Two South American countries have been slated for a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) trade mission. This news release from the agency says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will lead a trade mission March 14-18 to expand export opportunities for U.S. agriculture in Chile and Peru. “Thanks to existing free trade agreements, the United States enjoys strong trading relationships with both …
NCGA Gains Insight During Priority and Policy Conference
Members of the National Corn Growers Association were able to gain some great insights during their recent annual Priority and Policy Conference held in St. Louis. This news release from NCGA says the meeting brought together a wide array of stakeholders for discussions on the direction and the future of the organization. “This meeting consistently provides a chance for NCGA …
Real Interviews with Real Growers about LibertyLink
If you listen to farm radio you probably have heard spots for Bayer’s LibertyLink system. Last fall they included promotion for the RealYield game which ended December 31, 2015. Those commercials, moderated by Cindy, came from real interviews with real growers like Reid Atha from northwest Missouri. I thought you might want to hear one of the full interviews instead …
Vilsack: Farmer Greatest Job on Earth
Being a farmer is the greatest job on earth noted USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. He spent the morning back in his home state of Iowa (Vilsack is a former Iowa Governor) to kick off the 10th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. He kicked off his speech noting that he is proud of the work the USDA has done to help …
Julia Debes Named Communication Director at NSP
Julia Debes will now be serving as the communications director for the National Sorghum Producers. She will be working as associate editor for the Sorghum Grower magazine and supporting the organization through public relations and marketing communications. Debes joins NSP with eight years of experience in communications and public relations, most recently operating her own business, North Homestead Communications. Before …
Comedian Damian Mason at #PotatoExpo
Damian Mason is a very popular, very funny speaker for agricultural groups that we’ve heard several times at different events but he always has a serious underlying message for his audience. One topic he hit on at the Potato Expo last week was the organic trend. “I’m not anti-organic, I’m actually pro-organic because it’s a profitable niche and it gives …
Poll Shows Farmers Back Trump
A new poll among farmers show Trump is the Republican forerunner for the nomination due to his strong support of agriculture. Conducted by Farm Futures, the poll found 37 percent of those favoring a Republican candidate said they would vote for Trump “if the election were held today.” Trump’s support among GOP farmers was even stronger at 39 percent from …
Zimfo Bytes
Swanson Russell announces the additions of Sandra Baumgarner, Rachel Dicke and Emily Madden. Woodruff Sweitzer (WS) recently announced the addition of Lindsey Woolsey and Brandon Thomas to its Kansas City, Missouri, office, Cynthia Kotovsky to its Columbia, Missouri, office and Halli Kubes to the agency’s Red Wing, Minnesota, office. The Minnesota AgriGrowth Council is pleased to announce the re-election of …
All About Spuds and Politics
In this week’s program we will meet the CEO’s of the National Potato Council and the United States Potato Board. I met both of these guys while covering the Potato Expo last week for my first time. Let’s start our with John Keeling, CEO of the National Potato Council. We focused on potato policy issues which as you might guess …
Expanding @NufarmUS Portfolio
Nufarm is the eighth largest crop protection company in the world and just keeps getting bigger while not changing its stripes. At the 2016 Potato Expo last week, I talked with Nufarm North America‘s Vice President for Innovations and Regulatory Affairs Rob Schwehr about what’s new at Nufarm. “What we’ve done over the last couple of years is continue our …