Learning More About ASTA

Chuck Zimmerman

The President and CEO for the American Seed Trade Association is Andy Lavigne. We sat down for a visit during the organization’s 129th Annual Convention so I could learn more about ASTA.

To start with Andy says that having the convention back in Washington, DC and coupling it with an opportunity to visit with legislators on Capitol Hill has been very well received by members and the suggestion has been made to make this a regular location for the convention in the future. After the Storm the Hill day the Association got down to work with committee meetings to set policies for the coming year. In fact, this meeting is more of a policy setting meeting than a sales and marketing meeting. ASTA holds several other meetings during the year with a sales and marketing focus. After the convention here Andy says a key focus of the staff will be helping members with legislative follow ups from the visits on Capitol Hill. Ideas for that include inviting legislators to member company field days.

Andy would like farmers who are customers of ASTA members “to realize that we are partners” and that seed companies have to continue to innovate and develop varieties. He says that can only happen when seed companies work together in partnership with farmers.

Listen to my interview with Andy here: Interview with Andy Lavigne

I have more interviews to share from the 2012 American Seed Trade Association convention during the coming week.

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio, Seed

Sonny Beck Receives ASTA Lifetime Member Award

Chuck Zimmerman

The American Seed Trade Association bestowed a Lifetime Honorary Member Award on Lawrence “Sonny” Beck, Beck’s Hybrids, during their annual convention. Pictured is Sonny on the left receiving his award from Mike Gumina.

The award is one of the highest awards given out by the Association and is in recognition of untiring service to the Association as well as the seed industry. After receiving his award Sonny made some remarks during last night’s banquet.

Listen to Sonny’s comments here: Sonny Beck Comments

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio, Seed

Mark Seem Receives ASTA DSA

Chuck Zimmerman

A second Distinguished Service Award was presented during the 2012 American Seed Trade Association convention. Receiving the award is Mark Seem, LG Seeds/AgReliant Genetics, LLC (left) from now past ASTA Chairman, Mike Gumina during the closing banquet.

The ASTA Distinguished Service Award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the Association and the seed industry and Mark has done just that. After receiving his award he made a few comments for us. He recognized a few people who were important to him in his career.

Listen to Mark’s comments here: Mark Seem Comments

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio, Seed

ASTA Takes Capitol Steps

Chuck Zimmerman

The American Seed Trade Association closed out their convention gala banquet with entertainment from the Capitol Steps. These folks just keep getting better and they were hilarious.

It was pass the gavel time to a new Chairman for the association and also a time to recognize a number of people. Now past Chair, Mike Gumina, Pioneer Hi-Bred, welcomed new ASTA Chair Blake Curtis, Curtis & Curtis, Inc. Receiving a Lifetime Honorary Member Award was Sonny Beck, Beck’s Hybrids. Mark Seem, LG Seeds/AgReliant Genetics, LLC received a Distinguished Service Award.

I’ve got photos from the event uploading as I write and will have numerous more posts for you as time/travel allow in coming days.

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA

Future Giant of the Seed Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

She’s a Future Giant of the Seed Industry. She’s Cassie Misch, JGL, Inc. pictured on the right with Paige Collette, Seed World. Cassie is the recipient of the Future Giant of the Seed Industy award which is a joint effort of Seed World magazine and the American Seed Trade Association’s Future Seed Executives (FuSE) Committee.

The Future Giants of the Seed Industry award annually recognizes an individual who is in the graduation year of his/her post-secondary program who plans to enter the seed industry, or is currently employed in the seed industry and is seen as a rising leader. The award is given to an individual who shows the potential to make a significant contribution to the industry.

Cassie is a December, 2007 Purdue University graduate who serves as a licensing executive and brokerage manager for JGL, Inc. Misch is responsible to sell, service and license seed companies with JGL soybean and wheat genetics. She says she is very honored to receive the award and appreciates the support the sponsors provide to young professionals entering the industry.

Listen to my interview with Cassie here: Interview with Cassie Misch

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio

Seed Industry Government Relations

Chuck Zimmerman

Elected officials who want to understand the seed industry need to contact Leslie Cahill, American Seed Trade Association vice president of government affairs. Leslie is in this photo of ASTA members meeting with Congressman Collin Peterson earlier this week. Leslie put together a great Storm the Hill program for members during a busy week that included a Senate passed Farm Bill. Talk about timing! It is the first time the organization has held its convention in Washington, DC since the early 1990’s.

To prepare ASTA members for their day on the Hill Leslie says they held an orientation session so they would know “what to expect, where to go, how to say it, when to say it and who to say it to.” The orientation walked through the issues important to the seed industry so members would be prepared to discuss them during private meetings with their local officials.

