American Agri-Women Celebrate 40 Years

Kelly Marshall

American Agri-WomenThe American Agri-Women (AAW) have been celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and the festivities will culminate with the national convention in Portland, Maine November 5-7.

The convention’s theme will be “Harvesting for the Future.”  The Maine Agri-Women are hosting the convention and the state is also the home of AAW President Sue McCrum, who is finishing her final year in the position.  In addition to speakers, attendees will also have the opportunity to tour  a 5,000 working farm and educational center, a potato,corn, and grass farm, a farm specializing in fresh-cut vegetables, an original Belgian-style brewery, and an animal healthcare company.

“It’s such an honor to celebrate all that we’ve achieved in our first 40 years in my home state and to plan for a future where we’ll continue being a force for truth for American agriculture,” says President Sue McCrum.

Speakers include:

· Walter Whitcomb, Commissioner of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation
· Ann LePage, First Lady of Maine
· Karen Worester of Worcester Wreaths and executive director of Wreaths Across America
· Marge Kilkelly, senior policy advisor for U.S. Senator Angus King
· John Rebar, executive director of the Maine Extension Service
· Kathy Day, a nurse and patient safety activist and advocate

Ag Groups, Events

Ag Co-ops Set New Income Records

Cindy Zimmerman

coop-month-2015October is National Cooperative Month and USDA traditionally releases its annual report on cooperatives to coincide with the observance.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the nation’s farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record income and revenue in 2014, previewing a USDA report to be released later this month that shows cooperatives earned $6.5 billion in net income and generated $246.7 billion in total revenue last year. Net income increased 16.5 percent while revenue rose 0.4 percent from 2013. Co-ops set records for income and revenue in 2014 for the fourth year in a row.

“The nation’s co-ops are essential to the U.S. economy and to rural America,” Vilsack said. “The income they generate is reinvested or returned to members who spend it in their local communities. USDA is proud to continue its support of the cooperative movement.”

USDA also released the latest top 100 ag cooperative rankings in terms of business and assets. According to the rankings, Minnesota-based CHS Inc. remains the nation’s largest cooperative posting $43 billion in revenue in 2014. Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America, with $18 billion in total revenue, moved up from number three to number two this year while Land O’Lakes in St. Paul dropped to third place with $15 billion in revenue.

Illinois-based GROWMARK retained its fourth place ranking for 2014 with $10.4 billion in revenue and Ag Processing Inc. of Omaha rounded out the top five with $5.2 billion.

Agribusiness, Cooperatives, USDA

Case IH Supporting Canadian Ag Journalists

Chuck Zimmerman

Case IHMy online coverage of the 2015 Canadian Farm Writers Federation Annual Meeting was sponsored by Case IH. Attending for the company was Dan Danford.

We had a great time, especially supper at Fort Calgary. Sponsored by Case IH!

Before the end of the conference I visited with Dan to find out why Case IH supports CFWF. We also talked about the similarities and differences in agricultural journalism between the United States and Canada.

Listen to my interview with Dan here: Dan Danford - Case IH

2015 CFWF Annual Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2015 Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2015 Conference is sponsored by Case IH
Audio, Case IH

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • RFD-TV News announced that Market Day Report – its daily live news program devoted exclusively to the agriculture industry – is the winner of the 2015 Cablefax Award in the news category for “Best Show or Series.”
  • Representatives from the Vermont Agencies of Agriculture, Education, & Health will join state legislators, Burlington schools superintendent, local school board members, farm to school network leaders, and a 4th/5th grade garden club to celebrate Farm to School Awareness Month at Sustainability Academy in Burlington on Tuesday October 7, 2015.
  • The National Wheat Foundation (NWF) announced the official contest rules and opened registration on their website today for the inaugural year of the National Wheat Yeild Contest.
Zimfo Bytes

Brownfield’s Steever Interviews President Obama

Cindy Zimmerman

tom-steeverBrownfield Ag News anchor and former NAFB president Tom Steever got a 20 minute interview with President Obama this week on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal and what it means for agriculture.

“So this is really a big deal,” the President told Brownfield Ag News Tuesday, “and the key to getting it passed is just making sure that people are informed about how this creates a level playing field and making sure that members of Congress who represent rural and agricultural districts understand the benefits.”

The President says the TPP will be a boon to U.S. farmers over the next two decades. And even though China is not part of the agreement, President Obama says the deal may have a positive impact on the U.S. trading relationship with China.

“As we are able to sell more and more products in the countries that are part of TPP,” he said, “then you start establishing principles whereby China is adapting to our rules as opposed to us always adapting to theirs.”
Click here to read Tom’s story and listen to the interview.

Trade

Growers Adopting Enogen Corn for Ethanol

Joanna Schroeder

Growers are adopting Enogen corn for ethanol production and acres are expected to exceed 400,000 in 2016. Syngenta said there were 225,000 acres in production during the 2015 growing season and with the expected expansion and 16 ethanol plants utilizing the biotech corn designed specifically to enhance ethanol production, 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year will be produced.

Enogen logo“This breakthrough viscosity reduction can lead to unprecedented levels of solids loading, which directly contributes to increased throughput and yield, as well as critical cost savings from reduced natural gas, energy, water and chemical usage in ethanol plants,” said Jack Bernens, head of Enogen for Syngenta. “Growers who plant Enogen corn benefit as well – they earn an average premium of 40 cents per bushel.”

