Senators Question Smithfield Deal

Cindy Zimmerman

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday took a look at the proposed sale of Smithfield Foods to Shuanghui International, which would be the largest acquisition of an American company by a Chinese company in history.

smithfield-stabenowCommittee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) says the sale raises many questions about issues such as food safety, protection of intellectual property, and increased foreign ownership of the U.S. food supply. “Despite the strength of America’s pork sector, Smithfield has been struggling to make a profit — and yet Shuanghui is offering to pay a 30 percent premium for the company,” said Stabenow in her opening remarks. “That, to me, raises questions about the economic motivations of the purchase.”

Listen to Stabenow here: Senator Debbie Stabenow, opening remarks

smithfield-popeSmithfield Foods President and CEO C. Larry Pope was first to testify at the hearing, attempting to ease senators’ concerns about the pending purchase by noting that reaction from the agriculture industry has been very positive. “The Michigan, Indiana and North Carolina pork producers associations, the North American Meat Association, industry leaders, and numerous individual producers have expressed support for this transaction,” said Pope in his testimony. “Growth is also very good news for Smithfield’s employees and communities. We have a saying: “It will be the same old Smithfield, only better.””

Smithfield CEO Larry Pope testimony
Agribusiness, Audio, Meat, Pork

Max Armstrong is Tractor Boy

Cindy Zimmerman

Veteran farm broadcaster and vintage tractor lover Max Armstrong has come out with a new music video. Yeah – you read that right. It’s called “Tractor Boy” and Max is ready to show those Peterson Boys just how it’s done.

Our friend Marilyn Cummins with Martinez Creative Group sent us the link just now. Max produced the video with MCG (aka Tractor Girl Records) which is about to help him launch a new smartphone/iPad app – Max Armstrong’s Tractor App, featuring vintage tractors. We’ll let you know when it’s available for download – meanwhile, check out Tractor Boy and share with your friends!

Media, Tractor, Video

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with NFU President

Cindy Zimmerman

New on Agri-Pulse this week:

open-micRoger Johnson is president of the National Farmers Union. and a past Commissioner of Agriculture in North Dakota. NFU, as an organization, has shown an affinity toward small farmers and democratic party views, however In this year’s farm and immigration debates, they are in step with a broad coalition of farm and labor organizations who want passage of bills that can be put into law. Johnson is frustrated with the U.S. House of Representatives and their inability to compromise on issues like the farm bill and discusses why passage is stalled in the House.

Listen to the Agri-Pulse Open Mic interview with Roger Johnson here.

Agri-Pulse

Interested in Online Ag News Programs?

Talia Goes

Before we get to our new ZimmPoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “What is the greatest threat to our freedom to farm”. Our poll results suggest that environmental and anti-agriculture groups are the greatest threat to our freedom to farm at this time.

Our poll results: Twenty percent say All of the Above, eighteen percent say Groups Like HSUS as well as Environmental Wackos, fifteen percent say Climate Change, eleven percent said EPA as well as Congress, and two percent said Labor Force, Supreme Court, No Threats and Other. Results show that there is more than one major threat to our freedom to farm. Now the question is: which one will be the first to take that freedom away?

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Do you watch or want to watch live or recorded ag news television programs online?” Many things are being done via online resources due to technological advances and improvements. Daily lives are becoming so busy that there doesn’t leave much time to sit down to watch television or read the newspaper. People resort to going “online” for news resources and TV episodes using smart phones and tablets while they are on the “run”. Does this sound like you? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

Farm Bill Split Could Happen

Cindy Zimmerman

capitolMomentum seems to be building for a vote in the House on a farm only farm bill – but only if the votes are there. During a town hall meeting in Oklahoma over the July 4th recess, House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas indicated that he expected leadership to split the bill but he would rather not see that happen.

“If we split it, I gotta have 218 Republicans vote for it,” said Lucas. “I’m going to vote for it … I don’t know whether they’ll come with me or not.”

Lucas is concerned about what will happen in conference even if they do manage to get a farm-only bill passed in the House. “The Senate has passed a combination bill,” he said. “What will happen is they will agree to go to conference with me on the farm side and they’ll refuse to ever go to conference on food stamps.” That, he explains, would mean no savings in the food assistance programs at all.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa thinks the House is desperate. “They may want to do anything to get this out of their bailiwick and into conference so they can’t be accused of ineptness,” he said. “I see is from a standpoint of panic on the House leadership.”

While there seems to be at least some support in Congress for splitting the farm bill, there is virtually no support among groups that represent farmers and ranchers in the country. “We’re adamantly opposed to that approach,” says Mary Kay Thatcher with the American Farm Bureau Federation. “In fact, we spearheaded a letter with the Farmers’ Union last week where 532 agriculture, crop insurance, conservation, research groups said, ‘Very bad idea.'”

