I Want a Deep Fried Turkey

Chuck Zimmerman

Thought I’d share this entertaining safety message for all of you who will be frying turkeys this week. Watch and see how long it takes for the song to get out of your head.

Families have a new person to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season…William Shatner. In 2011, State Farm® teamed up with Shatner to produce a short video called “Eat, Fry, Love: A Cautionary Tale” that dramatized an actual accident where the celebrity was burned in a turkey fryer mishap on Thanksgiving.

As a result of the video and safety campaign last year, State Farm grease and cooking related fire claims occurring on Thanksgiving Day were carved in half, resulting in the lowest number of Thanksgiving Day cooking fire claims in a decade. It seems that William Shatner really DID help save the world from exploding turkeys.

“I love to fry turkey and have been doing it for years but I am not immune to frying accidents,” says Shatner. “People need to remember that hot oil and turkey can be a dangerous combination.”

To get the safety message out in 2012, State Farm worked with John Boswell, aka melodysheep on YouTube, to auto-tune the Shatner turkey fryer video. Called ” Eat, Fry, Love: A Cautionary Remix ,” Boswell injected the perfect blend of creativity and repetition to create a Thanksgiving safety anthem sure to have families clamoring for a moister, tastier turkey.

Food, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Sun-Maid celebrates its 100th anniversary by giving away over a thousand customer prizes this holiday season.
  • The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City is seeking nominees for 2013 Agricultural Leadership and Excellence Award. Nominations should be submitted by Dec. 10, 2012 to Erica Venancio at erica.venancio@agbizkc.com.
  • Four Case IH products have been selected to receive the prestigious 2013 AE50 awards.
  • Higher commodity prices and solid volume growth in most GROWMARK business units produced record sales for GROWMARK, as officials reported audited financial results for the fiscal year which ended Aug. 31, 2012.
Zimfo Bytes

USDA End-of-Year Surveys on the Way

John Davis

In a year in agriculture with this many ups and downs, good information becomes an even bigger commodity. That’s why the USDA is sending out its end-of-year surveys soon. Cindy caught up with Bob Bass, the Director of National Operations for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) during Trade Talk at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention, and he said the country’s farms and ranches have seen a wide range of conditions this year.

“It’s very important that we get a handle on the final production, and that includes the actual harvested acres and final yield,” as well at what stocks are in storage out there, Bass said. About 73,000 scientifically selected farms and ranches will be surveyed, representing the 2.2 million operations nationwide. “That’s why it is so important that we get an accurate and timely response from everyone of those selected samples.”

Bass added that NASS will be changing when they release some of their reports, with the monthly crop reports moving from 8:30 a.m. EST to Noon EST after the first of the year. “That’s at the request of data users across the country and the world… it’s a global economy now.” Livestock reports will remain at 3 p.m. EST.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Bob here: Interview with Bob Bass, NASS

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, NAFB, USDA

The Advantage of AgVantage FS

Cindy Zimmerman

The first stop on the GROWMARK media tour through Iowa last week was in the little town of Chapin, just south of Mason City, where the main work horse grain facility of AgVantage FS is located.

The facility handles 10-12 million bushels a year – about 40% of the co-op’s total. “We’re an operating division of GROWMARK,” explained Grain Marketing & Operations Manager Kevin Gray, pictured below left with regional grain manager Barney Bartels. “We cover 32 counties, 27 in Iowa and five in southeast Minnesota, stretching from the Mississippi River to Alexander on the west side.”

Kevin says the co-op covers a large geography with 14 grain elevator locations. “Customer service is the number one priority for us,” Kevin said. “We want to keep our customers profitable, we want to make sure they’re competitive, we try to reduce their risk and we want to make doing business with AgVantage grain division as comfortable and easy as possible.”

Listen to my interview with Kevin here: Interview with Kevin Gray

Despite the drought this year, the facility still managed to bring in quite a bit of grain, since the impact of the drought on the region can be summed up in one word – variable. “We’ve seen a range from 30 bushels per acre (corn) to basically 130 bushels per acre,” said Barney. “You go to the south, we’ve seen a range of 100-200 bushels an acre.”

Barney says the original bins at the Chapin facility were put up in 2003, with another 2.2 million bushels of space added in 2006. Grain from the AgVantage FS supplies a number of ethanol plants in the region and much of it is sent southwest for dairy markets.

Listen to my interview with Barney here: Interview with Barney Bartels

For more detail, listen to Kevin’s overview here: AgVantage FS Chapin Grain Facility

GROWMARK Iowa Media Tour Photos

Audio, Cooperatives, Ethanol, Grains, GROWMARK

Cost About Same to Gobble Up Thanksgiving Dinner

John Davis

It will cost you about the same to gobble up your Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner this year as it did last year.

“Our meal for 10 people that includes a 16-pound turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, relish tray, pumpkin pie… the whole nine yards… this year we think is going to cost us $49.48. And that’s only about 28 cents more than we were last year,” explained Bob Young, economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation during an interview at Trade Talk at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention. That translates to less than a 1-percent price increase… not too bad when you consider how some commodity prices spiked due to the drought. In fact, Young pointed out that about the only thing that went up in the Thanksgiving basket was the price of the turkey, increasing just 4 cents a pound. “Given what feed prices did this year, that’s a pretty amazing thing.” Dairy products with the meal actually went down in cost, as farmers in that sector suffered the effects of the drought.

Young went on to point out that overall, the value of the U.S. crop this year increased from this summer’s estimates from about $63-65 billion to today’s $85 billion, because of the high prices when estimates pushed prices for the commodities up and then harvests turned out better than expected. He said while some sectors really took a hit from the drought, such as dairy and hogs, some areas that got good corn crops enjoyed quite a windfall from the higher prices.

Read more about AFBF’s Thanksgiving dinner estimates here.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Bob where he also discusses the impact of the drought this year and concerns about an increase in the estate tax: Interview with Bob Young, AFBF economist

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

AFBF, Audio, Food, NAFB

NPPC Talks Trade Agreement With EU

Jamie Johansen

Trade and pork exports were among the topics addressed by the National Pork Producers Council during Trade Talk at National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention. Nick Giordano, Vice President and International Trade Counsel for NPPC, sat down with me to discuss NPPC’s role in protecting US pork producer’s interests both inside the US and abroad.

“National Pork Producers Council is often at the tip of the spear on trade issues because trade is so important to pork producers. We’ve been working closely with other agricultural groups for example, potential trade talks that might get started with European Union. We want to make sure as a threshold issue that pork and other food in ag products are included within the scope of the discussions.”

A coalition of U.S. food and agricultural organizations, led by the NPPC, sent a signed letter yesterday to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, stating it is important that any FTA with the EU be comprehensive and address impediments to trade in agricultural products.

“Carried out properly,” wrote the coalition to U.S. Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk, “a U.S.-EU FTA would generate economic growth and create many thousands of new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The EU’s past FTAs have excluded agricultural goods it produces, and its regulatory measures often conflict with World Trade Organization rules, including regulations on “genetically modified” crop approval and labels, which restrict U.S. corn, soy and refined corn product exports, and on production methods in poultry, beef and pork.

Listen to my complete interview with Nick here: Nick Giordano - NPPC

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, NAFB, NPPC, Pork, Swine, Trade

EPA Denies Ethanol Waiver Request

Cindy Zimmerman

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied a petition by the governors of poultry producing states that would have waived the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its requirement for ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply.

In its decision to deny the request, EPA said Friday that the RFS itself is not causing economic harm and that suspending the standard would reduce corn prices by only 1%. “We recognize that this year’s drought has created hardship in some sectors of the economy, particularly for livestock producers,” said EPA’s Gina McCarthy in a statement. “But our extensive analysis makes clear that congressional requirements for a waiver have not been met and that waiving the RFS will have little, if any, impact.”

