World Food Prize Winner Announced

Carrie Muehling

The 2019 World Food Prize Laureate is Simon N. Groot of the Netherlands. Groot has played an important role in enhancing vegetable production for millions of smallholder farmers, affording consumers greater access to healthy diets in more than 60 countries.

The announcement was made at a ceremony in the U.S. Department of State hosted and presided over by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Acting Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Manisha Singh gave remarks, and Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, made Mr. Groot’s award public.

“Like Dr. Norman Borlaug before him, Simon N. Groot has dedicated his life to improving the livelihoods of millions around the world,” said Amb. Quinn. “With his partner in the Philippines, he began developing vegetable varieties with enhanced disease resistance and significantly higher yields. As the use of his seeds spread throughout the Philippines and to Thailand, Indonesia and across Southeast Asia, farmers’ daily lives were uplifted and consumers benefited from greater access to nutritious vegetables. Mr. Groot in effect developed a stunningly impactful global network of seed producers who are transforming the lives of 20 million farmers every year. For this extraordinary accomplishment, he truly deserves to be named the 2019 World Food Prize Laureate.”

Mr. Groot is the founder and leader of East-West Seed, which serves over 20 million smallholder farmers in more than 60 tropical countries. Many farmers in these areas were subsistence farmers who now enjoy more income and better lives as a result.

“The awarding of the World Food Prize to a vegetable seedsman is reason for excitement and gratitude,” Groot said. “But the ultimate recognition is for the millions of smallholder farmers that stepped up farming from a way of living to building a business. Small scale vegetable farming is a great way to grow rural income and employment and improve nutrition at the same time. Partnering modern science with a long tradition of Dutch seedsmanship has contributed mightily to the growth of the vegetable farming industry of tropical Asia in the last 35 years. Now it is the turn for tropical Africa where again quality vegetable seeds combined with major farmer knowledge transfer programs can create sustainable income for the next generation of African farmers.”

Mr. Groot will receive the World Food Prize at a ceremony that will be held in the magnificent Iowa State Capitol building in Des Moines, Iowa, on the evening of October 17, 2019.

AgWired Precision, Vegetables, World Food Prize

Animal Ag Bites 6/10

Carrie Muehling

  • Revisions to the Pork Quality Assurance® Plus 4.0 are now effective. The updated program reflects pork producers’ commitment to continuous improvement and features two training options – first-time and recertification.
  • The Pork Checkoff, in collaboration with the National Junior Swine Association and Team Purebred – the nation’s largest youth swine organizations – led an industry panel on biosecurity and farm preparation. Nearly 1,400 exhibitors, parents and industry spectators were on-site at The Exposition pig show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds as the panel addressed hot topics to stem on-farm disease spread.
  • David Newman, a pork producer from Arkansas, was elected president of the National Pork Board at the organization’s June board meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. The National Pork Board’s 15 producer-directors represent America’s pig farmers.
  • Global animal health and nutrition company Alltech is proud to support Feeding South Dakota by donating a trip to Ireland that will be presented at the sixth annual South Dakota Prime Time Gala on June 22, 2019. The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation has pledged to raise $150,000 for Feeding South Dakota at the 2019 Prime Time Gala.
  • The dairy community, along with Feeding America, will be kicking off National Dairy Month by rallying consumers across the country to get nutritious food to families who need it. At the national level, a three-vehicle convoy will embark on a cross-country tour in June and July to provide kids with free nutritious milk and dairy foods at locations, including farmers markets, feeding sites and sporting events. People can take action against hunger and help increase access to nutrient-rich foods by donating milk at www.giveagallon.com.
  • The American Meat Science Association announced the appointment of Collette Schultz Kaster as its new Chief Executive Officer.
  • The American Feed Industry Association has opened registration for its 49th Liquid Feed Symposium, being held Sept. 10-12, in Omaha, Neb. More information on the Liquid Feed Symposium, including registration, the agenda and information about the location, can be found on the event’s website.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Trump to Visit Iowa Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

President Donald J.Trump will be showing his love for the American farmer again this week as he visits an Iowa ethanol plant to celebrate the easing of summer restrictions on the sale of E15.

Trump will be touring Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC (SIRE) in Council Bluffs on Tuesday and will speak to hundreds of farmers and other ethanol industry stakeholders. In his remarks, the president is expected to discuss disaster assistance and trade in addition to ethanol.

Just a few weeks ago, President Trump welcomed representatives from a number of agricultural organizations to the White House to discuss the $16 billion in trade assistance offered to offset unjustified retaliation and trade disruption in the agricultural sector. The president’s admiration for farmers and ranchers also brought him to speak at the past two American Farm Bureau Federation conventions.

This will not be Trump’s first visit to an ethanol plant ever, but will be his first as president. As a candidate, Trump toured the POET Biorefining ethanol plant in Gowrie, Iowa in 2015.

