Ag Leader Holds Annual Dealer Meeting

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly This week, Ag Leader dealers gathered for the annual meeting themed “Together we are Ag Leader”. And because dealers are the critical link between Ag Leader and the bulk of their market, Ag Leader will continually be putting more emphasis on trying to help their business be more successful.

In his opening remarks, Ag Leader founder Al Myers said:

“Ag Leader continues to grow steadily through the expansion of our product lines. Ag Leader’s sales this year are at a record level, giving us the ability to invest in product developments that will keep us on a strong growth path. We also continue to grow through the expansion of our geographic scope. In the last couple of years, we have established offices in Europe and South America, and have direct sales staff in Australia. This international expansion is necessary to allow Ag Leader to maintain its worldwide market share.

The acquisition of Soil Max and Gradient has made us the leading supplier of equipment and controls for tiling. The integration of the Intellislope functionality into the Ag Leader Integra is a further step to keep us in the lead in Precision Ag. And, we plan to expand the functionality of Intellslope to other water management functions, to become a true competitor to companies already established in the water management field. GeoSteer is going to be a great product for Ag Leader. Planter downforce control is another major expansion of our product line.

Together, we are the best in the business, and we need to use that to our advantage to continue to grow. This year, Ag Leader celebrated its 20th anniversary. Let’s make the next 20 years even better for all of us who – Together we are Ag Leader.”

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

BASF Support of Aerial Application Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

The BASF team was looking good this week at the National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention. Here they are just as the trade show started.

During the show I visited with a couple of the representatives on hand starting with our good friend Dr. Gary Fellows, Technical Marketing Manager. Gary presented the NAAA/BASF Scholarship awards and was available to talk about the products that BASF has that are well suited for aerial application. This includes their Headline fungicide of course. We also talked about what type of research BASF is doing for aerial application and BASF’s support of the NAAA Operation S.A.F.E. fly-ins.

You can listen to my interview with Gary here: Interview with Dr. Gary Fellows

Up next is Daryl Theis, Product Manager. We talked about BASF’s commitment to the aerial application industry that includes scholarships, product r&d and innovative products and relationships with companies like AgSync. More on that in an upcoming post.

You can listen to my interview with Daryl here: Interview with Daryl Theis

2012 NAAA Convention Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, NAAA

Enlist E3 Soybean Brand Announced at ASTA

Cindy Zimmerman

Developing new technologies to deal with herbicide resistant weeds is a major directive for agricultural crop protection companies, and a big announcement in that arena was made this week at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS 2012 and Seed Expo by one of the event’s major strategic partners, Dow AgroSciences.

In collaboration with M.S. Technologies, Dow unveiled Enlist E3™ soybeans as the brand name for the industry’s first-ever, three-gene herbicide tolerant soybean to provide tolerance to 2,4-D product, glyphosate, and glufosinate. The technology was submitted for regulatory approval in August 2011 and is anticipated to be launched in 2015 pending U.S. and import country approvals.

“Enlist E3 soybeans will set the new standard for weed control and yield performance in soybeans,” said Lauren August, M.S. Technologies. “This first-ever three-gene stack event has been packaged in high-yielding elite germplasm from M.S. Technologies which, when combined, will allow growers to maximize per acre profits.”

I talked with Damon Palmer, Enlist weed control system commercial lead for Dow, at the ASTA Seed Expo. “It’s going to be really important that we maximize the tools that farmers have to control weeds and so those three herbicide tolerances will provide farmers flexibility and tools into the future to manage weeds,” he said. Enlist E3 soybeans will be brought to market in high-yielding varieties, widely available in multiple brands. “The business objective is to broadly license this throughout the industry,” said Damon, noting that they were able to meet with many companies interested in the technology at that ASTA 2012 Expo.

