You might think bees just live in hives. You would be wrong. They live all over the place. I got some up close and personal looks at this during the IFAJ Bayer Tour that included having Dr. Patrick Lind, employed at FlächenAgentur Rheinland GmbH, show us different places and reasons for bee habitat on the Damianshof Farm. There are a …
A Glimpse into the World Economy Outlook
The international audience at the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange went home with a head full of key insights for soybeans and the “World Economic Outlook – Now through 2017” was a small part. Tim Quinlan, Director, Senior Economist, Wells Fargo Securities, Global Division, keynoted the closing plenary and provided an analysis on the macro U.S. and major foreign economies. …
Iowa Home to New Ag Tech Accelerator
Iowa is the new home of a new startup business accelerator: Ag Tech Accelerator (The Accelerator). Four investors have provided funding for the initiative including DuPont Pioneer, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company, John Deere and Peoples Company. Each company has committed to providing $100,000 for the first year. The Accelerator was announced by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and the …
Agribusiness TV is Mobile in Africa
During this year’s IFAJ Congress I met again with Inoussa Maïga, an agricultural journalist from Burkina Faso. This young entrepreneur brought my attention to a big project he’s involved with called, “Agribusiness TV.” This is the first web tv channel designed for mobile phones and dedicated to youth who succeed and innovate in the agricultural sector of Africa. You can …
Looking Ahead to 2017 IFAJ Congress
Pre-promotion for the 2017 Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists is moving quicker than normal. That’s because the Congress will be in South Africa April 2-7 next year. The Congress website will be live soon The congress will start just north of Pretoria at Kievit’s Kroon on 2 April 2017 in Gauteng with newsworthy and informative discussions and …
AgWired Editors Visit Vietnam Agriculture
Missouri Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow (ALOT) has nearly completed their two year program. As a wrap-up of their study of agriculture the group recently visited Vietnam to gain a global understanding of the industry. The 20 member participants include two of AgWired’s editors, Jamie Johansen and Kelly Marshall. The trip lasted two weeks and included three major cities in Vietnam. In …
ZimmCast with Owen Roberts, new IFAJ President
The Urban Cowboy himself is the newly elected President of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. He’s Owen Roberts, Director, Research Communications at University of Guelph. Owen (l) is seen being congratulated by past IFAJ President Marcus Rediger after the election during the IFAJ Congress in Bonn, Germany. During the closing banquet festivities of the Congress Owen and I talked …
Outgoing IFAJ President Marcus Rediger
Today we will have an election of new officers for the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. Marcus Rediger, LID.CH, has been serving as President for the last four years. Prior to that he served for eight years in other positions including Vice President. A lot of things have taken place in the development of IFAJ. We talked about that in …
Red Hot Marys at #IFAJ2016
Sometimes you get a pleasant surprise during an IFAJ Congress dinner. That happened during the welcome dinner at this year’s event. Apparently Karneval is a big deal in Germany: “Karneval” is German MARDI GRAS! Right on the heels of Oktoberfest time, the German Mardi Gras season begins on November 11th and ends with Ash Wednesday, usually in February or March. …
The #IFAJ2016 Learns About Rhineland Farming
The keynote speaker for the welcoming banquet of this year’s IFAJ Congress was Bernhard Conzen, President of the Rhineland Agricultural Association, Chairman of the Board, Rheinischer Landwirtschafts-Verlag GmbH. Sugar beets are a very important and historical crop in this area and Bernhard talks about it in his remarks which includes a very complete description of the region. I didn’t know …