USDA Completes Reform of Packers & Stockyards Rule

Cindy Zimmerman

In one of his last official acts in the waning days of the Biden administration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the third installment in a series of regulatory reforms under the Packers and Stockyards Act. Along with other finalized updates, this completes a major regulatory reform intended to “level the playing field for farmers who raise chicken, turkeys, hogs, …

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Livestock, Poultry, USDA

Regev Hybrid Fungicide Receives California Registration

Cindy Zimmerman

Summit Agro has announced the use of Regev hybrid fungicide has been approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, giving California growers a unique new tool in their battle against many fungal and bacterial diseases. Regev is the first hybrid fungicide in that it unites the disease fighting power of botanical and conventional chemistries. Specifically, the product combines Tea …

AgWired Precision, Audio, Fungicide, specialty crops

2025 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Preview

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Cotton Council is ready to welcome all to the 2025 Beltwide Cotton Conferences next week, January 14-16, at the New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA. Three days of individual reports, panel discussions, hands on workshops and seminars are designed to provide attendees with information they need to help producers make key cotton production/marketing-related decisions. Conferences coordinator Lauren Krogman …

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

ZimmCast 739 – Happy New Year ZimmCast

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. Welcome to another year of agriblogging and farm podcasting. It’s hard to believe that we’re coming close to 21 years since we started ZimmComm in 2004. Cindy and I have worked together in the ag marcom field for about 21 years before that. Now we’re doing some thinking and planning for 2025. I sense …

Audio, ZimmCast, ZimmComm Announcement

Year End Ethanol Report

Cindy Zimmerman

2024 was a very good year for the ethanol industry, but the battle for year-round, nationwide E15 will once again continue on into the new year. In this edition of the Ethanol Report podcast, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper comments on some of the top ethanol stories of the year, including the continuing roller coaster ride for …

Audio, Ethanol, RFA

AWIS is Ready for Winter

Chuck Zimmerman

Winter is upon us and that creates a special need for weather information for farmers, especially in high value crops like fruits, vegetables and nursery. To learn how the Agricultural Weather Information Service (AWIS) creates extra weather information and forecasting I spoke to Karl Harker, Vice-President for Operations for AWIS. I asked him about any information he’d like to share …

Agribusiness, Audio, Weather

House Speaker Says CR Will Have Aid for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

During a press conference Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the continuing resolution (CR) to be considered this week in Congress will have funding in it for struggling farmers and ranchers. “We can’t do all of it right now but I think what you’ll see reflected in this final package is 10 billion, to start with,” said …

Audio, Farm Policy, politics

Golden Harvest Hybrids Built for the North

Cindy Zimmerman

Golden Harvest and GHX are offering new corn hybrids specifically gred for those northern farmers who take pride in their ability to produce corn in a challenging environment every year. Each of the individual Hybrids Built for the North product is named for apex predators adapted for success there: · Hybrid G00A97-AA – The Hawk: Like a Hawk, G00A97-AA Brand …

Audio, Corn, Golden Harvest, Seed, Syngenta

ALB is All About Climate Smart Sheep

Cindy Zimmerman

This month, 150 sheep producers around the country will be selected to participate in the American Lamb Board (ALB) Climate Smart Sheep program starting in 2025. ALB Chairman Jeff Ebert of Kansas says producers enrolled in the program will be paid up to $7,000 to develop and implement Climate Smart Sheep management practices and measure and report emissions and life …

AgWired Animal, American Lamb Board, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Sheep, Sustainability

AgGateway Speaker Explores What Ag Can Learn From Others

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the keynote topics at the recent AgGateway annual meeting was how other industries might offer lessons for agriculture in navigating sustainability data standards. Andrew Selck, Partner with Kearney working in Agriculture and Food Practice, addressed this topic in his presentation, “Sustainability Data Standards: What Ag Can Learn from Other Sectors.” “In my role I have been a consumer …

AgGateway, Agribusiness, Agronomy, AI, Audio, data