Utah State University Holiday Greetings

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s holiday greeting time. It’s also Christmas time too you know.

I’m going to feature some of the holiday greetings we get here once again this year. We get so many that are creative and just plain good looking that they need to be seen by more eyeballs!

Here’s one from Utah State University which came with this message:

Greetings!
We hope this winter season finds you happy and well. Please view our online holiday greeting here.

Regards,

Mark R. McLellan, PhD
Vice President for Research & Dean of the School of Graduate Studies
Utah State University

University

AgChat Foundation Hires Executive Director

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChatBig news from the AgChat Foundation today! Welcome Emily Zweber as the first Executive Director. It seems like it has been a long time coming to some of us board members but really, it hasn’t been. In fact, the AgChat Foundation is less than two years old.

So let’s meet Emily:

Zweber, an organic dairy farmer from Elko, Minn., will focus on furthering ACF’s mission of connecting farmers to diverse audiences via social media platforms. She also will provide day-to-day management oversight and fundraising support.
“Emily uses social media every day on the family farming operation, so she’s a great choice for this position,” says Darin Grimm, ACF president. “What began as an all-volunteer outcropping of an agricultural social media movement is growing into a professionally managed organization. Having Emily on board is a real boost.”

Grimm added that ACF’s highly-successful summer thought-leadership and social media training conference is slated to provide more content than ever in its third year, and that additional training programs are planned.

Emily received her bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics and international studies from South Dakota State University and is a University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Policy and Governance Humphrey Policy Fellow. Previously, she has served as the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation’s executive director and the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation’s special programs coordinator. Emily and her husband, Tim, co-own and operate Zweber Farms with Tim’s parents.

Established in 1906, the Zweber farm is a certified organic dairy. The family also runs a successful natural meat business for which Emily coordinates all social media and marketing.

I spoke with Darin and Emily by phone just a few minutes ago. Listen in on our conversation about today’s exciting news and get to know Emily.

Interview with Darin Grimm & Emily Zweber
Ag Groups, Audio, Social Networking

BASF Helps Custom Applicators in North Dakota

Cindy Zimmerman

naaaAt the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) convention last week I had the opportunity to chat with Chris Wharam, a BASF tech services rep with in North Dakota, about how they help farmers and custom applicators in his state.

Chris was already pretty familiar with the crop protection business before he took the job with BASF, since his family owns Valley Sprayers in Park River, ND. Chris also has a master’s degree in plant pathology from North Dakota State University. “In my role with BASF, I get the opportunity to work with many people all throughout agriculture – including growers, retailers, distributors, university folks, consultants,” he said.

One of the things that BASF does to help aerial applicators is sponsor Operation S.A.F.E. (Self-Regulating Application and Flight Efficiency) fly-ins around the country. “It’s an opportunity for applicators to get their equipment calibrated and do pattern tests,” Chris said. “A little over 1200 planes have gone through these SAFE fly-ins, 150 different locations all over the United States.”

Many aerial applicators, like Valley Sprayers, also do custom ground applications for their clients, which Chris says is very important for cereal crop growers in his part of the country. “We often will make an application of Headline in the tank with our herbicide applications in that 3-5 leaf stage, and growers are consistently capturing a 4-6 bushel yield bump with that application,” he explained. “As the season progresses, we have an opportunity to apply fungicide again at the flag leaf time and our products at that time would be TwinLine® or Headline.” Finally, at flowering time, Chris says they have the head scab product called Caramba®, “again growers are consistently capturing anywhere from a 5-10 bushel yield advantage and reducing the toxins associated with scab infections.”

Listen to or download my interview with Chris from NAAA here: Chris Wharam with BASF

2011 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.
Audio, BASF, Crop Protection, NAAA, Wheat

A FAPRI Farm Market Outlook

Chuck Zimmerman

Patrick Westhoff is the Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a professor in the MU department of agricultural and applied economics. He was also our St. Louis Agribusiness Club speaker yesterday. I spoke with him beforehand since I had to leave early.

He says his job was to talk about why agricultural markets have been so wild the last several years and why they’ll continue to be volatile for years to come. He says one of the reasons is an “ordinary garden variety one” which is weather. Sometimes people forget that he said. He says they’re watching agricultural land markets vary carefully. And of course he mentions farm policy and the farm bill and the efforts in Washington, DC recently. When it comes to tight corn stocks he says the smallest piece of news is having an impact on markets and he expects that to continue for the next several years. Hear some more of his outlook in my interview.

