National Stewardship Award Presented at #CattleCon17

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 535Congratulations go to Black Leg Ranch of McKenzie, ND. The ranch was named national 2016 winner of the prestigious Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) for its commitment to protecting America’s natural resources in a flourishing operation. Jamie was on hand to talk with Jerry Doan, family member, about their operation.

Dow Agrosciences, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation are sponsors of the award which was presented last week during the Cattle Industry Convention.

Wondering about the name of the ranch? I was but here’s the answer. Homesteaded in 1882, the ranch was named for the Angus cattle that were imported to stock it. These were some of the first Angus imported to the United States.

Learn more about the Doan family and this award in this week’s program: ZimmCast with Jerry Doan, Black Leg Ranch

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Environment, Sustainability, ZimmCast

Farm Groups Stress Importance of Trade in Asia-Pacific

Kelly Marshall

The American Soybean Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Seed Trade Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Milk Producers Association, US Poultry & Egg Export Council and more than 80 other agriculture groups sent a letter to President Trump asking him to reduce and eliminate tarifs and other restrictions on trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We hope your Administration will create such opportunities for our sector by deepening U.S. economic engagement in this critical region while responding to the Asia-only regional trade agreements being negotiated by our foreign competitors,” the letter states.

“America’s food and agriculture sector is poised to grow internationally, building upon its well-deserved reputation for high quality products, trusted brands and constant innovation. Our ability to continue to create jobs and support economic growth in rural America depends on maintaining and increasing access to markets outside the United States through existing and future trade agreements.”

Ag Groups, Trade

Two Years of @CIRBdc Emerging Leaders

Cindy Zimmerman

CIRB Emerging Leaders Program current class and alumni meet up at annual meeting

This is the second year of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) Emerging Leaders Program and it was so popular last year that this year’s class is almost double in size.

Jim Konstanty, PartnerRe, was a member of the first ELP class and we followed up with him this year to see how the program helped him.

“It’s really been a great learning experience for me,” he said. “It’s a real testament to the success of the program that last year we had six people and now they have 11.”

Konstanty helped to encouraged two members of the new class to join this year and he believes strongly in the importance of the program to educate members on how to take the positive message of crop insurance to Capitol Hill. Listen to my interview with him here: Interview with Jim Konstanty, PartnerRe

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB

MGEX Breaking Records

Cindy Zimmerman

MGEX reached its highest open interest total of all-time yesterday, closing the day at 91,935 and surpassing the previous record by more than 1,300. It is the best open interest total in the 135 year history of the Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).

Each day of the last two weeks has been a top three day, setting records this year that keep getting broken. Open interest is currently 10 percent higher than at this time a year ago. Last month the exchange reached the best daily volume in history, with 27,095 contracts trading on January 12, 2017.

Uncategorized

Meet @CIRBdc Crop Insurance Coalition Members

Cindy Zimmerman

LtoR – Ed Elfmann, American Bankers Association; Kay Rentzel, National Peach Council; Jen McPhillips, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America; Robbie Minnich, National Cotton Council

The Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau coalition members have been instrumental in being a voice for the industry on Capitol Hill. Representatives from four of those coalition partners joined the CIRB annual meeting last week to talk about what they do to advocate for crop insurance.

The panel included Ed Elfmann with the American Bankers Association; Kay Rentzel of the National Peach Council; Jen McPhillips, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America; and Robbie Minnich, National Cotton Council. Each obviously has a little different perspective on the industry so it was interesting to listen to their comments.

Hear their introductory remarks here: CIRB2017 Coalition Panel

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Insurance

Animal Agriculture Alliance Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Kelly Marshall

For three decades the Animal Agriculture Alliance has been working to unite the voices of all of animal ag to respond to anti-animal messaging. This year, on May 3-4, they’ll be celebrating that 30 year milestone at the 2017 Stakeholders Summit in Kansas City, Missouri with the message “Connect to Protect, Action Please.”

“The consumer loves meat, milk and eggs. They love ranchers; they love farmers, but they don’t know a lot about how food is produced today and so they’re very susceptible to the messaging from the activist groups that really are trying to put agriculture out of business. So the summit is really coming to learn about ways you can engage in a local level– within your community, within your churches, within your Little Leagues, your Rotary clubs and civic organizations in your hometown, but with some really innovative ideas,” Kay Johnson Smith, President and CEO of Animal Ag Alliance told Jamie Johansen.

The event will also be a celebration of all that’s been accomplished up till now. From fewer than 10 founding organizations (including the American Feed Industry Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation) they’ve grown to nearly 300; from the existence of the Internet to a presence on six social media platforms reaching half a million people each week.

