Crockett Joins Program to Certify Honey Products

Jamie Johansen

TrueSource_CertifiedLogo_ColorPrintCrockett Honey, a leading supplier of quality honey based in Tempe, Ariz., is the latest company to achieve certification under the growing True Source Certified ProgramTM, reassuring its honey customers that it can trace the source of its honey back to the hive.

About one-third of honey sold in North America today is now True Source Certified. The program has been applauded by U.S. beekeepers and honey industry leadership. One of the main reasons is that it provides traceability from hive to table, helping ensure the food safety and security of the honey used in this country.

“Our promise for generations has been to provide our customers with a high quality and safe product, so becoming True Source Certified is the logical next step in keeping that promise,” said Crockett President Brian Nipper. “This certification program is really essential today to make sure that when you buy honey, you get the pure and safe product you deserve. It’s a terrific program that we’re proud to support.”

Crockett is a family-owned company that operates 6,500 beehives along the Colorado River in Parker, Ariz., and a bottling facility in Tempe. The company provides a wide range of branded products direct to consumers, private label packing, and wholesale products for food manufacturers and foodservice.Read More

Agribusiness

PCV2 Vaccination Strategies

Joanna Schroeder

BIVI Dr Michael MurtaughDid you know that most piglets are born with PCV2? I didn’t until I spoke with Dr. Michael Murtaugh, professor at the University of Minnesota who has been researching PCV2 over the past six years. Dr. Murtaugh gave an update on his presentation to several hundred attendees of Boehringer Ingelheim’s annual Swine Health Seminar.

He noted that piglets are vaccinated shortly after birth to provide lifelong protection against disease. He said the PCV2 vaccines are very interesting because they are very effective at preventing disease even in the presence of the virus that is still there.

I asked Dr. Murtaugh if the vaccines were effective if not given until later. He said that the vaccines are effective in preventing disease at any age as long as there is time for the vaccine to take effect, which generally is about two weeks.

Another interesting element of Dr. Murtaugh’s presentation was around co-infection. “Any time you can prevent one disease in pigs, you give the pig a better chance to fight other infections,” said Dr. Murtaugh. “So the protection you get against PCV2ab, also benefits pig health in general.”

Learn more about PCV2 vaccination strategies by listening my interview with Dr. Michael Murtaugh. PCV2 Vaccination Strategies

Check out the BIVI guest adventures in the BIVI Big D Swine Health Seminar photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

BASF Fights Weed Resistance in Colorado

Leah Guffey

12807927604_8316ec035c_qAt the BASF “Science Behind the Advanced Acre” media event before Commodity Classic a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to learn more about how BASF helps farmers in various parts of the country.

Bob Leisy is a business representative with BASF based in Eastern Colorado. He works with retailers and crop consultants, helping them help local growers, like Alex Rock who we already heard from, to make informed and smart decisions about advanced weed control and plant health.

One of the more interesting things I learned from Bob is the problem that tumbleweeds are in that part of the country. “A lot of our kochia turns to tumbleweeds,” he said. “In the fall, once the plant dies off, the wind breaks it off and then that plant distributes seed as it rolls across the field.” Those tumbleweeds can spread about 100,000 seeds of glyphosate-resistant kochia as they roll, so Bob says they are working with growers to spray for kochia earlier than ever before to try and control it. “We’re looking at using 12-16 ounces of Clarity, a dicamba product from BASF, to put some residual in the ground that will kill the kochia as it begins to sprout.”

You can listen to my interview with Bob here: Interview with Bob Leisy, BASF Business Representative
BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Crop Protection, Herbicide, weed management

PCV2 – A Retrospective

Joanna Schroeder

In one way, you can consider this year the 40th anniversary of PCV (Porcine Circovirus or PCV2) said Dr. Brian Payne, FLEX technical manger for Boehringer Ingelheim during the recent Swine Health Seminar. He explained that in 1974 it was first isolated but the industry didn’t know what it meant. During the next 25 years or so, more studies were done and then Porcine Cirocvirus was split into PCV1 and PCV2 based on genetic sequencing and what they were finding in the field.

bivi-vet14-payneAs Dr. Payne explained, even PCV2 is “mutating”. He said that any virus is going to mutate, or change, over time. As a result, PCV2 has been categorized into PCV2a and PCV2b. He noted that if a producer has circavirus in his swine herd, he or she will know it but most don’t sequence the virus any further because they both affect the herd in basically the same way.

