New Website for National Council of Farmer Coops

John Davis

NCFCThe National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) has given its website a new look. The group says the redesign of www.ncfc.org features a clean, modern design, easy-to-navigate interface for users and highlights the wide range of issues NCFC works on behalf of America’s farmer-owned cooperatives.

NCFC’s new website has been completely reorganized to provide members and visitors with even more relevant and easy-to-find information on the current legislative and regulatory issues impacting farmer co-ops. On the Issues Page, information including issue briefs, press releases, letters, testimonies and comments are organized into eight issue areas: Agricultural Policy & Risk Management, Capper-Volstead Act, Environment & Energy, Food & Nutrition, International Affairs, Labor & Infrastructure, Rural Development and Tax & Accounting.

The redesign also includes an upgrade to the Membership Map, found on the About Page of the site. The map, which also features an easily sortable list view, showcases each of NCFC’s co-op members from across the country. By clicking on a member, the user is then directed to a page with additional information about the cooperative.

“We are in a technological age with a wealth of information right at our fingertips. We wanted to make sure information about NCFC, our farmer co-op members and the issues we work on is easily accessible,” said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of NCFC. “We are excited about the new site, and believe it will help us have an even stronger voice in Washington on issues impacting co-ops and their farmer-owners.”

Uncategorized

Heroes Workshop at New Holland Pavilion

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland HeroesHere are the happy, smiling faces of the farmer “Heroes” and bloggers who have gathered together in Expo Milano 2015, the current World’s Fair. You’re going to get to meet the Heroes in the next week or so since Cindy and I are here and will be conducting interviews with them as we have time.

Right now we’re in a workshop where the Heroes are talking about their farm operations including the challenges and rewards they face and receive. Afterward we get time to visit country pavilions before getting back together for interview time.

You may be interested to know who these Heroes are:

Claudio Destro, Italy
Francesco Condello, Italy
Jordan Kambeitz, Canada
Xavier de Rozieres, France
Elke Pelz-Thaller, Germany
David Moore, United Kingdom
Ilias Ganiev, Russia
Victor Campanelli, Brazil
Gerry Manuel, Zimbabwe

I will be publishing lots of photos from our trip here: 2015 New Holland Heroes & Bloggers Days

Agribusiness, New Holland

Register Now for #BlogHerFood15

Kelly Marshall

#BlogHerFood15The world largest conference for food blogger, #BlogHerFood15, is being held in Chicago, November 6-7.  The theme is “Experts Among Us” and includes celebrity invites such as keynote speaker Sarah Michelle Gellar and closing party guest, The Pioneer Woman’s Ree Drummond.

Saturday morning will feature a panel of long-term bloggers ready to motivate when burn-out threatens.  With decades of collective experience this team is set to lead participants to long-term blogger happiness.

Set in foodie heaven, Chicago promises a vibrant nightlife, museums, art and architecture and the conference promises a full agenda for the experienced and novice alike.  Register now for 20% off and don’t miss this opportunity!

Events, Food

Alltech Young Scientist’s Now Hear “You’re Hired”

Jamie Johansen

alltech logoBeginning in 2016, the annual Alltech Young Scientist program, the world’s largest university-level competition in agriscience, will offer fully-funded Ph.D. and post-doctorate positions to the global undergraduate and graduate winners along with the award and cash prizes.

“The Alltech Young Scientist program has uncovered some of the best and brightest emerging research talent in agriscience, and Alltech wants these leaders to join our team,” said Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech.

The Alltech Young Scientist program, now in its 11th year, received more than 8,800 student registrations for the 2015 term.

Registration is currently open for the 2016 competition and will close on October 31, 2015. Students must be nominated by a professor in order to participate and may submit scientific papers on topics such as animal health and nutrition, crop science, agriculture analytical methods, food chain safety and traceability, human health and nutrition and other agriscience-related sectors. Paper submission may be completed online until Dec. 31, 2015.

