Palm Beach to Host International Agricultural Summit

Kelly Marshall

palm beach international agricultural summitThe Florida Chamber Foundation and the Economic Council of Palm Beach County will be hosting an event to showcase one of Florida’s most important industries – agriculture.  The Palm Beach International Agricultural Summit will take place on Wednesday, May 4 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Business and community leaders from across the state will gather to discuss modern agriculture.

Guest speakers will include industry experts and agricultural leaders, including the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, Adam H. Putnam.

“In 2014, Florida’s agricultural exports reached an all-time high of more than $4.2 billion, and our more than $120 billion agriculture industry supports more than two million jobs,” said Commissioner Putnam. “This forum provides a great opportunity to address emerging challenges and solutions to support Florida’s agriculture industry.”

The event is the brainchild of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County and headed up by Chairwoman Wendy Link and President and CEO, Daniel Martell.

“Our key objectives are to educate the public about the local, national and global economic impact of agriculture; address the benefits of Florida’s agriculture industry; foster a network of agricultural and non-agricultural businesses to advance the economy; and ultimately help solve the issues of local and global food supply, distribution and nutrition,” said Link.

Industry experts will lead workshops on modern agricultural technology; The Blue Revolution, a discussion on the management of water resources for drinking water and crop irrigation security; finance and investment in agriculture; food distribution; careers and education; global initiatives and challenges. A highlight of the program will be an overview of a new economic impact study conducted by Alan W. Hodges, Ph.D., an extension scientist at University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, in cooperation with Scott Barnhart, Ph.D., associate professor at Florida Atlantic University – College of Business. Onsite exhibits will range from farm-to-fork cooking demonstrations to school displays on agriculture.

Ticket are $45.  You can register and learn more about the event at www.PBIAS.org.  Net proceeds will be donated to feed the hungry campaigns.

Agribusiness, Events

Ag Retailers Hold Winter Board Meeting

Chuck Zimmerman

Daren CoppockThe agriblogger is on the highway again this week, moving to Washington, DC for a few days to work with the Agricultural Retailers Association at their Winter Board Meeting. ARA planned this right since the snow was a week ago and has been pretty well cleared up on the streets.

I talked with Daren Coppock, President/CEO, ARA, to have him tell us what the board and other members do when they come to Washington, DC just a few weeks after their annual meeting. One of the main reasons they schedule this meeting now is because it is a time when members are available. They will be conducting the business of the association through committee meetings leading up to a final board meeting mid week. Additionally, ARA members will hear from regulators and interact with legislators while they are here, addressing their priorities on the legislative front.

You can listen to my interview with Daren here: Daren Coppock, Agricultural Retailers Association

Ag Groups, ARA, Audio

Beck Ag Acquires Adayana Agribusiness Group

Chuck Zimmerman

Beck Ag AdayanaBeck Ag has just announced the acquisition of Adayana Agribusiness Group and I spoke with Stephanie Liska, President/CEO of Beck Ag to learn more about it.

The acquisition of Adayana brings its focus on strategy and management consulting, and learning solutions delivery to strengthen the total customer offering from Beck Ag according to Stephanie. It also diversifies the customer base and broadens capabilities as the company helps clients achieve measurable results by changing behaviors in the marketplace and ultimately accelerating the buying cycle.

Beck Ag President and CEO, Stephanie Liska: “This acquisition enhances our ability to bring more comprehensive solutions to our clients, to measurably impact their business results.”

The purchase adds depth in strategic consulting and learning management solutions, as well as bringing dozens of seasoned professionals to Beck Ag’s already strong bench of Ag experts.

You can listen to my interview with Stephanie here: Stephanie Liska, Beck Ag

Agribusiness, Audio

ZimmCast from #NBB16

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 499The 13th National Biodiesel Conference and Expo was held last week in Tampa and it was the 11th year that ZimmComm has done the Biodiesel Conference Blog. Way back in 2006, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) was one of the first industry organizations to see the value in new media like blogs and they continue to stay on the cutting edge to keep up with the latest trends.

nbb16-jessicaWe all know that social media is not everyone’s “thing,” but at this point it’s pretty safe to say it’s not going away. It has become more important for everyone, especially in the agriculture and bioenergy industries, to be engaged on some level in the social media world. NBB Director of Communications Jessica Robinson did a nice presentation at the conference about ways that people who might feel a little intimidated by social media to take baby steps – day by day, one at a time – to get involved. I interviewed her about that for this edition of the ZimmCast.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: ZimmCast with NBB Communications Director Jessica Robinson

The ZimmCast

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Audio, Biodiesel, Social Media, ZimmCast

Farmers Love #LibertyLink #RealYield

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer Liberty LinkIt’s the first of February, which means planting season is getting closer. Farmers who might still be thinking about what varieties to plant this year should take a listen to what growers who use Bayer’s LibertyLink system have to say about their real yields last season.

