U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award winners announced

Melissa Sandfort

In a special March 7 award ceremony in Washington, D.C., the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy announced the winners of the inaugural U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards, a program to recognize dairy farms, dairy companies and collaborative partnerships for efforts that advance the sustainability of the dairy industry.

Winners of the Elanco Award for Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability: Blue Spruce Farm, operated by the Audet family in Bridport, Vt.; Holsum Dairies, LLC, of Hilbert, Wis.; and Werkhoven Dairy, Inc., of Monroe, Wash.

Winner of the U.S. Dairy Export Council Award for Outstanding Dairy Processing & Manufacturing Sustainability: Darigold, Inc., in Seattle

Honorable mention of the U.S. Dairy Export Council Award for Outstanding Dairy Processing & Manufacturing Sustainability: Oakhurst Dairy of Portland, Maine

Winners of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies/Idaho National Laboratory Award for Outstanding Achievement in Energy are: Brubaker Farms of Mount Joy, Pa. and DF-AP, LLC, of Gooding

An independent panel of judges representing the full spectrum of the dairy supply chain — as well as academia, government, media, business and nongovernmental organizations — selected this year’s winners based on the program’s or project’s results as measured by economic, environmental and social responsibility aspects.

Dairy

2012 Classic Officially a Barn Buster

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s official now – the 2012 Commodity Classic was a major record-breaker.

Final attendance at the event surpassed all previous turnout records with a total of 6,014 attendees, up 25 percent increase from last year’s record of 4,826 attendees. Once again, farm families represented over half of the participants, with 3,505 growers, spouses and children attending.

“We broke records in every category,” said Commodity Classic Co-chair Martin Barbre. “However, the most exciting number was beating last year’s record of first-time attendees by 48 percent. It’s very gratifying to see that Commodity Classic’s appeal continues to grow.”

This year’s show also experienced the highest number of exhibitors ever. The 963-booth trade show was sold out with a waiting list ready to take advantage of cancellations. There was also a record number of media attending the event – 156 total, compared to the previous record of 145 last time it was in Nashville in 2008.

Another record I would add for the 2012 Commodity Classic would be the most people at the event ever having to be herded into a basement ballroom for a tornado warning!

Commodity Classic is presented annually by the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Sorghum Producers. Next year, the event will be held February 28 to March 2 in Kissimmee, Fla.

2012 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Coverage of the 2012 Commodity Classic Show is sponsored by BASF and New Holland
Commodity Classic, NCGA

National Ag Day Morning Coffee Break

Chuck Zimmerman

The start to today’s National Ag Day Activities was coffee in the USDA Atrium. We’ll be back here for dinner this evening and to hear from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The Secretary has become a regular on AgWired lately.

This morning our program was moderated by Orion Samuelson and our speaker was Krysta Harden, USDA Chief of Staff. I saw Krysta recently when she received a special award from the National Biodiesel Board. Krysta welcomed us and talked about the work that the USDA does. It was an informational speech which I recorded for you to listen to. She brought us some interesting facts like having 50 USDA employees stationed in Afganistan working with farmers on conservation issues and that they’ve fed 3.9 million people with the SNAP program.

Listen to the remarks made by Krysta this morning here: Comments From Krysta Harden

2012 National Agriculture Day Activities Photo Album

Coverage of the 2012 National AgDay Activities is sponsored by the American Seed Trade Association
Ag Day, Ag Groups, Audio, USDA

Agri-Pulse Holds Successful Reception

Chuck Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse held another successful reception in advance of National Agriculture Day. The reception is held in appreciation not only of farmers but also all who work on behalf of the industry including lawmakers in Washington, DC.

Sara says the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance Food Dialogues event held just prior to the reception was a good fit with what Agri-Pulse is doing and a great lead in to National Agriculture Day. She says they had a far ranging discussion covering a lot of current topics. We heard from Senator Pat Roberts and Senator Debbie Stabenow during the reception and I’ll have comments from them to post later. Sara says Agri-Pulse is growing well and her team is just enjoying what they do.

