Former Secs. of Ag Discuss Future

John Davis

Six former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture… John Block under Pres. Ronald Reagan, Clayton Yeutter under the first Pres. George Bush, Michael Espy and Dan Glickman for Pres. Bill Clinton, and Ann Veneman and Michael Johanns under the second Pres. George (W.) Bush… and one on video… Robert Bergland for Pres. Jimmy Carter… are on the diais today in Washington, D.C., discussing the future of agriculture as the Farm Foundation is hosting The Food and Agriculture Policy Summit.

As I post this, the conversation has just started, moderated by former Rep. Charlie Stenholm and Farm Journal’s Roger Bernard.  The first question out of the gate is what advice would these former secretaries suggest to the next Ag Secretary.

Block suggested that the next secretary should put together a team quickly to hit the ground running.  Glickman stressed the need to meet the employees at USDA and make sure to make contact with the key members of Congress.  Espy said, in light of the current economic conditions, the next secretary will need to do more with less.  Yeutter pointed out the importance that energy will play in the future.  Veneman and Johanns talked about how this country’s export policies are key to agriculture and how the next secretary will need to make sure our trade policies are beneficial to American agriculture.

I’ll have audio to post a little later as they are still talking.  Fascinating conversation and I promise to have more a little later.

Farm Foundation

Driving Green In Middleburg, FL With John Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

The Show BloggerHello from GreenSouth Equipment in Middleburg, FL. Today is the kickoff of the John Deere Drive Green Utility Tractor Show. After a cool start things are warming up and you’ll be able to follow all the action on the show blog.

We’re about to get started here but I’ve already got photos uploaded and really like the high speed internet access here inside the dealership! I’m creating separate event photo albums for the show blog but have one created for AgWired which I’ll just be adding to occasionally.

So, all you who are freezing in the great white north, look at the photos and wish you were here. Lots of blue sky and green gear.

John Deere

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • John Deere is the “Official Equipment Sponsor” of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The Games will be held Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 2010 in Lexington, Ky.
  • AGCO Corporation has built and opened three new tractor assembly centers located near Baltimore, MD; Houston, TX; and Tacoma, WA. The assembly centers have created more than 60 new full time jobs.
  • A new international Web portal is bringing live bidding to the used agricultural and construction equipment industries. Equipment Alley is a centralized source to find, buy, list and sell used agricultural and construction equipment that goes beyond the borders of nations and brands.
  • Indiana Crop Improvement Association will host the 23rd Annual Illinois-Indiana Seed Conditioning Workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009 at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel and Suites at Keystone Crossing.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Pilgrim’s Pride Filing Chapter 11

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Pilgrim's PrideIt’s going to be interesting to see how the word “ethanol” is used at the upcoming International Poultry Expo which we’ll be covering right here on AgWired. Apparently it’s not a pleasant word at Pilgrim’s Pride. The company just announced a Chapter 11 filing and according to a story on AgWeb it sounds like they’re blaming their troubles on, you guessed it, “ethanol.”

    Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC), together with certain of its wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), today announced that in an effort to address certain short-term operational and liquidity challenges, it filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”). The Company’s operations are expected to continue as normal throughout the bankruptcy process while it develops a reorganization plan to resolve its temporary operational and liquidity issues. The Company’s operations in Mexico and certain operations in the United States were not included in the filing and will continue to operate outside of the Chapter 11 process.

    I don’t know about you but I’m just constantly amazed at how many companies and even industries are blaming their woes on ethanol. Just take the grocers who are blaming high food costs on ethanol even though the price of corn has dropped significantly. They still haven’t dropped their prices. I’m guessing there’s a lot more to this story than just a short lived bump in corn prices.

    Ethanol, Food

    eplantspace.com Social Networking Site

    Chuck Zimmerman

    eplantspace.comThe urge to connect socially online continues to grow. I am constantly surprised at who I’m connecting with online via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I have new friends and contacts on each of them every day, in fact, several times every day. That’s why I find it interesting when a company or organization tries to create their own social networking site. Take BBI International for example.

    BBI International Inc. has officially launched its ePlantSpace Web site, a social networking platform dedicated to connecting plant managers and other members involved in the ethanol industry.

    Mike and Kathy Bryan, co-founders of BBI International, conceived the idea for ePlantSpace because they wanted to rekindle relationships with industry members. They are hopeful that those involved in the ethanol industry will do the same.

    I wonder how it will work out. My guess is that there are already many of their target audience connected socially online. I think I understand why BBI is trying this. However, since Cindy and I have been so involved in the ethanol business we’re connected with many of those in the industry, including plant managers through what I guess you can call “mainstream” sites, several of which have groups set up for this same purpose. Additionally, we connect with them via our news blog which has an open rss feed, Twitter feed and podcast.

    What do you think? Is it worth the time and investment to create your own social network at this point?

    Via Ethanol Producer Magazine.

