FFA Growing Young Agvocates

Chuck Zimmerman

Young agvocates will get some social media training at the 2012 FFA Convention. I’ll be some of them could teach the teachers! What do you think?

FFA members will learn how to apply their technology skills to advocate for agriculture by hosting at social media training during the 85th National FFA Convention and Expo on Monday, Oct. 22.

Two two-hour sessions will teach participants how social media play a role in leadership on a global, national, state and local level. Students will learn more about the need for advocates in agriculture and how they can authentically tell their story using social media.

“Last year’s inaugural social media training resulted in FFA leaders engaging in relevant, meaningful conversations about agriculture and food,” said Shane Jacques, education specialist with the National FFA Organization. “This year’s sessions will focus on developing new leaders who are confident to communicate on behalf of the industry they love.” Read More

Ag Groups, FFA, Social Networking

Elanco President Shares Significance of an Egg

Cindy Zimmerman

At the closing day for the World Food Prize symposium Friday, Elanco President Jeff Simmons shared his thoughts on the significance of a single egg.

“What’s in an egg?” Simmons asked during comments before a panel discussion on the importance of food productivity to meet tomorrow’s demand. “It’s the calories, the nutrients, the nutrition to totally change a kid. One a day – that’s all we need.”

Jeff talked about how the production of eggs is not at a level that can address the demands of a growing population and in fact is actually declining. “There are less eggs per person than there were a year ago – we are going backwards in eggs,” Jeff explained, noting that there are currently 6.5 billion hens in the world producing about 174 eggs and the current trend is losing an egg per hen per day. He adds that the reasons for the negative trend can be attributed to disease, lack of innovation, and misguided animal welfare policies.

Giving closing comments at the end of the panel, Jeff encouraged those who attended to take home this message. “Don’t leave the World Food Prize 2012 without getting out of your bubble,” he said.

Listen to Jeff’s opening and closing comments here: Elanco's Jeff Simmons World Food Prize address

Jeff is a very well paid corporate executive, but he is so passionate about this topic he is not just talking about it, he is living it and “getting out of his bubble.” He and his family, which includes six children between the ages of 7 and 16, are doing a month long “hunger challenge.” This first week, the family ate nothing but rice and beans all week. Next week, they will live on a “food stamp diet” of $4.16 per person – for the whole week. “The hunger inside of you is the solution to the hunger outside in the world,” Jeff said.

You can follow the egg story and Jeff’s hunger challenge in his own family by following him on Twitter – @JeffSimmons2050. He says 2050 is a key time. “We’re going to have this food security – safe, abundant, affordable food – solved by then,” Jeff said. “We have to, we will and American agriculture will lead the way.”

Elanco’s blog about feeding a hungry planet, PlentyToThinkAbout.org, is also now on Twitter – @plntytothinkabt.

Listen to my interview with Jeff here: Jeff Simmons interview

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, Elanco, Food, Poultry, World Food Prize

Mission: Possible with O.H. Kruse

Chuck Zimmerman

Let’s meet O.H. Kruse Grain & Milling. I have chosen to accept the mission. That is Mission: Possible. It’s the first ever company Dealer Appreciation Day. I’ll be there providing coverage next Tuesday, October 23.

You can get a preview of what will be taking place via my interview this morning with Clark Springfield, Division Manager, Western Feed Supplements, Western Milling. He says the feed industry is operating under unprecedented conditions. Commodities are at all-time record high prices, feed prices are at historical highs and customers are more price sensitive than ever before.

The goal for the Mission:Possible event is for attendees to become relevant to their customers and to grow their business under these adverse conditions. So there will be lots of educational seminars as well as feed mill tours and some fun and fellowship. It’s going to be an action packed day!

The keynote speaker will be Ross Shafer. We met him during this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference. Looking forward to visiting with him again.

Listen to my interview with Clark here: Interview with Clark Springfield

Here are some ways you can stay connected with O.H. Kruse:

O.H. Kruse App: iOS Android
Text KRUSE to 68398
Facebook
Event Page

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Feed

UN Secretary-General at World Food Prize

Cindy Zimmerman

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the big ceremony last night at the World Food Prize and stuck around to also speak at breakfast this morning for those not able (or willing) to attend the gala at the state capitol.

During his brief address at breakfast, Ban talked about how making sure everyone in the world has enough to eat is a mission that all should share. “The United Nations cannot do it alone,” he said. “The United States cannot do it alone, let alone the state of Iowa, however much you produce agricultural product.”

Ban stressed the importance energy to food security. “Energy is like the golden thread which weaves and connects all the challenges we have – food, water, health and even gender issues,” he said. “Therefore we are putting highest priority on energy as part of comprehensively addressing food prices.”

Listen to Ban’s comments here: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, Elanco, Energy, Food, International, World Food Prize

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Sixteen farmer-leaders will be sworn in as directors of the United Soybean Board in December, after their recent appointments by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
  • Nominations are open for the Siehl Prize for Excellence in Agriculture 2013 awards.
  • The National Corn Growers Association Nominating Committee is now accepting applications from members for the 2014 Corn Board.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed three producers to serve on the Mushroom Council.
Zimfo Bytes

Total Factor Productivity Key Indicator of Growth

Joanna Schroeder

Productivity is back on the policy agenda with rising food prices, heightened concerns about resource scarcity and increase risk from climate change, according to Dr. Keith Fuglie with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During the release of the 2012 GAP Report published by Global Harvest Initiative during the 2012 World Food Prize, Fuglie said it’s being realized more and more that we will need to rely on total productivity growth to meet the rapid demand that is projected for global agriculture. For this to happen, agriculture will need to focus most heavily on raising yield.

The total factor productivity (TFP) concept really looks at the questions of can we get more output without having to intensity outputs (fertilizer, water, etc.)? Can we get more total output from the current bundle of resources (technology, and improved efficiency)? From this bundle of land, labor, capital and energy, can we grow output without raising this total bundle?

Fuglie says this is Important from a policy perspective because TFP is really being driven by a different set of economic and policy instruments. Primarily TFP over the long-run is conditioned by what our investments are in research and extension- getting the right technologies to the right people at the right time.

The GAP Report concludes that the majority of growth came from productivity growth in developing countries, such as Brazil and China who have increased their TFP growth strategy. One significant factor – investments and research have a critical role to play in determining whether productivity is growing.

In terms of the GAP report, the question was asked, what rate of growth productivity do we need to double output by 2050? Can this be done with just a TFP strategy and what policies would need to be in place? At least for this decade we’re on the path to double in 40 years if the current rate is maintained. However, we’ll need to maintain or accelerate research and investment and it needs to be more equitably distributed worldwide.

Listen to Dr. Keith Fuglie’s presentation here: Total Factor Productivity on Policy Agenda

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Elanco, World Food Prize

Remembering 2008 World Food Prize

Cindy Zimmerman

This is the second time I attended the World Food Prize – the first time was in 2008 when former Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern were recognized as Laureates for their bipartisan leadership in the 1970s to reform and expand school food and nutrition programs.

Sen. McGovern’s name has come up several times during this event as the 90-year-old is nearing the end of his life in Sioux Falls, SD with his family at his side. It made me go back and look at my coverage of the 2008 World Food Prize and was surprised to see I took so many photos of this great man at that event.

He and Dole joked around quite a bit during the event. When asked during a press conference if he thought it was a good idea to provide cash instead of commodities for food programs, McGovern said it was a good idea, quipping, “I myself would rather have this $250,000 prize that Bob and I are going to divide than a bag of potatoes, so I’m a little partial to cash.”

You can listen to that press conference here: 2008 World Food Prize Laureates George McGovern and Bob Dole

As I read the news reports that Sen. McGovern was close to death, I was struck by the fact that his life was summed up by the AP as “the Democratic presidential candidate who lost to President Richard Nixon in 1972 in a historic landslide.” I certainly hope he will be remembered instead for the great work he did in helping feed hungry children around the world. It is fitting that his family this week asked well-wishers to send donations to Feeding South Dakota instead of cards or flowers. That request was made on Wednesday and on Thursday WDLT in Sioux Falls reports the agency was swamped with donations.

The agency’s Development Director Kerri DeGraff will remember McGovern not as a failed presidential candidate, but rather as an advocate for the hungry who “worked hard to talk about the issues of hunger, create awareness and let individuals know that it is a solvable issue.”

Our prayers are with the McGovern family and the Senator as they prepare for his passage from this world into one where there is no hunger.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, World Food Prize

USAID Issues Progress Report at WFP

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah released the first progress report and scorecard for Feed the Future at an address to the World Food Prize on Thursday.

The progress report highlights how Feed the Future is already making a difference in people’s lives in the developing world and the scorecard tracks how well we are changing our development and engagement process to more effectively meet our goals. So far Feed the Future has helped 1.8 million food producers to adopt improved technologies or management practices that can lead to more resilient crops, higher yields, and increased incomes. The initiative has also reached nearly 9 million children through nutrition programs, which can prevent and treat undernutrition and improve child survival.

Shah also announced new initiatives to help farmers and communities in developing countries, including two new lending facilities to help smallholder farmer organizations in Africa, and a partnership for educating the next generation of agricultural leaders and World Food Prize laureates.

Listen to Shah’s comments here: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, Elanco, Food, USDA, World Food Prize

General Mills “Hungry to Help” Africa

Cindy Zimmerman

General Mills CEO Kendall Powell says his company and his employees are very simply “hungry to help” people in Africa by increasing their food supply.

“We’re hungry to help the entrepreneur in Tanzania who is trying to package her products and access new markets,” Powell said during an address at the World Food Prize symposium on Thursday. “We’re hungry to help the food scientist in Zambia searching for solutions to retain food flavor and optimize nutrients. And we’re hungry to help the farmer in Malawi who, by selling her crop, will generate the money needed to support her family and pay for her children to go to school.”

Powell said General Mills is uniquely qualified to help Africa in a number of areas, such as food processing, but he believes all food companies will eventually be in Africa. “Africa’s economy grew 5.7% in the last decade and is expected to grow 5.5% this year,” he said. “The African continent is ripe with opportunity.” But, he says they are there today because they can help African processors, farmers and communities now.

Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) is a nonprofit organization that links the technical and business expertise of volunteer employees from General Mills, Cargill and Royal DSM to small and medium-sized mills and food processors in the developing world. Powell announced an expansion of that effort through a renewed public-private partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Listen to Powell’s comments here: General Mills CEO Kendall Powell

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, Elanco, Food, World Food Prize

Global Hunger Index Score Still Serious

Cindy Zimmerman

Less people in the world are going hungry but less is still too many.

The 2012 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) at the World Food Prize symposium on Thursday shows that hunger on a global scale remains “serious” and 20 countries have levels of hunger that are “alarming” or “extremely alarming.”

The good news is that the 2012 world GHI is down 26 percent from the 1990 world GHI, from a score of 19.8 to 14.7.

Presenting the report during a breakfast on Thursday, IFPRI Deputy Director Claudia Ringler said they found that those countries facing high levels of hunger also face scarcity of natural resources, limited access to clean water and sanitation and modern forms of energy, and insecure land rights. “While the picture is somewhat grim in the report, the importance is to focus on the solutions and what we can do to reduce hunger and malnutrition levels, and there’s a lot we can do,” she said.

Listen to my interview with Claudia here: Claudia Ringler, IFPRI

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

AgWired coverage of the World Food Prize is sponsored by Elanco
Audio, Elanco, Food, World Food Prize