Free registrations to the summit will be awarded to winners of two different competitions; a blog contest and a photo contest.

Listen here for more information in Jamie’s full interview with Kay: Interview with Kay Johnson Smith, Animal Ag Alliance

Ag Day, Animal Agriculture, Audio

Policy Forecast at #CIRB2017

Cindy Zimmerman

Last year at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) annual meeting, there were still lots of candidates for president and Informa Economics Senior VP Jim Wiesemeyer talked about what they might mean to the future of agriculture.

This year, he only had to focus on the one who actually made it to the White House. “It’s a great time because you don’t even have to tell the truth anymore,” he joked. “Everybody told me the world was going to come to an end if Trump won.”

Wiesemeyer pointed out that one of the reasons Trump won was support from rural America. “Not just farmers,” he said. “(But) it was a big factor and he has not forgotten that.”

Last year Wiesemeyer said that Trump was an unknown when it came to policy but was likely to pick good people, so he spent some time discussing the various cabinet picks and how they might impact farm policy and trade in particular. Listen to his presentation here: Interview with Jim Wiesemeyer, Informa Economics

2017 CIRB Annual Meeting photo album

Audio, CIRB, Farm Policy, Insurance

John Deere Supporting #CattleCon17

Kelly Marshall

As Director of Industry Relations and liaison to trade organizations, Chuck Studer was on hand at the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  John Deere is a proud sponsor of the organization and works to support the men and women raising beef through partnership programs. Not only is Deere the executive sponsor of utility vehicles, they also co-sponsor the Young Cattlemen’s Conference.

“As you know we need a lot of advocates for agriculture, ambassadors for agriculture across the U.S. and the Young Cattleman’s Conference does a great job of identifying and and developing advocates, not only for the cattle industry, but agriculture in general.”

Listen to Jamie Johansen’s full interview with Studer here:Interview with Chuck Studer, John Deere Director of Industry Relations

2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere

Public Lands Laws Seeing New Opportunities

Kelly Marshall

They’ve hit the ground running, says Ethan Lane, Executive Director Public Lands Council & NCBA Federal Lands. The 115th Congress is underway and the new administration isn’t resting on its laurels, so now is the time to dig in and get the work done.

The first priority is to roll back burdensome regulations facing cattle producers, especially with regard to federal lands in the west.  The U.S. House just passed a resolution that would repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Planning 2.0 Rule, something that will likely be voted on in the Senate next week, Lane believes.  Repeal of this rule would be a major victory for cattle producers.

The Antiquities Act is one the broadest powers granted to the President, Lane told Jamie Johansen at the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show. With no discussion or studies a president may simple draw a circle around an area and designate it as federal lands. Obama used that power 30 times, causing major changes in counties that were dependent on agriculture. Rolling those back and bringing things into manageable proportions is another key focus.

The Endangered Species Act is right up there too. As the program has grown and grown workers are so overwhelmed with lawsuits their recovery rate for ednagereed species is 1.4 percent, Lane says. Instead the organizations need to be able to focus on animals in a way that makes a difference.

Educating the new administration on what makes a difference is also getting attention. “We have a lot of opportunity headed into this new administration,” Lane says. “There’s going to be a learning curve; this president is not from the west, his chief advisors are not from the west–that’s okay. It gives us an opportunity to help him understand why these issues are so important and most specifically, the role that ranchers play in managing these landscapes because that gets lost in the conversation sometimes.”

Learn more in Jamie’s full interview with Ethan Lane here: Interview with Ethan Lane, Executive Director Public Lands Council & NCBA Federal Lands

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photos

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef

#IPPE17 Featured Some Farm Policy Talk

Chuck Zimmerman

Attendees at the International Production & Processing Expo were able to listen to an outlook on farm policy in this new government administration year. I sat down with Joel Newman, President/CEO, American Feed Industry Association, to get some takeaways from his presentation.

As we look at this new administration we see that there are some opportunities there but also some areas of challenge,” said Newman. Those challenges include Food Safety & Modernization Act regulations as well as efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal production.

Newman says they are pretty pleased with the selection of former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue for agriculture secretary. “He’s the first secretary of agriculture who comes with both a degree of veterinary medicine and grew up on a farm,” he said. Interview with Joel Newman, President/CEO, AFIA

2017 International Production & Processing Expo Photo Album

Coverage of the International Production and Processing Expo is sponsored by
Coverage of the International Production and Processing Expo is sponsored by NOVUS
Audio, Farm Policy, Feed, IPPE