Biobased Products – How Important for Ag?

Talia Goes

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How would you rate the job farmers are doing telling consumers where their food comes from?” It looks as though many of you feel their efforts are good to fair, but as farmers continue to engage in storytelling activities such as the Food Dialogues and social media, more can be done.
Our poll results:

    • Great – 10%
    • Good – 30%
    • Fair – 35%
    • Bad – 20%
    • Other – 5%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How important are bio-based products for agriculture?” “We want to get to the point where we’re using everything we grow and everything we raise” to create jobs, help the environment and reduce petroleum use, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview with USA Today. What do you think – will it encourage growth in rural communities and encourage consumers to understand what’s in the products they’re using?

ZimmPoll

Teaching Starts at Home

Melissa Sandfort

20140617_103748As a mom who works in the agriculture industry, it’s important that my children know where their food comes from. For instance, when I read “Johnny Tractor” books with my 2-year-old daughter and she sees the picture of the cow, she knows the cow has an udder and we get milk from a cow. As a sidebar note, the movie “Barnyard” still bothers me because there are cows with udders and male voices. Anyone else see something wrong with that? I’m off my soapbox now.

As we drive to and from town, I point out tractors, cattle, sprayers, and all things agriculture I possibly can. And when we turn by our John Deere painted mailbox and head up the driveway to the house, this is a field of dryland corn that runs the length of our drive.

The other day, my son (who is almost 6) told me he is excited for the corn to be ready to eat. I quickly corrected him that it was field corn, not sweet corn, and he replied, “Oh, cows eat it, not people.” Proud moment.

I believe educating our children about food and where it comes from starts right here at home. Are you teaching your children about our safe, healthy food supply, then thanking our farmers for what they do to put food on our dinner tables?

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Elevance Exemplifies Biobased Product Diversity

Cindy Zimmerman

usb-bio-elevanceOne of the many biobased product companies represented at the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue this week was Elevance Renewable Sciences, which produces a wide array of materials from renewable oils like soybeans.

“We make products targeted at three broad market industries,” says Andy Shafer, EVP for sales and marketing. “The consumer and industrial space where we make ingredients for cleaners, detergents and solvents, we make ingredients for personal care products, and we make high-performance waxes. In our lubricants and additives space, we make base oils for lubricants and additives for lubricants and fuels, and in our engineered polymers and coatings area we make building blocks for engineered polymers, high-performance plastics, and coatings and adhesives.”

Shafer says they came to the USB event because it gave them an opportunity to talk with government officials, both on the demand side and on the regulatory side. He even had a chance to ask Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden directly about the potential of a loan guarantee for their new plant being built in Mississippi. Interview with Andy Shafer, Elevance

I had the chance to catch Krysta Harden on video visiting with Elevance as she toured through the USB event this week – watch it below.


2014 USB Soy Biobased Dialogue Photo Album

Audio, Soybean, USB, USDA, Video

NAMA Exec Comm Meets

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA Executive Committee Mtg.Thanks to our fearless National Agri-Marketing Association President, Kenna Rathai, I can share a photo from today’s Executive Committee Mtg. I should be there. But I’m not. I want to be there. But I’m not. And it’s not Delta’s fault.

I got as far as Atlanta today. My flight to the meeting in Chicago was delayed and after we boarded we found out we had mechanical troubles and had to de-plane. Our new plane was an hour away and as we were boarding it we found out that O’Hare airport was on a ground stop due to weather. After two hours of waiting on this I gave up. Missed the meeting and turned around to go home. A first in all my years of travel!

So, I have communicated with some of the NAMA execs and business is getting done while I’m on my way back to ZimmComm World Headquarters. #ILoveTravel

NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta and Anheuser-Busch InBev announced a partnership to secure the sourcing of high-quality malting barley, the key raw material for the beer industry.
  • Periscope, announced that BASF Corporation has selected Periscope as its new agency of record for the Agricultural Products North America Business Unit including U.S. Crop Protection, its Specialty Products Division and Functional Crop Care.
  • Syngenta and Delta F.A.R.M. (Farmers Advocating Resource Management) jointly will develop commercial farmland into pollinator habitats.
  • NAMA member nominations are due by July 25th for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence.
Zimfo Bytes

Meet ASTA’s New Second Vice Chair

Cindy Zimmerman

asta-14-hermannMark Herrmann with Monsanto’s vegetable seed division is the new second vice chair of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) after elections held during the annual meeting last week in Indianapolis.

“The seed industry has been an exciting place to be for the last 30 years,” said Herrmann, who has been involved with ASTA for about 20 of those 30 years. “I see it as an organization that doesn’t focus on companies, it focuses on what we can do as a group of people to make sure there are policies that help a healthy industry operate.”

