USFRA Appoints New Vice President of Development

Cindy Zimmerman

Our good friend Randy Krotz has a new position with the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®) as vice president of development.

randy-usfraKrotz will lead initiatives which deal directly with industry partner relations, ensuring that USFRA will have the necessary short- and long-term resources to communicate and engage consumers, influencers and opinion leaders on a range of key crop and livestock production topics.

“As a passionate advocate for farming and ranching, I am eager to provide strategic counsel to USFRA’s industry partnership efforts,” said Krotz. “I look forward to working with the USFRA Board, its CEO Advisory Council and USFRA senior staff as we continue to grow this long-term movement.”

Krotz brings extensive experience in creating stakeholder relationships that align with businesses’ objectives. This experience includes expertise in public relations, marketing, branding, online marketing, advocacy management and communications. He has worked for and/or represented many well-known food and agribusiness companies and associations including Agrium, FMC Corporation, Syngenta, the National Corn Growers Association, BASF, The Grocery Manufacturers Association, DuPont Pioneer, and Monsanto. Krotz is a graduate of Kansas State University, and continues an active role in the diversified family farm in North Central Kansas, on which he was raised.

Congrats to both Randy and USFRA!

Agribusiness, USFRA

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Enter Alltech’s Farming Film Festival

Jamie Johansen

m2974351Get your cameras rolling for Alltech’s Annual Farming Film Festival. Everybody knows that farmers work extremely hard to feed the world, but not everyone knows how much science goes into farming every day. Farmers are always observing, learning and searching for new ways to take better care of their land, livestock and crops.

This is your chance to show the world the science of farming. If you’re a farmer we want to hear your story. If you’re not a farmer, find one and tell their story.

Participants can enter to win up to $2,000 by submitting their video at FarmingFilmFestival.com. Winners will be chosen by a panel of science and agricultural journalists based on creativity, quality of video and story interest.

The competition will run from May 3 to June 30. Early entrees will be highlighted at GLIMPSE 2020 the 29th Annual Alltech International Symposium in Lexington, Ky., May 19-22. Finalists will be notified July 2 and public voting will take place July 2-21.

For more information and official rules, visit FarmingFilmFestival.com.

Alltech, Video

Register Today for 2013 Agvocacy 2.0 Training

Jamie Johansen

agchat-logo-no-foundationRegistration is open for the AgChat Foundation’s 2013 Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference. This year’s conference will be held August 22-23 at the Embassy Suites in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you are wondering how you can share your passion for agriculture online with others, then this is a great opportunity to learn how to tell your farm or ranch story.

Up to 75 people representing all sectors of agriculture will be invited to participate. Deadline to apply is May 24th. The last two conferences have been sold out, so don’t wait.

Attention Agvocacy 2.0 graduates! The AgChat Foundation is accepting up to 25 alumni who also endorse a first-time applicant. This will allow for collaboration between those with beginner and advanced social media skill sets.

Author of Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help Not Hype, Jay Baer, will kickoff event. Followed by the Beyond the Choir, Ag Conversations that will help spark your mind about agriculture, food and consumers.

Register here and email training@agchat.org with questions.

Events, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology

Communicating Throughout the Food Chain

Jamie Johansen

aaa-13-095_edited-2The Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit brought together people from across the agriculture community to discuss issues our industry is facing. Communicating with our consumers seems to be one of the most important things we need to focus on.

Dallas Hockman, Vice President of Industry Relations for the National Pork Producers Council, spoke to attendees about the value of communications throughout the food chain. He shared how the NPPC is reaching influencers and the value of choice. Choice not only for the consumer, but for the producer as well. Another thing he stressed was the importance of creating door-opening content.

“It’s not surprise to your listeners out there, especially pork producers, that our industry is under significant challenges. Being attacked and stereotyped as a factory farm, that we don’t really care, we over use of antibiotics, or whatever it may be. So, we have embarked on an effort to reach out to our retail and food service channel partners. Talking to them about the great job the industry is doing. We have gone through a complete analysis of the risks that our industry is facing as it relates to upcoming issues, whether that be on pain management, use of antibiotics or whatever they may be & having these meetings with our customers and talking to them about all the resources we have available. More importantly providing them a good resource in the event they have questions on these issues in the future.”

