Incoming NAAA President on Membership

Chuck Zimmerman

The incoming President of the National Agricultural Aviation Association, Dana Ness, Ag-Air Inc., Chester, MT, talked with me about membership. He’s pretty excited to be taking on the job of President at the first of the year. When it comes to membership in the organization he says “Membership is my voice in Washington.” That’s very important when there are regulatory challenges to the industry as we see right now.

Personally, Dana says that he was raised in the agriculture industry and has always been a member. He says NAAA was the only voice out there and has always been there for him. Besides legislative representation Dana says that NAAA also provides important training via the Professional Aerial Applicators’ Support System (PAASS) program and opportunities for members to make sure their equipment is in top shape via Operation S.A.F.E. Fly-Ins. He sees a bright future for aspiring ag aviators who would like become professionals and highly encourages them to contact the organization and perhaps apply for one of the NAAA/BASF scholarships.

You can listen to my interview with Dana here: Interview with Dana Ness

2012 NAAA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, NAAA

ASTA Update on The Accord at Seed Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

Patents for the very first ag biotech “events,” as they are called, will be expiring and becoming “generic” in 2015. This creates opportunities for growers and the seed industry, but also creates challenges that must be addressed – and that is the purpose of “The Accord”.

American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Vice President for Science and International Affairs Bernice Slutsky presided over an update for seed industry representatives today at the ASTA CSS 2012 & Seed Expo. “The Accord is a framework that we developed to provide a mechanism for that transition from proprietary biotech events to off-patent or generic biotech events,” Bernice explained. “The real driver for us developing the Accord was that even though these events are going off patent, they are still highly regulated worldwide.”

So, the immediate goal was to develop a framework to assure that the necessary regulatory authorizations for the events are maintained, and most importantly, that commodity trade can continue unhindered.

Bernice explains more about how the Accord was developed in cooperation with the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and what it means for farmers in this interview: Interview with Bernice Slutsky

The first part of the Accord, called the Generic Event Marketability and Access Agreement (GEMAA), was opened up for the first signatures on October 31.

John Schoenecker of vegetable seed company H.M. Clause, who is second vice chair for ASTA and part of the negotiating group for the Accord, says they have now gotten the initial signatories in place to put the GEMAA into effect and ASTA is moving forward with providing information to other interested parties. “Feedback has been good, lots of questions of course,” he said about reaction to the Accord from ASTA membership. “Their seed association has worked very hard in their interests to craft an agreement that will give opportunities to the industry and fulfill the industry’s responsibility for stewardship.” He encourages companies, farmers, organizations and other interested parties to find out more about the Accord and how it impacts them. A website has been developed for that purpose – agaccord.org.

Listen to my interview with John here: Interview with John Schoenecker
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Biotech, Farming, Seed

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Biopreparáty, spol. s r.o. and Gowan Company, LLC recently signed a commercial agreement for exclusive distribution of Polyversum.
  • Nominations for NAMA Agribusiness Leader and Agri-Marketeer of the Year are now open. Visit nama.org and click “Awards” to find nomination forms.
  • CME Group announced it has completed its acquisition of the Kansas City Board of Trade.
  • Migl Feed and Grain will join the J. R. Simplot Company’s Grower Solutions network.
Zimfo Bytes

AgWired App Android Update

Chuck Zimmerman

Hey AgWired Android owning fans. The AgWired App has been updated for the latest versions of Android.

I’ve got in on my Motorola Droid Razr and it works just fine. Do you have it yet. Join the thousands of others who can retrieve not only AgWired news at the touch of a button but also news from energy.agwired.com, PrecisionPays.com and WorldDairyDiary.com. You can also follow us on Twitter within the app too.

Here’s where you can get the app now (or update your device). AgWired App Android

Apps

BASF & Becker Underwood Join Forces at Seed Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

It was just last week that BASF finalized the deal that brought Becker Underwood into The Chemical Company’s fold, just in time for them to hold a press briefing at the American Seed Trade Association CSS 2012 and Seed Expo to outline their plans for the future.

Left to right, we heard from Scott Kay, BASF Canada Business Director; Peter Innes, Becker Underwood Chairman and CEO; Paul Rea, BASF VP US Crop Protection; and Jurgen Huff, BASF Senior VP Functional Crop Care. They discussed what the acquisition means for the companies involved, for the future of crop protection, and for farmers and their ability to feed a growing population.

