Farm Conservation Technology In Action

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello from Illinois and the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour. This project and farm tour is being conducted by the Conservation Technology Information Center.

Farmers and corporate sponsors at the sites will focus on effective agricultural systems while they showcase products, practices and technology that can boost profitable farming and improve water quality.

Tour demonstrations will include nitrogen fertilizer split-application, slow release products, strip-till N application systems, and fertilizer use efficiency studies. These practices can improve both the farmer’s bottom line and water quality. Practices shown will emphasize the 4R cornerstones of nutrient management: use the Right source at the Right time, in the Right place at the Right rate. Producers can implement the four Rs and substantially reduce the amount of N fertilizer escaping fields, a clear financial loss, and detrimental to water quality.

During the day I’ll be conducting interviews with various farmers and stakeholders in this CTIC project. Most of these will be posted during coming days since we’ll be on a bus and out at farm locations. However, I’m pretty sure you’ll find some tweets throughout the day if you’re following along on Twitter.

AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by
Ag Groups, Conservation, CTIC, Technology

Growing AgCareers

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 309There’s never been a better time for careers in agribusiness with a bigger variety of jobs that span the spectrum from production to promotion.

“I just feel like it’s a very exciting time to be in agribusiness,” says Eric Spell, president of AgCareers.com. He should know, since they have been specializing in human resource services to the agriculture and food industry for nearly 15 years now, starting out as a print newsletter. “Year to date, we’ve had 23,000 jobs posted on our site, and we’ve had just over 50,000 applications to jobs on our site,” said Eric. In 2010, there over 36,000 agribusiness jobs in North America were posted on AgCareers.com with nearly 22,000 jobs posted in the Midwest region alone!

In addition to the job board, AgCareers.com offers a number of other services and tools for human resource professionals, including the upcoming 9th AgCareers.com Ag HR Roundtable, August 1 – 3, 2011 in West Lafayette, Indiana, which is being hosted this year by ADM and Purdue University. Eric says the event brings together agribusiness employers, professional organizations and college career counselors “to talk about issues facing the recruitment and retention of entry level and professional level talent in our industry.”

This year for the first time, the HR Roundtable will be followed by the 2011 National Academic Programs Summit with the theme of “Creating Change: Reforming Curricula for a 21st Century Education” where participants will be able to receive input from the agribusiness employers at the roundtable on what changes they would like to see in preparing young people for careers in the industry.

AgWired will be blogging the Ag HR Roundtable this year and finding out more about this important topic that impacts everyone in the agribusiness industry. In the meantime, listen to this edition of the ZimmCast featuring my interview with Eric Spell of AgCareers.com: Growing AgCareers with Eric Spell

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

AgCareers, Audio, Education, Events, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Charly Cummings recently won the Livestock Marketing Association’s 2011 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship.
  • Leica Geosystems has released the new features for the AS7500 section controller.
  • Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association invites you to visit their member farms and ranches on National Alpaca Farm Days on Sept. 24-25.
  • The FAO Prize is awarded every two years to the individual or institution judged by an FAO Selection Committee to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of global food security. The AU’s Jacques Diouf Prize is awarded by the African Union every two years to countries or institutions contributing to achieving or improving food security.
Zimfo Bytes

InfoAg 2011 Conference App

Chuck Zimmerman

This is the newest app on my iPhone and will be on my Android phone later this morning. It’s the InfoAg 2011 Conference app.

The InfoAg 2011 Conference, hosted at Springfield Illinois’ Crowne Plaza, from July 12-14th, is pleased to add a digital Conference Companion available exclusively for the InfoAg 2011 exhibitors and attendees. Designed to supplement the online conference program, this app allows its user to view an at-a-glance program, search speakers, exhibitors, and presentation synopses, as well as create a personalized conference itinerary.

As you can see from this screenshot I’ll be on the program talking about social media. Our moderator for that session is Paul Schrimpf, Group Editor, Croflife Media Group. Also in our session will be Jeremy Wilson, Technology Specialist, Crop IMS. Our session will be offered twice next Thursday. Hope you can make it.

The app is the creation of Quentin Rund, PAQ Interactive. Get it and let him know what you think. I think this is going to become a standard offering of shows of all kinds, farm included. Kind of like the “old” conference brochure but much easier to use and carry around!

