Off to ASTA

Cindy Zimmerman

asta-130What better place is there than Nashville to celebrate 130 years of the seed industry’s strong roots while charting a path for the progress and innovation of our present and future?

I am heading to the 130th American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting at the Gaylord Opryland and joining me will be AgWired summer intern Maggie Seiler. Among the events we will be covering for you at ASTA will be an address by nationally known agriculture economist Lowell Catlett, who will kick off the convention on Monday morning, followed on Tuesday by a State of Agribusiness panel discussion. There will be lots of focus on trends, challenges and opportunities, here and abroad, facing seed companies, large and small, over the coming year.

Breakout sessions will feature up-to-date reports on intellectual property rights, phytosanitary issues, food safety and seed stewardship and more. In addition, ASTA will also hold its annual elections and welcome in new leadership for the coming year.

Stay tuned to AgWired for full coverage and all audio and photos will also be posted on AgNewsWire.AgWired.com.

Agribusiness, ASTA, Seed

Industry Celebrates First Year of Feeding for 30

Cindy Zimmerman

feeding-30At World Pork Expo, Purina Animal Nutrition was celebrating the first anniversary of its Feeding for 30 program, adding new partners to further the the industry goal of achieving 30 pigs per sow per year.

We launched it one year ago in partnership with Zinpro,” says Elena Lindemann, lactating livestock marketing director with Purina Animal Nutrition. “And this year we added another partner, DSM Nutritional Products.”

“When we created the Feeding for 30 program, we knew that properly feeding sows promotes their health and well-being – allowing better potential of achieving 30 healthy piglets weaned each year,” she added.

At World Pork Expo, Feeding for 30 presented a sow nutrition and management seminar designed to help producers achieve 30 pigs per sow per year. Organized as an interactive peer-to-peer forum, a panel of pork producers and swine nutritionists shared new tips and management insights, and answer questions. Producers can find out more at FeedingFor30.com and on their Facebook page.

Listen to my interview with Elena here: Interview with Purina's Elena Lindemann

Animal Health, Audio, Pork, Swine

Time For LMA Socializing

Chuck Zimmerman

Past WLAC ChampsWe have had a business meeting going on here at the 2013 Livestock Marketing Association Annual Convention for the past two days. Tonight it was time to relax and socialize. Big thanks to Montgomery Stockyards for sponsoring an excellent Fat Boy’s Bar-B-Que Ranch dinner at Union Station.

During our supper we heard from several folks and then all the past World Livestock Auctioneer Champions came up for a photo opportunity with Bailey Ballou, the 2012 Champion. It was an emotional time since Bailey will be turning over the reigns to a new champion tomorrow. I’ve updated my photos so please feel free to enjoy and share. I’ve got lots more interviews to share with you soon.

2013 LMA/WLAC Photo Album

Ag Groups, LMA

Ag Leader’s Educator Training

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyAg Leader’s 4th annual Educator’s Training will be held on Aug. 6-8 at Ag Leader Academy. The program is designed for institutions that are teaching precision ag practices to their students either in the classroom or in the field with the purpose of educating institutions on Ag Leader’s various services and products, as well as to provide hands on demonstrations of Ag Leader’s product lineup.

Tyler Anderson, Ag Leader software support specialist, says Ag Leader is helping to cultivate the next generation of precision ag specialists in the job field, whether it’s back home on their own farms, at Ag Leader or as a precision farming dealer.

Listen to Anderson explain

Anderson also says, “These ‘educating the educator’ sessions help students understand where precision ag might fit into their future.” Here’s what people can look forward to.

Listen to Anderson explain

Please contact Tyler Anderson or Adam Walters at 515-232-5363 or education@agleader.com if you are interested in attending, need more information regarding the training, or are interested in learning about Ag Leader’s Educational Solutions program.

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

LMA Provides Animal Handling Expertise

Chuck Zimmerman

Laura MarksAnimal handling is THE big priority issue for the Livestock Marketing Association. Members have Laura Marks, LMA Director of Animal Handling, as a great resource when it comes to this issue. Here at the 2013 LMA Annual Convention Laura conducted a workshop on this issue. I visited with her in between sessions to learn what she wanted members to know. Laura says members want to treat the animals in their care the best way possible at all times.

You can listen to my interview with Laura here: Interview with Laura Marks

The LMA offers Animal Care Training information for its members which can be found here.

2013 LMA/WLAC Photo Album

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, LMA

Former WLAC Bailey Ballou Works for LMA PAC

Chuck Zimmerman

2012 WLAC Bailey BallouThe 2012 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion is Bailey Ballou. He got to perform for us here at the LMA Annual Convention at the LMA PAC dinner/auction. Bailey auctioned off a number of items to raise money for the effort.

