Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • AgraQuest Inc. announced the launch of SERENADE SOIL, the first soil fungicide based on its patented active ingredient Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713.
  • Patrick Pelstring, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of National Wind, lays out the ways in which farmers can benefit economically from wind energy and demonstrates how unobtrusive wind turbines can be to farming.
  • Syngenta and Dow AgroSciences, announced that Syngenta has granted Dow AgroSciences licenses to a number of VipCot cotton varieties, as well as access to its COT102 cotton transgenic event.
  • Thank you to those who have responded with nominees for the 2010 Agricultural Leadership and Excellence Award. If you have not yet had a chance to send in your response, please do so by Jan. 15, 2010. Please send to erica.venancio@agbizkc.com.
    Zimfo Bytes

    AG CONNECT Expo in Action

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ag-connect-setupAG CONNECT is in action as setup has been underway for a couple days now in Orlando, FL. You can see photos in the official ACE Flickr photo album.

    They’ve also been shooting some video to commemorate and document the first ag show for AEM. Here’s a video clip example from the official ACE YouTube channel. You can also follow ACE on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. And don’t forget to get the ACE iPhone app if you’ve got one.

    AgWired coverage of the first ever AG CONNECT Expo will begin after I arrive in Orlando on Sunday. So stay tuned. Between Cindy at the AFBF Convention and me at ACE, it’s going to be a busy week on AgWired.

    Video

    New Year Brings Kixor to Control Weeds

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Weeds are still the number one enemy of growers, costing some $95 billion a year in lost global food production. But this new year brings a new herbicide technology that kicks weed control up to a whole new level.

    basfBASF Kixor herbicide technology was approved for use just as the 2009 season was coming to an end, so growers can plan now to identify their weed control challenges and modify their weed control program for cleaner fields in 2010.

    Dr. Dan Westberg is the Kixor Man at BASF and I talked to him back in November at the NAFB Trade Talk but have been saving that interview for the new year since the harvest was running so late. There is still some corn left in the fields, but most growers can now start thinking seriously about the 2010 season with 2009 behind them. Dr. Dan says Kixor-powered products offer growers a chance for a clean start in 2010. “Start clean next spring, making sure they get excellent burndown of any emerged broadleaf weeds, particularly glyphosate-resistant marestail,” Dan said. “Because if you are in soybeans and you do not get control of glyphosate-resistant marestail in your pre-plant burndown, your solutions for an in-crop application are really limited.”

    BASF has four new products powered by Kixor technology – Integrity for corn, Optill for soybeans, Sharpen for both corn and soybeans as well as a number of other crops, and Treevix for fruit and nut tree crops.

    Listen to my interview with Dr. Dan here:

    BASF, NAFB

    AgChat Tweetup at AG CONNECT Expo

    Chuck Zimmerman

    AgChatNext week we’re going to have an “A” class tweetup. It’s an AGCO/AEM/AgChat Tweetup at AG CONNCECT Expo. Tweetups are a great opportunity to meet in person the people you communicate with via Twitter. After our tweetup anyone who wants to hang around can participate in an actual AgChat!

    Here’s the details:

    Date: Tuesday, January 12
    Time: 6pm following opening session/VIP reception
    Location: News Media Center, Rm. W221, Convention Center
    Sponsor: AGCO

    Refreshments provided. The winners of the Agvocating for Agriculture awards have been invited to join us.

    I’ll be keeping the news media center open for the weekly AgChat session and anyone who would like to stay for it may do so. We have internet access for credentialed media and I’ll try to have a screen so we can easily watch AgChat tweets live.

    I hope to see you there.

    Uncategorized

    Getting Ready for Farm Bureau in Seattle

    Cindy Zimmerman

    afbfI am really looking forward to heading for the blue skies of Seattle this weekend for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 91st annual meeting.

    I do have a special place in my heart for Farm Bureau, since that is where I started my life in agricultural communications. I interned at Florida Farm Bureau while I was still in college at the University of Florida back in 1980 and was hired on full time when I graduated by Gary Cooper of Southeast Agnet who was broadcast manager there at the time. After a brief detour to Maryland, Chuck and I both worked there from 1983-1985.

    afbfOne of my most memorable AFBF conventions was 1985 in Hawaii, when this group photo was taken. You might recognize a few of the folks in the picture. It was lots of fun, but also lots of work. I remember it as the first “multi-media” event coverage I ever did. Chuck was doing video for AFBF and I was the only one covering the event for Florida. I filed radio reports, did press releases, shot and edited a TV story, took slides and wrote stories for the magazine.

    Another memorable one was 1992 in Kansas City, right after we moved to Missouri to work for Brownfield Network. President Bush spoke at that meeting and I anchored a live broadcast of that speech with Lynn Ketelsen, who was president of NAFB at the time.

    I will be heading to Seattle on Saturday as the event officially gets underway on Sunday. If you will not be attending, keep an eye on Agwired for all the happenings.

    AFBF

    Summary of U.S. Grains Council 2009 Corn Mission

    Chuck Zimmerman

    For those of you who didn’t get to follow along with the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission trip I went on last month I have prepared a slide show that will give you a pretty good overview of all we saw and learned. In the show you can hear from some of the key individuals I interviewed including the U.S. corn growers participants.

    U.S. Grains Council – 2009 Corn Mission from Chuck Zimmerman on Vimeo.

    Ag Groups, Corn, International, USGC, Video

    New Fuel Saving Technology from Case

    Amanda Nolz

    Case IH logo Gary Truitt with Hoosier Ag Today recently published an article titled, “New Fuel Saving Technology from Case,” that describes new says Case IH is improving their red tractors to save fuel and innovate the agriculture industry. Check it out!

    Over the next few weeks, some of the biggest farm equipment trade shows will be taking place including the Ft. Wayne show next week and the National Farm Machinery show next month. The latest technology and tractor innovations will be on display. Not only are the size and the power of the new tractor lines impressive, but so is the sophistication of the technology used to operate the machines.

    Tom Dean with Case IH says the new Red tractors will feature technology designed to save fuel, “Our diesel saver technology operates on the old adage ‘shift up and throttle back.’ It automatically does this continuously across a field taking every opportunity to lower engine RPMs.” “Case IH CVT technology automatically adjusts to deliver the best possible balance of power and fuel efficiency,” says John Bohnker, Case IH marketing manager for Magnum and Steiger® tractors. “It definitely hits the sweet spot between power, efficiency and simplicity.”

    Farming, Technology

    NAMA Best Show Will Go On

    Chuck Zimmerman

    best-nama-2Okay, so it’s snowing in Kansas City now. But the show will still go on tomorrow. That’s the Region 2 Best of NAMA. Are you going to a regional best? Check the calendar for all of them.

    The Show Must Go On!

    Worried about the weather in Kansas City? We’re not!

    The Kansas City area will be expecting 3-6 inches of snow today, but we’re confident that by tomorrow evening all roads to Boulevard Brewing will be safe.

    If you are registered and are unable to attend the event, there will be some sort of a refund. We will determine the amount after the event.

    If you haven’t registered for the event yet and would like to join us, please click here to register.

    We look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening!

    Safe travels to all!

    NAMA

    America’s Heartland Goes To Morocco and Egypt

    Chuck Zimmerman

    AmericaSince I just went on a U.S. Grains Council trip to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan I was interested to see that this week’s episode of America’s Heartland features Ohio farmers Dave and Sue Roehm who saw what we saw and that is the investments in their producer checkoff programs hard at work.

    “This trip was a big revelation to me. It was phenomenal the impact export market development programs orchestrated by the Council and U.S. Wheat are having overseas,” said Sue. “When I look at our corn and wheat in Ohio, I will have a whole different perspective. My family’s harvest is truly improving lives thousands of miles away.”

    The program was made possible with a sponsorship from the Ohio Corn Marketing Program and assistance from the U.S. Grains Council and U.S. Wheat Associates.

    The program airs this week and is available online. You can see if it’s scheduled in your area here. It is also airing on RFD-TV on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and again on Sunday, Jan. 10.

    Ag Groups, USGC

    Smithfield Foods Sales Completed

    Amanda Nolz

    smithfield-foods-logo As reported by Hoosier Ag Today, Smithfield Foods has completed the sales of a few ventures. I thought I would pass word on this news for those interested. Below is a clip of the release. Check out the full article here.

    Smithfield Foods has completed the sales of both its Chinese joint venture Maverick Food Company Limited to COFCO Limited and the sale of substantially all of the assets of its RMH Foods, LLC to a group of investors led by the Rocke family.

    Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield foods, says – the sale of these assets demonstrates our continuing commitment to shed non-core businesses with a greater focus on efficiencies and return on invested capital.

    Food, Pork