ZimmCast on the Bayer AgVocacy Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

This week’s program includes where in the world the ZimmComm Team has been as well as interviews from one of those places.

We’ve been to Destin, FL for BASF Legacy Club events, then on to Orlando for the Commodity Classic and associated activities. At the same time, Cindy was in Memphis with FMC for the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show.

In this week’s program, I’m sharing interviews with Darren Wallis, Vice President, North America Communications at Bayer CropScience and Willie Vogt, Executive Director, Content and User Engagement, Penton Farm Progress Group. They talk about the Bayer AgVocacy Forum that took place prior to Commodity Classic.

I hope you enjoy this week’s program and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 610 - Bayer AgVocacy Forum

Audio, BASF, Bayer, Commodity Classic, Farm & Gin Show, ZimmCast

Fighting Fescue Toxicity

Carrie Muehling

The decrease in productivity caused by fescue toxicosis has been estimated to cost U.S. beef producers more than $2 billion per year due to reduced growth and diminished reproductive efficiency. At the recent Cattle Industry Conference and NCBA Trade Show, Alltech territory manager Klair Hartzold talked to us about how Alltech is focusing on prevention.

Listen to Jamie’s interview with Klair here: Interview with Klair Hartzold, Alltech Territory Sales Manager


2019 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, Video

AMVAC Excited About Growing Portfolio

Cindy Zimmerman

American Vanguard Corporation, parent company to AMVAC Chemical Corporation, is celebrating 50 years in business this year and the future has never looked better.

“We’re excited about the 2019 season as we continue to innovate around our existing product portfolio and add elements to our portfolio through recent acquisitions,” said Jim Lappin, AMVAC Crop Marketing Manager, Corn and Soybean Portfolio, at last week’s Commodity Classic.

During Classic, it was announced that AMVAC has entered into an agreement for the purchase of selected product lines and related inventory from Willowood USA, which would include more than a dozen herbicide technical registrations and nearly two dozen formulation registrations. The acquisition must be approved by a bankruptcy court which will rule by mid-April.

Lappin talks about the AMVAC portfolio and new products for 2019 including Force® 10G HL corn soil insecticide for broad-spectrum control of listed corn rootworm and seed-attacking pests –
Interview with Jim Lappin - AMVAC Corn/Soybean Portfolio


