Update on BASF Becker Underwood Integration

Cindy Zimmerman

Becker Underwood and BASF hosted ag media representatives on Friday for a tour of the plant facility in St.Joseph, Missouri with an update on inoculant and polymer technology, as well as progress on the integration of Becker Underwood into the new Functional Crop Care division of BASF.

becker-peterBASF officially closed the deal to acquire Becker Underwood last November and announced some of the integration logistics during the Seed Expo in December. Becker Underwood president and CEO Peter Innes says they have made steady progress to make that happen since that time. “We’ve been dealing with the most important aspect of the business, which is the people,” Peter said. “We’re now focusing on this new Functional Crop Care business and the components of that business which are seed solutions, biological solutions and solutions beyond crop protection, which deal with abiotic stresses and challenges of that nature.”

Innes has headed up Becker Underwood for over a decade and has now accepted the position of global senior advisor to the Crop Protection Division with BASF. “This has been my life’s work, particularly biologicals,” he said, noting some of the difficulty in letting go but that he believes that Becker Underwood is in good hands with BASF.

Listen to my interview with Peter here: Dr. Peter Innes, Becker Underwood chairman & CEO

Get more audio and photos from the Becker Underwood plant tour on AgNewsWire.AgWired.com.

Audio, BASF, Crop Protection

Changes in Agricultural Marketing Agencies

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 392We’re back in the swing of things at ZimmComm World Headquarters. Actually, make that in post-Agri-Marketing Conference recovery mode. Cindy and I have a number of interviews to share with you this week from the conference and I’ll get started in this week’s program.

Best of NAMAI sat down with Lynn Henderson, AgriMarketing Magazine, toward the end of the conference and talked about changes we’ve seen in agricultural marketing agencies. You’ll hear some names you may remember and some you may not depending on how long you’ve been involved the industry. This conversation is part of an on-going series that we plan to do periodically on different subjects. Do you have a topic you’d like to see us cover? If so, please let us know or post in comments.

Besides looking at some of the trends in agricultural marketing agencies over the years we also review some of the winners of the Best of NAMA who let their “plume fill the room” last week. We also go over the list of student marketing competition winners.

Listen in on my conversation with Lynn in this week’s ZimmCast: Changes in Marketing Agencies

Don’t forget to check out our 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference 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.

Ag Groups, Agencies, Agribusiness, Audio, Media, NAMA, ZimmCast

New Resources Available for Dairy Producers

Talia Goes

UsDairy_LogoThe Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy announced new science-based resources available for dairy producers, processors, industry partners and stakeholders. The resources help the industry act on the unprecedented scientific research commissioned as part of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment — a collective effort of the dairy value chain to measure and improve the sustainability of U.S. dairy from farm to table.

As part of this commitment, the dairy industry initiated a series of scientific life cycle assessments of fluid milk, cheese and whey. With this body of work, the U.S. dairy industry is striving to create the most transparent and documented dairy LCA database available. Due in part to its rigorous science-based approach, it was chosen to be the pilot industry participating in the National Agricultural Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide an open-access, prototype LCA database and tools.

The three new resources available include:

Agribusiness, Dairy, Environment, Publication

Zimfo Bytes

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    Zimfo Bytes

  • Agriculture data and marketing solutions company Farm Market iD, announced it has launched a new website in conjunction with new branding.
  • Paulsen Marketing has discovered just how influential online contributions are to purchase decisions for rural lifestylers.
  • This year Ukraine will launch a line of high-performing harvesting combines Tucano-440 jointly with the German company CLAAS.
  • The National FFA Convention & Expo has been named one of the top-growing expo events in the country by Expo Magazine.
Zimfo Bytes

Chicken Media Summit Panelists

Jamie Johansen

13cms-75editedDay three of the Chicken Media Summit gave attendees the opportunity to listen and get their questions answered. The National Chicken Council and US Poultry & Egg Association brought together executives, researchers, vets and other experts to serve on panels to address industry trends, challenges and other hot topics.

Bill Roenigk, Senior Vice President for the National Chicken Council, served as the moderator for the first panel of chicken company executives.

Panelists:
Lampkin Butts, President & COO of Sanderson Farms
Bill Lovette, President & CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation
Jim Perdue, Chairman of the Board for Perdue Farms

Each panelist addressed issues and challenges they all face to ensure a wholesome, nutritious product consumers will want. Each also stressed the need for transparency and the desire to be a sustainable company. Other topics discussed were global markets and the need for more protein worldwide.

Listen to Chicken Company Executives panel here: Panel One

13cms-87editedJohn Starkey, President, USPOULTRY, served as the moderator for the second panel on issues in the news.

