Immigration Reform Action Day

Cindy Zimmerman July 9, 2014

A coalition of leading business, manufacturing, and agriculture groups – including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Partnership for a New American Economy, Business Roundtable, the American Farm Bureau Federation, AmericanHort, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Western Growers – held a Day of Action for immigration reform today.

The group held a national press conference in Washington and events in more than 40 congressional districts across 20 states calling on Congress and the Administration to work together to enact immigration reform.

Speaking at the national press conference was Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association. Tom Nassif, Western Growers, Immigration reform comments

Also making brief comments regarding agriculture at the end of the audio clip are first, National Association of Manufacturers president Jay Timmons, followed by Business Roundtable president John Engler.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, labor, specialty crops

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes July 9, 2014

As part of the Wheat Capital of the World’s 114th annual celebration of the Kansas Wheat Festival, the Wellington Regent Theater, Inc, plays host to Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film Friday, July 11 through Sunday, July 13everyday at 2 p.m.
The United Fresh Produce Association will again honor one company as an outstanding advocate for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry this September at The Washington Conference.
The farmers of the American Soybean Association (ASA) honored Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska with the association’s Soy Champion Award this morning in Washington.
NAFB is excited to announce that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service 2012 Census of Agriculture Data has been added to the NAFB Planner database, www.nafbplanner.com.

Zimfo Bytes

2014 Farm Progress Show Preview

Cindy Zimmerman July 9, 2014

The 2014 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa is just around the corner already! Where has the summer gone?

Our hick chick reporter Leah Guffey got in touch with show manager Matt Jungmann to get a preview on this year’s show and find out what’s new and what’s going on with the demonstration fields. Matt says the corn is growing, the pavement is complete and they have added a concert to the show lineup this year, including country artist Jerrod Neimann. Interview with Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress Show

The dates are August 26 – 28, admission is $15 for adults and $8 for youngsters aged 13-17. The concert featuring Jerrod Neiman will be held at the newly renovated ISU Harvester Plaza on Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Ames and is sponsored by Syngenta featuring Golden Harvest® and NK Seeds®. Get more show information at FarmProgressShow.com.

Of course, the entire ZimmComm Team will be live and onsite for the show once again, thanks to the support of great sponsors like New Holland, John Deere and Bayer CropScience.

Audio, Bayer, Events, Farm Progress Show, John Deere, New Holland

Are You Brandstorming

Chuck Zimmerman July 9, 2014

Have you ever had a brainstorming session? How about Brandstorming? That’s the title of EG Integrated’s second eg Radio podcast episode.

Episode 2 hears discussion of the “myth” of brainstorming, earning customer brand loyalty, and a brief chat about public relations branding disasters.

Here’s what EG Integrated is about:

Our story began with two brothers, Bill and Tom Ervin. Both veterans in the advertising industry, each wanted to offer clients more value. The result: EG Integrated. Combining talents, experience and goals, they created a full-service agency focused on brand development, strategic marketing, digital marketing and public relations.

Practical thinking meets creative ingenuity. Our approach is a balance of strategy and creativity. We’re genuine. Reliable. And determined to yield greater results for our clients.

Agencies, Podcasts

Ag Groups Take Issue with Interpretive Rule

Cindy Zimmerman July 9, 2014

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s promise that under the proposed rules defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) “all normal farming practices are exempt – period” may be falling on deaf ears in the agriculture community.

McCarthy is visiting Missouri this week to explain the proposed rules but she faces an uphill battle from the major farm organizations opposing it. This week, the groups took aim at the “Interpretive Rule” that was published in the Federal Register at the same time as WOTUS. In comments submitted to EPA this week, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) called for withdrawal of that rule, citing concerns over the implications for farmers carrying out normal activities. NCGA also voiced strong concern over the potential legal liabilities which could arise as a result of the rule. Firmly calling for full withdraw, the comments outlined how the rule, in practice, would increase legal liability for farmers going about normal, routine farming practices.

NCGA was also one of 90 agricultural organizations, led by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation, commenting that the interpretive rule is “a legislative rule that must go through notice and comment rulemaking.” The groups say the interpretive rule “binds farmers and ranchers with new, specific legal obligations under the CWA. It modifies existing regulations interpreting the statutory term ‘normal farming, ranching and silviculture.’ under the 404 Dredge and Fill Program.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association claims the rule will make USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) the “water police” and result in cattle producers putting less conservation on the ground.

