EPA Wants to “Ditch the Myths” About WOTUS

Cindy Zimmerman

gina-mccarthy-epaEnvironmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy held a conference call with media this morning in advance of her trip to Missouri this week to talk about the proposed Waters of the United States rule, or WOTUS.

“I’m hoping that this trip helps us ‘ditch the myths’ and misinformation,” said McCarthy in an obvious reference to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s “Ditch the Rule” campaign opposed to the proposed rule.

McCarthy called some of the beliefs about the rule “ludicrous” and “just silly” including that EPA will be regulating puddles of water and ditches. “In this proposal for the first time ever we’re making it clear that we don’t regulate all ditches,” she said.

On the call with McCarthy was Missouri corn and soybean farmer Bill Heffernan, who will host her on his farm in Rocheport tomorrow to view soil conservation practices used to protect local waterways. On Thursday, she will deliver a speech on Waters of the US at the Kansas City Agribusiness Council Luncheon.

Listen to her comments and questions from the media here. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy press call

I had the last question on the press conference and took the liberty of going off topic to ask about when the final rule on the volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would be released. “I’m hoping it will come out soon,” she says, adding that it is important for her that they “get it right.”

AFBF, Audio, Environment, Ethanol, Farming

Field to Market Announces New Supply Chain Program

Cindy Zimmerman

Field-to-Market_Logo-1Field to Market®, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, has just launched a new agricultural supply chain program for commodity crops.

The Field to Market metrics and benchmarks developed through a multi-stakeholder process over the past several years will now become an important platform for measuring, promoting and reporting on continuous improvement in corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, potatoes and other crops related to seven sustainability indicators: land use, soil conservation, soil carbon, irrigated water use, water quality, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

The new program, which was approved at the organization’s recent biannual board meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas, will focus on benchmarking current sustainability outcomes, catalyzing continuous improvement at the field and landscape level, and enabling supply chain sourcing claims.

“The announcement signals a major commitment among members to address supply chain sustainability in a manner that is transparent, grounded in science, focused on outcomes and open to a full range of technology choices while considering productivity, environmental quality and human well-being,” said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market.

The membership of Field to Market includes a who’s who of agricultural organizations and agribusinesses, as well as food companies and environmental groups. Among those members are American Farm Bureau Federation, Bayer CropScience, BASF, DuPont Pioneer, John Deere, and the National Corn Growers Association.

AFBF, Ag Groups, Agribusiness, BASF, Bayer, John Deere, NCGA, Sustainability

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • A workshop for women farmers and food entrepreneurs takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 25 at Four Elements Organic Herbals, a certified organic farm in North Freedom, Wis.
  • The Creve Coeur-based American Soybean Association has issued its support of the Missouri Farming Rights Amendment (Amendment 1), a measure that would amend the state’s constitution to recognize and protect modern agriculture and the benefits that it provides all Missourians.
  • The Aurora Cooperative, a leading agricultural supplier and grain marketer based in Nebraska and serving America’s farmers in multiple states, this week announced an Aurora Agronomy expansion in Texas with the acquisition of Perryton Aviation, Inc., located in Perryton, TX and Hansford Aviation, Inc., located in Gruver, TX.
  • Syngenta and lowa FFA chapters will be joining forces to increase awareness of the benefits of American ethanol and to raise money to support flex fuel availability – and the FFA – at the American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen®, on July 11 and 12.
Zimfo Bytes

New Agri-Pulse Political Punch Series

Cindy Zimmerman

agri-pulseAgri-Pulse has started a new six-part series called “Packing a Political Punch in Rural America.”

Throughout this in-depth series, Editor Sara Wyant will look at some of the important demographic, economic and political changes taking place in American agriculture and discuss why it may be time for rural America’s political influencers to rethink their tactics and strategies, too.

“In recent months, our editorial team talked to a wide variety of farm leaders – both inside and outside of the Beltway – who say this most recent farm bill served as a ‘wake-up call’ regarding their political effectiveness,” explains Wyant. “Don’t get me wrong. There’s still plenty of power in farm country, but several of the dynamics are changing.”

The first article in the series is titled “Digging into the Demographics: Will fewer farmers still be able to deliver political punch?” As part of the series, which is sponsored by DuPont, Agri-Pulse will also name emerging young farm and rural advocates and share their vision for the future of farm and rural influence.

Agri-Pulse, politics

Time to Vote in FMC Anthem Singing Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

FMC Anthem Singing ContestIt’s voting time for the FMC “Stand and Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest.” Voting for your favorite starts today and ends on July 21. There are more than 200 ag students who have submitted their rendition of the National Anthem. This voting will narrow that down to 20. The big prize is a $10,000 scholarship and nationally-televised recording experience.

“The quantity and quality of Anthem Contest entries continues to increase with each year of the contest,” said Matt Hancock, FMC Agricultural Solutions North America segment manager. “We’re excited to work with this group of students, the future of agriculture, throughout the next phases of this year’s contest.”

The 20 most popular videos will be reviewed by a panel of judges who will select the four finalists. “From a country music producer and 30-year chorus director veteran to a former Anthem Contest winner and more, our judges are looking forward to reviewing the Top 20 videos and determining this year’s set of finalists,” said Hancock.

Once selected, the finalists will travel to Nashville to take part in a professional recording experience. Finalist performances will be posted to the contest website and broadcast nationwide on August 28 on RFD-TV. A final round of online voting will run from Aug. 28 through September 18 to determine a grand prize winner, who will be announced on Sept. 22. The grand prize winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship, while the three remaining finalists will receive $5,000 scholarships.