AMVAC at 2019 Commodity Classic

AMVAC, Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Video

Precision Ag Bytes 3/6

Carrie Muehling

  • South Dakota State University and University of Kentucky plant pathologists have confirmed that Cercospora sojina, a soybean pathogen that causes frogeye leaf spot, has shown resistance to QoI fungicides (quinone outside inhibitor, strobilurin, e.g. active ingredients in Headline and Quadris) in South Dakota.
  • Dr. Todd Wehner has been added to the team of instructors for the upcoming class of the UC Davis European Plant Breeding Academy (PBA). Dr. Wehner has been with the UC Davis PBA since its inception in 2006 and lectured in U.S., Africa and Asia.
  • Concentric Ag Corporation announced that its President and CEO Donald R. Marvin will transition within the next few months to become the executive chairman of its board of directors. The search for a new President and CEO is being conducted by executive search firm Hobbs & Towne.
  • Blockchain, remote sensing and finding ways to build a 21st-century workforce for California agriculture are just a few of the timely topics that headline this year’s Salinas Valley Ag Tech Summit, themed “Tomorrow’s Technology You Can Use Today.” The sixth annual summit, to be held March 26-27 at Hartnell College in Salinas, Calif., also will feature a spectrum of women leaders and entrepreneurs as panelists or keynote speakers.
  • The Yield Lab is pleased to announce the new companies of the 2019 Yield Lab North America. These companies were selected out of a pool of 100+ applicants from around the world that are focused on solutions for more sustainable agriculture and food. The Yield Lab runs a business development program and invests $100,000 into each new portfolio company. The companies include: Aggio, Arch Innotek, Eiwa, Foodshed, Planetarians, and VakSea.
  • AGBRIDGE has developed the AGBRIDGE Drive, which acts like a regular USB drive, but transmits data via Wifi to their cloud automatically. AGBRIDGE is teaming up with Ayrstone Productivity to simplify data movement for farmers.
  • Register now for the Soil Health Institute’s annual meeting in Sacramento, Calif. This year’s theme is Soil Health – A Global Imperative, reflecting just how critically imminent it is that we safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soils to address food, water, climate, wildlife, fiber, fuel, and other global issues.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) presented the second annual Davidson Prize to the top three innovative products, selected from the AE50 honorees last week at Commodity Classic in Orlando, Florida.
  • Syngenta has teamed up with Ram Trucks to help U.S. farmers overcome the challenges of today and tomorrow. AgriEdge®, a whole-farm program that combines secure data management across digital platforms and innovative product choices for every crop, is now included in the Ram AgPack.
  • The American Soybean Association congratulates the following regional winners of the 2019 Conservation Legacy Awards. They are: Rob Stout, Washington, Iowa; Dan Gillespie, Battle Creek, Neb.; Rick Clark, Williamsport, Ind.; and Fred Sipes, Ekron, Ky.
  • Midwest farmers now have a resource nearby to provide soil biology assessments quickly and accurately. Midwest Bio-Tech recently opened Illinois’ first dedicated soil health lab.
  • Ceres Imaging, the aerial imagery provider that enables proactive farm management by combining scientific-grade imagery with data analytics and expert customer support, announced the release of its Center-Pivot Analytics Suite, a full-service imagery solution designed specifically for center-pivot irrigated row crops.
  • Deere & Company announced that its Board of Directors elected John C. May, 49, as President, Chief Operating Officer, effective April 1. May will be responsible for leading Deere’s efforts to maximize operational excellence throughout the company.
  • U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has appointed Dr. Nick Goeser as Vice President, Sustainability Sciences and Strategy. Announced at the Commodity Classic event in Orlando, Goeser’s appointment is directly tied to USFRA’s focus on ensuring farmers and ranchers are recognized for their use of sustainable science and data solutions.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

AlzChem Names U.S. Sales Lead for Creamino

Cindy Zimmerman

AlzChem Animal Health has named Dr. John Thomson as the U.S. Sales Manager for Feed Additives, particularly Creamino, a patent-protected preparation of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA).

During his career, Thomson has managed research programs with a number of different feed and nutrition companies, provided technical support and training to customers and staff, and worked with customers to implement improvements. Recently, he was responsible for the management of research and technical support programs for Creamino, an innovative, patent-protected preparation of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA).

Creamino feed additive was invented by AlzChem in Germany. For more than a quarter of a century, AlzChem has specialized in manufacture and formulation of creatine for human nutrition. The feed ingredient Creamino presents a significant new opportunity to improve animal health and feed efficiency. It is currently sold for broiler and turkey production. AlzChem is committed to expand the Creamino label to allow use for swine and other animals in the future.

Thomson will work out of the U.S. headquarters for AlzChem in Marietta, Georgia.

Read more from AlzChem.

AgWired Animal, Animal Health, Feed, Nutrition, Poultry

Stoneville Legacy Club Welcomes New Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

Cotton growers from the Southeast, Delta and South Texas regions were honored last week for their high yields at the annual Stoneville® Legacy Club™ celebration held in Destin, Florida. The club, now in its third year, recognizes cotton growers for their advanced knowledge and skill used to maximize their yield and profit potential, as well as produce high-quality fiber.

Twenty growers earned membership to the Stoneville Legacy Club and were recognized for harvesting yields in the top 10 percent of their state.

“Stoneville has been around for nearly 100 years and it’s a brand growers trust to consistently perform at high levels,” said Rachel Walters, Cottonseed Marketing Manager, BASF. “Stoneville Legacy Club growers pair our elite germplasm with their quality management to deliver high yields year-in and year- out. We’re honored to provide them with this recognition.”

