Bow Creek Farm Farms New Holland SMART

Chuck Zimmerman July 23, 2015

Rob and Amy Hess own Bow Creek Farm near Hershey, PA. They raise Red Angus cattle and are true blue New Holland customers.

During New Holland Media Days one of our stops was the farm where Rob and Amy gave us a tour and answered questions. We ended up at one of their hay fields to do a little baling and in a post coming up soon you’ll see me in the cab with a New Holland representative as we make some bales.

When it comes to baling hay Rob uses a New Holland BigBaler 340. He says he generally gets big tight bales weighing in at about 1,250 lbs. He’s got about 200 acres of hay and another 300 of corn and soybeans. He feeds what he grows to his animals. The cattle are being sold by contract to the Hotel Hershey and we got to eat some for lunch at the hotel before coming out to the farm. The Hess’s are a great example of creating a farm that might seem small to some but is filling a niche market with a high demand product that is making them a nice living.

I videotaped most of Rob and Amy’s presentation if you’d like to watch and learn more about how they farm New Holland SMART.

New Holland Media Days 2015 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Farming, Forage, Hay, New Holland, Video

Future of Crop Science Institute Attracts Students

John Davis July 23, 2015

Des Moines, Iowa, recently played host to 62 student delegates meeting for the inaugural Agriculture Future of America (AFA) Crop Science Institute. This news release from the group says this one of four AFA Leader Institutes, which connect passionate, talented college students from 25 universities from 21 different states to various sectors of the agriculture industry.

“Career exploration is an important part of the leader development process for college students,” said Russ Weathers, AFA CEO. “We are excited to give students a better look at the opportunities available. This environment introduces students to careers they may not have heard about before and allows them to make valuable connections with their peers and industry professionals.”

Some of those valuable connections were made Sunday night during an executive panel and dinner. Many more connections will be made throughout the event, particularly during industry tours on July 20. Monday morning, the students will head out bright and early to tour a variety of crop science companies and related service providers. The students will break into five tour groups and each group will visit four different companies. From seed and input companies to cooperatives and marketing agencies, the students will see a wide variety of possibilities within crop and soil sciences.

Student taking part in this institute were selected based on their talent, passion and commitment to the crop science industry. AFA’s partners offered sponsorships to cover the students’ registration costs. DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto Company, Valent U.S.A. Corporation and WinField, A Land O’Lakes, Inc. company provided support to cover students’ participation in this event. Cargill, Inc., Dow AgroSciences, GROMARK, Inc., and Syngenta also supported the program.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Crop Science, GROWMARK, Syngenta

11 Attorneys General Called to Investigate HSUS

Jamie Johansen July 22, 2015

HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, applauded the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments for passing a resolution calling on 11 state attorneys general to investigate the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

The states covered are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

The Oklahoma Attorney General has an active investigation into HSUS’s fundraising and has issued a “consumer alert” to the public while six Indiana state senators recently called on Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller to investigate HSUS. Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator issued a “Donor Advisory” against HSUS last year after HSUS settled a racketeering and bribery lawsuit for nearly $6 million. Despite calling itself a “Humane Society,” HSUS only gives 1% of its money to pet shelters and is not affiliated with the numerous local humane societies across America.

According to Will Coggin, director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom, “The Humane Society of the United States deceives compassionate Americans—primarily women and the elderly—into opening their checkbooks to fund its radical agenda. PETA is honest in its radical vision to rid America of ice cream and cheese, but HSUS is not. Raising money on cats and dogs and spending it attacking farmers is a bait-and-switch that attorneys general need to investigate and hold HSUS accountable for.”

Far from an animal welfare group, HSUS is an animal “liberation” group with similar goals to PETA. HSUS’s food policy director has compared farms to Nazi concentration camps; HSUS’s Chief Policy Officer has defended the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), an FBI-designated domestic terrorist group; and HSUS employs a former spokesperson for the terror group.

“Animal welfare has bipartisan support,” Coggin noted. “So does a growing movement to investigate and hold accountable the Humane Society of the United States for not only harming America’s hard-working farmers, but also harming animal-loving donors and local humane societies that may not see a dime of the money that’s intended for them.”

Ag Groups, Animal Activists

FFA + CSX Team Up To Hit the Track at the Brickyard

Jamie Johansen July 22, 2015

The Brickyard 400 will make history once again this year as the No. 38 FFA + CSX Living to Serve Ford becomes the first car to represent the 87-year-old, Indianapolis-based agricultural education and youth service organization, the largest of its kind with more than 610,240 student members interested in agriculture, as a primary sponsor in a NASCAR race.

“I can’t think of a better place to celebrate the future of American agriculture and community service than the Brickyard 400,” says David Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 FFA + CSX Living to Serve Ford. “FFA members bring so much energy, commitment and service to our country. It is quite an honor to drive for them.”

CSX, the nation’s third largest railroad, is one of six Platinum Sponsors for the National FFA Foundation, giving more than $1M annually since 2011. Both of the organizations make citizenship and community service top priorities with their shared “Living to Serve” partnership, which is supported by the CSX “Beyond Our Rails” program. In 2014, more than $1.77M in time was invested as part of Living to Serve and nearly 50,000 community members were served by 84 chapters in 34 states.

The two organizations work together on a number of initiatives to improve leadership, development, service-learning and environmental stewardship, including the following:

– Living To Serve Environmental Grants (Up to $2,000 to chapter for an environmental service project the provides FFA members the tools to make a difference in their local communities – around 70 of these per year are awarded)
– State FFA Grants (22 $10,000-$25,000 grants for an array of programs and activities)
– National FFA Scholarship Program (Scholarships of $1k/yr for 4 years)
– State Officer Pathway Program (Training for state FFA officers to help enhance their confidence and leadership skills)
– Washington Leadership Conference (Students learn to be effective leaders by learning their purpose, how to value people and how to take action to serve others)
– Engagement & Stewardship Intern (FFA member gets CSR experience with a major corporation)

Ag Groups, Education, FFA, NASCAR

Drone Study Identifies Benefits for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman July 22, 2015

The American Farm Bureau Federation, together with drone solutions company Measure, have released a study that identifies and quantifies the benefits of drone technology in precision agriculture.

“While lots of drone hardware has been sold to farmers, until today no tool existed to help growers actually quantify whether the benefits exceed their costs, especially when farmers want to outsource these types of services,” said Justin P. Oberman, President of Measure. “Working with the Farm Bureau and our partners, we have created the only ROI Calculator™ for drone use in precision agriculture. This tool will help growers understand how drone technology can improve their performance for the benefit of consumers in the U.S. and around the world.”

The ROI Calculator™ quantifies the economic benefits of Drone as a Service® for three applications: field crop scouting, 3D terrain mapping, and crop insurance. It initially covers corn, wheat, and soybeans and allows growers to quickly and easily determine if drone technology warrants further exploration after they input information about their farm into the ROI Calculator™. For example, the findings show that for the average U.S. farmer using Drone as a Service® to enhance crop scouting, ROI is $12 per acre for corn, $2.60 per acre for soybeans, and $2.30 per acre for wheat.

“This study and the ROI Calculator™ will help make drones a reality for farmers and ranchers,” said Julie Anna Potts, Executive Vice President and Treasurer of the American Farm Bureau. “Every year we must feed more people on the same fields while protecting the environment we all share. Precision agriculture and drones in particular will be an important part of executing on that mission.”

Version 1.0 of the ROI Calculator™ will be available as a web-based application on the Measure website in the coming weeks; additional functionality will be added over time to include more drone applications and types of crops.

The study is a result of coordinated efforts from a number of sources. Principal sponsors of the study are the American Farm Bureau Federation, GeoSilos, Lockheed Martin, and PepsiCo. Participating sponsors are ADM Crop Risk Services, AGCO, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services, Beck’s Hybrids, Co-Alliance, Conservis, GROWMARK, PrecisionHawk, Rembrandt Foods/Farm Nutrients, Richardson International, J.R. Simplot Company, Willis Group, WinField Solutions/Land O’ Lakes, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana State University, and Iowa Farm Bureau. Informa Economics provided key guidance and research throughout this effort.

Watch/listen to presentation on the report here.

Link to fact sheet on the study

AFBF, Precision Agriculture

Scholl Elected Farm Foundation Board Chairman

Cindy Zimmerman July 22, 2015

The Farm Foundation Board of Trustees has elected a new chairman.

Mark S. Scholl of J and M Scholl in Owensboro, KY was elected chairman at the Board’s recent annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Joe Swedberg, who recently retired as Vice President of Legislative Affairs with Hormel Foods Corporation, was elected vice chairman.

Scholl is President of J and M Scholl, Inc. a family agriculture holding company that includes a farming operation, an export grain business, a wind farm, and real estate holdings. Scholl worked in the finance industry before an interest in commercialization of value-added grains lead to starting ExSeed Genetics. ExSeed was later sold to BASF, where he served as Director of BASF Plant Science.

Four new members were also elected to the Board of Trustees at the meeting – Klaas Martens of Martens Farm and Lakeview Organic Grain, Penn Yan, NY; Elizabeth Hund of U.S. Bank, Denver, CO; Chuck Ahlem of Charles Ahlem Ranch, Turlock, CA; and Brad Lubben of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They succeed Barry Flinchbaugh of Kansas State University; Cornelius Gallagher of Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Richard Morrison of Gilbert, AZ; and Joe Outlaw of Texas A&M University.

Created in 1933, Farm Foundation works as a catalyst for sound public policy by providing objective information to foster a deeper understanding of issues shaping the future for agriculture, food systems and rural communities.

Farm Foundation

Tax Bill to Help Ag, Other Small Businesses

John Davis July 22, 2015

The Senate Finance Committee has moved forward legislation seen as important to agriculture and other small businesses. Farm Bureau is praising committee passage of the measure to extend important tax provisions through 2016.

The legislation includes two provisions that let small businesses deduct major capital expenditures over just a few years, rather than the full life of the equipment they buy. Known as Section 179 small-business expensing and bonus depreciation, these measures have already boosted the economy and increased cash flow for farmers and ranchers. Extending the provisions now is critical and an important step toward making them a permanent part of tax law. In a business marked by uncertainty, farmers and ranchers need a tax code that allows them to plan ahead and invest in the future of their businesses. The bill also includes language to promote the production and use of renewable energy, as well as incentives for charitable donations and higher education.

“Section 179 and bonus depreciation lend stability and help minimize risk in an unpredictable industry,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “Farmers and ranchers rely on tax provisions that allow them to manage their cash flow and put their money back to work for their businesses and local economies.”

Due to large investments in machinery and equipment, farmers and ranchers are especially dependent on tax provisions that allow them to write off these business expenses in the year purchases are made. Farm Bureau also called on Congress to make these provisions permanent.

AFBF, Ag Groups, Agribusiness

AgNerd Cloud – Apple Watch Review

Chuck Zimmerman July 21, 2015

I’ve finally had a chance to put some thoughts in writing about my ZimmWatch (Apple Watch). AgNerds have been bugging me to get it done. I’ve been wearing it for over a month now. I’ve traveled with it and worn it throughout the day to see how much I would use it, how I would use it and if I would like it and recommend it. As an AgNerd I bought my Watch feeling excited to get the latest wearable tech from one of my favorite companies. One word describes my feeling now – Disappointed. I expected something more than what I’ve got.

Things I Don’t Like

I have a watch that does a lot of things that a regular watch can’t do but those are all things I can do with my phone while having a better experience doing so. For example, I check the weather a lot. I have the Weather Channel app on my iPhone and my Watch. When I want to check the weather I use my iPhone with one hand. To use my Watch to check weather I either have to use two hands or hope Siri understands me. Neither of those options are good. Siri is okay at times but not when I’m sitting in a presentation or having a discussion. Additionally, the Watch version of the app doesn’t have all the features of the full app for my iPhone. This is true of a lot of apps for the Watch. Apps like USA Today take a long time to load and sync too.

When I glance at my Watch to see the time I have to move my hand/wrist to a certain position for the screen to turn on. So, if I’m carrying something and can’t roll my wrist correctly I can’t see the time even though I can see the face of the Watch. This is very annoying.

Answering or making a phone call on my Watch was interesting the first time. But it’s just not practical. It is very awkward holding your wrist to your face. People look at you funny too.

I thought the ability to have my airline boarding pass on my Watch would be a really useful feature. Not right now. For one thing, I have to put my Delta boarding passes into the Passbook app and then have it transferred to the Passbook app on my Watch. It should be easier than that. Last time I flew United I couldn’t get electronic boarding passes at all. Then the next issue is at the airport. The Watch boarding pass only works well on a scanner that faces up. If it’s a down facing scanner with limited space underneath I can’t fit my hand/wrist and Watch underneath it so it can read the pass.

The Watch depends heavily on a connection to my iPhone. If I walk too far away from my phone I basically just have a watch. And finally, it is a watch I have to charge every day or every other day depending on how much I use it. I like my Citizen Eco-Drive Perpetual Calendar Chronograph which never needs to be charged and I can always see the time.

Things I Do Like

I’m not disappointed about everything though. So far, the best feature of the Watch is notifications. I can see my texts, FB messages, Snapchat alerts, Delta flight updates and who is calling. Then I can decide if it is worth pulling my phone out of my pocket while I’m in the middle of some activity and don’t want to get the phone out. This is very useful IMO. However, I don’t think it is enough to make me want to recommend the Watch to anyone just yet.

I guess I have to address some of the health/fitness features. I set my Watch to remind me to stand up every hour for example. It is annoying but serves the purpose of making me think about how long I’ve been sitting. I really didn’t use much else in this category because I either bike or do elliptical machines and like my Fitbit, Watch doesn’t recognize that type of activity. I believe this is an area that will see quite a bit of expansion in the future.

Pros:

Notifications on your wrist (a good feature for an ag app?)
Battery lasts longer than expected
Growing list of apps in the store
Very comfortable to wear (I am using sport band)
Looks good

Cons:

Having to use two hands even if it’s just to use scroll wheel to zoom in/out
Some apps aren’t ready for prime time
Not waterproof
More dangerous to use while driving than phone

Recommendation:

I’d wait on this product. Wait until new versions come out and a lot more apps have been built or developed to provide meaningful functionality.

Apps, Gadgets

Majority Polled Say Crops ‘Real Good’

Jamie Johansen July 21, 2015

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How are the crops in your area looking?”

After reviewing these poll results I feel a glimpse of optimism for the crop outlook. However, it is still raining here in the Midwest and like one poller commented, soybeans are taking a hit. Chuck and Cindy have been talking with growers throughout the corn and soybean belt and it sounds like the weather is becoming more cooperative. However, they have talked to some this week that are just finishing a first planting of their soybeans!

Here are the poll results:

Bad – too much moisture – 16%
Bad – too dry – 15%
Some crops not planted – 8%
Ok – could be better – 13%
Real good – 38%
Not sure – 7%
Other – 3%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, Do you consider yourself social media savvy?

The era of social media marketing is upon us. Many across the agriculture community have reaped the benefits and others are making due without. I don’t believe anyone can call themselves a social media expert, because it is always changing. But are you savvy and staying up on the trends, do you need some more training or are you seeing no need to utilize it?

ZimmPoll

New Workmaster Tractors From New Holland

Chuck Zimmerman July 21, 2015

Pro Work Tools is a good name for the New Holland team that deals with utility and compact tractors. During New Holland media days Todd DeBock walked us through what makes them so much in demand. In fact, orders for Workmaster compact tractors through dealers have come in so strong they’ve sold out into 2016! Todd says the first thing you’ll notice is that these tractors have been designed with the new styling of all New Holland tractors. There are a lot of features on these new models that Todd says you won’t find on most utility tractors.

New Holland salutes a generation of doers by introducing a new line of tractors with a familiar name – WORKMASTER™. Popular in the 1960s, the original WORKMASTER models were known for their dependability and value. Today, it’s no different. Whether you’re mowing, moving, baling or loading, new WORKMASTER tractors work hard, are easy to afford, and at the end of the day, deliver the satisfaction of a job well done.

The WORKMASTER™ 50, 60 and 70 (53 – 70 gross horsepower) utility tractors boast a new look, new Tier 4B FPT common rail engines and new 600TL Series front-end loaders.

Watch Todd give us an in-the-field tour of new Workmasters.

New Holland Media Days 2015 Photo Album

Agribusiness, New Holland, Tractor, Video

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