“The EPA claims they have made right with the agricultural community by interpreting their exemption to only include the ‘normal’ 56 NRCS practice standards, excluding all other NRCS practice standards and all voluntary conservation activities,” said Ashley McDonald, NCBA environmental council. “By defining these very specific 56 practices, the interpretive rule only narrows the scope of what is considered normal farming and ranching practices. These practices, such as building a fence, or grazing cattle, never needed a permit before, but now require oversight by NRCS and mandatory compliance with its standards.”

We’ll see how well McCarthy can ease the minds of the agricultural community tomorrow when the Kansas City Agribusiness Council has her for lunch – yes, I meant to say it that way!

AFBF, Ag Groups, Beef, Corn, NCBA, NCGA

Head to Minni for AgCareers.com HR Roundtable

Joanna Schroeder July 8, 2014

Calling all those human resource (HR) experts in agriculture. Don’t miss out on this year’s 2014 Ag & Food Resources Roundtable taking place August 5-7, 2014 in downtown Minneapolis. This year’s host is CHS and is the premier event for HR and educational professionals that provides relevant content examining recruitment and retention specifically within the ag and food industry.

Sessions include:

AgVocacy: Professionally Representing Our Profession, presented by Sarah Wilson, Farmer on a Mission
Factors Influencing Recruitment in a Complex Industry
The Voice of Students – Effective Student Recruitment (Panel Discussion)
Uncovering Unique Talent Pools (Panel Discussion)
And much, much, more.

AgCareers.com will also be offering an add-on workshop for those responsible for compensation and benefits. This workshop will incorporate main sessions from the Roundtable and supplemental sessions following the close of the Roundtable specific to compensation and benefits.

In addition, this program will be submitted for recertification credit hours through the HR Certification Institute and listed upon approval. Last year’s program was awarded 9 (General) recertification credit hours.

AgCareers, Education, Events, Video

New Holland Intros New CR Series Combines

Chuck Zimmerman July 8, 2014

Is this the biggest combine out there? It’s a monster that’s for sure. It’s the new New Holland’s CR Series combines.

According to the company these combines “raise harvesting to a whole new level: up to 15% more productivity, grain crackage as low as 0.2%, and the ultimate comfort cab. The brand new Harvest Suite™ Ultra cab is larger and offers more glass than previous models. The six model series is topped by the CR10.90 Elevation, the most powerful CR model ever, and the highest capacity in the industry that delivers outstanding performance.”

“The new CR Series is the culmination of 40 years of Twin Rotor® technology,” stated Dan Valen, New Holland North America Cash Crop Equipment Segment Manager. “It offers the best of New Holland’s smart harvesting technologies: Twin Pitch rotors, Dynamic Feed Roll™, SmartTrax™ rubber tracks, Tier 4B ECOBlue™ Hi-eSCR engine technologies – all working together to allow producers to harvest in a new dimension. All this is coupled with the Harvest Suite Ultra cab that defines harvesting comfort. You couldn’t ask for more.”

I spoke with New Holland’s Nigel Mackenzie, whose main role for the company is to market combines in North America. He shares how excited they are about their custom driven hew harvester series. He also discusses key elements of the Harvest Suite growers won’t be able to live without. Interview with Nigel Mackenzie, New Holland

– Harvest in a new dimension: culmination of 40 years of Twin Rotor® technology
– Twin Rotor®, Dynamic Feed Roll™, Twin Pitch rotors, IntelliCruise, Opti-Fan™: proven unique technologies deliver more capacity than ever
– Massive power, vast grain tank, extensive autonomy: productivity reaches new heights, increasing by up to 15%
– Harvest Suite™ Ultra cab: designed for ultimate harvesting comfort
– CR10.90 Elevation (Tier 4B) is equipped with the Diesel Of The Year® 2014 Cursor 16 engine

Read the complete release with all products specs here.

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farm Machinery, New Holland

Climate Alarmism Debunked

Chuck Zimmerman July 8, 2014

The 9th International Conference on Climate Change in underway in Las Vegas and being live streamed. I watched the keynotes this morning and was fascinated.

First up was Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace. His was the face you saw many years back leading the charge in the face of Russian whaling boats and more. But he says the organization became too radical and anti-human for him. He describes what led him to help create and grow the organization, why he left it and then proceeded to show facts and figures that completely debunk most of the alarmist rhetoric we’re all bombarded with today. One of his best slides shows the global average temperatures over the last billion years. We’re at the low side by a significant margin at 14.5 degrees C while the average over that time period is 22 degrees C!

I recorded his comments for you to hear. Regardless of where you stand on this issue it’s worth listening to. Dr. Patrick Moore Speech

Thanks to Tim Kelley, NECN Meteorologist, for the screen shot. Follow him on Twitter at @SurfSkiWxMan.

The next keynote speech came from John Coleman, ABC Good Morning America original meteorologist and co-founder of the Weather Channel. Those are some pretty good credentials. He focused on the history behind the global warming movement and I wish I had the time to record it since it was also fascinating to see how it has evolved from the original science of Dr. Roger Revelle. That movement grew into a dollars and politics issue that has largely cast science aside today.

Interestingly, the coordinators of the ICCC9 say they asked all scientists to attend or participate in the program and none accepted the invitation that have a different opinion on the subject.

Audio

Winning Seasons with BASF Headline AMP

Cindy Zimmerman July 8, 2014

Growers across the country have experienced the many ways BASF Headline AMP® fungicide has a positive impact on their corn crops during the season.

In addition to managing disease pressures throughout corn fields, proactive use of Headline AMP fungicide provides Plant Health benefits including growth efficiency and stress tolerance which can help increase stalk strength and reduce lodging, leading to easier and faster corn harvesting.

“Lodged corn can cause yield losses of up to 25 percent and add an extra 5.5 days per each 1,000 acres to harvest,” said Caren Schmidt, Ph.D., Technical Market Manager, BASF. “Research indicates the disease control and Plant Health benefits of Headline AMP fungicide correlate to healthier plants and strong stalks for a more efficient corn harvest.”

A new educational video from BASF highlights the Plant Health benefits of Headline AMP fungicide and the harvest efficiency benefits it provides to growers. Visit the BASF Crop Protection Facebook page and watch the featured BASF Plant Health video on harvest efficiency. Viewers can answer the quiz question at the end of the video and will receive one entry into a special drawing for each video watched, while learning more about increasing yields.

BASF, Corn, Crop Protection, Harvest

ABM Announces New Patent to Improve Plant Growth

Jamie Johansen July 8, 2014

Advanced Biological Marketing (ABM) announces the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 8,716,001 for a Trichoderma strain that induces resistance to plant diseases and increases plant growth. The patent was issued to Cornell University and ABM has exclusive worldwide rights.

The patent covers the technology that induces gene expression triggers for healthier and more productive plants. The Trichoderma works by first colonizing the crop root system. Its use on the seed allows the plant to grow in a more beneficial manner than it would without the Trichoderma and changes the plant’s physiology without altering its DNA.

This patented strain of Trichoderma offers an all-natural way to improve agricultural production and increase plant yields for crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, peanuts, forage crops and vegetables. Additional benefits of Trichoderma include:

• Greater resistance to plant stresses such as disease and drought
• Bigger root systems and plant growth
• Better water and fertilizer use efficiency
• Increased photosynthesis, which leads to a healthier plant

“ABM is dedicated to providing farmers with sustainable solutions to improve their agriculture production,” said Dan Custis, ABM CEO. “Our work with Cornell University and the issuance of this patent allows us to continue producing products that offer farmers the most advanced solutions in enhancing plant growth and productivity.”

ABM also recently announced an agreement with INCOTEC Group B.V. in which INCOTEC will combine ABM’s yield enhancing inoculants with INCOTEC’s innovative seed coating and enhancement technologies.

INCOTEC will have marketing rights to the seed industry of ABM products in the USA, Europe, India and South America.

Dan Custis, CEO of ABM states, “We are excited to partner with INCOTEC to help increase yields and profitability for farmers worldwide. This partnership adds value and convenience in a sustainable way. It is an excellent opportunity to expand our market share not only in the US, but around the globe.”

JanWillem Breukink, senior executive member of the Board of INCOTEC, says: “We are very happy that ABM has chosen us as the preferred partner for the application of their innovative products to seeds. INCOTEC is offering a completely independent application platform where companies like ABM can work with INCOTEC to make sure that it is a quality process that is used to apply their products to seeds.”

Ag Groups, Agronomy, Seed

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