Panelists & area of interest:
Poultry Welfare
Yvonne Thaxton, PhD., Center for Food Animal Wellbeing, University of Arkansas

Modernization of Poultry Inspection
Kendra Waldbusser, Senior VP, Food Safety & Quality Assurance, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation

Chicken Labeling
Doug Smith, PhD., Associate Professor, Poultry Science, North Carolina State University

Role of Vets in Modern Poultry Companies
John Glisson, DVM, MAM, PhD., Director of Research Programs, USPOULTRY

Listen to Issues in the News panel here: Panel Two

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Audio, Chicken Media Summit, Poultry

Embracing Transparency in the Poultry Industry

Jamie Johansen

13cms-48-editedThe second day of Chicken Media Summit was all about transparency. Members of the press were invited to tour a hatchery, grower barn, processing plant and waste water treatment facility. This allowed for them to see with their own eyes the complete life of a chicken from egg to plate. And most importantly, get all questions answered.

Sanderson Farms was the company that opened it’s doors to attendees of this year’s summit. This experience alone was an eye opener for many. They were able to truly understand the science, technology and safety behind the most popular white meat.

President and CEO of Sanderson Farms, Lampkin Butts, along with many other Sanderson Farms employees spent the entire event with guests and were honored to play host to the Chicken Media Summit tours. I had to opportunity to spend the day with Lampkin and chatted with him as he discussed meeting consumers needs, challenges in the industry and growing price of feed.

Listen to my interview will Lampkin here: Interivew with Lampkin Butts

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Audio, Chicken Media Summit, Media, Poultry

Brownfield Parties On

Chuck Zimmerman

Brownfield NAMA PartySome people seemed to be moving a little slow this morning at the Agri-Marketing Conference. Could be a little bit of Brownfield Party Syndrome. Happens to the best of us!

Last night Brownfield partied on in style at the Dubliner in the K.C. Power & Light area. Cindy and I were there with cameras in hand to “document” it for you viewing/sharing pleasure. As of this post I’ve got about half our photos uploaded. I’ll get the rest done by tomorrow morning. Outside of these photos we all know that what happens at a Brownfield party stays . . . Right?

Cindy and I have a lot more Agri-Marketing Conference information to share in the coming days. In the meantime you can also view/share almost 400 photos from the conference here.

NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

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    Zimfo Bytes

  • R&D LifeSciences announces its new and improved website with the latest products and advances in technology and research.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appointed five representatives to serve on the Peanut Standards Board.
  • American Royal volunteers were celebrated at a dinner and awards ceremony hosted at the American Royal Complex Tuesday evening April 16.
  • The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance’s next Food Dialogues is scheduled for Monday, April 22.
Zimfo Bytes

We Understand Precision

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyAt Ag Leader Technology, there’s a philosophy that there is a direct correlation between precision agriculture and precision manufacturing. The key ideas behind precision agriculture are optimizing inputs and maximizing yields, accurate control of planting, application and harvest operations and then collecting and analyzing data to manage processes to drive improvements.

Stop for a moment and think about manufacturing precision ag equipment. Don’t the same ideas hold true for both? Ag Leader believes that on the manufacturing side, it’s all about optimizing inputs and maximizing yields, accurate control of processes to reduce variability and ensure high quality, and collecting and analyzing data to drive improvements whether that be quality, cost or productivity improvements.

Tim Gaul, Ag Leader quality and continuous improvement manager, says, “Some of our improvements are ‘break-through’ improvements and others we improve on every day. But as we monitor each cell in terms of quality, on a weekly basis we analyze the reasons for defects, attack the issue, dig into the root cause, investigate the problem, and come up with corrective measures.”

Listen to Gaul explain

ElectronicAssemblyCell
Gaul says, “To get the most out of every acre, out of every input, you have to be precise in what you’re doing and look at every single opportunity to eliminate waste and create value.” That’s why Ag Leader employs LEAN manufacturing, meaning as a company, they understand the process first and then design manufacturing workstations and layout to best fit that process. Ag Leader products aren’t made in big batches – they focus on making high quality, once piece at a time.

So what does that mean to you, the Ag Leader customer?

Listen to Gaul explain

Gaul says everyone at Ag Leader understands that they’re a part of feeding the world, and the way they do that is by participating in their processes of precision manufacturing. At Ag Leader, they understand precision.

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

Enriching People’s Lives With Animal Source Foods

Jamie Johansen

13-cms-16-editedAfter a fantastic four course dinner of stuffed chicken, attendees of the 2013 Chicken Media Summit were honored to hear a keynote address about the importance of animal sourced foods.

The National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association brought in Bill Weldon, Vice President of Global Outreach & Development and Western Europe Commercial Business for Elanco Animal Health and Susan Finn, President and CEO of the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition. Together they shared how animal source foods are the key to enriching people’s lives and feeding the world for the next 50 years.

The three key elements of this new research focuses on broadening the understanding, empowering collaboration and advancing innovation. Statistics show that by 2050 we are expected to have about 9 billion mouths to feed. That means 70% more food will be needed and 70% of this will need to come from efficiency-improving technology.

“Food security has far-reaching ramifications for health productivity and quality of life at the individual, community and global levels. Historically, as societies emerge from poverty, they begin to consume animal source foods. Meat, milk and eggs provide a nutrient-rich diet, which is critical for brain and muscle development, and disease prevention, along with weight management. All of these combine to improve health and productivity, ultimately enriching people’s lives.”

Listen to my interview will Bill here: Bill Weldon

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Audio, Chicken Media Summit, Poultry