New Holland Sponsors Awards for NCBA Recruitment

Jamie Johansen April 28, 2016

The Kansas Livestock Association and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association each earned use of a piece of equipment from New Holland Agriculture for their outstanding efforts to recruit new members to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Each of these NCBA affiliates will get its choice of a one-year lease on a New Holland Roll-Belt™ 560 Specialty Crop round baler or a one-year lease on a New Holland T6 175 tractor. The organizations received their awards at the NCBA’s Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., April 12-14.

“New Holland appreciates the work of state affiliates to help strengthen the grassroots membership and give the cattle industry a louder voice,” said Mark Lowrey, New Holland Regional Market Specialist.

The Kansas Livestock Association automatically earned one of these leases for recruiting the most NCBA members for the contest period, which lasted from Jan. 1 through March 31. Also in the top five state affiliates for NCBA membership recruitment were: Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, California Cattlemen’s Association, and Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association.

Colorado Cattlemen’s Association was the winner of the drawing of the 16 qualifying affiliates, which included: Arizona Cattle Feeders Association, California Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Livestock Association, Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council, Illinois Beef Association, Kansas Livestock Association, Michigan Cattlemen’s Association, Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association, Nebraska Cattlemen, Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Utah Cattlemen’s Association, Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, Washington Cattle Feeders Association and Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association.

“It was great to see so many cattle producers in D.C for the Legislative Conference, visiting with their legislators on behalf of cattlemen and women throughout the country,” said Lowrey. “These producers and the NCBA affiliates are important to the success of NCBA and the beef industry. New Holland is proud of the opportunity to reward these affiliates for their continued support of NCBA membership programs by awarding affiliates for their recruitment work.”

Agribusiness, Beef, Equipment, NCBA, New Holland

3 Top Tips for Recycling Farm Waste

Joanna Schroeder April 27, 2016

Earth Day may have come and gone but it’s always a good time to be kind to Mother Earth and recycling is one such way.

Recycle
Farm waste can often contain some of the most recyclable materials around. Organic materials, animal manure and dirty straw and hay can all be used to make materials such as compost, which can be then put back into the earth for growing crops, plants, vegetables and more. Are you wondering what to do with the waste on your farm? Or even the waste from your kitchen? There are many different ways in which you can recycle your farmland waste materials, whether it be putting them back into your farm or handing them over to a recycling company who can distribute recyclable items to the best place.

Kitchen waste for composting.

Re-Use
Many farm waste materials can be re-used in some way or another on the farm. For example, animal waste can be used to make compost – especially horse manure, which has long been known for its garden-growing properties – gardeners will even buy horse manure from you to put on their roses! Apart from putting the recyclable farm waste back into the farm, you can also give any left over to a waste collection company who can recycle the waste for you. Landfills are no longer commonly used on farms due to the environmental consequences and the landfill tax, which is why more and more farmers are turning to waste collection companies such as Countrystyle Recycling. If you have hazardous waste, it’s important to understand the rules and regulations surrounding its safe disposal.

I don’t live on a farm but I do recycle waste. This is a mixed-media art piece that I made from “re-used” materials. How do you recycle your waste? Share your stores in the comment section.

Wood
Wood is a highly recyclable product that is often used in the running of many farms across the UK. Whether you have a surplus of wooden pallets, old fencing that you’re replacing or wooden frames and furniture, it makes more sense to recycle old wooden products than it does to simply throw them away. If you have a wood burning fire, you’re probably already planning on using your old wood to keep your home nice and warm. Wooden pallets also make great DIY furniture ideas, and even if you’re not going to use them yourself, you can sell them on or give them away for this purpose. Wood shavings also make excellent bedding for animals who can’t use regular straw.

Food Waste
Many farms in the UK grow their own food products, either for personal use, to sell in a farm shop or market, or even to sell to commercial buyers. However, not all food products make the cut – and many are put into waste if they cannot be sold on or consumed. But, food waste is highly recyclable and being biodegradable, makes excellent compost which can be sold to garden centres, at farmer’s markets and even used on your own crops, plants and veg allotments. If you get a lot of food waste, you can also arrange for a waste collection company to come and remove it, taking it to a recycling plant where they can recycle and distribute it accordingly.