Herrmann says agriculture as fundamental for humanity “and seed is at the very root of agriculture, helping to drive that engine.” He looks forward to being a part of implementing ASTA’s strategic objectives in the years ahead as part of the organization’s officer team. Interview with Mark Herrmann, ASTA Second Vice Chair

ASTA Annual Meeting Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Seed, specialty crops

Farm Progress Show Outdoor Concert Announced

Jamie Johansen

FPS14-flagThe 2014 Farm Progress Show and the Iowa State Center are pleased to present Jerrod Niemann with special guest Craig Campbell in an outdoor concert at the newly renovated ISU Harvester Plaza on Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Ames. This concert is held in conjunction with the 2014 Farm Progress Show to be held in Boone, Iowa on Aug. 26, 27 and 28 and is sponsored by Syngenta.

“We are excited to showcase Syngenta and our Golden Harvest® and NK® seed brands alongside standout performers like Jerrod and Craig during the 2014 Farm Progress Show,” said Eric Boersma, head of corn seed product management, Syngenta. “Our customers and country music fans will be in for a real treat. Jerrod and Craig are passionate about their music, just as we are passionate about providing growers with top-performing hybrids and varieties that will help them grow more corn and soybeans.”

Concert gates open at 5 p.m., Craig Campbell is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., followed by a 30-minute intermission and Jerrod Niemann is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. The general admission, lawn seating concert will be held in the newly renovated Harvester Plaza at the Iowa State Center. The ISU campus is located east of the FPS site in Ames.

Ticket price is $28 and go on sale Friday, June 13 at 10 a.m. Tickets are available at the Iowa State Center Ticket Office, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tickets are also available at all Ticketmaster Centers (convenience surcharges apply), by phone (800)745-3000 or online at www.TicketMaster.com. Concert admission is separate from show admission. The public is welcome. There are no ticket refunds or exchanges.

Jerrod Niemann exploded onto the music scene with his chart-topping major-label debut, 2010’s Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury. The album, on Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville records, included the Number One smash and RIAA-certified Platinum digital single, “Lover, Lover,” and the follow-up Top 5 single, “What Do You Want.” Niemann — who has also written songs for and with such artists as Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, and Lee Brice — returned in 2012 with the acclaimed, musically adventurous release, Free the Music. All the while, he’s continued playing 200 shows a year on the road, year in and year out.

Agribusiness, Farm Progress Show

Dairy in the Food Dialogue

Chuck Zimmerman

USFRA Connie TiptonThe CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, Connie Tipton (pictured on right), took part in the USFRA Food Dialogues in Chicago. The topic was Integrity in Food Marketing and as with other panelists I asked her what this means to her personally. Connie says, “You know every company has to figure out how to position their product but to me it’s basically safe, quality food with truthful labeling.”

She says the dairy industry is now exporting about 15 percent of their products and is doing well with the exception of the fluid milk component. More and more new products are coming out to satisfy just about every desire of the consuming public.

Interview with Connie Tipton

USFRA Food Dialogues Chicago Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Dairy, Food, USFRA

Soy Biobased About Customer Focus

Cindy Zimmerman

usb-bio-motter-hardinThe United Soybean Board is focused on the customers who use soy products – whether feed or food, fuel or new products – and that is what the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue in Washington DC this week is all about.

“Everything’s about the customer,” said USB director John Motter of Ohio, who is chairman of the checkoff group’s Customer Focus Action Team. “My fellow farmers, the elevator, the end user, the people that make those products happen in between – they’re all our customers … we’re drilling down in to what are their needs and how do we serve those needs.”

As a soybean farmer, Motter is so excited to grow a crop that is so versatile. “The sky seems to be the limit,” he said. He’s pictured here with USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden checking out some of the companies at the soy biobased dialogue. Products on display included cosmetics, cleaning supplies and lubricants, artificial turf, textiles, and forest products.

Interview with USB Director John Motter


2014 USB Soy Biobased Dialogue Photo Album

Audio, Soybean, USB

Farm Tour Increases Agritourism in South Carolina

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-06-18 at 7.18.32 AMOn June 21-21 four counties in South Carolina will host the 2014 Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour. It’s the largest free farm tour in the nation with 48 sites along the tour. It’s a self-guided tour of farms featuring local artisans at each stop, and it’s the only farm tour in South Carolina that features artisans.

“Participants on the tour will have the opportunity to see first-hand where their food comes from, watch artisans in action, purchase their works, dance to the melodies of bluegrass and folksongs, and learn about the life of farming, as well as the history of some of the local homesteads,” says Ben Boyles, event coordinator.

To begin the tours, participants are asked to choose several sites to visit in the counties by using the online site map. Once at the first farm site, they will get a travel passport to log each stop along the tour. At the end of the tour, participants must turn in the passport in order to be entered into a drawing to win prizes from the farmers and artisans along the tour.

During visits to farms, guests will meet some unique farmers and artisans in the Catawba Region. Some unique agritourism experiences will include meeting a renowned author and peach farmer who operates one of the oldest African American farms in the region.

For more information about the 2014 Ag + Art Tour, please contact Ben Boyles, Ag + Art Tour chair at 803-981-3021 or visit http://www.agandarttour.com. You may also contact the Rock Hill/York County Convention & Visitors Bureau for general information about the tour at 888-702-1320.

Ag Groups