ENOUGH – #Feedthe9 with Jeff Simmons

Taylor Truckey

14-ffa-simmonsJeff Simmons, President of Elanco, delivered a powerful call to action to over 60,000 FFA members on Friday, October 31 during the 4th General Session of the 87th Annual National FFA Convention & Expo.

Elanco has developed a campaign to bring awareness and solutions to those facing hunger and malnutrition around the world. Those behind the ENOUGH movement, and the thousands who have since joined the campaign, are committing to build a food secure world by 2050. Mr. Simmons spoke about ensuring not only safe, but affordable, nutritious food for our communities. He offered statistics on a growing population and the impact that this will have on our food system; malnutrition is the number one disease in the world. He encouraged FFA members across the nation to take action and improve food security and support for farmers in their own communities, on their farms, and in social media by using their voice to share the story of food.

“Do something. Tell your story like you’ve never told it before and tell it to people who don’t know our story. Then do something to activate a solution now, don’t wait.”

Mr. Simmons evoked a range of emotions in the crowd when he shared stories of families unable to feed their kids and themselves. Many were brought to tears and motivated in a way that they never had been before. The passion that Jeff has for increasing food security and ending hunger is only matched by his belief that the FFA members he addressed on Friday will be the ones who take action and change the lives of millions.

“The theme of this FFA Convention is ‘Go All Out’ and we need to go all out.”

Find out more about the ENOUGH movement and commit to helping end hunger issues by visiting SensibleTable.com. Check out #Feedthe9 on social media to follow the conversation.

Listen to my complete interview with Jeff here:Interview with Jeff Simmons, Elanco

Find all our photos from the event here: 87th National FFA Convention Photos

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, Elanco, Farming, FFA

National Model of Excellence Award Winner

Taylor Truckey

ffa-14-185-editedThe Ponchatoula FFA Chapter (Louisiana) was selected as the National Model of Excellence award winner at the 2014 National FFA Convention. This award is highly competitive and sought after by chapters across the country; the Ponchatoula FFA Chapter had to complete an extensive application process that included a detailed application, a speech, and a 10 min interview. Two members of the Ponchatoula FFA Chapter were on stage to accept the award on behalf of their chapter and fellow members. Brooke Hoover, a college freshman, and Joshua Ippolito, a high-school junior, were very proud and excited to be here at the 2014 National FFA Convention. When asked what the best part of being at convention was, they shared their appreciation and enthusiasm for the alumni and community support that brought them here.

“Just being able to be here and representing because our FFA Alumni sponsored us to be here and its such an honor to be able to bring this back and say thank you so much for sponsoring us and I hope that we did you proud,” said Brooke.

“With this money we can go out and implement more important community service projects that we have wanted to do so much, but haven’t been able to do,” added Joshua.

The Ponchatoula FFA Chapter looks forward to using the scholarship money to further projects that will have a lasting impact on their community.

Listen to my complete interview with Brook Hoover and Joshua Ippolito here:Interview with Ponchatoula LA FFA

Find all our photos from the event here: 87th National FFA Conventions Photo

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by FMC
Audio, FFA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • A new leadership team was elected by the members of the American Society of Agricultural Consultants while at the organization’s annual conference.
  • Farm Journal Media announced that it has acquired the highly-regarded The Kiplinger Agriculture Letter, a well-known bi-weekly newsletter published continuously since 1929.
  • DRYLAND will be showing at 3:30 PM, Saturday, November 15 in the 41st Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium.
  • Adoption of Agricultural Conservation Practices: Insights from Research and Practice, developed by the department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, is available for free download from The Education Store.
Zimfo Bytes

Seed Trade Expo Redesigned

John Davis

ASTAconf2014This year’s American Seed Trade Association’s CSS 2014 & Seed Expo has been redesigned to focus on the most relevant and cutting-edge issues facing the seed industry. Organizers are inviting potential attendees to take a look at the schedule and see the topics for the Dec. 8-12 event in Chicago, Illinois, the largest seed industry conference in the country.

Keynote speaker Bill Whitacre of J.R. Simplot Company will address attendees during the General Session Tuesday, December 9. Popular presenter Dan Basse will also return with his market outlook and trend report during The Economics of the Export Market Breakfast on Wednesday, December 10.

Also new this year will be a dedicated, fully functioning media room that will offer private areas to live broadcast and host one-on-one interviews. Industry press conferences on a variety of topics are also being planned. All media will receive complimentary registration.

For a full schedule of events, registration and hotel information click here. Register by November 15 to take advantage of discounted hotel pricing.

ASTA, Seed

FFA Members Show Passion for the Future

Taylor Truckey

ffa-14-127-editedAs FFA members work their way through the National FFA Convention Expo in Louisville, they are greeted by a variety of agribusiness and collegiate exhibits. Although each exhibit has developed it’s own message, theme, and purpose, many share a common goal of focusing on future opportunities and growth within agriculture. FMC is no different; they are inviting members to step into a video booth at their exhibit to record what “investing in the future of farming” means to them individually. FMC has built a history of investing in future agricultural leaders and producers by supporting FFA chapters, communities, and students through their scholarship and internship programs.

As Carson Roberts, of the Union FFA Chapter in eastern Oregon, made her way through the FMC exhibit, she shared her thoughts on what investing in the future means and why it is important for our industry.

