Bayer Feed A Bee Milestone

Chuck Zimmerman

The Bayer national pollinator forage initiative, Feed a Bee, has announced it has reached its goal of awarding grants supporting diverse forage for honey bees and other pollinators in all 50 states. The 50th recipient awarded recently was Gateway to the Arctic Camp in Talkeetna, Alaska. I talked with Dr. Becky Langer, Bayer, about the milestone and success of this program.

Dedicated to service and agriculture, the nonprofit camp teaches the significance of serving those in need and the value of hard work through fun activities involving sustainability, farming and environmental stewardship. This summer it will dedicate an entire field as forage for bees and other pollinators where campers of all abilities, including those with special needs, will discover the connection between honey bees and the crops they pollinate.

“We’re proud to have awarded more than $650,000 for pollinator-focused planting projects over the last three years,” said Dr. Becky Langer, project manager, Bayer North American Bee Care Program. “We’re now connected to nearly 170 organizations all over the country who are thinking critically about how to diversify forage for pollinators, have put that plan to action and, equally important, have integrated educational components encouraging their local community to get involved.”

Listen to my interview with Becky here: Interview with Dr. Becky Langer, Bayer

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Bees

Farmers Expected to Plant More Corn, Record Low Wheat

Cindy Zimmerman

More corn, but less soybeans, wheat and cotton is USDA’s forecast for Prospective Plantings this season.

The report released on Friday puts corn planted acres for this year at 92.8 million acres, up 4 percent or 3.66 million acres from last year. Soybean planted area for 2019 is estimated at 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year. All wheat acreage is estimated to be four percent lower than 2018 and all cotton acreage is down two percent.

All wheat planted area for 2019 is estimated at 45.8 million acres, down 4 percent from 2018. This represents the lowest all wheat planted area on record since records began in 1919. The biggest hit comes in the Durum planted area for 2019 is estimated at 1.42 million acres, down 31 percent from the previous year. Both spring and winter wheat are down about three percent.

MGEX held a call for reporters about the report featuring commentary from Jack Scoville of The PRICE Futures Group. Listen here:
MGEX crop call 3-29-19

Audio, Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA, Wheat

Animal Ag Bites 4/1

Carrie Muehling

  • U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council officially broke ground on an expansion to USPOULTRY’s existing offices in Tucker, Georgia. The expansion will create an additional 12,000 square feet of space owned by “The Coop Group, LLC” a partnership of USPOULTRY and USAPEEC.
  • The American Feed Industry Association released the results of its annual charitable giving survey. AFIA member company employees donated a collective 104,000 hours of their time to supporting community service projects in 2018 – a 13 percent increase over 2017. AFIA member companies, including company-employee matches, also donated over $56 million to an expansive list of community causes.
  • A long-awaited scrapie rule was published this week in the Federal Register. The rule incorporates into regulation APHIS’ long-standing policy to use genetic testing to identify genetically resistant or less susceptible sheep for exemption from destruction and as qualifying for interstate movement. The rule takes effect on April 24, 2019.
  • GENYOUth, an organization founded through the dairy checkoff to help create healthier schools, is providing Grab-n-Go breakfast carts to Fuel Up to Play 60 schools across the country that will serve more than 5 million pounds of milk annually.
  • From wet silage to dry hay to straw and stalks, the new Case IH RB565 Premium HD round baler provides producers the flexibility to bale a full range of crops. The RB565 Premium HD round baler is equipped with components to efficiently handle wet hay making in an all-purpose, multicrop baler. This new baler expands the RB5 series lineup, taking high-efficiency hay production to the next level.
  • According to a survey by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Major League Baseball fans this season are expected to consume about 18.3 million hot dogs and nearly four million sausages.
  • R-CALF USA has sent a formal request to U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr urging him to block the proposed acquisition of Iowa beef packer Iowa Premium by National Beef Packing Company, which is now majority owned by Brazilian-based Marfrig Global Foods.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Biofuels Advocates Testify at EPA Hearing

Cindy Zimmerman

The Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing Friday on proposed regulatory changes related to retail sales of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15) and the renewable identification number (RIN) compliance system Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

Biofuels advocates, organization representatives and company officials testified at the hearing about the proposal and other related topics. Below are links to audio files from some of the witnesses.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
EPA Michigan hearing - Iowa Gov. Reynolds

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Geoff Cooper.
EPA Michigan hearing - RFA CEO Geoff Cooper

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Senior Vice President and Market Development Director Ron Lamberty
EPA Michigan hearing - ACE Senior VP Ron Lamberty

National Corn Growers Association First Vice President and Iowa farmer Kevin Ross
EPA Michigan hearing - NCGA 1st VP Kevin Ross

