RFS Hearing Goes 12 Hours, Draws Hundreds

Cindy Zimmerman

Over 140 stakeholders testified at a hearing Thursday on the Environmental Protection Agency proposal to lower the biofuels targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2014, and those opposed to the plan outnumbered those in favor by a ratio of more than two to one.

dinneen1“More than 100 of the 144 speakers support #ethanol, #biodiesel & advanced biofuels,” tweeted Renewable Fuels Association (RFS) president Bob Dinneen. “Don’t mess w/ the RFS!” Bob Dinneen testimony at EPA hearing

The hearing, which lasted 12 hours, included livestock producers from Iowa who testified against lowered the RFS requirements. Among those testifying in favor of the proposal was National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) past president and Illinois farmer and rancher Steve Foglesong.

“I am a corn farmer, I just choose to feed it to cattle, it’s value added,” said Foglesong. “It’s not that different from the ethanol industry who takes corn to feed it into their plants and produce ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDGs), and carbon dioxide instead of beef. The process is identical, all but the RFS mandate, which gives the ethanol industry an advantage in purchasing corn. We’re not opposed to corn ethanol, but it’s time to look at reforming the RFS and let the market pick winners and losers instead of the government.”

The National Corn Growers Association had dozens of witnesses from around the country, but one of their best advocates was a young man with no ties to either side. “Coolest witness of the day at #RFS hearing: college student from Michigan drove in with E85 to testify!” tweeted NCGA. “He uses E10 in his lawn mower.”

All of those who testified at the hearing Thursday submitted written comments to the EPA regarding the RFS plan for 2014. Comments will be accepted until Jan. 28.

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCBA, RFA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Nominations are now open for the Outstanding Georgia Young Peanut Farmer.
  • Hawaii Sea Spirits announced an ambitious plan for several new craft spirit offerings to complement its award-winning organic Ocean Vodka.
  • Hudson Valley and the Tri-State region will be highlighted in the keynote speech by Don R. Rogers at the third annual Farming Our Future conference on Saturday, February 22nd in Columbia County, New York.
  • Morral Companies was named the Agricultural Retailers Association Retailer of the Year for 2013.
Zimfo Bytes

ASA Names 2014 Officers & Committee Assignments

Jamie Johansen

pic-Gaesser-120712American Soybean Association (ASA) announced their newest President, Ray Gaesser, from Corning, IA. Out going President, Danny Murphy from Canton, MS will move to the position of Chairman. Board members also elected Wade Cowan from Brownfield, TX to serve as First Vice President, an office that places Cowan in line to be the association’s president in 2015.

“There are so many issues that face the soybean industry today, and I’m excited to lead this organization in addressing each one of them,” said Gaesser. “As we work to see a farm bill enacted, and soybean-friendly policies in place within the trade, transportation, energy and technology arenas, we know that we’ll depend on the consistent involvement and cooperative work between all members of the soy family including our state affiliates, United Soybean Board, United Soybean Export Council and our industry partners, to help fully realize the benefits of those victories. As always, ASA remains committed to ensuring the success and profitability of soybean farmers, and I am very proud to be part of that effort.”

Also elected to form ASA’s nine-member executive committee were Secretary Wyatt Whitford of Ernul, N.C., and Richard Wilkins from Greenwood, Del., as Treasurer. Bob Worth of Lake Benton, Minn., Ron Moore of Roseville, Ill., Bob Henry of Robinson, Kan., and Kevin Hoyer of West Salem, Wisc., were elected to serve as the association’s four vice presidents. Whitford, Moore and Hoyer are new elections to the Executive Committee, while Wilkins, Worth and Henry were reelected to the posts they held in 2013.

Elections were held in St. Louis at ASA’s annual winter board meeting, and the meeting also served as a venue to celebrate the retirements of Kentucky’s Randy Mann, Illinois’ Ron Kindred, Rob Joslin of Ohio and Andy Welden of Michigan from the ASA Board. Assuming positions on the Board as new members at the meeting were Kentucky’s Gerry Hayden, Ron Moore of Illinois, Jerry Bambauer of Ohio and Michigan’s Matt Stutzman.

Ag Groups, ASA

BCS Communications Celebrates Ten Years

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 419In this week’s program we’ll help celebrate BCS Communications ten year anniversary. They actually celebrated quite a bit last night but I couldn’t be there. It was their annual holiday open house.

BCS Communications and Robert De NiroHowever, a lot of people were there including surprise guest Robert De Niro (red jacket). So, congratulations to the agency for this milestone celebration. We’ve got a few months to go until we can celebrate ours.

I just got off the phone with Kelly Schwalbe who brought me up to speed on what’s new with BCS. He says they continue to grow with new accounts and new staff. Some of those accounts are outside their core of agriculture but that’s just good business sense. A little diversification is a good thing.

Listen to this week’s program to learn more: BCS Ten Year Old Party

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

Agencies, Audio, ZimmCast

U.S. Ag Export Development Council Names Chair

Jamie Johansen

image001The U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) has named a new Chair at their annual workshop in November. United States Potato Board’s (USPB) John Toaspern, International Marketing Vice President, has been a member of the Executive Committee and an officer of USAEDC for the past six year. He move’s from serving as Vice Chair to taking over the reins from Betsy Ward of the USA Rice Federation. Toaspern will serve a two year term as USAEDC Chair.

USAEDC is a non-profit, private-sector trade association. It is made up of agricultural groups who receive Market Access Program (MAP) funding and/or Foreign Market Development (FMD) funding from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The purpose of this organization is to give its membership a unified voice in working with FAS on the administration of the MAP and FMD programs in the most effective ways possible. USAEDC and its members also assist FAS in demonstrating to Congress the effectiveness of the programs to help ensure continued government funding.

For more information on the USPB as the nation’s potato marketing organization, positioned as the “catalyst for positive change,” and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, please visit uspotatoes.com.

Ag Groups, Marketing

Year-End Equipment Purchases on Your List?

Talia Goes

zp-nhOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What are you thankful for?”

Our poll results:

· All of the above – 37%
· Friends and family – 15%
· Good health – 12%
· Freedom – 8%
· Affordable food – 8%
· Rewarding work – 7%
· Our great nation – 7%
· Other – 7%

There are so many things for us to be thankful for that it’s no wonder an “All of the above” would be the top choice. We hope your families had a wonderful holiday and are now preparing for the Christmas season with full hearts as well!

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Do you plan to make any year-end equipment purchases?” Is your farm expanding? Maybe it’s out with the old, in with the new? Maybe for tax purposes? Let us know!

ZimmPoll

Ryan Goodman Receives Inaugural Comm Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Ryan GoodmanHe’s Agriculture Proud. He’s Ryan Goodman, Manager of Communications for the Montana Stockgrowers Association. The photo is from when Ryan was teaching a blogging class at the 2011 Agvocacy 2.0 Conference.

The Montana Stockgrowers Association is proud to announce that Ryan Goodman, MSGA Manager of Communications, is the inaugural recipient of the 2013 Communicator of the Year award, presented by Alliance to Feed the Future and CropLife America. The award recognizes effective and innovative new voices that are enhancing the public dialogue about modern food production through multi-channel communications, including social media.

“Montana Stockgrowers knows how lucky we are to have Ryan Goodman on the team,” say Errol Rice, MSGA Executive Vice President. “His accomplishments in the agriculture communications world are outstanding and he brings that innovation to MSGA and Montana’s ranching community.”

“The simple truth is that I have a passion for the cattle industry and the community of folks involved in producing our food,” says Goodman. “America’s farmers and ranchers have a compelling story to tell. Whether it is our hard work, resilience, sense of community, or passion to keep improving upon our skills, I am proud to be a part of a community focused on agriculture, and I am proud to receive this award.”

Further, Goodman, author of the blog Agriculture Proud says, “Blogging and using social media is a way to continuously tell the story of agriculture. The heart of social media is about building relationships with individuals, not only of our like mind, but to branch out to other circles.” Goodman also offers a farmer’s perspective through video vignettes he posts to his blog and on YouTube, and he has contributed several blog posts to CNN’s Eatocracy blog.

Ag Groups, Farming, Social Media, Social Networking, Video

GROWMARK Becomes NAMA Sustaining Sponsor

Chuck Zimmerman

GrowmarkWe welcome GROWMARK as a fellow Sustaining Partner of the National Agri-Marketing Association!

“GROWMARK is one of the cooperatives in agri-marketing,” said Jenny Pickett, NAMA Executive Vice President/CEO, in announcing the partnership. “Their support is not only an endorsement of the industry and the Association today, but also a pledge to help us, and our members, continue to be at the forefront of agricultural marketing in the years to come. We are delighted with this statement of support.”

As a Sustaining Partner, GROWMARK will receive additional exposure at upcoming NAMA events and on the Association’s website, Pickett explained.

“GROWMARK has supported NAMA in a variety of ways for more than 15 years,” according to Amy Bradford, GROWMARK corporate relations manager. “To be able to expand this support with a Sustaining Partnership is an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. NAMA conferences and leader opportunities play a direct role in the professional and personal development of GROWMARK staff.”

Thanks Amy and GROWMARK. ZimmComm also thanks you for your support of our work!

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, GROWMARK, NAMA

Happy World Soil Day

Chuck Zimmerman

World Soil DayGot soil? Go outside and dig your fingers in it. It’s World Soil Day!

Here’s a message from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service on how important healthy soil is and how using conservation practices like no-till can help farmers take better care of their land.

When soil is heavily tilled, the stalks from the previous crop are chopped, and the top several inches of soil structure are disturbed. Conventional thought suggests this fluffing action allows for better seed placement, but Ray Archuleta, NRCS conservation agronomist, said that no-till systems, especially when combined with cover crops, are better – and lead to healthier, more drought-resistant soil.

Archuleta, who works at the agency’s East National Technology Center in Greensboro, N.C., said no-till has significant financial benefits for producers, too.

“No-tillage can save thousands of dollars every year in fuel, labor and equipment maintenance,” Archuleta said. “The key is to let the soil organisms do the work.”

Here’s a message from the FAO and the Global Soil Partnership.

Ag Groups, Conservation, Farming, International, Soil, Video

Sittin’ on the Front Porch

Melissa Sandfort

There are two parts to today’s story. First, as a child my mother always left a daily “to do” chores list. For my brother, that usually consisted of what I called FUN things – burning the trash, raking the leaves (so you could jump in them, of course, and waste at least a few hours), picking up sticks – you’re getting the picture. All the while, I was left inside to dust, vacuum, do laundry and help with dinner. I guess mom didn’t know I was itching to get outside with the boys where I belonged. Girls need fresh air too. (That’s why my dusting never passed the white glove test – I was too busy skimping on cleaning so I could go outside!)

These chores were a little different than the things my grandfather had to help with when he was younger. On old farm houses, there were storm windows that needed changed out and something else I learned about from his most recent tale: glass cloth a.k.a. muslin that had to be hung over the porch screens during the winter.

Onto the second part of the story … and I’ll keep this part short. Ever misunderstood someone or walked in on the tail-end of a conversation and what you heard just didn’t compute? My grandfather recounts the experience of one traveling salesman, and a conversation he overheard while my great-grandfather was hanging the muslin.

Listen to Grandpa explain

Kind of reminds me of a father sitting on the front porch with a shotgun when the daughter’s date shows up!

Until we walk again …

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