NAFB Foundation Names Scholarship Winners

Carrie Muehling

Pictured L to R: Krista Temple, Rhiannon Branch, Hannah Borg, Bobbi Jo Bergum, Delaney Howell

The NAFB Foundation named five scholarship winners Wednesday at the 2017 NAFB Convention in Kansas City.

Glenn Kummerow Memorial Scholarship – Bobbi Jo Bergum, Perdue University
George Logan Scholarship – Hannah Borg, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Orion Samuelson Scholarship – Rhiannon Branch, Murray State University
Noble Research Institute Scholarship – Delaney Howell, Texas Tech University
Grow Smart Scholarship by BASF – Krista Temple, University of Illinois

Listen here to meet each of the winners and hear more about their experiences and goals: Interview with NAFB Scholarship Winners

2017 NAFB Convention Photos

Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, NAFB

ZimmCast from 2017 NAFB Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 565Hello from Kansas City, MO where the ZimmComm team is attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) convention. Cindy and Jamie are here with me. We’re set up in the Broadcast Center behind the golden AgWired table cloth, so we’re easy to find.

Late yesterday we decided to record this week’s program and also let a camera run for most of it. You can see the craziness below. We talk about how long we’ve been attending the meetings, how Jamie joined the team and then share a featured interview with Paul Spooner, USFRA, who talks about his job doing communications work for the organization. It’s part of our on-going series with the Communications Directors at various agricultural organizations.

The team will be on location throughout the meeting, taking photos, doing interviews and sharing them on AgNewsWire in a virtual newsroom. We want to not only thank GROWMARK for sponsoring our ZimmCast but also FMC for all of our coverage of this year’s convention.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 565 NAFB Convention


Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here. Use this url in iTunes or your favorite news reader program/app.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
Audio, NAFB, Video, ZimmCast

Ag’s Most Energetic Event Returns to Calgary

Cindy Zimmerman

The FARM FORUM EVENT, hosted by AGRI-TREND®, returns to the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre December 5-7, 2017 with the theme LEARN & GROW.

The FARM FORUM EVENT brings over 1,000 attendees together to see the latest innovations, learn from top experts from the world’s leading agricultural companies, and share information among the largest growers from Canada and the United States.

Attendees of the FARM FORUM EVENT manage more than 6 million acres each year. In interviews, sponsors cite the high quality of the attendees and the unique format of the FARM FORUM EVENT as primary reasons why they choose to participate in the show. You can view portions of the interviews on the AGRI-TREND channel here.

Click here to learn more about the FARM FORUM.

AgWired Precision, Events

Precision Ag Bytes 11/8

Carrie Muehling

  • Ag Leader will release firmware in February 2018 offering access to in-cab, internet-based functionality through a single data connection source. InCommand displays will be able to connect to NTRIP networks for RTK corrections and Ag Leader’s cloud-based data management platform, AgFiniti, through the same connection source using one cellular data plan.
  • AgLaunch365 has accepted three new ag tech startups into Phase I of its farm-centric innovation platform. This 6-week program will be delivered through remote programming and in-person sessions held in Memphis, culminating at the Farm Journal AgTech Expo in Indianapolis December 11-13, 2017. Phase I teams include:  Minnesota-based DryMAX, Illinois-based EarthSense, and Indiana-based Rabbit Tractors. The deadline to apply for Phase II is November 15, 2017.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

“Feed Your Adventurous Side” with American Lamb

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Lamb Board (ALB) announces the launch of “Feed Your Adventurous Side,” a consumer campaign representing the spirit of today’s lamb industry.

Research conducted for the American Lamb Board shows an opportunity to position lamb as offering unique and adventurous flavor to capture consumers’ attention. The campaign reaches out to people most likely to desire new food favorites with lamb through social media, websites and other online destinations, supported by retail, foodservice and influencer programs. By capitalizing on how the target audience connects with information today through digital means, American Lamb will be in front of adventurous consumers.

“This new positioning for American Lamb as the adventurous, versatile protein option talks directly to people we call “Flavor Seekers” who are bored with ordinary food options. Millennials are an important part of our audience,” says Jim Percival, Xenia, Ohio, ALB chairman. “The digital nature of ‘Feed Your Adventurous Side’ allows focused promotions within the campaign at key times and locations.”

The consumer hub is AmericanLamb.com plus social media channels including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.

AmericanLamb.com plus social media channels including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.” Click to read more.

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Livestock, Meat, Sheep

ImpactZ™ Herbicide from AMVAC® Approved for Corn

Cindy Zimmerman

AMVAC Chemical Corporation has received federal registration from EPA for a new broad spectrum, low use rate corn herbicide – ImpactZ.

ImpactZ provides corn growers with a new solution for control of tough broadleaf and grass weeds, including glyphosate resistant species.

“Impact herbicide has long provided value to corn growers as an excellent tool for weed resistance management,” said Jim Lappin, AMVAC crop marketing manager, corn and soybeans. “ImpactZ herbicide provides safe, effective broad spectrum control in corn.”
ImpactZ herbicide provides excellent control of tough grass weeds, including barnyardgrass, crabgrass and foxtails. It also controls a broad spectrum of broadleaf weeds, including waterhemp, palmer amaranth, lambsquarters and velvetleaf.