Each student’s paper will first compete within their home region of North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific or Europe/Africa. The finalists from all four regions will be invited to attend an all-expense-paid Alltech Young Scientist Discovery Week in Lexington, Kentucky, where they will compete in the global competition. Each finalist will present his or her paper to a panel of international judges and a live audience during ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, May 22-25, 2016.

Agribusiness, Alltech, Education, Research

Consumers Invited to Define Food Transparency

Kelly Marshall

Center for Food Integrity CFIThe Center for Food Integrity (CFI) is on a mission to define food transparency for farmers, food companies, retailers, restaurants, and consumers.  Late last year CFI began The National Food Transparency Project with consumer focus groups.  They continued the project into 2015 with extensive consumer research to learn what customers most want to know about products, policies and practices.

To finish the project CFI is asking for consumer input on their website, www.TransparecyTable.org.  The results of this project will be shared at the 2015 CFI Food Integrity Summit in New Orleans, November 17-18.

Transparency is a key component of building consumer trust, as demonstrated by CFI’s groundbreaking research-based consumer trust model. CFI’s 2013 research went further by identifying the principles of transparency. This past research lays the foundation for the 2015 work, which includes a guidebook of best practices to achieving greater transparency.

The National Food Transparency Project demonstrates the desire of CFI members, which includes farmers and ranchers, food processors, restaurants, retailers and food companies, to satisfy consumers’ hunger for more information in a thoughtful, meaningful manner.

The Center for Food Integrity is a not-for-profit organization created to grow trust in today’s food system. For more information, visit www.foodintegrity.org.

Public Relations

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Arysta LifeScience is pleased to announce that select RANCONA Seed Treatment products have received FIFRA 2(ee) recommendation for flag smut control on wheat.
  • NAMA members reception hosted by Cornhusker NAMA held during Husker Harvest days on September 16th from 5:30-6:30 p.m in the Reinke Irrigation Builiding, booth #57.
  • The twenty-ninth annual Georgia Peanut Tour will be held Sept. 15-17, 2015, and located out of the Thomasville, Georgia area.
  • Beginning in 2016, the world’s largest university-level competition in agriscience will not only publicly honor the overall champions for their scientific discoveries with trophies and cash awards, but will offer fully-funded Ph.D. and post-doctorate positions to the global undergraduate and graduate winners.
Zimfo Bytes

Going to Meet the New Holland Heroes

Chuck Zimmerman

After visiting Expo Milano 2015 earlier this year I now have the opportunity to take Cindy with me and meet the Heroes. The Heroes in New Holland’s Seeds of Life Series. It is a story telling project about the heroes who feed us all.

New Holland Heroes

Our journey starts today with flights to Milano. We’ll have our get together at the New Holland Sustainable Farming Pavilion inside Expo Milano. After we complete our meeting on Wednesday we’re off to Florence and Rome to take a few days to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary before returning to ZimmComm World Headquarters. We look forward to seeing you from there!

Agribusiness, New Holland

NAMA Honors Professional Development Winners

Kelly Marshall

National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) recognizes leaders from each of three fields; marketing communications, sales and public relations.  They are pleased to announce the 2105 Professional Development Award winners.

Christine Hart-NielandThe 2015 Marketing Communications award recipient is Christine Hart-Nieland, Senior Account Manager at Brighton Agency. A veteran of nearly 25 years, today Chris is on the Brighton Ag Leadership team and directs several key brands for Monsanto. She’s also a devoted parent and spends much of her time mentoring young people. Christine is active in NAMA and recently served as chairman of NAMA’s annual conference. She currently serves as vice chair on the Best of NAMA Committee.

Mary GordonThe Professional Development Award for Public Relations goes to Mary Gordon, Managing Supervisor, G&S Business Communications. She has led the public relations campaigns for several strategic brands on behalf of Syngenta throughout her 13-year career at G&S Business Communications. Mary’s hard work and strategic recommendations for a three-pronged registration program to launch a new Syngenta corn herbicide were a great success. A longtime member of the Carolinas/Virginia NAMA chapter, Mary has served on her local Best of NAMA committee and serves as an exemplary agri-marketing role model to fellow NAMA members.

