Slovenia Ag Group

Chuck Zimmerman

Ciril SmrkoljWhile we were in Slovenia at the IFAJ Congress one of our hosts was Ciril Smrkolj who is President of the Slovenia Agriculture and Forestry Chamber, a primary ag group in the country.

I spoke with him at our closing dinner. He’s very much a pro-agriculture kind of guy. He says that his organization does work on promotion and marketing. He says that the globalization of farming has made it difficult for their small farmers. They have to import a lot of the food they eat in their country and he says the transition from communist rule has been a good one but it has opened up their market and that’s what’s causing some problems for them. He says they don’t have enough protection and support from their government either.

You can listen to my interview with Ciril here: ifaj-08-smrkolj.mp3

IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

Ag Groups, Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer

Wine Queen of Slovenia

Chuck Zimmerman

Svetlana SirecThe Wine Queen of Slovenia this year is Svetlana Sirec.

She got quite a bit of attention from the boys here in her wine queen dress, complete with red and white grapes.

I spoke with her at our last dinner of the IFAJ Congress. She basically works to promote wine in country and I wish I could point you to her favorite but I didn’t get her to write it down. Perhaps you can tell when she says it in our interview.

You can listen to my interview with Svetlana here: ifaj-08-svetlana.mp3

IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

Audio, IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

New Agency Forms in KC

Melissa Sandfort

Carol Anderson, managing partner and owner of Anderson Fallon Public Relations, and Mark Perrin, president, JLM1926 Holdings, Inc., today announced the creation of Mariposa Partners, Inc., a full-service public relations agency that will provide a full complement of public relations services to help clients communicate in today’s quickly changing business landscape.

The firm, which will operate as an independent subsidiary of JLM1926 Holdings, is located in the Corporate Woods office park in Overland Park, Kan. The agency will continue to service Anderson Fallon’s existing client portfolio. In addition, it will serve as a public relations partner to other JLM1926 agency holdings including McCormick Company, McCormick Global (Canada), The Hondo Group and UNISON Resource Company.

“We believe by combining the expertise, integrity and strategic capabilities of Anderson Fallon with the scope and reach of JLM1926 Holdings, we can deliver meaningful public relations counsel to clients that help them capitalize on their market positions in this time of growth for the agricultural industry and time of challenge in many other industries,” says Perrin.

Mariposa Partners, Inc., will be led by Anderson; Becky Johnson will serve as the new firm’s manager of client services; PR counselors Julie Balmer, Sylvia Bachmann, David Chitwood and Beth Buchanan also will be joining the group.

Agencies, Public Relations

Food and Farming Canada

Chuck Zimmerman

Food and Farming CanadaThe traveling agriblogger is now resting comfortably in Chicago O’Hare, waiting on the next flight. So far, so good this morning. You can see what the sunrise looked like outside my plane in Columbus, OH this morning using this link.

While doing some more email work I noticed that Lilian Schaer, Food and Farming Canada, is now following me on Twitter. That led me to her blog where I read her post about returning from Portoroz, Slovenia and the IFAJ Congress with much sympathy and understanding. If you haven’t done any international travel then you haven’t had some of these kinds of “adventures.” I think those of us who have can, all relate though. Besides blogging away, it looks like Lilian is an excellent Tweeter!

More posts from the IFAJ Congress will be showing up on AgWired in coming days.

Ag Groups, IFAJ, International

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Farmers Union has recognized House Committee on Small Business Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez for her leadership on rural small business issues and renewable energy development. She was presented with their 2008 Golden Triangle Award, the highest honor bestowed by this national organization. Chairwoman Velázquez has been honored twice with this distinction awarded annually in recognition of efforts to improve opportunities for rural small firms.
  • Hubbard Feeds recently launched a webinar to educate dairy producers on feeding distillers grains to replacement heifers. The webinar is presented by Alvaro Garcia, DVM, MS, PhD, and dairy specialist for South Dakota State University Extension. Topics covered include heifer feeding program objectives, nutritional benchmarks, climate and heifer performance, and using alternative feeds and crop residues in heifer rations. Click here to view this webinar program.
  • Novus International Inc. announced that they sustained no flood damage at their Alimet production facility as a result of tidal surges and rain from Hurricane Ike. Novus personnel were evacuated prior to landfall of the storm and there were no injuries.
  • Valley Irrigation is introducing the industry’s first line of GPS Ready irrigation control panels. The GPS Ready PRO2 Pivot Control Panel and GPS Ready AutoPilot Linear Control Panel currently are available from Valley dealers. The GPS Ready Select2 Pivot Control Panel will be available later this year.
    Uncategorized

    Stabilized Nitrogen Center Explained

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Dan Kuttenkuler AgrotainMedia got the first look at the Allen R. Sutton Stabilized Nitrogen Center prior to the official grand opening on Tuesday in St. Louis and our tour guide was Dan Kuttenkuler, project manager for Lange-Stegmann and AGROTAIN International.

