AAEA Announces 2015 Legacy Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEADuring the Agricultural Media Summit this July the American Agricultural Editors Association will present legacy awards to two outstanding individuals.

The AAEA Legacy Committee has selected Rolland “Pig” Paul as its 2015 Distinguished Service Award recipient and Len Richardson, 1983-84 AAEA president, its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

“These two gentlemen reflect the best of American agriculture,” committee chairman Larry Dreiling said. “We’re proud to present these awards to them.”
Paul is the retired executive secretary of the National Pork Producers Council. Paul led the group toward formation of the National Pork Checkoff, which in turn led to the campaign to make pork “the other white meat.”

Richardson is famous for organizing the Flame Conference during his presidency. The conference brought older members together with “young blood” members to help move AAEA toward increase professional development.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented through a grant to the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation by the Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM). Funding for the AAEA Lifetime Achievement Award is provided through a grant by CHS, Inc.

ACN, Media

Happy Mothers Day to Farm Mom of Year

Cindy Zimmerman

mon-mom-2015This Mothers Day will be a special one for an Oregon farmer and mother of three daughters who has been selected as Monsanto’s 2015 Farmers Mom of the Year.

Shelly Boshart Davis, who lives in Albany, Ore. and grows grass seed, wheat, radishes, hazelnuts and bales grass straw, garnered the most online votes to capture the national title. She is the first Oregonian to become either a regional or national winner.

Davis was one of five women who were recognized at the end of April as a regional finalist in the program. All of them, including Megan Seibel (Roanoke, Va.), Shelley Heinrich (Lubbock, Texas), Amy Kelsay (Franklin, Ind.), Sara Ross (Minden, Iowa) and Davis, were selected by both the American Agri-Women and Monsanto for their dedication and commitment to their families, farms, communities and the agriculture industry.

Davis was chosen as the winner after an on-line voting period. All five women will receive $5,000, while Davis will receive an additional $5,000 for securing the most votes.

Agribusiness, Farming

NCGA Offers eLegacyConnect Member Benefit

Chuck Zimmerman

eLegacyConnectThe National Corn Growers Association is offering a significant discount on a great service for today’s farmers. As many of us become “wiser” we know we need to start thinking about things like succession planning and transition. The service is eLegacyConnect.

Succession planning is, or should be, a high priority for most American farmers. According to the USDA, 70 percent of farmland will change hands in the next 20 years. If a farm family has not adequately planned for succession, the farm is likely to go out of business, be absorbed by a large farming neighbor, or be converted to non-farm use. This crisis-in-the-making comes at a time when land prices are out-stripping some farmers’ ability to grow their operations and fewer members of the family are involved in day-to-day farming.

Because the National Corn Growers Association is dedicated to strengthening member farmers, maintaining a healthy organization and continuing prosperity for the industry, NCGA offers an exclusive discount when using eLegacyConnect, a dynamic online succession planning community.
The service provides educational resources, action plans, community forums and a number of meaningful experiences to help farm families achieve their succession planning dreams. It has a growing roster of qualified advisors to answer questions and interact with engaged family members in real-time. Additionally, it offers a slate of weekly webinars and regular podcasts to inform the community. eLegacyConnect’s FarmPartner resource is a first-of-its-kind matchmaker to help aspiring farmers connect with transitioning farmers for career opportunities, mentor/protégé relationships and ownership transitions.

Ag Groups, Corn, NCGA

Senate Ag Grain Standards Act Hearing

Cindy Zimmerman

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a hearing Tuesday to review the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which has provisions that expire this year. The act authorizes USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service to establish marketing standards for a variety of grains and oilseeds and was last reauthorized in 2005.

roberts-hearing“Predictability and transparency are key to maintaining a global success story for farmers and ranchers in Kansas and across the country. Needless to say, the valuable role that our trading partners play in the agriculture economy cannot be overstated,” said Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS).

Testimony was presented at the hearing by American Soybean Association board member Bill Gordon of Minnesota, American Association of Grain Inspection and Weighing Agencies President David Ayers, National Grain and Feed Association representative Tim Paurus and North American Export Grain Association vice chairman Steve Campbell.

“Our industry and our foreign customers are highly dependent on having a reliable and transparent export inspection and marketing system,” said Gordon in his testimony. “It is critical that the requirement for mandatory official inspection of exported grains and oilseeds under the Grain Standards Act be maintained. In addition, there must be no question that, in the event of a disruption of services, FGIS will continue to be required to step in to ensure the reliability and reputation of the U.S. inspection and weighing system.”

Watch the hearing video here.

ASA, Grains, Soybean

UAS Pathfinder Program Includes Ag

Cindy Zimmerman

faa-pathfinderAt the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems international conference in Atlanta on Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta announced new partnerships with industries, including agriculture, to explore the next steps in unmanned aircraft operations.

“We’re calling it the Pathfinder Program,” said Huerta. “We’re partnering with three leading U.S. companies who have committed extensive resources to perform research that will help us determine if and how we can safely expand unmanned aircraft operations in the United States.”Comments from FAA administrator Michael Huerta on Pathfinder

One of the three is Raleigh-based PrecisionHawk, which will be surveying crops in rural areas using unmanned aircraft flying outside of the pilot’s direct vision.

PrecisionHawkAccording to PrecisionHawk founder and president Ernest Earon, they will be working with the FAA to develop standards and operational procedures to allow for safe integration of drones in the National Airspace System. “This is something we’ve been working on for a very long time,” said Earon in an interview with Precision.AgWired after the announcement. “Our goal is to really push forward the regulations and the use cases so we can as an industry take advantage of this technology and move it forward.”

The partnership will leverage PrecisionHawk’s work in the global agriculture landscape to formulate a framework for various types of UAVs, fixed wing and multi-rotor, to operate in the areas of agriculture, forestry and other rural industries. By introducing an operational tracking system that works with any UAV platform, the FAA and PrecisionHawk can safely test operations beyond visual line of sight in low risk, ‘non-populated’ areas, such as farmland.

In this interview Earon discusses the new partnership with FAA and what he sees as the future of unmanned aircraft in agriculture: Interview with Ernest Earon, PrecisionHawk

Audio, Precision Agriculture

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

Zimfo Bytes

Farm Bureau Launches GMO Website

Cindy Zimmerman

fb-gmoThe American Farm Bureau Federation has launched a new website to help farmers “Get a Move On” and stand up for biotechnology. By going to GetaMoveOn.fb.org, farmers can show their support for a national, science-based labeling standard, such as the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 1599).

“Now is the time for farmers and ranchers to take action in support of innovation in agriculture,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. “Access to crop traits that resist pests, diseases and drought stress is helping farmers across the nation grow more food using less land, water, fuel and pesticides,” Stallman said. “Biotechnology will offer even more benefits in the future.”

From the website, farmers and ranchers can send House members emails encouraging “yea” votes for the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. The bill will clarify the Food and Drug Administration as the nation’s foremost authority on food safety and create a voluntary labeling program run by the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Marketing Service, the same agency that administers the USDA Organic Program.

Through GetaMoveOn.fb.org, farmers can not only connect with their lawmakers, but find state-by-state fact sheets detailing the value and share of GMO crops in each state. They can then share this information in their emails.

AFBF, Biotech

Phenomenal Corn Planting Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

martin-barbreA week ago corn planting was running behind schedule but thanks to the very latest precision technology corn farmers are now 17% ahead of the five year average with 55% of the crop in the ground, according to the latest crop progress report. The phenomenal progress included an increase of 38% in Nebraska and Illinois, 41% more in Missouri, 45% in Minnesota and an additional 54% of the acreage in Iowa.

I caught up with our friend Martin Barbre, Chairman of the National Corn Growers Association, who says he is close to 75% planted on his farm in Carmi, Illinois. “We’ve got guys all the way from 50 percent to 100 percent done,” he said. “Things are really rolling good.”

Barbre adds that the latest precision farming technology helps farmers take advantage of the weather windows when they happen quickly and makes them more sustainable as well.

Listen to my interview with Martin here: Interview with NCGA Chairman Martin Barbre of Illinois

Audio, Corn, Farming, NCGA

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Debbie Stabenow

John Davis

Agri-Pulse Open Mic this week features the Ranking Member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

open-micThe Michigan Democrat says she’s concerned about the budget process and is ready to defend the agriculture policy she and others worked so hard to approve. Stabenow says she wants to export products not jobs. In this interview, she shares her reservations about granting Trade Promotion Authority for the administration and her support for expanding trade with Cuba.

Click here to listen to Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Agri-Pulse

GROWMARK Provides Fertilizer Update

Cindy Zimmerman

growmark-fertilizerLower crop prices and a later harvest caused farmers to cut back some on fall fertilizer application last year but supplies are expected to be adequate this spring to meet demand, according to GROWMARK Plant Food Director Joe Dillier.

“Haven’t had a great test of that because of the planting delays we’ve had to date,” said Dillier. “But my guess is that we’re going to be okay on fertilizer supply going through the balance of the spring.”

joe-dillierDillier says that prices have been volatile but basically steady compared to last year. “Overall, phosphate prices are maybe a little higher than they were a year ago, not much, ammonia is probably in that same category,” said Dillier. “The other products would probably be down a little bit compared to a year ago.”

The fertilizer market is going through a bit of a transition right now, according to Dillier. “It’s anticipated that some time over the course of the next year, there will be some new domestic production come on, probably after this fall,” he said. “So, we’ll have to see how that plays out.”

There is some concern that with last year’s big crop and yields farmers face some risk by cutting back on fertilizer. “Last spring we saw strong application rates and I think farmers saw the benefit of that…they saw great yields,” said Dillier. “That’s the danger if they go shy on their nutrient program that they don’t get the yields that they want.”

Dillier has more information in this interview: Interview with Joe Dillier, GROWMARK

Audio, Fertilizer, GROWMARK