Agri-Pulse Plans 2021 Ag & Food Policy Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

After the 2020 Agri-Pulse Summit was rescheduled several times and ultimately went virtual, the 2021 event is already planned to be a virtual event

The 2021 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit will feature three half-day sessions, March 22-24, with the theme: “Climate Risks, Rewards and Uncertainties.”

“President-elect Joe Biden made action on climate change a key part of his campaign platform and has pledged to focus on climate in every federal agency. He’s not alone,” says Agri-Pulse Editor and Founder Sara Wyant. “Major food companies are already making carbon commitments and expecting farmers and supply chains to comply with a focus on sustainable and regenerative practices. Yet, there are a lot of different factors involved with getting the science, the economics and the cultural factors to align in a way that produces measurable and valuable outcomes.”

The agenda will include political appointees, members of Congress, food and agricultural leaders, along with industry experts and academics, who will discuss the potential for agriculture to play a key role in providing solutions to climate change. Discussions will focus on research needs, potential costs and carbon payments, options for federal policy, proposed regulatory changes and more.

If COVID-19 restrictions allow, Agri-Pulse will also host a reception at the National Press Club on March 24.
Click here for registration and more information.

Agri-Pulse, Events

Partnership Aims to Standardize Cotton Research Data

Cindy Zimmerman

Cotton Incorporated recently joined forces with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Partnerships for Data Innovations (PDI) on an effort to standardize and centralize cotton research data.

At last week’s Beltwide Cotton Conferences, Cotton Incorporated Senior Director of Agricultural & Environmental Research Ed Barnes said the project actually grew out of discussions at last year’s Beltwide and it is really just getting underway. “This project is really focused on we can do a better job of capturing our research data,” said Barnes. “We’ve really made a lot of progress in just six months.”

Listen to an interview with Barnes here:
2021 Beltwide Interview with Ed Barnes, Cotton Incorporated 9:19

2021 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Virtual Newsroom

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

EPA Announces Sustainable Pest Control Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

Photo provided by MS Farm Bureau

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler was in Mississippi on Monday where he announced a $2 million dollar initiative that encourages smart and sustainable pest control in agriculture. The initiative, which is an extension of EPA’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP), expects to award grantees up to $200,000 to implement sustainable pest management practices that align with the agency’s goal of providing a healthier environment for all Americans.

“EPA wants farmers to choose what they can use in their fields and not have it chosen for them,” said Wheeler.

At the event, Mississippi Farm Bureau president Mike McCormick signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EPA Regional Administrator Mary Walker to enhance their communication and coordination efforts, as well as promote education and outreach.

Wheeler answered a few questions after his remarks, including whether he will resign from the administration. “I was disgusted by the events of last Wednesday,” he said. “I believe in the best interests of the agency, in order to ensure a smooth transition to my successors, it’s important for me to stay on.”

EPA chief Andrew Wheeler in Mississippi (15:28)

AgWired Precision, Audio, Crop Protection, EPA, pesticides

Animal Ag News 1/11

Carrie Muehling

  • Brand new for 2021, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is hosting a two-day virtual event for cattlemen and women across the country to come together for industry news, updates, education and networking. The 2021 Cattle Industry Convention Winter Reboot, scheduled for Feb. 23-24, is an opportunity to connect with NCBA and serves as a kickoff event for the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show that will take place Aug. 10-12 in Nashville, Tenn., at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Winter Reboot attendees will receive a sneak peek into plans for the Cattle Industry Convention and the Cattlemen’s College.
  • Amy Penterman, a dairy farmer from northwestern Wisconsin, was chosen as the next Dairy Business Association president during the advocacy organization’s annual meeting.
  • Ralco Show announced the expansion of their show feed product line with ShoMax® for cattle, the next generation of feeds for the beef show industry. ShoMax is a complete protein-balanced premix specially formulated with patented Ralco technologies designed to make building high performance show feeds easier.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Former NAFB President Art Sechrest Passes

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting sadly notes the passing of 1984 NAFB President Art Sechrest.

Sechrest joined NAFB at WVLN Radio in 1961 then continued his broadcast career at Illinois Farm Bureau and WJBC Radio. Art was noted for his professionalism, kindness, and solid presence reporting on the air. He served as NAFB President in 1984, was named 1991 Farm Broadcaster of the Year, and was inducted in the NAFB Hall of Fame in 2000. Additionally, Art won two Oscars in Agriculture (1975 and 1986), and served as NAFB Historian nine years.

Art suffered a stroke in 1994 but kept connected with NAFB members through the years; he most recently attended the 75th Anniversary NAFB Convention in 2018, connecting with friends from the past in-person.

Sechrest is pictured here with 2017 NAFB President Max Armstrong and 1999 NAFB President Mike Adams at Sechrest’s home in Normal. Both Armstrong and Adams presented their respective NAFB President’s Award to Art.

Link to obituary

NAFB

ARC Foundation Receives Major Endowment Gift

Chuck Zimmerman

The Agricultural Relations Council/C.O.nxt Scholarship Program has received a very generous donation.

Lyle Orwig, founder of Charleston|Orwig, now rebranded as C.O.nxt, has generously fully funded the Agricultural Relations Council/C.O.nxt Scholarship Program with a recent contribution of $75,000. It is part of an endowment established within the ARC Foundation a couple years ago.

