Remembering Gary McKenna

Chuck Zimmerman

I was very saddened to learn of the passing of Gary McKenna this week. There are a number of people who made a big impression on me when I was just getting into the agrimarketing world many years ago and one of them was Gary. I’ve only seen Gary very infrequently in recent years but he was one of the guys who sort of adopted me in my early NAMA meeting years. Other names in that group include Jim Yancey, Dave Schmid, J. Ben Rowe, Dave Aeschliman and certainly others I will always feel indebted to. Gary had a great sense of humor. My sides hurt just thinking about the sessions we would have at a NAMA meeting or some other industry event and the jokes would start flying. Gary was always open to listening to me and answering a million questions I would have. He was always patient with this impatient young dude (then, not now!) who was ready to take over the world but had no idea what he was doing.

Long time NAMA member and friend, Gary McKenna, 63 of Red Wing, Minnesota, died on August 30, 2011 at his residence.

He was born to Fred and Bonnie (Evans) McKenna on February 13, 1948 in Madison, WI. He graduated from Madison East High School in 1966 and served in the U.S. Air Force for 4 years as a photographer. Gary attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The majority of his career was focused on marketing and business. He married Jane Davis and they later divorced. Gary married Pat Kvols in 1993. After retirement they moved to Red Wing in 2004 where they owned and operated the Golden Lantern Inn Bed and Breakfast. Gary enjoyed gardening, cooking, sports and spending time with family and friends. A lot of people miss you Gary.

Gary is survived by his wife, Pat; 2 daughters, Erin (Cory) Larse of Somerset, WI, and Alison (J.R.) Klennert of Red Wing; 3 grandchildren, Kyron, Megan and Adam; his mother, Bonnie McKenna of Lodi, WI; 4 brothers, Mike, Bill, Jimi and Tim; 2 sisters, Audrey and Shelly; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Gary is preceded in death by his father, Fred; 1 brother, Dan; and 1 brother-in-law, Peter.

Celebration of Life will be 1 p.m. on Monday, September 12, 2011 at Easter Lutheran Church (on the hill), 4200 Pilot Knob Rd., Eagan, MN 55122, with Pastor Jim Borgschatz officiating. Memorials preferred to the American Cancer Society.

NAMA

Farm Progress Show Field Demo Hosts

Cindy Zimmerman

farm progress show 2011I was out watching the field demos in the hot sun yesterday and was pleased to meet the hosts of the demo plots Dawn and David Brix.

“We take care of about 225 acres that we use for combine and tillage tune up and then Tuesday and Wednesday during the shows we have demos out there,” David told me.

They partner with GROWMARK FS on the field plots. “They keep an eye on it all year, whether it’s crop scouting, fungicide treatments, genetics,” David said. “They take the worry out of our hands, we’re doing the labor but they’re doing all the stuff to make sure it’s the best crop it can be.”

It has been a challenging year for the corn crop. “We didn’t plant until maybe the 10th, then it got flooded out and then we didn’t have another drop of rain after that,” he said. “All things considered, to still have 110-115 bushels yields, that’s pretty good.”

Listen to or download my interview with David here. FPS Field Demo Host Farmer David Brix

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Audio, Farm Progress Show, Farming, GROWMARK

Noonish With Plenish

Chuck Zimmerman

Yesterday Cindy and I got to have a great noon lunch courtesy of Chef Charlie Baggs and Pioneer Hi-Bred. Chef Charlie was doing cooking demonstrations using Plenish, high oleic soybean oil which has “0g trans fat, less saturated fat and the highest amount of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat available in soy.” He cooked us some excellents brats with carmelized onions, peppers and a side salad with a very healthy dressing. In the video below you can see the whole process from start to finish. These will be cooked at ZimmComm World Headquarters!

By the way, Pioneer and ADM made a big announcement this week about the 2012 marketing of Plenish soybeans that growers will be very interested in.

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), announced that ADM will contract for PlenishTM high oleic soybeans in 2012 with the intention of marketing the high oleic soybean oil for use by the food industry in 2013.

ADM is inviting soybean growers in the Frankfort, Ind., area to contract with ADM to produce PlenishTM high oleic soybean for the 2012 growing season. Farmers will receive a processor paid incentive for producing and delivering these soybeans, with an additional stewardship incentive available for this growing season.

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Farm Progress Show, Food, Video

Final Day of Farm Progress Show Heating Up

Chuck Zimmerman

Welcome to day three, the final day, of the 2011 Farm Progress Show. The sun is up and it’s going to be a hot one with a high forecast at 103 degrees. Drink plenty of water and get your sunscreen on. This photo is from high on top of the Brock grain bin next to the New Holland Media Tent. I climbed early! Wouldn’t want to do that around 2pm this afternoon. I thank them for letting me do that each year.

Cindy and I are already collecting more interviews and will be traveling back to ZimmComm World Headquarters this afternoon. But that doesn’t mean our coverage ends. We’ve got an off the road week next week and you can bet we’ll have a lot more stories from this year’s show.

