Generations of Family Farming

Talia Goes

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Does celebrity media attention sway your purchasing/listening/watching decisions? (e.g. Carrie Underwood supporting HSUS)”

Our poll results: Sixty-four percent said No, sixteen percent said Yes, eleven percent said Carrie Underwood Who, seven percent said Depends on the Celebrity, and two percent said Other. It looks like our audience doesn’t make decisions based on what media coverage of so called “celebrities.” How about you? Do you think differently? Let us know.

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Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How many generations are you removed from the farm?” With fewer and larger farms in the United States, not as many people are involved in production agriculture as 40 years ago. What is your family connection to farming? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

Conquer with Cadet Sweepstakes

Talia Goes

cadetFMC Agricultural Products Group announces the Conquer with Cadet Sweepstakes, inviting growers to visit www.FMCcadet.com and listen to the personal stories of corn and soybean growers who have had success with best practices while using Cadet herbicide. Online participation will be rewarded with a chance to win a John Deere Gator utility vehicle.

In addition to the John Deere Gator grand prize, five first place winners will receive a $250 Home Depot gift card. An additional 20 people will receive $100 Home Depot gift cards as a second place prize. Entries must be submitted by May 30 in order to be eligible for prizes.

Agribusiness, FMC, John Deere

Regional Farm Mom Winners

Talia Goes

MonsantoFrom Alaska to Florida, Maine to Hawaii, many people took the time to share what makes their favorite farm mom so special. Now, American Agri-Women and Monsanto have selected five regional winners. Votes will help determine this year’s national winner, to be announced on Mother’s Day.

Each regional winner was awarded a $5,000 cash prize from Monsanto. Online votes cast on AmericasFarmers.com before May 12 – Mother’s Day – will determine the winner of the national title and recipient of an additional $5,000 prize.

The 2013 regional winners are:

  • Northwest Region: Aimee Hachigian-Gould, Ulm, Mont.
  • Southwest Region: Mary Ann Bansen, Ferndale, Calif.
  • Midwest Region: Tina Hinchley, Cambridge, Wis.
  • Northeast Region: Sue Roehm, Leesburg, Ohio
  • Southeast Region: Betty Rosson, Louisa, Va.
Agribusiness

Discussing Open Data for Agriculture Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 393Data, data, data. I wonder how many times that word was used at this week’s G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture? A lot I’m sure. Well, I was not there but Paul Welbig, Raven Industries was.

Paul WelbigHere’s a photo of Paul on the left with Dr. Aboubacar Diaby, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. They are holding an African corn planter.

The conference concluded after participating countries created some action plans for what to do next. You can find those on the website and even more information. A focus of the efforts being made to make more agricultural data sets available to the world wide community is to create resources that will help people in developing countries and where there is a real need for advanced food production. So you might like an example of how this has already been done in other areas. Paul shares a couple of examples that were given at the conference like GPS which exists because of data shared and now used in so many beneficial ways which includes precision agriculture.

Learn more about what was discussed in this week’s conference in my conversation with Paul: Open Data for Agriculture

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.

Audio, Farming, Precision Agriculture, USDA, ZimmCast

We All Care About the Drought

Chuck Zimmerman

HuffPost LiveThis evening I was proud to be the skeptic in an episode of HuffPost Live titled, “Who Cares About Drought?”

A drought of historic proportions continues to grip much of the U.S. We discuss the impact of drought and how innovative water supply solutions can create jobs and stimulate the economy.

I actually don’t think I was really a skeptic, at least when it comes to the fact that we had a major widespread drought in 2012 and that there are all kinds of innovative solutions being worked on to better manage our water supply. What I am skeptical about are the hysterical emotion-driven claims that were made last fall about exorbitant food prices and that climate change was the reason we had last year’s drought. I believe this is the link to the archive of the program if you’d like to watch.