    Internet, Social Networking

    Food and Agriculture Policy Summit

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Farm Foundation SummitFarm Foundation and Farm Journal Media are co-hosting a big event in Washington DC this week. The Food and Agriculture Policy Summit features three days of programs focused on the wide range of domestic and global issues facing the food system and agriculture today.

    “For a number of years, Farm Journal has sponsored an annual policy forum in Washington DC and this year we decided to join forces,” said Farm Foundation president Neil Conklin.

    The policy summit actually kicks off today with the Farm Journal Forum on “What Will Change Bring? Impacts of a New Congress and Administration in the New Era of Agriculture” which continues through Wednesday.

    Wednesday afternoon will be a joint event between both Farm Journal and Farm Foundation – “A Conversation with the Secretaries. “We’ve invited all nine of the living past Secretaries of Agriculture to participate in a conversation to talk about what advice they might give a new secretary of agriculture and just what their perspectives are on the challenges we face today,” said Conklin. (Pop quiz – can you name them all? Here is the answer)

    On Thursday, Farm Foundation examines long-range policy options in the conference: “Agriculture and Food Policy: A Strategic Approach.” This conference examines the challenges for food and agricultural policy to feed a growing world over the next 30 years.

    John Davis will be providing coverage of this event on both AgWired and DomesticFuel.

    Listen to my interview with Neil about the event here: summit-conklin.mp3

    Farm Foundation

    JackPlot™ National Competition Blog

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Cindy Playing JackPlotWe’re very happy to announce the JackPlot!™ National Finals Competition blog. This is a new project for ZimmComm, working with the folks at Winfield Solutions for CROPLAN GENETICS® Seed. In case you don’t know about JackPlot!™ then you can find out more here.

    Cindy will be the JackPlot!™ blogger this week in Las Vegas. Here she is checking out our JackPlot!™ game before she takes off for the competition.

    Sixteen crop producers from across the country will travel to Las Vegas during the first week of December to participate in the JackPlot™ National Competition and Sweepstakes – a competition focusing on crop production insight and expertise, sponsored by CROPLAN GENETICS® seed and based on the The JackPlot!™ agronomic board game.

    Participants in the Dec. 4-6, 2008, JackPlot™ national competition will be teamed with CROPLAN GENETICS® expert agronomists and will compete for “bushels” of production by answering agronomic questions.

    The December tournament is the culmination of the JackPlot!™ National Competition and Sweepstakes, which began with the release of the JackPlot!™ game in February 2008.

    For more information about the JackPlot!™ Game National Competition & Sweepstakes in Las Vegas go to www.jackplotvegas.com, where you can even vote for your favorite player. For more information about the Answer Plot® or CROPLAN GENETICS® brand products, visit your local CROPLAN GENETICS® seed dealer or go to www.answerplot.com or www.croplangenetics.com.

    Full Release (Word doc)

    Uncategorized

    What’s New With BASF

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast-197 - What's New With BASFLet’s go back to the NAFB Convention and Trade Talk for this week’s program and learn what’s new with BASF.

    To find out I interviewed Amber Shirley, Technical Services Specialist and Craig Lindholm, Marketing Manager – Seed Treatment. You’ll hear them both talk about plant health.

    Amber ShirleyHere in this picture is Amber getting interviewed before I got my turn. She talks about the BASF cereal fungicide portfolio. As she puts it, “Plant health is the talk of the town.” She says fungicides are important for disease control, increase in growth efficiency and increase in drought tolerance. Craig talks about seed treatments of course and says they’ll have 11 products available by 2011. He says that you want to get that seedling started off healthy.

    The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. This one is called “Drive” from the Common Ground. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

    You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 197 (13 min MP3)

    Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Amber Shirley and Craig Lindholm - ZimmCast 197

    The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

    Audio, BASF, NAFB, ZimmCast

    Ken Wurdeman Joins Ervin Group

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ken WurdemanKen Wurdeman has just joined Ervin Group, an agency in Omaha as Director of Public Relations.

    A former broadcast journalist, Wurdeman is a native of Nebraska and brings more than 25 years of experience in agricultural, insurance and healthcare marketing communications to Ervin Group. Wurdeman previously worked at Swanson Russell in Omaha, serving as public relations counsel for agricultural and financial services clients.

    Ervin Group’s clients include Lindsay Corporation, Zimmatic, Alegent Health, GreenLeaf Genetics, and iNet Solutions/Farm Centric.

    Agencies

    AGROTAIN Excited About Agriculture

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Mike StegmannAnother new exhibitor at NAFB Trade Talk this year was AGROTAIN International. You might remember us covering the grand opening of their new stabilized nitrogen production facility and urea storage center in St. Louis a couple of months ago.

    I talked with president Mike Stegmann at NAFB about how the new facility is doing and just what they have to offer the agriculture industry. “I’m real excited about the state of agriculture right now,” Mike said. “I know that we can look forward to seeing a bit of a rocky path but agriculture is an exciting place to be. We know we have to continue to do a better job environmentally and Agrotain provides a great environmental benefit.”

    Listen to my interview with Mike here: nafb-08-agrotain.mp3

    Audio, NAFB