New John Deere Round Balers and Accumulators

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere has a new line of Round Balers – the O Series. I talked with Jason Eubanks, Engineering Team Leader, John Deere, about the baler as well as the new Accumulator Attachments.

With the introduction of the 0 Series Round Balers for the 2018 haying season, John Deere is offering its first North American-built round baler precutter and the industry’s first 5-foot precutter baler.

In addition to the new 0 Series Round Balers, John Deere is introducing two models of round bale accumulators to give customers the ability to carry up to two round bales behind the baler while making a third bale in the chamber. The new John Deere A520R and A420R Plus2 Accumulators are fully integrated into the design of the balers and can be used with 6-foot diameter John Deere 7, 8, 9 and 0 Series Round Balers.

Learn more from Jason in our interview – Interview with Jason Eubanks, Round Balers

2017 Sunbelt Ag Expo Photo Album

Stories from Sunbelt Ag Expo sponsored by Stories from Sunbelt Ag Expo sponsored by John Deere
Agribusiness, Hay, John Deere, Sunbelt Ag Expo

Today is Full of Bologna

Cindy Zimmerman

Today is National Bologna Day and the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) has joined with the Beef Checkoff to celebrate by unveiling a new guide to bologna that tells you everything you could ever want to know about this lunch time staple that originated in Bologna, Italy as a variation of mortadella. It can also be spelled baloney, which is more American, and you can also test your knowledge with a bologna quiz and check out a range of bologna recipes.

“Bologna is an American classic that links us back to our childhoods,” said NHDSC President Eric Mittenthal. “No matter how it is served, it is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.”

Bologna is often served differently depending upon where people live. While most Americans have enjoyed traditional sliced bologna that is common on store shelves around the country, regional styles vary. In the Midwest, ring bolognas are often the preferred choice. These are smaller in diameter and sold as a semi-circle or a ring and may be sliced and eaten with crackers or split lengthwise and enjoyed in pastas and other dishes. Lebanon bologna is popular in Pennsylvania. It’s a beef bologna that is heavily smoked, known for its tangy and smoky flavor. In Ohio, traditional bologna is often thick cut and fried before being enjoyed on a sandwich and in Memphis it is smoked and served with BBQ sauce. The Baltimore style hot dog features bologna wrapped around the hot dog for a meaty masterpiece.

So if people tell you that you’re full of baloney today – say Thank You!

AgWired Animal, Beef Checkoff, Meat

Registration Open for ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018

Cindy Zimmerman

Like the song from “A Chorus Line” says, ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference is a singular sensation, a thrilling combination, and a one of a kind experience, and it’s scheduled to be held May 20–23, 2018 once again in Lexington, Kentucky.

An idea, even in its root meaning, is “to see.” Da Vinci, Einstein, Edison, the Wright brothers, Tesla, Bell, Borlaug and Fleming — they had the ability to see what others could not. Because they opened their eyes to possibilities and thrived in pursuit of them, we have light. We have abundant food. We can even fly. Ideas change everything. The transformative power of ideas will be the focus of ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference 2018. Join us to explore how ideas can germinate into innovations that change the course of our businesses and lives.

The annual Alltech symposium, which draws 5,000 people to Lexington each May, is the brain child of Irish entrepreneur and scientist Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder of Alltech. Founded in 1980 with just $10,000 and a dream, Alltech now has more than 100 manufacturing sites globally and is a leading producer and processor of yeast and organic trace minerals. “If I can do, rest assured, you can do it,” say Dr. Lyons. “And that’s the message of ONE.”

Listen to Dr. Lyons explain what ONE is: Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech, explains ONE

Registration for ONE is now open. Register before Nov. 1 to save $600. To view last year’s presentations, visit ideas.alltech.com, where access is free after sign-up.

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Audio

Meet the North American #YouthAgSummit Delegates

Jamie Johansen

North America was represented by nine young agricultural minds at the 3rd Youth Ag Summit held in Brussels, Belgium. The North American delegates along with 91 of their international peers joined forces to talk about change for a better future.

Bayer Crop Science has a continued focus on feeding a growing world sustainably and organized the conference enabling youth to take the conversation further. I was able to sit down with four of the nine to learn more about their ideas for change and what ‘3 Little Things’ they have created to help put those ideas into action.

U.S. Delegates:
Benjamin Carson – Interview with Ben Carson

Emily Buck – Interview with Emily Buck

Noah Hamlish – Interview with Noah Hamlish

Canadian Delegate:
Brandon Hebor – Interview with Brandon Hebor

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Youth Ag Summit Photo Album

Audio, Bayer

SMART Farmer Rochelle Krusemark

Cindy Zimmerman

Rochelle Krusemark is a Minnesota grain and soybean farmer, a state and national soybean board and USFRA board member, wife, mother and grandmother – all at the same time!

Obviously a busy lady, Rochelle squeezed in time as she was watching her two toddler grandsons to tell us what being a SMART farmer means to her, and why she is so passionate about education about agriculture. A former teacher herself, Rochelle has been a longtime advocate of the Ag in the Classroom program and has worked with Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) start a program to help urban teachers learn more about agriculture so they can teach it to their students.

Listen to Rochelle here – SMART Farmer Podcast with Rochelle Krusemark, MN farmer

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Podcasts, Soybean, USFRA

New Growth Energy Podcast

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth Energy has launched a new monthly podcast discussing the latest developments in the ethanol industry.

