on the town and have an early day Friday with EU ag officials, which should be very interesting. Stay tuned for more and check out the latest photos for our last day in Germany at the BASF research facility where we learned about prescreening of compounds, fungicide research, ecotoxicology, and seed treatment. I promise much more later.

POST UPDATE: Here are the names of the rest of the folks in the picture, in no particular order: Wayne Wenzel, Farm Journal/Top Producer; Don Green, Ag Day TV/US Farm Report TV; Willie Vogt, Farm Progress; Eric Sfiligoj, CropLife; Gil Gullickson, Successful Farming; Greg Lamp, Corn and Soybean Digest; Greg Horstmeier, DTN/Progressive Farmer; Pat Morrow, BASF Communications Manager, Elise Kissling BASF Global Communications Manager. Dan Muys with Quarry Communications gets the photo credit – and a lot of other credit too. He, Pat and Elise, as well as Elise’s assistant Michele, just did an incredible job setting up this trip and taking care of us.

View the Flickr Photo Album from BASF in Germany

Agribusiness, BASF

“Straight From the Horse’s Mouth”

Laura McNamara

Farm Safety USAThat title comes straight from Farm Safety USA. The organization is releasing a new children’s farm safety program available on audio CD. The program will feature animals in its kid-friendly campaign.

Animals teach farm safety in a one-of-a-kind, highly entertaining, audio CD series — created to educate children on farm dangers.

“As farmers approach fall harvesting, safety is of high concern for workers and parents of farm children,” says Vickie Harbert of Farm Safety USA, which produced the four CD series.

Harbert says family and friends have been injured and killed in farming accidents, which motivated her to produce the series to educate kids and adults worldwide.

The Fun Farm targets children and teens. In a serious, yet fun way, the farm animals remind them of dangers and what they can do to avoid injury and death during harvest season and all year long.

“Animals talk in Dr. Doolittle and on Mr. Ed; why not on an audio CD educating children about farm safety?” asks Harbert.

The CD series includes 25 adventure stories in all, with an interactive quiz at the end of each show.
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Education, Farming

Growing Propane

Laura McNamara

perc005a.jpgI didn’t have any flight delays unlike Chuck and Cindy, however, my posts on the 2007 Propane Technology Forum were delayed due the strict security of the internet I was accessing at the conference. I am back at my hotel now, online now with full access. Here’s the first of many posts to come…

Cutting-edge innovation and environmentally friendly applications are the two major themes experts at the 2007 Propane Technology Forum are focusing on during their presentations on liquid petroleum gas. Roy Willis, President of the Propane Education & Research Council, gave the keynote address this morning, saying propane is “the mechanism for the things consumers need.” Roy stressed the importance of using the latest research and innovation in propane application to spur the growth of the propane industry. He says as propane use continues to become more efficient, it is vital to create new markets and develop new customers. In a separate in interview, I talked with Roy about where the propane industry has room to grow.

You can listen to my interview with Roy here:

Willis_Roy.mp3
Audio, Environment, Farming, Propane, Technology

Multi-Use Propane

Laura McNamara

perc007a1.jpgFor Robert Jacobs, it’s about maximum output. Robert is the Chairman for the Propane Education & Research Council Agriculture Advisory Committee. He headed a panel at the 2007 Propane Technology Forum that demonstrated the different ways propane application can be applied to agriculture, including heat remediation, heat defoliation of crops, heat sanitation and pest control. I spoke to Robert about which agriculture applications excite him most. We also discussed the ‘tri-generation’ project that was introduced in my interview in the previous post with Steve Jaeger.

You can listen to my interview with Robert here:

Jacobs_Robert.mp3

For more information on propane research and innovations for agriculture, visit www.agpropane.com.

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, Farming, Propane, Technology

Pairing Propane and Power

Laura McNamara

Chairman of the PERC Research and Development Advisory Committee Stuart WeidieSome of the latest propane technology pairs propane with solar power to offer hybrid electricity generation systems. Stuart Weidie, Chairman of the PERC Research and Development Advisory Committee, says experts are looking at coupling propane with more than just solar energy though. I spoke with Stuart about the various opportunities his panel has been researching in combined heat and power systems along with the long-term storage potential of liquid petroleum gas.

You can listen to my interview with Stuart here:

Weidie_Stuart.mp3
Agribusiness, Education, Environment, Farming, Propane, Research, Technology

Texas Railroad Commission Highlights Propane Technology

Laura McNamara

perc004a.jpg The Railroad Commission of Texas is the organization hosting the 2007 Propane Technology Forum here in Austin, TX. Propane is a key interest of the commission’s Alternative Fuels Research and Education Division. I spoke to Director Dan Kelly about some of the highlights of today’s featured speakers.

You can listen to my interview with Dan here:

Kelly_Dan.mp3

Dan expanded on our discussion in the interview over the safety of propane fuel and pointed out the fuel tank is not only made of steel but is also a quarter-inch thick. He referenced a school bus accident in Alvin, TX where a pick-up truck ran a red light and struck a school bus running on propane fuel, hitting the propane tank dead on. University of GuelphHe said the pick-up burned to the ground while there was no escape of gas from the bus. He added that all the children riding the bus exited safely without any instance of injury or death. Dan said industry leaders joke about the safest place to put a propane gas tank in a motor vehicle: “make it the bumper.” He said 12,000 vehicles run on propane fuel in Texas.

I also spoke with Steve Jaeger with the Alternative Fuels Research and Education Division. We discussed why the Railroad Commission of Texas feels it’s important to host the Propane Technology Forum and what he thought were some of the key presentations. We also touched on a new project that just got off the ground last month: “tri-generation” use of propane – a new propane-powered energy efficiency project that focuses on researching the capability of propane to recover waste heat to both heat water and sanitize dairy shed and equipment, and to operate an adsorption chiller.

You can listen to my interview with Steve here:

Jaeger_Steve.mp3
Audio, Education, Farming, Propane, Research, Technology

Roush F-150 Burns Propane Fuel

Laura McNamara

Tom Arnold with Roush ManufacturingChuck has already posted information on the innovative use of propane as motor fuel from Roush Manufacturing, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to interview Roush representative Tom Arnold myself. Not to mention the application of propane as motor fuel is certainly interesting enough to cover more than once.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here:

Roush_Tom.mp3
Education, Environment, Farming, Propane, Research, Technology

Putting the Heat on Cotton

Laura McNamara

Paul Funk with the USDA-Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research LaboratoryPaul Funk is one of the experts at the 2007 Propane Technology Forum who has taken all the talk about innovative propane research a step further. Paul is a scientist with the USDA-Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory. He is among the first to put heat defoliation of cotton with propane into practice. Paul and I discussed what he’s encountered out in the field.

You can listen to my interview with Paul here:

Funk_Paul.mp3
Audio, Cotton, Education, Environment, Farming, Propane, Research, Technology

Propane Heat Remediation Ideal for Organic Farmers

Laura McNamara

Scientists Raj Hulasare with Temp-AirPaul Funk’s heat defoliation of cotton isn’t the only way propane-generated heat is being used. Temp-Air scientist Raj Hulasare says propane heat remediation is an ideal solution for treating bins, silos, and other storage vessels for pests. He adds that propane heat remediation is a particularly viable option for certified organic farms, which are restricted from using many chemicals to treat their stored crops.

You can listen to my interview with Raj about the advantages of thermal remediation here:

Hulasare_Raj.mp3
Audio, Education, Environment, Farming, Propane, Research, Technology