Aberdeen Angus Mamas

Chuck Zimmerman

Angus CattleThe sound in this video clip is music to my ears. How about you? During the 2014 IFAJ Congress we visited the Wattie family on their farm, Mains of Tonley near Alford. This was right after we saw an angus bull statue commemorating the beginning of the Aberdeen Angus breed.

After listening to a presentation on the breed and the current state of the livestock industry we walked out into a field with lots of mama cows and their babies. Some of us got up close and personal and I got a lesson in how to shoot a good photo from Harlan Persinger! I hope he approves of this one.


2014 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Animal Agriculture, Beef, IFAJ, Video

Case Study Shows Efficiency in On-Farm Use of Utility Vehicles

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 1.48.06 PMCan using utility vehicles make your business more efficient? Polaris surveyed several managers at farms, ranches and growing facilities throughout North America and found the answer is yes.

Polaris research found that 49.5% of respondents use utility vehicles because they get to places other vehicles can’t, with another 45.5% saying they’re cheaper to operate than trucks or tractors.

When asked, “How important are utility vehicles to your operation?” nearly two-thirds of respondents rated them important to very important.

Here is the complete report: Polaris 2014 Ag Case Study

Agribusiness, Equipment

My American Farm App

Cindy Zimmerman

If you want to play My American Farm on your smartphone or tablet, there’s a new app for that.

american-farmThe American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has released a new version of its popular My American Farm app for iPads, Android tablets and Kindle Fire. The app is available for download on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.

The new version of the app, My American Farm 2.0, contains six My American Farm games, including the newly added Power Up game. This game allows young learners to dive into the world of energy and agriculture and embark on problem-solving missions for the virtual community of Energyville. The new app also builds on the math-focused game, In My Barn, with a Pre-K level to draw in new users. New badges also will be incorporated into the latest version of the app for everything from completing a game to engaging in virtual tasks like meeting a farmer or planting seeds.

The My American Farm educational game platform was launched in 2011 to engage pre-K through fifth-grade learners in agriculture. The site and resources are made possible through the generous support of title sponsor, DuPont Pioneer.

Learn more here.

AFBF, Ag Groups, Apps

Farms and Legs Relay

Cindy Zimmerman

TeamFinishTwelve runners represented agriculture this past weekend on a more than 200 mile run through California wine country in the annual Ragnar Napa Valley relay.

The “Farms & Legs” team, organized by Case IH, started out Friday morning from Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and ran 36 legs for 34 hours to wind up in Calistoga near the northern border of Napa Valley. Team members included Case IH employees, agricultural media and other members of the agricultural community, including former NAFB president Mike Hergert of Red River Farm Network. “The event was a big challenge, but all involved had a great deal of fun,” said Dan Danford of Case IH. “We’re already searching for another unique relay for the team to conquer next year!”

The Farms and Legs relay team is pictured here: Top Row L-R: Dudley Hoskins (NASDA Public Policy Counsel); Kathy Boone; Shawn Boone (Case IH); Mike Hergert (RRFN Radio); Bob Quinn (WHO Radio); Rick Stoner (Bader Rutter); Dan Danford (Case IH). Kneeling L-R: Jeff Blackwood (BASF); Kellie Bray (CropLife America); Jessie Scott (Successful Farming), Sarah Miller (Successful Farming); David Crow (DCLRS). Drivers: Corey Reed (Case IH), Scott Rasch (Case IH)

Way to go, team!

Case IH, NAFB

Forestry Thinning in Scotland

Chuck Zimmerman

Komatsu Tree HarvesterHow about cutting down a tree, stripping the bark and branches and cutting it into logs all in the matter of a few seconds? And without getting your hands dirty or your arms tired? Yep, this Transformers-looking machine from Komatsu can do it and does in the video below.

During the IFAJ Congress in Scotland on a rainy day we got to see forestry management in action at the Cairn Meilich Plantation, part of the Glenlivet estate. We met the management company run by Andy Duffus as they demonstrated how they thin the forest which creates income from the timber harvested while maintaining and preserving the historic forests. The main timber comes from Lodgepole Pine, Scots Pine, Sitka Spruce and Larch.

We watched a Komatsu 931.1 harvester grab a tree, cut it off at the ground, strip it, cut it into logs and place the fluffy tops and branches down in front of the tracks to cushion the ground impact as the harvester moves forward. Very impressive.


2014 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Agribusiness, Forestry, IFAJ, Video

The Great American Wheat Harvest New DVD Cover

Jamie Johansen

DVD-cover-3DThe team behind The Great American Wheat Harvest are excited to announce their new DVD & Blu-ray cover. The cover features harvesters Jim Deibert and Rob Turkington “Turk” checking a wheat field in South Dakota.

They have also secured DVD distribution for Ireland and the UK, and are finalizing DVD distribution in Australia and New Zealand. Once these are ready to go, they will let us know. For all of the Canadian friends, the Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters will have DVDs available for their members and associates, and shipments will be opened up to Canada from their website. Wholesale orders are also being taken from equipment dealers and other retail outlets. If you would like to be a re-seller of our DVDs, please contact Mike at 406-698-9101

The DVD release date have been moved up. For all those who’ve pre-ordered, you can expect to receive your DVD or Blu-ray in early October! These will contain tons of extra footage, interviews, and deleted scenes not featured in the movie. You can order yours at http://www.greatamericanwheatharvest.com/dvdorders/.

