Gabriela Cruz Presented Kleckner Trade & Technology Advancement Award

Chuck Zimmerman

During the annual TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable our participant from Portugal received a prestigious award. Gabriela Cruz received the Kleckner Trade and Technology Advancement Award. I spoke with her about her award and participation in the roundtable and you can listen to our conversation below.

Gabriela Cruz is passionate about many things: the family farm that she and her sisters work and manage on the eastern border of Portugal; the use of soil conservation to combat the erosion that annually tries to steal their land from them; and access to the technology that will allow her to prevail in the future.

Those passions, and Cruz’s drive to change attitudes of European governments that block farmer-access to genetically modified (GM) crops, led to her selection as the 2010 winner of the Kleckner Trade and Technology Advancement Award.

The award, given by Truth about Trade and Technology (TATT), seeks to recognize “strong leadership, vision, and resolve in advancing the rights of all farmers to choose the technology and tools that will improve the quality, quantity, and availability of agricultural products around the world.”

You can listen to my interview with Gabriela here: Gabriela Cruz Interview
TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Farming, Food, International

Simultaneous Livestock and Ethanol Production

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the places visited by the TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable was Couser Cattle Company. Our host was Bill Couser. Bill conducted a fascinating presentation about his marriage of row crop farming (corn/soybeans), livestock production and ethanol production! You can see a portion of his explanation in the video below. He used a long table to display all the products he produces starting with an ear of corn and winding up with ethanol (2.81 gal/bushel of corn) as well as by-products like DDGS and ultimately fine quality beef. I loved his description about the whole food vs. fuel debate, “It’s rubbish!”

Thank you to the National Corn Growers Association for making my participation in the program possible.

TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Corn, Ethanol, Farming, International, Sustainability, Technology, Video

MachineryLink Gives Soybean Champ Working Man’s Award

Cindy Zimmerman

kip cullersWorld champion soybean grower Kip Cullers got a plaque from Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and a crystal globe trophy from the Missouri Soybean Association for breaking the soybean yield record again. But, MachineryLink presented the “Crop King” with a more practical honor – an embroidered pair of his trademark overalls.

kip cullersTodd Branson and Mark Gabrick were on hand at the Country Cupboard in Stark City, Missouri yesterday when the announcement was made that Kip broke his own yield record again, with 160.6 bushels per acre on his 2010 test fields. “We wanted to give him something he could actually use,” they said.

MachineryLink, which maintains the largest private fleet of combines in North America, is headquartered in Kansas City and is one of several companies that partners with the soybean champion. Our friends at BASF are also proud to be partners with Kip, and they have set up a special spot on their Facebook page to send congrats to Kip. I mean, really – over 160 bushels per acre!? Holy cow! That’s worth a note of appreciation. Send him one here.

View or download photos from Kip’s big announcement here:
Kip Cullers 2010 Soybean Record

BASF, Soybean

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Cotton Board, Memphis, Tenn., is pleased to announce William A. “Bill” Gillon as its new President and CEO.
  • The man who has served as executive director of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers since its inception six years ago, Aaron Putze, has accepted a position with the Iowa Soybean Association.
  • The United Fresh Produce Association has hired Dr. Barry A. Eisenberg as its new vice president, food safety services.
  • Balchem Corporation announced the addition of Ric Grummer, Ph.D. to its Animal Nutrition and Health Division. He will assume the new position of ruminant technical director.
Zimfo Bytes

Kip Cullers Beats His Soybean Yield Record – Again

Cindy Zimmerman

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon traveled down to the southwest corner of the state to congratulate world champion soybean producer Kip Cullers who broke his previous record yet again with 160.6 bushels per acre on his 2010 test fields.

kip cullers“Agriculture is the backbone of Missouri’s economy, and growers like Kip Cullers are the reason why,” said Governor Nixon. “Missouri farmers feed, fuel and clothe the world, and they also create jobs, support local businesses and help our communities thrive. When it comes to soybeans, Kip Cullers continues to take the science to a whole new level, and his work is blazing new trails that will keep Missouri agriculture moving forward.”

One of the secrets to Kip’s soybean growing success is BASF products like Kixor herbicide technology and Headline fungicide, so BASF is providing a way for the agriculture industry to congratulate him on this achievement.

“We are pleased to announce that we are rallying all of agriculture to congratulate Kip,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, US Crop, BASF. “BASF employees will be leading the way in sending personal congratulations to Kip on our Facebook page SuperSoy landing tab, and through Twitter using hashtag #SuperSoy.”

To send your congratulations, go to the SuperSoy landing tab on the BASF Crop Protection Facebook page and upload your personal message of congratulations to Kip Cullers. BASF will present Kip with an album of all the congratulations received during Commodity Classic 2011.

Listen to remarks by Dale Ludwig with Missouri Soybean Association, Governor Nixon and Kip here: 2010 Soybean Yield Award

Photos of Kip with the Governor, and his friends and family can be viewed here on Flickr:
Kip Cullers 2010 Soybean Record

Watch the 2010 Soybean Yield Award presentation here:

Audio, BASF, Soybean, Video

American Corn Grower On TATT Farmer Roundtable

Chuck Zimmerman

One of our TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable participants is Pam Johnson, Iowa farmer. Pam is a board member of the National Corn Growers Association. She is not only participating in the roundtable discussions but was also on the panel of this morning’s Biodiversity World Tour town hall mtg.

I spoke with Pam before the afternoon roundtable session got underway. She farms corn and soybeans with her husband and sons in northern Iowa. She says this discussion has been great for her because farmers share a lot of the same issues and concerns around the world. She thought this morning’s town hall meeting was a good one with an audience that understands that there are a lot of definitions for terms like sustainability. She says that the point was made that farmers are working hard to be productive while maintaining a viable business and taking care of their land and other resources. She hopes that the farmers visiting the United States will take away the idea that they have to be able to operate in an atmosphere where their government policy, the public and consumers work with farmers. In other words, it’s not an “us vs. them” situation.

You can listen to my interview with Pam here: Pam Johnson Interview
TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, International, NCGA

TATT Roundtable Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

The TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable is now in session. This is a discussion which will take place this evening and continue tomorrow morning with a concluding lunch.

After introductions we’re now involved in a discussion about issues like the growing world population and challenges faces farmers who are trying to produce food to feed them all. I’m listening in and will be conducting some interviews with various participants to post in coming days. There are some very interesting farmers here from a variety of types of farms.

TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, Biotech, International, Technology, Trade

TATT Global Farmer Roundtable Tours ISU Seed Science Center

Chuck Zimmerman

The Truth About Trade & Technology Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable participants went from meeting with our Sec. of Agriculture to a tour of the Iowa State University Seed Science Center. It was a short but fascinating look at the largest public seed testing facility in the country.

We got a real behind the scenes look at the various labs before heading off to our next stop on the Bill Couser farm, Couser Cattle Company. I’ve just updated the photo album and will have more interviews coming.

TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, University

Biodiversity World Tour Panelists

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s our panel at the Biodiversity World Tour town hall mtg. with Sec. of Ag Vilsack (right). It has been a very interesting discussion with lots of questions about organic vs. traditional agriculture and sustainability. I believe you’ll be able to watch a recording of the session on the BWT website.

The participants include:

Rajesh Kumar, Vegetable Farmer from Tamil Nadu, India.
Camila Illich, Field Crop Farmer from Guarapuava, Brazil
Pam Johnson, Corn and Soybean Farmer from Central Iowa, United States.
Gary Munkvold, Seed Science Endowed Chair, Chair of the Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business, Iowa State University.
Judy Chambers, Director of the Program for Biosafety Systems in the Environment and Production Technology Division at IFPRI, Senior Advisor to USAID.

Our moderator is Orion Samuelson, WGN (left).

After this morning’s session I’ll be following the TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable participants to a farm tour before we return to Des Moines for their opening session. So I’ll see you along the way, especially on Twitter.

TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, International, Sustainability

Opening Biodiversity World Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was an opening speaker at the Biodiversity World Tour stop on the campus of Iowa State University. It is being webcast live right now and I believe a recorded version will be available later. If you’d like to hear the Secretary’s comments I have them posted below.

The theme of the town hall meeting taking place here is “How can we feed a growing world while protecting our environment?”

You can listen to Sec. Vilsack’s opening comments here: Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack Comments
TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Biotech, International, Sustainability