Do you run or work on a farm? Do you have your own garden? How do you recycle the different types of waste? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Education, Environment, Food, Sustainability

New Group is Growing Global Solutions

Cindy Zimmerman April 27, 2016

We’ve been in the agricultural communications business for a very, very long time and we are very blessed that so many of the people we started in the business with are still involved, so it’s always nice to touch base with good friends we have known from the beginning who are starting new ventures.

We were happy to hear from Janice Dahl last week who has just started a new non-profit called Growing Global Solutions. Those of you who have been in the business for awhile may know Janice from either her time with the American Sheep Industry Association, where she worked as communications manager for 11 years, or more recently as executive director of the United Soybean Board, where she served for nine years. Janice has more than 25 years of experience in leading non-profits in the areas of management, communications, strategy and goal-setting and now she is turning that proficiency toward improving the efficiency of agriculture and health organizations to combat poverty and improve quality of life.

In this week’s ZimmCast, Janice tells us all about GGS, which believes in bringing change through better organizations with an emphasis on strategy development, project management and evaluation, communication analysis, leadership development, and – most importantly – giving back.

Learn more about Growing Global Solutions in this week’s ZimmCast: ZimmCast with Janice Dahl, Growing Global Solutions

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by

Locally owned, globally strong.

Ag Groups, Audio, ZimmCast

AgCareers.com Releases New Updates

Kelly Marshall April 27, 2016

The AgCareers.com Job Seeker mobile app has gotten an upgrade on both its Apple and Android platforms. New updates mean significant changes to enhance the search process.

The app, which as been available since 2013, now includes better search criteria, equating to more accurate results. Seekers can narrow down available jobs through keywords, location, industry sector, industry type, career type and even by specific employer. Users can now also create an account with a job seeker profile; something that couldn’t be accomplished in the previous version.

The app is now capable of uploading a resume as well, a job which required a computer in the past. Resumes can be uploaded through Google Drive or DropBox, creating three methods for users to apply for a job: logging in, creating a profile, or as a guest with no profile.

The new ability to save search criteria for use in the future can also save users time. It is also now possible to share a job opening via email, Twitter or Facebook.

You can access these updates from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

AgCareers, Agribusiness, Apps

#Plant16 Progress Surges

Kelly Marshall April 26, 2016

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that corn planting continues to be ahead of the five-year average. Last week results showed 30 percent of the total corn acres have been planted, numbers that exceed the average by 14 percentage points and ten percentage points ahead of where growers were just the week before.

Missouri leads the way in corn planing, surpassing the five-year average by 50 percentage points. Iowa and Minnesota are ahead of the game as well, showing more than 30 percentage points ahead of the five-year average as well. Texas is currently the only state behind the five-year average by more than five points.

The USDA also released its first forecast of the percentage of corn emerged this week. While planting ran far ahead of the five-year average, the percentage of the corn crop emerged surpassed the five-year average by only one percentage point. Again, Missouri saw progress the furthest ahead of the average, with 24 percent of corn acres emerged. The state normally sees only ten percent emergence by this point.

The full report is available here.

Agribusiness, Corn, Planting, USDA

Youth Programs Help @GROWMARK Grow

Cindy Zimmerman April 26, 2016

When it comes to sustainability in agriculture, the most precious natural resource for the industry to preserve is our young people, and the GROWMARK System and FS member cooperatives are all about that.

GROWMARK has a long history of making a significant investment in youth, from helping to fund Ag in the Classroom, to supporting FFA and 4-H, to a world-class internship program. “Today’s young people are going to be the consumers of tomorrow using the products and services that our customers produce,” said Karen Jones, GROWMARK Youth and Cooperative Education Specialist. “They’re also hopefully going to be some of our future employees and we’d like them to have a strong understanding of agriculture and of cooperatives.”

