2025 Tech Hub Live

Iowa Corn Looks to Increase Corn Use in Plastics

Carrie Muehling

The Iowa Corn Promotion Board is one step closer to expanding the corn market after receiving a new patent application on a proprietary production method using corn in the industrial manufacturing of monoethylene glycol (MEG). Most MEG is produced from fossil fuels, with the exception of some bio-MEG made from sugarcane ethanol and sourced from Brazil. Consumers are driving a change towards a more environmentally friendly product, especially when it comes to bottled water and soft drinks, where MEG is widely used.

“There’s already about a four percent growth annually in that market,” said Pete Brecht, a farmer from Central City who chairs Iowa Corn’s Research and Development Committee. “If we could just capture that four percent increase in the market every year, we could be looking at grinding another 96 million bushels of corn annually, and that will help the farmer and reduce these stockpiles that we have.”

Iowa Corn uses checkoff dollars to fund this and other research to find new uses for corn and to expand current markets for the product.

Learn more in this phone interview with Pete Brecht and Dr. Alex Buck: Interview with Pete Brecht and Dr. Alex Buck, Iowa Corn

Audio, Corn

SMART Farmer Jerry Flint

Cindy Zimmerman

Jerry Flint may not technically be a farmer, but he did grow up on a farm in Ohio and his entire career has been focused on delivering new innovations to smart farmers.

In addition to being vice president of regulatory affairs for Dow DuPont Agriculture Division, Flint is also first vice chair for the American Seed Trade Association, and his company is an industry partner of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. DowDuPont is the official name of the company which now includes the very first commercial hybrid corn seed company – Pioneer Hi Bred, which was started in the mid-1920s.

Plant breeding has come a long way since the first hybrid was created, and in this edition of the SMART Farmer podcast, Jerry talks about the benefits of technological innovations in agriculture – SMART Farmer Podcast with Jerry Flint, Dow DuPont Agriculture Division

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Pioneer, Plant Breeding, Seed, USFRA

What Secretary Sonny Needs From Santa

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s been a long and busy year for Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, but here at the end he is still short-staffed at USDA and could use some help from Santa to get the job done.

“I had no idea we would be delayed like this and it’s unfortunate,” said Sec. Perdue in a recent interview with Iowa Agribusiness Network‘s Ben Nuelle. “We have seven or eight different mission areas that need leadership, we’ve got less than half of those filled.”

One of the delays continues to be Bill Northey as USDA Under Secretary of Farm Production and Conservation, who was nominated over three months ago but put on hold by Sen. Ted Cruz over ethanol politics. “The senate has its rules where one member can hold a nominee in this way, it has nothing to do with Bill Northey’s qualifications,” said Perdue. “But there is a provision where the majority leader can bring his nomination to the floor…over the objection of Sen. Cruz.”

As Congress gets closer to passing a final tax reform bill this week, Secretary Perdue says it would make a “tremendous Christmas present for Americans,” especially farmers. “We revere farmers and all that they do, we have to remember they are businesses as well and they gotta make a profit to stay in business and the less they have to pay in any expense, including taxes, the better they can reinvest in their farming operation.”

Listen to Ben Nuelle’s interview with Sonny here. It was conducted earlier this month, but all of Perdue’s comments are still pertinent – Iowa Agribusiness Network interview with Sec. Perdue

Sec. Perdue made his first appearance at the National Press Club last week to talk about USDA’s mission, the 2018 farm bill, trade, and other topics. Listen to that here: Sec. Perdue at National Press Club

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, USDA

Animal Ag Bites 12/18

Carrie Muehling

  • Registration is now open for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2018 Stakeholders Summit, themed Protect Your Roots. The event, now in its 17th year, will be held May 3-4 at the Renaissance Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Va. Discounted early registration fees and a special hotel rate are available through April 1 (pending availability).
  • For the first time in more than 20 years, the world’s premier gathering of red meat industry leaders is coming to the United States. Hosted by the International Meat Secretariat (IMS) and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), the 22nd World Meat Congress will be held in Dallas, Texas, May 30-June 1, 2018.
  • PMI Nutritional Additives announces the launch of Peloton yeast feed additive to help livestock producers maintain rumen health and digestive efficiency. Peloton yeast feed additive is a thermal stable blend of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and PMI’s Fulfill feed additive.
  • An upcoming free CattleFax webinar will address that question as well as provide an outlook for the cow-calf sector and entire beef industry for 2018. The CattleFax Trends+ Cow-Calf Webinar will be at 5:30 p.m. MT, Jan. 24, 2018. To participate in the webinar and access program details, register online at https://www.cattlefax.com/#!/about.

