FMC Announces Contest Winner

Cindy Zimmerman

fmc-winnerFMC Agricultural Solutions has announced the grand prize winner in the 2013 “Stand & Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest.”

After two rounds of online voting, a judges’ panel review and delivering a powerful, nationally-televised performance of the National Anthem on RFD-TV, Noelle Goodson from Fayette, Ohio will now receive the grand prize of a $10,000 scholarship. More than 30,000 online votes were submitted during the finalist phase.

“This whole experience has been amazing. Going to Nashville was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” said Goodson. “Thank you, FMC, for the scholarship prize. I’m already planning to put it toward my second year of college.”

fmc-contest-1Goodson has been involved in FFA since eighth grade and this past year, she served as chapter president. She has sung the National Anthem for sporting events throughout high school, including the Division IV State Boys Varsity Basketball Championship game at The Ohio State University. Goodson plans to attend Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In its second year, the FMC “Stand & Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest” received more than 220 video entries from 4-H, FFA, student NAMA and other agricultural education students in 31 states. More than 60,000 votes were received during the initial round of online voting at www.FMCcrop.com/contest, to determine a field of semi-finalists. As a new feature this year, a panel of five judges representing ag-education and music industry organizations hand-selected the four finalists.

Listen to Noelle’s beautiful voice here. Thanks to FMC for showing the world that Rural America’s Got Talent!

Agribusiness, FMC

Bayer Says ‘Good-Bye’ to Bugs

Jamie Johansen

chuck-fps-hallInsecticides Product Manager for Bayer CropScience, Lee Hall, spoke with Chuck during the recent Farm Progress Show. They discussed the expansion of Belt throughout the United States and what is coming down the pipeline in terms of insecticides for the company. Lee also stressed the importance of rotational use in insecticides and that it is one factor growers tend to forget.

“Belt is a product that has been on the market for the last four years. It was introduced in 2009 for primarily cotton, corn and soybeans. It has been accepted, adopted very quickly in the southern United States where the farm-scape has really changed in the last few years. We are seeing more and wider adoption of Belt in geographies North of the Mason Dixon where resistance to pyrethroids has become more prevalent and theres a rotational tool that is needed for control of caterpillar pests. And that’s what Belt does.”

Listen to Chuck’s complete interview with Lee here: Interview with Lee Hall

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Insecticides

2013 NAMA Fall Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 412The 2013 NAMA Fall Conference is underway in St. Louis and attendance is great with about 200 registered! That’s the most since sometime way back when it was the Issues Forum and held in Washington, DC. How many of you remember that?

Sara SteeverThe Chair of the Fall Conference Committee is Sara Steever, Paulsen Marketing. We sat down at the end of the first day to talk about this year’s program and what is new at her agency. Our program has some unique breakout sessions and we’re still getting a healthy dose of leadership encouragement too. I hope you’ll take a few moments to listen in on my conversation with Sara and if you’re not here this year perhaps we’ll see you next fall.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: NAMA Fall Conference

I’ve got lots of photos to share with you from the conference as well: 2013 NAMA Fall Conference Photo Album

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

Agencies, Audio, Marketing, NAMA, ZimmCast

Growth Energy Praises New Holland Biofuels Support

Cindy Zimmerman

fps13-growth-cnhAt the 2013 Farm Progress Show, representatives from Growth Energy were pleased to be part of the New Holland Club Blue event for dealers and customers.

“New Holland is a fantastic company, they produce top notch equipment, but they also are willing to step up for rural America,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “What we’ve seen over the last few years is New Holland take the lead in promoting biofuels.”