You can listen to my interview with Patrick here: Patrick Westhoff Interview

St. Louis Agribusiness Club Meeting Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Education, Farm Policy, University

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Novariant announced the closing of a $10 million debt facility from BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P.
  • Results are in for World Ag Expo’s Top-10 New Products competition. The winners will be showcased February 14-16, 2012 during the 45th annual World Ag Expo.
  • Two staff members have been hired for NAJ subsidiary, Jersey Marketing Service: Jason Robinson and Erica Davis.
  • The Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, a component of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, will be inaugurated in academic year 2012-13.
    Zimfo Bytes

    PRRS Seminar Wrapup

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica staff veterinarian with a focus on PRRS, the swine disease that so many are trying to eliminate, is Dr. Reid Philips. Reid was on hand for this year’s PRRS ARC&E Seminar.

    I asked Reid to provide a wrapup viewpoint about how this year’s seminar went. He says this year’s program came together really well. The seminar keeps growing each year and this year was no different. BIVI supplies a list of speakers that are involved in area control projects, several of whom you’ve heard from here on AgWired. Reid says that as new tools and studies are developed on PRRS this seminar becomes more important to producers. The value for both the participants and BIVI is the interaction and sharing of information.

    You can listen to my interview with Reid here: Reid Phillips Interview

    2011 Boehringer Ingelheim PRRS ARC&E Seminar Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

    Gadgets Top of Christmas Gift List

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Gadgets – 28%, are tops on the Christmas gift list according to our latest ZimmPoll, followed closely by Paying Bills – 25%. Those choices were followed by Clothes, 19%; Other, 14%; Farm Equipment, 9% and Tools, 5%. I find it very interesting that no one chose Food! Wow. Food makes a great gift don’t you think? Maybe we’re all so well fed that our focus has turned to other things? What do you think?

    Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Is Ethanol production good for ALL of Agriculture?” There’s a huge amount of on-going rhetoric about this subject and it seems to be a very divisive issue within the ag community. Let’s put it this way, the most heated arguments/debates I’ve heard or participated in this year were on this subject! What do you think?

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

    ZimmPoll

    Rick Tolman Receives St. Louis Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Today the St. Louis Agribusiness Club presented its annual Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award to Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association. Here’s Rick with his award which was presented by past St. Louis Ag Club President Stephanie Regagnon, Solutia, Inc.

    I spoke with Rick right after he received his award. He says that he’s “very moved and surprised and it’s a great honor.” He also says that it’s a tribute to the National Corn Growers because I have a great group of volunteer leaders that I work with and a staff that I work with and they make me look good and make the organization look good. But it’s a real honor for our association to be recognized.”

    I asked him about the 2012 Commodity Classic since registration just recently opened. He says it’s going to be a good one with a record number of exhibitors already signed up. He also talks about priorities in the coming year for NCGA.

    You can listen to my interview with Rick here: Rick Tolman Interview

    You can find more photos from the meeting here: St. Louis Agribusiness Club Meeting Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Corn, NCGA

    Agrimarketer On Emeril’s Table

    Chuck Zimmerman

    This fine looking cooking crew will be featured on the Emeril’s Table, December 14th, 11a/10c, on the Hallmark Channel. Emeril is pictured with Matt Coniglio, Fastline, and family.

    Matt’s brother’s wife is Executive Producer btw. Here’s what Matt says the show will be about:

    We are the season finale- our episode is about a family tradition we have called the Feast of The Seven Fishes. It is an Italian tradition and Emeril cooks for us and gives us some ideas on how to improve our family event with new menu ideas.

    We shot the episode in June…so it was hard to be in the Holiday spirit but having access to Chianti at 9 am in the morning can create a festive atmosphere!

    I think a good chianti anytime is a good thing! Matt also says, “the theme music for the show was written by my youngest brother (not on the show w/us). So listen for the theme song at the beginning and during commercial breaks.”

    Food, Media

    Washed Away

    Melissa Sandfort

    Ever wonder what farmers do during the winter after the crops are harvested?

    We’re in a part of Nebraska where fields sits on hillsides, have terraces and curves. And, we have a lot of precipitation during the year, so this means top soil has the potential to wash away and end up in the creek bed instead of staying in the field where it’s needed. To help prevent that from happening, farmers can receive additional funds through the USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program (www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CSP.html) to install drainage tiles in their fields.

    That’s what they’ve been doing the past couple of months, among many other things. On any drive within 60 miles from home, you could see dozers and back hoes hard at work. They’re parked now because the ground has frozen and it’s turned colder, but farmers were doing their part to preserve the integrity of the land and make it as optimal as possible for next year’s crop.

    I’ve always heard that farmers are the world’s best environmentalists and they are.

    Until we walk again …

    Uncategorized