NACD Names John Larson as New CEO

Melissa Sandfort

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has named John Larson as its new Chief Executive Officer. Currently serving as Executive Director of the Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD), Larson has worked directly with conservation districts for more than 15 years, including several years as President of the Washington Association of District Employees (WADE). Larson is a lifetime resident of Washington State and an alumnus of Washington State University, where he studied Agricultural Economics.

Larson has served as WACD’s executive director since 2004, having previously worked as manager of the Conservation Districts Partnership—a consortium of four central Washington conservation districts—and district manager for the Othello Conservation District. Prior to his work with districts, Larson ran his family’s irrigated farm in Royal City, Wash., for six years.

A registered lobbyist in Washington State, Larson and his wife, Shanon, currently live in Olympia with their two children, Tyler, 17, and Cassandra, 15. Larson will officially begin his new role with NACD in Washington, D.C. on August 8.

Conservation

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • As part of its continued commitment to responsible antibiotic use and milk and meat drug residue avoidance, Pfizer Animal Health introduces a new Residue Free Guarantee along with a website.
  • Swanson Russell welcomes Kara Cordell and announces the promotions of Zeljka Hassler and Justin Young.
  • The USDA announced that it is adopting the final rule to add two importer seats and change the boundaries of all districts under the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan.
  • Merck Animal Health announced that it has embarked on the expansion of a vaccine manufacturing unit at its Biosciences Center Boxmeer campus in the Netherlands.
    Zimfo Bytes

    USFRA Launches Campaign Inviting Farmer/Rancher Participation

    Chuck Zimmerman

    This week the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance announced an ad campaign to encourage participation. So what if you’d like to get involved? There are a number of ways which you can find on the USFRA website. So take a few moments and raise your voice and join the conversation about the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement and dedication to producing healthy food for people everywhere.

    The campaign includes advertisements that are featured in Meat & Poultry, The Packer, AgWeb.com and Agriculture.com. Other elements of the campaign will include:

    Digital media and banner ads
    Town hall style meetings
    Social media and peer-to-peer networks

    We want to hear from you and invite you to raise your voices! Please visit our newly redesigned website at www.USFRAonline.org where you can share your ideas and opinions. In fact, we invite you to go to the site and tell us what you wish Americans knew about their food.

    Join us in leading the dialogue with Americans about where their food comes from and how it is produced. After all, as America’s farmers and ranchers, you’ve raised pretty much everything. Except your voices.

    You can hear a radio spot here: USFRA Radio Ad

    There’s also a “Raise Your Voices” video available to share:

    You can find more materials to share here.

    Ag Groups, Audio, USFRA, Video

    Farmers Take Away A Lot From Wyffels Corn Strategies

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Farmers attending the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies feel like they get real value from their experience and investment of time. I spoke with three Iowa farmers during the event in Malcom, IA. Let’s start with Sue Utt who farms on the central southern edge of the state. Sue is also a sales person for Troy Elevator. She brings a couple of her customers to Corn Strategies and says she she learns a lot from all the speakers on the program. She says that conditions in her area are pretty good although the corn is somewhat uneven from having too much moisture early in the season. However, she’s very optimistic about the crop this year.

    You can listen to my interview with Sue here: Sue Utt Interview

    Brad Klodt (pictured left) is a little further east in Iowa than Sue. He says conditions in his area are pretty good although sub surface moisture is starting to disappear. He’s very happy about his corn even though there are some spotty areas due to early season moisture. The heat has really evened up his corn. He says he takes away “a little bit of everything” from Corn Strategies. He says the program opens his eyes to a lot of things like the fact that we’re all in a global marketplace.

    You can listen to my interview with Brad here: Brad Klodt Interview

    In a completely different part of the state, south of Spencer, is Marcia Langner. She says that conditions are good but pretty wet. There was quite a bit of rain last week for example. She says educational opportunities like Corn Strategies are very valuable and she likes to get as much out of them as possible. I asked her what she heard that would be a take-away for her. She laughed about hearing the range of prices discussed by all the speakers but says that it’s good information you have to consider and figure out how it will work for you.

    You can listen to my interview with Marcia here: Marcia Langner Interview

    Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2011 Iowa Photo Album

    Audio, Corn, Seed

    Tractor Parts Talk

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Here’s a new blog to add to your feeds. It’s called, Tractor Parts Talk, from TISCO. The company provides “all-makes of aftermarket tractor and agricultural equipment parts and accessories in North America.”

    “Tractor Parts Talk is an informative hub where everyone in the agriculture community can connect,” said William Stuckert, president of TISCO. “Our goal is to translate our many decades of experience serving the ag industry into an easy to use resource to help the farming community — whether they are a farmer in the field on their smartphone or a parts distributor in a store on their laptop.”

    Tractor Parts Talk blog topics to date have covered the effect of heavy spring rains on the 2011 growing season, tractor part tips on air filter maintenance, a refresher on farm safety, and the importance of agriculture in creating jobs, stimulating the economy, housing wildlife and improving the environment. At tractorpartstalk.com, visitors can also find and purchase tractor parts through tractorpartmart.com to keep their equipment running in the field and connect with a local parts dealer in TISCO’s extensive dealer network.

    Find TISCO on Facebook and Twitter too.

