Touring Downtown Graz, Austria

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ 2008 Graz TourDuring the first day of the IFAJ Congress in Austria we went on group walking tours of Graz. Here’s Cindy and me in front of the clock tower on Schloßberg, a hill overlooking the city. Thanks to Harlan Persinger for taking our picture. There were about 20 of us in our group. I’ve got a video clip to share a little later from the tour.

The word “Schloßberg” literally means “castle mountain”, which describes it exactly. It is a hill topped by a castle, in the centre of the city of Graz, Austria.

Among Graz’s most famous tourist attractions, the castle, never occupied until its partial demolition by Napoleonic forces under the Peace of Schönbrunn of 1809, was once a place of refuge for Graz’s residents. It was turned into a public park on account of Ludwig von Welden in 1839.

The Schloßberg contains an “Uhrturm” (clock tower), which functions as a recognisable icon for the city. Near the Uhrturm there is a café with views over the old town. Additionally, on the western side of the Schloßberg, there is a small café and next to the terminus of the funicular railway there is a hilltop restaurant with views of western Graz.


IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • On Friday, June 13, the flood stage of the Cedar River reached nearly 32 feet, flooding the entire first floor of the Diamond V headquarters and much of the ground floor of the company’s manufacturing plant. At least six employees lost their homes or suffered significant damages. After months of rebuilding, Friday, Aug. 22, was a day of celebration for the company, as they showed their appreciation for all those who helped them recover. Reconstruction of the headquarters continues, and the company will move into remodeled facilities on Sept. 16.
  • Belt SC insecticide (flubendiamide) from Bayer CropScience has been registered by the U.S. EPA for control of several economically important Lepidoptera species for corn, cotton adn tobacco growers. According to Bayer CropScience, the material will provide rapid feeding cessation as well as long-lasting residual control for better overall protection of crop value, all without disrupting Integrated Pest Management programs.
  • Beginning with 2009 products, Pioneer Hi-Bred has a new numbering system based on maturity, platform (base genetics) and trait identity. All Pioneer brand corn seed names will begin with the letter P, indicating a Pioneer brand hybrid, followed by four numbers, which will be distinctive in the seed industry.
  • Monsanto Company announced it has received regulatory approval in China for the importation of Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans. China imports accounted for approximately 38 percent of U.S. soybean exports in 2007, making it the largest purchaser of U.S. soybeans.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Annual IFAJ Delegates Meeting

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ Delegates Meeting The IFAJ delegates business meeting is taking place now. It’s the organization’s annual opportunity for each country to hear from the executive committee and have a say in the business of the organization.

    It looks like we’ve got a good showing. You get a true flavor of the international makeup of IFAJ when you see all the country flags hanging around the room.

    IFAJ American DelegationOur American delegation was here on time and ready to vote. I’ll try to post some information about what business gets decided later this afternoon.

    After this meeting we’ll all be going on a guided sightseeing tour of historic Graz. You can already see quite a few photos from my walk around this morning in the photo album. Later on this evening we’ll have a formal reception at the Alte Universitat Graz.

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    IFAJ Congress Welcome

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ 2008 Check-inIt’s the first day of IFAJ Congress 2008 activities and the good news is, our luggage arrived! This morning the Executive Committee is meeting and after lunch we’ll have an IFAJ delegates business meeting. I’m going to try to cover that.

    In the meantime, the welcome committee is greeting attendees in the lobby of our hotel. I spoke with one of the Austria organizers, Verena Mayr. She says there are 227 on her list and that represents a sold out conference.

    She says there are teams from each of the two countries we’re visiting who have worked together to make this event happen.

    You can listen to my interview with Verena here: ifaj-08-mayr.mp3

    I went out early this morning and did a walk around downtown Graz. As you might guess, I added a lot of photos to the album.

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

    Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer

    Austrian Corn Greetings

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Austrian CornAs we arrived in Graz yesterday for the IFAJ Congress and headed from the airport to the hotel, the first landscape that greeted us was corn. Even though they are farther north latitude-wise than even Minnesota, their corn is pretty close to harvest at this point.

    Once we checked in, we found a Kornland yogurt bar awaiting us on the pillows of our hotel room bed.

    KornlandThis Austrian company makes lots of grain-based products like cereals and granola bars. These bars are made with corn flakes and oats and topped with a yogurt cream. Not bad when you are starving after a 22 hour trip!

    Still no luggage, by the way, so I am getting ready to go out and by some clothes to wear this afternoon. Figure that the luggage will not arrive until we spend money on new clothes so we better get that done!

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

    Corn, IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    Checked In For IFAJ In Austria

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ 2008 Check-inAll right. We’re here in Austria. Let the IFAJ games begin!

    After I get this post done I’m going to be taking a nap for a while. Cindy’s already there. Our flight out of St. Louis was 2 hours delayed yesterday and that meant we missed our flight out of Chicago. So we were re-routed via Frankfurt and when we finally got to Graz, Austia (4 hours late) we have no luggage. But of course we’ve got cameras and computers! Our hosts have some nice t-shirts in our welcome bags and that’s what we’ll be sporting later this evening.

