Pirkle Receives #ARA2015 Distinguished Service Award

Cindy Zimmerman

The Agricultural Retailers Association presented its 2015 Distinguished Service Award to Billy Pirkle, who has served as chairman of ResponsibleAg, an industry initiative which kicked off last year at this time. The organization assists fertilizer facilities with federal regulatory compliance through education, training and certification. “Agricultural retailers are already committed to stewardship and safety,” said Pirkle, who is Senior Director …

Agribusiness, ARA, Audio, Fertilizer

California FFA Welcomes #ARA2015

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the California FFA Southern Region addressed members of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) meeting in Palm Desert, California last week, on behalf of the 79,000 FFA members in the state. “The FFA is giving its members the skills needed to build health communities, a strong nation, and a sustainable world,” said Samuel Looper as he welcomed ARA …

ARA, Audio, FFA

California FB President Addresses ARA

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the California Farm Bureau Federation welcomed members of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) to his state this week for their annual meeting. Wenger talked about the importance of the agricultural industry in the United States and his home state. “As we see that today (farmers) are less than two percent of the population and in California farmers …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, ARA, Audio

The Debut of Sage – A Creative Marketing Agency

Jamie Johansen

BCS Communications has changed its name to Sage, A Creative Marketing Agency. The name change reflects a new strategic direction and personality of the agency nearly 13 years after it was founded by company partners Leigh Ann Cleaver and Kelly Schwalbe. Last night the team celebrated the change and I took the opportunity to chat with them both. Leigh Ann …

Advertising, Agribusiness, Audio, Marketing, Public Relations

Farm & Food Partnerships – A New Paradigm

Chuck Zimmerman

The topic was “The New Paradigm: Farm + Food Partnerships to Meet New Consumer Demand.” Our opening keynote speaker at the Agricultural Retailers Association Conference & Expo was Steve Peterson, Retired Director of Sourcing and Sustainability, General Mills. Steve actually just recently retired and is now farming full time on his farm in Minnesota. Steve told us that he has …

Ag Groups, ARA, Audio, Sustainability

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Sen. Joe Donnelly

John Davis

Agri-Pulse Open Mic this week features Sen. Joe Donnelly. The Hoosier Democrat is an outspoken critic of the Environmental Protection Agency’s WOTUS rule. In this week’s interview, Donnelly suggests legislative action may still be possible to thwart the agency’s new regulations. Senator Donnelly shares support for the Export Import Bank, has hopes for child nutrition reform and feels an urgency …

Agri-Pulse, Audio, Water

Updates from Case IH at #NAFB15

Jamie Johansen

The Case IH team was out in full force for the 2015 NAFB Trade Talk in Kansas City. One highlight for the well-known equipment company is their 20-year anniversary of tracks on their Steiger tractor. Mitch Kaiser, marketing manager for the Steiger tractor line, said the 2016 enhancements set the bar for high performance, operator experience and all around improvements. …

Agribusiness, Audio, Case IH, Equipment, NAFB

ARA Performance. Precision. Passion. Preview.

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s time to get back on the agriblogging highway with a trip to the 2015 Agricultural Retailers Association Conference & Expo. The theme is Performance. Precision. Passion. We’re going to discover how performance, precision and passion shapes success through presentations, networking and exhibits at this event for ag retailers and suppliers. You can still attend if you would like and …

Ag Groups, ARA, Audio, ZimmCast

Dawn White Getting Some Real Yield with LibertyLink

Chuck Zimmerman

We often think of weed resistance as being some kind of midwest and south phenomenon but think east U.S. as in South Carolina. Cindy spoke with farmer Dawn White for an episode of LibertyLink Real Yield Radio and you can hear what she has to say below. Now, while you’re celebrating some Thanksgiving with the family how about trying the …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Seed, Soybean

Ethos XB from FMC

Chuck Zimmerman

Earlier this month FMC announced the launch of Ethos™ XB insecticide/fungicide, the first of its kind, integrated in-furrow product for insect and disease control. It just so happens that Rick Ekins, fungicide and insecticide portfolio manager for FMC, was attending the NAFB convention. We talked about the announcement and what it provides to farmers. Here’s some information on the product …

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC, Fungicide, NAFB