Are You Ready for MyFarmRadio?

Jamie Johansen October 10, 2014

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is your favorite type of cheese?”

It is obvious we all have different tastes when it comes to cheese. It is such a staple in many meals nationwide and there are an endless amount of varieties. Cheddar seems to rise to the top slightly. However, like myself, many like them all.

Here are the poll results:

A simple American – 5%
Any type of Cheddar – 24%
Something soft, like Gouda – 19%
Artisan all the way – 19%
I like them all – 19%
Other – 14%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, Are you ready for MyFarmRadio on your mobile device?

On November 3rd the new platform MyFarmRadio will launch. The 24/7 digital mobile radio channel will focus on a mix of best-in-class news, weather and markets along with entertaining and informative conversation for America’s farmers and ranchers. The app will allow listeners to pick and choose what they want to hear – and when they want to hear it. What do you think about this new way to get farm news? Will you be one of the first to check it out? Learn more about it in our latest ZimmCast.

ZimmPoll

USDA Forecasts More Corn and Soybeans

Cindy Zimmerman October 10, 2014

The harvest may be running a little slow right now, but USDA expects a bit more corn and beans in the bins than they did a month ago, adding to the already record forecasts.

Corn production is now forecast at 14.5 billion bushels, up almost one percent from the previous forecast and four percent more than last year. Corn yields are expected to average 174.2 bushels per acre, up 2.5 bushels from the September forecast and 15.4 bushels above the 2013 average. Soybean production is forecast at a record 3.93 billion bushels, up slightly from September and 17 percent more than last year with yields are expected to average a record high 47.1 bushels per acre, up 0.5 bushel from last month and up 3.1 bushels from last year.

Also in today’s report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, cotton production was lowered two percent from last month’s forecast but is still up 26 percent from last year at 16.3 million 480-pound bales. And orange production is up three percent from last season despite continued concerns about citrus greening disease in Florida.

Peter Georgantones of Roy E. Abbott Futures reviewed the latest numbers on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange crop call today and one of his comments is that he thinks the soybean number will ultimately be higher. “We’re just hearing about phenomenal yields around the belt,” he said. MGEX October crop conference call

Corn, Grains, Soybean, USDA

Eating Around Turin with New Holland Bloggers

Chuck Zimmerman October 10, 2014

There is a lot I like about Italy. Red wine, especially from the Tuscany region, beautiful churches, red wine, the people and red wine. But let’s not forget FOOD!

In and around Turin last week the New Holland Bloggers did not starve. Not even close. We ate some fabulous food, like this Panna cotta here. It made good FoodPorn on Twitter! I can’t describe how good this dessert is. Just think baked thick cream, egg white and honey.

I thought it would be interesting to list some of the items on our meal menus from our trip last week. This isn’t everything we ate but it’s enough to give you an idea of why I want to go back asap.

Vegetable pudding with Roccaverano cheese sauce
Rice Grumolo delle Abbadesse with pumpkin
Baked filet of veal of La Granada
Hazelnut Bavarian pudding with yogurt cream
Vitello Tonnato
Prosciutto Crudo, Buffalo Mozzarella, Buratta
Caprese ravioli with tomato and basil
Garganelli with pesto
Berries and ice cream
Coffee and petit patisserie
Dolcetto red wine and Arneis white wine
Castelmagno flan with radicchio, walnuts and honey
Puff pastry with porcini mushrooms
Agnolotti del Plin with gravy sauce
Veal escalope with vegetables
Panna cotta
Barbera D’Asti Superiore red wine and Arneis white wine

All I can say is OMG that was good!

2014 New Holland Blogger Days Photo Album

Agribusiness, Food, New Holland

Grains Council Helping Exports Rebound

Cindy Zimmerman October 10, 2014

With a record corn crop being harvested, exports are more important than ever. The United States exported more than 11 percent of the U.S. corn supply to over 100 countries in the 2013/2014 marketing year, which U.S. Grains Council president and CEO Tom Sleight says is a nice recovery from lost market share after the drought of 2012.

“Now it’s time to really dig in and dig in hard … recoup our market share, recoup our sales,” said Sleight. “With an abundant, competitively priced crop, plus our reputation for quality and contract and deliveries, we’ve been able to get back where we needed to be.”

U.S. corn exports to Japan enjoyed a powerful rebound in the just completed marketing year, with USDA reporting exports and outstanding sales of 11.8 million metric tons (465 million bushels). “In Japan, we’ve had a 90 plus percent market share since April,” said Sleight.

Heading into the 2014/2015 marketing year, the Council has more plans to develop new markets for U.S. corn. “We have nine offices around the world, spending about 40% of our resources in Asia, another 40% in the western hemisphere,” Sleight said. “The other 20% in the middle part of the world – the Middle East, north Africa, very key market for us.” With hostilities and Ebola to contend with in those areas, Sleight said they are being mindful of safety and security issues.

In this interview, Sleight also talks about the upcoming Export Exchange, global biotechnology education challenges, the situation in China, and the potential for current trade negotiations to boost grain exports. Interview with Tom Sleight, US Grains Council

Audio, Corn, Exports, Grains, USGC

Meet the New Holland Bloggers

Chuck Zimmerman October 10, 2014

I still feel special to have been chosen by New Holland to participate in their New Holland Blogger Days last week. It was a diverse group in terms of language and home country. However, we all had much in common including our passion for agriculture, using social media to help distribute our information while personally engaging with farmers and the general public and for a couple of us, gadgets! I interviewed each of my fellow bloggers including the New Holland Social Media and Digital Projects Manager, Lorena Valenti. Let’s meet them.

First up is Cristiano Spadoni, AgroNotizie. You can follow him on @CSpadoni and @Agronotizie. I asked him what his main take-aways are from the days we spent in Turin. He says it can be summed up in two words, Sustainability and Innovation. He says, “Technology can help agriculture. Technology can help farmers to do more with less.” This helps them connect with consumers who are asking for sustainable products.

You can listen to my interview with Cristiano here: Interview with Cristiano Spadoni

I was very pleased to see Emma Penny, Farmers Guardian, in our group. I saw Emma just recently in Scotland where she was one of the tour organizers for the IFAJ Congress in Aberdeen! It’s a small world.

You can follow Emma on @FarmersGuardian. Emma says that for her the focus that New Holland will be putting on farmers at Expo Milano 2015 as the heroes of food production was a key take-away. Another take-away is that they are quite involved with the University of Gastronomic Sciences which was started by the founder of the Slow Food movement. “We learned a lot more about the Slow Food movement and really what it stood for.”

You can listen to my interview with Emma here: Interview with Emma Penny

Here’s our man from Brazil, Richard Jakubaszko, Agro DBO. You can find his blog here. Richard is pictured wearing a pair of headphones we used for translation on our tours.

Richard’s publication is focused on Brazilian agriculture but he takes a different approach with his blog. It’s where he can editorialize on all kinds of subjects like art, culture, agriculture and politics. He says it is a place for debate not news. Like all of us, Richard was grateful to New Holland for the invitation. Highlights of our time in Turin for him include the visit to the University of Gastronomic Sciences, our visit to the Museum of Automobiles and our tour of the Maserati production plant. He also has plans to write about Expo Milano 2015 and New Holland’s involvement with it.

You can listen to my interview with Richard here: Interview with Richard Jakubaszko

I first got to know Lorena Valenti while working with her on the North America launch of MyNewHolland.com. You can follow Lorena on @Lorena_Valenti.

Lorena says that digital public relations is increasingly important to the brand today as well as a good relationship with bloggers like us. However, the “human touch” is also very important to New Holland to let us know about projects like Expo Milano 2015. I can assure Lorena and the whole New Holland team that we will be helping spread the word about New Holland’s Sustainable Farm Pavilion at Expo.

You can listen to my interview with Lorena here: Interview with Lorena Valenti

2014 New Holland Blogger Days Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, International, Media, New Holland

Will You Be an AgCatalyst

Chuck Zimmerman October 10, 2014

Here at AgWired we have believed from day one that “It’s all about the content.” And that’s the theme of this year’s AgCatalyst event taking place next week in Minneapolis. I will there and hope to be creating some great online content to share with you.

It’s my understanding that registrations have already surpassed last year’s event and if you have not registered I would encourage you to consider it. I’m sure we can fit in a few more!

We’ll be at the Airport Marriott and you can find registration information on the event homepage.

