RFA Ethanol Podcast

Yoho: Improving the Farm Labor Shortage

Carrie Muehling

Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida’s 3rd District was at the 2020 Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference, talking about guest worker legislation.

“This is a bill that will solve a problem for illegal immigration in this country on the lower skilled tiers,” said Yoho. “We give opportunity for people before they come into the country to apply to this program. They can be a 10-month seasonal worker, or they can apply for the five-year program. It will bring certainty and predictability to the ag labor for our producers that they need with so many variables in agriculture already. This is a common sense reform.”

Yoho said there is a shortage in farm labor and that creates unpredictability for farmers who rely on that labor. He said this bill would provide for those producers and also give an opportunity for workers to come here in a legal way. Yoho also talked about trade, and explained why he is against the United-States-Mexica-Canda Agreement (USMCA) in its current form.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Congressman Yoho here: Interview with Congressman Ted Yoho, Florida

2020 Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference Photo Album

Audio, labor, politics, Vegetables

President Trump to Attend Third AFBF Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s a three peat for President Trump as headliner for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) annual convention.

The president will address the 101st AFBF convention on Sunday, January 19 in Austin, Texas. He previously addressed the 99th and 100th conventions in 2018 and 2019.

“The American Farm Bureau is honored President Trump will return for a third consecutive year to speak with farmers and ranchers who work tirelessly to produce the quality food and fiber our country needs,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “We are grateful that he has made agricultural issues a priority and look forward to welcoming him to Austin at a time when there is much to talk about, from trade progress to important regulatory reforms.”

Other officials currently scheduled to attend are: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

AFBF

Senator Perdue Optimistic About China Agreement

Cindy Zimmerman

Senator David Perdue (R-GA) gave keynote remarks at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah on Saturday and said he was optimistic about the phase one agreement with China being signed Wednesday helping agriculture.

“I’m more optimistic than maybe some people are because I’ve been involved since the beginning,” said Perdue in a brief interview after his remarks. “We have a pathway that will continue to see these small steps that will lead to a long term much more level playing field with China.”

Sen. Perdue is also optimistic about getting USMCA passed in the Senate, as soon as they get the articles of impeachment out of the way.

2020 SRFVC Interview with Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) (1:56)

During his address to growers, Sen. Perdue primarily focused on immigration reform and disaster relief.

2020 SRFVC - U.S. Sen. David Perdue, Georgia - Speech (35:11)

2020 Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference Photo Album

Audio, Produce, Trade, Vegetables

BASF Brings Choices, Quality to Cotton Growers

Carrie Muehling

BASF is working with cotton growers to ensure they have appropriate choices, while maintaining a high level of seed quality.

“From a cotton strategy perspective, BASF is really about sharing our story, and making sure growers know that we understand where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we want to go,” said BASF’s Hadley Howard at the 2020 BASF Agronomic Performance Trials (APT) Summit in Austin, Tex.

Howard said the company plans to bring a new trait to market in 2023 that will be stacked with four herbicide-tolerant traits and three insect traits. She said BASF will continue to make seed quality a priority, and shared that sustainability continues to be a focus with the e3 Sustainable Cotton Initiative. Growers can contact local seed advisors to learn more about enrolling in that program, as many are already using required sustainability practices on their farms.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Hadley here: Interview with Hadley Howard, BASF

2020 BASF APT Summit Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Cotton

AgButler Serves to Offer Farm Labor Solutions

Cindy Zimmerman

Thanks to the growing “gig economy” we can now easily get an Uber or Lyft, get food from different restaurants with GrubHub or DoorDash, find a babysitter or a handyman and more, all with our phones. Now the gig economy is coming to agriculture.

AgButler is a gig economy platform that serves as a solution to a rural labor shortage by providing on-demand jobs giving farmers and ranchers access to a high-quality labor force while boosting rural economies.

“We’re going to be connecting producers with quality laborers within a certain mile radius of the producers’ operations,” said Kevin Johansen, AgButler president and CEO, who notes that it has become increasingly difficult for farmers and ranchers to get help they need in a timely manner for jobs such as working cattle, baling hay, or transportation.

Johansen says the app also offers an opportunity for producers to make some extra money. “Young producers like myself, going back to the family farm, we could have some flexible time in our schedule so we could spend a couple of days a week and pick up some extra gigs,” he said.

AgButler has been chosen as one of the top ten semi-finalist teams in the American Farm Bureau Federation Ag Innovation Challenge at the 101st annual meeting starting this Friday in Austin, Texas, which Johansen says is a great opportunity for them to introduce the app to a wide audience.

