Fives Minutes with Farm Progress Fuel Sponsor Star Energy

Joanna Schroeder

The Farm Progress Show last week was a huge success, especially for the Farm Progress Show 2010 fuel sponsor Star Energy. They provided all the biodiesel, along with FS Companies of Iowa and Renewable Energy Group (REG). This is the company’s second year providing fuel for all the farm equipment along with generators and such things as gators with Dieselex Gold, a diesel fuel blend enhanced with a 20 percent blend of soy-biodiesel manufactured by Ames, Iowa based REG.

I spoke with Jason Stauffer, Energy Management Specialist/Area Sales Manager for Star Energy about why this sponsorship was so important to his company. He said that there is no better way to demonstrate the benefits of biodiesel than people seeing it in action.

One benefit of biodiesel is its ability to reduce emissions, which in diesel vehicles often present themselves in the form of an unpleasant odor emanating from black smoke. You only have to add a B2 blend to begin to see these issues disappear and when you fuel with B20, you get nothing but clean air as Stauffer noted that many people who stopped by their booth said they didn’t see or small a thing.

Although this particular sponsorship is focused on biodiesel, the company also provides E10, E85 and propane to farmers around Iowa. They have 23 retail locations where farmers can fill up their equipment or an operation can sign up to have the fuel delivered right to their farm.

“We made the choice years ago not to use regular unleaded,” said Stauffer who continued by saying its been a great move for them.

Just like selling renewable fuels to the agriculture market is a no-brainer for them, so is their fuel sponsorship for the Farm Progress Show in 2011.

You can learn more about Star Energy and its Farm Progress Show fuel sponsorship in my interview with Jason. Star Energy Official Fuel Sponsor of Farm Progress

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Farm Progress Show, Farm Shows

Iowa Corn Fed Game Day Pump Rallies

Joanna Schroeder

If you live in Iowa, then you understand the frenzy that surrounds the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game. The Iowa Corn Growers Association surely does and realized that this game is a great way to educate Iowans about how many products are made with corn – more than 4,000. Some of the everyday products made with corn include toothpaste, milk, the tires on your car, drywall, bubblegum, and more.

I spoke with Mindy Williamson, the Iowa Corn Growers Director of Communications, to learn more about the benefits of their Grid Iron sponsorship, known as Iowa Corn Fed Game Day. “We like to call it the Super Bowl of Iowa because Iowa and Iowa State is our biggest rivalry here,” said Williamson.

This is their second year sponsoring the series, and it includes the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game, basketball game and wrestling match.

“The Iowa Corn Growers in Iowa wanted to get together and talk about things other than ethanol,” said Williamson. “We love ethanol as corn growers but we know there are also 4,000 other products made from corn. We want Iowans to know what those are and how those affect their life.”

Williamson said that one benefit of the sponsorship is that it gives them a venue to educate people about how many products use corn. Another benefit is that they want to bridge the gap between food and fuel and this is a way to do that.  “There’s not a competition there. There is plenty of corn. We are excellent at growing corn for both markets,” explained Williamson.

Iowa Corn Growers have launched a promotion to bridge that gap along with the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day. They are giving away $5,000 in groceries and $2,500 in ethanol. You can sign up on online at www.iacornfed.com or at the upcoming football game or even during some of the pump rallies leading up to the game which are being held September 7, in and around Iowa City. Flex-fuel vehicle drivers can fill up their tank with E85 for .85 cents and any driver can sign up to win food and fuel. Herky the Hawk will also be there to get everyone jazzed up for the game. If you miss the pump rallies, then come on over to the Krause Family Plaza Friday, September 11 starting at 10:00 am. CT.

We hope to see you there rooting for your favorite team! Go ISU! Oops, did I write that…

You can learn more about the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day events by listening to my interview with Mindy here. Iowa Corn Fed Game Day

Audio, Biofuels, Corn

New Holland Social Media Cow

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 272New Holland is going social and in this week’s program you can learn all about it from Digital Brand Engagement Specialist, Rebecca Yates. I spoke with Rebecca at the Farm Progress Show to learn about how New Holland is using social networking channels like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

One of the components of their launch into the new media world is the “Social Media Cow.” The cow will have an official name sometime in the future Rebecca says. Right now it is traveling the farm show circuit, raising awareness and New Holland is encouraging kids and adults to go to their Facebook page and suggest a name. The social media cow is an inflatable that has signs pointing to New Holland’s social media channels. During the show I saw families using it as a photo opportunity.

