Farmer Boys Head of Security?

Chuck Zimmerman

Farmer BoysI dunno. What do you think? What do they put in those burgers out on the west coast?

Meet Farmer Boys® New Head of Security. Sworn to protect the farm fresh vegetables that make Farmer Boys burgers so tasty. Locally-sourced lettuce, crisp tomatoes, onions and Hass avocados. Stop by and say hello. If he says anything back, you may want to get some help.

“He showed up during the lunch rush. He arrived from the farm to protect the farm-fresh vegetables at Farmer Boys. We immediately hired him as our Head of Security. He also keeps the restaurants free from crows.” – Ken Clark, President

Food, Video

Genscape Buy of LandViewer Ups Ag, Biofuels Info

John Davis

Genscape LogoProvider of energy information for commodity and financial markets Genscape has bought LandViewer to expand its technology footprint in the agriculture and biofuels industries. Genscape says, using NASA satellite data to get daily updates of corn vegetation progress, the LandViewer platform gives corn traders and buyers land use and crop progress information on a sub-regional level so they know where to source grain and how to set the best prices.

“The LandViewer platform opens a lot of doors for Genscape customers to make informed grain management decisions ahead of market movements. When you know the supply of corn you can set better prices, hedge investment risk and stay ahead of the competition,” says Robert Barton, Managing Director of Agriculture and Biofuels at Genscape.

To complement the LandViewer acquisition and to provide additional value to ethanol customers Genscape has also launched a unique QAP specifically for the ethanol industry. The new program offers a way for ethanol plants to create QAP-B RINs desired by Obligated Parties with a minimal impact on plant operations. Using their proven technology, the company can offer a cost-effective method to directly manage RIN generation compliance while eliminating the hassle of onsite auditing.

Also designed for traders, LandViewer uses a combination of historical data, national yield regressions and fundamental crop data to deliver highly accurate projections of crop yields on a national level to inform trading and investment strategies.

The LandViewer technology was developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago Energy Resources Center.

Agribusiness, Corn, Ethanol

Livestock Marketing Time

Chuck Zimmerman

LMA-WLAC-50th-logoIt’s time for my first Livestock Marketing Association annual meeting and World Livestock Auctioneer Championship. I’ll begin my coverage tomorrow with the opening general session and continuing through Saturday when the auctioneer championship competition ramps into high gear. I’ll be sharing lots of photos, interviews and other media content throughout the event.

Taking a look ahead at the schedule, we’ll get to hear from Alabama Governor Robert Bentley during the opening session. Then we have an afternoon of workshops before an evening reception in the industry showcase and LMA PAC auction. Friday it’s back to business with the LMA Board and Membership meeting. In the afternoon I’ll be on the team doing the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship interview competition. After that we will have party time hosted by the Montgomery Stockyards. Saturday is the big day of the 50th Annual World Livestock Auctioneer Championship which will be kicked off by Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture John McMillan.

For the world champion auctioneer title, 31 semi-finalist auctioneers will be competing. The interview competition can be viewed live on www.LMAAuctions.com starting at 2 p.m. (CST). The Saturday, June 15, auctioneering competition at Montgomery Stockyards begins at 8 a.m. (CST) and is a live sale where the contestants auction cattle to actual bidders in the seats. The auctioneering competition will also be broadcast live on RFD-TV starting at 8 a.m. (CST), as well as streamed online at www.LMAAuctions.com.

Ag Groups, Livestock, LMA

Career Opportunities Abound For Ag Degrees

Talia Goes

monsantointernThe number of college students graduating with a degree in agriculture has been on the decline, but there are nearly 8,000 job opportunities in the ag industry for qualified candidates this year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Beginning in mid-May, 164 college students from across the country began internships with Monsanto Company to gain experience for future careers in agriculture.

Twenty-three students from the University of Missouri – Columbia joined Monsanto’s summer intern class. Seven of those students will be working as field sales interns in communities across the U.S..

For the next three months, these interns will build strong sales skills and relationships with customers by participating in team and customer call projects and completing a county market analysis. With professional guidance, they will assist the local sales team in delivering outstanding customer service, while making industry connections and networking with other young professionals.

