IFAJ Honors 2017 Contest Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

I absolutely love this photo. So did the judges of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Prize for photography contest. Here’s what it’s all about:

Australian photographer Jacqui Bateman has won the 2017 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for Photography for her “Naked Truth” photo, which ran in Stock Journal magazine. She was honored at IFAJ’s World Congress in Pretoria, South Africa on April 3.

The image, of a nude man shearing a sheep, gained worldwide recognition when Bateman tweeted it as a response to a PETA ad featuring a nude fashion model holding an injured lamb and claiming it represented the results of the shearing process. Bateman’s shearer was as nude as PETA’s model, and his sheep was experiencing the shearing without injury.

You can find all the winners listed on this page of the IFAJ website.

IFAJ, International, Photography

NAFB Foundation To Offer $20,000 in Scholarships

Lizzy Schultz

The NAFB Foundation will be offering four $5,000 scholarships this year as part of an ongoing investment in the future of farm broadcasting and commitment to offering support for college students pursuing careers in agriculture communications.

Scholarships are available to students who meet the following criteria:
College juniors, seniors or graduate students for Fall Semester 2017
Enrolled in a college or university agriculture communications program pursuing a career in agriculture communications
Strong consideration to candidates with concentration and/or application in broadcast media (may include internet/online media distribution)
Scholarship recipients will also receive an expense-paid trip to the NAFB Convention in Kansas City, MO, November 8-10, 2017. Online applications accepted through June 12, 2017. Using or creating an NAFB.com user account will allow you to save the application and revisit the site during the process.

Click here for 2017 scholarship information and application materials.

NAFB, University

Peanut and Cotton Growers Provide Farm Bill Input

Cindy Zimmerman

Peanut and cotton growers provided their input into commodity programs in the next farm bill during a hearing this week before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

Georgia farmer Tim McMillan testified on behalf of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation in support of maintaining the peanut provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program in the next farm bill. “If the PLC program had not been in place, I am afraid many farms in the Southeast would no longer exist because of the downturn in the farm economy which has plagued us the past three years,” said McMillan in his opening statement.

The Southern Peanut Farmers Federation includes member organizations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi and represents produce approximately 80 percent of the U.S. peanut crop.

Listen to McMillan’s testimony here: Tim McMillan, Southern Peanut Farmers Federation

National Cotton Council (NCC) Chairman Ronnie Lee told the panel that “market volatility and mounting economic pressures underscore the critical importance of an improved safety net for cotton farmers.” He said cotton must be brought back into the farm law’s Title I commodity policy as it “is the only program crop that does not have any long-term price or revenue protection policy in the farm bill.”

Lee, who is also from Georgia, told the panel that the U.S. cotton industry still is seeking to get cottonseed designated as a covered commodity and eligible for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs which could help until a new farm bill is passed.

Listen to Lee’s testimony here: Ronnie Lee, National Cotton Council

Audio, Cotton, Farm Bill, Peanuts

Farm Bureau Urges Senate Confirmation of Perdue

Jamie Johansen

Yesterday we received news from the White House stating President Trump authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas after those states were impacted by widespread wildfires. This was followed by news from USDA’s Acting Deputy Secretary Michael L. Young, who issued the memorandum. This news reminds us we are still without leadership at the USDA. Will we see Sonny Perdue confirmed this week?

vanderwahlI sat down with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Vice President Scott VanderWal to hear the latest talks on when Senate will complete President Trump’s cabinet.

“We are pushing really hard. We feel we need Mr. Perdue in place before Easter recess, which begins on Friday. If we don’t get it done this week we will have to wait another two weeks and that would be a shame.”

When it comes to policy issues related to agriculture, talks are happening and decisions need to be made. “We have so many things going on right now. Immigration, issues with the farm bill and of course international trade. We are trying to help the Trump Administration understand what some of the rhetoric with Mexico and Canada means to U.S. agriculture. The last thing we want to have is a disruption in trade.”

Listen to Scott’s complete comments on the confirmation of Perdue and what top priotiies will need to be discussed once he finally is able to lead the USDA here: Interview with Scott VanderWal, AFBF

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio

Senate Urged to Vote as USDA Remains in Limbo

Cindy Zimmerman

With the Senate in the midst of contentious debate over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, agricultural interests are begging the Senate leadership to take a few minutes this week to confirm Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture before recessing for spring break. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) sent a letter to Senate leaders this week encouraging swift confirmation of Perdue. “Beyond the challenges that await the Secretary upon confirmation, we have been presented a budget blueprint for discretionary spending that had no input from the nation’s Secretary of Agriculture,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, initial House ag hearings on the next farm bill are continuing without the next agriculture secretary. The Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit held a hearing on credit programs Tuesday where chairman Austin Scott (R-GA) asked witness to encourage their senators to hold the vote on Perdue this week. “I think the votes are there, it’s just a matter of delays that are quite honestly from other things,” said Rep. Scott, who says the former governor of his state is a “good honest man and a hard worker that understands the issues.”