Hear all about what New Holland is doing in the social media world in this week’s program: ZimmCast 272

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems 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 a Subscribe page

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Progress Show, New Holland, Social Networking, ZimmCast

It Sure Is Pretty ‘Round Here

Melissa Sandfort

As the months go by, the farming landscape continues to change and take on different shapes. The rectangular fields that were once bare are now covered with crops, and some are spotted with round bales. It’s the changing of the seasons.

Although the technology to make round hay bales has been around since the 1940s, this particular farming practice didn’t become commonplace until the late 1970s and early 1980s. Traditional “square” bales are relatively easy to handle and they stack up neatly; but it takes a whole crew to gather a field of square hay bales and get them to the barn.

A field full of round bales, on the other hand, can be made in part of an afternoon by one person on a tractor, pulling a round-baling machine. Round balers are fast and they are more reliable than square-balers. Round bales, which typically weigh 700 to 900 lbs., are more moisture-resistant, and pack the hay more densely (especially at the center).

And, round bales add their own shape and beauty to the harvest landscape. It sure is pretty ‘round here. Read more here.

Until we walk again…

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • FMC Corporation announced the promotion of Matt Foster to the position of Product Manager in the company’s North America Crop Marketing group, Agricultural Products Group.
  • CGS TYRES announced a $43.81 million investment to build a new agricultural tire production plant in Charles City, Iowa.
  • Dr. Nick Hamon is named as the Head of the Sustainability for Bayer CropScience North America effective Sept. 1.
  • U.S. Wheat Associates has promoted Shannon Schlecht to Director of Policy.
Zimfo Bytes

Know a California Farmer

Melissa Sandfort

Farmville is fun, but if you think you might have real “dirt in your veins,” take the next step and see what it takes for a California farmer to grow real broccoli, harvest real rice or manage a real herd of dairy cows. You can be there in the time it takes to click your mouse thanks to Know a California Farmer (http://www.knowacaliforniafarmer.com/). This interactive farm and ranch experience is brought to you by hundreds of farmers throughout the nation’s number one agricultural state. They represent farms and ranches small and large, organic and traditional. They are the people who actually produce the food you eat and the plants you grow in your backyard.

At www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com, California farmers and ranchers post personal photos, upload videos and write interesting blogs about real agriculture in California. Meet former roadie-turned-dairy-farmer Dino Giacomazzi as he shares his passion for the family business, which has been around since 1893. Read Jennifer Thompson’s blog where “talking grapes” is her second language and she will explain why California grapes make the best wine in the world.

And, it’s a two-way street at www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com. Our farmers and ranchers want to get to know you, too. Log on, post comments and ask questions to a real family farmer.

Social Networking

America’s Favorite Farmers Markets Announced

John Davis

The American Farmland Trust has announced the winners in its 2010 America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest. More than 50,000 people across the country cast their votes, and these are the top ones selected in each category:

Boutique Markets – King George Farmers Market, King George, VA
Small Markets – Champaign County Farmers Market, Urbana, OH
Medium Markets – Falls Church Farmers Market, Falls Church, VA
Large Markets – City of Rochester Public Market (Rochester, NY), Rochester, NY

Each and every one of the 1200+ farmers markets that enrolled in the contest helps ensure that our communities have farms growing and raising the delicious fresh food we all crave. By providing us with a place to purchase regional foods, farmers markets help keep farmers on the land so that they can continue to provide fresh food for our tables as well as community economic benefits and a wonderful place for us to gather.

We want to thank each and every one of the farmers market managers and customers who made the contest happen though their participation. Throughout the campaign thousands of people, along with bloggers and the media were talking about the contest helping to promote farmers markets on both the local and national level! We certainly went a long way toward reaching our goal of making a national splash about farmers markets and the farms they support!

The complete list of the top 20 in each category is available here.