Johansen encourages both producers and laborers to join AgButler’s First Service list and be the first to sign-up as hiring and/or skilled labor.

Learn more about AgButler in this interview with Kevin.
Interview with Kevin Johansen, AgButler (12:57)

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AFBF, Apps, Audio, labor, Livestock

Animal Ag Bites 1/13

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, has selected Brandi Buzzard Frobose, blogger, Kansas rancher and influencer, as the 2019 Advocate of the Year.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association is pleased to launch the Women in Dairy Network to support a stronger, more diverse future for U.S. dairy. See more in IDFA’s video explainer.
  • The Animal Agriculture Alliance announced its new website and updated resources to celebrate the beginning of a new decade.
  • Joe and Aggie Helle have been chosen as the 2020 Wool Excellence Award winners by members of the Wool Roundtable. While Joe passed away in October 2019, Aggie will accept the award this month at the American Sheep Industry Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

USDA Under Secretary Visits SE Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney visited the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference on Friday and talked trade issues with members of the GA Fruit & Vegetable Association before touring the trade show.

With the China Phase One trade deal slated to be signed next week, and USMCA getting one step closer to the Senate floor this week, McKinney had a lot to discuss in this interview from the conference. He also addresses skepticism about whether China will actually buy $40 billion in U.S. farm products this year, and concerns fruit and vegetable growers have about USMCA.

2020 SRFVC Interview with USDA Under Secretary Ted McKinney (6:17)

2020 Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Produce, Trade, USDA, Vegetables

BASF Values Grower Feedback

Carrie Muehling

The second annual BASF Agronomic Performance Trials (APT) Summit was a great opportunity for the company to get input from key customer growers who help them with on-farm trialing.

“It’s a time for us to listen to our customers,” said Monty Christian, BASF Marketing Director for Cotton. “If we need any last minute tweaks before we go into ending our processing season but beginning our planting season, this is a good time for us to listen to them.”

Christian said even with challenges to weather and seed quality, BASF received few complaints from growers during the 2019 growing season. The company continues to focus on getting seed to growers in a timely and efficient manner, while bringing new varieties that will increase choices for farmers.

“If you are a grower, making sure you have seed to plant the day you want to plant is paramount. Some years, that is a given because there is plenty of supply out there. But a grower knows they have to plant a crop. It’s their livelihood. We’re keenly aware of that,” said Christian.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Monty here: Interview with Monty Christian, BASF

2020 BASF APT Summit Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Cotton

2020 SE Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

Charles HallThe Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference returns to Savannah, Ga. and really kicks in to gear today. In 2019, the educational event and trade show hosted more than 3,300 attendees and 290 vendor companies.

Sponsored by Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Georgia Peach Council the conference is held at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. The event features three days of educational workshops and seminars, a two-day trade show and several other evening networking opportunities.

To get an overview of the event I sat down with Charles Hall, Executive Director, Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Association, pictured on the right with current association president Aries Haygood. We discussed the work of the association and how this conference came in to being.

I was interested to find out that big general sessions were discontinued years ago. Instead the conference features many, many educational sessions on a variety of commodities like peaches, blueberries and so many more. However, a “super session” is scheduled when needed and this year we have one on trade. The session is setup in a larger room in anticipation of a larger attendance. We’re expecting Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney to be here.

Learn more about this conference in my preview interview with Charles.

2020 SRFVC - Interview with Charles Hall, GA Fruit & Vegetable Association

2020 Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Vegetables

Zimfo Bytes 1/10

Carrie Muehling

  • The 36th class of American Soybean Association (ASA) Corteva Agriscience Young Leaders recently began its leadership journey at the Corteva Agriscience Global Business Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Andrew Wheeler has been appointed Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations manager starting Jan. 13. He will replace Laurie Johns, who is retiring.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased to welcome two new members to its media engagement team, Mike Tomko and Cole Staudt. Mike Tomko assumed the position of Director of Communications focused on media engagement on January 1, 2020. Cole Staudt joined the team in November as Media Relations Specialist.
  • Organic Farmers Association, the nation’s unified voice for certified organic farmers sponsored by the nonprofit Rodale Institute, has named Patty Lovera as its new Policy Director.
  • American Agri-Women announced the winners of their ‘Gen Z Speaks Ag’ contest. Young advocates showcased their creativity and passion for agriculture in AAW’s “Gen Z Speaks Ag” contest sponsored by Crop Science, a division of Bayer.
  • The 2020 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit, scheduled for March 23 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., will explore links between food and national security.
  • Minnesota Soybean Growers Association secretary Darin Johnson opened his farm to presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg this week for his first Minnesota campaign stop.
Zimfo Bytes