NAFB Announces Passing of Jim Coyle

Cindy Zimmerman

Former KRES Radio farm broadcaster Jim Coyle passed away October 31 in Moberly, Missouri, according to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.

Jim Coyle arrived at KRES Radio in 1972 and began his career as sports director. He made the change to farm broadcasting in 1982, and his membership in NAFB began in 1983. Even though he didn’t have a background in farming, Jim quickly learned the players and immersed himself in the job.

While he never served as an officer, Jim was involved with NAFB, winning an Oscar in Agriculture Merit Award in 1989 and the DuPont Environmental Respect award in 1991. Additionally, he was recognized multiple times by state and national commodity groups and organizations; he received his Honorary FFA Degree in 1990.

Those who knew Jim remember his jovial conversations, his willingness to connect to those at whatever event he was covering, and his love for listeners. Those who shared a room with Jim during travels share stories about what a good roommate he was and how his wife, Arlene, always packed a pig in his luggage that he proudly added to his collection.

According to his obituary, Jim retired in 2000 and played golf nearly every day until 2010 when he suffered a stroke. Listen to an interview with Jim by Mike Adams from earlier this year.

The family suggests donations in Jim’s memory to the NAFB Foundation.

NAFB

Precision Ag News 11/4

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Wheat Foundation is announcing the state winners for the 2021 Contest which includes 64 growers from 21 states.
  • Bayer signals its commitment to delivering high quality cucumber, melon, pepper and eggplant seeds faster to growers around the world with the announced expansion of its Vegetable Seeds R&D Product Design Center in San Nicolás, Spain. The San Nicolás site supports Bayer’s global vegetable seeds R&D pipeline for varieties sold to customers in more than 130 countries and territories under the Seminis® and De Ruiter® brands, both united under Vegetables by Bayer.
  • Indigo Agriculture announced a deepened commitment to advancing discovery in soil carbon science, enabled by the acquisition of Soil Metrics — an industry-leading technology for comprehensive soil carbon and greenhouse gas (ghg) assessment in agricultural soils.
  • AgGateway has announced that President and CEO Wendy Smith is retiring effective December 31, 2021, and that current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Brent Kemp will move into the role of AgGateway President and CEO beginning January 1, 2022.
  • Elizabeth Escobar has joined Nichino America, Inc. as Manager of Strategic Planning and Business Development, effective November 1, 2021.
  • Change of leadership at the top of Novihum Technologies: Alexa Hergenröther, member of Novihum Technologies’ Advisory Board, was elected its new Chairperson as of September 23, 2021. Former Chairperson Dr. Rolf Nagel will act as her deputy. He was one of Novihum Technologies GmbH’s first investors and played a significant role in the successful development of the company during its founding years.
  • JLG Industries, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company and leading global manufacturer of mobile elevating work platforms and telehandlers, announced that Cody Rainer has been named as Director of Channel Development to lead the company’s expanding initiatives within the agricultural sector.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Interview with New Alltech Crop Science CEO

Chuck Zimmerman

Andrew Thomas, AlltechThe newly created CEO position for Alltech Crop Science has been filled by Andrew Thomas. He has been appointed to lead the global team and further cultivate the strategic growth of the business.

I spoke with Andrew to get to know him and what his mission is in this new position. I know we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.

“Alltech has a long history of providing sustainable solutions to the agriculture industry through scientific excellence and visionary innovation,” said Thomas. “I am thrilled to join the Alltech Crop Science team as we continue our commitment to helping producers optimize crop health and performance while protecting the environment.”

Supporting Thomas will be Steve Borst, vice president of Alltech Crop Science. Borst played a central role in the launch of a new partnership between Alltech Crop Science and HELM Agro in the U.S. and will continue collaborating with the HELM team to activate the commercial potential of the partnership. Borst and Thomas will work closely together with the Alltech Crop Science global team to advance a new era of sustainable growth.

Listen to my interview with Andrew here: Andrew Thomas, CEO, Alltech Crop Science (4:23)

Agribusiness, Alltech, Audio, Crop Science

Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services – Episode 15

Chuck Zimmerman

The Field Notes podcast series from Koch Agronomic Services (Koch) breaks down the science and technology behind agronomy to help growers do more with less.

The experts we’ve heard from on our previous episodes have covered topics ranging from how different crops use nitrogen to the 4R’s of Nutrient Stewardship and how growers and retailers work together to choose the best input for an operation. If you haven’t checked out the previous episodes, you can find them on your favorite podcast platform.

Fall Nutrient Management Plans and Soil Sampling

In this episode, our experts will focus on the key components in developing a fall nutrient management plan, including the role played by soil sample results. Koch’s technical agronomist Derek Rapp and senior agronomist Edwin Suarez talk through the important steps growers need to make after harvest to prepare for the next planting season and the difference in taking soil samples in fall compared to collecting them in the spring.

You can listen to the program here: Fall Nutrient Management Plans and Soil Sampling (14:30)

And to make sure you don’t miss an episode, choose an option to subscribe

For Spotify on your computer download the desktop app.

Audio, Koch Agronomic Services, Podcasts, Soil

Novihum Technologies Appoints New Chairperson

Cindy Zimmerman

Novihum Technologies has announced that Alexa Hergenröther was elected its new Chairperson of its advisory board.

The business administration graduate, who has been a member of the Advisory Board since 2020, began her career in 1997 at Deloitte Germany and joined the K+S Group in 2002. Until recently she was the managing director of K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH, the largest potash producer in Western Europe and among the five largest in the world. She will support the management team of Novihum Technologies with her deep expertise and broad network in the fertilizer industry, accelerating the successful scaling of the company.

“Farmers are demanding answers to the increasing challenges posed by climate change, the need to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and new fertilizer regulations,” said Hergenröther, “The fertilizer industry must now offer farmers innovations that go beyond traditional nutrient management systems. I look forward to scaling Novihum Technologies’ world-class innovation to improve soil health and nutrient efficiency.”

Novihum Technologies produces and markets NOVIHUM® soil enhancement products which increase soil fertility by adding high-value organic matter to the soil

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Technology

Animal Ag News 11/1

Carrie Muehling

  • Registration for #CattleCon22 opens November 1st! Registration and Housing are available beginning at 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time and never closes. Register early for best rates.
  • Four finalists have been selected for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) 9th annual National Anthem Singing Contest, sponsored by Norbrook®. The winner will receive a trip to the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show in Houston, Texas, to perform the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Opening General Session on Feb. 1 as well as the evening event on Feb. 3.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) submitted comments recently on the 2022 National Trade Estimate Report, which details U.S. concerns with foreign barriers to trade for Congress annually. This year, IDFA’s submission included a range of concerns including newly emerging barriers related to impending halal certification in Egypt to long-standing trade concerns such as Canada’s milk class policies.
  • Saddle up and get ready for a weekend full of passion, innovation, and achievement in Cowtown. The 2021 National Angus Convention & Trade Show will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, November 6-8.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

ZimmCast 679 – Public Relations Professionals

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

After missing it for a few years I was able to attend the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) Annual Meeting which took place in Richmond, VA. We had a good turnout with some great sessions. I interviewed several of the attendees. More on that in a moment.

The Golden ARC Awards, which were started in 1990 as the pre-eminent ag public relations awards, had many entries and awards were announced during the meeting. The awards themselves did not get to the hotel on time so they will be sent to the winners. You can find a list of all the winners on the ARC website.

So, let’s get started with a conversation I had with Lynn Henderson, AgriMarketing, who was inducted into the ARC Public Relations Hall of Fame. Next up, I spoke with Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse, who participated in an editor panel which had the job of talking about reaching editors with news and information. Also participating on the editor panel was Jessica Johnson, NewsWise.

There was an ag panel discussion on the “Beneficial Swamp Dwellers.” I spoke with Bethany Shively, ASTA, who talked about the value of those fighting the good public relations fight for ag and food in Washington, DC. She also gets in a plug for the upcoming ASTA CSS & Seed Expo in Chicago in December.

I also spoke with Erin Nash, NAFB. NAFB was a sponsor at the ARC Annual Meeting. Erin talks about services NAFB offers to ag public relations professionals.

Lastly in the program for this week, I spoke with conference attendee, Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Animal Ag Alliance. This was her first ARC Annual Meeting. Hannah also provides a plug for the organizations annual Stakeholders meeting.

I’m really glad I was able to go to the ARC meeting this year and spend some face to face time with so many friends in the industry. Next on my schedule is the NAFB annual meeting in Kansas City. I’ll be there all day for Trade Talk, so maybe I’ll see you then.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 679 - Public Relations Professionals (19:42)

In case you didn’t know it you can find more podcasts we produce in all your favorite podcast apps. That includes the Golden ZimmComm Mic Podcast, The Ethanol Report, Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services and the Daugherty Water for Food Podcast. We hope you enjoy listening to them.

Want to sponsor the ZimmCast? Just let me know and we can talk through ideas for your company. I’m AgriBlogger on Twitter or just email me at chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

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ARC, Audio, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, ZimmCast

2021-22 National FFA Officer Team

Cindy Zimmerman

Students from Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin were elected to serve as 2021-22 National FFA Officers during the seventh general session of the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo on Saturday, Oct. 30.

Cole Baerlocher, an agricultural education major from Washington, was elected national president. He attends Oregon State University.

Jackson Sylvester, an agriculture major from Delaware, was elected national secretary. He attends the University of Delaware.