I edited a piece of audio out of Lucas’ town hall meeting here: Rep. Frank Lucas 7-1-13

AFBF, Audio, Farm Bill

Farmers Need Conservation & Research

Chuck Zimmerman

John HardinHow important is conservation to farmers? John Hardin, Indiana grain and hog farmer, says that it is the last thing to cut in the farm bill and that coupled with research, they are the most government functions to help farmers! That’s saying a lot. Here’s a farmer who has real bottom line experience in how important being a good steward of the land is.

John made some opening remarks at a pre-CTIC Conservation in Action Tour seminar titled, “New Land Management Strategies to Meet 21st Century Challenges.” This session was conducted by Solutions From the Land and I’ll have more about this initiative soon. When it comes to results from the Indian Creek Watershed Project, which was the main focus of the session, John says it appears that the project has been very successful and he’s really glad that this information is being shared. He says, “I thought I heard an awful lot of wisdom today about how to be effective and bringing farmers together in ways that not only benefit them on their farms but benefit those that are downstream from them as well.” I think you’ll enjoy his perspective on the ROI to farmers

You can listen to my interview with John here: Interview with John Hardin

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Farming

Conservation Resources Vital to Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

Jason Weller, NRCSThe Acting Chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jason Weller, welcomed attendees to the Conservation Technology Information Center, 2013 Conservation in Action Tour, being held in Illinois. We got to talk for a few moments this evening and hopefully will have another chance tomorrow on the tour. I asked him how important a farm bill is to a department like NRCS. He says it’s “critical” not just for NRCS but for for USDA as a whole. It’s important to have a “long-term game plan or roadmap.” This provides some certainty for farmers to know what to expect in the future. Jason says that conservation has become part of a business operating plan for farmers.

You can listen to my interview with Jason here: Interview with Jason Weller, USDA-NRCS

I will be conducting a lot of interviews during our day long intensive farm tour tomorrow to share in coming days so keep your eye on AgWired if you’re interested in conservation.

You can find photos of the tour here: 2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Koch Agronomic Services

Find Farmers Markets With Market Mapper App

Chuck Zimmerman

Market MapperLooking for local farmers markets? Having trouble finding them? Michael Schade at Mobility Lab has you covered with his Market Mapper App. The image is of our local farmers market in downtown Pensacola, FL. Here’s how he describes it from his blog.

Do you wish you could discover local farmers markets as you visited new places? Here’s a web app that makes it easy: the Market Mapper application. It uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture of all farmers markets in the U.S.A.

The program uses your current location to display the closest farmers markets. You can also type a place in the “location” field. As you pan the map, hit “find markets” to look for more locations.

Hovering over a marker will display the name and address of the market. Most markets will also show a list of what they sell, as well as their schedule.

Developing the Application

I got the idea for the application at a recent DC Web API User Group meetup, where a speaker from the U.S. Department of Agriculture discussed their new farmers markets API. You can access the data on their own site at farmersmarkets.usda.gov.

Apps, Farming

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta announced that it will acquire MRI Seed Zambia Ltd and MRI Agro Ltd, a leading developer, producer and distributor of white corn seed in Zambia.
  • FMC Corporation announced that it has acquired exclusive rights to a patented, broad-spectrum crop protection product from Bayer CropScience.
  • The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) will host the 41st Anniversary of National Agriculture Day on March 25, 2014.
  • American Farm Bureau Federation took legal action to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from publicly releasing personal information about thousands of farmers and ranchers and their families.
Zimfo Bytes

Dirt, Demin & Diamonds Features Women in Ag

Joanna Schroeder

The Flint-Hills Chapter of Kansas Agri-Women is hosting its second annual Dirt, Denim and Diamonds conference on August 8-10, 2013. The conference will be held at the Living Water Ranch located sixteen miles north of Manhattan, Kansas.

Dirt Denim and DiamondsInspired by family members and other ag conferences, this event is focused on the integral role a rural woman plays. From managing their farming operation to working with a business partner to wanting to learn more about the ag industry, the event “fits like a pair of your favorite jeans”.

The event kicks off on Friday, August 8 at 5:30 pm with a welcoming ceremony followed by a ‘Girls Night In’ which consists of hands on projects, shopping, sampling and door prizes. There will be 3 mini sessions covering the topics of food labeling, livestock photography, and Farm Communication. Over the next two days, there will be sessions on leadership, current events and issues in agriculture, as well as the skill-building opportunities for all levels. Saturday’s Keynote Speaker is Joyce Thierer who specializes in agriculture and women’s history, she will be presenting “Our Food and Our Land”.

The format includes breakout sessions, where participants may connect with influential and motivated people in agriculture. In addition, there will be ample opportunities for networking during the continental breakfast, lunch, and breaks. The registration deadline is August 1.

Agribusiness, Events