Before we got started with that I chatted with Bailey about his year as the WLAC. He says he’s been on the road to almost 70 different events this past year and is looking forward to a little break in the action. Bailey has always been goal driven and after reaching his goal of winning the WLAC he says he needs some time to formulate a new challenge. He also offers encouragement to anyone who would like to pursue a career as an auctioneer and especially in the livestock business.

You can listen to my interview with Bailey here: Interview with Bailey Ballou

A little Bailey doing LMA PAC auction here: Bailey Ballou at PAC Auction

2013 LMA/WLAC Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, LMA, Video

New Holland Customers Love their Skid Steers

John Davis

new-holland-ce-8New Holland customers sure love their Skid Steers.

“Once you get one of these out on the job site or on the farm, you’ll never let it go!” declared Dan Livezey with New Holland during an interview with Chuck at New Holland’s Construction Media Event at company headquarters in New Holland, PA. He says the Super Boom Skid Steer is especially well liked, since it comes with rubber tires and has the best reach and lift in the industry or rubber track units that give you more traction and versatility in dicey ground conditions. Both are great for a wide variety of jobs – from using it as a bulldozer, tree-cutter or land clearer. “A lot of different applications.”

Dan went on to say that their customer base is actually pretty evenly split between their ag and construction customers. He says it’s New Holland’s stable platform that really sets them apart from their competition.

“We have a long, wide wheel base on the rubber tire and track units,” plus New Holland has a vertical lift boom to make sure the lift-and-carry ability stays stable. And Ride Control smooths the trip across a rough field by turning the loader boom into a shock absorber.

New Holland’s Skid Steers are also easy to maintain, with all the daily maintenance able to be done under a rear hood. And if you need to do more, Dan says just take out two bolts, and the whole cab tips forward, giving you access to the hydraulics and the engine.

Dan adds they’ve got a growing dealer network, with more the 800 dealers nationwide, and always looking for more.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Dan here: Interview with Dan Livezey

New Holland Construction Equipment Media Event Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, New Holland, Tractor

Priorities for the Livestock Marketing Association

Chuck Zimmerman

Tim Starks, LMA PresidentThe President of the Livestock Marketing Association is Tim Starks from Cherokee, Oklahoma. He got things started at last night’s LMA PAC dinner and auction.

I visited with him to learn about priorities facing LMA and its members right now. Animal handling tops the list and he says, “We want to be very proactive in our approach to get the job done right.” Tim says that LMA is also dealing with a number of changes to the industry that include regulations and banking practices. You’ll also hear him talk about how groups in other countries that are like LMA are dealing with similar challenges.

You can listen to my interview with Tim here: Interview with Tim Starks

2013 LMA/WLAC Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, LMA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking nominations for the United States Potato Board.
  • The members of Cooperatives Working Together endorsed a larger investment in the farmer-funded self-help program, voting to enhance the membership requirement from 2¢ per hundredweight to 4¢ per hundredweight, effective July 1, 2013, and running through December 31, 2015.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appointed one member and one alternate member to serve on the Cotton Board to fill importer vacancies.
  • The International Association of Business Communicators St. Louis recently announced winners of the 2013 St. Louis Quill Awards for excellence in communications.
Zimfo Bytes

Vaccinator Helps Pigs Drink to Health

Cindy Zimmerman

wpx13-bivi-pump2Our two sponsors for World Pork Expo this year were both advocating the delivery of some of their animal health products to swine by injecting them into the water supply. For Novus, it was organic acids for improved gut health and for Boehringer Ingelheim it was the easy administration of oral vaccinations.

In both instances, however, it is important to make sure the proper amount of the product is added to the water supply during a certain time frame to ensure that all the pigs get the proper dosage. That’s where the Stenner Vaccinator Pump comes in and I talked with Jesse McCoy, Water Quality division manager for Ivesco Technical Services, about it.

wpx13-bivi-jesse“This pump makes oral vaccination or supplement addition easier and that’s the whole goal,” Jesse said. “The idea behind the pump was have a fixed vaccine amount and run it over the six hours that all the data shows every pig’s going to get a dose.” The pump also takes out the variables of time of day and weather allowing producers much more flexibility.

Jesse says Ivesco not only sells the pumps, they actually helped develop the unique product. “It’s been a really great collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim‘s team, Stenner’s team and Ivesco’s team to bring it to the market,” he said, noting that they had great response to the product at the expo.

Find out more in this interview with Jesse: Interview with Ivesco's Jesse McCoy

Visit the 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, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novus International, Swine, World Pork Expo