BASF Helping Fight Corn Leaf Blight

Leah Guffey

blight-headline-ampNorthern corn leaf blight (NCLB) has been reported in numerous fields across the U.S. Corn Belt. If the disease isn’t controlled, it will continue to spread and decrease corn crop yields.

AJ Woodyard, BASF Technical Crop Production Specialist, says conditions have been perfect this summer for NCLB. “It’s actually a disease that enjoys cooler temperatures,” Woodyard said. “It also likes free, available water, heavy dews, overcast days, and really that’s been the story of our summer.” He says they’ve actually seen infections occurring prior to tasseling, which is very unusual.

basf-ajWoodyard says BASF is committed to helping corn growers fight back against this troublesome disease. “At this point in the season it’s really critical to get out there, do some scouting, and if you have any infection occurring, even later in the year, manage it with Headline AMP,” he said. “It’s got two active ingredients that are excellent on Northern Corn Leaf Blight.”

Learn more in this interview with AJ – Interview with AJ Woodyard, Technical Crop Productions Specialist, BASF

Audio, BASF, Corn, Crop Protection

Meredith Promoted to VP of Communications & Membership

Jamie Johansen

Emily MeredithThe Animal Agriculture Alliance is pleased to announce the promotion of Emily Meredith to Vice President of Communications and Membership. In this position, Emily will assume a greater management role over the communications and membership outreach strategies for the Alliance, with direct management of the Alliance’s Membership and Marketing Manager, Special Projects Manager and internship program.

Emily joined the Alliance in December 2012 as the Director of Communications and quickly took on the challenge of wearing multiple hats. Given that the primary role of the Animal Agriculture Alliance centers on communications, many of the Alliance’s programs and initiatives require coordination of communications efforts among broader stakeholder groups in order to provide a unified voice for animal agriculture.

“Emily accepted that challenge immediately and has made many valuable contributions advancing the Alliance, as well as the broader animal agriculture community,” said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance President and CEO. “Emily has demonstrated her leadership skills, the ability to strategically multi-task and provide a passionate and smart voice for animal agriculture over and over in her short tenure with the Alliance.”

Emily has led many coalition efforts, including agriculture’s proactive response to the re-release of the Pew Commission Report. She managed a major overhaul of the Alliance’s website, creating the redesign almost single-handedly. She developed the program and marketing plan for the Alliance’s 2014 Stakeholders Summit “Cracking the Millennial Code,” leading to the Alliance’s best-attended and most successful event to date. Emily has also provided a powerful voice for animal agriculture in national media venues including CNN, NPR and The Daly Show with Jon Stewart. And in addition to the regular blogs she authors for Meatingplace.com, Pork Network, Progressive Cattleman and Progressive Dairyman, Emily is a sought after speaker by industry and government organizations for their various conferences and events.

Last year, Emily was recognized among the inaugural recipients of Vance Publishing’s prestigious “40 Under 40 Award”, and most recently led the way for the Alliance to receive a Merit Award in the “Tactics Division – Collateral/Literature” by the Agricultural Relations Council.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Emily worked in the communications division of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the office of the New York State Attorney General. She earned her J.D., with a concentration in food and drug law, from Seton Hall University in Newark, New Jersey, and her B.A. in International Affairs, Journalism and Mass Communication from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Animal Agriculture

InfoAg 2014 on Track in St. Louis

Leah Guffey

_DSC0002For the first time in its 14 year history, the InfoAg Conference is being held at the historic Union Station in St. Louis, instead of in Springfield, Illinois, and they have the largest number of attendees pre-registered and more registering on site. InfoAg continues to be the premier precision agriculture event for producers, consultants, and the crop production industry, featuring four tracks of concurrent sessions plus a workshop track.

Dr. Steve Phillips, Conference Chair and Director for the International Plant Nutrition Institute, welcomed attendees at the opening general session on Tuesday morning. I caught up with Steve during one of the snack breaks this afternoon and he says that after outgrowing their past location the move to the Gateway City still keeps them centrally located in the heart of the corn belt. He also noted that the conference is now an annual event instead of every two years. Interview with Steve Phillips, InfoAg Expo conference chairman

We are getting lots of interviews from the Expo this week that will be featured here on AgWired and also on Precision.AgWired.com.

InfoAg 2014 Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by MapShotsCoverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology
Agribusiness, Audio, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Ag Media Summit Community Service Project

Chuck Zimmerman

AMS Riley HospitalFor several years now the Ag Media Summit has conducted a community service project that allows members of the AAEA and LPC to donate items to a good cause. This year that cause is the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health.

Members donated books, toy tractors and many other items which were delivered today by AAEA President Holly Spangler, LPC President Christy Lee and AMS Chair Jennifer Carrico. While we were there it was very uplifting to see all the children coming and going with their parents and knowing that hopefully we helped bring a smile to many of them.

Thank you to everyone who donated to make this a successful project and I hope we do it again next year.

