Animal Ag News 5/24

Carrie Muehling

  • The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) is proud to announce four awards honoring those who have supported the animal food industry over the past year and throughout their careers. The AFIA congratulates all AFIA members for receiving the AFIA 2021 Member of the Year Award; Rurik B. “R.B.” Halaby, formerly with AgriCapital Corporation, for receiving the 2021 Distinguished Service Award; Bill McLean, of The Essmueller Company, for receiving the 2021 AFIA-Kansas State University Feed Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award; and Steve Kopperud, of SLK Strategies, for being named posthumously an AFIA Honorary Board Director.
  • The University of Minnesota invites you to attend the 2021 Precision Dairy Conference, June 22-23, 2021. The event will be a ‘neutral space’ where many technologies come together to be discussed and learned about. Producers, consultants, veterinarians, industry representatives, and researchers are all part of the program, which is more end-user focused this year. The in-person capacity is limited due to pandemic restrictions, but the virtual experience will be unique as you will be able to see the presenters in the room as they present and are recorded live.
  • National Farmers Union recently joined with five other organizations that represent cattle producers to agree to work jointly on issues in the cattle marketplace. On Monday, May 10, 2021, member leaders of American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmers Union, R-CALF USA, and the United States Cattlemen’s Association met in Phoenix, Arizona. These groups convened at the request of Livestock Marketing Association to discuss challenges involved in the marketing of finished cattle with the ultimate goal of bringing about a more financially sustainable situation for cattle feeders and cow-calf producers.
  • Taco Bell is unveiling its second frozen beverage featuring dairy at all participating U.S. locations for a limited time, thanks to checkoff support. The Mtn Dew® Baja Blast® Colada Freeze features a dairy-based creamer made from real heavy cream, with pineapple and coconut flavors to give it a tropical feel. The drink will be available May 20 on a limited-time basis or until supplies run out.
  • Join the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association for its next one-hour webinar set for May 25 at 1:00 p.m. Central time. During this webinar, Gerald Mechor, a distinguished technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health, will discuss the importance of a thorough examination and diagnostic testing to help confirm a positive case of coccidiosis, as well as prevention tips to keep calves healthy during this critical growth stage.
  • Traceability in the Livestock Sector will be the topic of a panel discussion Thursday, June 10, 2021 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. CST presented by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. Register here.
  • FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is awarding $14,250 in scholarships to 13 deserving individuals this year. Over the past nine years, FarmFirst has generously provided scholarships to 205 individuals, awarding more than $180,000.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Industry Ag News 5/21

Carrie Muehling

  • KCoe Isom, a food and agriculture consulting and accounting firm, will be holding a webinar for corn growers on News and Perspective on Tax Planning and Priorities on Wednesday, May 26 at 8:00 AM central. The webinar will address questions farmers have been asking around legislative tax proposals and potential impacts to businesses.
  • The GROWMARK/FS System welcomes 85 interns from across North America into its storied internship program. GROWMARK made it a point to continue its internship program last year through the pandemic by adapting to a virtual format with socially distant hands-on experience in the field. This year, GROWMARK is building upon that hybrid model with even more opportunities for its interns.
  • The National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (National C-FAR) has selected Laura Peterson – Laura Wood Peterson Consulting – as its new Executive Director. Peterson succeeds Tom Van Arsdall, who retired after nearly two decades leading the organization.
  • Syngenta Group announced that Daniel Vennard, former Global Director at the World Resources Institute, will join as Chief Sustainability Officer on July 26, 2021. He will be based in Basel, Switzerland, reporting to CEO Erik Fyrwald.
  • Time is running out to submit an application for the National Corn Growers Association’s Consider Corn Challenge III. The contest, aimed at establishing novel biomaterials, products, and technologies utilizing corn, closes June 3, 2021.
  • This summer, the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council is Driving Soy. Minnesota soybean farmers – driven by farmer-led checkoff dollars – are turning the key and hitting the highway, rolling out a win-win campaign that gives traction to the broad benefits and uses of soybean oil. Throughout the spring and summer, the MSR&PC and its 44 organized counties are utilizing Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s line of soy-oil tires to shine a light on value-added products and give back to their communities by donating sets of soy-based tires to their local law-enforcement agencies.
  • Agri-Pulse welcomes the Almond Board of California as the Platinum sponsor for the 2021 Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Policy Summit West. This year’s theme is “How Can California Agriculture Remain Competitive?” The event will offer participants a full day of presentations and panel discussions at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento on July 12, 2021. Virtual attendance options are also available.
Zimfo Bytes

Choose Real Leather to Reduce Waste

Chuck Zimmerman

Leather and Hide Council of AmericaThe Leather and Hide Council of America has just released an infographic that highlights the issue of how the use of products made from plastics and other non-renewable sources is harming the environment. Real leather made from livestock hides is one of the oldest forms of recycling and can help play an important part in solving this problem.

