Zimfo Bytes 2/8

Carrie Muehling

  • Agricultural Research Service (ARS) molecular biologist, Elizabeth Ainsworth, is receiving the National Academy of Science’s Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences.
  • U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that the USDA, in cooperation with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, is accepting nominations for new members to serve on its agricultural trade advisory committees. Nominations received by Friday, March 1, 2019, will be considered for the next round of appointments.
  • EFC Systems, Inc. announced that Jeremy Wilson has joined EFC Systems as Senior Vice President, Field Data Solutions effective February 1st. In his role Jeremy will lead the division of EFC Systems responsible for the FieldAlytics and AgSolver solutions.
  • UnitedAg, a leader in providing healthcare for the agricultural industry, has officially announced Mike Davidson as the new Associate Vice President of Sales.
  • Evogene Ltd. announced the appointment of Dr. Adrian Percy to its board of directors.
  • The American Soybean Association is now accepting applications for the Ag Voices of the Future program, sponsored by Valent USA. For more information, visit the Ag Voices of the Future page under the “Learn” tab on the ASA website.
  • The American Farm Bureau Federation recently announced Heather Gieseke as managing director, business development. In this role, Gieseke is responsible for establishing and building industry partnerships with agriculture companies and associations, leading the IDEAg sales and marketing teams, and building industry recognition of the various programs and brands brought forth by AFBF.
  • National Farmers Union (NFU) announced the opening of the application period for its Beginning Farmer Institute program class of 2019-2020. NFU encourages new farmers of any age from operations of any size, type or geography to apply for the class.
  • The Farm Credit Council joined with the Rebuild Rural Coalition in sending a letter to Congressional leadership on behalf of rural communities, U.S. agricultural producers, rural businesses and rural families urging them to “move quickly to pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen our nation’s infrastructure.”
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers will continue its participation in Commodity Classic, now as a partner and member of the event’s new management committee.
  • This week the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) recognized Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., with its 2018 Legislator of the Year awards.
  • Oklahoma farm broadcaster Mike Dain passed away February 2. He was 71 years old.
Zimfo Bytes

ZimmCast From Cattle Industry Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

This week’s program contains some audio from last week’s Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show.

After looking at what’s coming up on our calendar I share a couple of excerpts from the press conference with Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue and then from Terry Bradshaw’s speech. Sonny talks trade and Terry talks cows. I had no idea he had cattle and horses.

After that you can listen to my wrap up interview with Kendall Frazier, CEO, NCBA. Kendall reviews the process NCBA goes through during the year for the business of the organization and talks about priorities for the coming year as well as how this year’s convention wound up. 

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 608 - Cattle Industry Convention

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, ZimmCast

Merck and Beef Checkoff Sponsor Stockmanship & Stewardship Events

Cindy Zimmerman

Five 2019 sessions of the Stockmanship & Stewardship program were announced at the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show last week. The events are made possible through sponsorship from Merck Animal Health and will be coordinated by the producer education team at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and local host organizations. Additional funding and support for the program is provided by the beef checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program.

The dates and locations are:
Tulare, Calif. March 20-21
Ames, Iowa June 28-29
Fort Collins, Colo. TBD August
Manhattan, Kan. September 20-21
West Monroe, La. October 4-5

“For the third year, we’re thrilled to be able to hold these sessions that focus on proper cattle handling and stewardship,” said Chase DeCoite, director of BQA at NCBA. “Producers who have attended these events in the past have gone home with greater understanding of the best practices in working with cattle in their particular area of the country.”

Stockmanship & Stewardship events include live cattle demonstration and hands-on opportunities. They also include BQA training and classroom sessions highlighting issues that affect cattle producers in each region. In addition to cattle handling and effective stockmanship, possible elements of regional sessions include sustainability and environmental stewardship, animal health and regional issues and hot topics.