Agencies

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes October 10, 2014

During its recent Annual Meeting at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., CropLife America (CLA) announced annual election results.
On the heels of recent growth and funding announcements, FarmLink announced that Randy Barker has joined the company as a Managing Director of Business Development.
National Farmers Union (NFU) is pleased to welcome five new staff members to positions in the government relations, communications, and education departments, as well as the addition of North Bridge Communications as a media relations consulting firm.
The Georgia Peanut Commission, which represents all peanut farmers in Georgia, is pleased to announce the launch of PeanutAllergyFacts.org, a new website for schools, parents, food service executives and manufacturers.

Zimfo Bytes

More Than 60,000 FFA Members to Converge in Louisville

Jamie Johansen October 10, 2014

The 2014 National FFA Convention & Expo is right around the corner and the AgWired team will be there to cover it all. Here is a little preview of what you can expect to see at this year’s event to take place for the second year of its three-year run in Louisville, KY. on Oct.28 through Nov. 1.

The convention and expo will bring an estimated economic impact of $40 million, making it the largest convention and expo for Louisville this year. Attendees will stay in 136 hotels for a combined 39,247 nights within a 60-mile radius of Louisville. The event will stay in Louisville through 2015 before returning to Indianapolis for three years.

“Go All Out” is the theme of this year’s convention and expo. “With the opportunities we are given in our lives, we must take action. We must give it our all and put everything we have into everything we do,” 2013-2014 National FFA President Brian Walsh, a Virginia Tech student, said. “We must go all out to develop positive leadership, personal growth and career success.”

Nine general sessions will draw FFA members together at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Students will have countless opportunities to engage exhibitors from more than 450 corporations, organizations and colleges at the expo inside the center. Other events will be held at venues downtown, in the suburbs and beyond.

Nick Vujicic will be the opening session’s headline motivational speaker. Tyson Foods, Inc., President and CEO Donnie Smith will deliver his message to attendees during the third general session on Oct. 30. On Oct. 31, Elanco President Jeff Simmons and Southern humorist Jane Jenkins Herlong will address convention goers during the fourth and seventh general sessions, respectfully.

Read More

Ag Groups, Education, Events, FFA

CFWF Photography Workshop

Cindy Zimmerman October 9, 2014

Improving photography skills was the goal of a post-conference workshop for the Canadian Farm Writers Federation last weekend.

Photographer Elaine Shein with DTN/Progressive Farmer took close to 20 participants around the Legacy Garden behind the PEI Farm Centre and through the Royal Forest on the east side of the Crops and Livestock Research Centre grounds. Our Canadian correspondent Trudy Kelly Forsythe of Cultivating Communications was one of the participants in the workshop.

She says that Elaine offered photography tips on camera settings, setting up shots, lighting and having a critical eye. “Afterwards we returned to the hotel to view everyone’s photographs and received invaluable constructive criticism, as well as some praise, for our shots,” said Trudy. “I now have some good stock photos for my personal collection of agricultural shots and a starting point for learning how to use the many settings on my SLR camera. Greatest value would be tips on setting up photos for proper lighting and checking the background to ensure objects aren’t growing out of people’s heads, for example, or that there aren’t unwanted objects in the background.”

Trudy was already a pretty darn good photographer, as you can see in her photos from the CFWF meeting that she provided as our correspondent, but any photographer is always looking to improve so these kinds of workshops are really valuable at events like this.

2014 Canadian Farm Writers Federation conference photo album

Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2014 Conference sponsored by

Photography

Wind Turbine Up Close and Personal

Chuck Zimmerman October 9, 2014

The benefit of getting an up close and personal look at a wind turbine is the view from the top of the hill. It was a cloudy day but the view at Mackies Farm in Scotland during the 2014 IFAJ Congress was still beautiful.

This farm has done an excellent job of branding and marketing its products and was the site not only of the IFAJ awards dinner but also the location of multiple mini tours to see all the farm is doing. One of those was a trip up the hill to see a windmill in action. I have never actually been that close to one. In my photo album there are several pics including from inside the windmill. In the video you’ll hear why the top of the hill is the best location.

Home to Mackie’s of Scotland is Westertown Farm, a 1600 acre farm in Aberdeenshire, where the wind, land and cows help produce fresh milk and power for the ice cream dairy.

This has become our “Sky to Scoop” process where the wind provides power for the farm that grows the crops to feed the cows who make the milk (and cream) to make Mackie’s ice cream. It’s a wonderful environment and we’re committed to keeping it that way, both visually and by adopting ‘green’ working practices.

2014 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Dairy, IFAJ, Video

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