    I’ve already started the photo album and you can expect to see lots being added to it in the coming days.

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    FARM CREDIT + FARM SAFETY = MEALS IN THE FIELDS

    Melissa Sandfort

    More than one-hundred Illinois farm families will be treated to a free lunch – and most importantly a quick break from harvest work – during National Farm Safety & Health Week. Farm Credit Services of Illinois is sponsoring its annual “Meals In The Fields” program Sept. 22-26 to help promote farm safety. Each of Farm Credit’s 21 branch offices will select a different farm family every day of the week to provide a lunch meal. The Farm Credit staff serves the lunch wherever the farmers happen to be working that day – whether that be in the fields, in the machine shed, or around the kitchen table.

    All Illinois farmers that reside in the southern 60 counties are eligible for “Meals In The Fields” by registering with a Farm Credit Services of Illinois office or by emailing their name and contact information to info@fcsillinois.com.

    Agriculture continues to rank as one the most dangerous occupations and industries in North America and across the globe. Last year, there were 715 deaths and 80,000 disabling injuries attributed to agriculture. Especially during the long harvest work days, farmers are reminded to take breaks and drink plenty of water to help them stay alert while operating machinery. This year’s National Farm Safety & Health week marks the 65th consecutive signing of a farm safety proclamation by a U.S. President, beginning with FDR in 1944.

    Farming

    The Progressive Farmer in January

    Chuck Zimmerman

    DTN The Progressive FarmerYou can now get more of The Progressive Farmer. The publication, owned by DTN, will start a January issue in 2009.

    “An added publication date allows The Progressive Farmer to improve its overall coverage of the commercial farm market by bringing more value to our readers as well as offering advertisers the opportunity to increase their reach with our 100 percent circulation coverage in corn, soybeans, and livestock,” says Publisher Adrian Blake. “January is a critical time period for farmers who are preparing for the upcoming planting season, so we anticipate that our highly relevant editorial coverage will be extremely useful.”

    The increased publishing frequency along with a tight editorial focus centered around “Your Farm, Your Land, Your Life” is expected to enhance the magazine’s stellar readership score of 90+ minutes per issue which positively impacts advertising effectiveness, Blake adds. The advertising close date for the new January issue is Nov. 19, 2008.

    Publication

    IFAJ Congress Kicks Off Wednesday

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ 2008Cindy and I are on our way to Austria/Slovenia. This year’s IFAJ Congress is looking like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I just hope we get good internet access and have a little time to relax. Those were two issues we had trouble with last year. Here’s some of the activities on the agenda:

    Reception with typical sparkling wine in the chamber of Agriculture (Styrian chamber of agriculture )

    Reception dinner at the „Alte Universität Graz“ (Old University)

    “Agricultural journalists: Responsible for politicians, farmers, consumers or advertisers?” Discussion between journalists and the public

    Visit to the famous horse breeding farm in Lipica, presentation by the Spanish Riding School Lipica stud farm

    Excursions
    Tour I Production of sheep and goat milk and meat products, tasting
    Tour II Production of carst prsut – air dried ham, tasting
    Tour III Production of local wine Teran

    I like the fact that the word “wine” is mentioned frequently in many of the activities. I think you’ll start seeing some content by midday tomorrow. The program really doesn’t start until Wednesday but we’re getting in early to relax for a day. That doesn’t mean no posting though. Let’s hope the planes are on time!

    AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2008 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred and Novus International

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    Zimfo Bytes

    Melissa Sandfort

      Zimfo Bytes

    • Camelina, an oilseed crop in the same family as mustard, is currently being grown throughout the United States and Canada and crushed to produce biodiesel by Great Plains – The Camelina Company. With several crushing partners in North America, Great Plains has produced over 10 million road miles of camelina biodiesel to date, and plans to boost production to 100 million gallons by the year 2012. Camelina offers a solution for reaching this biodiesel production goal by providing a sustainable, low-input biofuel feedstock option that does not interfere with food production. Camelina is virtually 100 percent efficient. It can be harvested and crushed for oil and the remaining parts can be used to produce high quality omega-3 rich animal feed, fiberboard and glycerin.
    • Dow AgroSciences LLC announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Dairyland Seed Co., Inc., and Bio-Plant Research. Dow AgroSciences previously announced the agreement to acquire Dairyland Seed and Bio-Plant Research on Aug. 8, 2008.
    • Building on momentum from fiscal 2006-2007, MGEX (Minneapolis Grain Exchange or Exchange) ended its fiscal year with new total exchange volume of 1,684,439 contracts traded, a 4 percent increase over the previous year and 3.8 percent increase over the former record year of 2005-2006. Click here for full details.
    • New Holland tractor owners working with variable rate planting and spraying equipment now have the convenience of using New Holland’s Precision Land Management IntelliView™ Plus II monitors with two popular third-party variable rate controllers. The IntelliView Plus II monitors also feature a new user interface for New Holland pull-type sprayers and air carts to more easily manage and track field and production data and produce prescription maps.
      Zimfo Bytes