Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta announced that, during the 2012 calendar year, ROGERS, Synergene Seed & Technology and Pybas Vegetable Seed Company brand varieties are being transitioned to the Syngenta brand.
  • The North American Equipment Dealers Association released its 2012 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey and Kubota Tractor Corporation tops the charts across several key categories.
  • CP Bio Energy announced two new national programs for the management of discarded seed of all varieties, including treated seed, regulated seed, and any other seed types that create disposal challenges.
  • CAST presented prominent farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson, host of the “This Week In Agribusiness” TV show, its President’s award.
    Uncategorized

    GROWMARK Hosts French Cooperative

    Cindy Zimmerman

    In the spirit of cooperation between cooperatives, Illinois-based GROWMARK hosted leaders from the French cooperative Terrena last week as part of a 12-day tour of United States agriculture.

    “We were approached by the tour leader about coordinating an exchange of ideas between the Terrena leadership and GROWMARK’s leadership,” said Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK director, Government Affairs. “Because our agricultural products compete in a global marketplace, we saw great value in having a discussion with our counterparts at Terrena to learn more about agricultural market conditions and ag supply and product infrastructure in the European Union, which will ultimately benefit our members.”

    The visitors from Terrena toured the Stone Ridge Dairy near Mansfield and One Earth Energy in Gibson City. Following the tours, a luncheon was served on a nearby farm and GROWMARK senior management and board members talked about cooperative structure and governance. Dr. Aslihan Spaulding of Illinois State University also shared her research on food trends with the group.

    “One of the questions we were asked was our view of cooperatives here in the United States, and we certainly see a strong need and role for cooperative businesses, especially in agriculture,” said Rick Nelson, GROWMARK vice chairman of the board. “Terrena has the same view, and we definitely had a connection with them in recognizing the services cooperatives provide to farmers.”

    Terrena serves more than 22,000 farmers in France. Its business units include grains, livestock, viticulture, and horticulture. It also supplies meat, dairy, and wine products to market under several private brands.

    Thanks to GROWMARK’s Karen Jones for providing us with the story and photos!

    GROWMARK

    Iowa Great Grower Pleased with Progress

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Another of our 2012 BASF Great Growers is Steve Miller of West Union, Iowa in the northeast part of the state. He farms with his dad Henry and is pictured here with his adorable son Cam – the picture of a true family farm!

    I was actually supposed to interview Steve and his dad back in the freezing December of 2009 for BASF Headline Harvest reports, which was certainly not the best harvest year to do interviews! It just so happened that the frigid day we were scheduled was the same day that little Cam decided to enter the world, so dad and granddad both were a little tired and preoccupied. We did interview Henry but Steve had other matters on his mind that took priority.

    This year, little Cam is big enough to start learning about farming and the season so far has been fabulous. As of last week, Steve says they were already half done with beans and the corn was coming up. “We got the corn sprayed so we’re sitting pretty good,” Steve said.

    According to USDA    , nearly all of the corn in Iowa is planted already and over 80% is emerged and most of it in good to excellent condition. Steve probably has the rest of his beans planted by now since 85% was planted in the state as of Sunday with over a quarter of the crop emerged.

    Last year, the wind blew all their corn down, “so we definitely took a look at height on corn and root structure and doing more of the smart stacks,” he said. They are sticking to their normal 50/50 rotation and were happy to be able to get lots of preparation for planting done last fall.

    Steve said they did change their herbicide program for corn this year. “We went to a pre-emerge herbicide. Last year, we went post-emerge and we got caught when it started raining and rained for about two weeks,” he explained. “So we’re doing things differently to make sure we get the chemical where it needs to be at the right time.” They scout both corn and soybeans to determine the best time to apply Headline.

    BASF wants to know – what types of crop protection products are you using this year on soybeans? Answer the Production Poll here.

    Listen to or download my interview with Steve here and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up. BASF Great Grower Steve Miller

    Audio, BASF, Corn, Crop Protection, Farming, Soybean

    Farm Families Return to DC This Summer

    Melissa Sandfort

    The nation’s top crop and the farm families who grow it will return to the U.S. capital this summer for the fourth year in a row as part of the Corn Farmers Coalition educational program that debuts June 1, at Union Station, an important venue for reaching policymakers inside “The Beltway.”

    Corn farmers from 14 states and the National Corn Growers Association are supporting the Corn Farmers Coalition program to introduce a foundation of facts seen as essential to decision making, rather than directly influencing legislation and regulation.

    The Corn Farmers Coalition is launching its major advertising campaign by taking over every available ad space at Union Station. The effort will also put prominent facts about family farmers in Capitol Hill publications, radio, frequently used websites, and other Metro locations in June and July.

    The coalition will meet with media, members of Congress, environmental groups and others to talk about farming’s bright future: how U.S. farmers, using the latest technologies, will continue to meet the demands of a growing population and how this productivity can be a bright spot in an otherwise struggling economy.

