Representing Global Fertilizer Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 253In this week’s program we’ll learn about the International Fertilizer Industry Association. IFA, along with New Ag International, conducted the first International Conference on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers to be held in the U.S. this past week in Miami. I was there courtesy of AGROTAIN.

The Director, Agriculture Service, for IFA is Patrick Heffer who welcomed us to the conference at the start. I’m always looking for an excuse to get back to my home state and I told him that they can hold the conference there any time.

In my interview with Patrick we talk about IFA, the world market for EEF’s and the conference. He was very happy with the attendance.

The International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) is a not-for-profit organization representing the global fertilizer industry. Our members serve farmers everywhere as they meet the world’s growing food, feed, fibre and bioenergy needs in a sustainable manner.

IFA has some 525 members in about 85 countries. About half of the membership is based in developing countries. IFA member companies represent all activities related to the production, trade, transport and distribution of every type of fertilizer, their raw materials and intermediates. IFA’s membership also includes organizations involved in construction, engineering, consulting, agronomic research and training.

Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
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Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

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Ag Groups, Audio, Fertilizer, International, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Evogene Ltd. and Biogemma SAS announced the signing of a licensing agreement for the development and commercialization by Biogemma of hybrid corn lines, displaying improved yield and drought tolerance.
  • The California Walnut Board’s commitment to nutrition education continues through a new partnership with HealthCorps.
  • John Deere announces results of recently completed Nebraska Tractor Test Lab (NTTL) evaluations of its 8320R Tractor: the 320 rated engine horsepower John Deere 8320R provides greater fuel efficiency and higher PTO and drawbar horsepower ratings when compared to similar sized competitive tractor models.
  • The United States Potato Board grower membership elected new leadership during its Annual Meeting March 9-12. Click here for the full list.
    Zimfo Bytes

    HarvestMaster Releases New Field Research Software

    Chuck Zimmerman

    HarvestMaster is bringing new research software to the field for agricultural research

    HarvestMaster is pleased to announce two exciting releases for the Field Research Software (FRS) suite.

    FRS NoteTaking and Harvest – new version 2.1 released
    The new release of FRS NoteTaking and Harvest is now available to users. FRS can be used to collect electronic field notes for field plot observations, flowering and maturity notes, and on-combine measurements from the HarvestMaster Plot Harvest Data Systems. FRS is a Windows Mobile application for the Allegro Field PC.

    “We are pleased to release a new version of FRS. This new release incorporates many recommendations from agriculture researchers. It is faster, easier to use, and more reliable than earlier versions,” said Keith Hunt, Agriculture Product Manager. “Release 2.1 of FRS has undergone unprecedented validation and testing making it rock solid and field ready for our customers.”

    FRS for Laptop – new for 2010
    FRS for Laptop is a brand new offering in the FRS suite for 2010. It brings the FRS Note Taking and Harvest functionality to a full screen PC based computer running Windows XP, Windows 7, or Windows Vista. For the first time, agriculture researchers can use a laptop or other PC device mounted in the combine with the industry leading HarvestMaster HM800 Plot Harvest Data Systems.

    In addition to all the features found in FRS NoteTaking and Harvest, FRS for Laptop features a full screen display showing both spatial and tabular data views during the data collection process.

    Agribusiness, Technology

    Pujols Pulls For Milk

    Chuck Zimmerman

    I admit to being a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. Not a fanatic but a fan. Albert Pujols has been one of my favorite players in recent history and I’m glad to see him wearing the mustache.

    They may represent completely different sports, but when it comes to the health and fitness of America’s youth, these athletes play on the same team. Today, MVP baseball slugger Albert Pujols joins fellow Milk Mustache athletes, NBA All-Star and Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams and gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, as part of the Milk Mustache “Dream Team” to inspire teens to “Drink Milk for a Change.” They know that drinking milk can help make a difference – for their bodies and now through a special community service opportunity in their world.

    Lowfat milk has nine essential nutrients, including calcium and vitamin D for strong bones and protein for lean muscle. Studies suggest being active, eating right and drinking three glasses of fat free or lowfat milk each day may help maintain a healthy weight.

    Pujols ad, which reads, “Want muscle? got milk?” reinforces the importance of milk’s high quality protein. Along with regular exercise, protein can help build and maintain lean muscle – essential for athletes like Pujols to perform their best on the field.

    “For me, I drink lowfat chocolate milk after a long day on the field,” said Pujols, who was on hand to unveil his new ad at the St. Louis Cardinals spring training facility in Jupiter, Fla. “It’s a natural source of protein plus it has carbs so it helps me rebuild and refuel my tired muscles after being active. It’s an important part of my recovery routine to get ready for the next nine innings, season after season.”

    Ag Groups, Dairy

    Enhanced Turf Nutrition

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Elizabeth GuertalEnhanced turf nutrition was the subject of a presentation by Elizabeth Guertal, Auburn University, at the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference.

    Elizabeth says EEF’s are very important to the turf business for two reasons that include economic and environmental. She says that she’s done some work in this area that found that the controlled release sources had much less nitrogen loss to the atmosphere as compared to urea which is the source most prone to loss.

    You can listen to my interview with Elizabeth below.

    Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
    on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers is made possible by .

    Audio, Fertilizer

    United Fresh Produce Association Launches UnitedFresh.TV

    Chuck Zimmerman

    UFPA will launch UnitedFresh.TV with a live broadcast from their Las Vegas Convention. They’ll have daily on-demand video covering their educational sessions. I’m loving how the use of live web streaming and on-demand video is gaining momentum in ag communications!

    The United Fresh Produce Association will launch a new online media website, www.UnitedFresh.TV, with the first live interactive webcast targeted to produce marketers and retailers from the floor of its annual convention.
    The one-hour live internet broadcast will feature a discussion with winners of the United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards Program, sponsored for the past six years by Ready Pac Foods, Inc. The streaming video session will air live at 1:00 p.m. PDT in Las Vegas (4:00 p.m. EDT), Thursday, April 22. The broadcast will allow for live questions from internet viewers worldwide, in addition to United Fresh convention attendees on the trade show floor.     Read More

    Ag Groups

    Insight on N-sight

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Brian WadeFor some insight into the N-sight technique we heard from Brian Wade, AGROTAIN. He was on a panel discussion here at the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference. He covers Europe, the middle east and Africa and is based in Switzerland. He comes from an Iowa farm too.

    Brian spoke about the N-sight technique: A visual and quantitative analysis of urea hydrolysis and ammonia loss from soil. He says the N-sight technique was a project to develop a system to better understand nitrogen losses by “seeing” into the soil. He compares it to an MRI for a body scan. The value to the industry is better understanding to identify ways to reduce the losses. He says “our main goal is to prevent the loss of nitrogen.”

    You can listen to my interview with Brian below or watch the video.

    Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
    on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers is made possible by .

    Audio, Fertilizer

    AgWired High On List of 50 Best Farm/Agriculture Blogs

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It’s always nice to receive recognition for your work. Carol Brown of Online Degrees.net notified me last night that AgWired is on the list as well as our AgNewsWire.AgWired.com website.

    You can find their list of 50 Best Farm and Agriculture Blogs here.

    They have some other interesting lists that include 50 Best Beer Blogs and 100 Best College Sports Blogs.

    Uncategorized

    Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ardell HalvorsonOne of our keynote speakers at the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference was Ardell Halvorson, USDA-ARS. His focus was on the effect of EEF’s on nitrous oxide emissions from various cropping systems.

    He said that the work he’s been doing shows that the use of EEF’s has helped reduce nitrous oxide emissions in his area in Colorado. He says that this is important since it’s one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. This is good for global climate change.

    You can listen to my interview with Ardell below or watch the video.

    Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
    on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers is made possible by .

    Audio, Fertilizer, Video

    Controlled Release Big Element of Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Scotts GuysThere are people from universities as well as fertilizer companies attending the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference. These are the guys from The Scotts Company. I spoke with two of them on a break today. They’re Karl Shrom, Specialty Ag Marketing Manager and Keith Santner, Technical Services Manager. They both work in Scotts Professional Business Group. Many people are familiar with their consumer division and products like Turf Builder. These guys work on the ag side with products that are targeted to specialty markets like strawberries in California.

    Scotts is a company that is a world leader in producing controlled release fertilizers which fall into the overall category of enhanced efficiency fertilizers. Karl says these products allow producers better efficiency while becoming more environmentally friendly and also providing economic benefits. Keith says that our natural resources are not limitless so more efficient fertilizer is an important technical advancement for crop production. You’ll hear them echo comments I’ve heard several times today that EEF’s are a growing category of the fertilizer business.

    You can listen to my interview with Karl and Keith below.

    Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
    on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers is made possible by .

    Audio, Fertilizer