The ethanol industry is obviously pleased with the decision and so are corn farmers. “The National Corn Growers Association supports the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to deny the Renewable Fuel Standard waiver request,” said NCGA President Pam Johnson “We believe Administrator Jackson appropriately recognized petitioners did not properly prove severe nationwide economic harm had occurred thereby creating no justification for a waiver of the RFS.”

“The RFS is working as designed,” said Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen. “The flexibility that is built into the RFS allows the marketplace to ration demand, not the government. Indeed, the ethanol industry has responded to the market by reducing output by approximately 12%.”

Listen to or download interview with Bob Dinneen. RFA reacts to RFS Waiver Denial

Livestock and poultry producers, however, are not so happy. A coalition of livestock, poultry and dairy organizations issued a statement expressing “extreme disappointment” with the denial.

“We are extremely frustrated and discouraged that EPA chose to ignore the clear economic argument from tens of thousands of family farmers and livestock and poultry producers that the food-to-fuel policy is causing and will cause severe harm to regions in which those farmers and producers operate,” the coalition said.

In fact, dozens of poultry, pork, beef and dairy operations have filed for bankruptcy, been sold or simply gone out of business over the past several months because of rising feed grain prices.

“How many more jobs and family farms have to be lost before we change this misguided policy and create a level playing field on the free market for the end users of corn?” the coalition asked. “It is now abundantly clear that this law is broken, and we will explore remedies to fix it.”

Audio, Beef, Corn, Dairy, Ethanol, Feed, Livestock, NCGA, Pork, Poultry, RFA

USFRA Press Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance held a press conference to allow questions from reporters about the annual meeting that took place in New York and the Food Dialogues that was conducted yesterday. It was the third Food Dialogues and is available on the Food Dialogues website to watch if you missed it.

I moderated our press conference this morning with Bob Stallman, AFBF, who was re-elected as Chairman of USFRA and newly elected Vice Chairman, Weldon Wynn, CBB. Bob reviewed the activities of the last couple days and Weldon read the announcement of the finalists in the Faces of Farming and Ranching program.

If you missed the press conference I have it available for you to listen to or download: USFRA Press Conference

All media and well, just anyone, is free to use my photos and share: 2012 USFRA Annual Mtg. & Food Dialogues Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Food, USFRA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta and BASF announced the signing of a global, non-exclusive agreement in which BASF will license its Clearfield Plus herbicide tolerance technology for sunflowers to Syngenta.
  • The Global Harvest Initiative welcomed ACDI/VOCA to its growing collaboration of companies and organizations dedicated to sustainably meeting the future agricultural demand of a growing global population.
  • Monsanto Company ranked ¬¬14 on the Top 25 World’s Best Multinational Workplaces list by the Great Place to Work Institute.
  • NAMA webinar Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. (Central Time): Knowing – and Growing – Your Base of Business.
Zimfo Bytes

GROWMARK Media Tour in Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

Just returned from a great media tour of GROWMARK and FS Cooperative facilities in Iowa. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the last stop due to flight scheduling, but I did get to attend the majority of the tour and it was fantastic! Congrats to Karen Jones, GROWMARK Publications and News Specialist, for putting together a very interesting and organized event.

Our stops in Iowa included the AgVantage FS grain facility in Chapin, the GROWMARK Ft. Dodge Fuel Terminal (where this photo was taken), and the brand new – soon to be opened – fertilizer facility in Stuart. The stop I missed was New Century FS in Vinton.

I got lots of great interviews to share in the coming days and weeks, as well as some I will be getting from my colleagues on the trip, but you can enjoy the photos now by clicking on the photo album link below. Thanks again to GROWMARK for allowing us this opportunity – it was a blast!

GROWMARK Iowa Media Tour Photos

Cooperatives, GROWMARK, Media