ASA Vice President Works for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

ASA Alan KemperHis wife calls him a “PMG” – Professional Meeting Goer – because Alan Kemper has been serving on the boards of state and national agricultural organizations for over two decades now.

As First Vice President for the American Soybean Association, Alan will soon be the first person to have served as president for both ASA and the National Corn Growers Association. He was president of NCGA from 1989-1990. Naturally, he grows both corn and soybeans on the family farm in west central Indiana with the help of his son Brian.

Alan was a very busy guy at the Commodity Classic last week but I was able to do a quick interview with him while he was in the BASF exhibit presenting the annual BASF/ASA Scholarship award. He talked about the scholarship program, the attendance at Classic, his thoughts on Secretary Vilsack’s speech and the importance of the soybean export market. Listen to or download that interview in the player below:

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

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BASF Supports Future of Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

The future of agriculture is important to BASF and that is why the company sponsors scholarships for young people along with both the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Soybean Association (ASA).

BASF NCGA Scholarship winnersThe NCGA program awards five $1,000 scholarships to college students studying agriculture, while the ASA program chooses one student to award $5,000. So, each year for the past three years, BASF has helped six students pay for their future career in the field of agriculture. All awards are presented at the annual Commodity Classic

I talked with BASF North American Crop Protection Group Vice President Nevin McDougall about the scholarship programs as he was presenting the students with their awards during the Classic last week. “We have a very common base and understanding in terms of vision, values and goals for the respective grower organizations and we feel it’s our obligation to contribute to the long term sustainability to their membership, to help educate the young talent that will be contributing to the growth of our industry in the future,” Nevin told me.

Nevin enjoyed getting to meet the scholarship winners who were able to make it to the Classic to receive their awards and talk about their future goals, as well as getting to meet their families. “Our scholarship initiative is a good example of how we are trying to contribute to individual family farms, support their children in terms of their educational goals and to be a part of the future they’re trying to create,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Nevin in the player below:

Commodity Classic Photo Album

You can view more photos that are BASF only from Commodity Classic in the BASF Commodity Classic photo album.

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic

CME Launches Open Markets

Chuck Zimmerman

The CME Group has started a blog.

The exchange launched Open Markets to communicate CME Group’s views and help spark a dialogue on a broad range of issues that affect a diverse, and increasingly interrelated, array of financial markets.

In addition to the blog, content will include testimonies and speeches, white papers and features from CME Group Magazine, video clips and your media articles that cover related issues.

Open Markets’ initial focus will be on the various proposals and discussions taking place in Washington, D.C. among regulators and lawmakers. Over time, content will expand to include a broad range of issues such as market access, technology and globalization.

Follow CME on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the Open Markets with this link.

Agribusiness

A Tour of “Hard Work U”

Cindy Zimmerman

missouri beefThere is a rare treasure nestled in the heart of the Ozarks in Southern Missouri – a college that offers students a degree in hard work.

I’ve lived in Missouri for 18 years but never knew about the College of the Ozarks until this week when I joined the Missouri Beef Industry Council (MBIC) for a luncheon and tour at the school located just south of Branson in a picturesque spot called Point Lookout. It was originally founded as a Presbyterian high school in 1906 and today is a Christian-based four year liberal arts college with 1500 students who pay their tuition by working 15 hours a week on campus and two 40 hour work weeks at the end of each semester. Students are chosen on the basis of financial need as well as academics and only about 1 in 7 who apply each year actually get the opportunity to attend.

college ozarkThe college offers 48 different degrees, including culinary arts, hotel and restaurant management, agribusiness, animal science, and ag education. There are about 125 students majoring in some area of agriculture there, but the school offers amazing hands-on experience for them, including hog, dairy and beef operations, a meat processing facility and a feed mill. They also have a beautiful center that is open to the public which features fine dining, historic lodging, meeting rooms, and more. During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Sarah Palin chose to visit the college as one of her stops in Missouri.

You can find out more about the college by listening to the MBIC podcast here or in the player below the video. And you can see all the photos from the tour online in this Flickr photo album.

One of the highlights of the tour was a culinary demonstration and gourmet lunch prepared by college Chef Robert Stricklin. The menu included Cranberry Cinnamon Biscuits, Pear and Feta Cheese salad with Baby Greens, Braised Short Rib Shank with roasted vegetables and rosemary jus, Black Walnut Coffee Toffee Ice Cream made by the students – and everything was fabulous! Chef Stricklin made his five star gourmet entree look amazingly easy to prepare in his short demonstration, which you can view below:

Audio, Beef, Education, Food, Video

Corn Ethanol Still in Its Infancy

Joanna Schroeder

The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) is relatively new to Commodity Classic with this being their third year. You could tell when you talked with John Caupert, the director of NCERC, how excited he was to be there so I asked him why.

“There’s energy, there’s enthusiasm back around around ethanol and biofuels. Some people believe that corn ethanol is an old technology. We believe just the opposite. We feel the corn ethanol industry is still in its infancy and through technological advancements, there’s much more to learn and prove in corn ethanol production.”

Caupert explained that the NCERC is unique in that they bring together the ethanol industry, corn growers and livestock producers and one of their goals is to ensure that there is a long-term market for corn growers through the corn ethanol.

Recently, they have spent a lot of time reviewing data regarding how the value of how co-products improve the greenhouse gas footprint of fuel ethanol production. “I think more often than not, we forget about the fact a corn ethanol plant in addition to producing fuel ethanol, also produces this high value livestock feed called distillers grains,” said Caupert.

Caupert noted that although they don’t often work directly with farmers, they work closely with both the National Corn Growers Association as well as state corn groups.

I only touched on the work that NCERC is doing. You can hear more about their research by listening to my interview with John below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Ethanol, Research

Dow AgroSciences Develops SmartStax for Corn

Joanna Schroeder

A recent focus of Bill Hendrix, the Biology Team Leader, Insect Management Traits & Seeds Treatments for Dow AgroSciences, is developing the new SmartStax technology for corn with Monsanto. I spoke with Hendrix about the new SmartStax traits in more detail during Commodity Classic.

The SmartStax technology brings eight traits in a package of corn. It received registration in 2009 and is now available for the 2010 growing season. I asked Hendrix how this new technology benefited farmers.

“It’s a benefit to growers because it offers the broadest spectrum. It will bring the best of both the Herculex trait as well as the Yield Guard traits. So it’s got double modes of action, above ground and below ground. Plus, it has Liberty, Link and Roundup Ready herbicide traits,” answered Hendrix.

According to Hendrix, another major benefit for the farmer is that because of the resistance management protection and the extra modes of action, the EPA has granted a reduced refuge from 20 percent traditionally, to 5 percent.

Hendrix added that no matter where the farmer is in the country, the traits will bring them protection.”

You can get more information here as well as by listening to my interview with Bill below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Seed

Channel Brand Launches Genuity SmartStax Products

Joanna Schroeder

Commodity Classic was full of new products and technologies and two new product lines have come from the Channel Brand. The Channel Brand is under the Channel Bio company (launched in September 2009) which is a Monsanto company.

I spoke with Stacy Markovich, Channel Brand Manager about Channel Bio and the new Channel Brand products. “Our mission is to serve as the American farmers most trusted source for seed, and Channel is one of the largest seed companies in the United States,” said Markovich.

The company’s primary products are corn and soybean but they also have alfalfa and sorghum. This year, they have a new corn lineup with 18 new products including six Channel Brand Genuity SmartStax products. On the soybean side, they have 24 new products including 20 Channel Brand Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield products.

Also in the Monsanto pipeline are products that will address drought, drought tolerance and water utilization needs. Click here to learn more about the Channel Brand products.

You can listen to my interview with Stacy below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Seed, Soybean

Golden ARC Awards Are Back

Chuck Zimmerman

Do you remember the Golden ARC Awards? I do. And they’re back.

Are you one of the best in agricultural public relations? Do you contribute valuable professional communications to your position? Are you proud of your work?

Since its inception in 1990, the Golden ARC Award came to represent the pinnacle of success in agricultural public relations. Now reintroduced after a multi-year absence, the Golden ARC esteem will undoubtedly wow clients, bosses and colleagues.

Now is the time to submit your best work to the prestigious 2010 Golden ARC Awards. The deadline is Saturday, May 1, 2010.

The Golden ARC Awards Program consists of two divisions, the “Campaigns Division” and the “Tactics Division.” Within each portion, individual categories exist. Check out the rest of the site for more information on how you can win in 2010.

Download entry form here (pdf). Get the FAQ’s here.

ARC

Future of Soybean International Marketing Efforts

Chuck Zimmerman

Phil BradshawInternational marketing was the focus of a press conference held by the United Soybean Board at Commodity Classic. First up on the podium was Phil Bradshaw, USB Chairman and a soybean farmer from Griggsville, IL.

He spoke about future efforts to increase soybean exports as conducted by the USB. A record 1.56 billion bushels of soybeans were exported in the most recent marketing year which is “every other row of soybeans produced in the United States.” He says the USB has just selected a new organization to represent soybean growers on the international level. That will be the newly re-organized U.S. Soybean Export Council.

You can listen to or download (mp3) Phil’s remarks here: cc-10-usb-bradshaw.mp3

Jim CallThe next person to speak was Jim Call, USB International Marketing Chair and a soybean farmer from Madison, MN.

Jim says the new model that USB has selected to increase soy exports will allow them to better coordinate on planning with exporters and customers. They expect to decrease the duplication of efforts and invest Checkoff dollars more wisely.

You can listen to or download (mp3) Jim’s remarks here: cc-10-usb-call.mp3

Ike BoudreauxLast to address the press conference was Ike Boudreaux, USSEC Chairman and a soybean farmer from Lebeau, LA.

Ike says the USSEC is proud to have been selected by the USB to execute the new international marketing model. The new efforts will begin October 1, 2010. He says that USSEC is updating its operational structure in order to earn the business. He describes some of the elements of the plan they will be putting in place which includes targeting six key markets.

You can listen to or download (mp3) Ike’s remarks here: cc-10-usb-boudreaux.mp3

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Ag Groups, Audio, Commodity Classic, Soybean, USB

Cadet and Authority Assist Big Sellers for FMC

Joanna Schroeder

I had a chance to spend some time with Gail Stratman, the Midwest Technical Sales Lead for FMC, during Commodity Classic and I learned two things. First that Cadet and Authority Assist are big sellers, selling out the past two years, and second, why both products work so well.

Cadet is a post emergence herbicide that was introduced about two years ago for corn and soybeans. “It’s a very good product for growers using Roundup Ready or glyphosate tolerant crops, that are looking for an additional herbicide to put with their glyphosate to help control those weeds they may be experiencing some trouble controlling with straight glyphosate,” explained Stratman.

Some of the weeds that are controlled using Cadet (and Authority Assist) are velvet leaf, water hemp, morning glory, and lambs quarters. Stratman noted that it’s a unique product in that it has a very broad spectrum of weed control and it’s labeled for use at the same rates for corn and soybeans so if a grower has both crops, you don’t have to worry about spray drift.

Authority Assist is a pre-emergence herbicide for soybeans used to control early season weeds. The product limits weed competition, which researchers have found to be as important in soybeans as in corn, and helps to improve yields.

You can learn more about the two products by listening to my interview with Gail below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Soybean