Learn more in this press conference from #CattleCon19 with DeCoite, Angela Baysinger and Amanda Welsh with Merck Animal Health Merck Animal Health/NCBA Press Conference

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

USDA Tracking Farm Bill Implementation

Cindy Zimmerman

Now that the federal government is back at work, USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky says they are moving as quickly as possible to implement the new farm bill.

During a Farm Foundation Forum on the realities of implementing the 2018 farm bill, Censky said USDA is using a “Fitbit” type of approach to tracking goals. “We have our own ‘FBit’ we call a Farm Bit at USDA and it’s a Farm Bill Implementation tracker,” said Censky.

Censky chairs USDA’s Farm Bill Implementation Working Group that includes representation from each of the agency’s mission areas. “We have asked all of our agency’s to fill out this ‘FarmBit,'” said Censky. “We look forward to sharing more details of what the timelines are going to be in the next few weeks.”

The Farm Foundation Forum also comments from Senate Agriculture Committee chair Pat Roberts (R-KS) and a panel with Barry Flinchbaugh, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University; Tara Smith, Vice President of Federal Affairs with Michael Torrey Associates; and Alan Bjerga, Senior Vice President of Communications with the National Milk Producers Federation.

Listen to Censky’s comments here:
USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky at Farm Foundation Forum

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Bill, Farm Foundation, USDA

Retrieving Deer With a Can-Am Defender

Chuck Zimmerman

Although the 2018 deer season in central Georgia was not the best we’ve ever had it was not the worst. We harvested deer. Saw more deer and got a lot of work done to make a growing pine forest easier to hunt in.

This is my last post from the season since I had to show what one of the most important benefits of having a good utility vehicle with the right accessories is. Besides getting you to and from your deer stand there’s the issue of bringing a large animal out of some of the worst conditions possible. In our case that was a buck in 6 to 10 feet high pricker vine thickets that are covering a hillside and across a creek bed. My bother Paul got the deer down the hill to the creek somehow. I got the Can-Am Defender we had the honor to be using as close to the creek bed as I could. From there we let the WARN winch do the rest. That last 40 yards may not have been possible without it!

I had hoped to shoot a lot more video this season but conditions were mostly rainy, windy, muddy and filled with scratches and learning how the pine growth and intense weed growth has changed patterns and paths for the deer. We learned a lot and have some very high hopes for the next season and sure hope we can do it with a Can-Am!


Photos from Crystal Pig Hunt Club 2018 Hunt

Can-Am, Hunting, Video

Precision Ag Bytes 2/6

Carrie Muehling

  • UPL Limited announced the completion of its acquisition of Arysta LifeScience Inc. from Platform Specialty Products for $4.2 billion.
  • Airbus launched an innovative service called Verde that delivers detailed crop analytics from satellite imagery, perfectly clipped to the field and accurately de-clouded. Served as plug and play API to any precision agriculture portal, Verde provides reliable and quantified measures of the vegetation, consistent over time and space, whatever the satellite used.
  • The National Conservation Foundation, in partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts, launched the Next Generation Leadership Institute, a program to develop opportunities for the next generation of conservation leaders.
  • The Farm Services Agency (FSA) and the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) collaborated to quantify the effectiveness of saturated buffers to reduce nutrient loading from tile drainage waters. The full research report and videos pertaining to saturated buffer systems can be viewed here at www.saturatedbufferstrips.com.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts signed a memorandum of understanding with Ducks Unlimited, Inc. during the organization’s 73rd Annual Meeting. The MOU between NACD and DU establishes a formal commitment between both organizations to enhance the productivity of wildlife habitats on private lands.
  • After a record-breaking 251 startups from 53 countries applied to be part of The Pearse Lyons Accelerator, the class of 2019 has been selected to work with Alltech and Dogpatch Labs to accelerate their business development. The class of ten startups focus on all aspects of agriculture, including animal welfare, meat quality, crop health and increased productivity.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

CrystalBlox™ at the #CattleCon19 Trade Show

Cindy Zimmerman

CrystalBlox™ is the newest block form developed by Crystalyx Brand Supplements. It combines the economical nutrient delivery and fortification of compressed blocks with the consistent and predictable intake of low moisture block technology. CrystalBlox will fit a wide variety of feeding situations, where protein delivery is critical.