The Monsanto summer internship program has been active for more than a decade, and participating in the program puts students on the inside track to a career with the industry leader. The program allows Monsanto to assess career potential, and the majority of new graduate hiring comes from its internship and co-op programs. More than 70 percent of Monsanto territory sales managers began their professional careers in agriculture as Monsanto summer sales interns.

Agribusiness

Golf Tournament Raises Money for Missouri 4-H

Talia Goes

MO 4-HThe Missouri 4-H Foundation hit a hole-in-one at the fourth annual Clover Classic golf tournament, raising upwards of $25,000 for 4-H clubs across the state. Twenty teams played in the June 4th tournament at the A.L. Gustin Golf Course in Columbia, Mo. Sponsored in part by Monsanto Company the Clover Classic has become the foundation’s major annual fundraising event.

Monsanto and 4-H have enjoyed a partnership spanning more than 50 years. Many 4-H alumni working at Monsanto credit their skills to this positive youth development organization. Young people in 4-H are challenged to be active citizens and engaged leaders. 4-H clubs are an asset to farm communities and improve agricultural-based opportunities for youth.

The funds raised at Clover Classic are distributed across the state, wherever the need is greatest. Clover Classic started four years ago with the support of Monsanto Company to enhance 4-H programs across Missouri.

Agribusiness

Bayer Celebrates 150 Years

Chuck Zimmerman

Bayer Celebrates 150 YearsThe Bayer 150th Anniversary Celebration activities were held this morning at the Bayer CropScience headquarters in RTP, NC. On had were local dignitaries and stakeholders in the agricultural community.

We were welcomed to the event by Phil Blake, President and head of Bayer in the USA. He made some opening remarks I’m sharing with you as well as taking time for a short interview afterwards. Phil talks about the history of Bayer which you can find a lot of information about on the Bayer 150th Anniversary website.

You can listen to Phil’s remarks here: Phil Blake Remarks

You can listen to my interview with Phil here: Interview with Phil Blake

Jim Blome Bayer 150th CelebrationAlso welcoming us to the Bayer celebration was Jim Blome, President/CEO, Bayer CropScience LP. Jim says it is a real honor for the CropScience headquarters location to be chosen out of all the Bayer U.S. locations for this celebration activity.

Included in the activities were a tour of the local Bayer facilities as well as seeing the only U.S. public display of a multi-component interactive exhibition.

Bayer on the road: in February 2013, to mark the 150th anniversary of Bayer, an interactive exhibition showing how the company has improved the quality of life for millions of people around the world will begin its tour of some 30 sites in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Bayer has chosen a highly creative way to portray these subjects. The Anniversary Tour brings to life the company mission, “Science For A Better Life.” The exhibition will focus on the topics of health care, agriculture and high-performance materials.

You can listen to Jim’s remarks here: Jim Blome Remarks

You can listen to my interview with Jim here: Interview with Jim Blome

You can find lots of photos to view and share here: Bayer 150th Anniversary Celebration Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Novus Promotes Water-Delivered Organic Acids

Cindy Zimmerman

wpx13-novus-leheWe’ve all seen and many of us drink the popular types of vitamin- and mineral-enhanced water products on the market for humans. Now Novus International is promoting water-soluable organic acids to enhance pig performance.

At World Pork Expo last week, Novus Technical Services Manager Dr. Karen Lehe gave a talk on adding the Aliment-based Activate WD US Max to drinking water for pigs and how studies have shown benefits from improved gut health and lowering water pH. “With piglets, especially in herds that are challenged with E. Coli or salmonella that we do have a nice benefit in terms of reduction of medication costs in the nursery period, from 74 cents to 17 cents (per head),” she said, adding that it also improves feed efficiency.

Alimet is commonly used as a feed additive, but Dr. Lehe says adding to water may make it easier and the animals like it. “To us it smells a little bit acidic, but to the little pigs it smells yummy,” she said. Novus has also studied the water-delivery with sows and seen benefits in lactation and heavier weaned pig weights.

