Animal Ag News 6/21

Carrie Muehling

  • The 33rd World Pork Expo made a much-anticipated return to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, June 9-11. The Expo is presented by the National Pork Producers Council and features the world’s largest pork-specific trade show. More than 10,000 producers, employees and pork industry professionals attended the three-day event.
  • The U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program – celebrating its 10-year anniversary – has a new class of seven winners who demonstrate excellence in sustainability and contributions to the industrywide 2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals as well as positive efforts in communities. The awards, hosted by the farmer-founded Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, recognize exceptional farms, businesses and partnerships for their socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound practices and technologies that have a broad and positive impact. Nearly 80 winners from more than 270 nominees have been recognized over the past decade.
  • The 2021 Cattle Industry Convention will hit all the right notes when country music stars, inspirational speakers and hot topics converge in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 10-12, 2021. New to this year’s convention is an additional general session, which provides even more value to registration.
  • National and local checkoff organizations have launched a monthly Your Dairy Checkoff podcast to showcase how checkoff programs across the country are collaborating to build dairy sales and trust in today’s changing marketplace. Each episode will be hosted by dairy farmers or industry experts. Listeners will hear conversations focused on local, national and global dairy promotion, including consumer research, dairy nutrition, science and issues updates. Farmers will help guide the selection of topics through their feedback.
  • The National Grazing Lands Coalition has announced some speakers for its 8th National Grazing Lands Conference at the Embassy Suites Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Dec. 6-9, 2021.
  • The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $10 million grant to the Dairy Research Institute (DRI) to support the dairy community’s Net Zero Initiative, an industry-wide effort to adopt practices and technologies that reduce GHG emissions and improve environmental health. FFAR’s six-year grant is addressing research gaps in feed production and manure-based products that enhance the dairy industry’s sustainability goals. Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), Newtrient and other Net Zero Initiative partners, including Nestlé, are providing funding and in-kind support for a total project value of $23.2 million.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

CNH Industrial to Acquire Raven Industries

Cindy Zimmerman

CNH Industrial has entered into an agreement to acquire Raven Industries with the goal of enhancing the company’s precision agriculture capabilities and scale.

“Precision agriculture and autonomy are critical components of our strategy to help our agricultural customers reach the next level of productivity and to unlock the true potential of their operations,” said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial. “Raven has been a pioneer in precision agriculture for decades, and their deep product experience, customer driven software expertise and engineering acumen offer a significant boost to our capabilities. This acquisition emphasizes our commitment to enhance our precision farming portfolio and aligns with our digital transformation strategy. The combination of Raven’s technologies and CNH Industrial’s strong current and new product portfolio will provide our customers with novel, connected technologies, allowing them to be more productive and efficient.”

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Raven Industries has three business divisions: Applied Technology (precision agriculture), Engineered Films (high- performance specialty films) and Aerostar (aerospace) with consolidated net sales of US$ 348.4 million for the twelve months ended January 31, 2021. The company is a global technology partner for key strategic OEMs, agriculture retailers and dealers.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Listen to Scott Wine outline the acquisition in a conference call for investors and media.

Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial (7:49)

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Precision Agriculture

Alltech ONE is Big on Pigs

Cindy Zimmerman

Innovations in technology and nutrition are helping farmers around the globe protect the health of both their pigs and our planet and this week’s Alltech ONE Ideas Conference features the latest information on how producers can improve their productivity, profitability and the biosecurity of their farms.

“We have really interesting topics coming from all over the globe,” says Russell Gilliam, Alltech US Swine Business Leader. “This is pig industry focused and pigs are produced all over the world.”

Some exciting topics on the Pig Track this year include High-Rise Piggeries: The Future of Production and Smart Barns: Improving Pig Production with Better Tech.

The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference starts TOMORROW. Listen to this interview with Gilliam to learn more about what’s in store for pig producers.

Alltech ONE Pig Track - Russell Gilliam, US Swine Business Leader (7:49)

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, Pork, Swine

Industry Ag News 6/18

Carrie Muehling

  • The Scoop and Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative, have been named exclusive media partners of the 2021 InfoAg Conference, presented by The Fertilizer Institute. The event is set for Aug. 3-4, 2021, at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel.
  • Norman Kidd, 77, of Jamestown, North Dakota, passed away Monday, June 14, 2021, in Jamestown. Kidd, also known as “Ole Olson,” was born January 18, 1944, in Dixon, Illinois, the son of Virgil and Eunice (Billingsley) Kidd. After high-school graduation, he served in the National Guard before moving to Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1964. He became known as Ole Olson on KSJB radio, calling thousands of Class B basketball games and other sporting events, and hosting many broadcasts. Ole Olson joined NAFB in 1964 while at KSJB Radio in Jamestown, North Dakota, and remained on the air there until 1996. He then continued his broadcast career at KYNU Radio through 2009. He returned to KSJB and maintained his NAFB membership through 2014.
  • Ten Acre Marketing expanded their team, tapping fresh produce marketing veteran, Mary Coppola Heslep. Coppola Heslep joins Ten Acre Marketing as Senior Vice President, Creative after leading the communication and marketing function for United Fresh Produce Association over the past seven years.
  • The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA) is excited to commemorate 25 years of service and advocacy to the Georgia produce industry. GFVGA will recognize this milestone, in Tifton, on August 21, 2021, at the UGA Tifton Conference Center with a reception, dinner, awards program and dance.
  • Agricultural Retailers Association President and CEO Daren Coppock issued a statement in response to the announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army on their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS).
  • Noah Wicks joins the Agri-Pulse editorial team as an associate editor, where he will write and work on multi-media projects for the company’s subscription-only newsletter and website.
  • Join Livestock Publications Council, AAEA – The Ag Communicators Network, and Connectiv for the 2021 Agricultural Media Summit (AMS) in Kansas City this summer. Early-bird registration ends June 30.
  • Clearfield and Provisia rice growers know one thing’s for sure: Great rice varieties mean great yields and great quality, too. To celebrate growers who achieve both, BASF and Horizon Ag have created the ClearPro Rice Challenge. To apply for the ClearPro Rice Challenge for the 2021 season, access the Contest Rules and submit your entry form available at www.ClearProRice.com.
  • MyLand Company LLC announced the appointment of Dr. Pradeep Monga, former Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to the Board of Directors.
  • Swanson Russell has been selected as the agency of record for Seed Consultants. Based in Washington Court House, Ohio, Seed Consultants offers a wide selection of high-performing corn, soybean and alfalfa seed to farmers throughout the eastern Corn Belt. Swanson Russell will handle and execute the company’s public relations and paid media strategies.
  • The National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board elected Tom Haag to become the organization’s first vice president for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1. Haag is a fourth-generation family farmer in south-central Minnesota.
Zimfo Bytes

Alltech ONE has the Beef

Cindy Zimmerman

The beef cattle track at this year’s virtual Alltech ONE Ideas Conference includes a number of top-notch speakers addressing some of the industry’s most important issues.

“We have a really global panel of speakers this year,” said Dr. Vaughn Holder, Alltech Ruminant Research Director. “It’s very important to us to represent the more than 130 countries that our customers come from.”

Presenters include Sara Place, Elanco Animal Health; Carlo Sgoifo Rossi, University of Milan; Ejnar Knudsen, AGR Partners; Nina Teicholz, author; Victor Campanelli, Brazil farmer.

New this year are live workshops where participants can interact with presenters. For the beef industry, Holder says one of those will focus on what is driving the demand to reduce red meat intake, with Alltech CEO Dr. Mark Lyons and Dr. Alice Stanton, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Devenish Nutrition. That will take place live on Tuesday, June 22 at 11 am.

On Thursday, Dr. Holder will be hosting a live workshop on sustainability and how food retailers driving sustainability upstream. “That’s causing changes throughout our industry and it’s happening in an avalanche,” said Holder.

Check the Alltech workshop schedule to register for the live sessions and listen to this interview with Dr. Holder to learn more. The 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference is being held in a virtual format June 22-24.

Alltech ONE Beef Track - Dr. Vaughn Holder (8:24)

Alltech, Audio, Beef

HELM Agro and Alltech Crop Science Announce Partnership

Cindy Zimmerman

HELM Agro and Alltech Crop Science have announced a partnership to bridge the gap between traditional and biological crop input solutions. This new relationship applies a systems approach to support sustainable practices and provide growers easy access and product education on full-spectrum, integrated crop solutions.

HELM Agro will market, sell and distribute the Alltech Crop Science line of products in the U.S. Alltech Crop Science will continue to manufacture its crop science solutions while also focusing on scientific research and the development of new products. The collaboration brings together product lines from both companies and elevates science and service through expertise, resources and new, innovative product options.

The family legacies that make up the backbone of both HELM Agro and Alltech Crop Science offer a unique, synergistic partnership that furthers science and service to help deliver better performance and profitability for customers at every stage of crop production.

Learn more about the new partnership in this interview with Aaron Locker, vice president of sales, HELM Agro US, and Dr. Steve Borst, General Manager, Alltech Crop Science

Alltech Crop Science/HELM AGRO partnership (7:20)

Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Alltech, Audio, Crop Science, Precision Agriculture

New Events Manager for NAFB

Chuck Zimmerman

Mike LisecThe National Association of Farm Broadcasting announced a new events manager just in time for more live events to start happening. He’s Mike Lisec and comes to NAFB from Fern Exposition & Event Services Company (Kansas City, Missouri), where he most recently served as an account executive. He has more than 20 years of experience in corporate event execution.

“Mike has a working knowledge of the NAFB Convention that will serve him well in the Events Manager role,” said Tom Brand, NAFB executive director. “We look forward to him bringing his event experience and fresh perspective to this position to help to continue to elevate the role of farm broadcasting in today’s media mix.”

