IFAJ Media Tour to Uganda

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ Uganda Media TourA select few members of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists have an opportunity to travel to Uganda this November on a tour.

Following the great success of the Kenya tour in 2012, IFAJ and AgriCord/Agriterra are proud to offer 15 IFAJ journalists again the opportunity to have a first-hand look at farm issues in the developing world. By organizing a 6-day tour for a group of select journalists to Uganda, our aim is to enable you to take a look beyond the images of hunger and poverty in Africa to explore a vibrant continent full of initiatives and business opportunities to boost agricultural production and economic development.

Arrival: Sunday 3 November – Arrival at hotel in Entebbe Departure: Saturday 9 November – End of program

Professional obligations
Those journalists who take part in the tour will share their experiences in oral, written, powerpoint or other media, with their own agricultural journalists guild and the IFAJ and AgriCord through newsletter or web articles. This is a separate commitment from your professional role in writing/broadcasting stories for your audience.

U.S. members of the American Agricultural Editors Association need to get their application (pdf), including 3 samples of their work from the past 12 months, sent to Steve Werblow, Chair of the AAEA International Committee by May 31.

I’ll apply if you want to sponsor our coverage of this amazing looking event!

Cindy and I are already signed up to attend the 2013 IFAJ Congress in Argentina this fall. Supporting IFAJ is a good idea for agrimarketers in today’s global marketplace. We thank Dupont Pioneer for their support of our attendance at this annual event once again this year.

IFAJ, Media

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • KeyBank is expanding its strong agribusiness capability with the addition of Scott G. Rueff, who will oversee the growth of KeyBank’s agribusiness program in the Midwest and Northeast.
  • Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC), the global leader in choline chloride and precision release nutrient technologies, today announced the creation of a new grant-based research program, the Real Science Initiative.
  • The National Grange will present Carlos Jimenez, Director of Chrysler’s Mid-Atlantic Business Center, the first William Saunders Award for Rural Awareness on behalf of RAM.
  • Farm Market iD announced that Hylon Kaufmann has been promoted to president of the company.
Zimfo Bytes

Broadcasters Support Farm Broadcasting

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 396The roots of agricultural broadcasting run deep in broadcast history, starting with the first stations on the air in the 1920’s airing weather and market reports for farmers and ranchers. By 1922, the USDA reported that 35 of the 36 stations licensed by the Commerce Department had been approved to broadcast USDA markets!

Since farm broadcasting has been such an important part of radio and television programming over the years, it’s appropriate that the National Association of Broadcasters helps to support some of the activities of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, particularly the annual NAFB Washington Watch.

nabWe talked with NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton about their support of NAFB and some policy concerns that the two organizations share in common, such as the impact that impending spectrum incentive auctions could have on television translator service and low power television service in rural areas, which we detailed in an earlier post.

Listen to my conversation with Dennis here: ZimmCast with NAB

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

Audio, Media, NAFB, ZimmCast

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Rep. Frank Lucas

Cindy Zimmerman

New on Agri-Pulse this week:

open-micFrank Lucas (R-OK) Chairs the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee and succeeded in getting a diverse farm bill through his committee in 2012 and 2013 with over a 3/4 majority. However, the toughest battle lies ahead, with floor debate expected in mid-June. Lucas talks about the major challenges of a bill that has budget restraints and forces on both sides pulling for their respective constituents. He is also watching the Senate debate “every minute I can spare” to see what that bill can offer when House members go to conference and sign a new bill into law before the current one expires on September 30.

Listen to the Agri-Pulse Open Mic interview with Rep. Lucas here.

Agri-Pulse

GROWMARK Interns Journey to Great

Cindy Zimmerman

growmark-internsSummer is officially underway and for over 60 college students it is the beginning of a great journey as interns for GROWMARK, Inc.

“This is our 54th annual GROWMARK summer internship,” says GROWMARK University Relations Manager Ashley McClintock. “We have 61 interns this summer, representing 16 universities across North America.”

The 12 week internship program encompasses a variety of different areas within the GROWMARK system. “Most of our interns are in agronomy, we have a few in precision farming, seed, dairy, grain or commodities, and then we have a handful in energy and marketing as well,” said Ashley.

Unlike many intern programs, GROWMARK offers paid internships to allow students to not only gain valuable experience and connections, but also help them make a little money in the summer. “We view these as our employees as well and we want to make sure they get rewarded for their hard work,” Ashley explained, adding that the program is really a “mutual 12 week interview to see if these students have a future in the GROWMARK system.” In fact, about 50% of GROWMARK interns go on to become full time employees.

See the list of all GROWMARK summer interns here.

Listen to my interview with Ashley here: Ashely McClintock, GROWMARK intern program

To find out more about the GROWMARK internship program, watch the video below, created by and featuring 2012 interns.

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, GROWMARK

LMA 50th Convention & Auctioneer Championship

Chuck Zimmerman

LMA-WLAC-50th-logoMy first ever Livestock Marketing Association’s Annual Convention and World Livestock Auctioneer Championship looks to be a golden one in Montgomery, AL. I’ll not only be covering the event but will be participating in the judging. So plan to follow along with me as we plow new ground along the agriblogging highway.

For half a century, the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) has showcased the industry’s most talented livestock auctioneers and honored local livestock auction markets annually through its World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC). On June 14-15 in Montgomery, Ala., LMA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this prestigious event when 31 semi-finalists gather at the Montgomery Stockyards to compete for the 2013 title.

This year’s World Livestock Auctioneer Championship qualifying and semi-final events highlight the professional auctioneering skills and livestock marketing knowledge of hundreds of auctioneers who competed. The WLAC contest is produced by LMA, the leading trade association serving livestock auction markets, during its annual convention as a way to promote the profession and the auction method of marketing livestock.

Ag Leader, Livestock, LMA

Syngenta Launches Clariva Seed Treatment

Chuck Zimmerman

SyngentaThe first product from Syngenta’s acquisition of Pasteuria Bioscience, Clariva, has been launched and will be available in the U.S. next year.

Syngenta announced today the launch of CLARIVA™, a proprietary seed treatment nematicide based on the Pasteuria technology acquired in 2012.

CLARIVA consists of naturally occurring soil bacteria with a unique, direct mode of action on nematodes: microscopic worm-shaped soil organisms, which cause significant damage to all major agricultural crops.

CLARIVA will be available in the USA for the 2014 growing season. It will be combined with other leading Syngenta seed care compounds as a complete solution for soybeans. Further registrations across major crops worldwide are planned.

Agribusiness, Seed, Syngenta

World Pork Expo Names New General Manager

Jamie Johansen

Irlbeck, AliciaThe National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) recently named Alicia Irlbeck as the new general manager of World Pork Expo. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the world’s largest pork-specific trade show and will be held June 5-7, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Irlbeck will oversee the strategic planning and management of all programs, exhibits and activities. She has been part of the World Pork Expo since joining the NPPC team in 2005 and will continue to serve as NPPC”s director of projects and events. Before that, she worked for the Des Moines Marriott Downtown and earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and institution management from Iowa State University.

“My biggest priority is making sure every last detail is addressed and communicated to make World Pork Expo the best it can be for the nearly 20,000 producers and industry enthusiasts who attend each year,” Irlbeck says. “Expo is a huge team effort, and it’s my pleasure to work with the amazing group of dedicated people who are the backbone of the show.”

For more information about World Pork Expo visit www.worldpork.org or check them out on Facebook. Follow #NPPCWPX on Twitter to stay up-to-date with event happenings. But maybe the best way to stay connected is downloading the official app, available in the Apple Store, Android Market and Blackberry’s App World.

NPPC, Pork, World Pork Expo

Monsanto Summer Learning Opportunities

Melissa Sandfort

rr-logoFarmers throughout the country will have many opportunities to attend learning events this summer as the industry pushes for more education on diversified weed management practices (DWMPs) and insight into the seed, trait and herbicide technologies expected to soon become available.

A greater number of in-field, educational events in 2013 reflects the motivation of academics, farmers, manufacturers and retailers to get ahead of the learning curve for using new weed management technologies before the products enter the marketplace.

This summer, Monsanto is planning a robust educational program called the Roundup Ready® Learning Xperience, a series of events aimed at transferring knowledge about the Roundup Ready® Xtend™ Crop System to seed dealers, retailers and others. Pending regulatory approvals, the Roundup Ready® Xtend™ Crop System will introduce Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans, which are tolerant to dicamba and glyphosate herbicides. Featuring in-field training demonstrations, the Learning Xperience events will be held at more than 20 locations across major U.S. soybean-growing regions, specifically selected to show how the system will work across many environments.

Many farm supply companies also are preparing for new weed management technologies and application practices by attending available training and sponsoring learning opportunities for their own customers.

Each Learning Xperience site will include plots that demonstrate local Roundup Ready PLUS® Weed Management Solutions recommendations in action, as well as small-field trials showcasing the efficacy and crop safety of the Roundup Ready Xtend™ Crop System. Participants in the Learning Xperience events will get a firsthand, close-up preview of the latest innovations – management practices, seed and traits, expert perspectives and more.

Agribusiness

Last Call to Apply for 2013 Agvocacy 2.0 Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChat FoundationToday is your last day to send in an application for the coolest conference on how to agvocate – the 2013 National AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference. Actually, it’s really the only conference all about agvocating! Can you believe this is the 4th Annual? And it’s going to be “the best ever.”

During the Alltech International Symposium I spoke with @DairyCarrie or rather Carrie Chestnut Mess, about the conference since she is one of the committees putting it together. You’ll want to hear her describe what is already planned and why you should be a part of it.

Listen to my interview with Carrie here and get your application in: Interview with Dairy Carrie

Ag Groups