The room was packed for the annual Spotlight on Washington session at the 2017 National Biodiesel Conference last week, which was more popular than ever this year with the advent of a new presidential administration. Reprising their roles for the session were former Sen. Byron Dorgan and former Cong. Kenny Hulshof, and they were joined by other DC insiders Jim …
U.S. Soy Meets Demand of Growing Aquaculture Industry
As the fastest growing animal protein, aquaculture is the center of conversations beyond the circle of animal agriculture. And the most common circle these days discussing aquaculture is soybean. The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and Soy Aquaculture Alliance (SAA) joined forces to host the 2017 Aquaculture Educational Opportunity in Panama City, Panama. U.S. soybean growers, researchers and aquaculture experts …
ZimmCast with CNH Industrial
This week I get to talk precision ag with the new Industry Relations Manager, Precision Solutions and Telematics for CNH Industrial, Dan Danford. Dan already has travel scheduled for the new job that will take him to South America and Europe as well as around the USA. In his role with CNH Industrial Dan will be getting involved with organizations …
New Biodiesel Board Chairman from ADM
Kent Engelbrecht of ADM was elected chairman of the National Biodiesel Board in November, marking the first time that company has moved into the leadership position for the organization. “We’ve been involved in biodiesel since 2006,” said Engelbrecht. “We’ve got four plants in North America producing a lot of biodiesel, and that uses a lot of soybean oil, and that …
Most Ag Groups Pleased with Ag Secretary Choice
The agriculture industry had to wait until right up to the end to learn Trump’s choice for Secretary of Agriculture, but now that he’s nominated former Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue, the agriculture groups seem generally pleased. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calls him “an excellent pick” to head USDA. “As a lifelong agri-businessman and veterinarian, as well as the two-term governor …
Trump EPA Nominee Questioned on Ag Issues
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt answered questions about regulatory overreach and his support of renewable fuels during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President-elect Donald Trump. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, first asked Pruitt about making sure the agency is “open, …
12 Years of Blogging for Biodiesel
AgWired is on location this week in San Diego for the 14th National Biodiesel Conference, which marks our 12th year blogging for the biodiesel industry. The Biodiesel Conference Blog is a perfect example of what we do best as a company – gathering photos and audio from an event and making it available online quickly for anyone who might want …
New Offerings for Specialty Crops from John Deere
John Deere has something new up its sleeve again. Carl Weidemeier attended the Potato Expo in San Fransisco to show growers the latest offering for specialty crops. Beginning in the spring of 2017 growers will be able to connect their third party yield monitors to the My John Deere platform. A harness converts the message from the third party monitor …
Nufarm Seeing Results in Citrus Greening
The Potato Expo in San Fansisco earlier this month gave Chuck Zimmerman a chance to talk to Nufarm Manager of Tech Services, Alan Haack about an issue affecting the home state of AgWired’s world headquarters. Citrus greening has devastated the citrus industry of Florida, affecting half of the state’s fruit production. Last year the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture declared a …
#AFBF17 Looks at Immigration Reform
A panel recently addressed the issue of immigration reform at the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show. Tom Hertz, an economist from the Department of Agriculture and Mark Delich, director of congressional affairs at FWD spoke to the attendees about the economic and political realities of the issue, as well as some proposed reforms. Hertz …