In this first edition, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor discusses this very exciting week that has seen the biofuels industry unite, led by champions in the Senate and state governors, to get the attention of the White House and defend the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). She says the response to the pressure by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt in the form of a letter to senators he met with this week on the issue, is very encouraging. “I look forward to the promises becoming policy,” said Skor. “There have been commitments made so we look for the final renewable volume obligations to come out at the end of November and we see this in writing we will all be able to breathe a sign of relief.”

Skor also comments on the Ethanol Summit of the Americas held in Houston this week that brought together industry and government officials from more than 15 countries in the Western Hemisphere to discuss current and future opportunities for ethanol in the region.

Listen to the podcast here: Growth Energy Podcast 10-20-17

Stay tuned for subscription details!

Audio, Ethanol

Animal Ag Bites 10/23

Kelly Marshall

  • The Allflex Group is proud to announce that two SCR products were awarded innovation honors at the World Dairy Expo earlier this month. The SenseTime cloud-based electronic cow monitoring system and the eSense ear tag were both named as winners in the 2017 Dairy Herd Management Innovation Awards – World Dairy Expo Edition.
  • The Pork Checkoff has a new partnership with Yummly, a leading recipe app and website.  The agreement means Pork Board’s more than 2,100 recipes will be placed in front of Yummly’s more than 23 million registered users.
  • Craig Morris, Ph.D. is the New Vice President of International Marketing for the National Pork Board.  Morris has been serving as the Deputy Administrator over the Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program of the Agricultural Marketing Service at the USDA.
  • Kenny Miller has been promoted to chief financial officer at the American Angus Association.  He replaces Rich Wilson who served as CFO for 48 years.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Agrikua’s Gender Equality Project = 1st at #YouthAgSummit

Jamie Johansen

Last week, I was given the opportunity to attend the 2017 Youth Ag Summit organized by Bayer Crop Science. Never have I ever attended such a motivating and uplifting agricultural event. One hundred young people, aged 18-25, gathered in Brussels, Belgium to tackle some of the world’s top issues in agriculture.

During the Summit, delegates worked in groups of ten to develop their ideas centered around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of Gender Equality, Quality Education, and Responsible Consumption and Production. Groups pitched to a jury of experts and the audience. Winners were selected based on feasibility, innovativeness, and creativity. Bayer will be funding the top three future projects developed.

– Third place went to “Imperfect Picks”, a group who was assigned to work on SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. These delegates impressed with their cartoon campaign to promote “ugly fruits” to children and enable a broader cultural shift towards accepting food that appears blemished but is still of good quality. They won €3,000 to further develop and implement their project.
– Second place went to “Seeds of Change”, a group of delegates focusing on SDG 4: Quality Education. They will use their prize of €5,000 to fund a project aimed at promoting agriculture in schools through young agricultural champions, in order to bridge the disconnect between people who consume, and people who produce food.
– First place was awarded to the group “AGRIKUA” (“kua” being the Swahili word for “grow”), whose project focuses on promoting Gender Equality (SDG 5) in the agricultural sector. Their plan to create an online professional platform for young Kenyan women seeking opportunities in agriculture impressed the jury and audience alike, and they took home the grand prize of €10,000. On top of this funding, the AGRIKUA delegates will also receive dedicated training and coaching to help make the project a reality. They will also be invited back to Europe to present their project to a relevant industry platform.

I was able to speak to the Agrikua spokespeople following the announcement to dive deeper into their project and hear their enthusiasm. Listen here: Interview with Agrikua

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Youth Ag Summit Photo Album

Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer

Zimfo Bytes 10/20

Kelly Marshall

  • National Corn Growers Association will accept online harvest forms for the 2017 National Corn Yield Contest until Friday, December 1 at 4:30 pm CST.  Registration needs to be completed within two weeks of the final yield check or December 1, whichever comes first.
  • DTN/The Progressive Farmer took home three awards from this year’s 2017 Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards last week in New York City.  Two Eddies were received for articles written and one Ozzie was earned for a B2B Feature Design.
  • The National Farmers Union (NFU) has awarded Spring Vasey of Delaware the Hubert K. & JoAnn Seymour Scholarship, a $2,000 award given for dedication and commitment to the NFU. Caitlyn Becker, Jaclynn Knutson, and Jane Umbriaco earned the Stanely Moore Scholarship.
  • The winner of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award (BCCA) was honored at a World Food Prize side event. Jayson Lusk presented an insightful keynote address about The Future of Food. 
Zimfo Bytes

Riding & Driving a John Deere Gator at Sunbelt Ag Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

At this year’s Sunbelt Ag Expo, John Deere held a ride and drive of their new line of Gator XUVs for the first time. Before I get to the new line of XUVs let me explain the photo. In the photo is a model 825i that I will be test driving at my deer hunting camp this fall to get a real feel for how well these vehicles work for outdoor trail/hunting applications. I will be writing about the experience periodically. After I left Sunbelt Ag Expo my brother and hunt partner Paul and I picked up the vehicle from Blanchard Equipment in Tennille, GA. We’ve already taken it for a short drive on a new fire trail and it is comfortable!

Now back to my ride/drive at Sunbelt Ag Expo. I rode with Mike Ballou and had him explain the features of the new line of utility vehicles which were first introduced at the Farm Progress Show.

Mike drove an XUV865R unit while I held the camera (iPhone 8). The 865R is a top of the line XUV with a full cab and now includes air conditioning. We were riding on a very dry, warm, dusty and windy day but were very comfortable in the cab. You can find a full list of features and specifications here.

So, ride along in the video below.


2017 Sunbelt Ag Expo Photo Album

Stories from Sunbelt Ag Expo sponsored by Stories from Sunbelt Ag Expo sponsored by John Deere
John Deere, Sunbelt Ag Expo, Video