Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Ambassador Kenneth Quinn

Cindy Zimmerman

New on Agri-Pulse this week:

open-micAmbassador Kenneth Quinn, President of the World Food Prize, joins us for a wide-ranging interview on Open Mic. This week, the WFP event will be held in Des Moines, Iowa with many internationally acclaimed speakers including Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Roman Catholic Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana. The WFP honors three scientists in 2013 who dedicated their careers to commercializing biotechnology in crops and addressing world hunger issues: Marc Van Montagu of Belgium,
Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T. Fraley of the United States. The WFP encourages scientists and NGOs to talk about how to address crop production and distribution problems and plan for feeding nine billion people in the future, but activists are expected to protest the recognition of science-based solutions for modern agriculture. In this interview, Quinn addresses the issues head on and provides important context for the event, which was founded by Dr. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Laureate in 1970 for his work in improved plant breeding.

Listen to the Agri-Pulse Open Mic interview with Ambassador Kenneth Quinn here.

Agri-Pulse

21st Century Shovel Project Ending Soon!

Melissa Sandfort

2 - stephen with shovelIf you would like to help Stephen Walden, CEO of Bosse Tools, meet his goal of raising $60,000 to bring to market the redesigned shovel, you have NINE days to make it happen! This project will only be funded if at least $60,000 is pledged by Wed., Oct. 23, at 7:55pm EDT.

Bosse Tools is an ergonomic tool company that is hoping to reinvent the traditional shovels that have been used for thousands of years. Their goal is to help you get more done in less time – while preventing injuries. Whether it is for the job-site or the tool shed…this is the shovel…reinvented.

Make your pledge today!

Agribusiness

Fishing is like Farming

Chuck Zimmerman

Offshore FishingOf course I can come up with a way to connect offshore sports fishing to farming. It’s about food, passion, hard work and dealing with governmental regulations. Here’s my fishing group from this weekend offshore on the Vitamin Sea. Pictured (l-r) are the @FarmPodcaster (my wife Cindy), yours truly, my daughter Chelsea and Gary Cooper, Southeast AgNet/AgNet West. We had to take a day to get away from it all. However, you can’t get away from government regulations even when they make no sense.

For example, this past weekend was basically the end of the season for federal licensed offshore sports fishing guides like our boat owner/captain. No more red snapper, grouper, etc. fishing until whenever they decide to allow it next year, although there are some varieties that are still allowed. This was actually a short “extra” season they allowed for a couple of weeks that was surprisingly announced soon before it started. These fish though are the staple for the people who have grown up on the water and make their living guiding people like me to get an unforgettable memory, not to mention freezer meat. Unfortunately, the commercial fisherman have different regulations that are more relaxed than for sports fishing. These regulations are complex, confusing and you can’t depend on them not changing abruptly for no apparent reason. It’s just another example of a bunch of people who make rules about something they have no personal knowledge of. Kind of like farming in that way.

BTW. We got our limit of red snapper, some nice Mingo snapper, grouper and a filefish. Can’t wait to do it again (next year) with Captain Chris and his assistant Eric, who were excellent to work with.

Farming

Will We Farm with Glass?

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 415Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this week’s program we’re going to talk about Glass, as in Google Glass.

Bruce RasaWill this new technology be coming to a farm near you? It has actually been used on farms as part of a Google Explorers project being conducted by Bruce Rasa, Inventive Branding. Bruce was one of a select few chosen my Google to receive and use Google Glass prior to the actual public launch of the product in 2014.

Google Glass (styled “GLΛSS”) is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with a mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format, that can communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands.

Bruce spoke to a group of software developers during last week’s John Deere API Integrator Conference. He gave us a “what if” scenario for how you might use a device like this on the farm that included several videos with farmers who used Glass on their farm. He’s got some great ideas that I think you’ll enjoy by listening to this week’s program.

Listen to this week’s program here: Google Glass on the Farm

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

Apps, Audio, John Deere, Technology, ZimmCast

Indian Farmer to Receive TATT Award

Cindy Zimmerman

An Indian rice, cotton and sugarcane farmer with a passion for technology is the 2013 recipient of the Kleckner Trade & Technology Advancement Award.

tatt-ravi“We, as farmers, besides earning for our families, have a social obligation to feed our population with enough food and eradicate hunger.” says Ravichandran Vanchinathan of Tamil Nadu, India, who took part in the 2010 Truth About Trade & Technology Global Farmer Roundtable and World Food Prize in Des Moines.

With a passion to empower India’s small farmers, Ravi – as his friends call him – took the information he gained and has become a leading advocate of using technology to improve the lives of farmers in his country and around the world. Using technology to promote technology, he is a constant presence on Twitter (@FarmerRaviVKV), Facebook and as a commenter on media websites.