Buis says Growth Energy members participate with New Holland on promotional deals – in fact, one will be held next week at Absolute Energy plant in Lyle, Minnesota.Interview with Tom Buis, Growth Energy

Growth Energy co-chairman retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark praised New Holland’s support for national security. “New Holland is the first, most visionary and innovative company (that) saw what this ethanol movement means for America, for national security and for American prosperity,” said Clark, who adds that company vice president Abe Hughes, who serves on the Growth Energy board, has been a real leader in helping reach out to the American farmer. Abe is pictured here at the Farm Progress Show with Wesley and Tom.Interview with Wesley Clark, Growth Energy

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Equipment, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, New Holland

BIVI Introduces FLEXcombo HSB Swine Vaccine

Talia Goes

boehringer-ingelheim-logoBoehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI), has made it easier to vaccinate swine against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, two of the most economically important swine diseases, in a single injection with FLEXcombo.

Because every swine herd is unique, FLEXcombo, one of the products in the FLEX Family of vaccines, allows producers and veterinarians to customize vaccination programs based on their specific disease problems and management protocols. Each FLEXcombo package contains a 250-mL bottle of Ingelvac CircoFLEX® and 250 mL of Ingelvac MycoFLEX® vaccine in a 500-mL headspace bottle for mixing. This provides a total of 500 mL of the mixed vaccine, enough to vaccinate 250 head with a single 2-mL injection.

According to Sarah Jorgensen, FLEX brand manager for the BIVI Swine Division, the new FLEXcombo package makes it practical for veterinarians and producers to mix and administer the vaccine to pigs three weeks of age and older to protect against PCV2 and mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in a single injection.

The single 2-mL injection of FLEXcombo gives producers the ability to reduce stress on both pigs and people while decreasing labor costs. Additionally, a reduced number of injections offers greater Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) benefits.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim

Argentina’s Export Tariffs

Cindy Zimmerman

ifaj13-rbotDuring the IFAJ Congress, I was very surprised to learn that Argentina has export tariffs on a number of agricultural commodities, including corn and soybeans. I understand import tariffs, but export tariffs would seem to do nothing but hurt a country’s agricultural industry.

“Argentina has export taxes on almost every product that we export, but in the case of grain the taxes are really high,” said Patricia Bergero, who is an economist with the Rosario Board of Trade (Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario). By really high, she means REALLY high, especially for soybeans, which have a 35% tariff while soybean meal and oil exports are taxed at 53%. Corn and wheat are taxed at 23 to 35%. “This kind of tax is really a burden for farmers when we are facing lower prices,” she said. No kidding!

Despite the high taxes, Patricia says Argentina exports continue to boom. “In the case of corn, depending on the market year, Argentina has 20% of the market share of the world,” she said. “In the case of soybean meal and soybean oil, definitely Argentina is a leader because they have a share of 55% of the world trade.” For soybeans as a raw product, Argentina’s market share is about 15-25%.

Patricia says the export taxes have not always been so high, just since the early 2000s and farmers would definitely like to see them lowered. Early this summer, farmers actually went on strike to protest the high taxes.

Patricia was really a wealth of information about Argentina’s agricultural industry – from exports and GMOs to the nation’s policies on renewable fuels. Listen to my conversation with her here: Interview with Patricia Bergero, Rosario Board of Trade

2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
Audio, Farming, IFAJ, International, Markets, Trade

Ferilizer Use Growing in Argentina

Cindy Zimmerman

ifaj13-profetilFertilizer use is on the rise in Argentina, which is a major contributor to increasing yields in that country. We found out more about that during the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress in Argentina.

We visited Profertil, a joint venture with Canada’s Agrium and the nation’s largest fertilizer producer. “The use of fertilizer technology has improved a lot,” said Profertil commercial manager Pablo Pussetto. “More or less, 80% of all the urea consumed in Argentina is supplied by Profertil,” he said.

Argentine crop yields have doubled in the past two decades as fertilizer use has increased 10 fold with farmer education. “We cannot continue mining our soil to make our agricultural practice,” said Pussetto. “We need to replenish the nutrients in every system.”

The approach to farmers in Argentina is similar to the 4R message in the United States – the right source, the right rate, the right time, and the right place. “The concept is not to use a lot of fertilizer but to use the correct fertilizer, the correct amount of fertilizer in order to maximize not only economic value or yield but at the same time make your crop more sustainable,” Pussetto said.

