Vilsack Makes 7th Appearance at #Classic16

Cindy Zimmerman March 4, 2016

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appeared at every Commodity Classic since he was confirmed, making this year the seventh time he has addressed corn, soybean, sorghum and wheat farmers.

“Farmers are the linchpin of this country. They are the heart and soul,” said Vilsack, who concentrated much of his remarks on the importance of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) for agriculture. “I’m here today as a strong, unapologetic proponent for the Trans Pacific Partnership,” he said to applause. “It’s going to increase farm income by 4.4 billion dollars.”

Vilsack also talked about the need for Congress to address the GMO food labeling issue immediately, and says he prefers the “Smart Label” approach. “It gives you the flexibility to adjust as circumstances change and consumers demand more information,” he said, stressing “unequivocally” that GMO foods are safe “and we need to make that clear to the consuming public.”

Listen to Vilsack’s comments here: Secretary Vilsack at #Classic16

Vilsack also had a press conference, where he spoke about many of these issues with members of the press. Listen to the full press conference here:
Press Conference with Secretary Vilsack

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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Talia Goes March 4, 2016

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has announced the science, technology, engineering and mathematics coordinators selected for its On the Farm STEM Experience March 28-30 in Nashville, Tennessee, immediately prior to the National Science Teachers Association annual convention.
Nominate now for the World Food Prize is the foremost international award recognizing the accomplishments of individuals who have advanced human development by increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) Scholarship Program opened the application period for 2016 scholarships.
Land O’Lakes, Inc. announced record net earnings of $308 million, up from $266 million in 2014.
The American Farm Bureau Federation is seeking presentation and workshop speaker submissions for the 2017 AFBF Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show through April 15.

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2016 Looks Bright for AASV

Joanna Schroeder March 4, 2016

The future looks bright for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) whose conference this year saw record attendance and is expected to keep on growing. As the event came to an end, Chuck Zimmerman had a few minutes with Past President Dr. Ron Broderson, DVM and current President Dr. George Charbonneau, DVM, who also served as the Program Chair for this year’s annual meeting.

Left to right: Dr. George Charbonneau is the new AASV President and the 1st from Canada. Next to him is Past President Dr. Ron Broderson, DVM.

During the interview, Chuck learned about 2015 successes and what’s next for AASV during 2016.

Ron is a swine practitioner from Nebraska who just handled the gavel over to George. “We’ve had a fun year. One of the key developments I’m excited about was featured in Paul Sunberg’s presentation of the Swine Health Information Center, which is an outcome of collaboration with the National Pork Board,” said Broderson. He noted the goal of the center is to get the American swine industry prepared for the next foreign animal event.

Charbonneau is a practitioner from Ontario, Canada who joked the gavel was still hot when Ron handed it over to him that morning. He said the focus from year-to-year has been around the same issues but moving the ball further down the field per se. “The focus for me, and part of our goals for this year and the theme of our conference, ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,’ is looking at all the colleagues in our industry to get a sense of how they can all become involved in the requirements for making the Swine Health Information Center work.”

While the leaders at the top are currently active in the initiative, Charbonneau stressed the “importance of all their members chipping in to carry the water and lighten the load, so to speak.”

You can learn more about the past and future of AASV in Chuck Zimmerman’s interview: Interview with AASV's Past & Future Presidents

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ASA and NCGA Talk Grower Issues at #Classic16

Lizzy Schultz March 4, 2016

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Soybean Association (ASA) held press conferences during the 2016 Commodity Classic to discuss several key issues facing the industry and highlight the efforts currently in place to create solutions to the challenges that have been facing growers.

Representatives from NCGA focused their press conference around the current state of the farm economy, which has recently seen its greatest decline in the past 100 years. The panel discussed their current efforts to help growers through the increasingly tough market by ensuring that a market-based safety net is in place, and also highlighted their commitment to increase profitable demand for corn.

Listen to the full press conference here:
NCGA Press Conference at Commodity Classic

ASA discussed several major pieces of legislation that greatly impact agriculture, with a focus placed on their support for recent draft legislation introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan) that would establish a standardized federal food labeling law, and would abolish the mandatory GMO labeling law set to take place in Vermont beginning July 1st.

ASA explained the absolute necessity of direct farmer involvement in order to get the federal labeling law passed, calling on industry professionals to ensure that the voice of agriculture is heard above the voice of consumer activism in Congress.