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor
EPA Michigan hearing - Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor

ACE, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Zimfo Bytes 3/29

Carrie Muehling

  • Two business leaders from the People’s Republic of China visited the National Corn Growers Association’s St. Louis office to discuss the U.S. corn industry and NCGA’s role in working to create opportunities for corn farmers.
  • The National Agri-Marketing Association has named Zippy Duvall,President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, as the 2019 Ag Association Leader of the Year.
  • The California Antique Farm Equipment Show® kicks off Friday, April 12 at 8:00 a.m. at the International Agri-Center® show grounds in Tulare, CA. The show runs Friday, April 12, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday, April 13, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, April 14, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  • In an effort to improve mental health support for farmers, ranchers and farm workers, National Farmers Union and a broad coalition of leading farm and rural advocacy groups are urging Congress to fully fund the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network in fiscal year 2020.
  • The American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Program has launched “Women in Ag,” an online survey that aims to gauge the goals, aspirations, achievements and needs of women in American agriculture in a variety of areas. All women who are farmers, ranchers, farm/ranch employees, employed in agricultural businesses, pursuing ag-related higher education or supportive of agriculture in other ways are invited to participate in the survey at fb.org/women. Respondents must reside in the United States. Farm Bureau membership is not required to participate.
  • The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are currently collecting comments on their proposed rule of the term “Waters of the United States (WOTUS).” The draft comments are intended for you to easily submit to the agencies before the deadline of April 15th. Submit comments here.
  • Potatoes USA, the Marketing and Promotions Board for the U.S. potato industry, concluded its 47th Annual Meeting on March 14. Phil Hickman of Horntown, Virginia will serve a one-year term as Chairman, making him the board’s first Chairman from Virginia.
  • EnviroMonitor is an award-winning sensor platform that helps farmers measure, monitor, and manage crops at every stage of the growth cycle. With the Davis Mobilize app farmers can monitor soil moisture and soil temperature to help plant with confidence, track growing degree days for each field by crop and plant date, and improve daily decisions with real-time field conditions.
  • NewLeaf Symbiotics announces the hiring of three experienced agriculture leaders to its business development team. Dave Coorts has been named Director of Field Biology; Brad Walkup joins as Technical Sales Lead for the Western Region; and Caroline Currie will serve as Technical Sales Lead for the Eastern Region.
  • At the Farm Foundation Forum on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, a panel of educators and industry leaders will discuss the innovative approaches they are taking to meeting the sector’s human capital needs. The Forum, Human Capital Challenges in the Food and Agriculture Sector, will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT. CLICK HERE to register to attend the Farm Foundation Forum at the 4-H Center and/or the Ohio Agricultural Council gathering. To participate in the Farm Foundation Forum via the live webcast, register HERE. The webcast is made possible by a grant from Farm Credit.
  • David Delaney has joined Farmer’s Business Network as Chief Commercial Officer. Farmers Business Network is an independent and unbiased farmer-to-farmer agronomic network that provides unbiased and democratized analytics to its 8,000+ American farmers, and now 500+ Canadian farmers.
  • When it comes to what we eat at Major League Baseball parks, the top dogs for well over a century have been hot dogs and sausages—and once again, they will reign supreme in 2019. According to a survey by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, MLB fans this season are expected to consume about 18.3 million hot dogs and nearly four million sausages.
  • New Ag International is looking forward to taking two conferences to Brazil in August 2019. InfoAg International Conference & Exhibition, a three-day event jointly organized with the International Plant Nutrition Institute, will run in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil from 26-28 August 2019.
Zimfo Bytes

New Ag International Brings Two Events to Brazil in August 2019

Cindy Zimmerman

New Ag International is hosting two conferences to Brazil in August 2019.

InfoAg International Conference & Exhibition, a three-day event jointly organized with the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), will run in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil August 26-28.

This is the ideal event to learn how digital revolution is changing agriculture in South America. After years of success in the USA, the organizer of InfoAG is partnering with New Ag International and coming to South America to create the premier event for discussion and advancement for precision agriculture looking at field centric monitoring with imagery and sensors, seamless connectivity with IoT, data analytics and prediction modelling, variable rate technology, precision plant nutrition and irrigation management, prescription platforms and digitalization.

This event will be followed by the largest biocontrol event in Latin America – the Biocontrol LATAM Conference and Exhibition, scheduled for Campinas August 28-30.

The event is co-organized by 2B Monthly, in conjunction with IBMA and with support from the host association ABCBio. Topics to be covered include regulation in Latin American countries; new and emerging technologies in microbials, natural extracts and semiochemicals; the current status of the biocontrol market; the integration of biocontrol solutions in IPM programmes; case studies of adoption by growers; and novel approaches to formulation and production.

