Governors and senators from agricultural states such as Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, North and South Dakota had a meeting with President Donald Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today to discuss recent trade actions and how farmers may be impacted. In a press availability prior to the start of the meeting, President Trump talked about NAFTA, China, the European Union, …
House Ag Committee Unveils Agriculture and Nutrition Act
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) today introduced the first draft of a new farm bill, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2). ““The farm bill keeps faith with our nation’s farmers and ranchers through the current agriculture recession by providing certainty and helping producers manage the enormous risks that are inherent in agriculture,” said Rep. Conaway. …
WEDA Acquires Friend Management Systems™
Western Equipment Dealers Association (WEDA) announced today that it is acquiring Friend Management Systems™ (FMS), pairing two leading providers of management consulting and professional development services for equipment dealers. Friend Management is a Canadian-based management consulting firm providing leadership development and peer-to-peer learning to agricultural, consumer, and golf equipment dealerships in Canada, United States and Australia. The company is also …
Growing Asian Market Benefits U.S. Soy
The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) hosted its 13th SE Asia Soy Food Symposium and Ag Supply Chain Asia 2018 events in Surabaya, Indonesia, bringing together all stakeholders in the soy food industry in that region. Among those participating were exporters of United States soy products like Bob Sinner, President of SB&B Foods, Inc. in North Dakota. Sinner has been …
Equipment Dealers Fighting Tax Policy Changes
The 2018 Oklahoma state legislature has seen several bills this session that seek to increase revenue by making tax policy changes that would impact the agriculture industry at an already difficult time, and the Western Equipment Dealers Association (WEDA) says they expect more such challenges in the future. WEDA Vice President of Government Affairs Eric Wareham explains that the Oklahoma …
Deere’s Lagemann New AEM Vice Chair
John D. Lagemann is the new Vice Chair of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), filling the unexpired officer term of recently retired Jim Walker of CNH Industrial. Lagemann is Deere & Co. Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing-Regions 3 & 4. Lagemann has served in AEM leadership roles since 2001. AEM has also elected CNH Industrial’s Scott Harris to …
ZimmCast on International Travel and #NAMA18
It’s Agri-Marketing Conference Week and the ZimmComm Team will be on location. This week’s episode features a preview from the Chair of this year’s conference, Jenna Oesch, Global Marketing Lead & Customer Experience Council Lead, Monsanto Company, Vegetable Seeds Division. The program starts out with Jamie talking about her trip around the world. That would be to Ireland with Alltech …
Outrage Grows Over EPA RFS Waivers
Farm and biofuels groups are saying “enough is enough” as outrage grows over the Environmental Protection Agency granting numerous small refinery hardship waivers, combined with the approval of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions bankruptcy agreement absolving the oil refiner of the majority of its Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and state corn growers sent a …
Credenz Soybeans Building on Strong History
Bayer CropScience is seeing rapid growth in the use of its Credenz soybean varieties. In 2018, Credenz sales broke into the top ten out of more than 150 soybean brands available in the United States. The strength of the Credenz soybean brand continues to be the fact that it is based on the LibertyLink system, which is outstanding for both …
The U.S. Soybean in Southeast Asia
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Chris Rittgers has called Jakarta, Indonesia home for nearly a year, but is a veteran when it comes to the role of agricultural counselor. Prior to this three-year position, Rittgers worked for the USDA in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Malaysia, Iraq, Egypt and Spain. Naturally, he was the perfect person to share the role of Indonesia …