Agribusiness, FMC

Legislative Issues for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 443Congress back in session this week after the 4th of July holiday, but with all the recesses and holidays coming up before the November elections, there is little time left for them to actually do any work.

gmk-chuck-spencerBoard members for GROWMARK recently visited Capitol Hill to talk with their congressional representatives about issues important to them. Our guest on the ZimmCast this week is Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK executive director of corporate and government relations, who talks about some important agricultural issues that may or may not see action in Congress yet this year.

Listen to my conversation with Chuck here: Important Legislative Issues for Agriculture


Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

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Audio, GROWMARK, ZimmCast

EPA Chief on Tour to Defend WOTUS

Cindy Zimmerman

epa-ginaEnvironmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy will travel to the nation’s heartland this week to defend and explain the Administration’s proposed rules defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

This Thursday, July 10, McCarthy will give a speech before the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City to share the Administration’s views on why the proposed rules are needed and to answer questions from agricultural interests that have raised concerns about the proposal. Groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Association and many others believe the proposed rules represent Government overreach and would require farmers to obtain permits for routine farming and ranching practices.

The administration contends that the proposal, which was published for public comment by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, seeks to provide regulatory clarity after significant uncertainty following two Supreme Court decisions. According to the EPA, the proposed rule preserves existing CWA exemptions and exclusions for agricultural activities. Additionally, the agencies, in coordination with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, will now exempt 56 established NRCS conservation practices from the CWA Section 404 dredged or fill permitting requirements, if they occur in waters covered by the CWA.

Registration for the event is $35 for council members, $50 for non-members and $15 for students.

I’m betting the fireworks on the 10th of July in Kansas City will be as good as the ones on the 4th!

AFBF, Agribusiness

InfoAg App

Chuck Zimmerman

InfoAg AppIf you’re an agnerd and planning to attend the 2014 InfoAg Conference in July add the InfoAg App to your mobile device. The conference is only a few weeks from now and a reason to get the app before you go is so you can create your own “program” of workshops and presentations that you want to attend.

The app is available for iOS and Android. It includes program information, including biographies on the speakers. There is an exhibition map and way to mark the ones that are your top priority.

We’ll be on the scene again this year so keep your eye on Precision.AgWired.com for all the latest news in the world of precision agriculture. InfoAg takes place July 29-31 in St. Louis.

On a similar note, we will also have coverage of the 12th International Conference on Precision Agriculture taking place the week before in Sacramento, CA.

Apps, Precision Agriculture

Celebrate the All-American Hot Dog

Cindy Zimmerman

July is National Hot Dog Month and for good reason, since summer time is prime time for frankfurter consumption.

hot-dogThe National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that Americans will gobble up over seven billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day! They also say that we eat an average of 60 hot dogs each year – are you eating your share?

The Hot Dog council has lots of fast frankfurter facts on their website, including how the sausage on a bun got its name. The moniker is attributed by some to a newspaper cartoonist who observed a vendor selling the “hot daschund sausages” during a 1906 baseball game in New York City. Tad Dorgan, a cartoonist for a Hearst newspaper, sketched a cartoon with a real dachshund dog, smeared with mustard, in a bun. Supposedly, Dorgan could not spell the name of the dog, instead writing “get your hot dogs” for a caption.

That’s how the story goes, but some hot dog historians say the name goes back even further than that. They say “dachshund” sausages were being called hot dogs on college campuses in the 1890s and that “little dog” sausages were standard fare at ballgames in St. Louis in 1893 when German immigrant Chris Von de Ahe owned the St. Louis Browns baseball team.

According to the council, hot dogs are served in 95 percent of homes in the United States. Fifteen percent of hot dogs are purchased from street vendors and nine percent are purchased at ballparks.

They even have a section on “Hot Dog Etiquette” – I kid you not. That includes the proper way to apply condiments.

Put hot dog toppings between the hot dog and the bun. Always “dress the dog,” not the bun.

Condiments should be applied in the following order: wet condiments like mustard and chili are applied first, followed by chunky condiments like relish, onions and sauerkraut, followed by shredded cheese, followed by spices, like celery salt or pepper.

I never knew that! Are you having hot dogs on the grill this holiday weekend? Let us know in the ZimmPoll.

Food

Grain Cooperatives Earn Ceres Award

Jamie Johansen

growmark-ceresFour grain cooperatives were recognized by GROWMARK, Inc. with the Ceres award during the 2014 Grain Leadership Conference.

The award, named for the Roman goddess of grain, is awarded to grain cooperatives that achieve excellence by meeting at least three out of the four following criteria: EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization)/per storage capacity, return on invested capital, bushel retention, and GROWMARK’s capital guideline ratio.

Qualifying for the Ceres award, in alphabetical order, are:
– Grant Park Cooperative Grain Company, Grant Park, Illinois, Daniel Stadt is the manager and Richard Riechers is the president.
– Kasbeer Farms Elevator Co. Cooperative, Kasbeer, Illinois, Joe Louis is the manager and Kenneth Bohm is the president.
– McNabb Grain Company, McNabb, Illinois, Bart Ericson is the manager and Ben Day is the president.
– Minier Cooperative Grain Company, Minier, Illinois, Keith Swigart is the manager and Duane Haning is the president.

Ag Groups, Grains, GROWMARK