Country Financial at Farm Progress Show

Cindy Zimmerman

At the Farm Progress Show last month, we learned more about the services Country Financial offers for farmers and ranchers from Kristin Kramer and Julie Walters. Kristin says Country Financial realizes that farming is a risky business and there are many ways to limit further issues and protect your farm.  “I like to think of everybody like my dad,” Kristin …

Audio, Farm Progress Show, Insurance

Foro PAIS Promotes Argentina’s Soy Complex

Cindy Zimmerman

Foro PAIS – Productores Agro Industriales de Soja – was born in 2011 with the purpose of promoting the Argentine soy agro-industry and we learned more about it during the IFAJ 2013 Congress. Foro PAIS Communications and Institutional Relations Director Dr. Adrián Figueroa says soybean production is a huge industry for Argentina. “Soybean production in Argentina in the last ten …

Audio, IFAJ, International, Soybean

Iowa Board of Regent Head Promotes Ag Education

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the Iowa Board of Regents is a great promoter of agricultural education in the United States as “Today’s Solution for Tomorrow’s World.” Bruce Rastetter visited the 2013 Farm Progress Show last month to talk about the importance of agricultural education and the vast number of career choices available for students of all backgrounds. “I think the biggest …

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, Farm Progress Show

FMC Announces Contest Winner

Cindy Zimmerman

FMC Agricultural Solutions has announced the grand prize winner in the 2013 “Stand & Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest.” After two rounds of online voting, a judges’ panel review and delivering a powerful, nationally-televised performance of the National Anthem on RFD-TV, Noelle Goodson from Fayette, Ohio will now receive the grand prize of a $10,000 scholarship. More than 30,000 online …

Agribusiness, FMC

Growth Energy Praises New Holland Biofuels Support

Cindy Zimmerman

At the 2013 Farm Progress Show, representatives from Growth Energy were pleased to be part of the New Holland Club Blue event for dealers and customers. “New Holland is a fantastic company, they produce top notch equipment, but they also are willing to step up for rural America,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “What we’ve seen over the last …

Audio, Equipment, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, New Holland

Argentina’s Export Tariffs

Cindy Zimmerman

During the IFAJ Congress, I was very surprised to learn that Argentina has export tariffs on a number of agricultural commodities, including corn and soybeans. I understand import tariffs, but export tariffs would seem to do nothing but hurt a country’s agricultural industry. “Argentina has export taxes on almost every product that we export, but in the case of grain …

Audio, Farming, IFAJ, International, Markets, Trade

Ferilizer Use Growing in Argentina

Cindy Zimmerman

Fertilizer use is on the rise in Argentina, which is a major contributor to increasing yields in that country. We found out more about that during the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress in Argentina. We visited Profertil, a joint venture with Canada’s Agrium and the nation’s largest fertilizer producer. “The use of fertilizer technology has improved a lot,” …

Audio, Fertilizer, IFAJ, International

Monsanto “Follow-A-Field” Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto is encouraging farmers to “Follow-A-Field” in order to learn more about the next innovation in soybean and cotton weed control. The Follow-A-Field initiative from Monsanto is an interactive experience featured on XtendFollowAField.com that follows three farmers as they take their Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybean fields from burndown through harvest as part of the Monsanto Ground Breakers® Field Trials …

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Farming, weed management

Selling House Water Bill on Social Media

Cindy Zimmerman

The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is using social media to promote the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA) introduced last week by the committee. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) narrates a whiteboard-doodled YouTube video on why the legislation to improve our nation’s waterway infrastructure “matters to every American, the Nation’s economy, jobs, and our …

Trade, Video

Argentine Cowhide Sledding

Cindy Zimmerman

What do Argentine gauchos do out in the pampas when they are bored and maybe have had a little too much Quilmes to drink? They tie dried cowhides to their horses and drag each other around in them. Seriously. I don’t know what it’s called – there must be a name for it – so I just call it cowhide …

Horses, IFAJ, Video