“This is the tipping point for biotechnology in the agriculture sector,” said ASA Chairman Wade Cowan in the conference. “If we are not successful now in communicating what the food makers in this country need to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill, we are doomed to be without biotechnology and not be able to farm as efficiently and sustainably as we could with these technologies. A few thousand people isn’t going to do this, we need so much more involvement than that. It’s time to Rock the Hill.”

Listen to the full press conference here: ASA Press Conference at Commodity Classic

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Scholarships Presented at #Classic16

Cindy Zimmerman March 4, 2016

A brand new crop of young people received scholarships at the 2016 Commodity Classic from three organizations and BASF.

The American Soybean Association (ASA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) all joined in the presentation of scholarships to assist promising individuals with their future agriculture academic endeavors.

For the 10th year in a row, BASF and ASA teamed to present the $5,000 ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, which was received by Kara Berrey of Carrollton, Missouri. She will pursue a bachelor’s degree, and eventually a master’s degree, in agriculture education at Missouri State University.

Listen to an interview with Kara here: Interview with Kara Berry, SOY Scholarship Winner

This year also marks a decade of partnership between BASF and NCGA to provide the William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture scholarships to outstanding undergraduate or graduate students pursuing degrees in agriculture.

The program awarded scholarships of $1,000 each to the following students:
Andrew Lauver of Rockwell City, IA – graduate student of agribusiness at Kansas State
Bethany Mordhorst of Ute, IA – graduate student of animal science at the Univ. of Missouri
Breanne Brammer of Gallatin, MO – graduate student of agriculture education at Univ. of Missouri
Katie Peterson of Grove City, MN – sophomore at Gustavus Adolphus College
Leah Schwinn of New London, OH – junior at The Ohio State University

In its fourth year, the NWF Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship honors both high school and college students who demonstrate success and motivation inside and outside the classroom.

Recipients of the NWF Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship include:
Caleb Brannon of Puryear, TN – a senior at Murray State University, Kentucky
Logan Simon of Columbia, MO – a junior at the University of Missouri
Clay Schemm of Sharon Springs, KS – a sophomore at Kansas State University
Samantha Wander of Bellville, OH – a freshman at The Ohio State University

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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New Fungicide Portfolio from FMC

Lizzy Schultz March 4, 2016

FMC has recently added several exceptional fungicides to their portfolio of crop protection products, and Don Johnson, Technical Support Representative for the company, was on hand during the 2016 Mid South Farm & Gin Show to discuss these new innovations with growers.

“Disease isn’t always a problem, certain weather conditions definitely can make your field more susceptible to them, and fungicides can help to prevent those diseases from robbing growers of their yield if the environment does bring them in,” said Johnson. “FMC supplies an excellent portfolio of fungicides to help prevent against some bad diseases.”

The company’s two new products, Top Guard and Preemptor SC, offer unbeatable protection against several key diseases. Top Guard, mainly for use in soybeans, is the longest lasting Triazole on the market, preventing against frogeye leaf spot, cercospora leaf blight, rusts, Anthracnose, leaf blights, powdery mildew and target spot. Preemptor is a combination of Triazole and Strobilurin, and helps to greatly prevent against southern rust in corn.

“As the season goes on, you get diseases that come in and rob yields, and we’re looking at solutions to control those diseases. We’re really excited for FMC’s future in the fungicide market,” said Johnson.

Listen to my full interview with Don here:
Interview with Don Johnson, FMC

2016 Mid-South Farm & Gin Show Photo Album

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BASF Hosts Panel on Risk Management

Lizzy Schultz March 3, 2016

BASF hosted an educational session at the 2016 Commodity Classic on the importance of managing risk in the current economy. Four panelists, all farmers and industry professionals, gave their perspective and offered producers advice on ways to make the best of the market.

“It’s really about how we can build partnerships in our operations that reduce risk,” said BASF’s Niel Bentley in an interview following the session. “When you’re thinking about who you’re doing business with, you need to attract the right people around your business, and find the partners that help you build the best possible plan.”

Listen to my full interview with Niel here:
Interview with Niel Bentley, BASF

One panelist, Ohio farmer Walker Gottfried, discussed the value of developing strong networks while managing risk on an operation.

“Developing networks is paramount to managing risk because it gives farmers control in this economy where this is no control,” said Gottfried. “In my opinion, the most important qualities to include in your network are trust, people that will challenge your thinking, and people that are knowledgable in areas that you may not be.”