Apps, Precision Agriculture

GIPSA Rule ZimmPoll Results

Chuck Zimmerman

The ZimmPoll is not a scientific, statistically valid measurement of any demographic but rather a gauge of opinion and other information from interested readers. Never has that been more evident than this past week when our poll was highly influenced by a concerted campaign to do so by R-Calf in response to a post Cindy did, “GIPSA Dominates Senate Committee Hearing.” The R-Calf campaign helped generate most of the 112 comments posted there. Unfortunately, most of them are nothing more than personal attacks on Senator Pat Roberts. They do little to foster a constructive “debate.” I considered not approving many of them but figure common sense people will see them and realize the movement behind them and take them for what they’re worth. There are some good, reasoned comments mixed in from both sides of the issue at least. We’re just happy to provide a public forum for this very important issue.

So, the results of our last poll which asked the question, “What do you think of USDA’s proposed GIPSA Rule?” are as follows: 68% say Love it, 18% say Kill it, 10% say What’s GIPSA? and 4% say Good concept but needs changes. The R-Calf position is in favor of the proposal and I think that’s clearly reflected in the results. By the way, the poll generated the most responses we’ve had to a ZimmPoll to date. What do you think about this issue if you haven’t already weighed in? Feel free to make a comment.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What’s the very first thing you check online each day?” Let us know what you think.

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

ZimmPoll

Save Our GPS Coalition Expands

Cindy Zimmerman

precision farming kip cullersThe Coalition to Save Our GPS is growing as new evidence mounts that a proposed communications network would interfere with GPS systems. New agriculture industry members of the coalition include AGCO, Agricultural Retailers Association, National Agricultural Aviation Association, National Cotton Council of America, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, North American Equipment Dealers Association, and USA Rice Federation.

A report was submitted last week by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) technical working group on the potential for interference to GPS from the proposal by Virginia-based company LightSquared to set up 40,000 wireless broad-band stations across the nation on a frequency that is right next to the one used by GPS.

According to Ken Golden with Coalition member John Deere, the report affirms that the proposed LightSquared network would have a serious impact on farmers. “The report of the working group demonstrates there is no practical solution to mitigate the interference that would result if the proposal is allowed. It is not acceptable to allow a new network to interfere with these vitally important industries and weaken the strong competitive position of the U.S. in the global economy. Research has shown that losing the use of GPS technology could have a negative impact of $14 billion to $30 billion annually for U.S. farmers.”

growmark sid parksGROWMARK is one of the coalition members also, and I talked with Manager of Precision Farming Sid Parks about why this is such an important issue for the industry.

“The coalition was formed as group representing those users of GPS technology across not only agriculture, but other industries as well,” Sid said. “It is a very wide-reaching potential threat to the pulse of America, really.”

That includes public safety, aviation, transportation, construction, technology, recreation, and shipping – just to name a few. “We are a user of the technology and we try to use it to be the most efficient operators we can,” said Sid.

Listen to or download my interview with Sid here: Sid Parks Interview

Audio, Farming, GROWMARK, Precision Agriculture

New Holland Announces Boomer™ 555 Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

Announcing the New Holland Boomer™ 555 Contest. Eight lucky winners will receive a 5-year lease (150-hour per year) on a New Boomer 30 with a 240TLA Loader with the 5-year Boomer Guard5 Limited Warranty. All you have to do is fill out the entry form and describe how you would use a New Holland compact tractor.

You can find out all you need to know, including contest rules and regulations, on the Boomer555.com blog. This is a new ZimmComm project btw. I’m going to be the Boomer™ 555 Contest blogger throughout this campaign, updating you frequently with announcements and sharing selected entries and feedback from the folks I meet. Yes, that does mean I’ll be out and about. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook too.

Here’s a picture of a Boomer 30. Picture that on your place!

So, let’s learn more about the contest from Doran Herritt, New Holland Brand Marketing Manager. We spoke by phone. Doran says New Holland decided to conduct the Boomer™ 555 Contest as part of their introduction of the new 5 year limited warranty on the new Boomer tractors. The 5’s represent 5 months to enter to win a 5 year lease on a Boomer 30 with a five year warranty. Doran encourages you to think creatively about how you would use a Boomer tractor/loader and enter the contest. Whatever you can dream up is okay. It’s time to get Boomer555 Fever!

You can listen to my conversation with Doran here: Doran Says - Get Boomer555 Fever

If you aren’t familiar with the New Holland Boomer Tractors then learn all about them on the New Holland website.