In addition to assuming the lead on the annual NAFB Convention, Lisec also will serve as lead contact for two other yearly events: Washington Watch and the NAFB Summer Agribusiness Luncheon. He will coordinate all Convention sponsorships, Trade Talk participation, advertising sales for the annual NAFB Membership Directory, and all other event-related tasks.

You can reach Mike at the NAFB office.

Media, NAFB

Precision Ag News 6/16

Carrie Muehling

  • Kubota Tractor Corporation announced the addition of seven new hay and forage products to provide comprehensive solutions for any size operation in today’s forage environment. New to the line are several products in the Kubota Disc Mower Conditioners Series (DMC), including additions to the DMC6300 Series with the DMC6332 and the DMC6336TVARIO, and the DMC8000 Series with the DMC8036 and the DMC8532.
  • The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and its membership continue to place environmental stewardship as a top priority, following through by committing significant resources and voluntary practices to push forward in their efforts. In 2021, IFB has continued to reach farmer members and other stakeholders across the state through “hybrid” Nutrient Stewardship Field Days. This hybrid approach includes hosting in-person field days as well as producing video coverage of each field day program.
  • Sakata Seed America recently welcomed Mark Frahm to its growing Research & Development team as the company’s Melon Breeder.
  • A slowdown in the sales of sub-40hp units pulls total U.S. total farm tractor sales negative, while all other segments and Canada continue strong growth according to the latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. U.S. total farm tractor sales fell 3.9 percent in May compared to 2020, marking the first overall negative result in a year, while U.S. self-propelled combine sales climbed a healthy 33.2 percent.
  • CommoditAg has added Brumleve® as its newest supplier. The partnership provides CommoditAg with a new product line – tarp systems and replacement parts – to round out its extensive product offerings to farmers and ranchers.
  • Experienced ag account professional and team leader Melanie Burk has joined Meristem Crop Performance Group, LLC. Burk becomes Meristem’s sales and dealer coach in the Eastern Corn Belt, operating out of central Indiana.
  • The Soil Health Institute is seeking an assistant soil scientist, as well as a project manager and communications coordinator soil scientist. Click here for details.
  • The 6th Soil Health Institute Annual Meeting is scheduled for August 11 and 12. Registration is free but required to attend.
  • The National Corn Growers Association solidified U.S. corn farmers’ commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability with the release of U.S. Corn Sustainability Goals and the first U.S. Corn Sustainability Report. The report documents a long history of continuous improvement by U.S. corn farmers and the goals set targets for further progress over the next decade.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Alltech CEO Excited About 2021 ONE

Cindy Zimmerman

The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference returns virtually next week to unite thought leaders and change makers for an exploration of the power of science, sustainability and storytelling. The event was slightly delayed this year from its usual May time frame to June 22-24 because of Alltech’s commitment to ensure that attendees have the best virtual experience they can provide so they took the extra time to perfect a new online platform for an even more robust and interactive experience.

Dr. Mark Lyons, Alltech President and CEO.

Alltech President and CEO Mark Lyons is excited about the updates they made to the conference since last year when the company was one of the very first to employ a virtual format for a meeting after the pandemic lockdown forced cancellations and delays in events around the world. “The situation last year was a very intense period of time, around 70 days or so the team had to pull things together,” said Lyons. “One of the big things we wanted to work on this year was to make sure the level of interaction was much higher.”

“We recreated the Lexington Convention Center and we even have an Alltech pub in there and so people can go around, they can interact, go to booths, and talk to people about topics they are interested in,” said Lyons. Find out more about the conference in this interview.

Alltech ONE preview - Dr. Mark Lyons (14:03)

Now in its 37th year, the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE), features tracks in the aqua, beef, crop science, dairy, equine, health and wellness, pet, pig, and poultry sectors. Registration is still open and the first session will start on Tuesday morning, June 22.

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites, Audio

ZimmCast 673 – Preview of 2021 Agri-Marketing Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. This is episode 673 since starting the podcast back in 2005. We’ve come a long way baby!

When I started the podcast and AgWired.com, my target audience was the membership of the National Agri-Marketing Association. This program will focus on NAMA and specifically the annual Agri-Marketing Conference coming up in just over a month.

With me in this program is Greg Lammert, Corteva Agriscience who is chair of this year’s conference. Last year we had a virtual conference and this year we’re back to in-person. We start out the preview with the theme of this year’s conference, “Breaking New Ground.” From there we cover the keynote sessions, breakouts, Best of NAMA Awards, Connection Point and other networking opportunities.

If you have not registered then just click on this link to do so.

BTW. I will be attending and ZimmComm has a booth in the Connection Point. So, stop by and say hi. And while you are there please bid high on the NAMA Foundation silent auction. We’ve donated an Apple HomePod mini (grey) for your podcast listening pleasure.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. Look us up on your favorites podcast platform. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 673 - Agri-Marketing Conference Preview (19:11)

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, NAMA, ZimmCast