Rea says the intent of the acquisition is to offer farmers more innovation than ever before. “It’s another great example of how BASF is committed to bringing the broadest and most successful range of products that growers need,” he said. “Becker Underwood has a great reputation in the market place and real expertise in seed treatment and biological technologies.”

Kay noted that the acquisition strengthens the BASF portfolio for North American growers. “We want to make it simpler for farmers to farm,” said Kay. “You’ll see that in the formulations that we’ll bring and tools that we’ll offer to help make their life easier.”

Innes explained that Becker Underwood’s main expertise is functional polymers and biologicals. “Over the last 2-3 years we have brought these two fundamental technology platforms together to create a combination of biological-based products with polymer technology to provide all in one solutions,” said Innes, who has accepted a position with BASF as Global Senior Advisor to the Crop Protection division.

The future for Becker Underwood within BASF is in the newly created Functional Crop Care unit, which will integrate the companies’ plant health, seed treatment and biological platforms. “BASF has had a couple of contacts with the biologicals arena, but with the acquisition we are now in a completely different league as far as product portfolio,” said Huff.

The press conference is nearly an hour long and contains several references to slides, but it’s a great backgrounder for this new chapter in the lives of two companies committed to helping increase agricultural productivity. I will be posting individual interviews with each participant but you can get the whole press conference here: BASF-Becker Underwood
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, BASF, Seed

International Seed Federation President on Issues

Cindy Zimmerman

Tim Johnson of Illinois Foundation Seeds is currently serving aS president of the International Seed Federation (ISF).

“The International Seed Federation has 80 countries that are involved,” Tim said. “What we do is promote movement of seed, protection of intellectual property (IP) rights, and support of companies moving seed globally.”

IP was a big focus during a Chinese-American seed symposium that took place prior to the start of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS 2012 and Seed Expo in Chicago this week, and Tim says it’s an important global issue when it comes to seed trade. “It’s really important that there’s good intellectual property right laws in countries so that companies will not only invest in those countries but move their technologies, products, germplasm, into (them),” he said. “So we want to promote that in China and help them understand.”

Tim also talked about the signing of the MOU with China and The Accord in this interview: Interview with Tim Johnson


ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, International, Seed

MOU Importance for China and US Seed Companies

Cindy Zimmerman

American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Chairman Blake Curtis calls the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the US and China seed organizations Monday “monumental.”

“Everything has to start somewhere and this is a great start,” said Blake, with Curtis and Curtis Seed Company of New Mexico. “China is a very aggressive force in our world today and we’re excited about the things they’ll be able to develop using the ideas we bring to the table.”

Listen to interview with Blake here: ASTA Chairman Blake Curtis

Zhang Shihuang with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences says the MOU means new opportunities for his country. “Most of the seed companies in China are very young compared with American seed industry,” he said. “Next year we want to send groups of young scientists to visit American seed companies and we can also send young managers of companies to be trained in America.”

Zhang also notes that seed companies in China are very small so they are very excited about working with the smaller U.S. seed companies, in addition to the powerhouses like Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer. “We want to invite American seed companies to go to China and invest in joint ventures,” he said.

Listen to interview with Zhang here: Zhang Shihuang of China


ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Corn, International, Seed

President of the NAAA Optimistic for Future

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2012 President of the National Agricultural Aviation Association is Mark Hartz. Mark is a 30 year ag pilot from Arkansas. He has a two plane operation with a partner.

Mark is very happy with the convention, attendance and the city of Savannah for being great hosts for the NAAA. When it comes to industry challenges Mark says they are always there but right now they have a major one hanging over their heads in the NPDES permits. In my interview with Mark you’ll hear him express his optimism for the future of ag aviation and offer some encouraging words to future ag aviators.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Hartz

2012 NAAA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, NAAA

Ag Aviators Dealing with Duplicate Regulations

Chuck Zimmerman

Dealing with EPA’s NPDES and state pesticide general permits. Sounds daunting doesn’t it? Well it is for agricultural aviators. It is government regulation that duplicates already existing regulation and is something that the NAAA has been working on in Washington, DC all year and it looks like will have to continue to do so.

To provide NAAA members with an overview and update, Dr. John Thorne, Bergeson & Campbell, PC, spoke on the subject this morning at the NAAA convention. His job was to explain the regulations and help attendees protect themselves to the fullest extent possible. He offered guidance on what ag aviators need to do to stay in compliance and avoid subjecting themselves to enforcement actions. If you’d like to know more about this issue then give his remarks a listen.

You can listen to John’s remarks here: Remarks by Dr. John Thorne

2012 NAAA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Crop Protection, NAAA