At this time of Thanksgiving we pause to count our blessings.
The freedom of this great country in which we live
Its opportunity for achievement and freedom to worship
The friendship and confidence you have show in us
For this and so much more we are deeply thankful.
Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving from the ZimmComm/AgWired team.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced final renewable fuel volume requirement increases under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
“By implementing the program enacted by Congress, we are expanding the nation’s renewable fuels sector while reducing our reliance on imported oil,” said Janet McCabe, the agency’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation.
Under the rule, total renewable fuel volumes grow 1.2 billion gallons from 2016 to 2017, a 6 percent increase. EPA has increased conventional renewable fuel volumes for 2017, meeting the 15 billion-gallon congressional target and the standard for biomass-based biodiesel has been increased by 100 million gallons to twice that of the minimum congressional target.
“Today the EPA moved in the right direction by increasing the 2017 ethanol volume to statute,” said National Corn Growers Association president Wesley Spurlock. “This is critical for farmers facing difficult economic times, as well as for consumers who care about clean air, affordable fuel choices, and lowering our dependence on foreign oil.”
Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the industry, farmers and consumers can all have something extra to give thanks for tomorrow. “The move will send a positive signal to investors, rippling throughout our economy and environment,” said Dinneen. “The final RVO rule helps put consumers in the driver’s seat when it comes to fuel choice at the pump and we thank EPA for listening to the public’s demand for lower cost, higher octane fuels, recognizing the rising demand for gasoline and abiding by the statute.”
Dinneen discusses the decision more in this interview – RVO Interview with Bob Dinneen, RFA
Lance Ruppert is the Director of Agronomy Marketing for GROWMARK. Among his many other responsibilities, Ruppert participated in the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk event in Kansas City earlier this month, talking about the GROWMARK Endure sustainability platform and how higher yields are being attained more sustainably with better agronomics.
With the genetic potential for crops is on the rise, technology and connectivity make it possible for growers to manage details, and understanding the levels of nitrogen and where they are in the field is a huge part of that.
“As we learn more and can manage nutrients better, especially nitrogen, spoon feeding the crop a little bit more and understanding how it all works, that helps tremendously to get to that genetic potential,” he says.
The 2016 growing season was a great example. Winter was warm and wet, leaving growers concerned about nitrogen applications. Soil samples proved that nitrogen had converted a little, but generally was still in fields and didn’t need another application. A dry spring meant quick planting for most, and rains beginning after the 4th of July into August built great yields. A good management system again became crucial late in the season, when warm temps until August prevented diseases from taking hold until late in the year. Growers adding a fungicide to crops saw between a 10 and 15 bushel boost, showing off the power of data-driven decision making.
This increase is technology and “smart” farming will certainly be the direction of the future, Ruppert says. “Five years from now we’ll probably look back and say ‘Wow, what a revolution with technology and smarter farming’.”
Learn more in this interview: Interview with Lance Ruppert, GROWMARK
FMC Corporation has launched a new fungicide premix called Topguard® EQ that provides long-lasting disease control and plant health benefits in over two dozen crops.
Topguard®EQ fungicide with FMC’s patented flutriafol is rapidly taken up by the plant and distributed throughout the leaf to control the spread of disease. The leaf icons on the left indicate the point of application, as shown by the lighter green color
Quade says this unique combination broadens the spectrum of diseases that can be controlled and offers multiple modes of action to combat disease resistance. “The flutriafol component moves quickly through the plant, protecting plant leaves from stem to leaf tip,” said Quade.
Topguard EQ fungicide controls a broad range of diseases including gray leaf spot, Southern rust and Northern corn leaf blight in corn; frogeye leaf spot, brown spot and cercospora blight in soybeans; leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew in wheat; and pecan scab in pecans.
Learn more in this interview: Interview with Tom Quade, FMC - Topguard EQ
Like most agricultural organizations at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Trade Talk this year, trade is one of the big issues the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) wanted to talk about.
Colin Woodall, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, NCBA, said “I think when we are looking at the issue of tax reform, when we are looking at trying to minimize the overburdensome regulations we have seen over the years, a Trump Administration brings a lot to the table for us. We are excited about working with them.”
“Right now it’s about trying to figure out who will be where throughout the agencies and departments. We have a lot of new people to meet. More importantly, we are going to have to go in and tell the story about what cattle producers do and what their issues are,” Woodall added.
Listen to my complete interview with Colin as he shares more opinions towards recent election and end of the priorities as we wrap up 2016 including the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Interview with Colin Woodall, NCBA
NCBA’s President-Elect Craig Uden further discussed TPP and his hopes for moving it forward in lame-duck session and our current market volatility. “One thing the U.S. producer can do is produce. We have a lot of high quality beef out there,” he said. “Domestic consumption is continuing to rise. As we stabilize these production models, increase herds and maintain prices we have to look outside our borders. TPP is one of the best ways to do so.”
Listen here as Craig shares more about trade and how beef it working with other commodity groups and coalitions to get TPP passed knowing it will have a significant impact on the cattle market. Interview with Craig Uden, NCBA
View and download photos from the event here: NAFB Convention Photo Album
The Kansas Corn Commission is one of 16 state corn grower groups that are members of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), along with the National Corn Growers Association, and communications director Sue Schulte says it is very beneficial for them.
“USFRA is really working on a multi-level campaign to advocate for agriculture, not only with consumers but with food companies and others,” said Schulte during the recent USFRA board meeting. “On a state level, we don’t necessarily have the resources that a group like USFRA has at their disposal so it’s very beneficial to have those USFRA resources.”