A long-time champion of agricultural public relations/public affairs, Orwig is a founding inductee of the Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Agricultural Relations Council and Agri Marketing magazine. He has been an ARC member for decades and his former agency has been active in the organization through the years.

“The Foundation can now invest this and earn additional dollars for the endowment,” Orwig said. “We hope that the returns at some point will allow the ARC Foundation to increase the value of the scholarship each year and become even more meaningful to the recipients.”

The scholarship program has honored seven students since it was re-instituted in 2015. The scholarship assists a college student enrolled in an ag communications program.Read More

ARC, Public Relations

Industry Ag News 1/8

Carrie Muehling

  • CLAAS is saddened to announce that Helmut Claas, long-time managing director, chairman of the Supervisory Board and chairman of the Shareholders’ Committee of the CLAAS group, passed away on January 5 at the age of 94.
  • The National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow elected five student officers to serve until July of 2021. President Layne Mustian is a senior at Texas A&M University, Vice President Rachel McGreal is a sophomore at the University of Illinois, Secretary/Treasurer Lauryn Luttrull is a junior at West Texas A&M University, Member Relations Coordinator Zach Andrews is a junior at the University of Arkansas, and Communications Coordinator Callie McClay is a junior at the University of Illinois.
  • After an extensive nationwide search, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program has selected Norma Ritz Johnson as the organization’s third executive director.
  • MGEX, a Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization, reports 2020 concluded as the second-best calendar year in history with a total of 2,766,442 contracts traded. Alongside this achievement, it was also the best calendar year for electronic volume with a total of 2,476,313 contracts. Additionally, MGEX recorded that 2020 had the most total futures contracts traded in a year for the Exchange.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation will be presenting its highest honors, the Distinguished Service Award and the Farm Bureau Founders Award, to former Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and former Louisiana Farm Bureau President Ronnie Anderson, respectively, during the 2021 American Farm Bureau Virtual Convention, Jan. 10-13.
  • Record potato retail sales continued from October to December 2020, the second quarter of Potatoes USA’s marketing year 2021. All three months saw an increase in both dollar and volume sales, with the largest growth in December.
  • ASTA is offering a series of sessions this month as a “bridge” between the CSS & Seed Expo Virtual event in December and the upcoming Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference in February. These sessions are included with a registration to either conference. Register now for ASTA’s upcoming bridge sessions, held between January 12-28.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency announced details for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program. Producer signup for the program will begin today, January 6 and run through March 5, 2021. QLA is intended to help growers who suffered crop quality losses due to weather-related disasters in 2018 and 2019. Corn growers in several states were impacted by these events. For more information, growers can visit farmers.gov/quality-loss, or contact your local USDA Service Center. Producers can also obtain one-on-one support with applications by calling 877-508-8364.
Zimfo Bytes

Cotton Council CEO Wraps up Beltwide

Cindy Zimmerman

National Cotton Council President and CEO Dr. Gary Adams is pleased with the first ever virtual Beltwide Cotton Conferences this week.

“Attendance was really quite strong,” said Adams in a wrap up interview. “Hopefully, we actually provided an opportunity for some people to participate where they might not have otherwise.”

Adams gave an update on the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol during the sustainability conference. “We are trying to stress to growers that the success of this program is necessary so that continue to have access to all the marketing channels that we can going forward. It is an important part of not just maintaining but growing the demand base for U.S. cotton.”

In this interview, Adams also takes a look back at 2020 and how it impacted the cotton industry, as well as a look forward to working with a new administration.
2021 Beltwide Cotton wrap up with NCC CEO Gary Adams 15:33

2021 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Virtual Newsroom

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

2020 – A Pivotal Year for ZimmComm

Chuck Zimmerman

You could say that 2020 was a pivotal year for ZimmComm. Sorry about using the “P” word. But as crazy as the year was and all the challenges that have been presented, we’ve come through it by virtually using all the tools we have been using for years and some new ones. Sorry about using the “V” word.

Let’s summarize a year of work that we are very grateful for receiving and proud to have completed. Let’s start with what we first called live blogging an event, which morphed into full-blown coverage of events that include photography, broadcast quality audio interviews, videos on YouTube and Facebook all for the use of the media. It also made for good content for our blog – AgWired. So, here’s a list of events from last year that we attended live or virtually. For the virtual events we just “pivoted” to phone/Zoom/Skype/Meetings interviews and screenshots for images.

Read More

Virtual, ZimmComm Announcement

COVID and Cotton Supply Chains

Cindy Zimmerman

The Beltwide Cotton Economic Economics and Marketing Conference included a presentation by Cotton Incorporated Senior Economist Jon Devine on how the COVID pandemic impacted cotton supply chains in 2020.

Devine says the retail segment was hit the hardest, building on already declining sales in stores. “I think the transition was already underway in terms of pushing clothing purchases away from brick-and-mortar outlets towards on-line sales and that has been exacerbated and accelerated.”

Learn more in this interview.
2021 Beltwide Interview with Jon Devine, Cotton Incorporated 8:47

2021 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Virtual Newsroom

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton