RFA Ethanol Podcast

USDA Trains Dogs to Hunt Citrus Greening

Cindy Zimmerman

Dogs specially trained by Agriculture Research Service (ARS) scientists have proven to be the most efficient way to detect huanglongbing, better known as citrus greening.

Currently, the only solid hope of curtailing the spread of citrus greening is to eliminate trees with the disease as quickly as possible to prevent further spread. Early detection of the citrus greening pathogen is crucial because trees can be infected and act as a source to spread the disease months or years before showing symptoms that are detectable by the naked eye.

ARS plant epidemiologist Timothy R. Gottwald with the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida, discovered that dogs can be trained to sniff out the presence of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the bacteria that causes citrus greening, with greater than 99 percent accuracy.

“We found that, once trained, these dogs were able to identify infected trees within two weeks of the trees being inoculated,” Gottwald said. “The dogs also were able to distinguish the citrus greening pathogen from a variety of other citrus bacterial, viral, fungal, and spiroplasma pathogens, including closely related Liberibacter species.

So far, the program has trained 19 dogs obtained from European breeders of detection canines because of their keen abilities and drive. Learn more from USDA-ARS and watch the video.

Citrus, Research, USDA

Hemp Classic Speaks to ‘Hungry’ Audience

Carrie Muehling

The 2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic provided some key information to an audience Missouri Hemp Association Executive Director Bill Cook described as “hungry” when it comes to learning more about the hemp industry.

“I think the big thing that stood out to me is that we have a pretty wise and cautious group of producers that are very proactive, very much want to be involved in the hemp business. They see the hemp plant as a long term play,” said Cook. “I really believe our Midwest growers are going to be up to the task to really make this hemp industry the miracle product that we believe it is. It was a very, very exciting conference.”

Cook said membership in the association has more than doubled in its first year of existence, and the group is expanding with its One Voice program to create a bigger footprint across the Midwest. He expressed excitement about the plan to move next year’s conference to the Western Farm Show for even more exposure.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Bill here: Interview with Bill Cook, Missouri Hemp Association

2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic Photo Album

Audio, Cannabis, hemp

Animal Ag Bites 2/3

Carrie Muehling

  • An initial agenda is now available for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2020 Stakeholders Summit, themed Primed & Prepared.
  • The turnout for the 2020 International Production & Processing Expo approached 32,000 poultry, meat and feed industry attendees from all over the world. This year saw an 8 percent increase in the number of buyers. In addition, the show has more than 573,000 square feet of exhibit space and 1,376 exhibitors. Sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, American Feed Industry Association and the North American Meat Institute, IPPE is the world’s largest annual poultry, meat and animal food industry event of its kind.
  • U.S. Poultry & Egg Association presented the organization’s annual Lamplighter Award to six individuals at the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2020 International Production & Processing Expo. The award pays tribute to individuals for “sustained and exemplary service” to the poultry and egg industry.
  • Greg Hinton, vice president of sales, Rose Acre Farms, Seymour, Indiana, was elected chairman of the board of directors of U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.
  • MVP Dairy, LLC of Celina, Ohio was recognized as the 2020 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year during a special ceremony this week at the International Dairy Foods Association’s Dairy Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona. MVP Dairy is a partnership between two, fourth-generation farm families, the McCarty Family of Kansas and the VanTilburg Family of Ohio.
  • Producer delegates from across the United States will gather in Kansas City, March 4-6, for the annual National Pork Industry Forum. For the full agenda and to register, visit www.porkindustryforum.com.
  • The National Pork Board will host its annual Pork Management Conference, April 20-23, 2020, in Destin, Florida.
  • Strong Animals®, a brand of Ralco announced that its line of natural products designed to enhance the overall health of backyard chicken flocks is now available on Amazon.
  • Mile Four is a new eCommerce store shipping fresh, organic whole grain chicken feed nationwide. Offering subscription and one-time sales, the company is targeting the growing backyard chicken market. The feed starts at $9.00 and customers can save $10 off their first order: https://milefour.com/products/chicken-layer-feed.
  • The National Pork Board announced more than 2 million servings of pork have been donated in the last two months by pig farmers working together to help fight food insecurity in their local communities. The donations – made through the national Hams Across America effort – showcase the pork industry’s commitment to the We CareSM ethical principles, including a focus on community.
  • The American Feed Industry Association and Feedstuffs congratulate Koch Farms of Morton, Miss., for being named the 2019 Feed Facility of the Year.
  • The American Sheep Industry Association handed out a number of awards at its annual convention in Scottsdale, Ariz.
  • Legislation has been introduced in seven state legislatures which would completely prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits. To date, these states include Washington, Colorado, New Hampshire, New York, Florida, and Virginia.
  • Nearly 500 ranchers convened at Denver’s Renaissance Hotel for the National Bison Association‘s 25th anniversary convention celebrating the organization’s accomplishments while planning for continued growth in the years ahead.
  • The National Buffalo Foundation has inducted Dave Carter, executive director of the Westminster, CO-based National Bison Association, as the 31st member of the National Buffalo Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is housed in the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, ND.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council announced opposition to H.R. 5737, the Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act, introduced by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA). The bill would require federal land management agencies to permanently end livestock grazing on any allotments where the current permittee has accepted a payout in exchange for relinquishment of their term grazing permit.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Becoming an Influencer and Content Producer

