Leadership From Ourselves

Kelly Marshall

ffa-15-110-elizabeth-winkloskyElizabeth Winklosky is the Pennsylvania State FFA Treasurer and as her state office indicates, Winklosky believes in leadership.

“I’m passionate about how we can make the members into leaders and how they can go out and educate the public on what agriculture really is.  And just being able to have good leaders that come from FFA and striking their passion from that young age to go out and educate the world or just people around them in their community on the importance of agriculture,” she shares.

Her own leadership journey began her freshman year when Winklosky joined the FFA, mostly because it was something of a family tradition.  It didn’t take long for the programs and opportunities of FFA to spark her interest though.  She reports that each step of her journey brought her further into the ideas of the organization and now FFA is a big part of her life.

Bigger and better are what Winklosky wants to see for FFA.  With her leadership, they are well on their way.

Listen to her full interview with Jamie Johansen: Pennsylvania State FFA Treasurer Elizabeth Winklosky

Find photos from the event here: 2015 National FFA Convention Photo Album

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by New Holland
Ag Groups, Events, FFA

ArmezonPRO Receives EPA Regislation For Use in Corn

Taylor Truckey

basfArmezon PRO herbicide, from BASF, has received full EPA regislation. Armezon® PRO herbicide provides long-lasting residual control of emerged grass and broadleaf weeds.

“Growers want flexible options to control weeds based on their farm’s needs,” said Daniel Waldstein, Technical Market Manager, Ph.D., BASF. “Armezon PRO herbicide has a wide application window and low use rate, resulting in time, storage and money savings. Because Armezon PRO herbicide has strong contact and residual performance, corn growers can rely on its consistency and have less worry about the risk of a re-spray.”

Armezon PRO herbicide is a combination of topramezone, the active ingredient in Armezon herbicide, and dimethenamid-P, the active ingredient in Outlook® herbicide. This chemistry combination helps provide strong contact and residual weed control.

Armezon PRO herbicide has high bioavailability to deliver control under wet and dry conditions. This results in better control of grass and small-seeded broadleaf weeds, such as foxtails, barnyardgrass, waterhemp and Palmer amaranth.

BASF, Corn, Herbicide

Famous Voices on Bayer LibertyLink Real Yield Radio

Chuck Zimmerman

Bayer CropScience Real Yield GameDo you recognize the famous radio voices of the Bayer CropScience Real Yield Game Contest? You should. These are some award winners! C’mon. Guess. Listen to one of the commercials that is running on radio stations right now.

When it comes to the game here’s how you play:

Visit www.realyieldgame.com and click on the promotion link.
1. Complete all fields in the registration or log-in process.
2. Select five fields in the game area to spray Liberty® to reveal incremental bushels of soybeans.
3. Look at the total number of incremental bushels of soybeans for all five fields in the silo and determine the prize won.

Limit three game plays per person – one game play for complete registration, one game play for completion of LibertyLink® Ratings/Reviews/Attributes, one game play for social sharing through the promotion website.

In the real world, missed weeds compromise real yield. The LibertyLink® system is simply a better solution that ensures you don’t lose yield from missed weeds. Choose LibertyLink® and Liberty® to maximize real yields with high-performing genetics and better weed control.

This LibertyLink Real Yield Radio spot features William Meisenhelder, SD farmer.


Sponsored Post

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Missouri Ag Director Addresses Deere Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

Richard FordyceMissouri’s Director of Agriculture, Richard Fordyce, spoke to this week’s Develop with Deere conference during lunch. After talking about all the blue color on the street due to the Kansas City Royals parade he talked about the challenges facing farming in Missouri.

A key issue he says is what consumers think about what farmers are doing. He says this filters down into a bunch of other issues. Precision agriculture provides a great opportunity to talk about the improvements in sustainability today. These improvements help to address concerns that consumers have. He has some great examples from his own farming experience.

Listen to his comments here: Richard Fordyce, MO Dir. of Ag

Develop with Deere Photo Album

Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Senate Disapproves of #WOTUS

Cindy Zimmerman

afbf-wotusBy a vote of 53-44, the U.S. Senate passed a joint “resolution of disapproval” of the EPA Clean Water rule known as ‘Waters of the United States’ (WOTUS).

Resolution sponsor Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) says the action would “put an end to” the expanded EPA rule. “Our resolution stops the EPA from continuing to act as an unchecked federal agency of the Obama Administration, expanding its power over Iowa farmers, small businesses, ranchers, and other landowners in our rural communities,” said Ernst. “Passing this resolution is a major step forward to stop the EPA’s blatant power grab and scrap the expanded WOTUS rule.”

Click here to hear what Sen. Ernst said on the floor.

One of the bill’s 50 co-sponsors, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) says the legislation will “put Senators on-record” as to where they stand on the WOTUS rule. “Farmers and ranchers now know who supports their ability to protect and maintain their own water and land – and who supports overregulation by the EPA,” said Roberts. “You know where I stand – fighting to protect America’s farmers and ranchers from EPA’s overreach.”

“Thank you to the bipartisan group of Senators who have recognized that the Waters of the U.S. rule did not work,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Chip Bowling. “Let’s work together on a better rule that will give farmers the certainty they need while protecting America’s water resources.”

