Calling All Growers to Take the Distillers Grain Survey

Joanna Schroeder

Calling all corn growers!

Iowa State University is looking at how the use of distillers grains have changed in the United States over the past several years. Interested growers are invited to participate in a survey currently being conducted by Iowa State University Assistant Professor Dr. Kurt Rosentrater. The survey findings will create a better overall picture of the roll distillers grains play in the livestock industry today and provide important insight into possible points of improvement in the future.

The survey is funded, ddgsin part, by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Ethanol Committee as part of the team’s efforts to increase understanding of how this ethanol co-product benefits farmers, ranchers and ethanol producers alike.

“I encourage anyone who might be able to provide information on how they use distillers grains on their operation to take a few minutes and complete this survey,” said NCGA Ethanol Committee Chair Jeff Sandborn, a Michigan farmer. “As the use of distillers grains continues to grow and evolve, data gained through this survey will enable producers to improve their offerings and thus will benefit the very livestock producers that we would like to participate. Using corn to produce fuel and feed is already a win-win-win situation. Now, we want to make it that much better.”

To take the survey, click here.

Agribusiness, Corn, Feed, NCGA

Cooking for Millennials

Chuck Zimmerman

Chef Dave CreamerAt the 2014 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit we’ve heard a lot about food and what millennials like and what triggers their choices. However, I liked a comment by Jason Clay, World Wildlife Fund, who said we’ve got 7 billion food experts in the world. So really, regardless of what generation you’re in we all have opinions about food.

An important element for me is who prepares the food. At the conference here in Arlington it’s Executive Chef Dave Creamer, seen here with our AAA leadership at lunch. I visited with him after lunch.

I asked him what kind of impact the millennials have had on his job. He says that he’s preparing a lot more targeted menus with more specialty foods. He keeps an eye on trending foods because people are expecting to get what they want and it’s not all just meat and potatoes anymore. He says you “have to have a story behind” the food you’re preparing.

Interview with Chef Dave Creamer

2014 AAA Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage is sponsored by Sensible Table

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Food

ResponsibleAg Board Meets & Elects Chair

Jamie Johansen

responsibleagThe ResponsibleAg Board of Directors held its first meeting this week at the offices of the Asmark Institute in Owensboro, Ky. During the meeting, directors elected Billy Pirkle, Senior Director, Environmental Health and Safety, Crop Production Services, as Chairman of the Board. Other officers elected were Pete Mutschler of CHS as Secretary and Scott Rawlins of Wilbur-Ellis as Treasurer.

ResponsibleAg is a self-governing, not-for-profit corporation founded this year by the fertilizer industry for the purpose of enhancing product stewardship at every level within the distribution chain. Utilizing third-party audits, ResponsibleAg will assist fertilizer storage and handling facilities achieve and maintain compliance with federal laws and regulations.

Remaining ResponsibleAg board members are Rod Wells (GROWMARK), Dave Ito (Lyman-Tremont Group), Alicia Duke (J.R. Simplot), Rosemary O’Brien (CF Industries), Tim McArdle (Brandt Consolidated) and Justin Gough (El Dorado Chemical). The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) President Chris Jahn and Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President & CEO Daren Coppock will serve as non-voting ex officio board members.

The board will now select a contractor to manage the ResponsibleAg program. A position description for the role was approved by the board and will be circulated by ARA and TFI, with a submission deadline of May 31. A subcommittee of the board will screen the applicants and conduct in-person interviews with the finalists.

The Board is also forming a technical committee to oversee the development of specific content of assessment questionnaires, pre-qualification requirements for prospective auditors, and other technical issues. This committee is expected to be named by May 16 and will hold its first meeting in early June.

Agribusiness, Fertilizer

The Power of AgFiniti

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyIt seems like every year it gets harder and harder to meet up with the consultant to grab the planting or seeding prescriptions; or if they do make it into our hands, it seems to get forgotten on the kitchen table.

The good news is, with the AgFiniti cloud platform, access to your valuable prescription and setup files is easier than ever! Instead of running into town to grab your files, or waiting for your consultant to get them to you, simply transfer them wirelessly directly from the field.

Many already have a wireless solution that will work with AgFiniti. If you have a smart phone or tablet with a cellular data plan, you may have a device that is capable of becoming a “personal hotspot”. These devices can turn their cellular data connection into a Wi-Fi signal for other devices to connect to. Or, if your operation has a wireless network that’s accessible from the field, office, or shop, you can easily connect your Ag Leader display’s to your AgFiniti account without having to utilize cellular data at all.

AgFiniti-700x490Connect your Ag Leader display to your secure AgFiniti account to access prescriptions, guidance lines and display setup files without having to keep track of a USB! As planting progresses, wirelessly send your as-applied data back to your office or to your trusted advisor, without the hassle of managing multiple USB’s and spending valuable time transferring field data, making data management quick and easy.

Read More

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

College Cafeteria Confidential

Chuck Zimmerman

College Cafeteria ConfidentialIt might sound like something secret but a panel of college “Millennials” talked about “College Cafeteria Confidential: Millennials in the Lunch Line.” Our moderator was Rob Morasco, Sodexo USA. During his session I heard some terms like sustainability and food justice from the George Washington University students participating. I got some contrasting views from two of our panelists.

First up is Jesse Schaffer, Senior, who sees eating good food as a human right. He also believes in food justice and defines it in my interview with him. He got motivated after seeing the unequal distribution of food here in this area and has become active in creating two urban farms. I asked him what his definition of sustainability is.

Interview with Jesse Schaffer

I also spoke with Jennifer Weinberg, Freshman, who was asked on during the panel discussion to define sustainability. I asked her the same question.

Interview with Jennifer Weinberg

The ring frame for the photo comes from our conference room tables. They’re sitting on the end of a lot of rows of tables. I’m not sure why but thought it would make a cool frame for this panel photo.