“Investing in the future to me means educating our youth about agriculture, what it means, and why you should get involved. About only 2% of the population is involved in producing food for our community.”

Carson spoke about her Supervised Agriculture Experience, where she breeds and shows market swine, her involvement in her FFA Chapter, where she serves as the chapter photographer, and her commitment to being active in her chapter by attending meetings and events diligently. Although this wasn’t Carson’s first time at National Convention, she was as excited as ever to be here representing her chapter and state at the 87th Annual National FFA Convention in Louisville.

When asked about her favorite aspect of convention, Carson was enthusiastic about the opportunity to meet FFA members from across the nation.

Listen to my interview with Carson here: Interview with Carson Roberts, Union FFA Chapter

Find all our photos from the event here: 87th National FFA Conventions Photo

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by FMC

 

Agribusiness, FMC

Make Your Message More Personal

Chuck Zimmerman

Julie BorlaugDuring her presentation at the Bayer CropScience Corn and Soybean Future Forum Julie Borlaug told the audience they are not doing a good job of communicating what they are doing to the broad general consuming audience. That raised a few eyebrows.

What she suggests is making message more personal and not so polarizing as we sometimes see with the GMO debate as a good example. Activists are using emotion to make their points and I think we need to get emotion in our messaging too. That doesn’t exclude including scientific information. Julie has an example in our interview.

Listen to my interview with Julie here: Interview with Julie Borlaug

2014 Bayer CropScience Corn & Soybean Future Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Social Media, Social Networking

Bayer CropScience Advancing Sustainable Ag

Chuck Zimmerman

Liam CondonStarting out the second day of the Bayer CropScience Corn and Soybean Future Forum was Liam Condon, CEO, Germany. The theme of his remarks was how Bayer CropScience is advancing sustainable agriculture.

One of the remarks that Liam made during his comments that struck me was how the growth in demand for meat in countries around the world is driving changes in farming practices. The reality is we need to produce a lot more food and without using more arable land.

Like many of our presenters here he also talks about the need to be sensitive to what consumers want and to better communicate with them how the agricultural industry is working to supply them with it. He specifically mentions the use of social media to help accomplish this.

Listen to Liam’s remarks here: Remarks from Liam Condon, Bayer CropScience

2014 Bayer CropScience Corn & Soybean Future Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Sustainability

FMC’s Investment in Farming’s Future

Jamie Johansen

ffa-14-3-editedOver the past couple of years FMC has put a strong emphasis on investing in farming’s future. Here at the 87th National FFA Convention they are asking students to step into their sound booth and share what investing in farming’s future means to them. Following the convention FMC will create a mashup of the students audio to share with their industry partners about where the future of agriculture is headed through the eyes of high schoolers.

FMC’s support for the next generation of agriculturalists is nothing new. They also provide internships in sales, marketing, tech support and product development. All while helping to bring new solutions to farming and agriculture.

FMC is also sponsor of the Agriscience Research Plant Systems Proficiency Award. “We look at this as another opportunity for us to give back to the community and to help with the growth of the future of agriculture.” They also give support to FFA chapters in local FMC communities.

Listen to my complete interview with Matt here:Interview with Matt Thompson - FMC

Find all our photos from the event here: 87th National FFA Conventions Photo

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by FMC
Agribusiness, Audio, FFA, FMC

Weather Impacts on Corn Soybean Yield & Trading

Chuck Zimmerman

Kyle TapleyWith a session topic on how environmental constraints impact crop yield and trading you’d think this would take a long time. However, at the Bayer CropScience 2014 Corn and Soybean Future Forum Kyle Tapley, MDA Information Systems, got the job done in a short time frame.

The focus was on weather and Kyle made a few statements that caught my attention after receiving several press releases from activists who want to blame single weather incidents on man made climate change. Kyle told us that “It is impossible to tie a single event to climate change.” I couldn’t agree more. He says we’ve always had extreme weather and we always will. For many of us more seasoned folks we remember living through very different weather extremes going back 50 years.

Listen to Kyle’s remarks here to get some more specific take-aways on his topic: Kyle Tapley Presentation

2014 Bayer CropScience Corn & Soybean Future Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Weather

FFA – You are the Future

Jamie Johansen

ffa-14-89-editedAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke to FFA members in attendance for one of the opening sessions at the 87th National FFA Convention & Expo this morning. He speaks at many different venues, but said this audience is the hardest because he is following young people who are very well spoken, don’t use any notes and never skip a beat.

“This is the future of agriculture and that future is bright. Over 600,000 members in this organization in rural areas and urban. I think it is important for me to talk to the leadership, to hear their concerns about whether or not we are going to have enough educators to lead and guide chapters, whether we are going to continue to have the productivity in American and global agriculture that will meet the challenges of global food security, whether we can continue to do the job that we have been doing in partnership with FFA and other organizations to deal with the hunger issue in the United States.” Vilsack Remarks to FFA

Following the sessions Vilsack addressed members of the media. A few of the topics questioned include WOTUS and the potential idea floated for a new beef checkoff. Listen to the complete press conference here: Press Conference - Ag Secy Tom Vilsack

Find all our photos from the event here: 87th National FFA Conventions Photo

Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by
Coverage of the National FFA Convention is sponsored by FMC
Ag Groups, Audio, FFA, FMC, USDA