Among the many ways GROWMARK supports youth is through its annual essay contest for FFA members in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and now Missouri. Jones says 2016 was the 23rd year for the contest and this year’s theme was sustainability. “We got some good definitions of what students feel sustainability means,” said Jones. “We also asked them to offer suggestions of what they can do to be more sustainable themselves or encourage their families and others to be more sustainable.”

A newer initiative GROWMARK has developed for even younger people is a pollinator garden program through 4-H to promote the sustainability of bees and other important pollinators. “We have a proprietary wildflower seed blend available through our FS member cooperatives and we are providing some of that seed to 4-H clubs who signed up for the program to plant a garden in their community,” Jones explained.

Learn more about GROWMARK youth programs in this interview: Interview with Karen Jones, GROWMARK

Audio, Education, FFA, FS System, GROWMARK

AgChat Acquires Ask the Farmers Initiative

Jamie Johansen April 26, 2016

The AgChat Foundation has reached an agreement with the creators of Ask The Farmers to acquire its websites, trademarks and platforms.

“This is an exciting time for both ACF and Ask The Farmers,” said AgChat Foundation Vice-President Marie Bowers-Stagg. “We look forward to continuing their great work by providing the back-office support to help keep the ATF community of bloggers thriving.”

Founded in 2014, a small group of passionate AgVocates set out to help answer consumers’ questions. The popular initiative has grown exponentially. With over 40 contributors writing in excess of 150 blog posts, the site has had nearly 200,000 views. ATF also has a Facebook page where consumers can have questions answered, with a weekly reach of over 40,000 people.

“This is really the next step forward in AgVocacy for the AgChat Foundation as we continue to be the thought leader in ag social media”, adds Jeff VanderWerff, AgChat Foundation President. “As we move forward, we will to continue to be the leading resource for agricultural social content.”

AgChat Foundation’s top priority is to maintain the farmer to consumer relationships that the Ask the Farmers project has cultivated over the last year.

Ag Groups

Crowd Gathers for Thirsty Land Debut at #Water4Food

Joanna Schroeder April 25, 2016

As a hush came over the theater last night and the lights went down for the opening scene of the documentary Thirsty Land, the sound of rain pounding on the roof served as background noise. A bit ironic. Especially in light of meeting a community in California that has run out of water.

Thirsty Land, directed and produced by Conrad Weaver, focuses on the multi-year drought facing California, Washington and other southwestern states. The documentary debuted as part of the Water for Food Global Conference taking place April 24-26 in Lincoln Nebraska at the Nebraska Innovation Campus.

Maybe the biggest impact the drought has had is not to consumers, but to hundreds of farmers in California who were given no water allocation for the 2015 growing season. This has led to hundreds of thousands of acres of fallow agricultural land, much of which used to produce much of America’s produce, fruits and nuts. Yes, consumers, no water = no food. No water = no life. For anyone.

Why must I make this obvious statement? Because as water shortages become more common, there has been a call for agriculture to reduce its use of water. Approximately 70 percent of all water used globally is for agriculture. Farmers are feeling the pressure of lack of water while trying to grow safe, healthy food and more of it. A resonating message in the film from the farmers is “Stop vilifying us. Stop vilifying agriculture. We need to work together to solve water problems, not play the blame game”.

A truer statement was not uttered. Farmers intrinsically understand the value of water and have been some of the first in the country to begin integrating water sustainability and conservation programs. Thirsty Land follows the journey of growers who share their stories of how water shortages have affected operations from dairy farmers to fruit producers to sheep producers. The film follows the farmers as they try to find solutions to get through the drier years; yet still produce enough food to keep the farm in operation all while putting conversation programs in place for future drier years.

There are some very touching stories in the film – especially around the town in California with no water while the documentary was being filmed. Weaver said they did get access to water again earlier this year but it’s still spoty, at best. The cinematography is stunning in places and there is even a horrific beauty in the shots of deep cracked earth and the dying environment.