    Corn, Farming

    Dr. Pearse Lyons Wraps Up Alltech Symposium

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The 2012 Alltech International Symposium has concluded. The “Magic Man” as he was called more than once during the event is Dr. Pearse Lyons. Here he is on stage during the closing session this morning.

    I was able to ask Pearse his thoughts in closing at the end of the session. He says “What a pity it’s over.” He’s ready for another three days! Looking to the future continued growth of Alltech his key word is “speed.” Not speed that compromises quality but speed that grows the company quickly and perhaps even bigger than they currently envision.

    Listen to my closing interview with Dr. Lyons here: Interview with Dr. Pearse Lyons

    2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Alltech, Audio

    Tom and Anya’s Future

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The 2012 Alltech International Symposium was all about the future and everywhere you looked the faces of Tom and Anya looked back at you. These young children represented all children and many of the presentations here focused on what their world will be like as they grow up. So, after seeing Tom and Anya in pictures we were treated to meeting them on stage at the end of the Symposium.

    Here’s Dr. Pearse Lyons with little Tom and Anya. How cute is that? And when you see children like Tom and Anya how can you not help but want to make their future world even better than the one we’ve grown up in?

    2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Alltech

    An Alltech View of China

    Chuck Zimmerman

    His presentation was titled, “The Great Call of China.” Dr. Mark Lyons talked about what he has learned about the culture and opportunity represented by the China market. In fact, he’s learning the language right now and Alltech predicts that the country may represent 25% of their business in the future.

    At the 2010 Symposium we got a glimpse at this market from Joaquin Pelaez is the Senior Vice President for Product Excellence at Yum! Brands, Inc. In this morning’s closing session Mark expanded greatly on some of those ideas from what he has found out from his time in China. For example, he says he conducted a survey in which the word Respect came up over and over. In his presentation you’ll learn from his observations and perhaps these will serve you well if you ever work in the China market. Mark concluded his remarks saying that it’s the perfect place for the aspiring CEO!

    Listen to Dr. Mark Lyons talk about the China market here: Dr. Mark Lyons on China

    2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Alltech, Audio, International

    Agriculture.com® wins two MobileWebAwards

    Melissa Sandfort

    Less than one year after the re-launch of m.Agriculture.com, the site has been awarded two MobileWebAwards from the Web Marketing Association for Best Magazine Mobile Website and Best Magazine Mobile Application.

    The two awards come shortly after the announcement of the industry-first Mobile Commerce Messaging suite of offerings. The new services include a unique [A] Deals feature that provides farmers with direct marketing promotions and discounted offers from advertisers.

    After m.Agriculture.com was launched in 2010, its developers soon began testing new services most appropriate for mobile use. These services included dynamic, multimedia content like video, slideshows, and an “app tray.”

    The mobile site helps farmers keep up with the latest markets, weather, news, technology, and now input buying opportunities.

    Apps, Media

    Monsanto Purchases Precision Planting, Inc.

    Melissa Sandfort

    In line with its vision of delivering yield to farmers sustainably, Monsanto Company announced it reached an agreement to purchase planting technology developer Precision Planting, Inc., a proven leader in improving yields through on-farm planting performance.

    The Precision Planting team will become part of Monsanto’s Integrated Farming Systems unit, which utilizes advanced agronomic practices, seed genetics and innovative on-farm technology to deliver optimal yield to farmers while using fewer resources. Precision Planting has a long history of innovations that optimize planter performance and increase yield potential, including the new FieldView™ technology, which offers an application designed to monitor all critical aspects of planter performance and crop data analysis. That will complement Monsanto’s planned Integrated Farming Systems offering of science-based agronomic seed prescriptions combined with next-generation precision equipment to help farmers boost yields and reduce risk.

    The Precision Planting operations will remain in Tremont and all Precision employees will be offered their continued jobs in Tremont. Monsanto agreed to pay $210 million for the business, plus a performance-based payment of up to $40 million.

    The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close this summer.

    Agribusiness, Precision Agriculture

    Parents Should be Responsible for Child Nutrition

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Who should be responsible for child nutrition?” I am all for good food nutrition for our children. But who is responsible? It seems like the government thinks it should have some control. I’ve heard and read lots of people saying we need more nutrition education. But don’t we have more than enough of that? How long has USDA made good nutrition information available? But we still see the problem of overeating. So, here’s what our poll found. 72% said Parents! I say, amen to that. Of course then you might ask why aren’t parents doing a better job of controlling what their kids eat. 24% said All of the above and 4% said Schools and no one chose specifically Government or Nutritionists. Interesting results.

    Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Which group should restaurants consider experts on animal care?” This past weekend many folks in agriculture participated in an online thank you campaign for Domino’s Pizza. Why? Because the restaurant chain made a decision based on good humane animal practices and did not give in to the demands of the animal activist group HSUS. So, let us know your thoughts on this question. We appreciate it.

    ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

    Food, ZimmPoll