AgWired Precision, Corn, Ethanol, Trade

Secretary Perdue Discusses Disaster Aid in Florida

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited Florida and Georgia to participate in roundtable discussions on USMCA and disaster aid signed by President Trump yesterday.

At his first stop in Tallahassee, Perdue participated in a short press conference with Governor Ron DeSantis after the roundtable.

Listen here:

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue presser in Florida on disaster aid
AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Trade, USDA

Hubbard Feeds Introduces AllBite Block

Carrie Muehling

A new product from Hubbard Feeds will help with vice behavior in pigs. The AllBite™️ block, officially launched at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, helps to stabilize the mood of the pig and also modifies the actual behavior and social aspects of that pen to keep them more comfortable and help them not to pick on each other, said Jamie Pietig, swine nutritionist with Hubbard Feeds.

“What it does is it gives them a behavioral aspect to take their aggression out on something other than a pig. And then the ingredients are also in there to help calm pigs down and it actually kind of moderates neurotransmission in the pigs with what we have in there,” said Pietig, who noted the problem is a production issue, a cost issue and a welfare issue that seems to be gaining in the industry.

He said the product will help in the case of tail biting or ear biting and should be introduced as soon as these types of behavior are displayed. Pietig recommends one block per 25 pigs, and said that should last from one to two weeks in most cases.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jamie here: Interview with Jamie Pietig, Hubbard Feeds

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE 19 Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Swine

Zimfo Bytes 6/7

Carrie Muehling

  • American Agri-Women will host its 26th annual symposium in Washington, D.C., starting at 9 a.m. on June 10th, with the focus on private and public land use agreements.
  • Carol Kitchen has been named GROWMARK Vice President, Energy and Logistics. She will replace Mike Builta, who passed away unexpectedly in April.
  • Amy L. Vincent and Feng Gao, both scientists with the Agricultural Research Service, will receive the Arthur S. Flemming Award for their outstanding scientific achievements in the fields of animal health and remote sensing, respectively.
  • Insight FS awarded 10, $1,500 scholarships to high school seniors and college students pursuing a degree in agriculture.
  • Culver’s guests showed their support in a big way for agricultural education on Culver’s Scoops of Thanks Day, donating more than $104,000. The fundraiser is part of Culver’s Thank You Farmers® Project and involved guests donating $1 in exchange for a single scoop of Fresh Frozen Custard. The proceeds raised across Culver’s over 700 restaurants will go to local FFA chapters and other agricultural organizations.
  • The Partnership for Ag Resource Management (PARM), a project of the IPM Institute of North America, has been surveying ag retail locations since 2012 on adoption rates of products and services that benefit both the environment as well as ag retail and customer pocket books. Ninety ag retail locations representing over 5.3 million acres in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Basins participated in PARM’s 2018 season products and services survey. Participants reduced an estimated 6.4 million pounds of total phosphorus, 1.2 million pounds of dissolved reactive phosphorus and 60 million pounds of total nitrogen. Find the report here.
  • The Fertilizer Institute President & CEO Chris Jahn stressed the importance of safety when handling fertilizers, both by retailers and by growers. TFI sent out a reminder about safety guidelines and operating procedures to all its members and affiliated state associations.
  • Ag producer sentiment dropped to its lowest level since October 2016, erasing all improvements recorded following the November 2016 election. The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, based on a mid-month survey of 400 agricultural producers across the U.S., declined 14 points in May to a reading of 101, down from 115 in April.
  • Amyris, Inc., a leader in the development and production of sustainable ingredients for the Health & Wellness, Clean Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets, announced the appointment of Kathleen Valiasek, formerly Chief Financial Officer, to Chief Business Officer effective immediately.
  • Fastline Media Group™ announced a strategic partnership with Iron Solutions™, Inc.
  • Bayer announced a collaboration with Arvinas, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in New Haven, Connecticut. The new life science research partnership uniquely leverages the full potential of Arvinas’ novel PROTAC® technology, coupled with leading expertise of Bayer in health and agriculture to develop innovations for the benefit of patients and farmers.
  • The Agricultural Retailers Association sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue describing the risk of unintended consequences that the disaster relief legislation will have on agribusiness and requesting him to implement legislation in a way that will not harm agricultural retailers and distributors.
  • Online registration is open for CTIC’s 12th annual Conservation In Action Tour, which will include a packed program of farm visits, facility tours, informative presentations and an up-close look at real-world conservation practices in central Iowa on August 20-21. Register here.
  • Kubota Tractor Corporation recently announced the new M4 Series to the company’s utility tractor line.
Zimfo Bytes

Alltech Accelerator 8 – Intouchgo

Carrie Muehling

Intouchgo came to the market six years ago, pioneering innovations in feed management and dairy herd production.