    Agribusiness, Tractor

    USDA Acreage Predicitions Way Off According To ZimmPoll

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The majority of you who responded to our latest ZimmPoll think USDA’s acreage predictions are way off. We asked the question, “How accurate do you believe the USDA acreage predictions are?” 55% said Way Off while 41% said Close and 4% said Spot On. So there you have it. Take ’em with a grain of salt. Hey, they’re a prediction after all. Does anyone know what the future looks like?

    Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Are you worried about how government regulations will hurt your business?” This is a big topic in Washington, DC right now and applies to all businesses. Please chime in and let the world know what you think. Thanks.

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

    ZimmPoll

    Time for Peanuts on the Beach

    Cindy Zimmerman

    It’s time once again for peanuts on the beach in Panama City, Florida – where it’s cooler than it is here in the Midwest!

    It’s the 13th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference (SPGC), being held once again at the beautiful Edgewater Beach Resort, July 21-23, and I will once again be the official SPGC blogger. This will be the fourth year we have been providing this forum for all the action from the event – photos, interviews and video – officially kicking off today with registration and yummy grilled PB&Js! Follow all the action, and check out the past three years of SPGC on the blog.

    The theme this year is “Windows of Opportunity” and the schedule is packed full of powerful peanut production presentations, like the general sessions on “The Marketplace” and “Production Agriculture & The Land Grant System” as well as “Challenges for Agriculture,” including insight on the next Farm Bill debate coming in Congress. In addition, the motivational keynote speaker for lunch on Friday will be none other than AgChat Foundation founder Michele Payn-Knoper!

    The annual event is hosted by the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, which includes the producers associations of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi and has a whole host of great sponsors. The blog is once again jointly sponsored this year by Trimble Agriculture and Ag Technologies. Be sure to check it out and feel free to download and use any of the photos or audio you happen to find there.

    See you on PCB!

    Peanuts

    Should’ve Been a Cowboy

    Melissa Sandfort

    As a parent, it’s hard NOT to steer your children toward a career path. However, it IS our job to introduce them to new ideas, give them a solid foundation then let them decide for themselves. Some kids are born with the desire to be a doctor at age 5; others get through years of school only to find that the job wasn’t what they thought it was and go back to school for something entirely different.

    By moving back to the farm, I hope to have a little influence on our son’s passion for agriculture. Whether it be farming or ranching or cowboying, as long as he knows where his food comes from and appreciates agriculture, that’s fine by me.

    We took him to a rodeo in Kansas a couple weekends ago and he LOVED bull riding. Now here’s the caveat about me loving rodeos: I love the dirt, the boots, the horses, the smell, the calves and the people. But the one thing that scares me about rodeos is bull riding! I enjoy it as a spectator but talk about an adrenaline rush knowing that someone’s son just sat down on a 2,000-pound pile of rage and muscle! That’s enough to give any mom the hand sweats.

    And maybe that’s something a woman can’t understand – a man’s desire to conquer the great beast – to battle the fiercest warrior and win. And if that’s what my son decides to do, I guess I’ll have to learn to be a better spectator.

    I personally think trail riding with horses sounds much more enjoyable, but then again, I’m his mom.

    Until we walk again …

    Uncategorized

    Regulatory Trainwreck Video

    Cindy Zimmerman

    All aboard for the Over-Regulation Express!

    The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has just released a clever new YouTube video calling attention to the current administration’s onslaught of “burdensome, costly and scientifically unfounded regulations as a way to cut spending and prevent further job loss in rural America.” When you see the list of regulations coming down the track that will impact agriculture, you will have to agree it looks like a train wreck in the making!

    Kudos to NCBA’s Mike Deering for the production of this video, which is also posted on the Beltway Beef blog.

    NCBA, Video

    House Hearing on How GIPSA Hurts Small Business

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The last post we did with a lawmaker’s opinion on GIPSA, we got hammered with comments. That was fun – let’s do it again!

    Last time, it was Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) who had negative comments about USDA’s controversial Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard’s Administration (GIPSA) proposal. This time, it’s Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), chairman of the House Small Business Committee’s Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee. Earlier this month, Tipton held a subcommittee hearing entitled “How USDA’s Proposed GIPSA Rule Hurts America’s Small Businesses.”

    Tipton says if the “Job-Crushing GIPSA Proposed Regulation” is adopted it “has the potential to reduce gross domestic product by over $1.5 billion and cost the U.S. economy nearly 23,000 jobs.” He’s most concerned that USDA “fully comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and ensure that USDA understands the private-sector costs of the regulations it is imposing on all sectors within the livestock industry.”

    One of the witnesses at the July 7 hearing was USDA Undersecretary Edward Avalos, who said the agency is “fairly close” to completing the final economic analysis on the proposed rule, but that it was “too early in the process” yet to answer any specific questions related to economic impact.

    Robbie LeValley of LeValley Ranch in Hotchkiss, Colorado was also a witness at the hearing. “The proposed GIPSA rule will destroy our small business model, force us to lay off our employees, cripple our ability to market our cattle way we want to and limit consumer choice,” she said.

    Other witnesses with similar messages included Gary Malenke of Sioux-Preme Pork Products and Joel Brandenberge, President of the National Turkey Federation.

    You can watch the whole hearing here:

    Beef, GIPSA, Livestock, NCBA, Pork, Poultry, Video