2014 AAA Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage is sponsored by Sensible Table

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Food, Sustainability

African Seed Industry Dominated by Local Start-Ups

Jamie Johansen

agraLocally-owned African seed companies participating in a program to offer high-yield crop varieties to smallholder farmers across the continent have collectively become the largest seed producers in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report released today at the Grow Africa Investment Forum alongside the World Economic Forum on Africa.

The analysis by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) reveals 80 small- to medium-size African seed companies in 16 countries are on track to produce over 80,000 metric tons of professionally certified seeds in 2014.

“The rapid growth of local seed companies over a very short time period is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit percolating in communities across Africa and to the pent-up demand among Africa’s smallholder farmers for improved, high-yield crop varieties,” said Dr. Joe DeVries, director of AGRA’s Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS.)

AGRA launched PASS in 2007 to inject new energy into Africa’s commercial seed sector, which was failing to provide African farmers with a steady supply of locally-adapted, improved crop varieties—something that farmers elsewhere in the world take for granted. The stagnant state of commercial seed production often is cited as a key reason why yields per hectare in Africa for staple crops like maize are up to 80 percent below what farmers outside of Africa achieve.

Find the complete report here.

Ag Groups, International, Seed

Long-term Sustainability of Global Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is the MOST important part of sustainability?”

The environment is the number one thing on pollers mind when it comes to sustainability. The economy came in with a close second. Those resources and are utilized daily when it comes to agriculture. What are you doing to make them more sustainable?

Our poll results:

  • Environmental – 35%
  • Economic – 28%
  • Human resources -5%
  • Public policy – 5%
  • Inputs – 0%
  • Energy – 12%
  • Other – 15%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Is climate change impacting agriculture?”

The White House released a sweeping climate change assessment this week that has a large section on how agriculture is being impacted. What do you think about that?

ZimmPoll

ASA Pushes for Broad Land Grant Coalition

Jamie Johansen

American Soybean AssociationIn a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this morning, the American Soybean Association (ASA) and six other national farm groups urged USDA to consider the needs of soybean growers and growers of all crops when awarding funds included in the 2014 Farm Bill to land grant universities for the development of websites and web-based tools to assist producers in deciding which of the new law’s farm programs to sign up for.

“Given the complexity of choices in the commodity and crop insurance titles of the farm bill, these tools will be critical for producers in our organizations to make well-informed decisions,” wrote the groups in the letter. “It is important that academic institutions representing different regional views on farm programs participate in this work. As a result, we urge you to select a lead institution possessing substantial experience with revenue-based risk management tools and representing a broad-based, national consortium of land-grant universities. In order to be effective, these web-based decision tools will need to come from institutions that have both the confidence of producers and a strong familiarity with the cropping practices and farm economics of the Midwest and northern Great Plains, which have the majority of acres subject to program decisions.”

The letter came following the Senate Agriculture Committee’s hearing this morning on USDA’s implementation of the farm bill, and included the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, the National Sunflower Association and the U.S. Canola Association, in addition to ASA. USDA anticipates making its awards for website development and other decision aids on May 22, with the final tools expected to be in place by late summer.

Ag Groups, ASA, Farm Bill, Soybean, USDA

Presenters Set for 2014 HR Roundtable

Jamie Johansen

AgCareers LogoIt’s time to register for the 2014 Ag & Food HR Roundtable and learn from our engaging lineup of speakers. The Roundtable is the premier North American event for HR and educational professionals that provides relevant content examining recruitment and retention specifically within the agriculture and food industries. The AgCareers.com 12th Annual Ag & Food HR Roundtable will be held August 5-7, 2014 in Minneapolis, MN, hosted by CHS, Inc.

In its twelfth year, the level of content and educational resources provided to participants of the Roundtable is unmatched in our industry. AgCareers.com is pleased to announce the speakers for the 2014 North American Ag & Food HR Roundtable:

– Nicole Price, Cy Wakeman
– Sarah Wilson, Farmer on a Mission
– Bob Treadway, Treadway & Associates, Inc.
– Dave Maxheimer, Hagie Manufacturing Co.
– Jason Lauritsen, Talent Anarchy
– Ann Bares, Altura Consulting Group
– Jennifer Burnett, CSX Transportation

The 2014 Roundtable Organizing Committee met in December to help provide input and select hot topics that human resource professionals, managers, university/college staff and associations within the agriculture industry are currently facing. Some of this year’s topics include:

– Recruiting and Retaining Talent in Rural Areas
– Strategic HR for Multiple Locations
– Uncovering Unique Talent Pools
– Reward & Retention- What Really Matters?
– Overcoming Challenges of Connecting on Campus
– AgVocacy: Professionally Representing Our Profession

Back in 2014 by popular demand, we are again offering the add-on workshop for those responsible for compensation and benefits. This special workshop on August 7 will incorporate main sessions from the Roundtable and supplemental sessions after the event. Sessions will be specific to compensation and benefits issues, including Communicating Total Rewards Offerings through the Ranks and The Big Debate: Incentive vs. Base Pay. Add this track onto your Roundtable registration for a discounted rate.

You can register today. If you have any questions, please email agcareers@agcareers.com or call 800.929.8975.

AgCareers, Events

Graphic Recording Going On

Chuck Zimmerman

Jim Nuttle Graphic RecordingThe photo albums we create at events become a pretty good graphical representation and documentation of what we see and hear. However, there are other ways to do it.

Jim Nuttle is here at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit doing graphical recording. He’s writing and drawing on huge sheets of paper taped to the walls of the conference room. They are his “notes” of what he’s seeing and hearing. You can see my pictures of him creating his graphics in our photo album.

2014 AAA Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage is sponsored by Sensible Table

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture