Positive Swine Industry Economic Report

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe participants at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar heard a positive economic report from Steve Meyer, Paragon Economics. Steve also modeled a new BIVI cap for us.

He starts out saying the best news this year has been hog prices which recovered very nicely in the spring. Supplies have been reduced as a consequence of increased input costs a couple of years ago. This was expected to happen and it has. Exports have been up about 7 percent this year through June. So producers have been able to generate some sorely needed profits. You can hear some more of his thoughts in my interview with him. Steve Meyer Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Don’t Forget Swine Diseases Other Than PRRS

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarWhen it comes to hog production your veterinarian is one of the first sources of information and often considered a “team member.” At the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar Mike Elsenmenger, DVM, Swine Vet Center, talked to us about production.

Mike wanted attendees to know that to have successful grow-finish pigs it starts at the sow farm and that it really starts back at the gilt developer and a lot of time needs to be spent there in the barns preparing the pigs to enter the finish barns. He also wanted the group to know that while PRRS is extremely important, so are the other things. However, because PRRS is so important he says systems need to be created that will produce a PRRS negative pig. Then producers have more options. A negative pig is one that has never seen PRRS virus. Mike Elsenmenger Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Encouraging Area/Regional PRRS Control

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe first presentation of the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar focused on the control of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome which is better know as the PRRS virus. Dr. Laura Batista, DVM, Boehringer Ingelheim, provided a look at various projects to create area or regional control of the disease. She was also encouraging attendees to get involved or start projects in their area.

Laura says the BIVI team supports these projects and initiatives because the PRRS virus is the most important disease right now. She points to the $1.5 million it is costing the industry each day. The projects she has studied and supported range from very local areas (county) to very large regions (state). This is an international effort too. She’s been involved with projects in Canada, Mexico and now France. She says that the efforts have been pushed mostly by veterinarians so far but it really needs farmer/producer buy in and she says that has been coming along nicely. Laura Batista Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Overview

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe emcee for the North Carolina Swine Health Seminar is David Gocken, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica North America National Sales Manager for the Swine Group. I spoke with him before we got started to get an overview of the program here.

David says this is the 10th annual seminar that BIVI has conducted and although it has been in different places, the facility we’re in was the first one. That’s kind of fitting for an anniversary.

The seminar will include an economic update for the industry in addition to presentations on animal health issues. David says the seminar attracts senior executives to operations managers within various farms and types of production systems and from as far as Iowa. He hope they leave the seminar with some good technical business information that will help them with their operation. He says the seminar has evolved beyond an educational business event to a social one with attendees bringing their families and getting to know each other in a very casual family friendly atmosphere. David Gocken Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

BIVI Swine Health Seminar

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe 10th annual Boehringer Ingelheim North Carolina Swine Health Seminar is in session. We’ve got a classroom full and an all day program.

Topics today include Area/Regional Control of PRRS, Nursery/Finishing, Key Points of Production, Economics, Oral Fluid Diagnostics, Controlling Post Wean Scours and lots of time for Q&A. If you don’t know what all that means don’t worry. I’ll be posting interviews with our presenters during the day and then you’ll know more than you do now!

The seminar is not all classroom learning. It’s also family time and you’ll see that in my BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • American Farmland Trust (AFT) is celebrating National Farmers Market Week through its America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest and the launch of an online leader-board of the top 20 vote getters in each of four categories. The lists of boutique, small, medium and large markets track up-to-the-minute results during the final month of voting, which closes on August 31.
  • The Florida Specialty Crop Foundation has appointed agriculture industry veteran Sonia Tighe as its executive director effective Aug. 1.
  • Individuals interested in the seed industry, especially the areas of corn, soybeans and sorghum can now register to attend the American Seed Trade Association’s CSS & Seed Expo, held Dec. 7-10 in Chicago, Ill.
  • AG CONNECT Expo announces that registration has opened for the 2011 show.
    Zimfo Bytes

    North Carolina Swine Health Sunset

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The sunset over the Intracoastal from Wrightsville Beach, NC was pretty. This is just one of the scenes from the Boehringer Ingenheim Vetmedica, Inc. 10th annual North Carolina Swine Health Seminar. Cindy and I are here through the weekend and I’ll have a number of stories for you tomorrow.