But the Irish company had begun to see inconsistencies in the data they had built up that were costing farmers production and money. As a result, they’ve made significant changes that make the company more relevant to farmers and add real value throughout the supply chain.

“We are taking milk production data directly in real time, coming from the milking parlor each morning at 9 a.m. We’re getting that data coming in, we’re matching that with our feed ingredient database and we are triggering alerts. So we have built in algorithms and some smart formulas that if milk production or butterfat or protein drops by a certain percentage, we will trigger an automatic alert and that will be sent directly to the farmer’s smartphone. So, it’s a decision making tool in real time and driving real value,” said Martin Minchin, Intouch Marketing Manager, Alltech.

Minchin said a farmer can now look at a notification to see what it means, immediately accept the recommended ration and send that command directly to the mixer wagon for feeding.

“We’ve taken a process, in that case, from 14 days all the way down to five minutes,” explained Minchin, who appreciated the opportunity to be part of Alltech’s Pearse Lyons Accelerator program.

The company hopes to remove costly inconsistencies from milk production using real time data that can drive decisions on the farm.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Martin here: Interview with Martin Minchin, Intouchgo

Alltech Ideas Conference – ONE 19 Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio

ZimmCast 618 – Do Business Better with Damian Mason

Chuck Zimmerman

This week we’re going to learn all about a new book from Damian Mason titled “Do Business Better – Traits, Habits and Actions to Help You Succeed.” Here’s an excerpt from the book description to get us started.

After speaking to companies such as Merck, Land O’Lakes, and Cargill, and 2,000 audiences across the world, Damian Mason, successful businessman, agriculturalist, podcaster, and writer, wants to help you achieve your entrepreneurial goals and live a better life. While other business books claim to tell you how to reach success, they fall short because they don’t address the fact that success is different for each of us. Do Business Better helps you define success on your terms, then shows you how to achieve it.

Damian Mason - Do Business BetterAgWired regulars might remember that we’ve featured Damian at several events in the past like the Agri-Marketing Conference, O.H. Kruse customer event, Southern Peanut Growers Conference and Potato Expo. The two subjects he knows best are business and agriculture. He does a great job of mixing those in his stage presentations.

Damian and I not only talk about his new book but some other subjects like how farmers are doing on social media and his thoughts on the current farm economy. He’s also a podcaster with two programs, The Business of Agriculture and just launched in conjunction with his new book, Do Business Better, a Podcast to Help You Succeed. I think you’ll find a lot of common sense in what Damian has to say. We need more of that in today’s world!

You can find Damian’s new book on Amazon or through his website.

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

Listen to the ZimmCast here: Do Business Better

Audio, ZimmCast

Corteva Completes Separation from DowDuPont

Chuck Zimmerman

Corteva AgriscienceOn Monday the separation of Corteva, Inc. from DowDuPont became official. The photo below is courtesy of the National Corn Growers Association. NCGA President Lynn Chrisp and other commodity group leaders joined Corteva at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell Monday.

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) successfully completed its separation from DowDuPont, becoming a leading, global pure-play agriculture company that offers the complete solutions farmers need to maximize yield and profitability. Corteva Agriscience launches today with global scale and a balanced offering across seed and crop protection, underpinned by expanding digital capabilities and powered by the broadest and most productive innovation pipeline in the industry.

Corteva Agriscience and NCGA PresidentThe distribution of Corteva common stock was completed on June 1, with each DowDuPont stockholder of record receiving 1 share of Corteva common stock for every 3 shares of DowDuPont common stock held as of the close of business on May 24, 2019. DowDuPont stockholders will also receive cash in lieu of any fractional Corteva shares. Corteva common stock begins trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under its new ticker symbol “CTVA”.

“Today marks the launch of a new kind of agriculture company, well positioned to compete and win by providing farmers the complete solution they need for sustainable, long-term growth and improved profitability,” said Jim Collins, Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience. “As a global leader in the combined $100 billion seed and crop protection market, Corteva Agriscience has the most robust pipeline in the industry, a world-class innovation engine, and advantaged routes to market that provide us with unparalleled customer relationships – all of which will fuel our growth as an independent company and drive value for stockholders. Our more than 21,000 dedicated employees are committed to fulfilling our purpose to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come.”

You can find the full announcement about the separation here.

AgWired Precision

BASF Opens New Research Facility

Carrie Muehling

BASF opened its new global Agrochemical Application Research Center (AARC) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The facility will help to further optimize stewardship guidelines regarding on-target application of BASF crop protection products used worldwide. Research conducted at the facility will also address application buffer zones for the company’s products as well as specific tank mix combinations.

“The new Research Center will help us bring new technologies to growers that reduce drift, use rates and fulfill required regulatory testing,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President North America, BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division. “Additionally, research from the facility will provide our Technical Service teams with guidelines to help educate our customers on proper application and stewardship best practices.”

Read the full news release here.

AgWired Precision, BASF, Crop Protection, Research