I asked Dr. Payne if PCV2a and PCV2b should be treated in the same way. He said this was a good question and when you are asking if a farm with PCV2a should be treated the same way as a farm with PCV2b, you’re really talking about prevention with a vaccine.

“All the vaccines today including CircoFLEX are PCV2a vaccines but they protect equally as well for PCV2b,” said Dr. Payne, who recommends CircoFLEX at three weeks of age. He said it’s here, and here to stay. He also noted that a guild going into a sow herd needs to be vaccinated one more time. Evidence is showing that when these two prevention strategies are combined, there is more benefit than the piglet vaccination alone.

Listen my interview with Dr. Payne here to learn more about PCV2 and effective prevention strategies. Interview with Dr. Brian Payne on PCV2

Check out the BIVI guest adventures in the BIVI Big D Swine Health Seminar photo album.

Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

ABM Agri Media Council Issues New Research Report

Chuck Zimmerman

Association of Business Information & Media CompaniesThere’s a new research report out from the Association of Business Information & Media Companies, Agri Media Council. The biennial report details how readers engage with agricultural media.

The survey finds that loyalty to and use of print media remains strong among farmers and ranchers, and that growth in digital media is not coming at the expense of print. Key takeaways include:

  • About 80 percent of those polled report reading ag magazines or newspapers at least weekly, and that rises to 97 percent on a monthly basis.
  • Although digital use is growing, it is growing at a slower rate than in other verticals. Amojng digital users, 83 percent also read print media at least weekly.
  • Digital use of ag media resources among readers age 45+ is steady, but use is growing among younger readers, especially for mobile apps (up 13%), mobile websites (up 12%), enewsletters (up 8%) and social media (up 8%).
  • When ranchers and farmers are making purchasing decisions, 65 percent turn to their dealers and retailers, and 50 percent use ag magazines and newspapers. The next highest consulted is ag websites at 18 percent.

The “Media Channel Study,” produced by Readex Research, tracks engagement with traditional and digital media channels, as well as generating insights as to how an integrated media strategy can help marketers and publishers connect with ag professionals. ABM’s Agri Media Council has teamed up with NAMA to produce a webinar that will feature the new results. For more information, and to register, click here.

The NAMA webinar is tomorrow, March 19.

Media

Best Food Facts Web Widget Available

Chuck Zimmerman

The Center for Food Integrity has created a new widget that can be used on any website to help people get answers to food questions. You can see how one version of the widget looks at the bottom of this post. I just submitted one about roast beef and got this immediate answer. I’ll update this post when I get the final answer.

Thank you for submitting a question to Best Food Facts! Rest assured, we’re working on finding the right expert to answer your question. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
In the meantime, see what others are asking:

Got Protein?
Partaking in the Power of Protein
Future of food – 3-D Printing

Post Update: The answer to my question.

Good morning, Chuck,

Thanks for the inquiry on Best Food Facts! When cooking roast beef, be sure to heat to an internal temperature of 145°F (don’t forget to use your meat thermometer). And since grilling season is just around the corner (we hope!), check out these grilling tips as well: How do I Grill It Safely?

If there are additional questions, please let us know – we’re happy to help!

Best regards and healthy eating,
Roxi

Here’s more information about the widget.

Websites looking to help answer consumers’ questions about food now have access to a new widget from www.BestFoodFacts.org that allows readers to submit questions from their sites directly to experts who provide credible and balanced information. BestFoodFacts.org features more than 150 university-based food system experts who have done the research and serve up unbiased answers in blogs, infographics, podcasts and videos on all things food.

“Today’s consumers are asking more questions about food: Is organic healthier? Should I eat GM foods? Are there antibiotics in my meat?” said Roxi Beck with Best Food Facts. “They want balanced information to make informed choices. With the new widget, we’re providing organizations, companies, associations, bloggers and others with a tool their readers can use to access quality information.”

Created by The Center for Food Integrity, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to build consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system, Best Food Facts aggressively tracks trending topics and solicits questions from readers – providing prompt expert feedback on issues in the news. Anyone can submit questions and receive expert responses within as few as 24 hours.

