In part this week’s program was sort of hijacked by the Shark Farmer and Farmer Derek. But there is so much more than that. It is probably the busiest week of the year for the ZimmComm Team. From the Bayer AgVocacy Forum to Commodity Classic to Pork Industry Forum to Farm and Gin Show and to the American Association of …
Sonny Day at Commodity Classic
A lot of drama and speculation preceded the appearance of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at Commodity Classic, thanks to some reports questioning his support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), so he wasted no time in stating his “unequivocal” support for the law. “I have not and will not support any policies in this country that diminish the demand, undermine …
Panel Discusses Broadband Connectivity at Classic
Visitors to the Commodity Classic Trade Show had an opportunity to listen to a panel assembled by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The Agricultural Executive Panel: The Infrastructure for New Technology is part of the AEM’s Infrastructure Vision 2050 Initiative, recognizing the gap between broadband infrastructure and production agriculture. The group included Nebraska corn and soybean grower Brandon Hunnicut, …
Pork Forum Panel Focuses on Gene Editing
The science of gene editing and its potential for the pork industry took center stage Wednesday at the opening session of the annual Pork Industry Forum in Kansas City. Journalist and author Michael Specter keynoted the session and moderated the panel on gene editing, which included University of Missouri animal scientist Kevin Wells, The Maschhoffs president Bradley Wolter, NPPC director …
Ag Innovations Honored at Commodity Classic
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers honored three companies with the inaugural Davidson Prize for Innovation at the 2018 Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California. The Davidson Prize is named for J.B. Davidson, the father of modern agricultural engineering, and was created to celebrate breakthrough innovations in areas of agricultural, food and biological …
Sen. Cruz Allows Bill Northey Confirmation
Bill Northey is at last free to take the job at USDA that he was nominated for almost six months ago after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lifted his hold on the nomination and allowed the confirmation Tuesday. The Senate confirmed Northey on a voice vote to become USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation as Sens. Cruz, Pat Toomey (R-PA), …
Restoring Consumer Trust
Rob Schrick, strategic business lead, broad acre crops, Bayer CropScience, took the stage at the 2018 AgVocacy Forum with Global Head R&D, Adrian Percy, to have a candid conversation about restoring consumer trust. We spoke with Rob following the on-stage Q&A to hear about his excitement for future digitalization and how Bayer’s Forward Farm is connecting with consumers globally. “Forward …
FMC Managing Resistant Weeds With New Herbicide
Controlling resistant weeds is an ongoing challenge for growers, especially when it comes to the pigweed family including waterhemp and Palmer amaranth. Technical Service Representative Nick Hustedde covers Illinois and Indiana for FMC. He said it’s important to use residual herbicides with multiple sites of action to manage these prolific seed producers that can germinate over a long period of …
Sustaining Ag’s Future at #AgVocate 2018
The 2018 Bayer AgVocacy Forum in Anaheim, CA, held February 25-26, sets the stage for conversations centered around food and agriculture. Global Head of R&D, Crop Science division of Bayer, Adrian Percy, kicked things off by discussing ‘Sustaining Ag’s Future’ and acceptance of digitalization. “The innovation space in agriculture is really exciting. There is a lot of investment coming in …