BASF Spotlights Science Behind Successful Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Ag Products spotlighted a couple of very successful and innovative farmers during the Science Behind event prior to Commodity Classic this year. One of them is pretty familiar to us all but the other is a newer face on the farming scene.

basf-classic13-randyThe new kid on the block is Randy Dowdy of Georgia who just got into the farming business in 2006 and has already been a multiple National Corn Yield Contest winner on pretty marginal farm land that he bought as an investment. “University guy told me I had some of the poorest soil in the state,” Randy told us. “Now that same university professor told me that I had made him rethink corn production in Georgia.”

Randy brought a different perspective to farming in his area. “Having the ability to change and the willingness to change quite often separates a good farmer from an average farmer,” he says. That includes using multiple modes of action for herbicides to work against resistant weeds and fungicides are extremely important in the south. “We are in a disease haven,” Randy said, noting that he uses several different BASF products to help prevent disease in his crops, including Headline, Headline AMP and Priaxor.

Where most of the country suffered from drought last year, Randy had just the opposite in Georgia. “We had a lot of rain events but our biggest problem was lack of sunshine,” he said.

Listen to Randy being interviewed by a couple of reporters at the Science Behind BASF event: Randy Dowdy interview

basf-classic-13-kipThe more familiar face is that of Missouri rock star farmer Kip Cullers, who still holds the title of World Champion Soybean Grower.

Kip wrote the book on being able and willing to change farming practices to get better and better yields, but he still can’t control the weather, which hurt him bad last year. “It’s kind of heartbreaking when you work all year long and try and do everything right and Mother Nature just cuts the rain off and you’re done, but that’s farming!” Kip said.

That’s why Kip has been the poster child for BASF Headline to keep his crops under the least stress possible, even under stressful conditions like drought. And Kip uses Kixor technology to fight against resistant weeds. “I just hate weeds and once you let them go to seed you have to fight them for the next ten years,” he said. “I just want to have sterile ground.”

Listen to my interview with Kip here: Kip Cullers interview

Check out more photos from the Science Behind BASF here

Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Corn, Farming, Soybean

Sequester Chops Some USDA Reports

Cindy Zimmerman

nass-logoStatistical surveys and reports about catfish, hops and mink are among those being suspended by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) “for the remainder of the fiscal year due to reduced funding caused by sequestration,” according to a press release out today.

Before deciding upon the program suspensions, NASS reviewed its survey programs against mission- and user-based criteria as well as the amount of time remaining in the fiscal year to conduct the surveys with the goal of finding available cost savings and maintaining the strongest data in service to agriculture. The decision to suspend these reports was not made lightly, but it was nevertheless necessary, given the funding situation.

• All Catfish and Trout Reports including Catfish Feed Deliveries and Catfish Processing
• July Cattle Report
• Potato Stocks Reports
• All Non-Citrus Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Forecasts and Estimates
• June Rice Stocks Report
• All Hops and Hops Stocks Estimates
• Mink Report
• Milk Production Reports including Production, Disposition and Income
• June on- and off-farm stocks for Austrian Winter Peas, Chickpeas, Dry Peas and Lentils
• July acreage forecasts for Austrian Winter Peas, Dry Edible Peas and Lentils

USDA

Charleston|Orwig Promotes Gale & Tessmann

Chuck Zimmerman

Mark GaleCongratulations to Mark Gale and Marcy Tessmann! They have both just received significant promotions at Charleston|Orwig.

Mark Gale has been promoted to chief executive officer of the Wisconsin-based communications consultancy firm. Marcy Tessmann has been promoted to president. Lyle Orwig remains as chairman and will continue to be an active and central figure in the agency’s day-to-day operations and long-range business planning.

“Much of the success we’ve experienced over the last several years is largely attributable to Mark and Marcy’s leadership and vision,” said Orwig. “Their unwavering focus on client service and delivering results-driven strategic communications platforms has fostered a culture of engagement, collaboration and success at Charleston|Orwig.”

Marcy TessmannGale and Tessmann share responsibility with Orwig for leading the agency’s two complementary practice areas, Reputation Management and Integrated Marketing.

“We are fortunate to have a group of very talented and dedicated team members throughout the agency,” says Orwig. “Under the leadership of Mark and Marcy, we’re well positioned for continued growth while helping our agricultural and food system clients achieve their business goals.”

Agencies

USFRA Announces Documentary on Next Gen Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

USFRAThere’s another film documentary in the works to showcase America’s farmers and ranchers, this time with a focus on the younger generation. Today the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance held a press call with the filmmaker.

Oscar® winning and two-time Emmy® winning filmmaker James Moll is proud to announce the production of a feature-length documentary about the next generation of American farmers and ranchers. The yet-to-be-titled documentary will profile farmers and ranchers in their twenties, all of whom have assumed the generational responsibility of running the family business.

Made in cooperation with U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®), the film will give us an up close and personal look at some of the young farmers and ranchers who grow and raise the food we consume daily, and into the latest farming procedures, practices, and technologies that are changing and improving the landscape of modern agriculture.

You can listen to or download the conference call here (missed the introduction): USFRA Documentary Conference Call

I will be talking directly with James Moll soon and will share that conversation then.

Ag Groups, Audio, USFRA

Pharming for a Better Life

Cindy Zimmerman

bayer-13-horanTreatment for cystic fibrosis from corn? Potatoes that produce an antibacterial protein for use in cosmetics?

Welcome to what could be the future of pharming.