Syngenta says Enogen is growing in popularity because of the value it delivers and the opportunity it provides corn growers to be enzyme suppliers for their local ethanol plants. Assuming an average yield of 165 bushels an acre, Enogen corn is expected to generate approximately $26 million of additional revenue for local growers in 2016 through per-bushel premiums. Numerous trials have shown that Enogen hybrids perform equal to or better than other high-performing corn hybrids.

“The agreements we have in place with a steadily increasing number of plants will enable them to source alpha amylase directly from growers and keep enzyme dollars in those local communities,” added Bernens. “This is what truly sets Enogen corn apart from other technologies designed to enhance ethanol production. It adds significant incremental value at the local level for communities that rely on their ethanol plant’s success.”

Agribusiness, Corn, Ethanol

Natural Delights Hosts Blogger Summit

Kelly Marshall

Natural DelightsFourteen of the nation’s top food bloggers and registered dietitians were recently featured when Natural Delights hosted it’s second blogger summit last month.

Natural Delights produces the nation’s leading Medjool Date brand, a food that has become increasingly poplar in the health and fitness industry.  At the event Natural Delights featured growers who shared their stories with the bloggers in hopes of relate much needed information to the consumer.

“Our first blogger summit in 2013 taught us a lot about communicating with influencers, and how we can best tell our story in a way that is personal and resonates with each individual’s unique audience,” said David M. Anderson, Director of Marketing at Natural Delights. “We applied those learnings to this year’s Medjool Date Summit by creating truly unique experiences between our influencers and our growers, the Medjool date gardens, Datepac packing facility, and the beautiful Yuma-Bard Valleys.

During their 2-night stay, bloggers and registered dieticians toured Bard Valley, Calif. where Natural Delights Medjool dates are grown. Guests visited the “Big 6” original Medjool date palms that have stood since the 1940’s, and from which have spawned all 250,000 other trees in production. Attendees went up into Medjool date palms to harvest dates with the growers and had the opportunity to taste the fruit right off of the tree. The group then toured Datepac, one of the world’s most technologically advanced medjool date packing facilities, where they learned about the state-of-the-art equipment and their unsurpassed quality assurance standards.

As part of a more personalized approach to experiential marketing, Natural Delights dedicated a significant amount of time to bring growers, influencers and the marketing team together to discuss what is trending with influencers, their unique audience needs, and what opportunities may exist for brand growth within a new item development strategy.

“This summit was such a great experience because it felt like there was a sense of family the entire time, between spending time with the growers, marketing team, and other influencers,” said Alexis Joseph, registered dietician and blogger at Hummusapien. “Being able to see the Natural Delights story from start to finish really helped me understand just how personal the process of harvesting Medjool dates is.”

You can follow Natural Delights Medjool Dates on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

Agribusiness, Events, Uncategorized

Push for TPP Approval is On

Cindy Zimmerman

tpp-congressPresident Obama met with agriculture and business leaders on Tuesday as the push to get Congress to approve the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) begins.

“History of free trade agreements with reference to agriculture will tell us that agriculture is a winner every time,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press conference about the agreement. “TPP is going to be no exception to that history.”

Vilsack says it’s important for members of Congress to recognize the benefits to their own states of the agreement “and I think if they are concerned and interested in agriculture they will see this is a net benefit for agriculture.”

Concerns about currency manipulation have been voiced by many criticizing the agreement, including the National Farmers Union. “Currency manipulation has historically not been part of trade discussions and negotiations,” said Vilsack, who added that there are other ways to address currency manipulation. “The bottom line here is … we’re going to sell more American agricultural products across the board.”

Listen to Vilsack talk about the TPP here: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack comments on TPP Agreement

Watch the White House YouTube video “The President’s Trade Deal, Explained by a Cherry” – no, I am not making that up.


Audio, Exports, International, USDA

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Dr. Jayson Lusk, OSU

John Davis

open-micAgri-Pulse Open Mic this week features Dr. Jayson Lusk from Oklahoma State University.

Dr. Lusk … has conducted extensive research on consumer attitudes toward food safety and acceptance of new technologies. Proposed labeling legislation over foods that contain ingredients from GMO crops has proven to be a polar issue that may see attention in the US Senate. In this interview, Dr. Lusk discusses the consumer cost of mandatory food labels, the social and economic implications on agriculture research and technologies and the retailers reaction to consumer food buying trends.

Click here to listen to Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Dr. Jayson Lusk, Oklahoma State University.

Agri-Pulse, Audio, GMO

IFAJ in Good Hands

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 487Recently the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists retained the services of Qu’Anglo Communications & Consulting for global office management services. During the Canadian Farm Writers Federation Annual Meeting I spoke with Hugh Maynard, President, Qu’Anglo.

Hugh MaynardHugh talked about some of the activities of the IFAJ including the upcoming meeting in New Zealand where he says they will be amending their constitution to open membership up to developing countries. Cindy and I will be attending that meeting starting next week.

Learn more about how Hugh and his staff have taken over a very diverse international organization dealing with multiple languages and more.

Listen to this week’s program here: IFAJ in Good Hands

2015 CFWF Annual Conference Photo Album

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2015 Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2015 Conference is sponsored by Case IH
Audio, IFAJ, International, Media, ZimmCast