I talked with Ross Aigner of Wilkin County, Minnesota about his 2015 season with LibertyLink soybeans. “I had a very good season with soybeans as far as weed control and as far as yield – I was very pleased,” Ross told me. “The LibertyLink beans were cleaner, were stronger, and healthier and such that I had a better yield.”

Last year was the sixth year that Ross planted LibertyLink beans and he will definitely be using them again this year. “Without a question I will be using Liberty soybeans for many years to come,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Ross here: Ross Aigner, LibertyLink grower from Minnesota

Audio, Bayer, Soybean

Trump Tops @AgriPulse Poll of Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

agripulseAs Iowa voters gather to caucus today, a new Agri-Pulse poll shows most farmers support Donald Trump for president.

In the most extensive poll of how U.S. farmers and ranchers plan to vote for president, respondents overwhelmingly say they’ll support a Republican, and 40 percent of those are Trump supporters. That compares to 15 percent for Sen. Ted Cruz, 11 percent for Sen. Marco Rubio and 10 percent for Ben Carson. The rest of the candidates in the field polled in single digits.

“It’s clear that GOP-leaning voters are very dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the way President Obama is doing his job and the way that Congress is doing its job. And there was not much variance by age or farm size, although a higher percentage of younger voters expressed dissatisfaction with how Congress is functioning,” said Agri-Pulse Editor and founder Sara Wyant. “They want to elect someone who can make major changes.”

Among farm country Democrats, almost 49 percent of voters are giving Hillary Clinton an edge, compared to 41 percent for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with 10 percent undecided. Democrats or those leaning Democrat made up 19 percent of the 750 farmers and ranchers surveyed. About 70 percent identified as Republican or leaning Republican, and 12 percent as independent.

When asked to identify the one most important issue facing this country heading into the 2016 presidential election, “national security/terrorism” was the top choice for both Republicans and Democrats in the poll, with 19 percent nationally, followed by “moral values” at 14 percent, “immigration/ag labor” at almost 14 percent and “deficit reduction” at 13.5 percent.

The survey was conducted by Aimpoint Research and is part of the Agri-Pulse “Rural Route to the White House” series designed to help educate farmers and ranchers about how presidential candidates view national issues which are important to their livelihoods. The series is sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The nationwide telephone survey was conducted from January 22-26, with 750 producers who own at least 200 acres of farmland. The average U.S. farm size is 434 acres, according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture, conducted in 2012. There is a margin of error of 3.6 percent with 95 percent confidence.

Survey results are available here.

Agri-Pulse, politics

Key Issues Top Farm Bureau’s 2016 Strategic Plan

John Davis

farmbureauFarm Bureau’s strategic action plan for 2016 includes several key issues for agriculture, including the government’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) action, protecting farmers’ rights to use biotechnology and trade issue. This news release from the group says the policy issues are a result of deliberations by delegates to the AFBF’s 97th Annual Convention in Orlando.

“We will continue to work hard to protect the business of American agriculture on all fronts. This plan is an important roadmap to key issue areas that AFBF and our grassroots members will address in 2016,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new Waters of the U.S. rule remains among the most pressing issues in agriculture. Although presented as a water issue, the measure in fact would unlawfully regulate land in violation of the Clean Water Act itself. The rule takes over local and state authority while threatening private property rights and normal farming activity nationwide.

“EPA’s blatant overreach is nothing short of a federal land grab,” Duvall said. “The administration has refused to listen to business owners, local governments and lawmakers. The courts have ordered this rule temporarily stopped. The Government Accountability Office found EPA’s actions illegal, and Congress–which originally gave EPA its authority under the Clean Water Act–called for an end to this rule. We won’t give up until it’s gone and farmers are free to care for their own land.”

AFBF’s action plan also supports agricultural biotechnology that promises great benefits for agriculture, consumers and the environment.

“Farmers and ranchers need better tools to be more productive and efficient. We will continue to defend farmers’ and ranchers’ access to biotechnology and protect their right to use other promising new technologies, from data services to drones,” Duvall said.

The AFBF board reaffirmed its commitment to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

“TPP promises to open up markets around the Pacific Rim. These are some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and America’s farmers and ranchers are ready to expand business there,” Duvall said. “We’re ready to work with Congress to move this agreement forward for the overall good of U.S. agriculture.”

AFBF, Ag Groups, Trade, Water

Ag Tech Accelerator Program Chooses AgVoice

Kelly Marshall

AgVoice-Wave-tmAgVoice has been selected to participate in a nine-month program created by The Yield Lab, to support up and coming agriculture  technology companies.  AgVoice is a voice interaction service, created by TekWear LLC, which provides hands-free workflow management services which allows growers to capture insights when they’re on the go.

The platform gives ag professionals the ability to record and process raw data files about what is happening in the field that can be time stamped and location tracked.

“We’re honored to be selected by The Yield Lab to participate in the program as one of its portfolio companies, and we’re ready to take full advantage of the tremendous business development resources they offer,” says Bruce Rasa, CEO at TekWear LLC. “It was important for our team to find a partner with ag tech as their top priority, and we feel that we’ve found an excellent match to further enhance AgVoice, which is projected to launch later this year.”

The insights and data that AgVoice provides to producers helps them meet an increasing array of government reporting mandates and answers food retailer questions on food traceability, as well as consumer questions regarding where and how their food was safely grown. The service is perfect for agriculture professionals in a wide variety of roles, including agronomists, plant scientists, veterinarians and machinery repair specialists, among others.

“AgVoice is a service that we see contributing a great deal to the agriculture industry, making it a perfect fit as one of our seven portfolio selections in 2016,” says Matt Plummer, principal at The Yield Lab. “The hands-free, voice-interactive technology that the platform offers has the potential to fundamentally shift the way food and agriculture professionals capture usable insights and data.”

The program has just begun at the Helix Center in St. Louise.  Learn more at http://www.agvoiceglobal.com/.

Agribusiness, Precision Agriculture, Technology

AEM Joins Commodity Classic

Kelly Marshall

Commodity ClassicThe 2016 Commodity Classic in New Orleans, March 3-5, will be the biggest and best trade show ever.  The addition of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers as a presenting sponsor is no small part of that.  The 600,000 plus square foot trade show floor is the largest to date in the 20 year history of the trade show.  Several of the AEM members that have previously been part of the show are doubling or tripling their square footage for this year.

AEM Senior Vice President, Charlie O’Brien credits the reputation of Commodity Classic and the types of farmers who attend as the main reasons they chose to come on board this year.

“Our members were attracted by the quality of grower that attends Commodity Classic,” said O’Brien. “These are serious, large-scale, progressive farmers—the type of farmers with whom AEM members want to engage and converse. We have a great deal of respect for the grower population that’s at Commodity Classic.”

AEMAnd AEM expects to expand the number of sales representatives and customer service personnel in their exhibit booth this year.
“Many of our members will bring engineers and product managers—the type of experts who can speak in detail about the equipment and innovation,” O’Brien added. “When farmers come to the exhibit, they can ask deep questions of the people who are actually designing the equipment and get the answers they’re looking for right there and then.”

You can get more information about the Commodity Classic trade show at www.CommodityClassic.com.

AEM, Agribusiness, Commodity Classic

Ethanol, Farmers and Politics in Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

debate-cruzWith the Iowa caucuses coming up on Monday, agriculture and renewable fuels finally got some attention in the Republican debate last night, as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was asked about his position on the Renewable Fuel Standard.

“We should be developing oil and gas and coal and nuclear and wind and solar and ethanol and biofuels but I don’t believe that Washington should be picking winners and losers,” said Cruz during the debate. “But I don’t believe Washington should be picking winners and losers and I think there should be no mandates and no subsidies whatsoever,” adding that his tax plan includes eliminating subsidies for oil and gas. He said it is “not true” that he opposes ethanol and noted Rep. Steve King (R-IA) “perhaps the fiercest defender of farmers” in Iowa supports him.

Listen to Cruz here: Sen. Cruz on RFS and ethanol

iowa-cornHowever, the senator’s words got him no love from Iowa Corn Growers president Bob Hemesath, a farmer from Decorah, who urges people in Iowa to “support a candidate who supports the RFS.”

“Ted Cruz claims that he supports ethanol, he does not support the RFS,” said Hemesath during a conference call this morning. “We can’t afford to let the ethanol industry to be taken away from us by a president who doesn’t support the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

Listen to Hemesath’s comments here: Iowa Corn Growers president Bob Hemesath

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, politics