I mentioned that innovative companies like Monsanto and Dupont Pioneer are developing new technologies like drought resistant crops to address this situation where it exists. That hit a nerve with a couple of my fellow panelists. Ideas they presented included water harvesting and local food movements which I see nothing wrong with and would encourage. Several tweets were displayed that included one about desalinization plants. That struck a personal nerve with me since my father-in-law designed those plants all over the world!

In the end the episode skeptic was not moved from what he believes in. But as I said earlier, I think we had more we agreed on than not.

Farming, Food, Media

Smartphone Apps to Manage Herd Records

Chuck Zimmerman

Who would have thought just a few years ago that seeing farmers in the field managing information with their phones would be common place? As this video clip from Certified Angus Beef shows, mobile devices are embraced by farmers and besides helping save them time they are also helping their consumer customers have more confidence in the food they produce.

Barb Downey operates a commercial and registered Angus herd in Kansas. An active mobile technology user, she shares her experience on how these tools can provide more convenient opportunities for beef producers to manage herd records. This video news is provided by Certified Angus Beef LLC and the American Angus Association. Visit www.CABpartners.com or www.angus.org for more information.

Ag Groups, Apps, Video

Put Some LabelBling on Your Groceries

Talia Goes

YLfreshLabelBling, a new line of high impact labels by Yerecic Label, uses new techniques to create an upscale look at an affordable rate for fresh produce growers, packers and shippers. The line focuses on the use of eye-catching visuals such as holographic films, sparkle inks and embossing to draw attention and interrupt the shopper as they carry out their shopping mission.

Many brands have the misguided idea that bold innovative packaging is too expensive. LabelBling proves that you can distinguish a product’s visual appeal significantly without overspending. The original and innovative designs help to differentiate the product in the clutter of colors in the produce department.

Advertising, Agribusiness

Nutrient Management with Late Planting

Cindy Zimmerman

fieldwaterPlanting progress continues to be slowed by wet and cold weather in most of the major corn producing states.

According to USDA, just 5% of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of Sunday, only a percentage point of difference compared to the previous week. Last year at this time, nearly half the crop was in the ground and normally at least 30% should be planted by now. All 18 major corn producing states are behind the five year average and five have nothing in the ground yet. Another half dozen have less than 3-4% planted.

grandinJohn Grandin, Senior Field Sales Agronomist at GROWMARK, Inc. says that while planting is definitely running behind normal in the Corn Belt, it’s nothing to worry about just yet.

“We’re not behind the eight ball as far as we’ve missed out on all the growing degree days,” said Grandin, who adds that field work is progressing in his area of Iowa.

Grandin stresses the importance of sticking with the original plan when it comes to nutrient management. “If the original plan calls for spring-applied anhydrous ammonia, then stick with spring-applied anhydrous ammonia,” he said.

However, Grandin points out the possibility of burning corn roots or even killing the seedling if application is followed too quickly by planting. “We can manage that by putting the anhydrous ammonia on at an angle to the direction of row planting,” he said. That will help decrease the possibility of free ammonia being trapped in the knife track as a result of wetter soils. “We don’t want to be planting directly on top of the anhydrous knife track for any length of row.”

Listen to this interview with Grandin to find out more: GROWMARK agronomist John Grandin

Audio, Farming, Fertilizer, GROWMARK

ISU Seeks Input on DDGs

Joanna Schroeder

cattle eating distillers grainsIowa State University is conducting a survey of livestock producers use of feed-related co-products from ethanol production (distillers grains). The survey is focused on the beef, dairy, swine and poultry sectors. It is being funded by a coalition consisting of the Renewable Fuels Association, the Distillers Grains Technology Council and the Corn Utilization Councils from Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska.

“The feedback gained from the survey will be used to help improve co-product quality, which can help livestock producers with their feed costs and livestock performance,” said Kurt Rosentrater, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, who is leading the effort.

Livestock producers are invited to take the survey online until June 19, 2013.

Agribusiness, Biofuels, Ethanol