Sugar Cane Growers Mourn Passing of Founder

Cindy Zimmerman

The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida is mourning the loss of its founder George H. Wedgworth, 88. “George left his mark on every facet of our business, Florida agriculture as a whole and the entire Glades community,” said Cooperative President and CEO Tony Contreras. “He was a great friend, mentor, a true leader and a man of the highest …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Cooperatives

USFRA Unveils #SMARTFarm for 2017

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) stakeholders and the farm broadcast media got a sneak preview of the new SMART Farm platform for agriculture to talk to people who eat food in 2017. “SMART Farm is going to be woven into all of our programs,” said USFRA Director of Consumer Communications Emily Dameron, who explained that they found the “smart” …

Audio, USFRA

John Deere Operations Center Gets Upgrades

Cindy Zimmerman

The John Deere Operations Center is getting an upgrade. A new software release for the cloud-based platform will offer more user-friendly tools and features, allowing growers to collect and access their farm information and collaborate with their advisors more easily than ever. At the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk last week, Jake Flanders with John Deere Intelligent Solutions …

Audio, John Deere, NAFB

Farmers Edge Makes Data Handling Easier

Cindy Zimmerman

Jon Labine of Farmers Edge is in the business of making big data a small job for growers. Farmers Edge takes farmers from start to finish, tackling soil sampling, zone sampling, data analytics, yield applications and yield mapping. From all that data the company then provides growers with a profit map, proving their own worth. “[Precision] takes the guess work …

Audio, NAFB, Precision Agriculture

Harvest Shows Results of DuPont Pioneer Innovation

Cindy Zimmerman

DuPont Pioneer 2016 North American yield data from nearly 50,000 on-farm comparisons shows the company’s products and services have had a hand in the record corn and soybean crops being harvested across the country right now. At the NAFB Trade Talk last week, DuPont Pioneer senior corn marketing manager Ryan French was on-hand to talk about Pioneer brand corn products, …

Audio, NAFB, Pioneer

BASF Keeps #NAFB16 Broadcasting

Cindy Zimmerman

The broadcast center is the hub of activity at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention each year and BASF Ag Products has been its proud sponsor since at least 2008. “We always like to host the media room so they can have a nice space to go a work on their stories here at the convention,” said Sandi Wilson, …

Audio, BASF, NAFB

AFBF President at #NAFB16

Cindy Zimmerman

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president Zippy Duvall experienced his first National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) convention last week where he talked about his first year at the helm of the nation’s largest farm organization. “It’s been very busy and exciting and a big education for me as far as agriculture in different parts of the country,” said Duvall. …

AFBF, Audio, NAFB

Vilsack Bids Farewell at #NAFB16

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made his final appearance at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention of his eight years in this office. “First of all, I want to thank the broadcasters here today,” Vilsack started his remarks to a standing room only crowd. “I think all of you have done and continue to do a great service, particularly …

Audio, NAFB, USDA

Big Crops Get Bigger

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA increased the numbers for corn, soybeans, cotton and oranges in the latest crop production forecast out Wednesday. Corn production is now forecast at 15.2 billion bushels, up one percent from the October forecast and 12 percent higher than last year with yields expected to average 175.3 bushels per acre, which will be the highest yield and production on record. …

Audio, Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA

Changing of the Guard for @USFRA

Cindy Zimmerman

Tuesday was also election day for the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance board of directors – but fortunately without any drama. Wisconsin farmer Nancy Kavazanjian officially ended her term as chairperson this week and Brad “Pig Farmer of the Year” Greenway, who represents the National Pork Board, is the new chair for the agricultural advocacy organization. “It’s been an amazing …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, USFRA