  • Members of the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) elected five candidates to the board of directors at the annual membership meeting held December 9, 2017, during the 47th Annual American Gelbvieh Association National Convention in Wichita, Kansas. Newly elected board members are Dustin Aherin, Phillipsburg, Kansas; Jeff Loveless, Spanish Fork, Utah; Derek Martin, Bucklin, Kansas; and Dan McCarty, Rifle, Colorado. Re-elected to serve a second term was Lowell Rogers, Seminary, Mississippi. The AGA Board of Directors also elected individuals to serve in leadership positions on the executive committee for 2018. Scott Starr, Stapleton, Nebraska, was re-elected as AGA president.  Elected as vice president was John Carrel, Columbus, Montana. Klint Sickler, Gladstone, North Dakota, was elected as secretary and Walter Teeter, Mount Ulla, North Carolina, was re-elected as treasurer.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Get the ZimmComm Golden Mic Audio Podcast

Chuck Zimmerman

If you want to get your fill of all the Golden ZimmComm Microphone has to offer then the pioneers of farm podcasting have you covered.

The ZimmComm Team conducts thousands of interviews during the year and records much more to offer via our AgNewsWire service and also in story posts on AgWired. To make it easier for agricultural communicators and other influencers to bring this resource right into their computer or favorite mobile device we have created a podcast for you. It is already available in iTunes and will be in Google Play and other podcast directories shortly.

So, if you missed an important press conference that we recorded, or if you know we interviewed someone important to you on a topic of interest then just subscribe and bring it to where you can listen when and where you want! Of course, that’s the beauty of podcasting. Always has been.

Podcasts, ZimmComm Announcement

Zimfo Bytes 12/15

Carrie Muehling

    • American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall has been appointed to the White House’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Members of the ACTPN advise the president on the potential effects of proposed and current trade agreements. The ACTPN, which is administered by the U.S. Trade Representative, is the main trade advisory committee that provides policy information and advice to the president.

    • John Heisdorffer of Keota, Iowa, will serve as the 2018 president of the American Soybean Association, following a vote of the ASA board this morning in St. Louis. Heisdorffer raises soybeans, corn and hogs with his wife, Deanna and son Chris. Heisdorffer replaces Illinois’ Ron Moore as president, and Moore will move to the role of ASA Chairman. Former Chairman Richard Wilkins of Delaware rotates off the nine-member ASA Governing Committee.

    • Cotton Incorporated has inducted the 2017 class of the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame. The program, now in its fourth year, recognizes U.S. cotton industry leaders that have made significant contributions to the Program or to the cotton industry in general. The three honorees for the 2017 Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame include: the late Dr. Harold L. “Hal” Lewis (Arkansas); the late Lawson “Sykes” Martin (Alabama); and Dr. William M. “Bill” Lyle (Texas).

    • Amy Jones, Senior Engineer in the Construction and Forestry Division of John Deere, has earned the SAE International/AEM Outstanding Young Engineer Award.

    • The Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) will again offer member companies the opportunity to host an outstanding student intern in summer 2018 as part of the ARC Internship Program. Organizations wishing to apply to host the 2018 intern must apply by Friday, Dec. 29, to be considered. Host applications can be found on the ARC website, at www.agrelationscouncil.com.

    • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been rated by employees as among the top ten best places to work in the federal government, moving up two notches to come in at seventh place in the 2017 rankings.  That is an improvement over 2016’s rankings, when USDA came in tied for ninth place.

    • Robert M. Thompson, a partner with the Kansas City office of the Bryan Cave law firm, was elected chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City at the group’s annual meeting held December 7. Greg Krissek, CEO of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Corn Commission, was elected vice chairman of the Council.

    • Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, will become a sponsor of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), the only global agricultural journalists’ association. The Caterpillar sponsorship funds two new initiatives: the IFAJ Caterpillar AgTech Reporting Award, and the Caterpillar Development Bursary.
Zimfo Bytes

Chromatin Growing Sorghum Improvements

Cindy Zimmerman

The first S in the CSS 2017 and Seed Expo is for Sorghum, which was one of the first two crops that started the annual conference back in 1945 as the Corn & Sorghum Conference.

Sorghum has come a very long way since then and improvements being made in the crop could make a major difference in developing countries, according to Charles Miller, Vice President of Business Development and International Sales for Chromatin. “We’re looking at the crop in a way that has never been done before,” he said, noting that there are actually six different races of sorghum with very diverse traits. “So we can take that diversity, isolate it, and build products that are very specific for end uses.”

Sorghum in this country has been diversifying more, according to Mike Battin, Chromatin VP for national sales. “We’ve seen a real interest in demand in higher value sorghum when it comes to the food sector,” said Battin. “It’s always been traditionally a feed stock but we are seeing a lot of demand now for human consumption.”

Chromatin is a “sorghum only” company and their flagship brand is Sorghum Partners. Learn more in this interview from CSS: Interview with Charles Miller and Mike Battin, Chromatin

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA, Audio, Seed, sorghum

New Bayer Seed Treatment Offers Promising Yield Benefit

Carrie Muehling

Bayer is helping growers bring more value without increasing inputs with Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0. The seed treatment is designed to bring a healthier soil environment around the plant root, yielding an additional average 3.8 bushels per acre.

“With Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0, you don’t have to change what you’re doing today – especially in the cost effective environment that we’re in today – and still bring more value to the farmer’s bottom line,” said Jennifer Riggs, Seed Growth Product Development Manager with Bayer.

Riggs said Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0 helps bring more dollars to rural economies while decreasing the environmental footprint necessary to add more bushels, according to a three-year study by AgInfomatics, LLC.

Learn more in this interview from last week’s CSS 2017 and Seed Expo: Interview with Jennifer Riggs, Bayer

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA, Audio, Bayer, Seed

House Ag Committee Launches Farm Bill Website

Cindy Zimmerman

The House Agriculture Committee is ready to get to work on the 2018 Farm Bill, so Chairman Mike Conaway (TX-11) today announced the launch of a new online farm bill resource designed to provide updates and information.

“I’m committed to completing a farm bill on time. We’ve spent the past three years preparing—holding 113 hearings and six listening sessions around the country,” said Rep. Conawy. “We’re working on getting the policy right and will use this site as a resource as we advance the next farm bill.”

The landing page to the site includes “This is the Farm Bill,” the first in a series of videos. Watch it here:


Farm Bill, Video

USDA Boosts Corn for Ethanol Forecast

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol is driving up demand for corn in the December supply demand estimate from USDA.

The forecast for 2017-18 increases the amount of corn used to produce ethanol by 50 million bushels to 5.525 billion, based on less sorghum going to ethanol production. Corn ending stocks are lowered in turn by 50 million bushels but the impact on the season-average farm price range barely increased at $2.85 to $3.55 per bushel.

“While growth in the ethanol market is essential, our farm families also need growth in the livestock and export markets to improve market conditions,” said National Corn Growers Association Chairman Wesley Spurlock, a farmer from Texas. “Whether it be promoting the trade agreements farmers need in Washington or building demand for higher blends of ethanol across the world, NCGA strives to help farmers grow markets for their growing crop.”

The 2017/18 corn crop is still estimated at a record 14.78 bushels with a record yield forecast of 175.4 bushels per acre. Ethanol production is also setting records this year. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production just hit a new weekly production level of 1.108 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 46.54 million gallons daily. The four-week average for ethanol production increased to a record 1.076 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.50 billion gallons—about 6% higher than a year ago.

Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA, USDA