Listen to my full interview with Walker here:
Interview with Walker Gottfried, Ohio Farmer

Travis Harrison, a corn, soybean and wheat farmer from Northwest Ohio, spoke about the four ways he works to manage risk, and how he has managed to incorporate all four factors through the creation of Green Field Ag, a precision ag company with several lines of precision equipment for sale, as well as custom strip-till services.

“We try to surround ourselves with people who know more than us about certain issues,” said Harrison. “It’s always helpful to have manufacturers to listen to you, to be able to help them potentially develop new products, and I really feel that everyone needs to have a GPS guru on their farm, so its nice to have a company at our farm to help with that.”

Listen to my full interview with Travis here:
Interview with Travis Harrison, Green Field Ag

Brent Gloy, farmer, economist, and professor at Purdue University, spoke on the importance of cutting fixed costs as part of a successful risk management program, as well as his perspective on the current state of the economy.

“Its not the economic environment of 5-7 years ago, so risk management is really critical.” said Gloy. “The current mood in the industry is as negative as I’ve seen it in the past ten years, and i think it’s important to remember that this isn’t the end of the world, and we just need to go about it in a way that ensures that we’re in it for the long term future of agriculture, which, I think, remains really really bright.”

Listen to my full interview with Brent here:
Interview with Brent Gloy, Purdue University

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

BASF Science Behind Living Acres Photo Album

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“Thank a Consumer” At #Classic16

Lizzy Schultz March 3, 2016

The US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has a strong presence at the 2016 Commodity Classic, using the event as an opportunity to talk to farmers and ranchers about their consumer programs, all of which are working to bridge the trust gap that exists between farmers and consumers.

Farmers are encouraged to stop by the USFRA booth during the event to ‘Thank a Consumer,’ and express appreciation for the consuming public that helps to sustain farmers and ranchers’ livelihood and contribute to their overall profitability.

“Farmers as a whole have seen a lot of ‘thank a farmer’ programs, and I think they recognize that there is some value in that, but sometimes it has also felt a little self-serving,” said Randy Krotz, CEO of USFRA, at an interview during the 2016 Commodity Classic, “We thought it was very appropriate that we recognize consumers and thank them for their partnership in food, and farmers have been welcoming the campaign with open arms.”

The campaign intends to showcase the partnership that exists between consumers and producers, though it may not always be visible at the surface. It also serves as an opportunity to create valuable dialogue about the topics that matter to consumers while allowing farmers to have a more active role in the social spaces that agriculture has become so disconnected from.

“We want to activate farmers and get them more active in social spaces,” said Krotz. “When folks like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) want to activate the public, they can turn on ten thousand people very quickly, but agriculture has trouble doing that, which is why we need to keep the focus on growing the digital audience for agriculture.”

Listen to my full interview with Randy here:
Interview with Randy Krotz, USFRA

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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Ribbon Cutting for #Classic16

Chuck Zimmerman March 3, 2016

It’s official. The ribbon has been cut and Commodity Classic is underway in the Big Easy.

Just before noon today, leaders of the groups that make up Commodity Classic made welcoming remarks before cutting the ribbon. According to the most current statistics another record crowd is on hand at 9,509. More will probably walk in.

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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Record Setting #Classic16 Underway

Lizzy Schultz March 3, 2016

The AgWired team is in New Orleans this week (again) for the 2016 Commodity Classic.

2016 is set to be the biggest and best year for the farmer-led event established in 1996, with a record number of registered attendees and the biggest trade show in the event’s history. From the trade show booths to breakout sessions, virtually every part of Commodity Classic is setting new standards this year.

“I really don’t know where to start. Everything from the educational sessions to the Evening of Entertainment to the trade show is bigger and better,” said Commodity Classic Co-Chair Sam Butler, a soybean farmer from Alabama. “This is also the first time Commodity Classic has been in New Orleans, and that takes the excitement level up a few notches as well.”

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers is also participating in this year’s Commodity Classic, adding considerable excitement and participation from leading equipment companies, including a number of short line manufacturers. “In the past we’ve had about 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of trade show space. We have 600,000-plus square feet for the trade show this year,” said Commodity Classic Co-Chair Wesley Spurlock, a corn farmer from Texas. “With the addition of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers this year, we’ve seen many big equipment companies triple the size of their footprint for 2016.”

Spurlock is especially excited about the Classic charity partnerships this year with Second Harvest and Roots of Music and he urges all attendees – or those unable to attend – to make a contribution this week. Just click here.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Wesley Spurlock, NCGA First Vice President

2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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