Syngenta Seeds and John Deere Credit Team Up

Cindy Zimmerman

Syngenta SeedsSyngenta Seeds has teamed up with John Deere Credit to offer grower financing solutions through Farm PlanTM for the 2011 crop season. Qualified growers purchasing Garst®, Golden Harvest® and NK® brand seed products will be eligible to receive season-long financing, with attractive cash discounts, at competitive interest rates through Farm Plan.

jd creditChuck Lee, head of Syngenta Seeds corn and soybean marketing, says they look forward to making financing an option for their customers. “At Syngenta, we are always looking for ways to help growers build a successful and profitable business,” he said.

“Farm Plan is a great fit with Syngenta because we serve the same customer, ” said Scott Cline, vice president of marketing at John Deere Credit. “Our strategic relationship with Syngenta is helping us achieve our goal of providing dependable solutions that help qualified producers get what they need when they need it.”

Qualified growers will have access to financing through Farm Plan this coming fall.

John Deere, Syngenta

Introducing The Sustainable Beef Resource Center

Chuck Zimmerman

The Sustainable Beef Resource Center was announced during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. It is actually a re-name of the Growth Enhancement Technology Team (GET IT).

The Chairman of the SBRC is Paul Parker, Pfizer Animal Health. He’s pictured here being interviewed by Evan Slack and his light blue bumpered new iPhone. I interviewed Paul with mine!

Paul says the name was changed to better reflect their mission while not raising alarms with consumers. The mission is to provide information to fill the gap in information about technologies to enhance the production of beef. Paul Parker Interview

2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Cattle Industry Conference Media Reception

Chuck Zimmerman

Thank you once again to Merial for not only sponsoring the media room at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference but also our media reception. It’s a very nice opportunity to meet in a relaxed social atmosphere without having to “work.”

Pictured is Daren Williams, NCBA, welcoming us and thanking our sponsor. We have a great group of ag media folks here at the conference and you can find photos of them hard at work in the photo album.

2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference

Issues Facing Cattle Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

The NCBA President Elect is Bill Donald from Montana. He’s pictured here speaking with CBB Vice Chairman, Tom Jones. I talked with Bill about the issues facing cattle producers.

Bill says there are several issues. They include the death tax, the GIPSA rules and the decline of the U.S. cattle herd. Some of these are more time sensitive than others and he says NCBA is hard at work on them. When it comes to the decline in the cow herd he says one ramification is losing infrastructure which would be devastating to the future of the industry. Bill Donald Interview

2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

BASF Survey Identifies Grower Concerns

Cindy Zimmerman

What causes farmers the most headaches? That’s what BASF Crop Protection set out to determine in a survey they recently completed and released at the Ag Media Summit in St. Paul earlier this week.

basfMore than 600 corn, hay, soybean and wheat growers from 44 states participated in the survey, which questioned them about their concerns about the future and specific challenges they face with regard to crop production.

According to BASF Technical Services Regional Manager Dr. Gary Fellows (pictured center) says the survey asked farmers their major concerns looking ahead in the next five years. “Two of those, which occupied them 52 percent of the time, was controlling input costs and maximizing yield,” Gary says. Three other concerns the farmers mentioned were the future of their farm, land issues, and whether they want to expand.

The rest of the survey asked growers about the challenges they face, and they identified three major areas – stress tolerance of crops, unpredictable weather, and residual control of weeds. Fifty-four percent of growers indicated that disease pressure is a major concern and 75 percent of growers indicated that stress tolerance of crops is a difficult issue to manage.

Gary says that BASF already offers products, like Headline and Kixor, that can help growers meet the challenges they face. But they survey helped them to make sure they are looking for the right products down the road. “And we’re pretty excited, because in the next four years we have 28 new products we should be launching, with nine brand new active ingredients,” said Gary.

Listen to or download Chuck’s interview with Gary Fellows from AMS here:
Gary Fellows Interview

Ag Media Summit, Audio, BASF

AGROTAIN Participates in CTIC Tour

Cindy Zimmerman

cticChuck gets back from 11 days on the road Saturday and has one day to unpack and repack before heading out to learn more about how agriculture protects water quality and improves soil health at the Conservation Technology Information Center, Conservation In Action Tour, August 2-3.

