Are You Brandstorming

Chuck Zimmerman

eg RadioHave 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

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.

NCGA-LogoMcCarthy 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.

ncba-logo“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

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

Screen Shot 2014-07-01 at 9.12.49 AMIs 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

Dr. Patrick MooreThe 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.

9th International Conference on Climate ChangeThe 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

basfGrowers 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

ABM-Logo-CMYK-300x126Advanced 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

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