Missouri Cattlemen’s Raffling New Holland Equipment

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Cattlemens AssocationMy good friends at the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association are holding a raffle to win the use of some New Holland equipment, specifically a T6 tractor and Roll-Belt 560 round baler. Tickets are $20/ea. or 3 for $50. A drawing will be held at the MCA Convention on January 3, 2015. You can contact the office to buy tickets. If you sell tickets for them there are additional prizes for individuals and county affiliate groups that sell the most.

Since there is a New Holland Roll-Belt Facebook campaign to share baling tips it just caught my eye. If you’ve got some tips to share just go to FB to do so.

And while you’re online you might as well get registered at MyNewHolland.com.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, New Holland

Rise of the Giants Film Project

Chuck Zimmerman

Rise of the GiantsWhile we’re speaking about movies about farming . . . do you know about Rise of the Giants? – A feature-length documentary following the 2013 race to grow the world’s largest pumpkin. This is a Kickstarter project by filmmaker Daria Matza. And she just started following me on Twitter. I’ll let her tell the story about her project, which is actually pretty close to its funding goal. Help her out if you can.

A lot of work has already been done on the film project but there’s more to do. See the trailer below.

Rise of the Giants – Trailer from Daria Matza on Vimeo.

Farming, Video

Dryland Movie

Chuck Zimmerman

Dryland MovieSpeaking of movies about farming . . . We were speaking about movies about farming weren’t we? Have you heard of Dryland? I just found it because it just started following me on Twitter. Here’s what I know and I have not seen it. Have you? What do you think? I see that there are showings coming up at the Ritz Theater in Ritzville, WA, May 22/23.

Filmed over a decade and set in the American West, Dryland traces a young man’s quest for victory in a rambunctious contest, while battling to preserve a threatened way of life. Josh Knodel and best friend Matt Miller strive to win the Lind Combine Demolition Derby, save their town, and preserve the legacy of their families’ Eastern Washington wheat farms.

The derby supports Lind through dry years and economic uncertainty. The tiny town of 500 swells to 5,000 for one day each year and, with barn-raising community spirit, funds critical local services. Paradoxically, as agricultural technology advances, promoting more efficient production, the need for labor decreases and fewer young farmers can stay on the land. Higher costs force farms to consolidate or grow, and many family farms and the rural towns depending on them simply disappear.

Galvanizing optimism, strategy, and elbow grease, Josh and Matt rebuild JAWS each year to vie for the derby title. They complete high school, then college, preparing to farm. But even as Josh leads JAWS to victory, he’s defeated in his lifelong passion to harvest the fields his great-grandfather first tilled, and he is forced to leave the farm to find a job.

In this visceral, cinematic duet of hard work and harder play, Josh, Matt, and their community unite to propel the legacy of the American family farm. Bittersweet and exuberant, Dryland ultimately champions hope, in a celebration of hard work and harder play, fueled by ingenuity, heart, and axle grease.

Education, Farming, Video

Ag Leader Reports on Seasonal Progress

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly Spring field operations are well underway and Ag Leader’s Technical Support department is buzzing! agleader2

Any given business day, over 40 members of the Support department are here to help advance the usability of our comprehensive lineup of precision agriculture products. From 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday, 8am to 4pm on Saturdays and 12pm to 4pm on Sundays during the spring planting season, we’re here for you!

Technical Support Seasonal Schedule

And judging by this map showing percentage of corn crop planted, we’ll still have plenty of opportunities to speak with you yet this planting season!
agleader3

Happy Farming!

“Corn Planting Map.” Ag Web. Farm Journal, Inc. 12 May 2014. Web. 12 May 2014

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

FS Sales Lens Offers New Views

Cindy Zimmerman

fs-sales-lensA great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand.

GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand their customer better to be able to service them better,” says Lance Rupert, GROWMARK Agronomy Marketing Manager.

The tool allows crop specialists to create personalized proposals for farmers based on their specific needs. “It is exported to an app on an iPad so when they go see a grower they can walk through it with them face to face,” Lance explained. Connected with that is a scenario calculator which allows the specialist to work with the farmer using different variables to help them determine what is best for their particular situation. “It runs different profit-loss scenarios,” he said. “That’s really important now with crop prices coming down a little.”

Lance says FS Sales Lens also has a scouting app, which allows the specialist to go through a field and check for insects, diseases and weeds. “He can track his movements in a field through GPS, drop a pin or highlight the area where the issue is … take pictures, attach it to a report, and then be able to communicate those issues to the grower,” said Lance.

The FS Sales Lens tool is brand new for this season, after being field tested last year, so growers can expect to see it in use by their FS crop specialists. In addition, Lance says they plan to build on the functionality of it as growers and crop specialists come up with new ways it can be utilized.

Find out more in this interview with Lance Rupert: FS Sales Lens interview

Audio, Farming, FS System, GROWMARK, Technology

WRRDA Conference Report Released

Cindy Zimmerman

wrrdaThe long-awaited Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) conference report was released by House and Senate negotiators on Thursday, to the great relief of agricultural interests.

“This is a huge step forward to ensure the continued success of the soybean supply chain, and leaders in both the House and Senate deserve a great deal of credit for shepherding this bill through a challenging policymaking climate,” said American Soybean Association President and Iowa farmer Ray Gaesser.

rod-davisConference committee member Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) is pleased with the final outcome. “The conference report I believe is a well balanced piece of legislation that takes into consideration the Senate needs and the House needs,” Davis told AgWired. “I’m just excited to get this bill across the finish line – the first one since 2007.”

The legislation is designed to “strengthen the nation’s transportation network, keep America competitive in the global marketplace, and reform and streamline the way we move forward with improvements to our ports, locks, dams, and other water resources infrastructure.” Davis expects the conference report to pass both houses of Congress with little opposition. “And we’ll chalk it up as a success in bi-partisanship and move on to other work that we’ve got to get done,” he added. The legislation is expected to come to the floor next week.

Listen to my interview with Rep. Davis here: Rep. Rodney Davis interview on WRRDA

Audio, Soybean, transportation

Senators and Industry Call for Biodiesel Support

Cindy Zimmerman

nbb-senatorsA group of U.S. Senators including Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined the National Biodiesel Board on Wednesday to release the results of a national survey highlighting uncertainty in the biodiesel industry as a result of policy setbacks in Washington this year.

The survey found that nearly 80 percent of U.S. biodiesel producers have scaled back production this year and more than half have idled production at a plant altogether. Additionally, two-thirds of producers said they have already reduced or anticipate reducing their workforce as a result of the downturn.

The senators are calling on the Administration to help restore stability to the industry by boosting the EPA’s 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposal for biodiesel while urging Congress to reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive. Senators Voice Biodiesel Concerns

Also speaking at the event were North Dakota soybean farmer Terry Goerger; Renewable Energy Group plant manager Bryan Christjansen; Jeff Haas, CEO of General Biodiesel in Seattle; and Wayne Presby, owner of White Mountain Biodiesel in North Haverhill, N.H.

“This uncertainty is bad for producers, it’s bad for agriculture, it’s extremely bad for investors, it’s bad for the environment, and it’s particularly bad for those of us who took cues from Congress and the Administration and made the commitments to build a U.S. renewable fuels future,” said Goerger. Biodiesel Industry Concerns

Audio, Biodiesel, Biofuels

I Can’t Drive 55

Melissa Sandfort

My children are going to grow up as horrible drivers. You know, I stress to them how important it is to follow the rules, yet find myself breaking them every day when I’m in the car. Some stop signs are just a pause, and the speed limit signs are usually just a suggestion. So when I’m using a double-standard in my own ways, how do I still maintain “no breaking the law” with the kids?

One of the things I’m the worst about is speeding. To date, I’ve only had one ticket (back in my college days when I was driving home at 1 a.m. and had volleyball practice at 6 a.m.) and two warnings, one of which, ironically, was in my grandparent’s driveway! But it’s my rule of thumb that 8 mph over is perfectly acceptable.

I’ve always said that when my grandfather was growing up, their way of life must have felt a little bit slower. That’s not saying by any means that they didn’t work as hard or accomplish as much – quite the opposite! But, I do believe that my grandparents grew up being a lot more patient than I ever will be.

Listen to Grandpa explain

Do you think you could limit your speed to 35? I know I couldn’t.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

How Well Do You Know ZimmComm

Jamie Johansen

zimm-ten-golden-years smallChuck and Cindy paved the way for many when they jumped on the agriblogging highway 10 years ago way before the term blog was a household name. They began reporting ag news in a whole new way with downloadable photos, audio and video and became an online source for press releases.

To help celebrate our 10th anniversary we want to know how well you know ZimmComm. Be one of the first 50 people to complete our quiz and we will send a ZimmComm t-shirt. Don’t worry if you don’t score 100%, we just want you to learn a little bit more about the ZimmComm Team.

Take the ‘How Well Do You Know ZimmComm’ quiz now.

Media, ZimmComm Announcement

American Appetite for Organic Breaks $35 Billion

Jamie Johansen

content_img.2106.imgSales of organic products in the United States jumped to $35.1 billion in 2013, up 11.5% from previous years and the fastest growth rate in five years, according to the latest survey from the Organic Trade Association (OTA).

The OTA survey projects that growth rates over the next two years will at least keep pace with the 2013 clip and even slightly exceed it.

OTA’s Organic Industry Survey was conducted and produced by the Nutrition Business Journal. Over 200 companies responded to the survey, which was conducted this year from January 27 through April 4. Companies gave data on revenues reported, sales growth, revenue by product and sales channel breakdowns.

Organic food sales in 2013, at $32.3 billion, accounted for roughly 92% of the total organic sales. Non-food organic products are currently a very small part of the total organic market, but are making quick in-roads. Sales of non-food organic products have jumped nearly eight-fold since 2002, and have almost doubled in market share.

Consumer purchases of organic food account for more than 4% of the $760 billion annual food sales in the United States. The growth rate of organic food sales has dwarfed the average annual growth of just over 3% in total food sales.

The fruit and vegetable category continues to lead the sector with $11.6 billion in sales. The $1.5 billion in new sales of organic fruits and vegetable represented 46% of the organic sector’s $3.3 billion in new dollars.

Find more information on how to purchase the full report here. An executive summary of the findings are available for members of the press by contacting mmcneil@ota.com.

Ag Groups, Food, Organic