CrystalBlox is designed and formulated to provide supplemental protein to help improve forage utilization by increased forage intake and improved fiber digestibility. In situations where forage crude protein levels are low due to drought or with advanced maturity such as fall and winter forages, CrystalBlox can provide the supplemental protein to help extract more energy and nutrients from your forage supplies.

We sat down with Mark Robbins, Crystalyx, during the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show to get the scoop on the benefits of CrystalBlox. Listen to the interview or watch the video below:
Interview with Mark Robbins, CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements


2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock, Nutrition, Video

Alliance Brings OSHA Together with Fertilizer and Ag Retailers

Cindy Zimmerman

A new alliance between industry and regulators shows fertilizer and ag retailers are serious about safety​.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) joined with The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) to provide training resources and safety information for workers, emergency responders, and communities within the agricultural retail and supply industry. ARA President & CEO Daren Coppock, TFI President & CEO Chris Jahn and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Loren Sweatt signed the agreement together in Washington D.C. on Monday.

The alliance will build upon the stewardship efforts associated with the ResponsibleAg program, a voluntary initiative created in 2014 by TFI and ARA to enhance health, safety and security performance at agricultural retail facilities.

During the two-year alliance, participants will focus on the safe storage and handling of ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia – materials used in fertilizers. Alliance participants will also share emergency response information with agribusiness communities and first responders. With assistance from industry training organization ResponsibleAg Inc., the alliance will help agricultural retail facilities comply with safety and health standards for safe handling and storage of fertilizer products.

Prior to the official recognition of this alliance, OSHA, in cooperation with ARA, TFI, and ResponsibleAg Inc., developed a video that describes the agency’s inspection process under the Regional Emphasis Program for Fertilizer Grade Ammonium Nitrate and Agricultural Anhydrous Ammonia Facilities. The video is one of the first products under the alliance agreement.

Watch the video here:


ARA, Fertilizer, labor, Video

Bayer Invites Growers to Farm for the Good™

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer is offering farmers in 13 states a chance to win a $5,000 donation to the local charity of their choice with the Farm for Good™ Sweepstakes.

Farm for Good donations will be awarded to 10 growers from cotton and peanut growing states (TX, AZ, AL, GA, FL, NC, SC, TN, VA, AR, LA, MS, MO) for a total of $50,000 in charitable donations to benefit organizations in grower communities. Nominating growers must have planted a total of at least 250 acres of any combination of cotton, peanuts, soybeans, corn and/or wheat in 2018 or will plant a total of at least 250 acres of an eligible crop in 2019.

“Bayer created this program because many growers are active in their local communities and it’s a priority for us to support their efforts and the causes that matter to them,” said Nevada Smith, western region campaign manager. “With this program, Southern row crop growers can boost the charity or community project of their choice.”

Growers can enter by mail or online at farmforgood.us through March 31. Entry forms for mailing are available at local retailers. Winners will be selected randomly by a third party and will be announced in April 2019.

Bayer, Cotton, Peanuts

Agri-Pulse Announces California Bureau

Cindy Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse Communications is expanding with the opening of a news bureau in Sacramento, California, led by Brad Hooker.

“We have long known that legislation, regulations and legal issues decided in California often have national implications for the rest of American agriculture,” noted Sara Wyant, President and CEO of Agri-Pulse. “This expansion enables us to have someone with first-hand knowledge of agricultural issues in the state.”

Hooker previously served as the Communications Director for the World Food Center at the University of California, Davis and prior to that, as a senior writer for the university’s Department of Plant Sciences. He’s developed multimedia projects on topics including drought and climate change. He also worked for the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., producing a blog that sifted through hard data on the money behind politics.

Agri-Pulse