Since the Senate passed their version of a new farm bill I asked Leslie what ASTA thinks of it and what the organization needs in a farm bill. She says that all of the different titles in the farm bill affect the seed industry in some way. The organization had been concerned about some proposed language that would have required additional labeling for genetically enhanced foods. Fortunately that amendment did not pass. So sometimes its not what’s in the farm bill that is important but what gets left out. An important item that is included is what’s called the USDA’s Cooperator Program which is officially the Foreign Market Development Program. It’s a “lifeline” for ASTA members since the funding from that program assist companies with a variety of issues to more successfully market their products outside the United States.

Listen to my interview with Leslie here: Interview with Leslie Cahill

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio

ASTA Looks at State/Federal Political Issues

Chuck Zimmerman

The American Seed Trade Association holds a number of general sessions during its annual convention in addition to committee meetings. One of these sessions focused on the issues driving politics in the state and federal arenas. Participating were (l-r) Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey who is currently President of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Edward Avalos and Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, OFW Law Principal and former Representative from South Dakota who served on the House Ag Committee.

To get a glimpse into the discussion that was held after each of the panelists spoke I have posted a segment of their opening remarks for you here:

Listen to Secretary Northey’s comments here: Secretary Northey Comments

Listen to Under Secretary Avalos’s comments here: Under Secretary Avalos Comments

Listen to Stephanie’s comments here: Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin Comments

2012 ASTA Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, ASTA, Audio

BASF Father and Son Great Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Great Grower Kip Tom of Indiana and his son Kyle were at the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit, so I had the opportunity to get an update on their crops and find out more about them.

“We’re dry, there’s no question about it,” Kip told me. That was two weeks ago and they are still dry. In fact, at least 80 percent of Indiana is considered to be in a moderate drought right now. Kip says they had less than an inch of rain in both April and May.

Kip says they are very strategic in the placement of their varieties by soil type and population. “So we hope we’ve done the best job of positioning across all our fields to produce in optimal conditions, but when we get into a drought or stress condition still can produce a good crop,” he said.

The condition of the crop at Kip’s farm in north central Indiana and around the state has dropped in recent weeks from the dry conditions. “Things can deteriorate pretty fast because we have no subsoil moisture,” he said. This past week, the corn condition in Indiana was rated over 70 percent fair to good, but 24% was rated poor to very poor.

At the BASF event, Kip and his son Kyle participated in a panel that looked at the future of farming and feeding the world. Kyle believes the farmer of the future is going to be more of a businessman with a strong background in math and science. “We use math and science every day – in formulations of chemicals, on spreadsheets, doing accounting – we use those two more than anything else,” he said.

Kyle is a young farmer who has seen a great deal of changes in agriculture just in his lifetime on the farm. “I graduated high school in 1996 and went on to a four year college and when I came back we had just started talking about this GPS, this auto steer,” he said. “With the innovations that we have now, it’s really surpassed my expectations. Looking into the future, we’re looking at things we haven’t even talked about yet.”

Kip and Kyle both are active advocates for agriculture, getting out and talking to community groups and schools about farming, and talking to other farmers about how they can improve their own operations to make them more sustainable and profitable. “Part of the key of sustainability is getting the message out,” said Kip.

Listen to or download my interviews with Kip and Kyle by clicking on the links below:

Kip Tom interview Kyle Tom interview
Audio, BASF, Farming

Swanson Russell Welcomes Jennifer Remsberg

Melissa Sandfort

Swanson Russell announces the addition of Jennifer Remsberg as an account supervisor in the Omaha office. Remsberg’s agribusiness background positions her for supervising current agriculture client account teams and assisting with the agency’s new business development.

Throughout her career, Remsberg has provided strategic leadership for clients in the cattle, equine, swine and insecticide industries. Prior to joining Swanson Russell, Remsberg served as senior brand manager for Sullivan Higdon & Sink in Kansas City, Mo. While there she worked with Merial Animal Health launching Zactran (gamithromycin), for bovine respiratory disease and managing Eprinex, Ivomec, Equioxx and other parasiticides, antibiotics, NSAIDs for the ruminant and equine markets. Remsberg also held account director positions with Bernstein-Rein and VML, Inc. in Kansas City.

A Wichita, Kan., native, Remsberg holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Kansas-Lawrence. She is a member of American Advertising Federation of Kansas City and the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Previously, she served as secretary of the NAMA MoKan Chapter.

Advertising, Agencies, Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

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  • Charleston|Orwig announced six talented college students and recent college graduates have joined their team for the 2012 summer as interns: Angela Boesche, Elyse Brigman, Alisha Denomme, Amelia Eichman, Nellie Hill and Jacob Teel.
  • The Conservation Technology Information Center welcomes the organization’s newest Corporate Member, Pioneer Hi-Bred.
  • Osborn Barr welcomes Colleen Ewell and Andrew Naeger as the newest additions to the company’s expanding roster.
  • Hoosier Ag Today is proud to announce the launch of its first mobile app for the iPhone platform.
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