The Beauty of Ljubljana

Chuck Zimmerman

Ljubljana, SloveniaI think this is about the most time I’ve ever had in between posts from an event, including in Japan last year. Cindy and I are in Portoroz, Slovenia doing a little bit of catch up work in our hotel room. We were pretty much in and out of buses all day yesterday traveling down here from Graz, Austria. No time for anything and no internet access.

I was kind of astounded to hear one of the IFAJ Congress attendees say last night that they didn’t even see a reason for us to have internet access! Obviously they haven’t entered the new media world yet. But they’re coming along. I spoke with a guy on my bus who works for a newspaper in Holland. He says they’re just about to “go online.” He’s looking forward to it too, not dreading it.

This picture is from our brief stop in Ljubljana, Slovenia on the way yesterday. I with I had some farm pictures to show you but we didn’t visit any farms on our tour although we thought we were going to. The photo album has just been updated through our walk this morning here on the coast of the Gulf of Venice.

IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

Ag Community Invited to Attend AGROTAIN Grand Opening

Chuck Zimmerman

AGROTAIN Invite

Early next week AGROTAIN International, a division of Lange-Stegmann Company, will be holding a special grand opening event of new facilities in St. Louis and they want you to know that you’re invited to come on out. We had reporter Mike Rogers talk with Mike Stegmann, President, Lange-Stegmann, about the new facility and their grand opening.

Listen to his interview with Mike here: mike-stegmann-2.mp3

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

Introducing the St. Louis Urea Center and Stabilized Nitrogen Center – Built to Meet the Growing Demand for Imported Urea Every year

AGROTAIN InternationalNorth America’s fertilizer market is increasing their reliance on imported urea. This reliance has caused Lange-Stegmann to step up and meet the challenge of providing high quality urea at reliable fast lead times. Another situation facing the world is finding a reliable and stable nitrogen source. AGROTAIN International is answering that challenge with its new Stabilized Nitrogen Center. This September, Lange-Stegmann will open the nation’s first and largest inland urea import terminal and AGROTAIN International will open the nation’s first urea manufacturing plant using phase modification.

For more information on the event and how to attend, go to www.UreaCenterTour.com.

Agribusiness, Audio

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The new AGCO Application Equipment photo library is now available online. This is your number one resource for hundreds of spraying related images.
  • Veteran agri-marketer Neil Strong, Industry Relations Lead, Corporate Affairs for Syngenta Crop Protection announced he will retire in December 2008. Replacing him will be Jack Berens, a 26-year veteran of Syngenta Seeds.
  • The National Corn Growers Association has announced the addition of Robyn Stevens as manager of research and business development. In this role, she will serve as the lead staff person for NCGA’s Research and Business Development Action Team and also work on biotechnology issues and economic analysis.
  • Gibbs & Soell Public Relations Inc. announced the promotion of Luke Lambert from senior vice president and managing director of the agency’s New York office to president of the 37-year-old independent firm. In his new capacity, Lambert reports to former president Cos Mallozzi who becomes chairman and remains chief executive officer of the firm. Lambert’s appointment becomes effective Jan. 1, 2009.
    Zimfo Bytes

    IFAJ President Chops Wood

    Chuck Zimmerman

    David MarkeyHe’s our outgoing IFAJ President and he’s also Paul Bunyon. No, actually he’s David Markey and this is one of Cindy’s pictures from tonight’s dinner which was held at Schloss Stainz.

    This is a beautiful old castle where we experienced more fine Austrian wines, some traditional local dance, music and really good food.

    I think Cindy said that David and Franz Fischler were chopping logs as part of one of the dances and then she got this picture. I’m not sure what that was all about. If you do then could you post a comment here to fill us in on the details?

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    IFAJ Congress Tours

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ Congress TourWe saw some beautiful countryside today on our tour outside of Graz. There were actually 3 different tours going on simultaneously. Mine focused on specialty crops (make that apples). Cindy went on one focused on biomass and there was one on mountain farming.

    We left the hotel after lunch and just got back from our dinner a little while ago. The photo album is up to date with over 400 photos for your viewing pleasure. Cindy and I have interviews, more pictures and video clips to share but no time to edit them and post them. I would like to suggest that IFAJ add a couple of requirements to Congress organizers (including in the USA next year) that time is built into the schedule to allow us to be online to post stories and also ensure we have good internet access available.

    IFAJ Congress TourOkay, so I was on the apple tour which included a stop at a fruit packing company and two different apple farms. At our first stop the farmer not only showed us his groves and discussed the various types of apples he grows but he also poured us a glass of wine made from apples. Later on he also poured some stronger apple liquor and even some elderberry wine!

    Once we got back on our bus, it was time for a quick nap before the next stop.

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    IFAJ Star Prizes

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ Star PrizesThis morning the IFAJ Star prizes for writing and photography were awarded. I don’t think any of the top winners were attending though so we had stand-ins to take their awards home. I’ll try to find a list of them to publish later.

    As with a number of Congresses I’ve attended, it’s looking like our schedule will be pretty spotty for internet access or time to use it starting with the tours this afternoon and our travel to Slovenia tomorrow. Internet access here has been touch and go, which I find amazing in the online world we live in. However, I think I heard Franz Fischler says that he believes they are a little behind the rest of the world when it comes to the internet here.

    So, until we can get back online I’ll leave you with an up to date photo album.

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

    IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

    IFAJ Member Survey Results

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Kristin AllwingerDuring the morning session here at the IFAJ Congress we were presented with the results of an online survey conducted for IFAJ by OEKonsult, Communication & Consulting.

    One of the presenters was Kristin Allwinger, Business Development. She says they had very good participation from IFAJ members and the goal was to find out how important various topics are to them. For example, she says that 80% believe that farmers are their main audience while only 50% consider the consumer to be highly important. I think this makes sense since we’re talking about mostly agricultural publications, websites and broadcasts.

    You can listen to my interview with Kristin here: ifaj-08-allwinger.mp3

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

    Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer

    IFAJ Congress President Franz Fischler

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Franz FischlerThe President of the IFAJ Congress 2008 is Franz Fischler, former Commissioner of Agriculture for the EU. Last year in Japan at the IFAJ Congress he promised us some fine Austrian wines. Tonight he made good on that with a toast at our dinner.

    Prior to the dinner I spoke to him and he said that attendance exceeded their expectations. He says they have some specific objectives with the Congress. “We want to show how we organize the agricultural sector, which policy objectives we have, but would also like to show our guests concrete examples because I think this is the basis then for a good story and this interests journalists more than anything else.”

    He says we’re in the southeast part of the country, called Styria, which is also the home of our “Governator,” Arnold Schwarzenegger. He told me that Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and that it has a common border with a number of the countries that also joined then. He says this has helped improve their economy and improve their output.

    You can listen to my interview with Franz Fischler here: ifaj-08-fischler.mp3

    Here is our welcome by Mr. Fischler at the evening’s opening dinner:

    IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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

    Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer

    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