The following theaters will be showing The Great American Wheat Harvest film in the upcoming weeks:
Tulsa, OK: September 26 – October 2 – Showing daily – Circle Cinema
Smith Center, KS: September 27, 2:00pm – Center Theatre
Sidney, NE: September 27-28 – Fox Theater (Sponsored by 21st Century Equipment)
Mott, ND: October 6, 7:00pm – Playhouse Theater
Bowman, ND: October 6, 7 & 8 – The Bowman Theatre
Conrad, MT: October 10 – Orpheum Theater
Winterset, IA: October 10 -16 – Iowa Theater during the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival

Ag Groups, Harvest, Video, Wheat

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • The United Fresh Produce Association has unveiled the Board of Trustees to lead the new United Fresh Start Foundation.
  • AgriLife Studios is thrilled to announce the opening of our new web store, www.agrilifestudiosstock.com, offering easy access to our fast-growing library of exclusive agricultural stock photography and video through searchable galleries, custom lightboxes, online purchases and immediate high-resolution file downloads.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the reappointment of four individuals to serve on the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), a subcommittee of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board.
  • CHS will announce its commitment to furthering agricultural education in the United States through a gift of $1.5 million dollars, to be given over the next 3 years to the National FFA Foundation.
Zimfo Bytes

FMC Anthem Singing Contest Winner

Chuck Zimmerman

Lindsay WebberThe winner by popular votes of the 2014 FMC “Stand & Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest” is Lindsay Webber. That $10,000 scholarship prize money is going to come in pretty handy!

“I want to thank FMC for the opportunity. It was such an awesome experience to be able to perform with the other finalists and musicians in Nashville,” said Webber. “The scholarship will make it easier to attend school out of state and the financial support of my education means the world.”

Colfax, Wash., native Webber, 20, spent her high school years as an active member of FFA. She has performed at the Washington State and National FFA Conventions and attends Baylor University majoring in vocal performance.
Along with the other three finalists, Leanna Crawford, Halle Reid and Jessica Ronat, Webber travelled to Nashville to take part in a professional recording experience at the House of Blues Recording Studio. The finalist performances are posted to the contest website and were broadcast nationwide on RFD-TV. The three remaining finalists will each receive $5,000 scholarships.

You can watch Lindsay’s competition video here:

Agribusiness, Education, FMC, Video

The CT Farm Project

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-09-19 at 3.57.26 PMThe fertile soils of the Connecticut landscape has sustained generations of farmers who toil from dawn to dusk to work the land and grow the food to feed a hungry state. It also has inspired award-winning photographer Jack McConnell to document the hardscrabble life of farmers. The CT Farm Project is a new exhibit that celebrates the faces and places of farming in Nutmeg State.

Images from the CT Farm Project capture the rugged look, heartwarming feel and timeless character of life on the farm. Captivating B&W portraits of men and women, young and old, are studies in contrast. The deeply personal and moving images are offset in the exhibit with dramatic photographs of familiar farm machinery, animals and implements.

The CT Farm Project documents and celebrates the enormous efforts of present day farmers who care for their animals, maintain equipment, plant fields, harvest crops and market their products to the public. People who are passionate about farming and local food will fall in love with photographs of the CT Farm Project.

“This is an exciting time for farming, especially with the new interest in eating local and the national concerns about climate change that may jeopardize farming in the American heartland and breadbasket,” said McConnell. “More than anything, this project is about people. The farm is their medium. Farmers love the land and they love what they do.”

Photographs from CT Farm Project will be displayed at galleries and public spaces throughout the state with the purpose to support working farmers and raise awareness of the need to protect Connecticut farmland. Working closely with organizations including the Department of Agriculture, Connecticut Farmland Trust and Northeast Organic Farming Association, the CT Farm Project will travel to venues including the Farmland Preservation Celebration, which will take place this Saturday, Sept. 20th. Two public exhibits are currently on display through Sept. 30th – a large collection of 57 photographs can be viewed at the Good News Café & Gallery in Woodbury, and 20 photographs decorate the walls of Firebox Restaurant Gallery in Hartford.

McConnell has visited more than 50 farms throughout Connecticut to date for the CT Farm Project including dairy and cattle farms, orchards and vineyards, produce growers and chicken farms. A video of images from the collection is set to music with an original song titled, “This Life Calls to Me,” which was written and performed by local musician Jack Collins from Chaplin.

Ag Groups, Photography

2014 Borlaug Field Award Honors Scientist Under 40

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-09-19 at 3.49.42 PMThe World Food Prize announced that the winner of its award for agricultural leaders under 40 goes to Dr. Bram Govaerts, a native of Belgium now working from Mexico, for his work developing leading-edge, sustainable programs that are transforming subsistence agriculture and unsustainable farming systems in Mexico and other regions of the world into productive and sustainable production operations. Dr. Govaerts’ collaborative work with farmers has made it possible for smallholders in Mexico and other developing countries to escape hunger and poverty and improve their livelihoods.

Dr. Govaerts will be formally presented with the $10,000 “Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, Endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation” on October 15, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of this year’s World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue international symposium.

Dr. Govaerts, 35, currently serves as Associate Director of the Global Conservation Agricultural Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The announcement of his selection was made by World Food Prize President Ambassador Kenneth Quinn at the USAID Frontiers in Development Forum on September 18 in Washington, D.C.

In developing his vision to help poor farmers increase food production from their existing farmland, Dr. Govaerts was inspired by the great agricultural scientist and World Food Prize Founder Norman Borlaug’s credo: “Take It to the Farmer.” To that end, Dr. Govaerts was instrumental in framing the Mexican government’s major initiative known as the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro), and, in June 2014, he assumed leadership of the entire program, with responsibility for coordinating the evolution of related projects in Latin America.

Read More

Ag Groups, World Food Prize