Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. Part of December into January was a little rough for the ZimmComm Team. Between some bugs going around to two short trips to see family. But now all’s well and it’s time for a new episode. In December we posted some “Oh the places we’ve been!” details. We started in the …
Terrifying Tariffs and the Global Cotton Market
The Beltwide Cotton Economic Outlook Conference this year was a sobering one for the industry. “Cotton prices have been stagnant since planting…we’ve traded in more or less a six cent range over the last six months,” said Beau Stephenson, Omnicotton, Inc. in his presentation on the Changing Global Cotton Market. “This is not an exciting price pattern for the producers …
AgGateway Receives ASABE Innovation Award
AgGateway is being recognized for the release of its ADAPT Standard and ADAPT Standard Plugin with a 2026 AE50 Award at the the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference next month in Louisville, Kentucky. Sponsored by Resource magazine, a publication of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), the AE50 Award program …
Trump Signs Bill Putting Whole Milk Back in Schools
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 into law, allowing whole and 2% milk to return to America’s schools where it has been banned since 2012 under President Obama. “This is the first bill signing of the new year, and it will ensure that millions of school aged children have access …
Capstone Journeys in Cotton Engineering
Engineering students at Texas A&M are working on capstone projects that could help the cotton industry in the future. Michael Buser is Professor and Endowed Chair in Cotton Engineering, Ginning and Mechanization at Texas A&M and he had two student teams who presented their projects at last week’s Beltwide Cotton Conferences. “One is working on a feeder for a breeder …
USDA Secretary Addresses Key Issues at AFBF Convention
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins addressed the American Farm Bureau Federation convention for the first time Monday, hitting on key issues being discussed by the nation’s largest general farm organization this week. Rollins started with the bad news. “All of America is under threat when American agriculture is under threat. And there’s no doubt that right now, American agriculture, …
DWFI Podcast 49 – Irrigation as a Service: A New Paradigm
In our first episode of 2026, host Frances Hayes discusses a unique approach to supporting access to irrigation for smallholder farmers with Erin Anders, Senior Program Manager at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. Farmers of all sizes in all parts of the world need access to water, inputs and financing to grow food. Irrigation as a Service (IaaS) …
Seizing Opportunities for U.S. Cotton
The purpose of the National Cotton Council is to increase profitability for the industry, and it is especially important when the market is down and growers are struggling. Marjory Walker, NCC VP Operations and Communications, presented some of the council’s recent initiatives at this week’s 2026 Beltwide Cotton Conferences. “One of the most innovative, I think, is Buying America Cotton …
Cotton Consultants Conference Covers the Latest
From what’s new in crop protection technology from the major players, to what’s new that could impact this growing season, the 2026 Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference covered the waterfront on the first day Wednesday. Conference coordinator Hank Jones was pleased to see a good crowd. “We had a very good turnout from around the belt,” said Jones. “I know there’s …
Syngenta Spotlights New Insecticide at Cotton Conferences
Syngenta’s PLINAZOLIN® technology just received registration from the Environmental Protection Agency last month and is now available for use, subject to state approvals, powering five separate insecticide products including Vertento® for cotton. Tripp Walker, Syngenta agronomic service rep, gave a presentation at the Beltwide Cotton Consultants Conference Wednesday in San Antonio on the new foliar-applied insecticide for cotton, peanuts and …