Biodiesel Tax Credit Needed Now

Chuck Zimmerman

Rob JoslinIn the general session at Commodity Classic we heard from the President of the American Soybean Association, Rob Joslin. Rob was interviewed by session moderator Mark Mayfield.

Rob says one of his goals has been to visit as many of the ASA state affiliates as he can and he’s over half way there. He thinks it’s important to know what the states are thinking. He says they really need the biodiesel tax credit back in place immediately. He says that’s in a jobs bill in the Senate right now.

You can listen to Rob and Mark below.

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

Ag Groups, ASA, Audio, Commodity Classic, Soybean

NCGA President Takes The Stage

Chuck Zimmerman

Darrin IhnenSouth Dakota Corn Grower, Darrin Ihnen, President of the National Corn Growers Association, took the general session stage this morning with session moderator Mark Mayfield.

Mark had a list of questions for each of the commodity group leaders. With Darrin he started out talking about ethanol. Darrin talked about what the corn growers are doing in this area including pushing for higher blends in the fuel supply. All indications are that this is progressing in a positive way with the science looking good. He says they’re hoping for action by the end of this summer.

You can listen to Darrin and Mark below.

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AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
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Ag Groups, Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA

AgWired at BIVI Event in Omaha

John Davis

Just got in to Omaha just a few minutes ago to cover the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar. Should be a pretty interesting event with a host of veterinarians here to present and answer questions from the audience. I’ll have more details after things kick off a little later.

In the meantime, I’ll let you see my MOJO (even if you don’t know me that well :)).

In my mobile journalism kit, I’ve got my trusty computer, along with the Zoom Handy Recorder H2 audio recorder and my backup emergency camera, the Canon Powershot SD630 (not sure how I can take a picture of the primary camera I’m using for this picture -the Nikon D200). Oh, and I forgot … I have a Flip camera I left in the bag but might use later.

Also, I just started tweeting, so look for me on Twitter @jdavisreporter.

Any way, I’m not quite as tech savvy as Chuck – who REALLY has his MOJO going. But we’ll be able to show you and let you hear from some of the good folks from BIVI who are sponsoring this seminar.

More later!

Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Sec. Vilsack Speaks At Commodity Classic

Chuck Zimmerman

Sec. Agriculture Tom VilsackU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke to the crowd at Commodity Classic just moments ago. You can listen to his full speech below. Joanna is attending his press conference right now and I’ll post audio from it later. Some of the standout phrases I heard included, “Different strategies for different markets” when he was talking about expanding world trade. He also said, “Rural America is the heart and the soul and the guts of America” when talking about revitalizing rural America.

Here are some of the points he made in his remarks taken from the USDA release:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today discussed USDA’s work to strengthen the American agriculture economy and revitalize rural communities in the keynote speech at the 2010 Commodity Classic in Anaheim, Calif. Vilsack focused on the USDA’s efforts to increase exports of agricultural products to help American farmers, ranchers, and workers.

“USDA’s continued work to expand trade opportunities for America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers will play an important role in our effort to rebuild rural communities across the country,” said Vilsack. “Increased trade will not only create important income opportunities for producers, but also the off-farm jobs that are so critical for revitalizing rural America.”

While USDA has traditionally looked at agricultural trading partners by geographic region, under the new trade strategy outlined by Vilsack, USDA looks at countries based on their position on an agricultural market continuum, which enables tailored strategies to increase exports to each individual market. The continuum goes from fragile markets/food security states, to potential growth markets, to restricted access markets, to rapid growth markets, to developed consumer markets. The new strategy will improve collaboration among USDA agencies and guide priorities for international staffing, foreign assistance, and agricultural research.

For example, in potential growth markets, USDA programs will now emphasize building the institutional and human capacity needed to support increased trade, while in restricted access markets, USDA efforts are designed to remove trade barriers. In rapid growth markets, USDA will now emphasize using a full range of programs to build trade capacity, remove trade barriers and develop new markets for U.S. products.

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AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
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NAMA Flips For New Members

Chuck Zimmerman

Get a friend to join NAMA and be entered in a contest to win a Flip camera. That’s cool. Your friend will be entered too. Just get it done by April 12.

Tell your friends, peers, and business associates how you benefit from being a member of NAMA – the learning and networking opportunities, skill development, access to agribusiness solutions, etc. They can access our social media sites directly from our website at www.nama.org to learn more about NAMA activities.

Every NAMA member who recruits a new member between now and April 12 will be included in a drawing for a new flip video camcorder. The more new members you recruit – the better your chances. New members will have their names entered, too.

Simply tell your recruit to join on-line at http://www.nama.org/register.aspx. Tell them to add your name and company in the box titled “Referred By.” They can also call the NAMA office at 913-491-6500 to join; remind them to say they were referred by you! Be sure to tell them they’ll be included in the drawing.

When will the drawing take place? During the annual Agri-Marketing Conference, April 21 – 23, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City. We’d love to have you there, but you don’t have to be present to win!

NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Cibus Global announces the grant of a new patent for Cibus’ unique Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS) in the production of a non-transgenic plant that is resistant to or tolerant of certain herbicides, particularly glyphosate.
  • The Appaloosa Horse Club is proud to announce Bella Sara as a Silver Sponsor for the 2010 World Championship Appaloosa Youth Show.
  • United Soybean Board farmer-leaders recently selected USSEC, under a new organizational structure, to continue as its international marketing primary contractor.
  • U.S. exports of agricultural-related machinery totaled nearly $8 billion in 2009, a 23% drop compared to the previous year, with the largest declines in business to Europe and South America, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
    Zimfo Bytes

    AgChat Tweetup at Commodity Classic

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Here’s the AgChat tweetup group at Commodity Classic. By now you should know that a tweetup is an opportunity for fellow Twitterers to meet face to face at an event.

    In this case those who participate in the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation got together here for a little bit of networking. Cindy (@FarmPodcaster) took the photo from above us as she rode the escalator up in the convention center.

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    AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
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    Commodity Classic

    Nebraska Soybean President Wins New Holland Mower

    Cindy Zimmerman

    New Holland mower winner Hopefully, Scott Richert’s wife believes him by now. He really did win the New Holland G4050 Zero Turn Radius mower in the drawing held at the New Holland exhibit at the Commodity Classic trade show Thursday evening.

    Scott is president of the Nebraska Soybean Association and lives in Gresham, Nebraska. He was the sixth name to be drawn out of the tumbler and announced by AgriTalk host Mike Adams but the first one who was present on the trade show floor to win. But when he called his wife to tell her the news, she didn’t believe him. Scott says that when the snow finally melts in east central Nebraska, he expects to get some good use out of the new mower. “We gotta get the piles of snow off the yard yet,” he said. “But we were just talking about that it’s time for our kids to start mowing so this is going to come in pretty handy.”

    Scott and his wife have four children, two girls and two boys, between the ages of 4 and 12 and the oldest daughter will be the first to learn on the new ZTR mower. Congrats!

    Listen to my interview with Scott as he calls his wife below.

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    AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
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    Audio, Commodity Classic, New Holland

    NAFB at Commodity Classic

    Chuck Zimmerman

    NAFB at Commodity ClassicMembers of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting got together for their traditional Commodity Classic photo this evening during the media reception that was sponsored by New Holland.

    Our good buddy Gene Hemphill, New Holland, was on hand as we welcomed new Executive Director for NAFB, Mark Vail, who is in his first week on the job.

    More photos have been added to our photo album so check them out and keep stopping by as we add even more.

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    AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
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    Commodity Classic, NAFB

    Guess Whose Boots

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It’s time once again for a Commodity Classic edition of Guess Whose Boots.

    The first person to post the correct answer in the comments of this post will win a prize from the ZimmComm New Media prize stash. I have no idea what that will be right now.

    So guess away.

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    Commodity Classic