The American Agri-Women (AAW) recently honored Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa with its Champion of Agriculture Award during the annual AAW Fly-In in Washington D.C. “We are honored to recognize a true Champion of Agriculture in Senator Joni Ernst. Her concern and dedication to agriculture and rural America is evident in both her words and actions,” said AAW President Doris …
ZimmCast on Risk Management Solutions
In this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Chip Whalen, Commodity & Ingredient Hedging (CIH). The topic is uncertainty requiring flexibility. Think about how commodity prices are affected by weather, trade, exchange rates and more competition. There are more factors too. So, how do farmers manage risk with the uncertainty we’re seeing in the trade today? That’s where Chip’s …
General Mills Backing Soil Health Program
Several organizations have come together on a program to enhance farm sustainability through soil health. And they are very happy to announce additional backing from a major food manufacturer – General Mills. These organizations are working to advance soil health on America’s farms and ranches, paving the way for measurable economic and environmental gains for farmers, businesses and communities for …
Beyond the Farm Gate – It’s All About Passion
This is the 12th year Bayer CropScience has brought a diverse group of ag voices together to talk about key agricultural issues and the importance of advocating for our industry. One panel during the 2017 Bayer AgVocacy Forum brought a team of farmers together to discuss Beyond the Farm Gate: Today’s Challenges Create Tomorrow’s Opportunities. Panelist included: Deb Gangwish, Co-Owner, …
The Shark Farmer Podcasts From #AgChat
Shark farming in Illinois. I didn’t find much about that on Google. Google knows everything of course. But I did meet the Shark Farmer, Rob Sharkey, this week at the 2016 Cultivate & Connect Conference in KC, MO. Rob actually produces a regular podcast on Tuesday’s called Sharkfarmer Podcast. It’s not only a play on his name but he started …
Wisconsin Christmas Tree Arrives At White House
While close to 350 million Christmas trees are growing on farms throughout the country, a Christmas tree from Wisconsin made its way to the White House Friday where it was presented to First Lady Michelle Obama. The 19-foot Balsam-Veitch fir was presented by Dave and Mary Vander Velden, owners of Whispering Pines Tree Farm in Oconto, Wisconsin. The Vander Veldens …
Farmer2Farmer From Farmers Business Network
After a successful 2015 Farmers Business Network has continued to grow in 2016. Earlier this year the company held its first Farmer2Farmer conference and a second one is planned for December. I visited with co-founder Charles Baron at the NAFB convention last week and learned that Farmers Business Network is now offering an interesting new service. This year the company …
Meet Rice Farming TV
How much do you know about rice farming? Do you know the difference between brown and white rice? Want to? Then follow Rice Farming TV and Matthew Sligar. Matthew farms in northern California with his Dad and in the spare time he doesn’t have he produces Rice Farming TV, a weekly Vlog. You know what that is right? A blog …
USDA Announces Grants for Veteran Farmers
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced $8.4 million in grants that will be used to provide training, outreach and technical assistance for the nation’s socially disadvantaged, tribal and veteran farmers and ranchers. “USDA was created to be ‘The People’s Department,’ and in the past eight years we have made tremendous progress in correcting past mistakes and creating a more inclusive …
Bill Would Help Grow Urban Farming
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) this week introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 to “addresses the unique needs of urban farmers by investing new resources and increasing flexibility through existing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).” Senator Stabenow announced her legislation Monday during a press conference at D-Town Farm in Detroit. “Urban agriculture …