Happy 150th Birthday Bayer!

Cindy Zimmerman

bayer13-cakeBayer is celebrating 150 years of “Science for a Better Life.”

“Not too many companies really have that heritage and we’re really proud of that because that really describes our long term commitment,” said David Hollinrake, VP of Agricultural Commercial Operations Marketing for Bayer CropScience.
agissues-13-3While agriculture is just one segment of Bayer, it is a significant one. “Agriculture is certainly the focus this week and the focus of my role but Bayer is significantly larger than just agriculture,” David told me. “We call ourselves a life sciences company – we have crop science, health care, animal science and material science – so we span a lot of scientific categories and our mission is science for a better life.”

David says the agricultural side of Bayer has diversified over the last couple of years to encompass the entire cropping pattern. “Think of it as crop protection, seeds, biotechnology – really creating what we call integrated solutions,” he said.

Listen to my interview with David here: Interview with David Hollinrake

2013 Bayer CropScience Ag issues Forum Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Commodity Classic, Farming

Obama Picks for Energy and EPA

Cindy Zimmerman

nomineesPresident Obama announced his picks for Secretary of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency administrator on Monday. The President nominated MIT professor Ernest Moniz as energy secretary and EPA official Gina McCarthy as administrator for the agency.

While Moniz is a virtual unknown, McCarthy has served as EPA’s assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation and her appointment is being well received by agricultural and biofuels organizations.

“We appreciated working with Assistant Administrator McCarthy over the past few years in her role as head of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, which was responsible for the approval of the E15 ethanol blend fuel option in 2012. We look forward to working closely with her and her team on ethanol and other issues that come before the agency,” said National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson.

gina-iowaRenewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen says McCarthy is “knowledgeable, willing to listen, and straight-forward. She knows the EPA inside and out and has typically approached challenges with a common-sense determination to resolve them in a timely manner.” Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis added that “McCarty has been a strong supporter of biofuels and we look forward to working with her to bring sustainable, clean, homegrown American fuels to the consumer.”

In September of 2009, McCarthy was one of two high-ranking EPA officials to visit farm operations and biofuel facilities in Iowa. She is pictured here during that visit with Margo Oge, director of the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality and Senator Chuck Grassley on the farm of Rick Kimberley. (Photo from Iowa Farm Bureau Flickr)

Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

BIVI Invites Swine Vets to Live the Adventure

Cindy Zimmerman

bivi-vets-13-2The annual Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar for swine vets was quite the adventure this year.

BIVI addressed the issue of vertical transmission of pathogens in swine herds, featuring presentations by members of the BIVI swine vet team and other veterinary professionals. BIVI Director of Swine Technical Services Dr. Tyler Holck is very proud of their team. “It’s a team that has grown over the years,” he said. “We felt we needed a strong technical team to deliver the value through innovation that we have for a vision for BI.”

bivi-vets-13-1Dr. Holck says BI appreciates the opportunity to discuss important issues with swine vets each year at this time in advance of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting. “It’s not a large industry from the standpoint of people, so our customers are our partners,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Holck here: Interview with Dr. Tyler Holck, BIVI

As always, BI provided a wonderful evening of entertainment for the swine vets and their families. This year it was aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier, featuring a night skydive, great USO-style entertainment, and a fun fireworks display. Check out the photo album to see! Great idea for anyone planning a big event in San Diego.

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Propane’s New Role on the Farm

Jamie Johansen

classic-13-jamie-160-editedThe trade show at the recent Commodity Classic was the place to share new and innovative products for growers and the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) was among exhibitors who used that to their advantage.

PERC is a checkoff, like many other agricultural organization. They use their funds to invest in research and safety training programs to educate the public. Farmers are among those who can utilize this alternative fuel. I spoke with Mark Leitman,
Director of Business Development and Marketing, during Commodity Classic and he not only shared some ways farmers across the country can take advantage of propane other than heating their home, but also talked about their Propane Farm Incentive Program.

“We’ve got a lot of opportunities for farmers to learn more about propane and ways they can use new technology on the farm and take advantage of propane’s low costs and environmental attributes and lower their costs of operation.”

“Grain drying and building heating continues to be some of the bigger uses, but we are seeing a huge growth in the amount of engines being powered by propane. In the ag sector, irrigation engines, is a low hanging fruit for us. It’s easy to place the engines, easy to place the tanks and it’s easy for the propane marketers to deliver. So, we are really promoting propane as an engine fuel in that application. Plus theres opportunities for trunks, lawn mowers and advance deficiency grain dryers. Just lots and lots of ways propane can be used on the farm.”

Listen to my interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Leitman

2013 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, Commodity Classic, Propane

Bayer Connect Turns One

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 386During the Bayer Ag Issues Forum it was announced that Bayer Connect is one year old. Happy birthday! Bayer Connect is where Bayer CropScience pulls in all their social media channels and content.

Bayer CropScience Ag Issues ForumI visited with Beth Roden, Director of Communications & Bayer CropScience NA Coordinator, Bayer CropScience. She says Bayer Connect was created to provide not only farmer customers with a resource like this but also the media and others in the ag industry. Bayer Connect pulls in their Twitter, YouTube, blog and Pinterest accounts. Beth says there has been exponential growth during the last year for these social media channels which has provided not only a lot of followers but the kind of engagement they had hoped for.

Learn more about Bayer Connect and how it is working for Bayer in this week’s ZimmCast here: Bayer Connect 1 Year Old

2013 Bayer CropScience Ag issues Forum Photo Album

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.

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Social Networking, ZimmCast

Mount Your iPhone in a John Deere Cab

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere Press ConferenceYou knew it had to be coming didn’t you? OEM’s creating custom mounts for your mobile device in their cabs. John Deere has announced them along with several other things during last week’s Commodity Classic.

Patrick Sikora updated ag media on what is going on with the John Deere FarmSight system that was announced at Commodity Classic two years ago. All of the many components of FarmSight will be tied into a farmers MyJohnDeere.com account. Those include: JDLink™; John Deere Financial; My Equipment; Field Connect; JDParts; AgLogic™; and StellarSupport™.

Listen to the full John Deere press conference here or watch the video below: John Deere Press Conference

John Deere In-Cab MountsHere’s information on the new mobile device mounts.

The proliferation of smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices has made them popular and essential communications and information resources for today’s farmers and ranchers. As a result, John Deere is introducing mounting brackets and attachments to make it easier and more convenient for producers to have hands-free access and improved viewing of their mobile devices while operating equipment.

These new brackets include a cell phone mount bracket kit, a tablet mount kit, and accessory mounting bracket kit. They are all cross-compatible with current John Deere monitor kits and are customizable to fit each operator’s specific requirements in the cab.

Deere also announced an expansion of their Field Connect soil moisture monitoring system. Thes new environmental sensors include: Weather Station; Rain Gauge; Temperature Sensor; Pyranometer and Leaf Wetness Sensor.

In addition to the soil moisture data provided by the Field Connect system, the new sensors provide data on temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, solar radiation, leaf wetness and rainfall. The sensors are installed in customer fields as part of the Field Connect Gateway.

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic, Equipment, John Deere

Commodity Classic Media Man

Chuck Zimmerman

2013 Commodity ClassicI don’t know what the final, final totals are but before it ended the 2013 Commodity Classic broke records that include 6,180 attendees, 3,024 of which are growers and 1,024 first time attendees. The high number of first time attendees was especially pleasing to Ken Colombini, Communications Director for the National Corn Growers Association. I sat down with him during Classic for a chat.

Ken says that these growers are coming here to learn how they can improve things back on the farm and find lots to talk about with each other. It is a great place to network with others in the business! Speaking of networking, the media room is a great place for the ag media to network with each other while they’re also utilizing the facilities to post their stories back to whatever media channels they are responsible for. Thanks to Dupont Crop Protection for being the sponsor of the Commodity Classic media room this year!

Listen to my interview with Ken here: Interview with Ken Colombini

2013 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Broadhead, a Minneapolis-based full-service marketing communications agency, has added three new employees to its team.
  • DuPont said that while new digital technology is allowing farmers to gather massive amounts of data, the real value comes when data drives insights to help them improve their operations’ profitability.
  • Bayer CropScience honored Belzoni, Miss., crop farmer and sustainability advocate Jeremy Jack, 30, as its 2013 Young Sustainable Farmer.
  • Titan Machinery Inc. announced that it has acquired Adobe CE, LLC, consisting of one Case Construction equipment dealership located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Zimfo Bytes

Six Secrets of Soybean Success Revealed

Jamie Johansen

classic13-belowMove over Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World. Dr. Fred Below has a new hit message – the Six Secrets of Soybean Success – and he revealed it for the first time to growers at the 2013 Commodity Classic, thanks to BASF Crop Protection products.

Dr. Below, who is Professor of Crop Physiology at the University of Illinois, was joined by BASF Technical Crop Production Specialist AJ Woodyard for the educational session that drew a record-breaking number of attendees.

Both BASF and Dr. Below shared new data that shows farmers how they can nearly double their yields with a comprehensive pest management plan. Even though they conducted research separately, their results both indicated that growers can maximize yields by using agronomic management program featuring a combination of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.

classic13-secretsWoodyard highlighted studies that consisted of a combination treatment of BASF herbicides and fungicides in corn, and BASF herbicides, fungicides and insecticides in soybeans, and compared their effectiveness to a glyphosate-based control program. Results revealed soybean yields increased by an average of 6.0 bu/A over the glyphosate-only program.

According to Below, the current average soybean yield in the U.S. is roughly 42 bu/A, and has been hovering around that figure for the past few years. “While it may seem daunting, the quest for 85.0 bu/A isn’t a stretch. Yields of this nature are produced each year in state contests, so we know it can be done,” Below said. “The trick is figuring out how to consistently produce these yield levels, and our research has identified six strategies to help accomplish this task.”

The Six Secrets to Soybean Success are:

  1. Weather
  2. Improve soil fertility
  3. Maximize genetic yield potential
  4. Protect yield potential and maximize seed size
  5. Enhance seed emergence and vigor
  6. Utilize narrow row spacing

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Dr. Below here: Dr. Fred Below

2013 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Education, Farming, Research, Soybean

Veterinarians on Call Videos

Chuck Zimmerman

Veterinarians on CallZoetis has created a series of YouTube videos with veterinarians to show the public how farmers of all sizes take care of their animals.

In new YouTube videos released today, swine veterinarians Dr. Matthew Turner of North Carolina and Dr. Tara Donovan of Wisconsin join veterinarians and farmers from across the country in speaking out for responsible livestock farming by hosting a film crew to document their work. They are among 12 veterinarians who demonstrate modern animal wellness practices on dozens of U.S. farms and ranches in the YouTube reality series “Veterinarians On Call,” www.youtube.com/vetsoncall.

“Veterinarians On Call”, presented by animal health company Zoetis™, shows the public that regardless of the size of a farm, farmers and ranchers benefit from raising animals in the most comfortable, stress-free conditions and housing. Doing so avoids disease, saves money on care, and keeps animals growing at proper weight until ready for market. In other words it would be counter-productive to and a risk to their businesses if farmers raised stressed, underweight animals. 



The film crews documented veterinarians working on farms as small as a couple hundred animals, to some of the largest U.S. farms responsible for hundreds of thousands of animals a year. The farms are an accurate representation of America’s 2.2 million farms, 97% of which are family-owned.

The 12 veterinarians who volunteered to be filmed are:

Dr. John Groves, Missouri

Dr. Rick Leone, Colorado

Dr. Don Goodman, Texas

Dr. Tom Noffsinger, Nebraska

Dr. Paul Ruen, Minnesota

Dr. Ross Kiehne, Minnesota

Dr. Angie Supple, Iowa

Dr. Pete Ostrum, New York

Dr. Lindsey Peck, New York

Dr. Matthew Turner, North Carolina

Dr. Tara Donovan, Wisconsin
Dr. Lynn Locatelli, New Mexico (to be published 2013)



Agribusiness, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Veterinary, Video