Wyffels Corn Strategies Kicks Off In Iowa

Chuck Zimmerman

Last week Cindy attended the Wyffels Hybrids 2011 Corn Strategies in Illinois. This week it’s my turn in Malcom, Iowa. I think she got a better sunset picture than I did. I got done with some interviews in time to notice that the sun was going down since we were in an air conditioned tent. There are some photos in the photo album you’ll find a link to below that I took after climbing to the top of the grain bin in this photo. Let me tell you it was still hot up there!

Welcoming us tonight to the Cummings Farm was Adam Ploog, Wyffels Hybrids, regional manager. I spoke with him about crop conditions in this area. Adam says things look pretty good in the eastern part of Iowa but they could use a little rain and with the heat index so high there is some uncertainty about the effect that it will have. He says the idea behind the program here is to provide some of their most progressive customers from all over the state with information they can take home that will bring value to their operation. He says “We’re a very, very customer focused business. We’re not the biggest seed corn company in the business. We know that, but we feel like we have products that are just as good as anybody else’s and we’re more customer focused than our competitors.”

You can listen to my interview with Adam here: Adam Ploog Interview

Our program kicks off bright and early tomorrow and I’ll be here all day collecting more interviews and photos for you. Here’s where you can find my photos: Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2011 Iowa Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Corn, Seed

BASF Offers Advice for Downed Corn, Uneven Crops

Cindy Zimmerman

downed cornAs I traveled though Illinois last week, the corn was looking pretty good – until I started heading west on I-88 and began seeing the aftermath of the straight line wind storm that traveled a path across eastern Iowa and through northern Illinois on July 11, leaving lots of downed corn in its wake.

Growers who were hit are understandably concerned about the situation, especially those who already had a rough start to the growing season. BASF Technical Market Manager Nick Fassler offers some advice. “We have corn that’s been root lodged and is now in the process of recovering and doing it’s best to upright itself,” Nick said. “These denser canopies that have been created by lodging can help diseases like gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight really thrive. So, in these heavy downed areas where the corn’s likely to recover, we would recommend applications of Headline or Headline AMP to protect from these diseases and help mitigate that stress.”

Nick Fassler talks about protecting downed corn

wyffels corn strategies nick fassler basfNick attended the Wyffels Corn Strategies event last week in Illinois where BASF was a partner and there was quite a bit of discussion about how this year more than ever before it is vital for growers to get the highest yields possible. Depending on the scenario, Nick also has some application timing advice for growers who are seeing uneven crops in the same field during this important time of the year for getting good yields.

“If the majority of the field is tasseled, you have some laggard plants within a week or less of reaching tassel, we’d recommend the grower wait until the field is fully tasseled, and then make a Headline AMP application with adjuvant,” Nick says. If there is a greater difference in growth in a field, possibly due to a replant situation, Nick says apply Headline or Headline AMP without the adjuvant. “Finally, if a grower went in and planted soybeans in the wet holes, we recommend Headline because it’s labeled for both corn and soybeans.” He highly recommends that growers consult with their local ag retailer or aerial applicator if they have questions.

Nick Fassler with BASF on application timing for uneven crops
Audio, BASF, Corn, Soybean

National FFA Advisor Named

Melissa Sandfort

The U.S. Department of Education has selected Dr. Steve A. Brown as national advisor of the National FFA Organization and chairman of the national FFA board of directors.

Brown is now responsible for providing catalytic leadership for FFA and will serve as chairman of the board. He’ll also advise national FFA officers, delegates and committees on policy matters and serve as an ex-officio member of all FFA committees. Brown will also review all applications for the American FFA Degree.

An educational program specialist in agriculture, food and natural resources sciences with the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., Brown had served as national FFA executive secretary since 2008. In that role, he provided leadership for FFA and agricultural education while coordinating activities between the FFA’s board of directors and the National FFA Foundation’s board of trustees.

Brown has more than 30 years of service to agricultural education. Originally from Orrick, Mo., he received his doctorate in agricultural education and both his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He and wife Rhonda currently reside in Alexandria, Va., and have have four daughters and three grandchildren.

FFA

Lyle Vanclief Named Honorary Chair of IFAJ Congress

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s time for an IFAJ 2011 Congress update. It’s only weeks away now and I’m looking forward to meeting and interviewing this man.

Former Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Hon. Lyle Vanclief, has been named Honourary Chair of 2011 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress being held this September in Guelph and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

The congress organizing committee made the announcement July 13, citing Vanclief’s stellar political career, openness to the agricultural media and induction into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. IFAJ 2011 Congress co-chair Owen Roberts said the former federal minister has a long and deep relationship with farm writers, having spoken on behalf of the federal government numerous times at farm writers’s meetings. “The organizing committee is proud Lyle Vanclief accepted our invitation to be the congress’s honourary chair, ” says Roberts. “Few Canadians know agriculture as well as he does – from operating a farm to setting national agricultural policy – or have his appreciation for Canadian agriculture and the role of the agricultural media.”

“This is an exciting time for Canadian agriculture and I am pleased to be part of the congress and to welcome visitors from across Canada and many international countries, all of whom will have a chance to see the innovations and accomplishments driving Canada’s diverse agricultural sector,” said Vanclief.

The congress theme, Experience New World Agriculture will serve to showcase how Canada’s relatively young agricultural sector (compared to many other IFAJ member countries) is making a place for itself globally.

IFAJ

New Kid in the Wyffels Hybrids Family

Cindy Zimmerman

wyffels corn strategies illinoisThe Wyffels Corn Strategies event in Dixon, Illinois last week was a first for regional manager Dave Rolli.

“I’ve been on the job for just about seven months, started back in December,” Dave told me. “It’s just been a great company to work for and they really do treat their employees like family.”

Dave was in charge of organizing the Corn Strategies event this year, his first year on the job, and he was very pleased with the outcome. “I’ve been very proud of my team for all the work they put in,” he said. He was also grateful to the Pratt farm family who hosted the event. “They have been outstanding hosts for us to work with. It’s a real family event for them, they’ve been happy to have us here, and I’ve been tickled to work with them.”

Dave also talked about how the corn looks in his part of the country, which includes the northern third of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Listen to or download my interview with Dave here: Dave Rolli with Wyffels Hybrids

Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 Illinois Photo Album

That wraps up my coverage of the Illinois Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 event and Chuck is getting ready to head off today for the event in Iowa tomorrow.

Audio, Corn

Farm Foundation Reports on What’s Driving Food Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

farmfoundationlogo3The agricultural policy organization Farm Foundation, NFP released a new report today on What’s Driving Food Prices for 2011.

Foundation president Neil Conklin says the report is a follow up to similar studies they commissioned when prices were up in 2008 and 2009. “The purpose of the report this time is to provide both policy makers in the public sector and decision makers and stakeholders in the private sector with information to make difficult choices about food, agriculture and energy policies,” said Conklin. “This time we’ve tried to put some additional emphasis on the medium and long term implications of what’s going on.”

Listen to or download an interview with Neil about the report here: Neil Conklin Interview

Farm Foundation commissioned three Purdue agricultural economists to do the report – Phil Abbott, Chris Hurt and Wally Tyner. According to Tyner, they identified two major commodity demand shocks in 2011 – the use of corn for ethanol and Chinese soybean imports. “In 2005, we were using about 16 million acres to supply all of the ethanol in the United States and Chinese soybean imports,” he said. “In 2010, it took 46.5 million acres, an increase of 189%, just to satisfy those two demands.”

Listen to or download an interview with Wally about the report here: Wally Tyner Interview

“There was a dramatic increase in Chinese imports of soybeans between 2006 and now,” said Abbott. “China imports 86% of their use of soybeans and imported roughly 55 million tons in the last year.” He noted that 40 percent of the increase in Chinese soybean imports in recent years was for building stocks, which he estimates to be about 23% of their use right now, compared to five percent here in the United States.

Listen to or download my interview with Phil here: Phil Abbott Interview

Hurt says another major factor driving prices is market inelasticity, both on the demand and the supply side. “An area on the supply side that we’ve seen is land,” said Hurt. “Today there’s just not any crop land available to shift over to the high demand crops of corn and soybeans.”

Listen to or download my interview with Christ here: Chris Hurt Interview

The report also noted that with grain stocks much tighter, weather is a bigger concern now than it was when prices were up in 2008.

Read the full report here.

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, Food, Soybean

Tom Brand New NAFB Exec

Chuck Zimmerman

Meet the new Executive Director for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Tom Brand. Tom’s new position was just announced by NAFB.

You can hear NAFB President Tom Steever make the announcement: Tom Steever Announcement
“I think a lot of folks may know me because of being a farm broadcaster,” says Tom, who’s currently the farm director at KFEQ. He has a decorated history as a member of the NAFB. He’s a Horizon Award winner, a nominee for Farm Broadcaster of the Year and he presided over the Association in 2003. He’s still getting used to the idea of this latest change in his career. “You know, whenever I came to my first [NAFB] convention in 1990, if someone had said, “I’ve seen the crystal ball and you’re going to be the executive director of NAFB,” I sure wouldn’t have believed them,” he said, after being informed that he was selected to be in that position.

Congratulations Tom!

I remember hiring Tom at Brownfield Ag News and watching him learn to do market reports from Derry Brownfield! I think he learned well. The photo is from an NAFB Washington Watch I attended a couple of years ago.

NAFB

Soil Sampling With An iPad

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 312Precision Earth. Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it. Would you guess it’s an iPad app for soil sampling? Didn’t think so. At the 2011 InfoAg Conference I learned about it when I saw their booth in the trade show.

Pictured are Chris Tucker (left), Precision Earth and Aaron Hutchinson, Cogent3D, Inc. holding an iPad showing Precision Earth in action. I visited with Chris to learn more about how this application got started. Chris has been a diehard Microsoft guy who got his first iPhone last year. He’s been in the precision ag industry for a long time. The iPhone “opened his eyes” that it could be used as a data collection device. He sees lots of farmers carrying them around. So he got started working with Aaron’s company to develop what is now Precision Earth. He sees it evolving beyond just soil sampling to a full fledged crop scouting device. The app uses shapefiles which can be managed by iTunes or a local computer app they can provide. The feedback that Chris received at the InfoAg Conference was far more positive than he even hoped for. That’s a good sign. There are plans to utilize other mobile platforms in the future.

Precision Earth should be available in the iTunes Store soon. It will also work on an iPhone!

Learn more about it in this week’s program: Precision Earth on an iPad

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

The ZimmCast ends this week with some music from Music Alley. It’s called “Eliptical White Tablet” by Elika. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

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.

Agribusiness, Apps, Audio, ZimmCast

Wyffels Corn Hybrids More than Numbers

Cindy Zimmerman

wyffels corn strategies illinoisThe slogan for Wyffels Corn Hybrids is “More than a Number” which is the company’s philosophy when it comes to both their customers and their hybrids, but they do keep adding more numbers to their lineup of corn hybrids.

“We released 12 new products this last year,” said Wyffels Product Development Manager Bob Jackson at the 2011 Wyffels Corn Strategies event in Dixon, Illinois last week. “So, there’s kind of a new hybrid for everyone of our customers, whether they’re in southern Minnesota or southern Illinois.”

wyffels corn strategies illinoisCorn is all Wyffels does and Bob says when they look at new hybrids they are looking for what will make the farmers more money. “So that means more bushels, better standing products and better plant health. It’s always about making the customer more revenue.”

Dozens of Wyffels corn hybrids were on display at the Illinois Corn Strategies event last week and will be this week as well at the Iowa event in Malcom. If you would like to attend the Iowa event on Wednesday, find out more information on-line or contact your local Wyffels Seed Representative.

Listen to or download my interview with Bob here: Bob Jackson with Wyffels Hybrids

Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 Illinois Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Seed

Some Thoughts on Google+

Chuck Zimmerman

How many of you are using Google+? How many of you care? Just what we need, another social network right? I kind of feel that way myself. We’re doing pretty good with Twitter, Facebook, etc. I know many of you are just getting used to using them. So do we really need another one? I’ve had a number of people asking what I think and do I recommend it. Here are some initial thoughts.

To start with, it’s like all things new. Not everyone is there so who are you going to talk to? That will change and is already changing as they allow more and more people in. I think the early adopter have jumped on Google+ and they are writing a lot about it. Reactions are mixed. Some love it and some already hate it. I’ve only been in it for about a week and with relatively little time to get the full experience. At first take it seems a little like Twitter on steroids.

Since social networking is all about having conversations I liken this to looking at a new house and wondering if I want to live there. I kind of like the house I live in now but is this one better? Does it have more room and better appliances? Do I want to have two houses (Facebook and Google+)? Some people are very comfortable with a primary residence and a vacation house at the lake or the beach. I’m not so sure I want that. But since my business is all about using social media I will use them both.

Getting started with Google+ is relatively simple, especially if you are already an active Google user. I am. I use Google for all kinds of things. My first thought was that Google+ might be a good fit and integrate with all my other Google apps (Gmail, iGoogle, Analytics, etc.). Since we’re still in the beta stage of Google+ I’m sure there will be a lot more development work as Google gets the feedback so many users are providing. For example, I’d like to be able to have a Twitter post update Google+. I like that and so do many of my followers on Facebook. However, I’ve seen comments from people wanting to keep Google+ “pure” from apps that allow this to happen.

I think it’s too early for me to provide a point by point comparison between Google+ and Facebook. I don’t see Google+ competing with Twitter that much yet btw. There are too many 3rd party apps for Twitter that make it such a useful tool and Google+ doesn’t have them yet. Emphasis on yet.

Google+ makes it real easy to add friends and group them which is called Circles. Yeah, there’s some new language to learn. I’ve already got around 50 friends and families connected to me but only a few are very active yet. Most of them are already active in Facebook and seem to be staying there most of the time.

So, should you join? Why not? Whey not create an account and at least take a peek? You can even create a nice little vanity url for yourself on Google+. Here’s mine: http://gplus.to/ChuckZimmerman.

Have you joined? What do you think? Feel free to add comments.

Social Networking