Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers Improve Sustainability

Chuck Zimmerman

Charlie WalkerWhen it comes to sustainable food production, enhanced efficiency fertilizers are starting to play a role. At the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Charlie Walker, Incitec Pivot Ltd., Australia was on the program to talk about how they’re using urease and nitrification inhibitors to accomplish this. If you like a good Aussie accent then you’ll enjoying listening to Charlie. He’s a technical and development manager for his company.

He told the audience that EEF’s can improve environmental quality. However, when he thinks of sustainability he also thinks about profitability and minimizing off-target impacts. He calls it a “double whammy.” It has to not only help the environment but also make sense financially for the farmer. He recommends working with a well informed agronomist since there isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to EEF’s. He says that in Australia EEF’s are in the very early stages of adoption.

You can listen to my interview with Charlie 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, International, Sustainability

AgChat Nation

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 255If the AgChat Foundation has its way the whole nation will be participating in a weekly Twitter conversation. Okay. Maybe that’s a little grandiose but the goal of the Foundation is to get many more farmers involved with Agvocacy by telling their story and interacting with consumers and each other via social networking.

In this week’s program I’ve got another in my series of interviews with AgChat Foundation board members. You can listen to Kansas farmer, Darin Grimm, talk about his involvement and what we hope to accomplish.

Darin farms with his father and a couple of valued partners raising row crops and feeding cattle in the northeast corner of Kansas. Darin has been involved for a number of years in precision agriculture and using data to help understand and improve agronomic decisions on the farm. “With such a small amount of the population directly connected to growing their food today, social media seems to be a vital component in helping people understand today’s farm business. My personal passion is applying the data skills I have learned from working with technology such as sensors and GPS systems to the world of
social media.”

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

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.

Audio, Social Networking, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Mosaic Company announced that it entered into an agreement with Vale S.A. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. related to a proposed joint venture that will own the Bayovar phosphate rock mine being constructed by Vale in Peru.
  • The National Pork Producers Council has hired Chris Wall as assistant vice president for government relations in its Washington, D.C., public-policy office.
  • IRON Solutions, Inc., will consolidate its management and headquarters functions in new offices in Franklin, Tenn.
  • The Oklahoma Pork Council selected Ron Hays, director of farm programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, to receive the Distinguished Service Award.
    Zimfo Bytes

    First iPad Review

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Here’s my first review of my new iPad. I’m sure I’ll have more to write in coming days after I get accessories and have more time to be on it. If you’ve already got yours send me a photo of you with it and let me know your thoughts.

    I’ve got my extra Apple bluetooth keyboard paired to it which makes typing a lot faster. The built in keypad is very easy to use and a big relief from the iPhone one, especially for those with big fingers.

    This will not replace my Macbook Pro notebook. However, for some people who only want to do email, browse do social networking and consume media (books, magazines, movies, etc.) this will be quite sufficient. I see me using it at home to grab and do the above functions and it’s going to be great for the airports and planes.

    I like the fact that it turns on instantly. So let’s say you come home, sit down in your recliner and want to deal with email or surf the web. Pick it up and boom, you’re online. Read More

    Uncategorized

    Happy Easter

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Happy Easter AgWired fans. Today is a day of celebration since it marks the greatest event to ever happen in the history of the world. Jesus rising from the dead.

    Since so many people will be celebrating by coloring Easter eggs and cooking big meals I think we should give thanks to God for our bounty and sending His Son as our savior. And if it’s not too presumptuous, I also want to thank our farmers and ranchers who produce the safest and most nutritious and bountiful food supply in the world. In fact, I would apply that to all farmers anywhere in the world.

    Uncategorized

    USDA April Sense of Humor

    Chuck Zimmerman

    USDA does have a sense of humor. At least Mary Ann Leonard at the National Agriculture Library does. Here’s her April Fool’s Day post on the NAL Blog. It’s so good I had to share it. The photo credit is, “by Extraterrestrial Farmers United Intergalactic rights reserved.”