Chuck Zimmerman

Croncycle TweetI remember the first time my conference name badge said “Influencer” instead of “Media.” It was the 2017 Bayer Future of Farming Dialogue in Germany.

Basically, a social media influencer is someone who has established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a large audience in that industry, and has the tools and authenticity to attract followers and create engagement consistently on a specific platform, mostly Twitter or Instagram. My personal Twitter account @AgriBlogger was started in 2007 and has almost 20K followers.

According to Cronycle, I am one of the top 10 influencers of 2019 in the fertilizer industry.

Cronycle is a London-based service that allows users to monitor specific topics and share with others by annotating, tagging, and directly highlighting articles. They base their top influencer rankings on “technology analyzes networks to identify communities across 50k+ topics.”

Then, we identify influencers per Topic – such as the top influencers lists. For each Topic, we use machine learning, semantic analysis and natural language processing on unstructured data at scale.

Last but not least, they “surface content relevant to each topic, as an automated feed. To do this, we mine the web for content – around 600k articles, videos and Twitter conversations daily from around 2 million websites every month.” (I added the bold.)

Content is still incredibly important to marketers and most especially good content. We have been doing that here on AgWired for over 15 years. Almost 200,000 photos. 10s of thousands of podcasts, interviews and other audio files. Thousands of video clips on YouTube and Facebook. And thousands of tweets on @Agriblogger, @FarmPodcaster, @AgWired, @EnergyAgWired, and @AgNewsWire. Tweets on @AgWired frequently receive 1500+ impressions and engagement rates above one percent – an engagement rate between 0.33% and 1% is considered to be very high.

Content continues to reign as king according to this World Media Group study. “About 80% of marketing professionals worldwide surveyed in October 2019 said they expect content-led campaigns to grow over the next two years, with 19% saying they expect they would stabilize.” The study also showed that “Nine in 10 respondents said they planned to use audio/podcasts in 2020 . . .”

If you are in need of a good influencer and an experienced content producer – that’s what we do. I’m in the process of booking the Golden ZimmComm Microphone and ZimmCams to create content and publish it on our “influential” platforms at upcoming events, like Commodity Classic. Email me – chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

Internet, Social Media, Social Networking

Unifying the Voices for Industrial Hemp

Carrie Muehling

The U.S. Hemp Growers Association is unifying state and regional hemp associations, while looking to engage the farmer base that is already producing hemp or looking to do that in the near future.