Zero-waste pledges and concepts like upcycling, while seemingly novel, long predate their widespread adoption. In fact, our ancestors demonstrated most clearly their commitment to the environment and the preservation of our planet by following these practices even before they were in vogue. This is perhaps best exemplified in their conversion of hides and skins – byproducts of meat and dairy production – to beautiful, durable, and sustainable leather products. Now, a new infographic from the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) shines a light on the environmental costs of using imitation products and synthetics, mostly made from plastics and other non-renewable sources, as opposed to real leather in finished consumer goods.

“The fast versus slow fashion debate has reached a critical inflection point, as consumers, brands and retailers increasingly take stock of their purchasing decisions, and the broader societal impact of those choices,” said LHCA President Stephen Sothmann. “In the race to develop a greener supply chain and reduce waste, the fastest way to ensure defeat is to doubt leather’s durability and sustainability, which have been proven over millennia.”

Ag Groups, Environment, Livestock, Sustainability

Report Shows How U.S. Farmers Can Fight Climate Change

Cindy Zimmerman

A new report commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation finds U.S. farmers have the potential to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become part of the global solution to climate change.

U.S. agriculture contributes about 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the entire national economy, but farmers could greatly reduce those emissions if they were provided with the right government incentives, according to the report, which was co-authored by Dr. John Reilly of MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and Dr. Stephanie Mercier, senior policy adviser at Farm Journal Foundation.

Joining Farm Journal Foundation in releasing the report Thursday were Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Bill Hohenstein, director of the USDA’s Office of Energy and Environmental Policy.

Sen. Stabenow addressed how the report ties in with the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the importance of increased funding for conservation programs.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Sen. Stabenow (2:52)

Bill Hohenstein discussed what USDA is doing to address climate change priorities and the latest progress report on Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Bill Hohenstein, USDA (8:18)

Report co-author Dr. John Reilly explained how agriculture has the greatest stake in climate change, but also the greatest ability to reduce emissions in a variety of ways.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Dr. John Reilly, MIT (7:04)

Dr. Stephanie Mercier talked about policies that can help agriculture be part of the climate change solution.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Dr. Stephanie Mercier (8:46)

Audio, carbon, climate, Environment, Farm Journal, Farming, USDA

Precision Ag News 5/19

Carrie Muehling

  • The Stoller Group, a world leader in nutrition, plant physiology and biological nitrogen fixation, has acquired a stake in Cromai, an Agri-Tech startup which is one of the five most promising in the world in terms of computational vision for agriculture, according to a survey by Startup Insights.
  • Innoquest Inc., the designer and manufacturer of precision meters for the agriculture industry since 1993, has released the SpotOn® Sprayer Calibrator Model SC-2 (SC-2). Set to replace SpotOn®’s flagship product, the Sprayer Calibrator Model SC-1 (SC-1), the SC-2 is sure to impress both new and established users with its advanced features and improved functionality.
  • Inari, the SEEDesign company, and Beck’s, the largest family-owned, retail seed company and the third largest seed brand in the United States, have announced a business and R&D collaboration – reinforcing their respective missions to provide more diverse, sustainable and competitive choices for farmers.
  • Western Growers has selected 13 innovators for the inaugural cohort of its Global Harvest Automation Initiative, a groundbreaking project that aims to automate 50 percent of specialty crop harvest within 10 years by accelerating the commercialization of harvest automation innovations.
  • Arva Intelligence announced it has integrated Planet imagery into their CropForce data analytics platform.
  • Bushel, an independently owned software company and leading provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies, was featured during Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Alltech ONE Ideas Conference Moves to June

Cindy Zimmerman

Alltech is moving the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE) into June to ensure that attendees have the best virtual experience the company can provide.

Alltech’s commitment to delivering advanced innovation and exceptional quality extends to our world-class events, particularly the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE). Having transitioned to a virtual event in 2020, we applied our entrepreneurial spirit to building our own event platform this year for an even more robust and interactive attendee experience.

As we approach the May 25 launch date, however, it has become apparent that the digital technology necessary to support our ambitious goal is not quite ready. We have, therefore, decided to wait to open the virtual doors on ONE until we are able to deliver the outstanding attendee experience that we envision, including networking and additional engagement features.

The new event dates of the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference are June 22-24, 2021.

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture

ZimmCast 671 – ARISE USA The Resurrection Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

In this program I’m sharing my conversation with Trent Loos, Loos Tales. He is participating in the ARISE USA The Resurrection Tour which is an educational non-profit tour seeking to unite all Americans regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability. It is a national conversation and civics dialog tour.

ARISE USA The Resurrection TourTrent Loos describes what it is all about as he is about to embark on this national tour to jump start a local dialogue. It could be the longest running (111 days) civics class in modern history. The ultimate objective is the restoration of integrity to all institutions: local, state, and national.