ImpactZ herbicide is registered for use in field corn, seed corn, popcorn and sweetcorn, with no restrictions on soil type, tank mix partners or insecticides. ImpactZ herbicide contains both Impact® and Atrazine for highly effective control of grass and broadleaf weeds in corn.

Individual state registrations for ImpactZ herbicide are pending.

Click here to learn more.

AgWired Precision, Corn, Crop Protection, Herbicide

New TV Ad Recognizes President’s Support for Rural Communities

Chuck Zimmerman

President Trump’s support for biofuels is getting some recognition.

The nation’s top renewable fuel advocates have launched a new television ad recognizing President Trump’s steadfast support for rural communities, farmers, and workers in the biofuel sector. The ad responds directly to oil industry attacks on the president for his long-standing commitment to growth under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“Refining executives seem to think that attacking the president will undermine his support for rural jobs and homegrown fuels, but he’s consistently sided with voters across the heartland,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, a member of the Fuels America coalition. “There are over 200 biorefineries across the nation, each serving as a key manufacturing hub, supporting jobs and creating vital markets for countless farmers. This industry is creating low-cost energy right here in America, and those communities deeply appreciate the president’s commitment to U.S. leadership on biofuels.”

The new ad, which begins airing November 6th on Fox News, features footage of President Trump’s advocacy for homegrown fuels, noting that he “kept his promise, protecting farm and manufacturing jobs.” The ad urges viewers to thank the president for standing up to refiners who have attacked the White House for its support of clean, affordable fuel options for American drivers.


Biofuels, Energy, Ethanol, Video

SMART Farmer Jeremy Brown

Cindy Zimmerman

In this edition, we hear from a Texas farmer who grows both organic and traditional cotton and peanuts, as well as other crops.

Jeremy Brown is one of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) faces of farming, which has given him the opportunity to engage with the non-farm public on the highly emotional topic of biotechnology and GMO crops from the perspective of someone who grows both.

Learn more about Jeremy in this podcast – SMART Farmer Podcast with Jeremy Brown, Texas farmer

USFRA is also supporting a new film that takes on the biotechnology debate. Food Evolution, which is now streaming on Hulu, was commissioned by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

AgWired Precision, Biotech, Cotton, GMO, Podcasts, USFRA

Animal Ag Bites 11/6

Carrie Muehling

  • Alltech will offer a live webinar on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. EST with Dr. Kayla Price, Poultry Technical Manager with Alltech Canada, discussing the essentials for a premium egg and the different factors affecting egg shell quality.
  • The Hereford Research Foundation sponsored $5,000 in cash awards for 29 young people participating in the inaugural National Junior Hereford Association Fed Steer Shootout. Molly Biggs of Dixon, Ill., was named the 2017 Fed Steer Shootout Junior of the Year.
  • Lester Schafer of Buffalo Lake, Minn., and Byron Bayers of Twin Bridges, Mont., were inducted into the Hereford Hall of Fame Oct. 27 during the American Hereford Association Annual Meeting and Conference in Kansas City, Mo.
  • The National Dairy Promotion and Research Board honored Jerry Messer of North Dakota with the 2017 Richard E. Lyng Award for contributions and service to dairy promotion.
  • Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) has acquired Cumberland Dairy, a family-owned processor of ultra-pasteurized dairy products located in Bridgeton, N.J. The acquisition aligns with DFA’s strategy to expand the cooperative’s commercial investments and ownership into extended shelf life processing.
  • The European Swine Nutrition Roundtable included 16 participants from across Europe who discussed the obstacles between today’s producer and the next level of performance and profitability. The Roundtable is a partnership between Novus International, Inc. and Newcastle University.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

2017 Deer Hunt – Can-Am Defender – Episode 1

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s my next episode in a series coming to you from the Crystal Pig Hunt Club (CPHC) in Georgia. In this episode the focus is going to be on a Can-Am Defender XT which has been provided to us to use and evaluate how well it is suited to some serious deer hunting.

CPHC member, Paul Zimmerman, my brother, has been doing most of the driving in this vehicle, although I have done some also. In the video below we chat about our first impressions while riding out of camp for a load of firewood. You might see in the bed of the Defender a short swivel seat stand that we strapped into it, making the Defender a mobile deer stand!

Some first impressions on using the Can-Am include:

  • It has lots of power but runs quiet
  • The suspension is amazing
  • The turning radius has made is easier to turn around on narrow trails than we expected
  • Some accessories like winch and side/back panels around bed have come in very handy

So, that’s a start. Paul has harvested two deer so far, one of them being the 8pt buck you see in the photo. So, in the points race (we don’t really have one) he’s in the lead. We’re liking the Can-Am but will have more to come.

You can see photos of the Can-Am Defender in the wild here: 2017 Deer Hunt – Can-Am Defender Photo Album


Can-Am, Hunting