For more information about the events, contact marketing manager Carmen Hernandez.

AgWired Precision, Biotech, Events, New Ag International

Managing Bollworms with Prevathon® Insect Control

Cindy Zimmerman

Research conducted at Texas A&M University has shown wide-spread bollworm/earworm resistance to the majority cotton and corn Bt technologies and that cotton bollworms have developed resistance to pyrethroids to some degree in most of Texas. One of the insecticides recommended for growers to manage cotton bollworm populations is FMC Prevathon.

At the recent Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, we talked with FMC senior technical service manager Don Johnson about Prevethon and how it fits in with what has changed recently in bollworm control and the new guidelines for treatment with a foliar insecticide. Listen here: Interview with Don Johnson, FMC Prevethon


2019 Mid-South Farm and Gin Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Cotton, Farm & Gin Show, FMC, Insecticides, Video

ZimmCast 612 – Happy 15th Agri-Pulse

Cindy Zimmerman

2004 was a pretty good year to start a company.

ZimmComm was born the same year as Agri-Pulse so we are both celebrating our 15th anniversary this year. Our friendship with Agri-Pulse founder and president Sara Wyant is at least twice as old, and we have known her husband and partner Al Johnson about the same length of time.

We have been proud to be part of the Agri-Pulse team over the years, from consulting on their website, to taking over the daily audio reports when Stewart Doan passed away suddenly in 2012, to daughter Chelsea now compiling the Daily Harvest newsletter. We also get to be the photographers at the annual Agri-Pulse policy summit, which just happened last week.

It was too crazy to sit down with Sara and talk in person last week, but we did catch up by phone this week to talk about the success of Agri-Pulse and the great people behind it all.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 612 - Agri-Pulse 15th Anniversary

Agri-Pulse, Podcasts, ZimmCast

President of World Food Prize to Retire

Cindy Zimmerman

Ambassador Kenneth Quinn will retire as president of the World Food Prize Foundation on January 3, 2020 after 20 years leading the organization.

Quinn made the announcement earlier this week at the Hall of Laureates in Des Moines during a reception commemorating the 105th anniversary of Dr. Norman Borlaug’s birth. “Leading the World Food Prize and endeavoring to fulfill the vision of Dr. Norman Borlaug and John Ruan Sr. has been an extraordinary privilege,” he said. “What at first seemed an impossible quest, to have the World Food Prize come to be seen as the ‘Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture,’ has over the last twenty years become a dream come true.”

When Amb. Quinn assumed leadership of the World Food Prize in January of 2000, he had a one-person staff and the World Food Prize was a one-day event, drawing only 25 to 30 participants from outside of Iowa. He was given the goal of fulfilling two dreams:

Norman Borlaug’s vision that the World Food Prize would become recognized globally as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture;” and

John Ruan’s idea for a prize that would promote central Iowa as the “food and agricultural capital of America.”

In endeavoring to fulfill these goals, Amb. Quinn has built the annual World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony and the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium into the “Davos of Global Food Security,” an event that has been attended annually by over 1,200 people from 40 to 50 different countries.

A national firm has been hired to search for a successor while Quinn will have the title of President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation for his lifetime.

World Food Prize

Precision Ag Bytes 3/27

Carrie Muehling

  • The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are currently collecting comments on their proposed rule of the term “Waters of the United States.” Agricultural Retailers Association has prepared draft comments that are supportive of the proposed rule. The draft comments are intended for you to easily submit to the agencies before the deadline of April 15th. Submit comments now on the Clean Water Rule.
  • Feed a Bee, the national pollinator forage initiative by Bayer, announced it has reached its goal of awarding grants supporting diverse forage for honey bees and other pollinators in all 50 states. The 50th recipient awarded recently was Gateway to the Arctic Camp in Talkeetna, Alaska.
  • As the Soil Health Partnership heads into its fifth year of long term data collection on working farms, the organization is hiring for several roles to support its expanding footprint. Open roles include Development Director, a Michigan Research Manager, Soil Health Kansas-Nebraska Field Manager, and Soil Health Minnesota Field Manager.
  • EnviroMonitor is an award-winning sensor platform that helps farmers measure, monitor, and manage crops at every stage of the growth cycle. With the Davis Mobilize app, farmers can monitor soil moisture and soil temperature to plant with confidence, track growing degree days for each field by crop and plant date, and improve daily decisions with real-time field conditions.
  • NewLeaf Symbiotics announces the hiring of three experienced agriculture leaders to its business development team. Dave Coorts has been named Director of Field Biology; Brad Walkup joins as Technical Sales Lead for the Western Region; and Caroline Currie will serve as Technical Sales Lead for the Eastern Region.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes