Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes April 13, 2015

DTN/The Progressive Farmer, agriculture’s trusted source for information and data solutions, has been selected by the board members of four state soybean associations to custom publish each group’s publication, effective immediately.
Elanco, The Kroger Co.’s Central Division, Rose Acre Farms, Gleaners Food Bank and Midwest Food Bank introduced a way consumers, food stores and farmers can easily work together to provide eggs to undernourished people of all ages.
Land O’Lakes, Inc. welcomes Tim Scott as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
Rabobank recently named Donald Meltzer as Vice Chairman, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for its North America Wholesale banking division, serving the bank’s food, beverage and agribusiness clientele in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Hello and welcome to Agri-Marketing Conference week. The annual event where we all get together and have a good old “professional” time. The ZimmComm Team will be in Kansas City, MO to bring you all the play-by-play action.

This year one of the sponsors of our coverage of the conference is New Holland. New Holland will be exhibiting for the first time in the Connection Point trade show which starts Wednesday evening after the Best of NAMA Awards program. Please make sure to stop by and welcome them.

To liven things up and get your creativity going New Holland will be conducting a Twitter contest to win an iPad. All you have to do is get their toy tractor and submit a photo with it in your favorite spot at the conference to #TractorTweet120. New Holland will tweet the winner back. Here are some more details.

Visit New Holland at Booth #115, show us your “Tractor Tweet” photo, and we’ll enter you to win an Apple® iPad.* One iPad will be given away each day of NAMA. So if you don’t win the “Tractor Tweet” contest, you could still win big in our iPad-A-Day Giveaway.

Growing Greatness: What’s the “120” mean in our contest’s hash tag #tractortweet120? New Holland is celebrating 120 years of helping to move agriculture forward with SMART equipment, technology and innovation. We’ve helped generations of farmers work more productively. Now the next gen is here—and New Holland is ready.

So, start thinking about locations and remember the conference theme, Growing Greatness. New Holland has been doing that for 120 years btw. We congratulate them on achieving this milestone.

Ag Groups, NAMA, New Holland

EPA Sets Timeline for Biofuels Volumes

Cindy Zimmerman April 13, 2015

Under a court settlement with the oil industry, the Environmental Protection Agency will now release the 2015 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for biofuels by June 1, 2015, and issue the final 2014 and 2015 RFS blending targets by November 30, 2015. In addition, EPA will also release and finalize 2016 numbers this year.

The agency failed to finalize 2014 volume requirements last year creating uncertainty in the biofuels industry, so corn and soybean farmers expressed cautious optimism about the announcement.

“The EPA has provided additional clarity about their timeline for announcing the 2014 through 2016 renewable fuel requirements,” said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling. “We have expressed our concerns about the continued delays to the EPA, and we will be taking them at their word that they will adhere to this new deadline.”

“Today’s announcement provides encouragement that EPA will get the RFS implementation back on track and provide greater certainty and stability to the U.S. biodiesel industry,” said American Soybean Association President Wade Cowan. “As good as this news is, however, there are still questions that remain regarding the volume levels that EPA will propose for 2014-2017.”

EPA has indicated that it will propose volume requirements for 2014 that ‘reflect the volumes of renewable fuel that were actually used in 2014.’

Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, Soybean

Progressive Ag Foundation Names New CEO

Jamie Johansen April 10, 2015

For two decades, Susan Reynolds-Porter has dedicated herself to advancing the Progressive Agriculture Foundation (PAF) mission of providing education and training to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier. And now, she has been named the organization’s first CEO.

In 1995, Reynolds-Porter developed the community-based youth safety education program that is now known as Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® with The Progressive Farmer. Early in her career, she served for 15 years as a food and nutrition specialist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, followed by three years as the food editor for Southern Living. She eventually moved on to guide PAF as the executive director of programs in 2002 and has been serving as the foundation’s interim CEO since March 2014.

“After conducting a nationwide search, the board of directors had no hesitation selecting Susan to fill the newly created CEO position,” said Brian Kuhl, president, board of directors, Progressive Agriculture Foundation. “We are grateful to have her strong leadership, years of experience and passion for rural safety, which will help continue to grow the foundation and its programs.”

Reynolds-Porter has overseen the Safety Day program’s growth across North America and South America. Progressive Agriculture Safety Day programs have reached more than 1.2 million people in the U.S., 100,000 people in Canada and have recently been introduced in Brazil.

“I am honored to continue my involvement with the foundation as its first CEO,” said Reynolds-Porter. “The foundation and its mission are near to my heart. I am eager to help expand the Safety Day program and grow the foundation’s reach to help sustain more lives around the world.”

Ag Groups

NACD Names New CEO

Jamie Johansen April 10, 2015

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) is pleased to announce that former Chief Operations Officer (COO) Jeremy Peters has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to manage the association and lead advocacy efforts on behalf of the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts.

“NACD is extremely fortunate to have an ‘in-house’ candidate that understands the needs of our association,” said NACD President Lee McDaniel. “Jeremy is a humble and sincere young man who knows our staff, our partners and many of our members, and understands the issues facing conservation districts today. His strong work ethic, passion for our mission, and ability to follow through on our various projects will serve NACD well in our future endeavors. We are pleased to welcome Jeremy as our new CEO.”

Peters rejoined NACD as COO in October 2014. Prior to that time, he worked for American Farmland Trust (AFT) where he led AFT’s efforts on Capitol Hill as the Director of Federal Policy. Earlier in his career, Peters served as NACD’s Legislative Affairs Manager, and directed climate, conservation and energy programs for National Farmers Union. He has also previously worked on Capitol Hill for former Congressman Earl Pomeroy, D – N.D., who sat on the House Agriculture Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to serve NACD and the nation’s conservation districts as CEO,” said Peters. “With a rapidly growing world population, this is an important time for natural resource conservation. I look forward to working with NACD’s officers, elected leaders and staff, and our national partners, to promote and advance voluntary, incentive-based conservation solutions.”

Peters grew up on his family’s farm raising beef cattle in rural southwest Virginia. He holds B.A. degrees in Political Science and History from Emory and Henry College, as well as a Masters in Public Administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Ag Groups, Conservation

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes April 10, 2015

Cathleen Enright, PhD, has been named the new president and CEO for the Pet Food Institute, effective April 27, 2015.
The Missouri Dairy Association (MDA) applauds Governor Jay Nixon for signing the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act of 2015 into law.
Archer Daniels Midland Company announced that Mark Schweitzer has been appointed vice president, Investor Relations, where he will represent the company to the investment community and act as an advocate for shareholder value creation.
AgSense, LLC announced its release of the “Field Commander Ultimate” precision irrigation package.

Zimfo Bytes

Congresswoman Dishes on Nutrition

Cindy Zimmerman April 10, 2015

As a lifelong Missouri farmer and a former nutritional science teacher, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) has a bone to pick with the 2015 Dietary Guideline’s Advisory Committee’s (DGAC) report.

In a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Hartzler and 70 House colleagues said the report strayed “from purely nutritional evidence and venturing into areas like sustainability and tax policy.”

“This year they are recommending to decrease the consumption of red meat,” said Hartzler in an interview. “They’re very much trying to minimize and marginalize the eating of meat and we know by science that lean meat can be and should be part of a healthy diet.”

Rep. Hartzler says the agencies making the final guidelines need to make them “solely on what is good for the human body, solely on proven science and not on any political agenda.”

In this interview, Vicky also talks about the Reducing Federal Mandates on School Lunch Act she is co-sponsoring, actions the House is considering on WOTUS, and the Country of Origin Labeling issue: Interview with Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

Audio, Nutrition

Happy National Order Apple Watch Day

Chuck Zimmerman April 10, 2015

The big day is here for wearable technology. The latest entry is Apple’s new Watch. Today is the first day you can order the new gadget.

I have read a lot of reviews and decided to go ahead and place my order. I think an AgriBlogger has to have one. Don’t you? One of the common things reviewers have said is how much less they are pulling their iPhone out of their pocket. That tells me that the Watch has enough functionality and ease of use to be a viable tool. You can count on an AgNerd Cloud special when I get mine.

Our latest ZimmPoll shows some real hesitation to jump on this brand new product. I think that is understandable. That’s whey we need pioneers to travel the risky road and help you make a more informed decision later!

The first person who properly guesses which Watch/Band I ordered will receive a free gift from the AgWired stash.

Let’s move on to another big celebration today. An Android celebration as Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 is available nationwide today.

This gadget is expected to be a big hit since there are many changes from previous models. There are two versions, the S6 and the S6 Edge. I’m not sure I see the big deal with the Edge screen for more money. I’m planning to go to my local Verizon store today and make a deal to upgrade from my S4 mini to an S6.

If I’m successful then I’ll let you know what I think about this newest entry to the smart phone market.

Both of these products have quickened the pulse of every AgNerd out there. I hope you’ve been saving all your spare change . . .

Gadgets, Technology

The #AgNerds Have Spoken in Latest ZimmPoll

Jamie Johansen April 10, 2015

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Will you order an Apple Watch on April 10 or buy a Samsung S6 smartphone?”

The crowd has spoken and many who took our most recent ZimmPoll feel they have no use for either. Honestly, no one needs either one, but I sure want an Apple Watch. I am still in the minority though. The #AgNerds have spoken and the Samsung S6 has won. It will be exciting to see how the products make it in the real world or let’s say the farm world.

Here are the poll results:

Apple Watch – 17%
Samsung S6 – 32%
Both – 3%
No use for either one – 48%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What is your favorite alternative fuel (to gasoline)?

Alternative fuels are all the rage and/or future necessity. The agriculture community seems to be torn as to which is the best for the industry. We want to know your opinion. If gasoline wasn’t an option, which alternative fuel would be your choice? Biodiesel, ethanol, propane, etc?

ZimmPoll

10th Alltech/IFAJ Young Leaders Award Winners

Jamie Johansen April 10, 2015

Ten participants have been selected for the 2015 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) – Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism award. The award supports the winners’ participation in an IFAJ congress and in an intensive journalistic boot camp-style workshop. This year’s boot camp takes place October 12-13, prior to the IFAJ congress in New Zealand.

The successful applicants for 2015 are:
Brett Worthington, Australia, rural reporter in Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Ewald Wurzinger, Austria, journalist
Trevor Bacque, Canada, managing editor for Grains West
Christian Erin-Madsen, Denmark, journalist for Landbrug & Fødevarer
Andrea Bergman, Finland, journalist for Landsbygdens Folk
Doerte Quinckhardt, Germany, journalist for Landwirtschaftliche Wochenblatt Westfalen-Lippe
Ben Pike, Great Britain, freelance journalist
Mary Phelan, Ireland, journalist for Farmers Journal
Camilla Olsson, Sweden, journalist for Land Lantbruk
Candace Weeda, USA, journalist

The selection process consisted of points for a written submission, judges’ impression of the candidates’ leadership potential, their proven leadership abilities and a narrative explaining their interest in the young leaders’ program.

The boot camp was started 10 years ago by IFAJ vice-president Owen Roberts of Canada and Alltech, with close guidance from company president and founder Dr. Pearse Lyons. Since then, almost 90 young journalists have received the chance to strengthen their skills and expand their global network through this program.

“Over the last 10 years, we have seen young agricultural journalists from across the globe bring to the forefront of discussion, topics such as reducing methane emissions, abolishing milk quotas, incorporating solar-powered cameras to check cattle and using a smartphone to complete daily chores,” says Lyons. “These sharp wordsmiths are critical to the ongoing transformation within the agriculture and food sectors and beyond, and Alltech is proud to promote these young leaders in their journalistic pursuits.”

Agribusiness, Alltech, IFAJ, Journalism

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