The tour will visit farm operations in east central Virginia that embody “Conservation in Action.” The final stop of the tour will also feature a Nutrient Use Efficiency Expo of tools, technology and equipment that make nutrient use more efficient, more profitable and more effective. Companies making this event possible include Syngenta, Pioneer, The Fertilizer Institute, John Deere, Mosaic, and AGROTAIN International.

agrotainI talked with AGROTAIN’s Tim Healey about their participation in the event and the importance of communicating with farmers about the efficient use of nutrients. Listen to or download that interview here:
Tim Healey Interview

Because the tour size was limited, CTIC and AGROTAIN are both sponsoring coverage of the event here on Agwired to bring the educational information offered there to farmers who are unable to attend. Start watching for CTIC Conservation in Action coverage here starting on Monday.

Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Farming

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Farm Credit has launched a new national online presence at FarmCredit.com, revitalized its national giving and sponsorship program, and established a dedicated communications team to build awareness of Farm Credit and its unique mission among those it serves.
  • Willard Agri-Service of Greenwood, DE, was named the National Environmental Respect Award winner.
  • The new Swath Command control system from Great Plains can save growers more than time. It also has the potential to save up to 18 percent on seed costs by eliminating the loss associated with over planting or double planting.
  • The USDA has extended the comment period to the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) proposed rule on livestock marketing for an additional 90 days.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Fine Dining At The Fort

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It’s nice to talk about something other than “the issue” here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. It has sure dominated discussion and I sincerely hope “the issue” can be worked out amicably and soon for the benefit of everyone in the beef industry. If you’re wondering what I’m referring to then check my earlier posts from this morning.

    So, let’s talk about steaks and fine cuisine for a moment. I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of restaurant and other Denver area establishments on display near conference registration. One that caught my eye right away was The Fort. The Fort is a unique restaurant west of downtown a little ways. I met Wayne Lindsey, Marketing and Public Relations Manager.

    Wayne says The Fort was built in 1963 by Sam Arnold as a replica of an 1830’s fur trade fort in La Junta, CO. It was built to be a house and the family lived there for a while. Now it’s a very fine restaurant with 1830’s Colorado cuisine that includes beef of course but also other items like rattlesnake, buffalo and elk. Now that sounds like where I need to go! Wayne Lindsey Interview

    2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

    Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Food

    Beef Board Chairman Describes Summer Conference Work

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Chairman of the Beef Board is Dan Dierschke (pictured left). He welcomed new members of the Board at a luncheon for them to get to know each other. Experienced Board members are assigned as mentors to new members and they were there too.

    After the meal I spoke with Dan about this year’s summer meeting. He says the most significant aspect of the meeting is bringing together producers from around the country who pay into the Checkoff to determine the most effective utilization of the limited resources available to increase profitability for the industry. The decline in the cattle herd has put real pressure on Checkoff revenues. He says, “Whatever it is we do we want to increase demand for our product and increase the revenue we receive for what we produce.”Dan Dierschke Interview

    As you know, I’m Beef Board Blogging again on MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com. You’ll find a number of other interviews and posts over there. I’ll also find other stories to post here in the next couple days.

    2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

    CBB Perspective On NCBA Compliance Review

    Chuck Zimmerman

    In order to get some perspective from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board on the NCBA Compliance Review issue I spoke with CBB Secretary/Treasurer Robert Fountain, Jr. Here’s Robert with Charlotte Coates, CBB Operations Manager. You can read CBB’s statement on the review here.

    In my interview with Robert he describes why the audit was conducted and why it was released on Monday of this week. He says that’s when they received the completed final report from the independent auditing firm and everyone wanted the results as soon as possible. He says that the timing of the report with the summer meeting provides an excellent opportunity for discussion. I’m sure that is happening and there are some meetings like tomorrow’s CBB Update Session where this will be discussed openly.

    Robert Fountain Interview

    2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA