We went fishing for this edition of the ZimmCast and caught it on Grenada Lake, Mississippi at the Mississippi State Championship, one stop on the 2017 Crappie Masters All American Tournament Trail. The Renewable Fuels Association is a title sponsor of the tournament, along with Bass Pro Shops, and it has the support of Missouri Corn Growers and American Ethanol …
Farm Faster With FMC 3RIVE 3D
Rick Ekins, FMC, and I have talked about their 3RIVE 3D platform several times since it was introduced and Commodity Classic provided another opportunity. It’s a great time to talk about it too as planting season gets underway. So if you farmers want to farm faster FMC has this option for you. I think their quick facts sum it up …
Busy Week for Ag on the Hill
National Ag Week was a busy one for agriculture on Capitol Hill. National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) First Vice President Kevin Skunes of North Dakota spent the week visiting Congressional offices on behalf of both the corn growers and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). “Ethanol is our number one priority,” said Skunes. “We need to have this outlet for …
Second Biggest @ComClassic Ever!
Despite some challenging economic times in farm country this year, thousands headed to San Antonio earlier this month to “Farmer Up!” and attend the 2017 Commodity Classic. The final total for attendance was 9,303 – second only to last year’s Classic in New Orleans. That total included over 4100 growers and 920 first time attendees. “Commodity Classic continued in its …
Scholarship Recipients Honored at #Classic17
The National Corn Growers Association and BASF have given five undergraduate or graduate students studying agriculture the William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship. These passionate and motivated students were presented with their $1,000 scholarships at a ceremony during the recent 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. “Our industry needs a well-educated and dedicated group of future leaders …
3RIVE 3D Keeps up with Faster Planters
Keeping up with high speed planters like John Deere’s ExactEmerge can be a challenge for in-furrow applications of products like FMC’s Capture insecticide, but 3RIVE 3D application technology makes it happen. Bill Voorhees of central Illinois has used 3Rive 3D system on his operation for three years. “We’re planting at eight miles an hour and we were surprised to see …
#Classic17 General Session
A time-honored tradition of the Commodity Classic general session is the talk show style interviewing of the sponsoring organizations’ representatives – a panel which has grown to five now with the addition of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers last year. Appearing on the stage with emcee Mark Mayfield this year were: American Soybean Association president Ron Moore of Illinois National …
ASA and NCGA Talk Priorities at #Classic17
A new farm bill, growing export markets, maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard, taxes and regulatory reform are just a few of the top priorities for corn and soybean farmers in 2017. American Soybean Association president Ron Moore of Illinois, vice president John Heisdorffer of Iowa, and chairman Richard Wilkins of Delaware discussed some of those big issues during a press …
Ag Groups & Ethanol Discuss Common Ground
At the National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen sat down with representatives from the corn and livestock industries to talk about the current state of the farm economy, the policy impact of historic surpluses, and moving past food versus fuel. Dinneen discussed common ground with National Corn Growers Association CEO Chris Novak and National …
Farm Economy Update at #CIRB2017
The team of Gary Schnitkey and Jonathan Coppess from the University of Illinois gave an update on the farm economy during a presentation at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting this week. “We’re seeing deteriorating financial conditions on many farms and we’re likely to continue to see that as long as we have corn prices below four dollars …