Corn, NCGA, Water

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Join MoKan NAMA on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. for a lunch and learn on Inte-GREAT-ed Marketing.
  • Across the globe, clients of The Context Network now have access to a new website.
  • The Public Lands Council welcomes Ethan Lane to the association in his new role as executive director.
  • Jason Andringa will serve as Vermeer Corporation’s President and CEO. This announcement was first made in August 2014, as part of the company’s family succession planning process.
Zimfo Bytes

That Blue Corduroy Jacket

Kelly Marshall

ffa-15-114-luke-kerstetterLuke Kerstetter, Pennsylvania State Sentinel, sat down with Jamie Johansen at the National FFA Convention to talk about what he is passionate about in agriculture.

“I’m passionate about agriculture education, because as the growing population [of the world will reach] 9 billion, we need to figure out ways to implement better technology into farming as well as agriculture science and biotechnology.  It will help out the world as well as the U.S. as a whole,” Kerstetter relates.

From a freshman who hadn’t considered taking an ag class until his brother encouraged him to do so, Luke has come a long way in his outlook on FFA and the industry.  He credits getting that blue corduroy jacket as a major moment for him.  Now he hopes to wear that jacket as an ag teacher himself someday.

Listen to the full interview: Pennsylvania State FFA Sentinel Luke Kerstetter

Find photos from the event here: 2015 National FFA Convention Photo Album

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by New Holland
Ag Groups, Audio, FFA

Sustainable Ag Expo Educates Growers

Kelly Marshall

Sustainable Ag ExpoThe 11th Annual Sustainable Ag Expo will be held November 16-17, 2015, at the Madonna Inn Expo Center in San Luis Obispo, California. The expo, hosted by the Vineyard Team, promises educational information for growers of many crops.

“The Expo started as a way to explore various issues affecting different types of ag professionals,” said Kris Beal, Executive Director for The Vineyard Team. “It is a chance for farmers and researchers to come together, learn from each other, and engage in conversations with some of the brightest in the industry. Not only do we address production practices, we’re exploring initiatives from buyers like Campbell and Cisco that are influencing behavior.”

Begun 11 years ago, the Sustainable Ag Expo started when the Vineyard Team saw crop industries using various innovations and felt growers could benefit from learning from each other.  The Expo was developed to share information about energy and water conservation, holistic management, integrated pest management and soil conservation.

With 40 speakers, session highlights include focusing on water availability and quality; access to affordable labor; and new federal air quality standards that may have significant impacts on farming operations in the future presented by Dr. Jay Lund, Director for the Center for Watershed Science and Professor at UC Davis, Bryan Little, Director Employment Policy, California Farm Bureau Federation and Nancy Levin, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9. Additionally, Dr. Michelle Moyer, Washington State University, will present new research on powdery mildew monitoring, detection and management along with Dr. Renaud Travadon of UC Davis and Larry Bettiga, University of California Viticulture Farm Advisor.

Learn more about the event, view exhibitors and vendors or register for the event now.

Ag Groups, Education, Energy, Events, pesticides, Soil, Sustainability, Water

The FFA Hunger Games

Jamie Johansen

ffa-15-197-editedInspiring young people to take action was the central theme of the National FFA Organization’s Food For All booth at the 88th National FFA Convention. As students entered the FFA Hunger Games they were challenged to a number of optical courses and educated on two program’s they can take part in at home to help fight hunger.

I spoke with Michele Sullivan with the National FFA Organization to help walk me through their message to members. “The FFA Food for All grants is a competitive grant application for FFA chapters to apply for up to $2,500 to develop, implement and evaluate a year-long service learning project that focuses on hunger.”

Michele said the other program they highlighted was the FFA Heroes Challenge. Last year they challenged members to raise 2.5 million meals to impact hunger across the country. Not only did they meet that goal, but they raised a little over 3 million meals. The National FFA Organization has issued another challenge this year and is asking members to raise 3.5 million meals in the 2016 calendar year.

Learn more about what the FFA members are doing across the country to fight hunger in their local communities in my complete interview with Michele. Interview with Michele Sullivan, National FFA Organization

Find photos from the event here: 2015 National FFA Convention Photo Album

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by New Holland
Ag Groups, FFA, Food

Does Mass Media Impact Consumer Food Opinion?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How do you pass the time flying?”

The ZimmComm Team takes to the skies quite a bit throughout the year, so it was fun to see what others do to pass the time. I like to read and it looks like I am in the majority. It looks like we had a wide variety of answers. A few commented that they liked to watch movies and we even had a pilot chime saying he stuck to simply flying.

Here are the poll results:

  • Sleep – 30%
  • Read – 33%
  • Play games – 6%
  • Work – 13%
  • Other – 18%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What’s mass media’s impact on consumer food opinion?

Throughout the last few weeks food has been the center of mass media. Whether it was Subway’s announcement about antibiotics or the World Health Organization’s claim of meat causing cancer, it seems positive messages about agriculture don’t make mainstream news. How big do you think mass media’s impact is on consumers opinion on food? Share your thoughts with us.

ZimmPoll