Farm Bureau Discusses Cygnus Acquisition

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 405Since we are in a busy agriblogging month, you get a double dose of the ZimmCast this week, with a second podcast about an important recent announcement in the agribusiness world.

American Farm Bureau FederationLast week during the Ag Media Summit, we got the news that American Farm Bureau Federation had acquired Cygnus Business Media’s agricultural events and publications, including five IDEAg branded farm shows and two publications.

The announcement came as a surprise to some, so we talked with AFBF Executive Vice President Julie Anna Potts about why they made this move and how they believe it will serve the Farm Bureau membership.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: AFBF Acquisition of Cygnus farm business

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

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio, Media, ZimmCast

GPC Sponsoring NASCAR Race

Talia Goes

GPCThe Georgia Peanut Commission will be sponsoring Georgia-native, David Ragan, in the Sprint Cup NASCAR race scheduled for September 1st at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Prior to the race, representatives from GPC will be promoting peanuts and peanut nutrition at David Ragan’s annual fan club party on Aug. 29, 2013, in Perry, Ga.

Joe Boddiford, GPC vice chairman and chairman of the GPC promotions committee, is excited about the race and the opportunity to support one of Georgia’s own, as well as Georgia’s official state crop.

“David Ragan is a Georgia boy and Georgia is the No. 1 peanut-growing state in the nation,” Boddiford said. “The Georgia Peanut Commission is very excited to have this opportunity to help sponsor him in the Atlanta race this fall and we’re certainly hoping he’ll win.” Boddiford is looking forward to the race and the exposure it will bring for Georgia’s agricultural industry; particularly peanuts

The Atlanta race will be televised at 7 p.m. on ESPN, September 1st. Radio broadcast will be available on WEKS, 92.5 FM and on Sirius Radio, channel 90. Those who want to attend the race or fan club party can find more information by visiting David Ragan’s website at www.davidragan.com or the Atlanta Motor Speedway website at www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.

Agribusiness, Peanuts

BASF Southern Crop Protection

Cindy Zimmerman

basf-rtp-luke-garyBASF technical experts Luke Bozeman and Dr. Gary Fellows shared the latest in BASF crop solutions for southern growers at the Southern Ag Media Symposium last week at RTP headquarters.

Gary talked about BASF fungicides and how they can help combat disease problems in southern crops, like target spot in cotton which was just identified a few years ago in Georgia. “What we saw is that a Headline treated field in cotton was preventing that disease from getting started,” he said. “We may get as much as 200 pounds of lint cotton per acre increase in yield because we’re preventing that target spot from defoliating underneath the upper canopy.”

For peanuts, BASF offers VAULT plus INTEGRAL, which combines a rhizobial inoculant plus a biofungicide. “We actually have two different bacteria doing two different things, protecting it from disease but also helping the nitrogen fixation,” Gary explained.

Listen to or download my interview with Gary here: Interview with Gary Fellows, BASF

Herbicides are Luke’s specialty and the south could really be called the cradle of particularly glyphosate resistant weeds. “But resistance isn’t limited to glyphosate, there’s a lot of types of herbicides that have weeds resistant to them,” Luke stressed. “That’s why it’s important for growers to consider multiple types of herbicides so they can not select for resistance or exacerbate the problem.”

For southern growers, BASF introduced Zidua herbicide this year and in the pipeline is the advanced dicamba formulation Engenia, as well as a new herbicide tolerant technology for rice.

Listen to or download my interview with Luke here: Interview with Luke Bozeman, BASF

BASF Southern Media Symposium and SWSS Contest photo album

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF

AMS Fun at the Falls

Cindy Zimmerman

Shot a little video of our wet and wild ride on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls during the Ag Media Summit last week. Some of the folks you might recognize include Rich Jefferson, Chris Clayton, Sally Behringer, Anita Vanderwert, Amy McDonald, Barb Ulschmid, and Harlen Persinger, among others.

Ag Media Summit, Media, Video

Lisa Hightower Joins United Fresh Produce Association

Chuck Zimmerman

Lisa HightowerI love seeing a fellow Florida Gator out in the ag communications workplace.

Dr. Lisa Hightower has joined United Fresh Produce Association as the association’s new communications manager. Lisa will produce the Inside Fresh United weekly online newsletter, develop content for United’s website and social media sites, work with news media, and promote awareness of United Fresh events, including the upcoming Washington Public Policy Conference.

Lisa brings skills in journalism, photography, and publication design to her new role at United Fresh. She has developed communication and education campaigns on a wide range of agricultural issues, including food safety, sustainable agricultural practices, beginning farmer training, and enterprise development. Lisa also has experience using social media to reach diverse audiences.

“Lisa’s experience with social media and promoting awareness about critical agricultural issues will help United Fresh keep its members and the fresh produce industry informed and engaged,” said Ray Gilmer, vice president of issues management & communication.

Ag Groups, Food, Produce

Nitrogen Loss Stinks at AMS

Cindy Zimmerman

ams13-kochEveryone has experienced that nasty smell of a well-used porta potty on a hot day. Okay, so that’s what nitrogen loss smells like. Yuck.

Kerry Overton with Koch Agronomic Services was the guy who treated unsuspecting visitors to his booth at the Ag Media Summit InfoExpo to the “here, smell this” experience. Gotta tell you, it was gross, but it made the point.

The solution to nitrogen loss? AGROTAIN® nitrogen stabilizer products. Find out more at HonestAgricutlure.com.

Watch the video and imagine the smell.


2013 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Ag Media Summit, Fertilizer, Video

BASF and the Southern Acre

Cindy Zimmerman

basf-ulfTo paraphrase Spiderman, with great research dollars comes great responsibility – something that the Crop Protection division of BASF, The Chemical Company, takes very seriously.

“Our division is one of many divisions of BASF and one of the smaller divisions, but we have continuously gotten the highest amount of R&D dollars for our work,” says Ulf Groeger, BASF Crop Protection North America R&D Director. “That means there is a responsibility on our side to have it pay off for the company.”

basf-rtp-groupUlf told the Southern Ag Media Symposium last week at BASF headquarters in North Carolina that it takes nearly $300 million and 7-10 years to bring a new product to market, and while corn and soybeans are a major market for them, southern crops are important as well. “In the area of herbicides, we are looking at Engenia, a new generation dicamba formulation for use post emergence on broadleaf weeds in dicamba-tolerant crops,” he said. “We are also working a herbicide-tolerant rice system with a broad activity on grasses, including ALS-resistant grasses and red rice.”

BASF has recently launched the new fungicide innovation Xemium for southern growers joining Priaxor and Merivon on the market, and they soon expect full registration for Sercadis for rice.

Listen to or download my interview with Ulf here: Interview with Ulf Groeger, BASF

BASF Southern Media Symposium and SWSS Contest photo album

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Farming

John Deere Gearing up for Product Launch

Cindy Zimmerman

ams13-deereAt the Ag Media Summit last week, our friends with John Deere were talking about the upcoming 2014 product launch in Columbus, Ohio.

“We’re launching a lot of our new products for 2014 at the Columbus Convention Center,” said Barry Nelson. “We’re bringing in about 45 of the ag media … and the final wave of all the dealers that come in to learn about the new machines that they’re going to be able to sell.”

The theme is “Delivering Distinctive Value” and Barry says it’s not just about the machinery itself, but the technology that goes with it. “A lot of the new technology we’ll be rolling out – new wireless systems, advancements in precision technology,” Barry added.

We are looking forward to being there next week in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 21-22, for the 2014 John Deere product launch event. It will be me there this time, since Chuck will be at the AgVocacy 2.0 Conference in Charlotte, NC. Can’t wait!

Listen to my interview with Barry from AMS here: Interview with Barry Nelson
2013 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Ag Media Summit, Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, John Deere

DPP Graindesk Mobile App

Talia Goes

dpp_bannerWith more growers relying on mobile technology for their daily farming operations, Farms Technology, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont Pioneer, has upgraded its Dynamic Pricing PlatformSM (DPPSM) Graindesk mobile app to reflect sellers’ changing needs for updated grain-market information.

The free DPP mobile app puts your preferred buyers’ bids at your fingertips, enabling you to make, monitor and manage offers to sell corn, soybeans and wheat 24 hours a day.

The DPP Graindesk mobile app also delivers updated market information with the ability to create and manage futures-only and cash offers. Through mobile messaging, buyers can communicate with sellers directly through the mobile platform.

DPP Graindesk offers are monitored with every tick of the futures market from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. Utilizing the CME Group electronic markets, the DPP Graindesk facilitates an automatic connection between grower-approved offers and buyers’ hedge orders. With patented e-Pit®services, DPP Graindesk can place a hedge order, receive confirmation of the fill, execute the cash purchase, and notify both buyer and seller in seconds. Before the DPP Graindesk and the upgraded DPP Graindesk mobile app, growers interested in selling grain contacted merchandisers to get a price or waited for a price notification via a scheduled text message.

The DPP Graindesk mobile app is compatible with both Android and iPhone devices. Download the free mobile app at the App Store or Google Play store.

Agribusiness, Apps, Pioneer

BASF Hosts SWSS Weed Contest

Cindy Zimmerman

basf-rtp-farmBASF had the honor of hosting the 34th annual Southern Weed Science Society Weed Contest this year at headquarters in North Carolina.

“It’s where new and prospective weed scientists working on their Masters or PhDs with various universities are here for a contest,” said BASF’s Dr. Dan Westberg. That contest included everything from weed and herbicide identification, to problem solving and calibration.

BASF also hosted a southern ag media symposium at the same time as the weed contest, so we could learn more about the SWSS and what BASF has to offer southern growers. “We’re considering developing Zidua (herbicide) in peanuts, particularly for season long grass and broadleaf weed control,” Dr. Dan explained. Interview with Dr. Dan Westberg, BASF

Glenn Oliver is responsible for managing the BASF Research Farm where the weed contest was held and he says quite a bit of planning and work went into the event. “It starts in January when we try to figure out the herbicide symptomology plots…go over grower problems,” Glenn said. “Then you start out in the spring and start planting and hoping it will be ready to go the first week of August.” They did have some problems with a wet spring, but Glenn says it all worked out and culminated in beautiful weather last week for the contest. Interview with Glenn Oliver, BASF

basf-rtp-swssContest coordinator Tom Eubank with Mississippi State says 54 students from eight southern universities participated in the the weed contest. He says it is a very “intellectually challenging contest” for the students, particularly the farmer problem segment of the competition where “they’re tasked with figuring out the problem and then giving a proper response to address the issue and preventing it from happening again in the future.”

Eubank says there has been a resurgence of interest in weed science as a profession because of resistance issues. Interview with Tom Eubank, Mississippi State weed scientist

All of the individual and team winners were recognized during a great dinner at the Angus Barn in Raleigh on Wednesday night. The top team winner was long-time champion and Dr. Dan’s alma mater University of Arkansas. Coming in second and third were Virginia Tech and Mississippi State. Check out the photo album for all the winners!

BASF Southern Media Symposium and SWSS Contest photo album

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, weed management