“We see ourselves as advocates for the hemp farmer and those that are wanting to learn,” said Doug Edge, who serves on the U.S. Hemp Growers Association Board of Directors. “We know that there have been a lot of challenges, it’s now legal in many states to grow, and many states are still working through their permit process and all that, so there’s a lot to navigate as a farmer, and we’re here to help them do that.”

Edge said the group is active in Washington, D.C. advocating for local and national issues regarding the hemp industry. The organization is also focused on helping with research and data, and offers educational events around the country. Edge said the industry is experiencing some growing pains, especially as growers await the needed infrastructure for processing and marketing goods.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Doug here: Interview with Doug Edge, U.S. Hemp Growers Association

2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic Photo Album

Audio, Cannabis, hemp

2020 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Preview

Chuck Zimmerman

2020 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade ShowCattlemen and cattlewomen from around the nation are heading Deep in the Heart of Texas for the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas Feb. 5-7. The convention will feature business meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the American National CattleWomen.

Kicking off the event at the Opening General Session Feb. 5 will be retired U.S. Navy Captain Scott Kelly, an astronaut who spent a record-breaking year in space, laying the groundwork for the future of space travel and exploration. The Closing General Session Feb. 7 will be a completely different experience, including a celebration of the industry’s Beef Quality Assurance Program. Sponsored by the Beef Quality Assurance Awards Program, the Closing General Session on Feb. 7 will be a fast-paced event that recognizes BQA award recipients, and highlights consumer-directed efforts promoting the BQA Program. New developments in BQA will also be introduced. A special reception for BQA award recipients will be held immediately following the closing session. Closing session speaker will be Kevin Brown, who for two decades was a successful executive helping grow a little-known family business into an industry giant with annual revenues reaching $2 billion.

CattleFax will present its CattleFax U.S. Global Protein & Grain Outlook Seminar; Dr. Art Douglas will present his 2020 weather forecast for the United States and the world, and a grain outlook will also be shared. And then there is the NCBA Trade Show featuring hundreds of companies providing all types of products and services and the latest in technology to the cattle industry.

Each year over 7,000 cattlemen gather together for this largest cattle industry event in the country and this year’s convention and trade show offers more education, entertainment and excitement than ever. Listen to a preview interview with Marvin Kokes, Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations and Events, NCBA to learn more: Interview with Marvin Kokes, NCBA

For the third year we will be helping NCBA get content out to media from the event on the official 2020 Cattle Industry Convention Virtual Newsroom.

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Cattle Industry Conference, Meat

Hemp Association to Join Western Farm Show in 2021

Carrie Muehling

A partnership between the Missouri Hemp Association and the Western Farm Show will see those groups working together in 2021.

“We understand that a lot of our attendees, the row crop farmers, are indeed future hemp producers, so we see the correlation there. Our show has been about education, so we see this as a great opportunity to provide this for the future hemp producers,” said Ken Dean, manager of the Western Farm Show that takes place annually in Kansas City.

Dean said there are plans to offer educational opportunities for farmers who are growing industrial hemp at next year’s show, and there may also be space for exhibitors who are focused on the industrial hemp industry.

The 2020 Western Farm Show is coming up in Kansas City Feb. 21-23.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Ken here: Interview with Ken Dean, Western Farm Show

2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic Photo Album

Audio, Farm Shows, hemp, Western Farm Show

Quick Dick McDick on Protester Diets

Chuck Zimmerman

This is just too good not to share. I know y’all have a good sense of humor and are not offended easily, right? After watching Quick Dick McDick I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care. However, this is a very interesting look at how margarine is made and gets to the store. Soooo… It’s funny and educational. I think I can stop laughing soon. By the way, I love Canada.


Video, Wackos

Trump, Ethanol and Cows

Cindy Zimmerman

President Donald Trump rallied his base in Iowa last night, as many of his rivals for the presidency remain stuck in Washington D.C. on the impeachment trial in the Senate only days before the Iowa caucus.

The president touted his recent trade accomplishments and how they will help farmers, and he repeated his frequent refrain about getting “the ethanol” for the persistent Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. This time he also professed his love for cows and how they are threatened by liberal Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

“The Green New Deal, which would crush our farms, destroy our wonderful cows – I love cows!” said President Trump. “They want to kill our cows, that means you’re next! And they want to wipe out, totally, Iowa ethanol.”

Listen:
Trump, Ethanol and Cows

Audio, Ethanol, Livestock

Zimfo Bytes 1/31

Carrie Muehling

  • Are you planning on entering the 2020 IFAJ awards? The application deadline is Feb. 21, 2020.
  • While 2019 was a challenging year for many farmers, photographers shared their stories in the sixth National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Fields-of-Corn Photo Contest. This year, NCGA awarded two Grand Prizes. One selected by a panel of judges, submitted by Harlen Persinger from Wisconsin with the photo titled “Solid Foundation.” A grand prize was also awarded for the single most popular photo, taken by Tricia Braid of Illinois, “Reflecting on 2019” which gained 1,272 likes on Facebook.
  • Anne Thompson recently joined the NCGA Washington, D.C. office as the new Director of Political Strategy. Thompson will also serve as director of NCGA’s CornPAC.
  • The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Center for Risk Management Education and Research at Kansas State University today announced that registration is open for the third annual Agricultural Commodity Futures Conference (AgCon2020). First held in 2017, the conference is scheduled for April 1-2 in Overland Park, Kansas. Register for AgCon2020 HERE.
  • The 2020 Industrial Hemp Summit has added to its speaker line-up Bill Richmond, Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Domestic Hemp Production Program. Richmond leads the team responsible for the establishment and implementation of U.S. domestic hemp production as mandated under the 2018 Farm Bill.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced USDA will begin taking applications for the second round of $550 million in ReConnect Program loan and grant funding on January 31. These funds will enable the federal government to continue to partner with the private sector and rural communities to build modern broadband infrastructure in areas with insufficient internet service. Insufficient service is defined as connection speeds of less than 10 megabits per second download and 1 megabit per second upload. Beginning Friday, ReConnect funding applications can be submitted at www.usda.gov/reconnect.
  • The Alabama Peanut Producers Association will hold their Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Alabama-Florida Peanut Trade Show on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 at the National Peanut Festival fairgrounds in Dothan, Ala.
  • Annie’s Project Education for Farm Women (APEFW) names joint Chief Executive Officers for the APEFW leadership team, Dr. Karisha Devlin and Doris Mold. This new partnership approach brings together the strengths of two recognized leaders to expand the reach of APEFW, which has educated more than 14,000 women in agriculture since 2003.
  • Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. announced in a letter to shareholders that the company has secured in excess of $3 million in initial seed purchase commitments in just 50 days post launch of its newest product line: GoodHemp.
  • The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has recognized the outstanding agricultural literacy efforts of educators and communities across the country with a total of $25,000 in scholarships and grants to build on their work to connect students with how their food is grown. A list of project descriptions for each county grant recipient is available online.
  • California farmers, food companies and other parts of the farm to fork supply chain face several vexing environmental challenges but many have developed innovative new solutions. The Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Policy Summit West will explore new ideas for combatting climate change, dealing with food waste, and implementing sustainability programs. To register, click here: www.agri-pulse.com/events/408-agri-pulse-food-ag-policy-summit-west.
  • The American Soybean Association (ASA) and Valent are now accepting applications for Ag Voices of the Future, a program for students, held in conjunction with the summer ASA Board meeting and Soy Issues Forum from July 6-9, 2020, in Washington, D.C. To apply for the ASA and Valent Ag Voices of the Future program, and be considered for a scholarship to the AFA Leaders Conference, students should visit the scholarships page on the AFA website, click on the green “Apply Now” button, and submit their online application by March 11.
Zimfo Bytes