USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the National Ethanol Conference in San Diego Tuesday addressing a number of critical issues facing the ethanol industry right now, including nationwide approval of year-round E15 sales and the use of the GREET model to determine the ability of ethanol to be used for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Following his remarks, the Renewable Fuels Association …
Partnerships Move the Ethanol Industry
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper this week addressed the biggest crowd for the National Ethanol Conference since before 2020, stressing the importance of partnerships and the need for critical questions to be answered soon. The theme of this year’s NEC is “Powered by Partnerships” and Cooper reflected on the ethanol industry’s many victories and advancements over …
EmGenisys Announces EmVision™ Enrollment for Cattle
EmGenisys, Inc., an animal health company improving success rates of embryo transfer (ET) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) for cattle producers, announces open enrollment for EmVision™. EmVision™ analyzes the viability and health of embryos at the microscope, giving producers and embryologists objective data to make strategic decisions on transferring embryos. The software will identify the 5-20% of embryos that are …
Alltech Researcher on Breeding Cattle for Sustainability
With sustainability and carbon reduction the main focus of food production right now, there was discussion at the recent CattleCon about breeding cattle to be more sustainable. Dr. Emily Stackhouse is a research manager in livestock and environment at Alltech and she shared a Cattlemen’s College panel around sending beef x dairy calves into beef production, how the carbon of …
USDA Releases 2022 Census of Agriculture Data
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on Tuesday released results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which includes more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them down to the county level. The information collected directly from producers shows a continued decline in the total number of U.S. farms. However, the data …
BQA Honors Best in Beef Quality Awards
Each year, the National Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Awards, funded in part by the Beef Checkoff program and sponsored by Cargill, recognize outstanding beef and dairy producers, marketers and educators who demonstrate high-quality animal care and handling principles, as well as express a strong desire to continually improve their operations through BQA. The 2024 honorees include Cow-Calf Award winner VanWinkle …
CIRB Honors Ron Rutledge for Industry Service
Ron Rutledge retired at the end of 2021 after a successful 40-year career at Farmers Mutual Hail, and this year as he officially goes off the board, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) had a chance to properly honor him for his years of service to the industry with the Chairman’s Award. Outgoing CIRB Chairman Brian Young, Great American …
ZimmCast 725 – NCBA Leaders
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. The last two weeks have been hectic for the ZimmComm Team. I was in Orlando for CattleCon and I’m going to share some interviews from there in this episode. Then I was off to Ft. Worth for the Clean Fuels Conference while Cindy went to Scottsdale for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual …
Federal Clean Fuels Policy Update
At the Clean Fuels Conference in Fort Wort last week, Kurt Kovarik, who serves as Vice President, Federal Affairs for Clean Fuels, provided an update on federal policies and described the work Clean Fuels does on the Hill. A significant part of it is education and persistence. Kovarik leads members in advocating federal policies that support the industry’s growth. Kovarik …
CIRB’s Largest Emerging Leaders Program Class
The 2023-24 class of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is the largest yet since the program started in 2015, and also the most diverse, including professionals from all aspects of the insurance business. The ELP allows crop insurance and reinsurance professionals to increase their knowledge of advocacy and communications and provides networking experiences with …