Argentina supplies much of its own nitrogen and urea fertilizers, but needs to import phosphate from other countries, including the United States, as most of the soils in the major producing area are phosphate deficient. Interview with Profertil's Pablo Pussetto 2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
Audio, Fertilizer, IFAJ, International

Monsanto “Follow-A-Field” Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto is encouraging farmers to “Follow-A-Field” in order to learn more about the next innovation in soybean and cotton weed control.

extend-follow-fieldThe Follow-A-Field initiative from Monsanto is an interactive experience featured on XtendFollowAField.com that follows three farmers as they take their Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybean fields from burndown through harvest as part of the Monsanto Ground Breakers® Field Trials Under Permit program. The initiative will include testimonials, videos and photos captured from the three growing sites in Missouri, Illinois and Minnesota.

Michelle Vigna, Monsanto Roundup Ready Xtend launch manager, says the goal of the program is to prepare farmers, retailers and applicators to effectively use Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans with a diversified weed management plan such as Roundup Ready PLUS® Weed Management Solutions. “By bringing dicamba tolerance as an option within soybeans, it’s a totally new mode of action for helping manage tough-to-control and resistant weeds,” she said.

Pending regulatory approval, the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System will introduce Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans, which contain tolerance to dicamba and glyphosate herbicides, which Vigna says they hope will happen in time for the 2015 growing season. “We’re working with USDA and EPA to get approval for the traits themselves and also for the chemistry used over the top,” said Vigna. They are also working for approval in export markets.

Monsanto has been working with BASF on the development of the herbicide to use with the dicamba-tolerant soybeans. BASF has already applied for registration of Engenia™ herbicide in anticipation of regulatory approval. “It’s really been a great opportunity to share learning and make sure we’re developing a system that growers and applicators can be successful with right out of the gate,” Vigna said, adding that they are working on bringing dicamba-tolerance into cotton as well. Interview with Monsanto's Michelle Vigna

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Farming, weed management

What’s New In Herbicide Products at Bayer

Jamie Johansen

chuck-fps-peters-augustBayer CropScience is making the fight against weeds a little easier with their soybean herbicide products. The recent Farm Progress Show was a great outlet to share the new and exciting products available for growers nationwide.

Chuck spoke with Eric Peters, Soybean Herbicide Product Manager for Bayer CropScience, during the event and Eric went into more depth about Balance Bean, Balance GT and Liberty products for soybean growers.

“One of the exciting things we’ve had here recently is we did get US approval the Balance GT for Soybeans. It is the new soybean system that has dual herbicide tolerance. It is a HPPD based herbicide, so it’s a different mode of action for soybean growers than what they have had to work with. It will be a total system to provide weed control to growers that offers a good strong broad spectrum soil residual with reactivation combined with the post-merge control of glyphosate to offer a season long control through canopy closure.”

Lauren August, Brand Manager for MS Technologies, walked by during the interview so Chuck took advantage of that and asked about the collaboration and working relationship with both companies.

“The relationship is great. We have been working with Bayer for awhile now. We first introduced the Liberty Link system together and we have been working together ever since.”

“It’s a big step. Just allowing growers to plant multiple modes of action is going to be a big thing for their fields. They are really going to be able to combat some weeds that maybe they haven’t been able to. It’s also going to give them another tool in their tool belt to continue fitting those tough weeds.”

Listen to Chuck’s complete interview with Eric and Lauren here: Interview with Eric Peters & Lauren August

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Herbicide, Soybean

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Pork Checkoff’s Environmental Stewards subcommittee has selected four pork farms to be honored as the 2013 Pork Industry Environmental Stewards.
  • The International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) announces the second annual Young Leaders “30 under 30” Program, targeting young professions who normally would not have the financial resources or opportunity to attend IPPE.
  • Jen Hundley, previously of the Indiana Beef Council, joins Prosperity Consulting, LLC as Project Manager.
  • broadhead, one of the leading marketing communications agencies connecting the interests of urban and rural, continues to grow with the addition of five new team members.
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