Schulte says it is critical for all agricultural organizations from the local to the national level to work together to educate the public. “We need to tell the entire story of agriculture, not just the corn story,” she added.
Schulte believes that USFRA is “moving the needle” when it comes to helping people understand how their food is produced and hopes the SMART Farm platform will bring home the benefits of technology to consumers. “Farmers are really techies in a good way to produce more sustainable crops,” she said.
Listen to my interview with Sue here: Interview with Sue Schulte, Kansas Corn
USFRA 2016 Fall Board Meeting photos
BASF just announced new Zidua® PRO pre-emergent herbicide for soybean farmers earlier this month so Technical Marketing Manager Daniel Waldstein was able to provide the latest details at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual Trade Talk.
“It’s got three unique chemistries combined together that gives us three different sites of action,” said Waldstein. “That gives us broad spectrum weed control for grasses and broadleaves and it also gives us built-in resistance management for growers.”
Waldstein says the pre-emergent residual component of Zidua PRO herbicide provides a good starting point for season-long control of weeds like Palmer amaranth, waterhemp and marestail. “At BASF we have the motto ‘start clean and stay clean’ and there’s really never a good time to have weeds in your soybean fields,” he said.
Zidua PRO herbicide pairs with post-emergent herbicides containing additional sites of action, including BASF’s soon-to-be-approved Engenia™ herbicide. Learn more in this interview: Interview with Daniel Waldstein, BASF
In a YouTube video message to the nation Monday, President-elect Donald Trump outlined a list of executive actions he intends to make “on day one” of his administration and number one on that list is to get out of the TPP.
“I am going to issue our notification of intend to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” said Trump. “Instead, we will negotiate fair, bi-lateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to American shores.”
The president-elect also pledged to “cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy,” require that for every new regulation two old regulations must be eliminated, and have the labor department investigate “abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker.”
Audio from Trump YouTube message: Message from President-Elect Trump
Most of the discussion during the 2016 National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Convention was focused on the outcome of the Presidential election and what it means for agriculture, highlighting this election’s importance to so many people in our nation. This election was also important for both agriculture industry groups and agribusinesses, and Chuck Spencer, Executive Director for Corporate and Government Relations at GROWMARK, sat down during NAFB Trade Talk to discuss GROWMARK’s reaction to the election and how the outcome is shaping the policy priorities for 2017.
“Rural and urban interests need to come together, that is what I believe is most important, the dialogue between our differences in opinion needs to increase,” he said. “We need to understand our consumer base for finished products and make sure we understand what our responsibilities are on both environmental stewardship platforms and consumer product platforms.”
Spencer explained that the outcome of this year’s Senate and House races did not yield any major changes to the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, but that the new administration will provide a distinct directional change from the standpoint of regulatory oversight. This change has the potential to significantly affect the next Farm Bill and many different areas of farming and production agriculture practices.
“There’s been discussion about whether or not the appointee for EPA administrator will have farm experience or a farming background, but I think what’s most important is that the individuals who take leadership roles in the development of the Farm Bill and the regulation of the administration have the ability to use science as the platform, that they engage all parties: agriculture, urban, and interest groups, and that we have outcomes that are able to be implemented at farm level,” said Spencer.
Spencer also discussed the major policy priorities for 2017, including the need for industry groups and businesses to remain engaged with the USDA in the upcoming implementation of the new GMO labeling law, as well as the need to continue advocating for trade and working with the administration to reach the objective of reducing tariffs and increasing export opportunities for U.S. agriculture.
Learn more in Cindy’s full interview with Chuck here:
Interview with Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK
View and download photos from the event here: 2016 NAFB Convention
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is inducting two new member into their AEM Hall of Fame. These individuals are being honored for their contributions to the off-road industry, their legacy of innovation, service and leadership.
Ray Hagie is the founder of Hagie Manufacturing LLC. Although he never intended to bring the world’s first self-propelled sprayer to the market, his life pursuit of solving problems led to just that. In 1944 Ray opened Hagie’s Hybrid seed corn plant, then, during the labor shortages of WWII, he developed a self-propelled “personnel carrier”to detassel corn more efficiently. When Dow released 2,4-D Ray envisioned a device that would allow the product to be applied more easily. That lead to the self-propelled sprayer and Hagie Manufacturing in 1947.
Committed to the community, the environment and the industry, Ray served in numerous leadership roles throughout his career including as an Iowa state representative and senator, chairman of the Iowa Manufacturers Association and on the Iowa State University Board of Governors.
Robert “Bob” Vermeer is the chair emeritus of Vermeer Corporation. He played an integral role in bringing that company to where it is today. Under his leadership, sales grew nearly 13 times- thanks to his program to evaluate and coach dealers. His innovations also led to advancements in finance making equipment more readily available globally. He also began various community service programs, such as Vermeer Chaplain Program, the Vermeer Charitable Foundation Scholarship Program and the Vermeer Spirit of Caring Award.
Bob has served as Chair of both the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Iowa Business Council. In addition, Bob has been a member and officer for several boards, including Central College Board of Trustees, Dordt College Board, Calvin Theological Seminary Board of Trustees and the Pella Chamber of Commerce.
“AEM is proud and privileged to honor the pioneering individuals who have invented, managed, built and led the off-road equipment industry,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “Their vision and dedication have contributed significantly to the growth and strength of our industry and economic progress and quality of life around the world; and their legacy serves as an inspiration for our leaders of tomorrow.”