Damon says involvement in ASTA is important to Dow from both a business and policy perspective. “This is a high technology business and so it’s really important that we’re together and we can push forward policies that advance the seed industry,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Damon here: Interview with Damon Palmer
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Seed, Soybean, weed management

Forge Some New Frontiers With NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

While you’re updating your 2013 calendar, please make sure you’ve got the NAMA Agri-Marketing Conference on it. It will be held April 17-19, 2013. Online registration is open now.

Register early and save your pennies!

Once again, NAMA is bringing you the leaders of the pack. The big thinkers who aren’t afraid to shake things up a little.

The 2013 Keynote Speakers will challenge you to:

Embrace change and strike out towards new directions in business … rethink creativity’s role in leadership and performance … and remember why you fell in love with ag in the first place.

You can find more details at www.nama.org (or use your handy NAMA Agri-Marketing Conference App!).

Ag Groups, NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Corporate and individual contributions to the National FFA Foundation in 2012 to support national FFA programs and agricultural education climbed to more than $16.2 million.
  • Submit your nominee for the Agricultural Business Council’s 2013 Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence by Dec. 10, 2012 to Erica Venancio at erica.venancio@agbizkc.com.
  • Swanson Russell announces the addition of Annette Bruch, Daniel Dunbar, Melissa Dohmen, Ashley Hartman, Alyssa Holtgrewe, Rebecca Shepard and Teresa Vettel.
  • The National Agri-Marketing Association announced that the Brighton Agency has become a Sustaining Partner.
Uncategorized

AgriTalk Now Owned by Farm Journal Media

Chuck Zimmerman

Here are two of the AgriTalk dudes working at the NAFB convention last month. John Herath, Producer (left) and show host Mike Adams. They now work for a new company. John has a smart phone held up to his ear. Yeah, he’s an agnerd like me.

Yesterday Farm Journal Media announced that they’ve acquired AgriTalk from Vance Publishing.

AgriTalk is the only nationally syndicated long format radio program fully dedicated to agriculture. The acquisition extends Farm Journal Media’s portfolio into radio farm-broadcasting.

On the air since 1994, AgriTalk is a live, one-hour talk show that airs daily on 70 radio stations across the Midwest. Hosted by Mike Adams, the program gives voice to important current issues impacting agriculture and rural America. Adams is a well-recognized and award-winning broadcaster. With the program since 2001, he is a past president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) and was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year by the organization in 1995.

The company will be integrating AgriTalk into its advertising sales efforts. Management of editorial, distribution and production will be under the company’s broadcast division. AgriTalk’s online presence will be on the company’s AgWeb.com website.

Media

Beef Ambassadors Share Love For Beef @ Global 500

Jamie Johansen

There was no way you could miss the National Beef Ambassadors at Global 500. They were the sharp looking young people in matching bright red shirts. I took the opportunity to talk with them and walked away completely motivated by their enthusiasm for the beef industry.

These newly selected ambassadors come from all over the US and spend the year traveling to tell the story of the American beef producer.

Meet the team:
Emma Jumper, Arkansas
Chandler Mulvaney, Alabama
Jacquelyn Brown, Oregon
Katie Stroud, Califormia
Erin Morrison, Minnesota

The energy this team exuberates for the beef industry shined through as they shared a cheer Chandler created. Check it out below.

Listen to my complete interview with ambassadors here: National Beef Ammbassadors

2012 Global 500 Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Beef, Education, NCBA, Video

CropLife Foundation Previews Study at ASTA Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

CropLife Foundation (CLF) is publishing a comprehensive report next year on “The Role of Precision Seed Protection in Modern Crop Production” and preliminary findings of the report were presented today at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Corn & Sorghum Seed Research Conference 2012 & Seed Expo.

CLF chairman of the board Jay Vroom says the report outlines the benefits of using pesticides for sustainable crop production.

“Precision seed protection, as part of an integrated pest management system and when combined responsibly with other crop protection products, makes it possible for U.S. farmers to grow more resilient crops that can withstand harsh climate conditions and provide consumers more healthy and nutritious food choices,” said Vroom. “CLF looks forward to the publication of this report in the spring and sharing important findings on the benefits of precision seed protection for modern agriculture.”

Read more about it from CLF and listen to my interview with Jay here: Interview with Jay Vroom
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Biotech, Crop Protection, Seed

MediaPlanet and Agriculture in America

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 376Agriculture in America. Who are the farmers? How are they working to feed a growing population? Good questions and ones that a recent publication insert into USA Today showcased some answers to. I hope you’ve seen it. Have you wondered how and why it was produced? Well wonder no more. In this week’s program I visit with Hailey Pierson, Senior Publisher, MediaPlanet, Inc. MediaPlanet is the company that put this publication together. I also spoke with Bob Stallman, Chairman of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, about the project since it featured a letter from him and USFRA worked with MediaPlanet.

Hailey told me “Our work in Agriculture in America was really dedicated to bringing on board a great amount of industry leaders to share the key stories in the agriculture space. And I think what we ended up with is a piece that talks about how important it is to continue to tell agriculture’s stories in new ways with new voices and to be constantly engaged.”

I asked her how her company came up with the idea. She says it was the first time they’ve narrowed a project down so specifically in one industry. Previously they had done some social cause work on investing in women and girls and investing in Africa. Those projects showed them the need to bring attention to agriculture globally. So they did a lot of research and talked with groups like USFRA, AFBF and American Farmland Trust. They found that there was a need to address the average American’s view of agriculture and that it needed to be brought down to the personal level. “And that’s what we decide to focus on achieving in Agriculture in America, establishing a stronger relationship between farmers and ranchers, ag industry leaders and their customers. All of us Americans.”

Hailey says about 600,000 copies of Agriculture in America were distributed as an insert in USA Today in San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. That readership totaled about 1.5 to 1.7 million readers. The publication was also made available online and so far has been downloaded (clicked on) over 8,500 times. Of course there are a lot of other impressions achieved when you take into account the social media channels used too. This week Hailey was a guest on the weekly AgChat Twitter Conversation for example. She says there may very well be a follow up or new project in the future. You can hear her describe what some of her thoughts are on that in the program.

Bob Stallman was very pleased that USFRA had the opportunity to work with MediaPlanet on the project. As he put it, “It’s a great chance to reach out and touch a whole bunch of people in this country that probably don’t know a lot about agriculture and that may have some questions.” It ties right in with the mission of the USFRA.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: MediaPlanet Agriculture in America Publication

By the way. MediaPlanet is currently conducting a Facebook Agriculture in America contest with a prize of $1,000 of Stihl products. They’re looking for you to submit your favorite photo of ag in America.

You can find the contest page on Facebook here. Entry deadline is January 4, 2013.

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.

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio, Media, USFRA, ZimmCast

ASTA Looking Toward the Future

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Seed Trade Association is looking ahead to the future of the seed industry and developing a new long range plan.

“We’ve always had a five year strategic plan which gives us direction for where we want the association to go and it was time to refresh that,” said ASTA immediate past chairman Mike Gumina of DuPont Pioneer. To do that, they got input from membership across the board and identified several key issues to address. “The areas that were identified by the membership were: intellectual property rights protection, having our impact on domestic policy as it influences the seed business, state and local issues that influence the seed business, our international programs and our communication programs,” Mike said.

Under the communications banner, Mike says they are really reaching out to a number of audiences including ag media and grower organizations, as well as general media and government. “Getting the story out on seed, the importance of seed, the value of seed, the value of technology and the value of the productivity it brings to all of humanity is really an important message to get out,” he said.

Also important to the future is people and Mike says DuPont Pioneer has started a program to bring young industry professionals to ASTA events so they can get a broader view of the industry. “It’s an opportunity for them to see the broader picture of what’s going on in the seed industry, to understand how ASTA is engaged in policy setting and helping to eliminate issues that are creating barriers to business success in the industry,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Gumina
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Media, Pioneer, Seed