Zimfo Bytes 9/6

Carrie Muehling

  • CNH Industrial N.V. announced its agreement to acquire AgDNA, a leader in Farm Management Information Systems.
  • Clariant announced that it has conducted tests on approximately 30 tons of miscanthus provided by INA, Croatia’s leading oil and gas company. INA is a consortium member of the publicly funded project “GRowing Advanced industrial Crops on marginal lands for biorEfineries” (GRACE).
  • OCP North America announced that it has joined Field to Market:The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, a multi-stakeholder initiative working to unite the agricultural supply chain in defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, fiber and fuel production.
  • Lely International and Lely North America are pleased to announce that Chad Huyser has been named Regional Director, Lely International and President, Lely North America. Huyser will lead all of Lely’s North American efforts and serve as one of five Lely Regional Directors worldwide.
  • After yet another year of depressed commodity prices, uncertainty in export and biofuels markets, rapid consolidation in the food and agriculture sectors, and extreme and unseasonal weather events, nearly 400 of National Farmers Union’s family farmer and rancher members will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to meet face-to-face with administration officials and members of Congress.
  • General Mills has released version 2.0 of its regenerative agriculture tool for farmers. The open source assessment is a user-friendly tool for farmers to understand alignment between their agricultural practices and the principle of regenerative agriculture, all while tracking progress and changes. Learn more here.
  • A new video explains that GMO Answers is a campaign that answers questions about how food is grown. The goal is to make information about GMOs and agriculture easier to access and understand.
Zimfo Bytes

Bayer and Luke Bryan Team for 5th Farm Tour

Cindy Zimmerman

Luke Bryan is getting ready to play it again for Bayer and farmers.

On September 26, country music superstar Luke Bryan will once again bring his Farm Tour across America to recognize and give thanks to the American farmer with Bayer as title sponsor for the fifth year.

Bryan, the son of a peanut farmer from Georgia, launched his Farm Tour in 2009 as a way to highlight and celebrate the contributions of America’s farmers. In 2015, Bayer partnered with Luke Bryan and launched its campaign to thank farmers and help fight hunger throughout the country.

Bayer will be highlighting its annual campaign, #HerestotheFarmer, which shares in Luke’s commitment to give back to farmers and help feed our world’s growing population. Every time someone shares the hashtag #HeresToTheFarmer on social media, Bayer will donate a meal to a hungry family through Feeding America® with a goal of donating 1 million meals.

Participating in the call are Luke Bryan and Ray Kerins, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Bayer. The call is moderated by Carolyn Nagle, External Communications, Bayer. You can listen to and download here: Luke Bryan & Bayer Media Call

Audio, Bayer

Bayer Seed Treatments Protect on Multiple Fronts

Carrie Muehling

With one of the broadest and most diverse portfolios of seed treatment in the industry, Bayer is helping farmers to protect their crops against more than just insect and disease pressure.

“Being covered on multiple fronts, whether that’s against diseases, pests, nematodes, maybe it’s drought or nutrient deficiency, having a different breadth of seed treatment can really help protect against whatever unpredictability Mother Nature throws your way,” said A.J. Hohmann, U.S. Marketing Manager for Bayer’s Seed Growth Business.

Hohmann said seed treatments can also fight against nematodes, or maximize root mass with bioenhancers. He said seed treatments routinely provide a two to seven bushel yield boost, and can even bring up to a 30 bushel advantage in situations where high pressures and adverse weather conditions threaten production.

Hohmann said in addition to protecting seed, Bayer is also working to protect farmers and agriculture communities with its Farm State of Mind initiative. The focus on mental health began in May 2019 as farmers in many areas work through one of the more challenging years on record. He encouraged farmers to join in on social media with the hashtag #FarmStateOfMind or visit acceleronsas.com/farmstateofmind to share stories and find resources for managing mental health challenges.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with A.J. here: Interview with A.J. Hohmann, Bayer

Bayer at the 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Seed

NAMA Names Professional Development Award Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

Three marketing and agricultural leaders will be honored as winners of the National Agri-Marketing Association 2019 Professional Development Awards of Excellence during the NAMA Fall Conference, October 7-9, in St. Louis.

This year, NAMA recognizes Douglas Reynolds, Marketing and Digital Communications Leader of the United States Region for Corteva Agriscience, in the Marketing Communications area; Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Vice President of Communications for the Animal Agriculture Alliance in the area of Public Relations; and Bob Brunker, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for J. L. Farmakis, Inc., in the area of Sales.

The early registration rate for the NAMA Fall Conference ends on September 16, so you better HUSTLE! Download the full brochure here.

NAMA

Alltech Partners with American National CattleWomen

Cindy Zimmerman

Alltech has partnered with the American National CattleWomen (ANCW) to help promote diversity among agricultural leadership with a focus on beef promotion, education and legislation.

“The American National CattleWomen organization aims to educate consumers on the beef industry and the efforts to create sustainable practices that will ensure a safe food supply for years to come,” said Evelyn Greene, president-elect of ANCW. “I’m excited to partner with Alltech, as their vision of Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™ compliments the mission of ANCW.”

Alltech’s vision for a more sustainable future was announced during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE19) in May. Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, called for collaboration across industry sectors and geographical boundaries to create a world in which there is enough nutritious food for all, resources are responsibly managed for future generations and the environment is safe for people, animals and plants.

Taking a significant step toward its sustainability and Planet of Plenty goals, Alltech recently committed to the U.N. Global Compact and nine of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including gender equality. In alignment with these commitments and in support of women in agriculture, Alltech will provide financial sponsorship to aid Greene’s campaign as president of ANCW.

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Beef

Water for Food Global Conference Proceedings Available

Cindy Zimmerman

The full proceedings of the ninth global conference produced by the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska are now available in print and online.

More than 400 international experts and organizational leaders convened in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 29-30, to discuss “Water for a Hungry World: Innovation in Water and Food Security,” focusing on the next generation of research, smart technology, policy development and best practices that are achieving breakthroughs in this vitally important mission. The conference sessions covered a range of topics focused on ways to approach the global challenge of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050, while maintaining freshwater supplies for urban, rural and environmental needs.

The comprehensive proceedings publication includes lots of images from the 2019 Water for Food Global Conference photo album. Great example of how to use content created by ZimmComm at an event!

Water for Food

National Pork Board to Host Swine Innovation Summit

Carrie Muehling

The National Pork Board will host allied industry partners at its first-ever Swine Innovation Summit in Indianapolis on Sept. 17, 2019. The inaugural event is designed to help pork producers and food influencers learn more about emerging technology trends facing today’s food production systems. National Pork Board leaders will then attend the Forbes AgTech Summit, held on Sept. 18 and 19, in ongoing support of AgTech innovation and the THRIVE Midwest Challenge.

Forbes and SVG Ventures-THRIVE are founding partners of the AgTech Summit and partner with AgriNovus Indiana, Corteva, Elanco Animal Health, Land O’Lakes and Purdue University to provide networking and showcase opportunities in the Midwest.

The Summit will focus on emerging technology, new and dynamic business models and consumer behaviors which impact shopping preferences and food choices.

“Today’s consumers literally carry supercomputers in their pockets and have access to information – both accurate and misleading – that they leverage in making on-the-spot purchase decisions,” said Andy Brudtkuhl, National Pork Board’s director of emerging technology. “In the span of a few short hours, we intend to educate today’s pig farmers on what they need to know and how they must adapt to the changing world in which we live.”

As part of its mandate to support pork research, promotion and education, the National Pork Board is offering the conference free of charge to pig farmers, swine veterinarians, authorized academics and allied industry. Interested attendees can see the agenda of the Swine Innovation Summit and register here.

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Pork, Pork Checkoff, Swine

USMCA by the Farming People

Cindy Zimmerman

Missouri Farm Bureau Federation president Blake Hurst stars in a new video from the organization urging passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Get ready to dance, this one is going viral!


Trade, Video

Precision Ag Bytes 9/4

Carrie Muehling

  • Three Iowa FFA chapters were awarded bragging rights and cash prizes in the Pioneer® brand A-Series Soybeans Big A Challenge. The winning chapters were recognized and their statues displayed prominently at the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. Judges selected Mount Ayr FFA of Mount Ayr, Iowa, as the overall winner of the $2,500 top prize. North Tama FFA of Traer, Iowa, won $1,500 for second place and Wayne FFA of Corydon, Iowa, earned $1,000 for third place.
  • Share the story of how conservation is part of your farm operation and you could be recognized with a Conservation Legacy Award. The awards recognize farm management practices of U.S. soybean farmers that are both environmentally friendly and profitable. More information on past winners of the award and how to submit your application is available in the “About” section under “Awards” on the ASA website. All applications must be submitted by Friday, Sept. 13, 2019.
  • Syngenta and The Cropio Group announced that Syngenta has completed the acquisition of all relevant assets of The Cropio Group, an Ag Tech company with a presence in over 50 countries, but with a primary focus in Eastern Europe. The Cropio platform is an equipment-integrated, end-to-end software solution that provides imaging, recordkeeping, and equipment tracking. Approximately 10 million hectares of crops are currently managed using Cropio.
  • CNH Industrial N.V. announced its agreement to acquire AgDNA, a leader in Farm Management Information Systems.
  • BASF is adding 43 new varieties to their 2020 Credenz® seed lineup. Credenz is now the 10th most planted soybean seed in the U.S., offering over 75 varieties nationally and over 45 varieties for Midwest growers.
  • Syngenta introduced a new $30 million Trait Conversion Accelerator – a highly-automated “controlled environment” corn breeding facility – at its Nampa R&D and seed production facility.
  • Premier Crop Systems® launched their new Data Visualization platform, a part of their three-tier technology strategy. This new platform allows growers to gain key insights that give them the ability to make informed decisions based off economics, seed, crop protection, fertility, operations and management.
  • Valley® Irrigation announced another industry first: the ability to push updates “over the air” to their ICON® control panels. This ag tech advancement is available automatically through the built-in Valley ICON Link.
  • Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. announced that Dr. Pam Marrone, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, has received the 2019 American Chemical Society Award for Innovation in Chemistry of Agriculture, sponsored by the Agrochemical Division of ACS and BASF Corporation, in honor of outstanding achievements in the discovery, development and commercialization of biopesticides.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

FieldView Data Drives Better Decisions

Carrie Muehling

Bayer is working to help farmers make better decisions using data with the FieldView platform.

“Farmers today have got tremendous amounts of information whether it’s about what they planted, what they sprayed, the yield that they received and many other aspects of that field and/or the environment,” said John Raines, Global Commercial Lead for The Climate Corporation. “We want to help bring that information together and analyze it to bring back to the farmer information or insights that will help them drive yield or productivity or limit their risk.”

Raines said farmers are adopting data driven technology rapidly, and proprietary algorithms can help them to bring information together and solve problems based on the results. Raines encouraged farmers to get connected with FieldView in order to take advantage of things like seed advisor services, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with John here: Interview with John Raines, The Climate Corporation, Bayer

Bayer at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show