Ag Council Ag Day Essay Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

ag-council-americaIt’s time once again for the Agriculture Council of America’s Ag Day essay contest. The contest is open to seventh- to 12th-grade students who are asked to submit an original, 450-word essay about the importance of agriculture. This year’s theme is “American Agriculture: Abundant, Affordable, Amazing,” and the deadline is Feb. 12. Teachers and parents are asked to encourage their students to participate.

This year, the theme highlights the importance of agriculture and how the industry continues to overcome new challenges. These include keeping food affordable, meeting the demands of a growing population with fewer acres, working with legislative influences and addressing consumer concerns. Students may choose to specifically address one or more of these challenges in their essay. Agriculture has a touch point in each of our lives and is an amazing industry.

This year’s national winner will receive a $1,000 prize and round-trip ticket to Washington, D.C., to be recognized during the Celebration of Ag Dinner held March 18 at Whitten Patio. At dinner, the winner will have the opportunity to join with industry representatives, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, media and other friends in a celebration of agriculture. Statewide winners of the contest also will be selected. Each state winner will receive a $100 prize.

The entry form and information may be found online here.

Ag Groups

Holiday Greetings

Chuck Zimmerman

AEM Holiday GreetingIt’s Holiday Greeting time and the wishes are rolling in. Here’s the Association of Equipment Manufacturers saying Happy Holidays. I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time with them in January at their AG CONNECT Expo of which we’re a supporting organization.

Do you have a holiday greeting card you’d like to share with AgWired fans? If so, please send them to me and I’ll do my best to feature them here over the next few weeks. Please don’t hesitate to send if it mentions Christmas too. I and everyone I know are okay with that. After all, it’s the reason for the season.

AEM

BIVI Vetera Protecting The Horse

Chuck Zimmerman

The equine group at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has produced a short video to help promote it’s new Vetera virus protection.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI), announces the introduction of its Vetera™ West Nile virus family of vaccines, the only vaccines containing the North American Equine E159™ 2005 horse isolate representative of the virus that is most likely to infect horses today. The Vetera family of vaccines includes protection against West Nile virus; Eastern, Western and Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis; and tetanus, in a variety of combinations.

Agribusiness, Boehringer Ingelheim, Horses, Wackos

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Pour-on dewormers commonly used by beef producers simply are not working like they used to, according to new research data from the USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System Beef 2007-08 cow-calf survey.
  • Bayer CropScience announced that it will launch a revolutionary new biocontrol seed treatment in corn, soybeans and cotton for the 2011 season.
  • San Diego-based biotech firm Cibus Global and Canada’s BrettYoung announced an agreement that will bring new, non-GMO canola traits to North America.
  • BASF announced that it has launched a special section of its Web site dedicated solely to offering in-depth information on seed protection for seed industry professionals.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Filament Marketing Shops For Tots

    Chuck Zimmerman

    shop-for-totsFilament Marketing went shopping for some toys and found them.

    In an effort to support the local community and share some holiday cheer, Filament Marketing, LLC hosted an afternoon of toy shopping, which raised more than $1,700 worth of toys which were then donated to the U.S. Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

    Following the afternoon of toy shopping, participants gathered for a “show-and-tell” reception at a local restaurant before loading the toys up for drop-off at the Madison U.S. Marine Corps Reserve base. Companies represented in the effort included Bovance, Heartland Country Cooperative, Distillery Design Studio, Family Dairies, Horse Shoe Hill Brown Swiss, NMC, SprintPrint, Sunshine Genetics, Trans Ova Genetics, Vance Publishing and the Wisconsin Farm Report, in addition to Filament Marketing.

    “This was a fun way to share the holiday spirit,” says Ed Peck, president of Filament Marketing. “We thought this was the perfect year to start this tradition, given the challenging economy. We are proud to represent the passion and commitment agriculture has to all members of our society – especially those in need. We hope to continue and grow this effort each year, going forward.”

    Agencies

    IFAJ Star Photo Contest

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ifaj-2010-star-photoIt’s time to look into your photo archives and see if you’ve got a competition shot you’d like to enter into the 2010 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Photo Contest.