Listen to my interview with Sara here: Interview with Sara Wyant

USFRA Dialogues and Agri-Pulse Reception Photos

Audio, Media

Time to Slow Down

Melissa Sandfort

I often wonder … how many minutes each day do I actually spend staring straight out my car windshield versus staring at the landscape around me? Then I realize how dangerous that thought is. But if I didn’t spend time taking in the beauty of what’s around me every day, I’d miss skies like this.

Disclaimer: I adjusted the color levels in Photoshop. I couldn’t help myself.

But the design of the sky is beautiful and there aren’t any tall buildings in the way or exhaust clouds clouding my view. Just an undistorted, unblemished beautiful country sky with the fresh country air to go with it.

When my son is in the car, I try not to do so much gawking and concentrate more on driving.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Get Ready for the NASCAR Pioneer Hi-Bred 250

Cindy Zimmerman

Pioneer Hi-Bred has been a major sponsor of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 for many years – now the DuPont business will be title sponsor for the May NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Iowa Speedway.

The Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 will be held Sunday, May 20, at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.

“This is a great event for the state of Iowa,” said Todd Frazier, Pioneer business director for Iowa and Missouri. “The race shines a spotlight on the state and helps showcase how Iowa agriculture is stepping up to the challenge to help meet the food and fuel needs of the world.”

Last year marked the first time Iowa Speedway hosted two NASCAR Nationwide Series events in the same season. The May 2011 Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway was a standing-room-only event, and the race was one of the highest attended events in speedway history with over 37,000 people.

Pioneer has helped sponsor NASCAR Nationwide and IndyCar events at Iowa Speedway for several years. This marks its first event as a title sponsor. In addition, Pioneer will be the pole sponsor of the second NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season at the Iowa Speedway in August.

“Given that a majority of our fan base is tied into and around agriculture, it is a natural fit that Pioneer Hi-Bred has come on as the title sponsor for our first NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season,” said Iowa Speedway vice president of Sales and Marketing Chuck Spicer. “Pioneer’s presence at Iowa Speedway will enhance a race fan’s experience while out here on race weekend. From pre-race week promotions to at-track activation, fans will be the forefront of what we do.”

NASCAR, Pioneer

Our Food System Not Broken

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is our food system broken?” Not according to you with 63% saying no and only 37% saying yes. During the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum held prior to the Commodity Classic, one of our speakers was Gawain Kripke, Oxfam America. He told us “our food system is broken.” I think the statement was made out of frustration that we produce more food than we can eat in this country and a huge amount goes to waste. Since we don’t have a system to get waste food to those who need it they seem to believe the food system is broken. I think it’s a provocative statement and would love your thoughts.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Is maintaining the Renewable Fuels Standard more important to agriculture than the farm bill?” The statement was made during a recent meeting I attended that the Renewable Fuels Standard was more important to agriculture than the Farm Bill. What do you think?

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

ZimmPoll

USFRA Hold Food Dialogues Prior to National Agriculture Day

Chuck Zimmerman

In conjunction with the second annual agricultural appreciation reception held by Agri-Pulse the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance held a special edition of their Food Dialogues titled, “The Future of Food and Farming.” The panel tried to deal with the question, “Is technology in agriculture creating environmental improvements and economic growth or perpetuating public fears?” That seems like a loaded question to me. The panel addressed it as best they could led by moderator Alan Bjerga, Agriculture Policy Reporter, Bloomberg News. I spoke with him after the session was over.

He says the design of the panel was to bring together people involved in agriculture with different ideas about the future of farming. Panelists included Dr. Roger Beachy, Former Director National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA; Bryan Dierlam, Director of Government Affairs, Cargill; Dr. Eileen Langdon, North Carolina family farmer and veterinarian; Patrick O’Toole, Wyoming Colorado Rancher and David White, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service. The discussion was streamed live this afternoon.