    Dan explained how the center uses a falling curtain granulation process for quality control and production efficiency. The process allows finished products to be manufactured to a specific size for different markets. “By varying the size of the holes in the screens we are able to control the final size of the product,” Dan says. “We have an agricultural market which is used to grow corn, wheat and cotton, we have a turf and ornamental and we also serve the golf industry which is very specific in terms of types and height of grasses.”

    The Center is designed to meet the increasing demand for stabilized nitrogen fertilizer, with a production capacity of 125,000 tons annually.

    Listen to an interview with Dan here: agrotain-kuttenkuler.mp3


    AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Fertilizer

    Wind Damaged Corn

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Corn Down From Hurricane IkeWe’ve heard a lot about wind damage to corn but I guess it’s not just limited to here in Ohio.

    Pam Fretwell, Conklin Companies, was working here at the Farm Science Review and shared a few photos of the damage in Illinois.

    That’s going to be tough to harvest!

    Farm Science Review Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

    Corn, Farm Science Review, Farming, Propane

    Farm Science Review Corn Harvest Information

    Chuck Zimmerman

    New Holland Harvest CrewHere’s the New Holland crew after just finishing corn harvesting at the Farm Science Review. I spoke to Mike Craig about what they found.

    He says they had been running for two days and that they were getting between 130 to 150 bushels with 18 to 20% moisture.

    I asked him what’s new from New Holland and he says it’s their 8 row corn head with stalk chopper on each row unit which he says, “Allows us to chop the stalk as the ear is being pulled off from it to help with the residue on the ground.” He says it’s on display at their exhibit. Mike also says he really enjoys the interaction with farmers at the show.

    You can listen to my interview with Mike here: fsr-08-craig.mp3

    Farm Science Review Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

    Audio, Corn, Farm Science Review, New Holland, Propane

    3,000 Horsepower From Corn

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Mark ThomasWhile I was visiting the Ohio Corn Growers exhibit at the Farm Science Review I had a nice talk with 5 time IHRA Funny Car Champion Mark Thomas. Here he is explaining his car to an FFA student.

    Mark is not only a professional drag racer but a farmer himself. He has 500 Holstein cows and farms 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. You’d think that would be enough to keep him busy!

    One of his passions is ethanol. He basically grows his own fuel and has had a mission to help educate the public about this renewable energy source. So that’s part of his message here at the show. I asked him about how his farm business was going. He says that the past year or so has been pretty good but it’s basically making up for years that weren’t so good. However, he says that there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future and with the problems lately in financial markets there’s good reason to wonder.

    He says the question he gets asked most often standing by his funny car is, “How much horse power?” It’s got 3,000 HP and goes from zero to 250 mph in 5.7 seconds! Of course he runs on ethanol and he says the car uses just over a gallon of ethanol per second.

    You can listen to my interview with Mark here: fsr-08-thomas.mp3

    Farm Science Review Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

    Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Science Review, Propane

    Ohio Corn Educating About RFS

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ohio Corn GrowersThe Ohio Corn Growers Association have a nice building on the grounds of the Farm Science Review. One of their board members has been involved with it for many years. He’s Ron Rockhold, pictured on the right. Ron says he farms in southern Fayette County and has been on the board for going on 20 years. He spends one day working in the exhibit and one day with his brother “taking in the sights.”

    Ron says this show is a great thing for agriculture. He says the message they’re trying to get across to growers is what’s happening with legislation, especially the farm bill and the rfs standard. In fact, he says, “. . . talking about the RFS which is even more important than the farm bill because it increases the demand for corn and has raised the price of corn to where farmers are getting their money from the market now instead of from the government.” That’s something he says he’s always wanted to see.

    You can listen to my interview with Ron here: fsr-08-rockhold.mp3

    Farm Science Review Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

    Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Farm Science Review, Propane