Agribusiness, New Holland, Tractor

Cattlemen’s Beef Board Loses Tom Ramey

Chuck Zimmerman

Tom RameyThis weekend I learned that Tom Ramey has resigned from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Tom has been involved with the CBB for more than 17 years, most recently as CEO. I am shocked and saddened. But knowing at least some of what Tom has been going through as CEO in the last year or so I can understand. As the Beef Board Blogger for the last 6 years I have had the honor and pleasure to work with Tom and his staff. I think very highly of the man and wish him and his family the absolute best as he moves to the next step in a fine career. I also look forward to continuing to work with the CBB staff. Polly, you’ve got a full plate! ZimmComm supports America’s beef producers and the Beef Checkoff. Just call on us anytime to help in any way we can.

Here’s the official statement from CBB on Tom’s resignation:

Statement By CBB Executive Committee

From Wesley Grau, Chairman, CBB Executive Committee

June 29, 2011

After more than 17 years of committed service to the beef checkoff, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) Executive Committee yesterday reluctantly accepted Chief Executive Officer Tom Ramey’s resignation. Tom served as both the Cattlemen’s Beef Board chief financial officer and, most recently, as chief executive officer. In his role as CEO, Tom was responsible for developing and leading a team of experienced and dedicated individuals who work every day for the checkoff. Tom also worked tirelessly to provide detailed oversight of checkoff expenditures, and recently spearheaded the effort to rewrite Cattlemen’s Beef Board’s operating guidelines to clarify contractor responsibilities.

The Executive Committee has asked Polly Ruhland to act as interim CEO for the present time. After more than 20 years in the beef industry, Polly was most recently CBB’s vice president of planning and evaluation, and before that served in several senior staff positions at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Through this experience, she understands both the beef checkoff oversight and contractor roles, and is highly qualified to help us move the checkoff forward in its goal to build demand for beef.

We appreciate that Tom’s decision to resign was a personal one for him and his family, and we thank him for his dedication to the nation’s farmers and ranchers through his service to the beef checkoff.

Ag Leader, Beef

God Bless America

Chuck Zimmerman

The Salute to America celebration in Jefferson City included a bird show. The star was this bald eagle. They made their appearance before the evening concert series. We heard all about hawks, owls and eagles with this one being last on the program.

“This program features our country’s symbol – the bald eagle,” said Walt Crawford, Director of the World Bird Sanctuary, based in St. Louis. “We salute our country, our veterans and the eagle as a living emblem of the beauty and vitality of Missouri’s natural resources.”

The main entertainment on the stage in front of the Missouri Capitol Building was the Little River Band. Cindy and I saw them in Tampa at Commodity Classic. The band still plays their classics like The Other Guy, etc. I think they appeal to a wide audience and especially age range.

The big star of the show on Independence Day is the fireworks and they did not disappoint us in Jefferson City. The fireworks are set off across the Missouri River from the state capitol building and there are people in pretty much every square inch of ground you can watch from on both sides of the river.

The Capitol City boasts one of the largest fireworks displays in the State! Plan to bring the entire family to watch the spectacular from the north lawn of the State Capitol. Be sure to tune in your radio to listen to the choreographed music accompanying the display on Jeff 104. This is the highlight of the Salute to America Festival and you won’t want to miss it!

Here are some photos from this evenings activities: 2011 Salute To America Celebration

Uncategorized

Two New Lawnmowers

Melissa Sandfort

If you’ve been along with me on this AgWalk, you may have come to believe I spent most of my early childhood years riding in tractors and checking the cows with my dad. Truth be told, I did do a lot of that but I also spent a large amount of time in the hay loft of an old barn with a pen and paper writing some of my first poems. I was about 8 at the time and that may have just been the beginning to my career.

I’d oftentimes write about horses. I dreamed of horses. I desired horses. I adored horses. I wanted a horse!

Dad, on the other hand, didn’t do any of those things. He’s actually quite fearful of them. So growing up, I was never able to have a horse, despite my numerous requests (about once a day).

Just last weekend, we got these two new lawnmowers. They’re certainly not green but they’re definitely beautiful, and they are keeping the weeds and grass down in the other acre and a half of our front yard.

Call it repressed childhood … or whatever … but I like horses and we wanted our son to grow up with animals. Why go to all that hassle when we already have Black Kitty you ask? I’m just not a dog person, and our son can’t show Black Kitty in 4-H!

We spent the better part of a weekend putting fence up before these gals arrived (I’ll write more about the joys of putting up fence) and so far, Thelma and Louise are enjoying their new surroundings.

I even got back in the saddle on “my” horse, Thelma. Maybe we should’ve picked easier names because when our son says Thelma it sounds like “welma”.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized