The 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists is about to kick off in Sweden. We’re somewhere to the west of Stockholm at the moment with farm tours coming up later this week. To get my coverage started I spoke with soon to be past IFAJ President Mike Wilson, Farm Futures, during the IFAJ leadership dinner this evening.
Mike has been President of IFAJ for 4 years. Mike says that he has gotten more out of IFAJ than he has put into it and I would echo that statement. IFAJ has become very stable financially and has kicked off a new strategic plan that will provide opportunities for more ag journalist to get involved. Next year we’ll be in Argentina for the annual Congress.
Mike and I talked about the Swedish Congress and what we hope to see an learn. As usual, it’s going to be something new and different and that’s a hallmark of an IFAJ Congress and why I wish all my American ag journalist friends would attend at least one of these meetings.
Listen to my interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Wilson AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
Dealing with a tough subject at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar was Dr. Michael Appley, Kansas State University. He talked about antimicrobials and the control of enteric disease and the future of using them including the issue of resistance. He says producers need to know how and why they use them. But he also says that a lot of the concerns over their use are driven by people and organizations with an agenda that is not based on science. That makes it tough to respond to those concerns. He talks about a specific concern of MRSA which is an overblown concern if you look at the science, especially here in the United States.
What’s new at TopCon Precision Agriculture is their System 350 which features their X30 console. TopCon was one of the exhibitors at the Ag Media Summit. The console features:
To learn more about it I spoke with Javier Hernandez. He says the system provides variable rate control, auto-steer and more. He wants people to know that TopCon is pioneer in the use of ISO control with plug and play options.
You can listen to my interview with Javier here: Interview with Javier Hernandez
2012 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2012 Ag Media Summit is sponsored by FMC
There’s been a lot of talk about waiving the Renewable Fuels Standard for ethanol, especially since the USDA’s latest estimate shows the drought knocking down the projected corn crop 13 percent. Our friends from the Farm Foundation will be hosting a web conference, Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 10 a.m. CDT. Three Purdue University economists will take part in the free conference, which you can register for here.
Severe drought has reduced corn production and driven up the price of corn. Faced with significantly higher feed costs, livestock producers have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a partial waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standards, which mandates blending of ethanol in gasoline. Purdue University economists Wally Tyner, Farzad Taheripour and Christopher Hurt have completed an analysis of a potential waiver and what it could mean for the ethanol industry and the price of corn. Their findings will be presented at Thursday’s web conference. Read More
Working as a herd health and production veterinarian for Standard Nutrition Services is Keith Kinsley, one of the presenters at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar. Keith’s topic was “A Review of Nursery Scouring.”
I asked Keith what he wanted the attendees to take away from his talk and he says that it’s not always scours that is the problem but other issues and “we’ve got to be good at measuring all aspects of what’s going on in these barns so we know if we’re dealing with an enteric disease and how we can correct it.” He says it’s a good time for hog producers to review their protocols they’ve got in place.”
Interview with Keith Kinsley
Doug Jost is a Technology Development Representative for Monsanto and was visiting with us at the Ag Media Summit. Doug says what they do for the company is “test our new technologies usually in an experimental form and not commercialized yet . . . from cotton varieties to roundup formulations to drought tolerant cotton, things like that.”
When it comes to cotton he says they’re in phase two development of some drought tolerant varieties but that it’s still several years away from commercialization. In the meantime they’re looking at their existing varieties and seeing how they perform under different amounts of water.
You can listen to my interview with Doug here: Interview with Doug Jost
2012 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2012 Ag Media Summit is sponsored by FMC
One of the YouTube Farming Rock Stars attended the Ag Media Summit. He’s Greg Peterson, one of the Peterson Brothers who made the hit, Farming and I Grow It.
Greg really does sing and showed his talent at AMS. Here’s Greg on stage singing the National Anthem during one of our lunches. Great voice and a great job.
I sat down with him to talk about the making of the hit YouTube video. Greg says that he and his brothers edited the video and help from their sister to shoot the video. It took a whole summer since there is a lot of work today between school and the farm. The video has been viewed over 6.6 million times as of this post.
If you haven’t seen the outtakes you need to watch them too: Outtakes 1 – Outtakes 2 Need the lyrics? Here they are.
Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Greg Peterson Farms & He Grows It
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.
2012 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2012 Ag Media Summit is sponsored by FMC
“Trade Policy for a Dynamic Pork Industry” was the topic for one of the first presentations at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar. Our presenter was Laurie Hueneke, National Pork Producers Council.
During her presentation Laurie provided an overview of what the trade situation is for the industry in various regions and countries around the world. I spoke with her afterward. She says the growth opportunities for the industry include the ability to continue to export and access markets by reducing barriers. This includes China which has a lot of potential. Japan and Mexico continue to be good markets for us.
You can listen to my interview with Laurie here: Interview with Laurie Hueneke
I finally got all my photos uploaded. Please feel free to view and share: 2012 BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album
It’s time for Sweden and the 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in and around the Stockholm area. I’m leaving in the morning and should have some of my first coverage starting on late Tuesday.
I’d like to extend a special thank you to Dupont Pioneer for once again sponsoring my coverage of this annual event. Dupont Pioneer has supported my coverage and IFAJ since my first Congress years ago.