Eloise SeamanEloise Seaman is awarded the Professional Development Award for Sales. As Senior National Account Manager for Vance Publishing — Protein Group, she leverages her vast knowledge of livestock markets to benefit her accounts. Eloise also champions industry audience research that leads to new business and new product offerings for Vance. She’s served as president of Mo-Kan NAMA and currently serves as president of Florida NAMA.

The winners will be honored during the 2015 NAMA Fall Conference on September 24th.  For more information on the NAMA Fall Conference, visit http://www.nama.org/fall-conference/home.

Agribusiness, NAMA

#SoyExcited about LibertyLink Real Yield Game

Cindy Zimmerman

During the 2015 Farm Progress Show, Bayer CropScience unveiled a social instant win experience for growers, the LibertyLink® Real Yield Game.

Bayer CropScience soybean marketing manager Malin Westfall and Liberty product manger David Tanner

Bayer CropScience soybean marketing manager Malin Westfall and Liberty product manger David Tanner

Soybean Marketing Manager Malin Westfall is “soy excited” about the new promotion. “It’s really an opportunity for our customers to tell their story,” said Westfall. “We want to hear the great things that the Liberty Link system and Liberty herbicide is doing on their farm to help them control their resistant and tough-to-control weeds.”

The LibertyLink Real Yield Game offers growers the chance to win prizes while playing an animated game to defeat tough-to-control weeds. Growers get to virtually spray soybean fields with Liberty® herbicide and see how the LibertyLink system provides superior control. Growers can instantly win a 2015 John Deere® Combine or a one-year supply of LibertyLink soybeans and Liberty herbicide, and every play gets an entry to win a one-year lease on a 2015 John Deere® Tractor. And every time the game is played, Bayer CropScience will make a contribution to FFA on the state level.

And Westfall says you will be hearing a lot about LibertyLink and the Real Yield Game throughout this harvest season. “We’re looking at a social campaign, as well as print and radio,” said Westfall. “We’re going from North Dakota to the south Delta from the East Coast to the western Plains. It’s really exciting to hear all the different stories from growers. ” Interview with Malin Westfall, Bayer CropScience

Liberty product manger David Tanner says they are also “soy excited” about the expanding use of the Liberty Link system nationwide. “We have about 60 million Liberty Link-enabled acres across corn, soybeans, cotton, canola – and we are just seeing that growth continue,” said Tanner. “We’ve seen great yields with the Liberty Link soybeans and we’re seeing great weed control with Liberty.”

Growth has been so significant that Bayer recently announced plans to invest $50 million in upgrades to production capacity at the plant that produces Liberty herbicide in Michigan. “We increasing our supply capacity in Muskegon, as well as Mobile, Alabama,” Tanner said.

Find out more in this interview with David: Interview with David Tanner, Bayer CropScience

2015 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Herbicide, Soybean

MO & IL Farm Bureaus Support STL Science Center

Jamie Johansen

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Photo Credit: Missouri Farm Bureau

Farmers are helping tell the story of agriculture through a new exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. The Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) Foundation for Agriculture presented a check for $250,000 to the Science Center on September 11, 2015, for use in developing the new exhibit set to open in the summer of 2016. The donation was part of a larger donation of more than half a million dollars made by Missouri and Illinois Farm Bureaus.

“Education has always played a key role in Farm Bureau and the Saint Louis Science Center Agriculture Exhibit is an integral part of our transition to looking toward the future,” said MFB President Blake Hurst.

“We are grateful to the Illinois and Missouri Farm Bureaus, not only for their generous financial support, but for their commitment to helping us tell the story of food, the science and technology of how we grow food and move crops from field to table,” said Bert Vescolani, President and CEO of the Saint Louis Science Center. “Through this partnership, we can help connect our visitors to the farming community around us and understand the vital role our region plays in providing the food we eat and the challenges and responsibility to provide for our country and the rest of the world.”

“We look forward to working with our friends at Illinois Farm Bureau and the Saint Louis Science Center to share the success story of modern production agriculture and help us tell a story that incorporates equal parts perseverance, innovation, dedication and optimism,” Hurst said.

Ag Groups, Education