The question of sustainability came up and Alan says the panelists came through with their ideas for what the future of farming will be in regards to the issue and also the issue of the sustainability of passing the farm along to a new generation. He thinks the main goal was to continue to bring the discussion to a wide an audience as possible.

Listen to my interview with Alan here: Interview with Alan Bjerga

I’ve got plenty of photos uploaded from this afternoon’s activities and I’ll add to them with photos from tomorrow’s National Agriculture Day activities: 2012 National Agriculture Day Activities Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Food, USFRA

John Deere Announces Final Tier 4/Stage IV Engine

Cindy Zimmerman

During a press conference at the 2012 Commodity Classic, John Deere unveiled its final stage Tier 4 solution, the John Deere Integrated Emissions Control System.

Deere’s Barry Nelson said this is a major announcement that continues John Deere’s 175 years of innovation. “The past few years we have been spending millions and millions of dollars to develop new technology for the engines and the integrated technology we need in the vehicles to make everything work as a very productive package.”

John Deere Manager Worldwide Marketing Geoff Stigler gave an overview of how the technology was developed and why. “Engine technology is just one piece of the puzzle,” he said. “It’s really all about meeting customer expectations, delivering on the performance, durability, reliability and operating efficiency requirements.”

Geoff said the road to Final Tier 4 was a building block approach, starting with Tier 2 when the first electronic engines were implemented and moving through Interim Tier 4 which have been delivered for the past 18 months. “We have nearly 20,000 engines in the field right now that are Interim Tier 4 compliant,” he said. “We’ve been able to monitor those through our JD Link technology and have over 2 million customer hours on those engines already.”

Listen to or download the press conference here: John Deere Tier 4 Press Conference

Final Tier 4/Stage IV regulations for off-highway diesel engines begin as early as 2013 for engines 55 kW (74 hp) and below. Regulatory dates for engines 56 kW (75 hp) and above will be implemented in stages starting in 2014 and 2015, and require particulate matter (PM) levels established by Interim Tier 4/Stage III B regulations to be maintained while requiring an additional 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) from previous regulations.

Consisting of an exhaust filter and SCR aftertreatment components that are optimized and fully integrated, the Integrated Emissions Control system will allow John Deere engines to utilize less diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) than alternative Interim Tier 4/Stage III B SCR technology solutions. Lower DEF consumption means DEF tank size can be smaller — minimizing the impact on vehicle applications, extending DEF filter service intervals and reducing operator involvement. Monitored and controlled by proprietary electronics within John Deere’s enhanced engine control unit (ECU), the Integrated Emissions Control system also provides outstanding fluid efficiency without sacrificing overall performance.

For more information on John Deere’s Final Tier 4/Stage IV engine technology, go to www.JohnDeere.com/tier4.

2012 Commodity Classic Photo Album

ASA, Commodity Classic, Equipment, John Deere

Ag Leader Moves Into Precision Water Management

Cindy Zimmerman

Ag Leader Technology is moving into the fast-growing precision water management market with new company acquisitions.

To integrate water management into its expanding precision farming portfolio, Ag Leader has acquired Soil-Max, manufacturer of the market-leading Gold Digger tile plow, and the assets of Gradient, Inc., a related company which revolutionized the control of tile plows with the Intellislope GPS-based control system. These products allow growers and tiling contractors to solve water management challenges very cost effectively by greatly reducing the technical knowledge, labor and time required to install tile.

The acquisition will serve as a base for developing additional products for other water management tasks such as land leveling, waterway grading, ditching and levee building. “This is a great opportunity for Ag Leader to make a bold step into an increasingly important part of the precision farming industry,” said Al Myers, founder and President of Ag Leader Technology. “Water management is a very important part of any precision farming plan. Gold Digger tile plows and the Intellislope control system have been the market-leading products in this segment for many years and we’re thrilled to add these products to our product line.”

Find out more about the acquisition from Al Myers in this video press release:

Ag Leader, Precision Agriculture, Video