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Ag Media Summit coverage is sponsored by FMCAg Media Summit coverage is sponsored by New Holland
ACN, Ag Media Summit, LPC

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Captain Keith Colburn, one of the stars of the hit television series Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel, has become an Ambassador for the nonprofit organization Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP).
  • On Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., The Center for Food Integrity, in cooperation with the Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska, will host the Forum for Sustainable Water Management in Lincoln, Nebraska.
  • Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, announces the launch of its redesigned U.S. website, dowagro.com/usag.
  • CropLife International has re-launched the online database, biotradestatus, a global resource which provides data on the commercial status and national authorizations of plant biotech traits for cultivation, food and feed use, and importation worldwide.
Zimfo Bytes

New Holland Ag Journalist Italy Trip Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Ag Media SummitHey ag journalists. Want to win a trip to Italy courtesy of New Holland? Here’s what you have to do.

Go to the New Holland booth and pick up a cap or tractor and then make a creative selfie and tweet using the hashtag, #Time2Shine. Yep, it’s that easy. I did it with this selfie as I interviewed New Holland’s Rebecca Gunderson about it. I’ll let her explain further. The lucky winner will get a trip to Milan, Italy in 2015 for the World Expo Milano.

You can listen to my interview with Rebecca here: Interview with Rebecca Gunderson

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Ag Media Summit coverage is sponsored by FMCAg Media Summit coverage is sponsored by New Holland
Ag Media Summit, Agribusiness, Audio, New Holland

AAEA Update from the President

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEA BoardThe President of the American Agricultural Editors Association is Holly Spangler, Associate Editor, Prairie Farmer. She’s pictured here with the current board of AAEA. They met yesterday and I sat down with her to talk about how AAEA is doing and what was on the agenda.

Holly says that the board talked about the structure of the organization with several ideas being proposed. One that they have decided on is expanding the Executive Committee to include more Past-President involvement. Listen in to learn what’s going on with AAEA.

You can listen to my interview with Holly here: Interview with Holly Spangler

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Ag Media Summit coverage is sponsored by FMCAg Media Summit coverage is sponsored by New Holland
ACN, Ag Media Summit, Audio, Media

LPC and AAEA Student Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

Logan BrittonDuring the Ag Media Summit several students were honored with some recognition and awards.

The Livestock Publications Council presented the Forrest Bassford Award to Logan Britton, Kansas State University. Logan gave us a very touching emotional thank you in which he mentioned that he doesn’t have a farm background but is passionate about a careen in ag communications. I told him afterward that I have done just that and encouraged him to keep at it.

Sponsoring the award is Alltech and on hand to present the award is Ann Hess, Alltech.

Courtney LeeperThe American Agricultural Editors Association presented the Jim Evans Scholarship to Courtney Leeper, University of Missouri. On hand to present it was Mr. Jim Evans himself! Three other scholarships were also presented.

The scholarships are sponsored by the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation.

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Ag Media Summit coverage is sponsored by FMCAg Media Summit coverage is sponsored by New Holland
ACN, Ag Media Summit, Education, LPC, University

Welcome to the MapShots AgStudio Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

mapshots-clintThe 2014 InfoAg Expo kicks off tomorrow at St. Louis Union Station, but prior to that event, MapShots has brought in about 140 farmers and crop consultants for an AgStudio Expo today.

“Little day session that goes through some of the aspects of AgStudio and that line of products from the farm version to the pro version,” said Clint Ingram of MapShots. Interview with Clint Ingram, MapShots

This event is all about Big Data management and we will be learning about variable rate management, agronomic data management, and tools to simplify the complex business of managing a farming operation. Full coverage of today’s event, as well as continuing coverage of InfoAg Expo this week, will be posted on Precision.Agwired.com.

AgStudio Expo Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by MapShotsCoverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology
Audio, data, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Serious Thoughts from a Funny Guy

Cindy Zimmerman

spgc-damianDamian Mason is a seriously funny guy.

Chuck interviewed him twice last year – at the NAMA conference and then again at the O.H. Kruse event – but the first time I have seen him was over the weekend at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, and I suspect it won’t be the last. He is making a name for himself as “Agriculture’s Professional Funny Man” and has a growing client list of agricultural companies and organizations. If you haven’t seen him yet, you probably will soon and you won’t be disappointed.

“I’m a farm boy and a farm owner, I have an agricultural economics degree, raised on a dairy farm,” Damian said after his SPGC luncheon keynote sponsored by BASF. “I make people laugh and I talk about industry issues.”

Weaving his thoughts about serious agricultural issues within his comedy, Damian hammered home the importance of communicating with the fragment of our population that knows nothing about food production. He suggests that agriculture learn from the National Rifle Association and be more aggressive in defending our industry. “They are emotional, they are patriotic and they also talk about self-interest,” said Damian.

He also contends that using the argument for cheap food is ineffective. “It’s not really a selling point to at least the upper half (of the population),” Damian said. “If they cared about cheap food why would they spend $12 billion dollars on plastic bottles of water … food is an emotional decision in the United States, not a sustenance and physical decision.”

Listen to more serious thoughts from this funny guy in my interview here – and watch one of his YouTube clips below to see one of the bits he did talking about farmers.
Interview with Damian Mason, Agriculture’s Professional Funny Man

You can also learn more about Damian, find out how to book him at an event, and buy some of his cool stuff like “Agriculture – Because Starvation Sucks” t-shirts – at DamianMason.com.

2014 SPGC photo album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Peanuts, SPGC, Video