Listen to or download my interview with Dallas here: Interview with Dallas Hockman

Listen to or download audio of Dallas’ complete presentation here: NPPC - Dallas Hockman

Check out photos from the event: 2013 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Animal Agriculture, Audio, Food, NPPC, Pork

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  • Hundreds of JCB employees joined in the celebrations to mark the production of the company’s one millionth machine.
  • MGEX announced total Exchange volume in April at 146,574 contracts traded, a 58.3 percent increase from March 2013.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new rules to better target Community Connect broadband grants to areas where they are needed the most.
  • Charelston/Orwig study shows consumers value “locally sourced” food despite difficulties defining it.
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Ag Leader Summer Dealer & Customer Training

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly

Ag Leader offers a variety of SMS™ training sessions to help answer grower and dealer questions about the software.

Today, we caught up with Jessica Ahrens, Ag Leader training specialist, and asked her:
• What’s new this year?
• How do these training sessions set Ag Leader apart from other precision ag companies?
• Why is attending a training important each year?
• And most importantly, when do they start and how do growers and dealers get signed up?

Listen to our full interview with Ahrens here

Remember to visit sms.agleader.com for more information.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Recap From Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit

Jamie Johansen

aaa-13-003_edited-2The 12th Annual Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is a wrap. Each year staff and board members try to bring topics that are hot to the table for experts to share their insights into what the agriculture industry is facing. This year the theme was focused on animal activists and ways we can protect our animals, farms and food but not forget the importance of consumer confidence.

I caught Kay Johnson-Smith, President & CEO for the Animal Agriculture Alliance just after the last guest speaker finished up. She was glad to have another successful event in the books and excited to see how the information given to attendees will be put into action in the future.

Listen to or download my interview with Kay here: Interview with Kay Johnson-Smith

The Alliance also recently elected elected Paul Pressley, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, chairman of its board of directors. USPOULTRY has been an active member of the Alliance for 24 years, and Pressley will serve a two-year term as chairman. The Alliance’s board of directors consists of representatives from all major sectors of animal agriculture.

“I look forward to working with Kay and the Alliance staff. The Alliance has been a strong voice for all of animal agriculture for over 25 years. Now, more than ever, the ability to unite the industry across species lines is critical to responding to animal welfare issues,” remarked Pressley.

Check out photos from the event: 2013 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Animal Activists, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Food, Meat, NCBA, NPPC

Ag Organizations Applaud Six Countries

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fas_logoKey members of the U.S. agricultural value chain have joined together to applaud the work of the United States and like-minded governments to promote the importance of science-based regulations to facilitate trade of agricultural commodities derived from agricultural biotechnology.

In a joint statement, the United States was joined by the governments of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Paraguay to announce their intention to work collaboratively to remove global barriers to the trade of agricultural biotechnology and promote science-based, transparent and predictable regulatory approaches.

The U.S. agriculture sector agrees that a particular area of concern is the timeliness and efficiency of global regulatory systems. In the joint statement, the like-minded governments have highlighted their intention to promote synchronization of authorizations by regulatory authorities – in particular for food, feed and processing purposes.

Agribusiness, Trade, USDA

Warrant® Herbicide Offers Flexibility, Residual Weed Control

Cindy Zimmerman

monsanto-warrantFarmers seeking the flexibility of an early preemergence or postemergence herbicide application combined with residual control of resistant and tough-to-manage weeds in soybeans and cotton have a “go-to” solution: Warrant herbicide from Monsanto.

I talked with Monsanto Selective Chemistry Manager Tyler Hackstadt (HOCK-stet) about Warrant and how it might provide some advantages for growers facing planting delays this spring. “We’ve been recommending growers use multiple modes of action with residual herbicides as part of a comprehensive weed management system,” Hackstadt said. “When you’ve got a compressed planting window, the priority is to get the crop in the ground and sometimes we’re not able to get the pre-emerge residual herbicide applied in a timely fashion.” The pre- and post- application flexibility of Warrant allows growers to still get residual control.

Listen to or download my interview with Tyler here: Monsanto Selective Chemistry Manager Tyler Hackstadt
Warrant herbicide provides up to 30 days of residual control of waterhemp, lambsquarters, nightshade, Palmer pigweed, foxtails and other small-seeded grasses and broadleaf weeds. The herbicide’s wide application window includes preplant, at-planting, preemergence or postemergence – up to R2 growth stage in soybeans and first flower in cotton. The encapsulated, acetochlor-based technology of Warrant herbicide also provides increased crop safety for soybeans and cotton.

Compatibility with many tank mix partners, such as Roundup® agricultural herbicide, further complements the Warrant herbicide ease of use for farmers seeking to implement diversified weed management practices (DWMPs) that include residual and postemergence herbicides.

Warrant can be a key component of an effective weed management strategy that includes burndown, residual and postemergence herbicides, plus it qualifies for Roundup Ready PLUS® Weed Management Solutions incentives up to $2.50 per acre in soybeans and $4.50 per acre in cotton.

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming