The Technical Side of AgHaven

Chuck Zimmerman

Pat McGintyThe Chief Technology Officer for AgHaven is Pat McGinty. He’s responsible for the software that runs AgHaven. We talked about their agricultural search engine which is really tweaking the interest of a lot of people. He says that it allows for search results specific to agriculture. It’s not search results from other search engines. He says they crawl the web and find pages that fit the ag category and then prepare them for delivery to users. He knows of no other website that can do this. This could make searching much less time intensive.

We also talked about the social networking section of AgHaven. He says that businesses can feel comfortable using it since there are a number of built in security features that make it a better environment for business than a place like Facebook.

Pat also makes a point to encourage people to visit and provide feedback. There’s still a lot of development to do in AgHaven and this is a good time to let them know what you think.

You can listen to my interview with Pat here: Interview with Pat McGinty

2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

Audio, Commodity Classic

AgWired Joins BIVI at Swine Health Seminar in Phoenix

Joanna Schroeder

I’m getting settled in here in Phoenix for the 2011 Swine Health Seminar hosted by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI). They couldn’t have picked a more beautiful location to host their event – Phoenix is sunny and beautiful today. I’m guessing everybody who flew in from a cold climate will be having some fun in the sun over the next few days.

They will also be learning about the big issues in the swine industry from some top experts. BIVI has put together a great educational program for this afternoon that includes:

  • Nick Giordano, NPPC Vice President and Legal Council who will be discussing Emerging Markets;
  • Erin Strait, DVM with Iowa State University will be discussing Emering Mycoplasma Diagnostics; and
  • A practitioner panel featuring Mike Eisenmenger, DVM at the Swine Vet Center; Tom Gillespie, DVM with Rensselaer Swine Services; and Randy Jones, DVM with Livestock Vet Services who will be discussing Emerging PRDC Control Opportunities.

Several hundred of BIVI team members and customers will be on hand for the seminar this afternoon (and the fun to follow). For BIVI’s customer’s, they hope the information will help them become more profitable.

For those who couldn’t make it – no worries. I’ll be bringing you the information from the meeting right here on AgWired.com.

Check out the 2011 BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Classic Commodity Group Unity

Chuck Zimmerman

Commodity LeadersWe’re talking commodity group unity here at Commodity Classic. Here’s the leaders of each of the participating groups, Bart Schott, NCGA, Alan Kemper, ASA, Gerald Simonsen, NAWG and Jerry McReynolds, NSP.

Emceeing this morning’s general session once again was Mark Mayfield. He asked them each to answer the question, “What are you doing to enhance public trust and what efforts do you have to make ag more sustainable?” Listen to their answers in this entertaining part of the session.

You can listen to them here: Commodity Group Leaders at Classic

Visit our photo album often: 2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

Ag Groups, ASA, Audio, Commodity Classic, NCGA

Ag Secretary Vilsack at Commodity Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

2011 commodity classic tom vilsackAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave the keynote address today to an audience of more than 4,500 farmers and commodity group representatives during the General Session of the 16th Annual Commodity Classic in Tampa, Florida. In his remarks, Vilsack commended American farmers, ranchers and producers for helping to lead the United States’ economic recovery by shattering agricultural trade records, creating jobs at home and ensuring affordable food for U.S. families.

“We are all fortunate to be living through one of the most productive eras in history for U.S. agriculture,” said Vilsack. “American farmers and ranchers are seeing record sales of farm goods abroad and looking forward to some of the best net incomes in decades. U.S. agricultural exports for fiscal 2011 are on course to shatter previous records and enjoy a record $47.5 billion trade surplus. This record productivity is creating employment across a variety of sectors, including transportation and storage. Moreover, because American agriculture produces 86 percent of the food we consume, our families spend less at the grocery store compared to consumers in much of the rest of the world. As producers of high-quality products and conscientious stewards of our lands, American farmers and ranchers deserve our gratitude.”

Best Vilsack comment that I heard was “OPEC has more to do with food prices than farmers.” He got loud applause for that!

Listen to or download Vilsack’s address here: 2011 Commodity Classic Vilsack Address

2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

Audio, Commodity Classic, USDA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Ohio Brownfield Ag News radio network will be introduced in 2011.
  • Monsanto Company will provide more than $1 million in sponsorships of National FFA Organization programs, awards, events, student scholarships and more this year.
  • MGEX announced preliminary February monthly electronic trading volume of 190,639 contracts, eclipsing the previous record set in June 2010.
  • John Melick, a fruit and vegetable farmer from Oldwick, New Jersey, was named one of the four 2011 National Outstanding Young Farmers by the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees) at their Awards Congress.
    Zimfo Bytes

    BASF Announces NCGA and ASA Scholarships

    Cindy Zimmerman

    2011 commodity classicAlong with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)and the American Soybean Association (ASA), BASF Crop Protection announced the winners of six scholarships during the 2011 Commodity Classic on Thursday in Tampa. This is the fourth year for both scholarship programs.

    “BASF is dedicated to providing the next generation of agricultural industry leaders with resources to further their education and advance the agriculture industry,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Together with the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association, we’re happy to support future leaders in agriculture through scholarships.”

    The NCGA Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program awarded five $1,000 scholarships to college students pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field. The winners are Hayley Bunselmeyer, a junior at the University of Illinois majoring in crop sciences; Kristin DeSutter, a junior at the University of Illinois pursuing agricultural communications; Amy Peyton, a junior at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business, economics, and public service and administration; Andy Pringnitz, a junior at Iowa State University studying agricultural business, economics and international agriculture; and Jessica Schwartz, a first-year graduate student at Ohio State University specializing in horticulture and crop sciences.

    “Providing students with the financial resources to complete their education is the key to building strong agricultural leaders of tomorrow,” said Pam Johnson, a Corn Board member and liaison to the Grower Services Action Team. “We thank BASF for its integral role and support in these scholarships.”

    Listen to or download brief interviews with all five scholarship award winners here: NCGA-BASF Scholarship Winners

    2011 commodity classicThe ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, is a $5,000 award presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college.

    Kevin Berkland, a high school senior from Sibley, Iowa, was named the 2011-2012 scholarship recipient. Kevin plans to study microbiology at Iowa State University beginning next year. Unfortunately, his flight from Iowa was delayed and he was unable to make it to the awards presentation press conference on Thursday, but he will receive recognition at the ASA banquet on Friday night.

    We did get a chance to hear from Laura Stevens of Falls City, Nebraska, who is now a junior at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was the very first ASA SOY Scholarship winner in 2008. “This was just a really helpful scholarship to me as it helped me to be able concentrate on my studies during my first year in college and also strengthened my commitment to stay in agriculture,” Laura said.

    Listen to or download a brief interview with Laura here: 2008 ASA-BASF Scholarship winner

    More photos of the winners can be found in the
    BASF Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

    ASA, Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA, Soybean

    New Holland Sponsors Classic Media Room

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Chuck and Gene HemphillOur sponsor New Holland is also sponsoring the media room. Cindy took a photo of me with Gene Hemphill, New Holland and good friend.

    We’ve covered some miles over the years and I’m very proud to be working with Gene once again here at Classic. This evening New Holland also sponsored the annual reception for the media. We had some nice social time with the leaders of the NCGA, ASA, NAWG and NSP. They all made brief remarks, thanking the ag media and of course New Holland. I’ll add mine to theirs. Photos are in the photo album.

    2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

    Commodity Classic, New Holland

    Trade Top Issue for Corn and Soybean Leaders

    Cindy Zimmerman

    2011 commodity classicThe issue at the top of the list for the farmer leaders of the American Soybean Association (ASA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is trade.

    “In the last marketing year, over 60% of the soybeans in the U.S. were exported, compared to 55% just a year ago,” said ASA president Alan Kemper of Indiana during a press conference on Thursday. That represented the equivalent of 1.9 billion bushels of soybeans, valued at over $21 billion, setting a record for the fourth straight year. “China again was our top customer for U.S. soybeans, importing over 25% of all soybeans grown,” he added.

    “Given the importance of exports and market development to the U.S. soybean industry, ASA is urging the administration and Congress to maintain full authorized funding for USDA’s export programs,” he said. In addition, ASA is calling for the approval of pending free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.

    Also at the ASA press conference, chairman Rob Joslin of Ohio talked about the organization’s Farm Bill objectives and first VP Steve Wellman of Nebraska discussed an EU proposal that would disallow the use of biodiesel produced from U.S. soybeans.

    Listen to or download the opening statements of the ASA press conference here: Commodity Classic ASA Press Conference

    2011 commodity classicApproval of the pending FTAs was also one of the main issues NCGA president Bart Schott’s discussed during the corn growers press conference. “We were encouraged by President Obama’s mention of them in his state of the union address and we hope this means movement,” said Schott. “Frankly, we need quick action on these three agreements which have been languishing in Washington for years.”

    Other important issues for NCGA are updating locks and dams on inland waterways for grain transportation and the review of atrazine by EPA.

    Listen to or download Bart Schott’s opening statement here: Commodity Classic NCGA president

    2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

    ASA, Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA, Soybean

    New Holland Rustler Giveaway

    Chuck Zimmerman

    New Holland Rustler GiveawayNew Holland provide one lucky Commodity Classic registrant a big prize again this year. All growers who completed the demographic information on their registration forms were automatically entered. The prize this year was a Rustler 120 utility vehicle!

    The winner is Brock Millan, Millan Farms, Mitchell, SD pictured in the seat of the vehicle along with Gene Hemphill, New Holland (left) and Mike Adams, AgriTalk, who emceed the giveaway at 5pm in the New Holland booth at the trade show. There are more photos in our photo album and I’m uploading a video of the event on to YouTube which I’ll add later. Congrats to Brock!

    Post Update: Here’s video of the whole giveaway ceremony:

    Visit our photo album often: 2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

    Commodity Classic, New Holland, Video

    AgHaven An Ag Destination

    Chuck Zimmerman

    AgHavenNew AgWired sponsor AgHaven is now ready for anyone in the agricultural industry to sign up. You can create a free account and use their one of a kind search engine or get social with their built in social networking tools.

    This morning I spoke with Srik Soogoor, President (pictured left), who gave me some background on how the idea for AgHaven came about and the process he’s gone through to bring it to fruition. He says that about a year and half ago they developed a search engine for agriculture because there wasn’t one that provided dedicated ag search results. That search engine is available in AgHaven.com. But that’s not all you’ll find there. They decided to expand the project to include a social networking community and a marketplace where you can buy and sell products and services. Anyone can get started by creating a free profile. Let’s say you want to sell products. Once you’ve created your profile AgHaven allows you to easily start your own “store.” AgHaven also accepts advertising and that can be tied to search engine results as well as with video. Srik says they’re also in discussion with a number of ag media organizations about syndicating ag news content.

    AgHaven has been in “beta” mode and I’ve been a beta tester. They’re still looking for comments and feedback so please feel free to let them know what you think.

    You can listen to my interview with Srik here: Interview with Srik Soogoor

    Visit our photo album often: 2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF New Holland and AgHaven

    Audio, Commodity Classic