One of the growers at the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum was Bill Horan, COO of Horan BioProduction in Rockwell City, Iowa. Bill, who is also chairman of Truth About Trade and Technology, talked about how he got into the business of growing pharmaceuticals. “About 11 years ago we started with a French company,” he said. “They had inserted canine lipase into a corn plant to produce a lipase for cystic fibrosis patients.”

Bill and his brother Joe farm over 4,000 acres of corn in northwest Iowa and he says they are currently the only commercial farmers that he knows of producing pharmaceuticals. “It’s very difficult to get permits from USDA to grow these biologics,” he said, noting that because they have been working at it now for over a decade they know how to get it done.

Listen to some of Bill’s comments here: Iowa Farmer Bill Horan

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Farming

BASF Personality Profile – AJ Woodyard

Jamie Johansen

Just over four years ago, AJ Woodyard, joined the BASF team as a young, driven and enthusiastic scientist. Since then he has continued to bring his excitement for the agricultural industry into helping growers get every penny out of their investment.

In this BASF Personality Profile, we get to meet AJ and learn more about his background and passion for crop science. He grew up in East Central Illinois on a 1,500 acre corn and soybean farm in Paris. He attended the University of Illinois, graduating with a crop science degree. He then jumped right into a masters program where he focused on weed science.

classic-13-jamie-76While in graduate school AJ, got the opportunity to work on some of BASF’s experimental projects and that is what got him excited about the company. He joined the BASF team in December 2008 after finishing his masters. His first role was technical representative for Central and Southern Illinois. But recently took on the role as Technical Crop Production Specialist. AJ now focuses on high yield corn and soybean management strategies.

“Being somebody who was born and raised in the agriculture industry and still is a part of a family operation, it’s really rewarding to me to have the opportunity to work directly with growers. Especially, looking at their challenges and their successes and be able to bring new solutions to them that can help their operations. That’s the most rewarding part, being part of an innovative company that brings new solutions and can help them eventually raise yields and make more money.”

You can listen to my interview with AJ here: BASF Technical Crop Production Specialist AJ Woodyard

Audio, BASF

Swanson Russell at 50 Years Old

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 3872012 was a good year for Swanson Russell. The agency turned 50 and for the first time surpassed $100 million in capitalized billings.

Capitalized billings are an industry standard used by agencies as a uniform means of comparing agencies that offer a variety of services. “In our industry, becoming a $100 million agency is a significant milestone,” said Dave Hansen, partner and chief executive officer of Swanson Russell. “It has been a stated goal of ours and we are very excited to announce this achievement. One hundred million is certainly a milestone that elevates our status on a national level.”

Swanson RussellI sat down for a conversation with Dave during Commodity Classic to learn more about what is working for the agency. He has been with Swanson Russell for twenty three of their fifty years. There are four key areas of focus for the agency, Agriculture; Turf/Ornamental; Hunting/Fishing and Health Care. He says making employees number one is very important and this has helped the agency retain great team members longer than most. The digital world has transformed many of the inside job definitions of agency employees and he says they’ve been seeing a significant increase in the use of digital media. Dave says they are trying to create more internal collaboration which has been accomplished in part by re-designing their offices to have much more “wide open space” so it’s easier for collaboration to take place.

Learn more about Swanson Russell at 50 years in this week’s ZimmCast: Swanson Russell Turns 50

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

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

Agencies, Audio, Commodity Classic, ZimmCast

XL Solutions at Raven Industries

Jamie Johansen

classic-13-jamie-176-editedExperts in Raven Industries’ applied sciences division have been busy bringing new and innovative technologies to the door step of growers across the country.

The 2013 Commodity Classic was the place to display these new products and Raven Industries was there to do so. I spoke with Paul Welbig who oversees a lot of the product management issues at Raven. Looking into the future he shared how their goal is to continue to enhance products that save farmers time and money. Slingshot is one of those data management systems that can improve efficiencies on the farm.

“An innovation of technology has been a key point to a lot of growers here. There operations are dependent upon the various technologies that are available out there and we try to integrate those technologies together to eliminate the complexities and provide them a faster ROI because they are integrated into their solutions.”

“Some of the new stuff that we are really talking to producers about here is a couple of different things. We have what we call out Envizio Pro XL, which is a field computing device. Envizio Pro has been around a little while…[Envizio Pro XL] does basically what it says, an extra large screen so people can see it a lot easier.”

Listen to my interview with Paul here: Interview with Paul Welbig

2013 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, Commodity Classic, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Early Registration Deadline for NAMA Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s time to get your registration completed for the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference that takes place April 17-19 in Kansas City, MO. Save some $’s and do it now.

The ZimmComm team will be there with a Connection Point booth to share what’s new in our world. Hope you stop by and say hi. Share this message with your friends in the industry. Let’s make this the best conference ever!

Here are some of the Great Insights You’ll Find at the Agri-Marketing Conference!

  • Discover the three pillars of social engagement and how to measure their effectiveness.
  • Assess your organization’s web content and get strategic about your online presence.
  • Take a look at the new, more integrated role of PR, and hear what the future holds from experienced panelists.
Ag Groups, Agencies, Agribusiness, Media, NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • DuPont Pioneer and Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., have entered into a license collaboration to evaluate and commercialize new gene leads for increased water use efficiency and improved photosynthesis in corn.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising the Standards for Grades of Almonds in the Shell.
  • Tim O’Connor, President and CEO of the U.S. Potato Board, has accepted an offer to lead a new marketing agency dedicated to the Mexican avocado industry.
  • New market challenges and opportunities inspired the National Pork Board to approve adding $3 million in additional Pork Checkoff funds to bolster the 2013 domestic marketing budget during the crucial summer sales months.
Zimfo Bytes