The new Best Food Facts widget can be embedded on websites in both horizontal and vertical formats allowing readers to submit questions directly to www.BestFoodFact.org. Instructions to embed the widget can be found at www.bestfoodfacts.org/ask-an-expert. For additional information, contact Roxi Beck at roxi.beck@bestfoodfacts.org.

Ag Groups, Food

Randy Krotz Appointed CEO of USFRA

Chuck Zimmerman

USFRACongratulations to our good friend Randy Krotz.

The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®) announced that its board of directors has appointed Randy Krotz as chief executive officer, effective immediately. A recognized leader in the agribusiness community and active on his family farm in Kansas, Krotz joined USFRA as vice president of development in 2013 and most recently served as executive director.

classic14-krotz“U.S. agriculture is at an important crossroads, and with Randy’s decades of experience and relationships across the agricultural industry, he is the right person to cement USFRA’s role as the unifying voice of farmers and ranchers to consumer audiences,” Bob Stallman, chairman of USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said. “Randy’s deep background in food, farming and agribusiness will play a key role in further establishing USFRA as a thought leader on food issues and a guidepost for the next generation of farmers and ranchers.”

In 2013, the USFRA board set to create a long-term vision for the movement including structuring the alliance for new leadership. After a national search, USFRA board of directors decided to hire the organization’s first chief executive officer in its three-year history from within its own ranks. Since joining the organization, Krotz has helped build the national prominence of USFRA, with specific focus on consumer-facing initiatives such as its signature series The Food Dialogues® that provides a forum for open conversation around some of the most important food issues today. He has overseen day-to-day management and performance of USFRA focusing on organizational and staff management, as well as outreach to the agricultural industry.

Ag Groups, USFRA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The NAFB Hall of Fame Committee is asking for nominations for present, past or deceased NAFB Broadcast Council members that have made a significant contribution to farm broadcasting.
  • Farm Journal Media received two Neal Awards during American Business Media’s 60th Annual Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards ceremony, held Friday in New York City.
  • CHS Inc. has agreed to acquire selected Canadian retail assets from Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrium, Inc., a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia.
  • Bayer CropScience and John Deere are working together to integrate data access, wireless data transmission, and delivery of prescription recommendations to help farmers optimize yields and return on investment.
Zimfo Bytes

BASF Sharpen Gets Registration for Rice

Cindy Zimmerman

Rice growers now have a new weapon in the fight against tough weeds such as hemp sesbania, morning glory, and Texasweed.

basf-sharpenBASF has received federal registration of Sharpen® herbicide for both pre- and post-emergence applications on rice to allow for flexible control of broadleaf weeds.

“This is a herbicide that offers growers broad-spectrum control on broadleaf weeds,” said Eric Webster, Ph.D., of Louisiana State University, who has studied Sharpen herbicide for several years. “Mainly, we have seen Sharpen herbicide control hemp sesbania, Texasweed and jointvetch very well.”

Webster says Sharpen herbicide is also easily incorporated into the Clearfield® Production System for rice from BASF. “It is an additional chemistry that can be incorporated into that system,” he explained.

Sharpen herbicide is powered by Kixor® herbicide technology – find out more here.

Agribusiness, BASF, Crop Protection, Rice, weed management

AgChat Foundation Searching for Executive Director

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChat FoundationThe AgChat Foundation is looking for a new Executive Director. Interested? Better know your agricultural social media stuff! “Retiring” from the position is the first AgChat Foundation ED, Emily Zweber.

“Since her hiring in 2011, Emily Zweber has been a crucial member of our team here at AgChat, serving as our Executive Director. During her tenure, she has been a tremendous asset in successfully steering ACF to become the leader in educating and equipping farmers, ranchers, agribusiness professionals and educators with the tools needed to effectively tell their stories of agriculture through social media platforms,” Foundation President Jeff VanderWerff said, “We are saddened by the loss of Emily and wish her well in her future endeavors.”

The new Executive Director will oversee the general administration of the organization including fundraising, execution of major goals, management of the organization’s structure and personnel and facilitation of all major activities and meetings including board and committee members, among other responsibilities. For a complete description, please visit the job announcement located at AgChat.org.

Interested parties may submit their resume to hiring@agchat.org by April 15. ACF expects the new Executive Director to join by mid-2014.

Ag Groups