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Farm Progress Show

Good Morning, Nebraska

Melissa Sandfort

I oftentimes get the following questions, or some version thereof:
WHY Nebraska?
Do you have stoplights?
Of all the places you could live, why THERE?

Here’s one of the reasons why: this photo. This was the morning of Aug. 25, 2011. It was about 62 degrees and the sun was just coming up over the horizon. In the distance, a layer of fog blanketed the crops.

After I took the photo, it dawned on me (no pun intended) that it looks like a 7-layer cheesecake.

Cheesecake is okay for breakfast, right?

And you wonder why I live here.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Politics at Farm Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm Progress Show is always a great venue for policy makers to meet with farmers and talk about issues important to them, like a new farm bill and government regulations.

farm progress show 2011National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) First Vice President Garry Niemeyer brought his own U.S. Representative Bobby Schilling (R-IL) in for a press conference on Tuesday to share some of perspectives as a freshman congressman and new member of the House Agriculture Committee. “I think as most people are aware, it’s been quite a storm in Washington DC the last seven months,” Schilling said. “Coming out of the business sector right into Congress, it’s been quite frustrating for me to see what’s happening in our nation’s capitol.”

As far as the Farm Bill is concerned, Schilling says the “super committee” on reducing the deficit may make decisions that will impact farm programs so the agriculture committee needs to make recommendations on how spending could be cut. “Because if we don’t they will just go after dollar amounts without looking at where appropriate cuts could be made,” he said.

Listen to some of Congressman Schilling’s comments during the press conference here. Cong. Bobby Schilling

farm progress show 2011Congressman Tim Johnson (R-IL), who also serves on the House Agriculture Committee, came by the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to visit with leadership of the Illinois corn and soybean growers associations. He is pictured here(striped shirt) with Illinois Soybean Association (ASA) treasurer Doug Winter, Illinois Corn Growers president Jim Reed and ISA president Matt Hughes.

Johnson says he is optimistic that they can come up with a Farm Bill that is workable, meets budget constraints and still has a safety net for farmers. “And we need to make sure the House Agriculture Committee and people who know American agriculture are the people framing policy,” Johnson said.

Johnson also shares the concerns that farmers in the state have about government regulations making it more difficult to farm. “USDA, USDOT and most particularly EPA tying our left hand is a real burden,” he said. “This administration more than any other administration in history has done more to damage the ability of farmers to make a living.”

Meghan Grebner of Brownfield Ag News and I interviewed Cong. Johnson together. Cong. Tim Johnson

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Audio, Corn, Farm Bill, Farm Progress Show, NCGA, Soybean

ZimmComm Team at Farm Progress Show

Chuck Zimmerman

This is the ZimmComm Team at work early this morning in the Farm Progress Show media tent. Thanks to Willie Vogt for capturing the moment.

Well we have done some interviews, shot some video and collected lots of photos today. We took off a little early to clean up, get some blogger fuel and now we’re working on all this stuff. It’s amazing how many interviews you can get in a day!

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Farm Progress Show

Gene Hemphill Honored for 25 Years With FPS Media Tent

Chuck Zimmerman

There’s been a media tent at the Farm Progress Show for twenty five years and Gene Hemphill, New Holland Agriculture, has sponsored and supervised it for all of them. He gets everything set up and that includes early morning coffee and donuts. Whatever the ag media need, they know they just ask Gene.

Well today the Farm Progress Show officially honored Gene for his years of hard work, dedication and easy disposition no matter what challenge is presented. On stage in the media tent to present him with a plaque are (L-R) FPS Show Manager Matt Jungmann, Jeff Lapin, President, Farm Progress Companies and Don Tourte, Farm Progress director of sales and national events. After receiving his plaque Gene took the microphone to make a few remarks I think you’ll enjoy.

Here’s Gene’s comments after receiving his recognition: Gene Hemphill Remarks

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Audio, Farm Progress Show, New Holland

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • John Deere announces eight new or updated Ag Management Solutions products, which will be rolled out from now through early 2012.
  • With the launch of its newest 1,200-gallon sprayer – the Patriot 4430 – Case IH once again sets the industry standard for power, fuel-efficiency, productivity and comfort.
  • Broadhead announced that Beth Burgy and Troy Schroeder will assume the roles of chief operating officer and chief marketing officer, respectively.
  • Syngenta in North America has released 19 new NK brand soybean products for the 2012 growing season.
Zimfo Bytes

Farm Progress Show Update

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s a beautiful day in the Farm Progress Show neighborhood and to get an update on how it’s going I spoke with Willie Vogt, Editorial Director, Farm Progress Companies. Willie says the first day was huge. Exact numbers are not known yet but with today traditionally being the biggest day for attendance this year’s show has some potential to maybe set a record. Willie says that sun with no rain is a big help and we’ve had hotter temperatures too.

Field demos are in full swing so if you’d like to see some new technology in action Willie says this is a great place to do it.

You can listen to my interview with Willie here. Interview with Willie Vogt

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland GROWMARK Trellis Growing Systems
Audio, Farm Progress Show