I have talked with a number of people in my area here in North Florida who all have been interested since they too see what is happening to our country and they don’t like it any more than I do. We need to bring God back into our lives, schools and businesses. We need people who will stand up for what has made America a great country and we need that to start on a very local level. Just sending out a few tweets or Facebook posts probably won’t get it done.

Find out more in the program and you can make donations to support the tour here.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 671 - ARISE USA The Resurrection Tour (29:24)

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. 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.

If you would like to advertise in the ZimmCast or become an on-going sponsor please let me know and we’ll work out a plan just for you.

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Audio, Freedom, Podcasts, ZimmCast

New Leadership for Bayer Crop Science Division

Cindy Zimmerman

Brett Begemann, left, and Rodrigo Santos

Bayer has announced that Brett Begemann is retiring as Chief Operating Officer, Crop Science effective June 8. Rodrigo Santos, currently Head of Crop Science Commercial Operations, Latin America, will succeed Begemann and assume global responsibility for the division’s commercial organization.

During his tenure with the company, Begemann held several global and regional leadership positions and had responsibility for global commercial and operations teams at Monsanto prior to the acquisition by Bayer. As President and Chief Operating Officer at Monsanto Company, he led global efforts to increase manufacturing and supply chain efficiency, as well as the company’s growth agenda.

Santos, a Brazilian national, has spent over 23 years with the company and has led the Latin American Crop Science business for Bayer since the integration of Monsanto and Bayer in 2018. Earlier in his career, Santos worked in sales, marketing, strategy and business development roles, including a leadership role in Eastern Europe.

Santos’ replacement as Head of Commercial Operations, Crop Science, Latin America, is Mauricio Rodrigues, currently Head of Finance, Crop Science, Latin America. The changes are effective June 8, 2021.

Agribusiness, Bayer

Animal Ag News 5/17

Carrie Muehling

  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has issued the industry’s first-ever U.S. Dairy Trade Principles on Environmental Sustainability, a critical and proactive step as the global community rallies around climate change and initiatives begin to impact international trade.
  • Ralco announced the groundbreaking for the Jon Knochenmus Center for Innovation in Marshall, Minnesota. The 13.6-acre site will be the hub for exploration of natural approaches to maximize nutrient conversion in both plants and animals. The center will integrate their chemical lab, multi-species animal research, diagnostic research, pilot lab, microbiology lab, and greenhouse all under one roof while cultivating growth and opportunities in Marshall.
  • Five Midwestern dairy groups that are evaluating solutions to federal milk pricing issues, which were aggravated by the pandemic, explained their comprehensive focus this week to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The groups — the Dairy Business Association, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, Minnesota Milk Producers Association, Nebraska State Dairy Association and South Dakota Dairy Producers — said in a letter to Vilsack that if there were to be a Federal Milk Marketing Orders emergency hearing about reform, as some other organizations have called for, it’s important that it be broad in scope.
  • Waikato Milking Systems, a leading developer and manufacturer of dairy technology, and Nedap, a global leader in dairy herd management technology, have formed a new partnership and announce the launch of two new products. Waikato Milking Systems introduces its new cow monitoring system, CowTraQ, and its new TracHQ automation platform, both of which will be powered by Nedap.
  • This summer’s World Pork Expo is just around the corner. Thousands of media professionals and pork producers will gather at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, June 9-11. The Expo announced the lineup of this year’s seminars. All seminars are included with the price of admission.
  • An alliance created five years ago to support and promote farmers in their conservation efforts has reached a new level, with a broader focus, more innovative projects and an increasingly diverse set of partners. The group, formed in 2016 as the Dairy Strong Sustainability Alliance, announced its transformation into Farmers for Sustainable Food, a nonprofit organization that provides resources, advocacy, support and empowerment for farmers who are innovating and demonstrating sustainable farming practices.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Bayer Plans 5th Youth Ag Summit as Virtual Event

Cindy Zimmerman

Applications are now open for the 2021 Youth Ag Summit, a global forum for young leaders to develop sustainable solutions for food security and global agriculture. The summit will be virtual this year with the overall theme of “Feeding a Hungry Planet.”

While this is the 5th biennial Youth Ag Summit, it will be the first virtual YAS event. This year’s cohort will also benefit from another exciting YAS first. As an official global partner with Bayer for this year’s forum, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), in partnership with technology company Babele, will also provide a virtual idea incubator called YAS University where delegates will continue to learn entrepreneurship and leadership skills, receive coaching from mentors, and improve their own “Thrive for Change” project concepts throughout a 10-week period following the November summit.

Application for the 2021 Youth Ag Summit is open to young people of any background aged 18-25. Potential delegates will be asked to share their motivation to join the summit, their previous advocacy experience and a 3-minute video pitch explaining their project idea on “How to feed a hungry planet.” Applicants should be personally, professionally, and academically interested in agriculture, international development, environmental stewardship, food security, biotechnology, and/or farming.

To apply for the Youth Ag Summit 2021, please visit www.youthagsummit.com.

Bayer