At the Iowa Farm Bureau 2013 Economic Summit on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed some skepticism about the farm-only farm bill passed by the House. “I’m not sure that what they’ve done up to this point is real or for show,” Vilsack told reporters after addressing the summit. He also wonders why the House leadership is delaying work on …
What China Approval of Monsanto Trait Means
Monsanto officials are pleased with the recent import approval from China for the drought tolerance trait in Monsanto’s Genuity® DroughtGard® hybrids. According to Monsanto row crop launch lead, Sarah Pierce, the approval granted last month gives farmers who had purchased DroughtGard hybrids in 2013 more options. “(They) signed a stewardship agreement saying they would keep the grain domestic until we …
Apps for Agriculture
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Brian Arnall, Oklahoma State University. Brian was one of the presenters at the 2013 InfoAg Conference on precision agriculture. Brian’s presentation topic was “Ag Apps for Smart Phones and Tablets.” That certainly got my attention. Brian is keeping a list of apps he finds that …
Monsanto Part of CTIC Conservation Efforts
Monsanto was one of the sponsors on the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., and Chuck caught up with the company’s Emilio Oyarzabal, who said the CTIC’s work is very important to Monsanto and its customers. “We need agriculture more than ever,” Emilio said, but he added that farmers are being accused of doing environmental damage. …
Texas Congressman at Peanut Conference
Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) provided an update on the farm bill at the 2013 Southern Peanut Growers Conference on Saturday. Rep. Conaway, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, says the House still intends to get a nutrition bill passed. “We’ll have a nutrition title and it will have reforms in it…probably stronger reforms than what we had in the …
Investing in Illinois Soil’s Wealth
“The wealth of Illinois is in her soil, and her strength lies in its intelligent development.” That quote was from one of the first presidents of the University of Illinois almost 200 years, but attendees of the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., heard it reiterated by Jean Payne, President of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical …
Corn Growers Adopting New Conservation Practices
The National Corn Growers Association is very supportive of the work of the Conservation Technology Information Council. That certainly makes sense as corn farmers have a strong desire to better manage their land in a sustainable way. During the 2013 Conservation in Action Tour, Dan Cole, corn grower (left in photo) and member of the NCGA Production & Stewardship Action …
Southern Peanut Growers Team
The 15th annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference is officially underway in Panama City Beach and I had the opportunity to catch up with all four of the state executives for the associations involved in the event as soon as I arrived on the scene yesterday to get an update and a preview. Left to right, the fabulous four are Randy …
Stabilizing Nitrogen Important for Conservation Tillage
I want to say a big thanks to Koch Agronomic Services for being the sponsor of our coverage of the 2013 Conservation in Action Tour again this year. During the tour I visited with Greg Schwab, Director of Agronomy. He says that some of the products they make help farmers do conservation tillage. One of the challenges is maintaining the …
Analyzing Social Media
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. You agrimarketers out there are sure including social media in your strategies judging by the audience I had at the 2013 InfoAg Conference session on the topic. I asked for a show of hands if they had a company Twitter account and almost everyone raised their hand, the same when I asked if they …