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.

Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

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

Industry Ag News 5/14

Carrie Muehling

  • The Seam, a leading provider of food and agribusiness software and commodity trading solutions, announced that Coastal Growers and Tifton Peanut Company have entered into multi-year agreements for its cloud-based, peanut management platform.
  • FarmOp Capital, LLC, a leading provider of innovative working capital solutions to American farmers, announced a core staff expansion resulting from increased demand for its operating loans and a new corporate office location. Following strong expansion in its business, the company is expanding its core team. During the previous six months, the company added several new positions across multiple areas including customer relationship management, credit administration, marketing, and accounting. With the addition of new team members FarmOp Capital will be better positioned to meet the increased demand for its crop-based financing solutions.
  • At its 12th Annual Executive Leadership Conference, Growth Energy unveiled a new consumer initiative to raise awareness of biofuels’ positive environmental benefits and encourage consumers to choose higher biofuel blends like E15 at the pump. Through a series of targeted digital content, advertising, and digital media, the Get Biofuel campaign aligns biofuel benefits to an empowerment message titled “Fuel Beyond”.
  • Leading nutrition expert Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted was announced as the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate for her achievements in pioneering fish-based food systems to improve nutrition, health and livelihoods for millions around the world.
  • The Georgia Peanut Commission is hosting a photo contest May 12-Oct. 1, 2021, to fill the pages of the 2022 Georgia Peanut Calendar. Photos will also be selected to be used in various promotional projects by GPC throughout the year. Peanut farmers from across Georgia are encouraged to submit their best high-resolution photo of peanut production on their farm. Visit www.gapeanuts.com for complete details.
  • Ag mentors come from all backgrounds. Some are more traditional, like our parents, grandparents, FFA leaders or ag teachers. Others are unconventional, like the random ag leader that showed up in your urban classroom. Regardless of who your mentor was, your story is special, and Syngenta wants to hear it, share it and celebrate you both through the#RootedinAg Contest. Now accepting entries, contest participants are asked to share the story of who inspired them to be #RootedinAg. In exchange, they have a chance to honor that person and win prizes. Go to syngentathrive.com/contest to review eligibility and fill out the brief #RootedinAg entry form.
  • Sean Cain, who joined Morton Buildings as a construction worker and has since advanced over a distinguished 25-year career, has been named president of the company.
  • Michael Torrey Associates, a leading Washington, D.C.-based firm that offers effective government relations, strategic communications and issue advocacy to the food, agriculture, and forestry sector announced the new addition of James Glueck as vice president to its policy team.
  • The board of directors for CoverCress Inc., a company aiming to commercialize the nation’s first “cash cover crop,” has named Mike DeCamp as its new president and CEO and a member of the board. DeCamp takes the helm after one year of serving as chief operating officer. CoverCress Inc. is converting field pennycress, a native winter annual, into a new winter oilseed crop for Midwest farmers under the CoverCress™ brand.



Zimfo Bytes

Daugherty Water for Food Podcast Episode 8

Cindy Zimmerman

This episode of the Daugherty Water for Food podcast features Qiao Hu, a Ph.D. student studying natural resource sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, who discusses his research using drones (UAVs) and artificial intelligence (AI) for wetlands management.

Qiao’s faculty advisor and DWFI Faculty Fellow Zhenghong Tang is a professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program and Landscape Architecture Program at UNL, as well as a courtesy professor in the School of Natural Resources, also joins the conversation. Both discuss the importance of wetlands to our ecosystem and how we can improve our management of them.

Daugherty Water for Food Podcast Episode 8 23:09

How to subscribe:

Audio, Environment, Podcasts, Water, Water for Food

Meet the #NAMA21 Keynote Speakers

Chuck Zimmerman

#NAMA21You can now meet the keynote speakers at this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference. Check them out online here.

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has a wide range of options to help you get maximum exposure with agri-marketing leaders in 2021. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org. Find a list of current opportunities on the website.

And for more information on exhibiting at the Connection Point, email sherryp@nama.org. Don’t wait, secure your spot today! Visit the Connection Point website.

Marketing, NAMA