Uncategorized

Touch A Bloggie

Chuck Zimmerman

Actually it’s a Sony Bloggie Touch and it looks like a good addition to your gadget bag of stuff. Think: Good for field demonstration videos at harvest time!

Just pull the Bloggie™ Touch camera out of your pocket and you’re ready to capture Full HD video and 12.8-megapixel still shots at a moment’s notice. You’ll notice the elegant simplicity of a single record button and a large touch screen for showcasing your shots. All the fun is stored on built-in memory, and you can easily upload your movies to your favorite social networking sites like Youtube™ and Facebook™.

Weighing a mere 4.5 ounces and sporting a svelte profile, this compact video camera is made to move. And there are no messy cables. Just swing out the built-in USB arm and connect directly to your compatible computer.

Equipment

Former UN Sec’y General Awarded World Food Prize Medallion

John Davis

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has picked up the World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug Medallion, recognizing world leaders whose actions have benefited mankind but who would not normally be eligible for the World Food Prize.

This World Food Prize Foundation press release says Annan was befittingly awarded the medallion during the first-ever African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in his home country of Ghana:

The award is in recognition of Annan’s international leadership as Secretary-General of the United Nations and as chairman of the board for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. In both roles, Annan has brought significant attention to the issue of global food security, most notably in establishing the UN Millennium Development Goals during his time at the United Nations.

“Over the past decade, no one has done more than Kofi Annan to bring attention to the critical issue of global food security around the world nor in fulfilling Norman Borlaug’s dream of bringing the Green Revolution to Africa,” said Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. The World Food Prize Foundation was founded by the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner who has been called the “father of the Green Revolution” for his breakthroughs in wheat production that helped save over a billion lives, and who had a passion for ending hunger in Africa.

“It is a great honor to receive this award in my home country Ghana. We are making great strides in putting farmers and agriculture at the center of our development,” said Annan, who received a standing ovation from over 600 people in the audience. “Public and private partners are working closely together to transform Africa’s agriculture to benefit smallholder farmers and increase food security and nutrition in Ghana and across the continent.”

“We have left farmers to sink or swim without help for far too long,” Annan said. “After decades of neglect, agriculture has returned to the development agenda. Now it is time to bring together the many players – from farmers to CEOs – to achieve rapid, large-scale results that will put an end to hunger and poverty.”

Annan, who was recognized in 2001 with a Nobel Peace Prize in part for his work to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, now serves as chairman of the board for AGRA … a group that works for a food-secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers.

Don’t forget, this year’s World Food Prize’s annual international symposium will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 12-16 and focuses on “Taking it to the Farmer: Reaching the World’s Smallholders.” David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Jo Luck, president of Heifer International are honorees at this year’s event.

International, World Food Prize

Whoa, Nelly, Big Bud is Big

Joanna Schroeder

Whoa Nelly AgWired peeps. Have you seen how BIG Big Bud is?

Big Bud is the world’s largest tractor and one of the biggest draws at this year’s Farm Progress Show. He was built by hand (all the Big Bud’s manufactured were done one at a time, no assembly line was ever used) and topped out at 27 feet long, 20 feet wide, 14 feet tall and weighing 100,000 pounds. Big Bud is the baby of Ron Harmonn, birthed in 1977 in Montana. The inspiration was derived for the need for a better tractor to plant and grow cotton.

Until this week, Big Bud had been on display in a farm museum in Dyersville, Iowa (the home of the famous ball field from Field of Dreams). He was moved to Boone, Iowa by Crop Production Services (Agrium), a company that provides agricultural inputs to farmers around the country.

Steve Sopher, an area agronomist with Agrium told me that they brought Big Bud in to give growers a walk down memory lane, and that he did. Between 15,000 – 20,000 people came to see Big Bud in person over the three days. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 people were at Farm Progress from around the world, so you can bet that most spent some time checking out Big Bud – and they won’t forget his enormity any time soon.

For those of you who missed out on this amazing piece of history, Sopher said that he will be back at the 2011 Farm Progress Show. You can also watch this video.

And be sure to check out all the Big Bud views in our Farm Progress Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Farm Progress Show
is sponsored by: New Holland and

Cotton, Equipment, Farm Progress Show, Farm Shows, Tractor, Video