    USDA, the “Every Day, Every Way” Department, made its play for the hearts and minds of visitors to our Nation’s Capital by employing alien crop circle technology to carve the Department’s logo into the grass of the National Mall.

    Tourists lucky enough to be on the observation deck of the Washington Monument on April 1st got a bird’s eye view of the spectacular sight.

    Strangely, however, only one photo of the phenomenon — the one you see above — was released. All other photos were eerily erased without any known intervention.

    Miraculously, the green expanse is expected to be back to normal by Friday, April 2nd, just in time for the crowds that will descend on the Mall and the Tidal Basin area this weekend to see this year’s cherry blossoms.

    USDA

    AgWired iPad

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The (first) AgWired iPad has arrived and is fully synced and ready for action. Give me a day or two to use it and I’ll be writing about my impressions.

    In the photo are my iMac, iPad and iPhone. You can get a perspective on size from that. From a very quick first impression, it has a beautiful screen and readability is significantly easier than iPhone. I’m thinking some shirt makers have got to be coming up with a pocket design that is, let’s just say, huge! LOL. As if you’d be putting this thing in a pocket anyway.

    My case and a couple other accessories are still on their way and I’ll be including them in my ongoing review. For now, let me just say that AgWired looks awesome on an iPad!

    Uncategorized

    National iPad Day

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Alert and soon to be uber-cool AgWired fan, Curt Blades, is in line at the Apple Store in Des Moines to obtain his iPad. Yes folks. Pics like this one are all over the web this morning on National iPad Day.

    Curt says there’s at least 100 in two lines, one for reservations and one for walk-ins. If he sends one after his pick up I’ll add it later.

    Yours truly is hoping that the big brown truck shows up today since there is no mid Missouri Apple Store.

    Post Update:

    Here’s Curt’s iPad being checked out. He’ll beat me to having his synced but if all goes well, mine will be done by end of day too.

    So why does anyone care? Keep reading AgWired and you’ll see the story unfold as this new technology continues to change the way we consume and use media.

    Uncategorized

    ABM Agri Council/Readex Research Farmer Media Study

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It looks like we’ll have another study out next month on how farmers use media, especially “digital.” The American Business Media’s (ABM) Agricultural Council and Readex Research will conduct a major agricultural research study that will explore the use of digital, mobile and social media channels by farmers and ranchers. I hope they survey some AgChatters! There has been a lot of this research done in the past couple years. It will be interesting to see how this study compares to the others.

    The study’s objective is to gain new insights into how specific digital channels fit into the overall behavioral pattern of farmers and ranchers and to understand how these channels layer onto other traditional channels in terms of influencing behavior.

    “We believe this research will add significant new information to the industry’s knowledge base and enable Ag media companies to better serve the needs of Ag marketers,” said Bill Miller, vice chairman of Meister Media Worldwide and chair of ABM’s Agri Council.

    Some of the specific question areas the study will address include: how often farmers and ranchers view, visit, attend or use different Ag media or information sources; what media and information sources farmers and ranchers use at different points in the decision-making process; and how the importance of various media and information sources is likely to change in the next three to four years.

    The study is currently in the field, with results available in April 2010.

    Media

    AgChat Foundation Farmer Board Member Welcomes You

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Let’s go ahead and meet another farmer member of the Board of Directors of the AgChat Foundation via YouTube. He’s Jeff Fowle, California. As the fourth generation to farm and ranch at his current location, and raising the fifth, it is extremely important to Jeff that the land remains productive, the environment healthy and the water plentiful. “Engaging in a positive manner through social media and other outlets is essential in order to effectively communicate with the public what, why and how we do what we do. An educated public and consumer, is agriculture’s best insurance policy for future generations to share our passion and commitment to providing the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply in the world. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to work with such a diverse and enthusiastic group of agvocates on what is certain to be a most rewarding endeavor.”

    You can meet some other board members on the AgChat YouTube channel. Yes, we’re into social media folks, direct from the farm.

    Video