Zimfo Bytes

Jamie Johansen

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Osborn Barr added two to their account leadership roster. Welcome Aurrice Duke and Chase MacMullan as directors to support their client Monsanto’s commercial business.
  • TheAntiqueTractorShow announced that the U.S. Postal Service has granted a Commemorative Pictorial Postmark in recognition of the Sept. 29th Tractors on the Square event in West Plains, Missouri.
  • Animal Welfare Approved is offering $5,000 Good Husbandry Grants for farmers to make welfare improvements. Grants can go towards mobile housing, breeding stock, on-farm processing equipment and are available for slaughter plants working or seeking to work with Animal Welfare Approved.
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    RFS Waiver Might Lower Corn Prices… Eventually

    John Davis

    A new report from researchers at Purdue University shows that a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) could lower corn prices… but it could be a while until livestock producers and consumers at the grocery stores see those prices go down. Purdue’s Wally Tyner, Farzad Taheripour and Christopher Hurt presented their report, entitled Potential Impacts of a Partial Waiver of the Ethanol Blending Rules, this morning during a Farm Foundation webinar, claiming that if the EPA grants the waiver, demand for corn would drop, and thus so would the prices, anywhere from 47 cents to $1.34 per bushel, depending on what level the drought impacts the final harvest, how big the waiver is, and how many unused Renewable Fuel Identification Numbers (RINs) are cashed in.

    Tyner explained that technical and financial incentives could determine the impact of the waiver. “If refiners and blenders cannot change for technical reasons what they’re doing now, then a waiver has very little impact. But if they do have flexibility, then there is potential for a waiver having an impact,” Tyner said. Hurt added that there could be some unintended consequences, including what he calls demand destruction. “If we return to normal production in the next 12 months, then we have a fairly large supply, we have the possibility of looking at a 15 billion bushel corn crop with a utilization base of 11 billion bushels,” pointing out that we could see prices swing back to extremely low prices as quickly as they rose to these current high prices.

    Paragon Economics’ Steve Meyer and the University of Minnesota’s Vernon Eidman were also listening in on the call and offering their perspectives. Meyer said the projected reduction in corn prices could translate into $2.60-3.50 per head on hogs. “We’re not talking about peanuts here.” But Eidman was quick to point out any RFS waiver would not impact corn use for ethanol this year. “It will take more time than that to get the rollback to occur,” Eidman said.

    All on the webinar agreed that the EPA should not rush to issue any judgment until more complete information is known about the corn harvest, most likely in the next couple of months. “It’s important to get this right,” concluded Eidman.

    It’s a really good conversation, and you can hear the entirety of it here: Farm Foundation-Purdue Webinar on Drought and RFS Waiver You can see the associated slide show here.

    Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

    Respecting the Rotation with Bayer CropScience

    Cindy Zimmerman

    At least 250 farmers, crop consultants, and retailers turned out Wednesday in Collinsville, Illinois for a plot tour of mostly lots of really tall and nasty weeds that don’t die easily.

    The Bayer CropScience “Respect the Rotation” field day offered a glimpse of what could happen in the Midwest if resistant weeds like pigweed palmer ameranth gain a foothold. District manager Eric Peters says Respect the Rotation is Bayer’s initiative to raise awareness about weed resistance issues. “We look at ourselves as providing solutions to growers and helping our growers feed the world,” he said. “If the weeds are overtaking the fields and you get reduced yields, or in some cases no yields, that’s not a good situation.”

    A couple of the stops on the tour featured experts from Arkansas, where a slow response to dealing with resistance has meant that many farmers can no longer use glyphosate at all.

    Listen to my interview with Eric where he talks about the field day: Eric Peters interview

    The new Vice President of Marketing for Bayer CropScience US was on hand to welcome guests at the event. Dave Hollinrake just joined the company three months ago and has enjoyed getting out to these field days and talk with farmers about ways they can protect their crops and preserve the crop protection tools they have at their disposal for the future. “The message is about preservation and long term use of that technology,” he said. “We want to encourage multiple modes of action, a transition of crops year to year, and using different traits.”

    Bayer’s Liberty Link technology with Liberty herbicide has been very successful in dealing with glyphosate resistant weeds, and Hollinrake says they are happy about that, but they believe the way to keep that effectiveness is through the rotation concept.

    Listen to my interview with Dave where he talks about the field day: Dave Hollinrake interview

    See pictures from the field day in Collinsville in the Bayer CropScience Respect the Rotation photo album.

    Audio, Bayer, Crop Protection

    IFAJ Awards

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Awards have been presented at the 2012 IFAJ Congress. Here’s the first place winner of the IFAJ-Yara Award for Sustainable Agriculture Reporting, Kerry Staight, Australia.

    Other awards were presented during our dinner last night that included the Star Prize for Broadcast Journalism, First Place – Online Video -Eric Poulsen, Denmark; Television – Kerry Staight, Australia; Radio – Damien O’Reilly, Ireland. You can find photos of them all in my photo album.

    2012 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
    IFAJ, International, Media

    Sweden Minister of Rural Affairs

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Sweden Minister of Rural Affairs is Eskil Erlandsson. He was on our morning program here at the 2012 IFAJ Congress. After the morning session was completed he held a press conference which I recorded and have posted below.

    One of the questions that I thought was interesting pertained to Sweden’s use of biofuels and making use of ethanol by-products to feed animals. There’s something you don’t hear much about in the U.S. media btw. Eskil says they have a very large ethanol plant in Sweden. He says it is a goal not only in Sweden but also in Europe to become more self sufficient from the need to import protein and protein crops. Using the by-products of biofuel production is one way they’re doing it.

    You can listen to and download Eskil’s remarks at the press conference here: Press Conference with Eskil Erlandsson

    2012 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
    Audio, IFAJ, International

    A Dire Future Without Major Societal Changes

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Our opening speaker at the 2012 IFAJ Congress immediately dove into the deep end on the theme of “Solutions for a Green Future.” He is Johan Rockstrom, Executive Director of the Stockholm Resilience Center. As he opened his remarks he pointed to what he calls the most significant news of our age which was announced yesterday. He was referring to a report that shows a record amount of melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

    I visited with Johan on a break here this morning. I asked him to summarize a few of the key points relating to global environmental change that he made. I think you’ll find them rather provocative. He says that we’ve entered the age being called the Anthropocene in which man has evolved to the point of having a major impact on the world ecosystem. He paints a very dire future and points to agriculture as having one of the major impacts by now covering 40 percent of the world’s land mass. But he does think that we can learn from the past and make changes in the future and that agriculture can be a key part of the solution. He also says that it’s not just a growing population but a growing segment of the population in the middle class that is used to consuming too much, as in more food than they need. So affluence is a problem.

    Listen to my interview with Johan to hear more about his thinking on these issues and what he thinks the solutions are. Love to know your thoughts on it. Please feel free to post them in comments here.

    Listen to my interview with Johan here: Interview with Johan Rockstrom

    2012 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
    Audio, Farming, IFAJ, International

    2012 IFAJ Congress Underway

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress is officially underway. Here’s our happy group during the opening reception.

    The program kicks off with a variety of speakers addressing the theme of “Solutions for a Green Future.” Then we’ll have the annual IFAJ business meeting followed by a visit to Hamra Farm, headquarters for De Laval.

    2012 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
    IFAJ, Media

    Corn Growers Call for Careful Analysis Over RFS

    John Davis

    At least two governors, Bev Perdue of North Carolina and Mike Beebe of Arkansas, have petitioned the EPA to waive the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) for ethanol in light of the drought gripping much of the corn-producing region of the country. The National Corn Growers Association… which has alliances with the livestock producers who want to see lower feed prices and are pushing for the waiver and the ethanol industry which says the waiver is unnecessary… is asking all parties to carefully examine the facts of the case. NCGA President Garry Niemeyer acknowledges that all sides in this debate are suffering, but encourages a careful analysis before any decision is reached:

    “There currently is a lot of public discussion about the role and impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Unfortunately most of this discussion is unencumbered by facts and reality. The facts clearly show that the RFS has been of significant net value to the entire U.S. economy.

    “While we believe that it is still somewhat premature to consider a temporary, partial waiver to the RFS (as there will be much more accurate information available with September’s and October’s USDA crop reports), we do respect the right of those with standing to exercise the language contained in the RFS. The waiver process language in the RFS calls for careful objective analysis of the economic impact of the RFS on the U.S. economy. We have faith in, and support, the process laid out in this language. Read More

    Corn, Ethanol, RFA

    Romney Announces Farmers and Ranchers Coalition

    John Davis

    Presumptive Republican nominee for President Mitt Romney today announced a coalition of agricultural leaders for his campaign. The Farmers and Ranchers for Romney coalition is chaired nationally by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Ambassador Tom Nassif, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE), and former USDA Acting/Deputy Secretary Charles Conner.

    “I’m honored to have so many farmers and ranchers standing with my campaign,” said Mitt Romney. “They are the backbone of America and play a critical role in ensuring Americans across the country have access to safe and affordable food. The fruit of their labor nourishes the world, and I admire their hard work in harvesting our country’s bountiful resources. Our farmers and ranchers also have a critical role in the health of our economy, employing millions of Americans. I’m grateful to have their support in my efforts to turn around the economy and strengthen the middle class.”

    Commissioner Adam Putnam said, “As Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner, I’m proud to be supporting Governor Romney’s campaign to get this country moving in the right direction again. While agriculture in America has its own set of unique challenges, farmers are looking for a leader in the White House who knows how the private sector works.” Read More

    politics

    IFAJ Congress Arrival Day

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It is arrival day for attendees of the 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Sweden. Kelly Schwalbe, BCS Communications and myself took the morning to try a little golf. It is a beautiful day and no matter what our score was, it was an awesome round of golf at the Troxhammar Golf Cub. We played with flashes of brilliance and then a lot of that other kind of play.

    So, people are arriving and this afternoon we have registration and our first professional development sessions. I’ve already got a photo album started and will be filling it over the coming days as we learn about Swedish agriculture together.

    2012 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2012 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer
    IFAJ, Media