While the documentary is about the unbreakable connection of water and food, it is really a film not for the agriculture industry, says Weaver, but for consumers. Weaver stresses there is a need for consumers to better understand the dynamics of water and food and thus, become more supportive of water programs that put agriculture first.

Thirsty Land will be playing in cities across the country and on college campuses this fall. Please go see this film when it comes to your community or campus. If it is not scheduled, then consider hosting a screening. And consider donating funds to get this film in front of as many consumers across the country as possible.

To learn more about the film, the experiences of the filmmaker and why he feels Thirsty Land is so important, listen to my interview with Conrad Weaver here: Conrad Weaver, Thirsty Land Producer & Director

Agribusiness, Audio, Water

Bayer Awards $150,000 Grant To National Ag Center

Jamie Johansen April 25, 2016

Bayer CropScience has announced increased support of the National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame, through a $150,000 Bayer USA Foundation grant. This three-year grant will help create a new children’s exhibit within the Ag Center’s Children’s Agriculture Science Center. The new exhibit is set to open in 2018.

Located in Bonner Springs, Kansas, the mission of the Ag Center is to educate people on the historical and present value of American agriculture and to honor the leadership in agribusiness and academia. Created by a rare federal charter signed in 1960 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Ag Center is largely funded by private and corporate donations, and Bayer is one of the museum’s main supporters.

“We are so thankful to Bayer for its generous support of the Ag Center through this grant from the Bayer USA Foundation,” said Dawn Gabel, executive director of the National Agriculture Center & Hall of Fame. “It is exciting to imagine that a child who will visit this future exhibit could one day become an inductee into our very own Hall of Fame thanks in part to what they learned here about agriculture.”

Through this new children’s exhibit, as well as other educational initiatives like Making Science Make Sense ® – a program advancing science literacy across the United States through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning – Bayer seeks to inspire students of all ages to learn more about what makes agriculture not only exciting, but also essential to the future of our planet.

“The National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame is truly one of our country’s greatest treasures, and Bayer is proud to support its mission as part of our own efforts to inspire the next generation of leaders in the agriculture industry,” said Paul Nagy, site leader for Kansas City Bayer Crop Science. “In all of our local communities, it is essential that programs and initiatives like this exhibit are available to support parents, teachers and other leaders in providing these sorts of educational opportunities for students of all ages.”

Agribusiness, Bayer, Crop Science, Education

Folta Chosen for Borlaug CAST Communication Award

Kelly Marshall April 25, 2016

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) is pleased to announce Dr. Kevin Folta as the winner of this year’s prestigious Borlaug CAST Communication Award. Dr. Folta serves as the Chair of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Services. He is a teacher, mentor, researcher and organizer and has a talent for relating to the non-scientific crowd. He focuses on clear, credible information and trains scientists, farmers, physicians and students to reach out on confusing scientific and controversial topics.

As a Department Chair, Folta provides statewide administrative leadership in the University of Florida’s teaching, research, and extension fruit and vegetable programs. He coordinates and supports efforts in more than 50 research programs at seven locations, ranging from citrus breeding and biotechnology to organic and sustainable production. His laboratory examines how plants sense light signals and how different parts of the light spectrum can affect shelf life and high-value fruit and vegetable traits. His group also uses novel genomics approaches to identify genes related to flavor and disease resistance.

Although he is an accomplished scientist, Folta is respected by his peers and many others for his ability to communicate in a polite, thoughtful, and provocative manner. As one colleague stated, “He treats everyone with tremendous respect. He often transforms conflict-riddled situations into true learning moments.” With his passion for science, knowledge, and understanding, Dr. Folta is a worthy recipient of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award.

Folta’s blog is a reflection of his passion for communicating science, as are his weekly podcasts. He is a highly regarded speaker around the world and he has designed a workshop to teach scientist how to engage a skeptical public. Julie Borlaug notes that, “He has not shied away from controversial subjects and has often been the number one target of the anti-science movement on behalf of all of us who support biotechnology.”

Folta will receive the award at a breakfast event hosted by Dupont and CAST at the World Food Prize Symposium in October.

Ag Groups

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