Learn more about the brand and the club in this interview: Interview with Rachel Walters, BASF

To qualify for the Stoneville Legacy Club, growers must have planted 100 percent Stoneville cotton seed on at least 20 qualifying acres from January 1–December 31, 2018. To view a complete list of winners and learn more about how to qualify for the 2019 Stoneville Legacy Club, visit Stoneville.com/LC.

Listen to interviews with some of the Legacy Club members and award winners, which can be found in the BASF Stoneville Legacy Club virtual newsroom.

2019 BASF Legacy Club Events Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, Cotton

Agri-Pulse Announces California expansion

Cindy Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse Communications is expanding coverage into California and other West Coast states with 2,500 subscribers in California now receiving localized Agri-Pulse content through agreements with the California Association of Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA) and FMC Crop Protection.

“We have been planning our expansion into California and the Western states for the past two years,” says Sara Wyant, President and CEO of Agri-Pulse Communications. “We are very pleased that we will be working with two terrific partners to accomplish our goal of providing localized ag and food policy content to this unique market.”

Agri-Pulse will distribute a West Coast edition of the early morning Daybreak Podcast, Daily Harvest email news aggregation, and the in-depth weekly Agri-Pulse Newsletter. In addition, Agri-Pulse has created a West Coast tab on the web site for California and West Coast specific content. In February, Agri-Pulse announced the opening of a news bureau in Sacramento, Calif., led by Brad Hooker.

Agri-Pulse

Luke Perry’s Ties to Farming and Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Luke Perry is being eulogized for many reasons upon his sudden passing this week at the age of 52, but not so much about his rural background and his support of biodiesel.

Back in 2006, Luke Perry showed up at the National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego sporting an FFA jacket with his name on it and talked about the agriculture influence in his early life and how he was converted to biodiesel by actress Daryl Hannah.

“My neighbors growing up farmed soybeans and I used to work in the bean fields, I’m from Ohio, you know,” said Perry, during an informal press conference with Hannah. He admitted that he was not an FFA member in high school and called it “one of the biggest regrets” of his life.

“I thought I could escape the farmer in me,” said Perry. “When I got to the point where I could live anywhere in the world that I wanted, what did I do, I bought land and cows and a tractor. Because you can’t escape who you are.”

Perry was very enthusiastic and informed about biodiesel in the press conference. Listen here: 2006 National Biodiesel Conference presser with Luke Perry and Daryl Hannah

2006 was the first biodiesel conference on the Biodiesel Conference Blog and it also featured Willie Nelson.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Biodiesel

2019 Bayer AgVocacy at Commodity Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer had a lot going on at Commodity Classic this year.

Kicking off with the pre-Classic AgVocacy Forum, Bayer had more experts than ever on a greater variety of topics since the integration with Monsanto last year. The Forum offered insights on trade, technology, the future of food and grower perspectives, as well as a chance to hear from Bayer executives Bob Reiter and Lisa Safarian.

On the Commodity Classic trade show floor, Bayer was spread out to encompass brands such as Channel, DEKALB Asgrow, and The Climate Corporation.

In addition, Bayer held a learning session on how Integrated Weed Management pays off. Moderator Arlene Cotie with Bayer discussed the topic with panelists Chad Leman, Farmer from Eureka, Ill.; Jason Norsworthy, Professor in Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Department, University of Arkansas; Bill Chism, Senior Biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Listen to and/or watch it below.

You can find all of the content – 223 photos, 27 audio files, and one video – on the AgNewsWire Bayer AgVocacy virtual newsroom.

Audio file – Bayer Classic 19 Learning Session


2019 Bayer AgVocacy Forum Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Commodity Classic, Video

How Alltech is Helping Develop Careers

Carrie Muehling

Tyler Thomas first learned about the Alltech Career Development Program during the 2018 Cattle Industry Convention and this year at #CattleCon19 he shared his testimony about the program and how it’s set him up for a future career in animal science.

Listen to Jamie’s interview with Tyler here: Interview with Tyler Thomas, Career Development Program Participant


2019 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, Video