Listen to Rep. Scott’s comments here: Rep. Austin Scott urges confirmation vote for Perdue

Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture is without a secretary, it took a directive from President Trump this week to get the agency to authorize emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands located in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas that have been impacted by ongoing wildfires which began almost a month ago.

President Trump sent a memo to USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael Young authorizing the action. “I commend and thank President Trump for acting decisively in response to this dire situation,” said Young.

Audio, USDA

AEM Vice President Announces Retirement

Kelly Marshall

Charlie O’Brien will be retiring from his position of senior vice president at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) later this year. O’Brien has been with AEM since 2007. He will be working with President Dennis Slater to begin phasing out of his position in order to spend more time with his family and a family business.

“I care a great deal about the continued success of AEM and AEM’s Ag Services, both domestically and internationally, so I want to make sure we have a very smooth transition,” O’Brien said. “As I work through the details of the transition with Dennis, and as a successor is named, we will finalize the actual date of my retirement.”

“Charlie has played a critical, strategic role in elevating Ag sector programs and services during his tenure with AEM,” Slater said. “Obviously he will be missed. During the next few months, we will put together a plan to ensure that we cover the many leadership roles Charlie held with industry organizations.”

O’Brien and Slater will be working together to determine his official last day.

AEM, Agribusiness

FMC Command® 3ME is Tops for Rice Growers

Chuck Zimmerman

Command® 3ME herbicide remains the South’s number one preemergence solution for protecting rice production from annual grasses despite recent entries into the market, according to FMC tech service rep Don Johnson in Mississippi.

“We’ve been on the marketplace for rice growers in the Delta region for 16 years now,” said Johnson during an interview at the 2017 Farm and Gin Show. The microencapsulated form of clomazone was first introduced by FMC in 1996 to address previous volatility issues.

Johnson says other clomazone products that have been introduced to the market recently have less volatility reduction compared with FMC to prevent off-target whitening effects caused by volatility from field applications. “The microencapsulated products are not all the same,” said Johnson. “We stewardship our Command 3ME in the marketplace.”

Johnson adds that FMC has another clomazone product for rice growers called Obey which provides effective weed management for Southern rice growers facing increasing pressure from threats like barnyardgrass and hemp sesbania.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Don Johnson, FMC

Mid-South Farm & Gin Show

Coverage of the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is sponsored by FMC
Audio, FMC, Rice, weed management

Zimfo Bytes

Lizzy Schultz

Zimfo Bytes

  • American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall recently presented Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) with AFBF’s Golden Plow award, the highest honor the organization gives to members of Congress, for his commitment in Congress to issues important to farmers and ranchers.
  • MGEX has concluded the best March in its history, with a total of 202,500 contracts traded during the month and a total volume for the month surpassing the record set in 2014 by 19 percent.
  • Food and agriculture economic research priorities, specifically those in the areas of trade, big data and consumer health, will be the focus of a symposium to be Thursday, April 6, at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. The symposium has been organized by the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) as part of a joint Priorities and Solutions Project.
  • Machinery Pete, the industry’s leading used farm equipment listing website, announced that its YouTube channel has reached over 9 million views, show the channel’s success in capturing the attention of farm enthusiasts across the country and internationally.
Zimfo Bytes

Seed Industry to Take to Capitol Hill

Kelly Marshall

Tomorrow members of the American Seed Trade Association will come together to tell the story of the seed industry to members of Congress. Members hope to highlight the 2017 ASTA priorities, including the need for a strong trade agenda, funding for key research and science programs through the USDA, the need to review the Food Safety Modernization Act, and policies that align with science-based research, among other topics.

“From international trade, to plant breeding innovation, Farm Bill and funding for critical research and conservation programs, Congress is debating serious issues that will affect the seed industry’s ability to continue meeting the evolving needs of farmers, consumers, and the environment in the years ahead,” said ASTA President & CEO Andrew LaVigne. “So many issues impact the seed industry, and the seed industry impacts virtually every aspect of our daily life. We’re excited to bring our diverse industry to Capitol Hill to share our unified priorities for ensuring better seed for a better quality of life.”

ASTA

Passing of Legendary Farm Broadcaster Cliff Mitchell

Cindy Zimmerman

We called him legendary back in 2009, and he was inducted into the NAFB Hall of Fame in 2005. Cliff Mitchell, one of the great farm broadcasters, passed away on his 89th birthday March 30.

Cliff is remembered for his service to the NAFB Foundation auction as auctioneer and as host of Aunt Sara’s Partyline. Those who were privileged guests on his program during NAFB Convention fondly remember the simple invitation of Cliff’s room number and time on the back of his business card. Upon arrival, Miss Ellie would offer you coffee and donut balls while you could hear Cliff talking to the board operator at KASM getting ready for the broadcast. His broadcasts included interviews with guests, the ‘road kill’ report, live commercials and a lot of fun.

A Celebration of Life with Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 8 at Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany, where Cliff married Miss Ellie in 1954. Military honors will be provided by the Albany American Legion. Cliff has donated his body to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations that will be used for a scholarship fund in Cliff’s memory to continue Cliff’s commitment to agriculture.

Learn more about Cliff in this interview with Mike Adams, Agri-Pulse:


NAFB, Video