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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

Ethanol and Corn Back on Crappie Masters Tournament Trail

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association and the National Corn Growers Association have signed on for the fourth year as co-title sponsors of the Crappie Masters Tournament Trail. The first tournament begins Friday, Jan. 31 at St. Johns River in Deland, Fla.

This year, the competition is bigger than ever and includes state-level tournament trails in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, West Tennessee and North and South Louisiana.

“We are looking forward to another great year on the water with an expanded schedule of tournaments,” said RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White. “This national partnership with Crappie Masters helps more anglers and boaters learn about the benefits of high-octane, low-carbon ethanol—a fuel that’s cleaner and cheaper, and that has proven its value on the tournament trail for years.”

Interview with Robert White, RFA, on 2020 Crappie Masters (4:06)

Crappie Masters Television will also highlight each tournament. The weekly show can be found on the Pursuit Channel, which is on DIRECTV 604, Dish Network 393, Verizon, CenturyLink and Roku.

The next Crappie Masters Tournament Trail event is Feb. 28-29 at Lake D’Arbonne in Gadsden County, Fla. The 2020 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail season runs through Sept. 26. A full schedule is available here.

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Podcasts, RFA

ZimmCast 635 – Biodiesel Blogging & Virtual Newsrooms

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this week’s program you’ll hear from the National Biodiesel Conference and some of the content we produced for the Biodiesel Conference Blog – our 15th year as the biodiesel bloggers!

Among those featured are National Biodiesel Board CEO Donnell Rehagen; NBB Chairman Chad Stone, REG; American Soybean Association CEO Ryan Findlay; Illinois soybean farmer Rob Shaffer; and Tom Slunecka, CEO of MN Soybean venture Plasma Blue.

Next week I am off to the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show where we are producing their virtual newsroom hosted on AgNewsWire for the third year. If you are interested in how a virtual newsroom might benefit your next event, tune in to an Agricultural Relations Council webinar on February 20th I’ll be conducting on this subject.

Please contact me if you would like to learn more or receive a custom quote for how we can work with your company or organization to create meaningful content to amplify your communications & marketing efforts.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 635 - Biodiesel Blogging & Virtual Newsrooms
Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Marketing, Public Relations, ZimmCast

Soil Health Key for Hemp Production

Carrie Muehling

Much like traditional row crops, soil health is also very important when growing industrial hemp, according to David Yoder with BigYield.us.

“We’re really big on soil health,” said Yoder. “What we’re seeing is, the hemp product is going to look a lot like corn, as far as your nutrient levels. So we’re basing a lot of our information and knowledge off of that. That’s kind of a good starting point that we’ve found and we’re helping guys get where they need to be.”

BigYield.us offers growth enhancing products for organic corn, soybean, wheat and now hemp production, as well as weed burners for eliminating weed pressure in the row while growing organic crops. Yoder was at the 2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic in Independence, Mo.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with David here: Interview with David Yoder, BigYield.us

2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic Photo Album

Audio, hemp, Soil

President Trump Signs USMCA

Cindy Zimmerman

President Donald J. Trump today signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), replacing the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with improved access to both markets for U.S. farmers and ranchers.

“This agreement is a tremendous breakthrough for American agriculture,” said President Trump in remarks before signing the agreement. “Poultry exports to Canada are expected to rise 50 percent and egg exports could increase by 500 percent.”

American agricultural exports are expected to increase by $2.2 billion under USMCA, with annual dairy exports anticipated to grow by nearly $315 million. “Very importantly, Canada will finally give fair treatment to American grown wheat,” President Trump said.

Listen to the president’s remarks, along with those from Vice President Mike Pence and Amb. Robert Lighthizer.
USMCA signing remarks (25:35)

Once again, there were farmers and ranchers on hand to witness the signing, and agricultural organizations are united in praise for the agreement.Read More

Ag Groups, Audio, Trade

AgWorks + FieldReveal Delivers Decision Support Software

Cindy Zimmerman

The recently announced partnership between AgWorks and FieldReveal is focused on delivering world-class zone-based variable rate and decision support software to retailers throughout North America.

AgWorks has invested decades developing a decision support system that creates real value for both the grower and retailer through their award-winning HighQ® product. This product has been utilized on over 5 million acres and is a key tool in helping retailers realize the value of their data, and assist growers in making more profitable decisions. The HighQ® DSS (Decision Support System) provides the grower with a tool to analyze numerous decisions they made during the growing season and how these variables affect profit per acre. It also provides a powerful community-based benchmarking tool for a grower to anonymously compare their operation to similar operations in their area.

Both AgWorks and FieldReveal are firmly committed to developing software solutions for retailers and growers that lead the way toward an information-based future, and both businesses are invested in technology and retail for the long haul.

AgWorks President Greg Duhachek and FieldReveal CEO Matt Hesse recently teamed up for a Users Conference in Kansas City where they shared their vision for the partnership. Learn more in these interviews with them.

Interview with FieldReveal CEO Matt Hesse (6:10)

Interview with AgWorks President Greg Duhachek (7:40)

Photos

2020 AgWorks+FieldReveal User Conference photos

AgWired Precision, Audio, data, Precision Agriculture

Secretary Perdue Press Call from Rome

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has been traveling Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy this week to engage with his counterparts on important issues facing agriculture at home and abroad. The Secretary, along with Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney has been participating in events with government officials and agricultural leaders.

As President Trump was preparing to sign the USMCA trade agreement with Mexico and Canada Wednesday, Secretary Perdue spoke by phone from Rome and answered questions related to China and coronavirus, Europe and geographical indicators (GI), non-tariff trade barriers, and more.

USDA Secretary Perdue call from Rome
Audio, Exports, International, Trade, USDA

Legal Diligence Important for Hemp Farmers

Carrie Muehling

Farmers looking to experiment with industrial hemp production have a lot of legal factors to consider, according to Joel Cape of Cape Law Firm.

“The thing that has caught my attention is aside from the fact that this is a brand new industry – the production practices are brand new – there are a lot of unknowns,” said Cape, who focuses his law practice on agriculture intellectual property and seed production. “The Farm Bill and the interim rule from the USDA introduces this concept of negligence, and they introduce that in order to draw a boundary between what they consider to be legal hemp production and what is going to go into illegal production of marijuana, which is still a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.”

Cape said farmers will have to be very certain they are complying with either a state-based or USDA plan for growing hemp. He believes there will be some challenges because there are few tested best practices for growing hemp and few standards for measuring yield and price discovery. Cape told farmers attending the 2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic that record keeping will be extremely important when growing industrial hemp.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Joel here: Interview with Joel Cape, Cape Law Firm

2020 Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic Photo Album

Audio, Cannabis, hemp

Announcing the new AyrMesh® Hub2x2

Chuck Zimmerman

Ayrmesh Hub 2While USDA is handing out grants and loans all over the country to help with rural broadband infrastructure you’ve got to work with what you have. If you’re on a farm or other type of rural property then I can personally recommend Ayrstone products. Ayrstone Productivity, headquartered in North Oaks, MN., just announced the availability of their AyrMesh Hub2X2. The bottom line is to use the service you have and be able to cover significantly more range than with any other product out there. Here’s more information.

If this seems a little “back to the future” – it is! After almost a year waiting, we are finally introducing the new, improved model of the AyrMesh Hub2x2!

This new model of the favorite AyrMesh Hub is more powerful, tougher, and has longer range than the old Hub2x2 – it has the same range as the Hub2T with twice the bandwidth. And the new case is simpler and more resistant to heavy weather.

Want to learn more? See the blog post on Efficiency and Productivity Through Wireless Farm Technology.

Novel concept, eh? Using your blog to write about your products!

But if you need to cover lots of area check this product out. I’ve been using Ayrstone products for many years and have never had any problem with them. I don’t know any other tech product I can say that about.

Gadgets, Internet, Technology

New Biodiesel Board Chair Optimistic for 2020

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Energy Group (REG) CFO Chad Stone was recently elected as the new chairman for the National Biodiesel Board and last week he addressed the membership at the National Biodiesel Conference in Tampa.

While 2019 was a disastrous year for the industry, which saw REG having to shut down a plant, Stone is very optimistic about biodiesel going forward. “For biodiesel, this is our time to get back up,” said Stone. “We won’t be held down, we adapt, we grow and we fight. We are the future of energy and we won’t let anyone stand in our way.”

Listen to Stone’s remarks and interview from the conference last week:
NBB2020 Remarks from new NBB Chairman Chad Stone, Renewable Energy Group (13:11)

NBB2020 Interview with NBB Chairman Chad Stone, Renewable Energy Group (8:18)

Full multi-media coverage of the conference can be found for the 15th year on the Biodiesel Conference Blog.

Photos

2020 National Biodiesel Conference photo album

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels, National Biodiesel Conference