    We had a nice rain shower which we could actually use in central Missouri now. Participants are coming from all over the country and have been arriving all afternoon. So sit back and relax and we’ll have some fun with photos and interviews during the next couple days.

    Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

    Camelina Gaining Favor with Farmers for Biodiesel

    Joanna Schroeder

    Farmers in several regions of the U.S. are discovering a new potential cash crop – camelina. Camelina is beginning to find favor with both the biofuels industry as a strong potential feedstock for biodiesel, as well as with farmers who are discovering they will be able to grow the crop profitably.

    One such farmer is Steve Camp, whose farm is located in Lacrosse, Washington. He is working with researchers from Washington State University (WSU) to test the viability of camelina for biodiesel. This program is one element of a recent initiative known as the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest” project, a large scale effort to create biodiesel for use in aviation applications. Camp was featured in an article focusing on WSU’s research.

    Camp began growing the crop in 2007 after visiting an oilseed rep who was encouraging farmers to test the crop. Last year, he crushed the camelina commercially and used it to run his tractor and pick-up. This past winter, he also pressed some of the camelina using a press from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the result is waiting in storage to be converted to fuel.

    Camp’s initial outlook is sunny on crop. “I feel good about the possibilities for camelina,” he said. “I am excited about this endeavor. I really see potential. I’ve got enough experience now to know that it does work.”Read More

    Biodiesel, Farming, Video

    Register for Export Exchange

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Registration is now open for the Export Exchange 2010, an international trade conference focused around the export of U.S. coarse grains and the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS).

    usgcThe event is co-sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association and the U.S. Grains Council and will bring together more than 150 international buyers of U.S. DDGS and coarse grains with more than 300 U.S. producers and agribusinesses. “We are excited to have the Renewable Fuels Association co-sponsor the Export Exchange 2010,” said USGC President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr. “The burgeoning world population is demanding more meat, milk and eggs. U.S. DDGS and coarse grains continue to play an important role in livestock and poultry feed rations globally. We have to educate and connect our buyers and sellers to continue to grow vital markets for the United States.”

    The conference will be held on Oct. 6-8, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Hotel in Chicago, Ill. Registration information is available here.

    Ethanol, Grains, RFA, USGC

    Busy BASF

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Playing catch-up here on news from the past week out of BASF Crop Protection

    basfFirst, the company recently released “Top Plots: Episode 2” starring award-winning corn and soybean farmer Gary Porter of Mercer, Missouri. In the video, Porter shares how he began farming with his father in the 1970’s in an area not known for deep fertile crop ground – the far northern part of Missouri. Despite facing challenging land every year, Porter consistently ranks high in the National Corn Grower Association (NCGA) National Corn Yield Contest and won the competition in both 1994 and 2003.

    Also, BASF is in the final stages of defining Initium® fungicide, a new active ingredient designed to protect a wide array of specialty crops and ornamentals from disease. Research on Zampro™ fungicide—a new multi-mode preventative fungicide for specialty crops, and Orvego™ fungicide—a formulation specifically for the greenhouse and nursery markets was presented at the recent American Phytopathological Society (APS) in Charlotte, NC. EPA registrations for the products are expected in 2012.

    basfLast, but certainly not least at all – BASF is proud to announce that Kixor® herbicide technology was the largest new herbicide product launch in two decades, applied to more than 10 million acres in first year. Launched almost a year ago in September 2009, the Kixor chemistry powers a family of four products – Sharpen™ herbicide, OpTill™ herbicide, Integrity™ herbicide and Treevix™ herbicide. Mike Hofer, Kixor Marketing Manager, says the new herbicide chemistry has been successful in part because it addresses two of the most common challenges faced by growers – managing input costs and protecting yields – by controlling broadleaf weeds quickly and providing residual activity on tough broadleaf weeds.

    There you go – all caught up on the latest BASF news!

    BASF