Ag Groups Provide NAFTA Input

Cindy Zimmerman

A number of agricultural organizations provided their input to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week regarding the upcoming negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“NAFTA has been overwhelmingly beneficial for the vast majority of farmers and ranchers across the U.S. for decades,” said Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft in comments on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “A modernized NAFTA should at best eliminate, at worst reduce, barriers to trade that keep our farmers and ranchers from having a level playing field with our neighbors.” U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have quadrupled, from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.1 billion in 2016. Although the benefits from NAFTA are clear and many, there are reasons to reform and update the agreement, Shawcroft said.

“Free trade has benefited American farmers, and NAFTA has been extremely valuable to our industry,” National Corn Growers Association First Vice President Kevin Skunes of North Dakota testified. “Twenty-three years of investment has led to a sizeable increase in trade. Since 1994, U.S. corn exports to NAFTA partners have increased more than seven-fold. Today, we export a record volume of more than 14 million metric tons of corn to Mexico and Canada, valued at $2.68 billion.” Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. corn as well as a significant market for distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Canada is a top-10 export market for corn and DDGS, and the number one export market for U.S. ethanol.

Others who testified included: Chandler Goule, CEO, National Association of Wheat Growers;;Ben Connor, Director of Policy, U.S. Wheat Associates; Randy Gordon, President, National Grain and Feed Association; and Chip Councell, U.S. Grains Council.

Listen or download here: NAFTA hearing testimony panel 4

AFBF, Audio, Corn, NAWG, NCGA

The BEEFabulous App

Chuck Zimmerman

Need beef recipes? The California Beef Council has you covered.

Does this sound familiar? You’re in the grocery store and you see a special on Chuck Roast, but you’re not sure what to do with a Chuck Roast–Slow-cook? Braise? (What’s “braise,” anyway?) Or you need meal options that are fast, satisfying and nutritious. Or you know that if you’re tired of making the kids the same old thing for lunch, they must be positively bored out of their minds.

“We’ve all been there in one form or another,” laughs Annette Kassis, Director of Consumer & Brand Marketing for the California Beef Council. “So we thought we’d do our bit to help.”

And the BEEFabulous mobile app was born.

Find it in iTunes or Google Play.

Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Apps, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Food

ASTA Preparing Farm Bill Input

Kelly Marshall

Virginia Houston

The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) has an interest in several titles of the farm bill, so the organization is making preparations for the 2018 legislation.

The research title is extremely important to the industry, and trade promotions are absolutely critical, Jane DeMarchi, VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs and Virginia Houston, Associate Director for Domestic and Government Affairs for ASTA reiterate. But it’s conservation that got a lot of attention at the recent annual meeting.

“Part of our membership segment supply conservation seed that goes for the farmers to implement these programs and just like the farmers you’re hearing are having difficulties with program efficiencies and deliveries, so do seed suppliers,” explained Houston. “So we’re really looking at how can the seed industry help NRCS and help the farmer partners improve the program efficiency– make them more cost efficient and also help them meet conservation goals.”

ASTA’s Jane DeMarchi

ASTA will work with a lot of partners to meet these goals, but most especially their members. The process is already rolling along; members of the working group heard a first draft last week at the meeting and now staff members will head to the hill to find out how the ideas float with lawmakers and other stakeholders.

Learn more about ASTA’s work on the farm bill in Cindy’s interview here: Interview with Jane DeMarchi and Virginia Houston, ASTA

2017 ASTA Annual Meeting Flickr album

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Farm Bill, Seed

E15 at the Pump with Kum & Go

Jamie Johansen

Kum & Go stores launched E15 about two years ago because of the growing demand for higher octane and a lower cost fuel option for customers. We met up with Jim Pirolli, Vice President of Fuels at Kum and Go, during the recent NASCAR American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen to learn more about those blue pumps.

“We found E15 to be a fuel that 9 out of 10 cars on the road can use. It provides a great pathway for us to differentiate ourselves and another choice at the pump,” Pirolli said.

This is Kum & Go’s second year on board with Richard Childress Racing and their first year sponsoring #62 Brendan Gaughn. “We’re excited just to be affiliated with NASCAR and their green initiatives and American Ethanol.”

Pirolli reminds us that E15 is a great way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and said Kum & Go has a strong focus towards sustainability overall. They have over 100 LEAD certified stores and offer recycling at the pump.

Listen to my complete interview with Pirolli here: Interview with Jim Pirolli, Kum & Go

View and download photos from the race here: American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen Syngenta Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Biofuels, Ethanol, NASCAR

Farm Groups Cheer WOTUS Repeal

Cindy Zimmerman

Ding dong the ditch rule is dead!

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have officially begun the process to withdraw the highly controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) final rule and begin a replacement rulemaking process to gather input and re-evaluate the definition of WOTUS, to cheers from farmers and ranchers nationwide.

American Farm Bureau – “Today’s announcement shows EPA Administrator Pruitt recognizes the WOTUS rule for what it is—an illegal and dangerous mistake that needs to be corrected. Farm Bureau looks forward to supporting Administrator Pruitt’s proposal. EPA should ditch this rule once and for all, go back to the drawing board, and write a new rule that protects water quality without trampling the rights of businesses and the states.”

National Corn Growers – “We are thankful this Administration is working to draw clear lines in terms of what is and what is not jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act. In doing so, they will enable farmers to implement best management practices such as grass waterways and buffer strips without the burden of bureaucratic red tape or fear of legal action. These types of land improvements have enormous water quality benefits, such as reducing sediment and nutrient runoff—a win for farmers and the environment.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association – “This is another great step in the right direction, and the Administration deserves a great deal of credit for injecting some much-needed common sense into our nation’s environmental policies. It’s important to remember, though, that this rule isn’t dead yet. The rulemaking process continues, and NCBA will submit and solicit additional comments on behalf of America’s cattle producers so that they finally get the sanity and clarity they need on land use policy.”

National Pork Producers – “The WOTUS rule was a dramatic government overreach and an unprecedented expansion of federal authority over private lands. It was the product of a flawed regulatory process that lacked transparency and likely would have been used by trial lawyers and environmental activists to attack farmers.”

AFBF, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, NCBA, NCGA, NPPC

Prices for a July 4th Cookout Down Slightly

Jamie Johansen

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says we can cookout for a little less this year. Favorite foods for a Fourth of July meal will run about $6 per person according to an informal survey conducted by AFBF. The average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $55.70, or $5.57 per person. One reason for this is competition in the meat and dairy cases.

“Retail pork prices also declined in 2017, largely due to more pork on the market and ample supplies of other animal proteins available for domestic consumption. Lower beef prices are most likely putting downward pressure on pork prices,” said AFBF Director of Market Intelligence Dr. John Newton.

AFBF’s summer cookout menu for 10 people consists of hot dogs and buns, cheeseburgers and buns, pork spare ribs, deli potato salad, baked beans, corn chips, lemonade, chocolate milk, ketchup, mustard and watermelon for dessert.

Newton said, “We continue to see stability in dairy prices because of the improving export market. Chocolate milk will be a little more affordable this July 4th, in part because some retailers are promoting it as a sports recovery drink superior to other sports drinks and water.”

Newton said retail dairy and meat prices included in the survey are consistent with recent trends and are expected to continue to be stable.

AFBF, Ag Groups, AgWired Animal, Dairy, Food, Meat

Engine Smart. Earth Kind.

Jamie Johansen

The story of biofuels seems pretty simple when you hear the words, “Engine smart and earth kind,” from Growth Energy’s CEO Emily Skor. The Iowa Speedway is smack-dab in the middle of corn country. You can’t find a better location for the NASCAR Xfinity American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen Syngenta.

“E15 is a win, win fuel for consumers. It’s the 21-century fuel for the 21-century consumer and for their 21-century car,” said Skor. The clean burning fuel boosts performance and is better for the environment using fewer greenhouse emissions leading to cleaner air for us all to breath. Skor said savings at the pump is just icing on the cake when it comes to E15.

As a consumer, even NASCAR at first had questions. But after seeing it in action, they were quick adopters. “If it’s good enough for the most demanding road conditions, then it’s good for driving your kids to soccer practice too,” said Skor.

Listen to my complete interview with Emily Skor here: Interview with Emily Skor, Growth Energy

View and download photos from the race here: American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen Syngenta Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Ethanol, NASCAR, Syngenta

AgNewsWire vs. AgWired

Chuck Zimmerman

This post has been a while in the making. Why a while? Because ZimmComm New Media, LLC pioneered something called many names like new media, social media, social network, blogs, podcasts and we’ve been developing and changing them in many ways over the last 13+ years. I think we can now more easily define our services.

Late last year for the first time I have been asked what the difference is between these two brands/services. It has forced me to put a lot of thought into the answer and as a result, you’ve already seen some changes we’ve made this year and some “re-branding.”

Before describing the differences let me define what ZimmComm itself is. ZimmComm New Media is a digital content production company. That content is in the form of photos, videos, audio, graphics. Increasingly we are also tapped to manage social media for a client or create digital content for their social media efforts. So, we’re a production company. Plain and simple. And we focus solely on agriculture in all its forms.

Let’s start with AgNewsWire:

Background: We started this service first to distribute client news releases to journalists that include media content, primarily audio. Most of the audio was recorded by phone with whoever was quoted in the release. There was no term like multi-media release or ANR, at the time. As former farm broadcasters, we knew the immense frustration of getting a release and not being able to get a company representative on the phone to record a sound bite for our shows. We sought to solve that issue and it has been a mainstay service of ours ever since although we distribute text-only releases too.

Evolution: Companies started asking us to attend their events to create digital content for them which could be used for a variety of purposes including news releases, e-newsletters, website content and internal distribution for staff who could not attend or company presentations. So we became even more involved with our clients as a result.

Today: AgNewsWire is the virtual ag newsroom for all journalists. All the content we produce for public facing purposes is made available to all media people of all types for free and with no restrictions for use. When a company hires us to attend an event we create a post/page just for their content and dub it their virtual newsroom. We promote the availability of the content to the journalists we have on a list (well over 2,000) and they can use the link to that virtual newsroom in all their communications efforts too.

Now let’s move on to AgWired:

Background: This WordPress blog was started to be our company website and was not initially called AgWired. I quickly realized that it was a digital publishing platform for news and information where I could use all kinds of media. For the first two years, I was the only editor and did not accept sponsors or advertisers of any kind. But the requests were coming in so I moved in that direction and suddenly ZimmComm owned a media channel which today has a huge digital footprint.

Evolution: My focus on AgWired has always been agricultural marketing first and foremost. That has evolved to include more news on a wider variety of niche topics like precision, energy, animal ag, row crop and more. We got permission and were even encouraged to publish interviews and stories from the events we were attending and pretty soon our client agreements became a mix of AgNewsWire/AgWired with multiple components. I used to joke that we were public relations and media. But we always strive to be completely transparent about that.

Today: AgWired has become a media channel brand recognized around the world. We have featured thousands of interviews with the leadership of agribusiness companies but also those farmers who are helping lead their commodity organizations and many in the regulatory and farm policy arena. Our expertise is in all areas of ag after 37 years in the industry and the Golden ZimmComm Microphone is well known and trusted. AgWired sells advertising that is in the form of website banners, sponsored posts, sponsored social media posts, sponsored coverage of events.

I hope this helps. ZimmComm has performed project work as well as long-term contract work for most of the major agricultural companies and farm groups in the United States. We intend to continue doing so as we evolve and stay at the forefront of this ongoing massive change in technology and all that is happening in the industry. Please let us know how we can help you!

Media, Public Relations

Clariant Colors the Seed Industry Bright

Kelly Marshall

If you haven’t heard of Clariant, it’s pretty remarkable to discover all the ways this manufacturer of chemicals might be involved in your daily life. With manufacturing plants around the globe, Clariant’s color division is providing pigments to industries like plastics, oil, even airline de-icing. They were at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week, however, to make sure the industry is aware of what they can do for seeds.

“We have six colors that are dry colors and six dispersions from those colors, said Eric Wrice, technical sales manager for Clariant. “They’re all EPA approved and they meet the specifications of the United States market. Another thing about these products- you can get them globally any where in the world, so if you’re a big manufacturer of seeds and you market all around the world you can get the same products anywhere.”

Clariant’s newest colors are shades of white and yellow that allow greater precision when it comes to providing an exact shade to, say, match a brand. They can get into almost any color space, Wrice explained. And you won’t find higher quality products, since Clariant even makes many of the products that go into the coloring. In addition, these color products can actually enhance all the work that has gone into creating a seed since they also contain a sustainability additive.

Listen to Cindy’s full interview with Wrice here to learn more about Clariant seed colors: Interview with Eric Wrice, Clariant

2017 ASTA Annual Meeting Flickr album

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Clariant, Seed

Zimfo Bytes

Lizzy Schultz

Zimfo Bytes

  • Peak Nanosystems has selected Swanson Russell to lead its branding efforts in three industries. The company focuses on nanotechnology development used in an array of products made for government and corporate clients.
  • The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) would like to remind new farmers and rancher, as well as those not previously contacted by NASS, have until the end of June to ensure they are represented in this year’s Census of Agriculture. To receive a census questionnaire this December, these producers are asked to visit the Census of Agriculture website and click on the ‘Make Sure You Are Counted’ button today.
  • Charleston|Orwig (C|O) announces the addition of three marketing communications professionals to its growing agency team. Sarah Mielke joins C|O as senior graphic designer, Macyn Gillespie joins as junior copywriter, and Mikaela Wieland joins as an intern.
  • Agri-Pulse announces the addition of Sandra Cowherd to the staff as Editorial Coordinator. She will assist Agri-Pulse with the management of their expanding web content and will assist with event planning.
Zimfo Bytes