Ravi’s passion to feed the growing world population, his willingness to engage and share the information he has gained as a means to empower other small farmers led to his selection as the 2013 recipient of the Kleckner Trade & Technology Advancement Award.

The award, given annually by Truth About Trade & Technology (TATT), recognizes a global farmer who “exemplifies strong leadership, vision and resolve in advancing the rights of all farmers to choose the technology and tools that will improve the quality, quantity and availability of agricultural products around the world.”

The award will be presented Tuesday evening, October 15 in Des Moines and we’ll look forward to speaking with him there.

Follow the @TATT farmer roundtable on Twitter using the hashtag #TATTGFR. Follow @WorldFoodPrize on Twitter, using the hashtag #BorlaugDialogue. Follow me @farmpodcaster for tweets from the events.

Ag Groups, Farming, International, World Food Prize

2013 Blog Action Day

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2013 Blog Action Day is approaching fast. I think this year’s topic is a good one – Human Rights. That can apply to so many things and farming and food fit right in. So whatever your blog is about think about participating and letting your voice be heard.

Uncategorized

Join Global Farmer Roundtable Conversation

Cindy Zimmerman

TATT_GFR_VerticalEven if you are unable to attend the Global Farmer Roundtable discussions next week in Des Moines, you can still participate.

The Truth About Trade and Technology (TATT) event includes 20 farmers from various backgrounds and cultures who are invited to gather and discuss agricultural trade and technology access issues, and then continue to be part of a global network of producers. TATT has developed several social media channels to allow other farmers to join in the conversation.

Twitter – you can use the hashtag #TATTGFR to see a live feed of the roundtable discussions from TATT Twitter, ask your own questions and provide your personal input

Facebook – go to www.facebook.com/TruthAboutTrade to spread the message about technology in agriculture and provide your positive thoughts & comments

Website – go to www.truthabouttrade.org to follow the live blog and see pictures from the event.

Provide your input for the Roundtable opening session on Tuesday October 15 from 3:00 to 5:30 pm central. The question is “As a farmer, what are the key challenges you face in your farming operation today? How can farmers advocate effectively for solutions?”

The Roundtable leads into the 2013 World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue events (@worldfoodprize) which we will also be covering, thanks to the support of Elanco, using the hashtag #BorlaugDialogue.

Ag Groups, Farming, International, Social Media, World Food Prize

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The American Royal Association was pleased to announce the winners of the 2013 Grapes & Steaks Competition last night in Wagstaff Theater in the American Royal Complex.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued the Veterinary Biological License for Viralign 6, the first combination modified-live virus vaccine to provide targeted protection against bovine viral diarrhea virus 1b — the most predominant BVD virus strain in the United States.
  • October 22 is National Nut Day, and there’s no better time to start incorporating more nuts into your diet.
  • Monsanto recently announced its commitment to honey bee health at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting with support from the Keystone Center, American Honey Producers Association, American Beekeeping Federation, World Wildlife Fund, Project Apis m. (PAm), and commodity groups.
Zimfo Bytes

Next NAMA Webinar

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA WebinarsIt’s time to register for the National Agri-Marketing Association’s next webinar.

How are Ag Marketers Different Than Those in Other Industries?

Presented by Jan Johnson, Millennium Research

Ag marketers use print ads more than other industries. And, they rely on repeat customers more than any other industry. When you are talking to people you already know, what’s the best thing to say? What is the best way to communicate, connect and motivate prospective customers? Join Millennium Research as it presents 10 keys to capture attention and increase advertising effectiveness.

Register to attend NAMA’s next webinar on Thursday, October 24, 2013, at 1:00 pm central time.

NAMA

SMS Winter Training Dates are Announced!

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyHarvest is upon us and hopefully that means you are seeing the hard work that you’ve put in all season starting to pay off! As you watch the bushels on your yield monitor, do you question the factors that make some areas of the field more productive? Are you thinking about ways you can maximize profitability across all areas of your field? If you’ve answered yes to these questions, the next logical question is how do you go about making that happen?

SMS-Training-700x525The answer – by using your data to make better management decisions in the future. While there is not one solution that will work for all of us, if you don’t take the time to look at your data, you won’t find any answers! The SMS Desktop Software can help you analyze your data and make future seasons more productive. Whether you increase profit by optimizing your fields fertility levels with soil sampling and variable rate application or you decrease input costs by creating variable rate planting prescriptions, the SMS Software can help you accomplish your goals.

Not sure how to get started? Let us take the guess work out of it for you, by attending one of our classroom or online trainings this winter. We have trainings scheduled in several locations across the U.S. and online trainings can take place no matter where you are located! These trainings help you to gain hands-on experience in processing data, creating maps and reports, building field boundaries, creating prescriptions and populating your field displays with all the needed data for the next crop season. To learn more about our trainings please go here.

Have a safe harvest and we look forward to seeing you this winter!

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Ag Leader, Agribusiness