Listen to my interview with Karen and/or watch a video of his presentation below: Interview with Novus' Karen Lehe

2013 World Pork Expo photo album.

AgWired coverage of the 2013 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2013 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
Animal Health, Audio, Novus International, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

Farmer Cooperatives on the Hill

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s a great week for the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives to be holding its annual Washington Conference with all that is going on in the nation’s capitol impacting the agriculture industry.

ncfc-dc-13GROWMARK Executive Director of Corporate and Government Relations Chuck Spencer called me from DC this morning to talk about what they are discussing on the Hill and of course the main topic is the farm bill which the full Senate passed last night. “I think a lot of agriculture is supportive of the Senate farm bill program,” he said. “They have the provisions in there that would provide risk management programs that farmers have utilized very successfully” particularly last year during one of the worst droughts in history.

Members of the GROWMARK executive committee will be visiting with lawmakers in the House this afternoon to urge them to get a farm bill passed as well. “The House does have more of a potential for challenge to the farm bill so there may be a tremendous amount of debate regarding food and nutrition programs,” Chuck said, noting that the House bill does have language eliminating the duplicative permitting process for applying crop protection products. “We’ve got to see a farm bill passed. We’ve put it off one year. We need to get to conference committee, strike a compromise so we can have good farm business plans put into place for the next few years.”

The cooperatives also have a big interest in comprehensive immigration reform on the Senate floor this week. “The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives have worked very closely with all of agriculture … to forge a compromise that will pass the Senate and we hope to see it pass the House,” said Chuck. The coops meeting in Washington represent a wide range of agricultural interests that depend on foreign farm labor, including fruit and vegetable growers, dairy producers and the seed corn industry.

Listen to my interview with Chuck here: GROWMARK's Chuck Spencer

Audio, Cooperatives, GROWMARK

Senate Farm Bill Comments

Cindy Zimmerman

There was not much discussion as the full Senate considered and voted on the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 Monday evening, but a few senators had some comments.

deb-stabPrior to the vote, Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) talked about the hard work the Senate has done to pass the second farm bill in two years and urged the House to do its work. “This bill has been bipartisan from start to finish,” she said. “The House agriculture committee passed a bipartisan farm bill last year but for whatever reason the full House didn’t consider the bill. The good news is this year it looks like it’s going to be different.” Comments by Senator Debbie Stabenow

klobachar“It has been 354 days since the Senate passed its last farm bill,” said Senator Amy Klobachar (D-MN). “I would like to get this thing out of the House by the time we head into August.” Comments by Senator Amy Klobachar

heitkampSenator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) was pleased to be part of passing a farm bill in her freshman year. “It is a bill that will send a message to the American people that we need to provide a certainty, we need to do things in a timely fashion,” she said. Comments by Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

sherrod-brown“The Senate has again passed a deficit-reducing, bipartisan bill that will help our farms, our families, our economy, our environment,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) upon passage of the bill. “This bill saves more than $24 billion, it maintains important investments in conservation and nutrition, renewable energy and rural development.” Comments by Senator Sherrod Brown

Only one amendment was considered and passed prior to passage of the full bill, by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) for a pilot program for rural high speed internet. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) took the floor to urge funding to fight Citrus greening, spread by an insect called a psyllid, which exists now in all the top citrus producing states as well as Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. The senate farm bill establishes a Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund, but it will have no funding in it unless it is included in the final bill and Nelson received a commitment to achieving that goal from Sen. Stabenow. Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Stabenow on Citrus Greening

Audio, Farm Bill

Bayer – 150 Years of Science For a Better Life

Chuck Zimmerman

Bayer Turns 150Bayer is celebrating 150 years of Science for a Better Life. To commemorate this milestone anniversary the company is holding numerous events around the world. One of those events is happening in RTP, NC.

The event here will feature an interactive traveling exhibit that celebrates “Bayer’s rich history and our work to enhance the lives of millions of people through innovation.” We got started with a reception and dinner where many Bayer executives were on hand to enjoy some fellowship with each other and various stakeholder groups in the RTP area. Here is the Country Council for Bayer in the U.S.

I will be sharing more information from this Bayer event which includes some facilities tours as soon as I can.

Agribusiness, Bayer