    Special categories and great prizes for:

    best portrait
    best landscape or nature photo
    best production photo

    PLEASE NOTE EARLY DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2010

    For more information visit www.ifaj.org or contact coordinator Charl Van Rooyen at cvanrooy@landbou.com

    Sponsored by DeLaval

    IFAJ

    Concluding Corn Mission Thoughts

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Corn MissionThe U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is home safe and sound. It was a very interesting 2 weeks of visits with American grain customers and others in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. You might expect these countries to be “all the same.” However, each country has a very distinct culture and that includes everything from food to how they drive.

    A consistent theme was the growth potential in these markets. That’s why the USGC has people on the ground working to develop new business opportunities for American farmers. After our team’s final dinner I spoke with them as a group to get their final thoughts on what they’d like farmers back home to know about their experience. We just went around the table starting with the corn grower members. Here are some of their final thoughts:

    • The main thing is the relationship the USGC staff has with people in all these countries. They appreciate what the USGC does.
    • I got to see what the USGC does on a personal level. These ddgs programs are working well. I hope they’ll buy more.
    • I sure learned a lot about the legwork that goes on on the ground here for these guys. There’s still some work to be done.
    • We spent our time well and did something that will benefit everyone back home. The USGC work has been an important part of keeping our exports going.
    • I think the potential for increased sales is there. The network is in place and working well.
    • Demand looks strong and will continue for a long time to come.

    Shannon Schaffer, the USGC staff representative on our trip added these thoughts:

    • These guys worked really hard on this trip. Lots of time spent on the road and with the customers we service. They served as ambassadors for the USGC and corn growers specifically.

    For my part I want to thank the USGC for allowing me the opportunity to go on this trip and provide documentation of the trip. Besides the stories here on AgWired I have also been posting onto The Grain Board. It looks like I produced a little less than 3,000 photos, and a combination of 50 audio/video interviews and clips. Hopefully it has provided you with a better understanding of the international development work of the U.S. Grains Council and these markets in particular.

    You can listen to my final interview with the Corn Mission Team below:

    USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, Grains, International, USGC

    Iraq Will Be Good Grains Market Upon Stabilization

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Corn MissionThe political and safety situation in Iraq today is making it very difficult to conduct business within the country, especially for companies and farmers that would like to export U.S. feed grains into the market. However, that’s going to change in the next couple years according to some Iraqi businessmen that the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team met with. We met with them over a dinner of Masgouf, which you see cooking around this open pit fire. Masgouf is a traditional Iraq dish of fresh, whole fish that are seasoned with salt, pepper and tamarind and slow cooked on stakes around a fire. The fish used for our meal were carp.

    While our Masgouf was cooking I spoke with one of the board members of the Iraq company that was represented at the dinner. He says they have always imported from America. He says American grain is “the best and very clean.” He says the market is somewhat limited right now but will get better in the future. He says that once things stabilize their poultry sector will grow quickly. He enjoyed meeting with American corn growers.

    You can listen to my interview with the Iraq businessman below:

    USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio, International, Poultry, USGC

    Jordan Dairy Calf Barn

    Chuck Zimmerman

    When the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team toured the Hamoudeh Group dairy northeast of Amman they saw the open yards, milking parlor and as you’ll see in this video clip, the calf barn.

    USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

    International, USGC, Video

    PIC Shows How Environment Affects Performance

    John Davis

    One of the most interesting sessions at the recent PIC Farm Manager Boot Camp in Danville, Indiana was the one entitled “Environmental Requirements for Optimum Wean Finish Performance.”

    PIC Boot CampRon Rush, who works in health and technical services for PIC, talked to the group of hog farm managers about the importance of the environment … the buildings… that they’ll be raising those pigs in. Rush said that while he can’t give any specific advice without actually seeing an operation’s barns, maintenance is key.

    “I’m just trying to get them some basic general rules for ventilation,” he said. Some of the areas he covered was set points for heating and cooling systems, what pigs’ comfort zones are for optimum performance, and areas of concern, such as maintenance and controller errors. He said some of the most common mistakes are dirty fans, louvres and intakes. Plus, most people don’t understand that pigs can handle cooler temperatures.

    “People generally under-ventilate pigs to try to conserve heat, but if you understand that pigs can take cooler temperatures you can bring more air to them without having to run your heat.” Rush added that too many managers either set their temperatures and never touch the controls again or they fidget with them every time they walk by a controller. “It’s important to look at those pigs every day and do want they’re telling you to do.”

    You can hear more of my conversation with Ron here:

    Audio, Swine