Cortney Zimmerman, an agricultural communications major from Wisconsin, was elected central region vice president. She attends South Dakota State University.

Erik Robinson Jr., a criminal justice major from Georgia, was elected southern region vice president. He attends the University of Georgia.

Josiah Cruikshank, a business administration and mechanical engineering major from Oregon, was elected western region vice president. He attends Oregon State University.

Mallory White, an agronomy major from Kentucky, was elected eastern region vice president. She attends Murray State University in Kentucky.

Throughout their year of service to the National FFA Organization, the officers will lead personal growth and leadership training conferences for FFA members throughout the country and help set policies that will guide the future of FFA and the next generation of leaders.

FFA

Industry Ag News 10/29

Carrie Muehling

  • Corteva, Inc.’s Board of Directors announced that it has appointed Chuck Magro as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective November 1, 2021. He will also join Corteva’s Board of Directors. Mr. Magro most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Nutrien and brings to Corteva extensive experience leading global agriculture companies to support value creation for all stakeholders.
  • Bill Conrad of Malone, Florida, was named the overall winner of the 2021 Southeastern Hay Contest as part of the 2021 Sunbelt Ag Expo. Conrad took the top prize with a relative forage quality (RFQ) of 297 in the mixed, annual grass and other hay category. Conrad wins a choice of a Massey Ferguson DM Series disc mower or RK Series rotary rake for the 2022 hay production season, plus $1,000 cash.
  • The National Corn Growers Association is proud to announce their partnership — funded by NCGA’s Production Technology Access Action Team — with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. This new collaboration will focus on increasing pollinator and wildlife habitat in corn-producing states. Initially, the partnership will focus on corn producers in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
  • PMA and United Fresh leaders provided a series of updates for the new association named International Fresh Produce Association. Co-CEOs of the new association Cathy Burns and Tom Stenzel were joined by executive committee members to share details, including the board of directors.
  • The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation and the Soil Health Institute announced a founding grant to launch the Institute’s U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund, a unique, farmer-facing, science-based initiative that will support long-term, sustainable cotton production in the United States, with the goal of eliminating one million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) from the atmosphere by 2026.
  • Bushel announced the addition of Michael Sharov as Chief Growth Officer. Sharov will lead product and strategy efforts designed to build on Bushel’s vision of a robust digital infrastructure to the grain supply chain.
  • After 25 years as the Executive Director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Charles Hall will be stepping down to move into a semi-retirement role. Chris Butts, currently the GFVGA Director of Public Affairs, has been named the association’s next Executive Vice President effective December 1, 2021.
  • ‘Farm to Market: Opportunity Knocks’ is the seventh Farmer Veteran Stakeholders Conference hosted by Farmer Veteran Coalition. This year the event takes place in two regional locations rather than one national gathering – Knoxville, Tenn. on Nov. 18th and Tacoma, Wash. on Dec. 10th. The Tennessee and Washington state chapters of Farmer Veteran Coalition will serve as hosts.
  • Agriculture leaders from across major food and ag associations announced the formation of the Agriculture Trade Education Council (ATEC), a 501 c (3) non-profit that will be a resource for education on the value of agricultural trade policies, practices, and structures.
Zimfo Bytes

Syngenta Group Reports Strong 2021 Sales

Cindy Zimmerman

Syngenta Group today announced strong sales growth for the third quarter and this year so far, up over 25% from last year.

Harvest setbacks due to severe weather extremes and market supply constraints exacerbated the already low stock-to-use ratios of key grains and led to continued robust grain prices while driving strong demand and growth for Syngenta Group’s products and services. Demand was strongest for the Group’s technologies that enable farmers to grow crops in difficult weather conditions while also increasing yields and productivity of existing arable land.

Syngenta Group has continued to build out its digital platforms, with farm management tools to help growers navigate weather changes and make better data-driven decisions. Farmers equipped with diagnostic apps and digital platforms are able to more sustainably grow crops. Syngenta Group has also made continued strides in biologicals. Biologicals sales grew 30 percent, allowing the Group to further strengthen its position in this rapidly growing market.

Syngenta Seeds sales grew 25 percent to $2.8 billion in the first nine months of 2021.

Field crop sales in North America increased by 9 percent; vegetable seeds saw growth in all regions, resulting in a 12 percent increase in sales and Flowers recorded sales growth of 20 percent.

North America saw strong growth in soy and corn, with share gain in both crops. The demand for ENOGEN corn for feed, which increases feed efficiency in both beef and dairy, experienced double-digit growth and is on track to have a record year in sales. Newly published university research showed methane emissions per unit of milk were reduced by more than 7 percent in dairy cows fed ENOGEN silage.

Agribusiness, Seed, Syngenta