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

Nation Seeing #NebraskaStrong

Cindy Zimmerman

The images of dead and dying cattle and calves as a result of the blizzard and flooding in Nebraska are hard for people in the livestock industry to see. As USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach said last week at the Agri-Pulse Policy Summit, “It’s almost like losing family.” Ibach is former Nebraska Director of Agriculture who says he is, “first and foremost, a rancher from Nebraska.”

Ibach is in Nebraska this week and participated in a Facebook Live roundtable on Monday to discuss flood relief for ag producers. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, state Director of Agriculture Steve Wellman, and other members of the state cabinet also took part in the roundtable. Listen to their opening remarks:
Nebraska Gov. Ricketts, USDA Under Secretary Ibach, Ag Director Wellman

Many organizations and individuals are working to assist cattle producers impacted by the weather disasters. Nebraska Cattlemen has a new disaster relief fund in place for the industry.

In the latest Beltway Beef podcast, Pete McClymont of the Nebraska Cattlemen gives us an update on the situation, and discusses how you can help those affected. “When you get down to the personal stories, loss of ground, loss of livestock…it kind of overwhelms you,” says McClymont. “We’re doing our best

In addition to monetary donations for the disaster relief fund, donations of hay, feed stuffs, fencing materials, volunteer help, equipment, and more are being coordinated by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. On Thursday, President Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the Nebraska counties of Butler, Cass, Colfax, Dodge, Douglas, Nemaha, Sarpy, Saunders, and Washington.

Additionally, Nebraska Cattlemen is keeping an updated list of federal disaster assistance resources as well as other pertinent state regulations to consider during times of emergency.

AgWired Animal, Audio, Livestock, NCBA, Weather

Dr. Adrian Percy Joins Finistere Ventures

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmComm congratulates Dr. Adrian Percy, former head of R&D for the Crop Science Division of Bayer, for his new role as Chief Technology Officer for Finistere Ventures. Adrian will provide strategic, technical and regulatory guidance for current portfolio companies. He will also support Finistere’s continued investment efforts, working with the team to identify and evaluate potential opportunities. Adrian is pictured with Arama Kukutai, a co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures.

As part of the appointment, he will be joining the Boards of two Finistere-backed companies, BioLumic and Hi Fidelity Genetics (also based in Research Triangle), and will play a pivotal role in helping shape their ongoing research and development strategies, as well as supporting their partnership and commercialization efforts.

Adrian Percy noted: “We need to completely transform our agricultural and food production systems so we can ensure food security for all, meet evolving consumer demands and conserve our planet’s precious resources for many generations to come. I am excited to continue to contribute to this ecosystem by helping talented and passionate entrepreneurs drive meaningful change in the food and agriculture space through technology innovations.”

I spoke with Adrian just now as he is on his way to the first of what sounds like many flights around the world in his new job with Finistere Ventures. Interview with Dr. Adrian Percy

AgWired Precision, Audio, Technology

Text 24365 to Donate to NAMA Foundation

Chuck Zimmerman

With the NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) Foundation serving 33 student chapters, your support has never been more important. Here is a new way to donate.

Please text “NAMA” to 24365 to donate to the foundation and support Student NAMA!

That will text you back a link to click on and donate via Paypal. Simple. Quick. Try it now.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Education, Marketing, NAMA

Animal Ag Bites 3/25

Carrie Muehling

  • Last week, USDA-trained detector dogs played a major role in the seizure of roughly 1 million pounds of pork smuggled from China where there is an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). Since prevention is the best protection against the disease, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is sharing information about the importance of keeping ASF out of the United States. To help people learn more about this disease, as well as the steps that can be taken to help protect U.S. pigs, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated its web content with additional information and links to partners’ resources. This information is available at www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/swine/asf.
  • The National Pork Board and Ripe Technology, Inc. have entered an agreement to pilot blockchain technology use in the U.S. pork industry. Through this partnership, ripe.io will enable an ecosystem that will allow pork producers to monitor, evaluate and continuously improve their sustainability practices based on the We CareSM framework – six defined ethical principles guiding the U.S. pork industry.
  • The National Pork Board is collaborating with South Dakota State University to “open the barn doors” on how pigs are raised. The Pork Checkoff’s Operation Main Street speakers can include live-streaming video tours of SDSU’s Swine Education and Research Center, in Brookings, South Dakota, in presentations to local civic groups, culinary and pre-vet students, dietitians, chefs and others.
  • The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program will produce new equine content, thanks to a recent grant from the Illinois Equine Research and Promotion Board. In total, $10,000 was awarded to Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom to support costs related to a new Horse Ag Mag.
  • According to new research from The Center for Food Integrity, online engagement about antibiotic resistance is growing rapidly and could be one of a growing number of factors that drives consumers to reduce or eliminate meat from their diets.
  • In a basic survey of more than a thousand pork kidney samples, almost no veterinary drug residues were found and none at levels that even approached U. S. regulatory limits, according to a study just published by an Agricultural Research Service scientist in Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that dairy producers who elected to participate in the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle Program now have the opportunity to participate in the Margin Protection Program for Dairy for 2018 coverage. Sign-up will take place March 25 through May 10, 2019. Eligible producers can enroll during the sign-up period at their local USDA service center. To locate your office, visit farmers.gov.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

MillerCoors Suing Bud Light over Corn Syrup Ads

Cindy Zimmerman

MillerCoors has now filed a lawsuit against Bud Light brand owner Anheuser-Busch over the controversial corn syrup commercials which farmers have complained about and which are still running, despite the company’s external efforts to mend fences with the agricultural community.

“Anheuser-Busch is fearmongering over a common beer ingredient it uses in many of its own beers, as a fermentation aid that is not even present in the final product,” MillerCoors said in a statement. “This deliberate deception is bad for the entire beer category.”

Earlier this week, Anheuser-Busch was a top level sponsor at the Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit, with a display highlighting the crops they use in their products, including corn. Jess Newman, Director of U.S. Agronomy for A-B, had a chance to address the summit and stressed their rice and barley research efforts, but said little about corn and nothing about the ads. The company approached Agri-Pulse requesting to be part of the event shortly after the controversy over the Super Bowl ad erupted and has never been a sponsor prior to this year.

Listen to Newman’s comments here:
Agri-Pulse19 Anheuser Busch agronomist Jess Newman

Agri-Pulse, Audio, Corn

Panel Explores Future at Agri-Pulse Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

“Shaping Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040” was the theme for the Agri-Pulse 2019 Ag and Food Policy Summit this week in Washington D.C. and the first panel of the day considered what the future might hold for farm land ownership, management, and crop production.

Farm broadcaster Jeff Nalley moderated the panel which included Syngenta Seeds president David Hollinrake; Randy Dickhut, Senior VP, Farmers National; and Dan Kowalski, VP of CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.

Listen to their insights here: Agri-Pulse 2019 Summit panel 1

Listen to an interview with David Hollinrake here: Interview with Syngenta Seeds President David Hollinrake

2019 Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit Photo Album

Agri-Pulse, Audio, Seed, Syngenta, Technology