History & Future of World Trade Organization

Chuck Zimmerman

World Trade Organization History BookHere’s some light reading for you. How about the History and Future of the World Trade Organization. It is “a comprehensive account of the economic, political and legal issues surrounding the creation of the WTO and its evolution. Fully illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos dating back to the early days of trade negotiations, the publication reviews the WTO’s achievements as well as the challenges faced by the organization, and identifies the key questions that WTO members need to address in the future.”

The book describes the intellectual roots of the trading system, membership of the WTO and the growth of the Geneva trade community, trade negotiations and the development of coalitions among the membership, and the WTO’s relations with other international organizations and civil society. Also covered are the organization’s robust dispute settlement rules, the launch and evolution of the Doha Round, the rise of regional trade agreements, and the leadership and management of the WTO.

“The purpose of this work is to not only tell us about our past, but to explain our present and to inform our future,” said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.

Craig VanGrasstek, publisher of the Washington Trade Report and a trade consultant, is the author.

Listen to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy talk about the book here: Comments from Pascal Lamy

Audio, International

GEOSYS Announces Field Profit Planner

Chuck Zimmerman

infoag-13-dave-westI learned all about GEOSYS during the 2013 InfoAg Conference by visiting with Dave West. The company just announced their Field Profit Planner, a comprehensive tool for farmers and their advisors who pursue high efficiency farming.

The new cloud-based GEOSYS Field Profit Planner service gives growers quick analyses of their individual fields while also providing insight into productivity across the entire farm. Unique to the GEOSYS platform, profit analysis for each field is included as part of the standard package. Each grower’s individual field costs and yields can be used to calculate returns on each field or variable rate technology (VRT) field zone. The data is displayed in an easy-to-use format.

Dave says GEOSYS uses the latest tools in agronomy so are enabled to make the best decisions for their operations.

“We’re not actually making those decisions for a grower. Our tools are meant to give the producer or decisionmaker the best information to make the best decisions,” he said, adding GEOSYS has been in business around the globe for 25 years. And over the past decade, they have put together a database on satellite imagery that is what Dave characterizes as the most effective tool for measuring variability in a field. That’s a lot of information at the fingertips of GEOSYS providers. “Being able to take that, build the algorithms to it and process it, and deliver visual tools that will act as either a substrate for a conventional solution or a precision ag, variable-rate solution, that’s where we play.”

Dave says GEOSYS’ information can tell a subscriber what’s going on in the soil, past performance, variables, and where to plant crops, just to name a few items. He added the data really helps producers who need to be able to anticipate and react to the variables in those fields. Dave said knowing what to do in the various parts of one field can significantly cut down on the costly inputs, such as fertilizer and seed. The company has an Apple-based app for mobile devices.

You can listen to my interview with Dave here: Interview with Dave Scott, GEOSYS

2013 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Precision Agriculture

Vilsack Questions House Farm Bill

Cindy Zimmerman

vilsack-ifbAt the Iowa Farm Bureau 2013 Economic Summit on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed some skepticism about the farm-only farm bill passed by the House.

“I’m not sure that what they’ve done up to this point is real or for show,” Vilsack told reporters after addressing the summit. He also wonders why the House leadership is delaying work on a conference committee until after they do something about nutrition. “Seems to me that conference process could begin now,” he said. “If we send a message that we’re just not ready to conference yet, it does raise the concern that what’s happened up to this point is not necessarily going to lead to a farm bill.”

Vilsack warned against yet another extension. “An extension basically acknowledges the failure to get things done,” said Vilsack. “If we don’t get it done now, the chances are that we won’t get it done.”

Vilsack address to IFB Economic Summit Vilsack press conference
Audio, Farm Bill, USDA

What China Approval of Monsanto Trait Means

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto officials are pleased with the recent import approval from China for the drought tolerance trait in Monsanto’s Genuity® DroughtGard® hybrids.

droughtgardAccording to Monsanto row crop launch lead, Sarah Pierce, the approval granted last month gives farmers who had purchased DroughtGard hybrids in 2013 more options. “(They) signed a stewardship agreement saying they would keep the grain domestic until we had all final import approvals,” she said. “With this announcement, it basically freed them of their obligations and they’re able to market their grain more broadly as they see fit.”

More than 250 farmers in the Western Great Plains planted DroughtGard Hybrids last year on their farms as a part of Monsanto’s Ground Breakers® program. “We really utilized their feedback and learned from their experiences to position this product most appropriately,” said Pierce, noting that the hybrid performed very well in last year’s dry conditions. “Last year on average our growers experienced a five bushel yield advantage over competitive products,” she explained. “What’s great about the DroughtGard hybrids are that while they perform well in water-limited conditions, they also maintain top end yield potential in years where we have normal weather conditions.”

The drought tolerance trait in Genuity DroughtGard Hybrid’s represents the first commercial offering of the company’s joint R&D collaboration with BASF on yield and stress technologies.
Interview with Sarah Pierce, Monsanto

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Animal Welfare Approved is introducing the first and only food label which guarantees that food products marked as grassfed come from animals fed a 100% grass and forage diet and are raised entirely outdoors on pasture or range for their entire lives.
  • Syngenta announced that regulatory authorities in Korea have granted import approval for the Agrisure 3122 trait stack for food or feed use.
  • Rotam CropSciences has opened a new office in Jakarta, Indonesia, which will serve as its headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Purdue University researchers have identified two genes within the soybean genome that are highly resistant to a soilborne pathogen that causes Phytophthora root and stem rot.
Zimfo Bytes

New Holland Helping at Arlington Cemetery

Chuck Zimmerman

Abe Hughes New HollandToday New Holland Construction took part in “Renewal & Remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery,” put on by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) which says it is “the landscape industry’s largest day of service in the country. Pictured is Abe Hughes, New Holland. Here’s what they are doing today.

More than 100 companies brought crews to Arlington National Cemetery to spend the day mulching, pruning, planting, and performing other landscape maintenance duties throughout the cemetery. Abe Hughes, Vice President of New Holland in North America, headed the seven-member New Holland contingent, who was among a workforce of 500 volunteers who participated in the day of work and remembrance. In addition, Gaithersburg Equipment, a New Holland dealership in Gaithersburg, Md., donated the use of two New Holland Construction skid steers and a New Holland Rustler™ utility vehicle to aid in the work being done at the cemetery.

“New Holland is honored to play a part in this important project,” says Hughes. “By contributing equipment and manpower to enhance the beauty of this solemn and sacred place, it’s one of the ways we can pay tribute to our nation’s veterans and leaders.”

Agribusiness, New Holland

Apps for Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 403Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this week’s program I’m sharing a conversation with Brian Arnall, Oklahoma State University. Brian was one of the presenters at the 2013 InfoAg Conference on precision agriculture.

Brian ArnallBrian’s presentation topic was “Ag Apps for Smart Phones and Tablets.” That certainly got my attention.

Brian is keeping a list of apps he finds that are focused on agriculture and it’s growing fast. When he was asked to do this presentation in January his list (narrowed by topics he’s concerned with) had about 20 apps on it. By last week’s conference he was at 50 and added 4 the morning of his presentation! I hope you’ll enjoy hearing some of his thoughts.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Apps for Ag

2013 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

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

Ag Groups, Apps, Audio, Farming, Precision Agriculture, Technology, ZimmCast

Monsanto Part of CTIC Conservation Efforts

John Davis

ctic-13-emilio-oyarzabalMonsanto was one of the sponsors on the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., and Chuck caught up with the company’s Emilio Oyarzabal, who said the CTIC’s work is very important to Monsanto and its customers.

“We need agriculture more than ever,” Emilio said, but he added that farmers are being accused of doing environmental damage. “If we observe the problem and see how we can fix this, conservation is one way to make your farm sustainable and deflect that criticism.”

Emilio said Monsanto is right on the forefront of that environmental charge, working on how to double crop yields and decrease the inputs by a third… not an easy task.

“Biotechnology is a tool, but not the only tool. We need to make a paradigm shift in what we do in agriculture,” suggesting new crop rotations and different ways of using fertilizers, just to name a few ideas. “We need to think in different ways.”

He went on to say that precision farming tools are helping farmers adopt better practices, while companies are providing the better tools farmers need.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Emilio here: Emilio Oyarzabal, Monsanto

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Environment

Texas Congressman at Peanut Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

spgc13-conawayCongressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) provided an update on the farm bill at the 2013 Southern Peanut Growers Conference on Saturday.

Rep. Conaway, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, says the House still intends to get a nutrition bill passed. “We’ll have a nutrition title and it will have reforms in it…probably stronger reforms than what we had in the one that passed out of committee,” he said.

The House farm-only bill was sent over to the Senate last week and but when it goes to conference is still up in the air. “There’s an awful lot of work that goes on in conferences ahead of the appointment of conferees,” said Conaway. Of course, the chairs of both the House and Senate ag committees will be conferees, and since they take turns chairing conference committees, it’s the House’s turn so Cong. Frank Lucas (R-OK) will have the chair this time.

The White House has already threatened to veto a farm-only bill but Conaway thinks that makes no sense. “It’s illogical,” he said. “If there are no changes to food stamps and your only real beef was with the food stamp changes, why would you punish the farm bill because we didn’t change food stamps?”

Listen to or download my interview here: Interview with Rep. Mike Conaway

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Bill, Peanuts, SPGC, Video

Investing in Illinois Soil’s Wealth

John Davis

ctic-13-jean-payne“The wealth of Illinois is in her soil, and her strength lies in its intelligent development.” That quote was from one of the first presidents of the University of Illinois almost 200 years, but attendees of the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., heard it reiterated by Jean Payne, President of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, who spoke at one of the tour dinners.

She says, while many recognize the need for good investment in that great natural resource, the recent economic troubles of Illinois has ended up cutting any state funding to nurture that investment. Rather than relying on the government, members of Jean’s group decided they’d take their own fate in their own hands and not be dragged down by what went on with the politicians.

“Are we going to let this tremendous [ag] industry get sucked down the vacuum that is becoming our state government? I said ‘No!'”

They went to other ag groups, including the Farm Bureau, corn and soybean growers, pork producers and Syngenta Crop Protection, and they were able to raise support for research. Eventually, they talked the Illinois legislature into letting them put together their own fertilizer checkoff that the groups, not the state, would manage. Now, they’re able to collect $2.5 million each year that they can use to be good stewards of the land.

“Despite the fact that we have a vacuum in our state government, I feel phenomenal about where our Illinois agriculture stands with our nutrient stewardship efforts. And it’s only going to get better,” Jean said.

She said they’ll need to keep working to educate people about the need for the checkoff and the dividends it pays on that investment.

“We have had to fight for this, [but] everything in life worth having is worth fighting for.”

Listen to Jean’s remarks to the CTIC group here: Jean Payne, President of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Environment, Fertilizer