Ag Leaders Set to Speak at Indoor Ag Conf.

Jamie Johansen

indoor-agThe second annual Indoor Agriculture Conference, May 14 – 15, 2014, not only highlights some of the industry’s top technological advances, it also offers attendees access to its top professionals. Speaking on subjects ranging from window farming to food security and lighting systems, the Indoor Agriculture Conference features two full days of education on controlled environment technologies, aero/hydro/aquaponic best practices and business models, automated nutrient systems, future trends, and financing options at the renowned Las Vegas Springs Preserve Desert Living Center.

Michael DiGiglio, president & CEO of Village Farms, takes the stage as part of a Farming Panel on May 14 at 8:45 a.m. Village Farms is a leading vegetable greenhouse producer and supplier in North America, boasting $130 million in annual revenues. Their produce is sold throughout the United States, Canada and select areas in Mexico. The 26-year-old company currently operates more than 262 acres and markets an additional 120 acres of greenhouse.

The first keynote speaker is Paul Lightfoot, whose company Bright Farms was recently named among “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” by Fast Company. Bright Farms works with large grocers to hydroponically grow lettuce, tomatoes and herbs on-site or nearby, cutting transportation costs, increasing produce shelf life, and reducing waste. They recently raised more than $4 million from venture capitalists to expand their greenhouse operations into new cities.

Other featured speakers include Britta Riley, founder of WindowFarms, venture capitalist Joe Hudson of One Earth Capital and Paul Grey of Illumitex.

Co-hosted by Newbean Capital and the Black Emerald Group, and sponsored by Hort Americas, Illumitex and Johnny Seeds, the Indoor Agriculture Conference highlights the accelerating greenhouse, container and vertical farming trend that is sweeping urban centers and inclement environments around the world.

Conference registration is now open. In addition, limited vendor space and several sponsorship opportunities are still available at Indoor.ag.

Ag Groups, Events

Escape Cold – Attend NAMA Conf. in Florida

Chuck Zimmerman

2014 Agri-Marketing ConferenceTired of winter? Tired of snow? How about a Fresh Perspective in the Florida Sunshine? That’s what you’ll get if you come on down to my home state in April.

The 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference is shaping up to be huge! In fact, our hotel room block is FULL. The NAMA staff is negotiating for some overflow already and we’re hoping that some more rooms will become open for the block.

You might want to plan your visit to come early. There is a farm tour put together by the Florida Chapter that’s filling up fast on Tuesday as well as the annual NAMA golf tournament. The hotel is only about a 15 minute drive from the beach too! If you can’t make it we hope someone from your company will be able to.

The program will offer you a lot for your investment and I think we have a larger number of exhibitors in the Connection Point trade show.

ZimmComm will be celebrating 10 Golden Years at the conference. Please plan to visit us in the Connection Point. More on that later.

Ag Groups, NAMA

Charles Eastin Award to be Presented at Ag Day

Chuck Zimmerman

National Ag DayNational Ag Day activities keep growing. This year the Agriculture Council of America is presenting the Charles Eastin Award to Lindsay McQueen, Union/Jackson County, IL Farm Bureaus. This award used to be presented by the National Farm City Council. ACA took over the assets and most of the programs of NFCC last year.

The Eastin Award honors an individual who stands out as an advocate for accurate communications between rural and urban audiences. The award will be presented in Washington, DC on National Ag Day, March 25, 2014.

McQueen has been promoting agriculture and actively involved with agriculture industry her entire life. She has worked for the Farm Bureau for seven years and has been the Union and Jackson County, IL Farm Bureau Manager for four years. She was actively involved in 4-H and FFA all throughout her childhood and high school career and still volunteers with both groups.

I hope to meet her in Washington, DC.!

Ag Day, Ag Groups

Launch of Open Ag Data Alliance

Cindy Zimmerman

The Climate Corporation and several agricultural stakeholders have officially launched the Open Ag Data Alliance (OADA), an open standards software project to ensure farmers have full data access, security and privacy.

oada“OADA will work to ensure farmers can move their data seamlessly and securely between their equipment, software and services by speeding the development of technical standards for data formatting and interoperability that will be openly developed, and shared,” said David Friedberg, CEO of The Climate Corporation, who announced the company’s intent to support the formation of the OADA earlier this year.

Aaron Ault, a senior research engineer for the Open Ag Technology Group at Purdue and a farmer himself, will serve as project lead for OADA. “As a farmer, I need the freedom to select the right hardware, software and services for my operation,” said Ault. “The open standards of OADA will give farmers the flexibility and control they need to choose data science products and services that will work on their farms to help manage their data and make more data-driven decisions, enabling the next wave of agricultural production.”

Companies joining with The Climate Corporation in making the announcement included: CNH Industrial – Case IH/New Holland; GROWMARK cooperative; Valley Irrigation; Wilbur-Ellis Company; and WinField.

Listen to the conference call announcement here: Open Ag Data Alliance announcement

Agribusiness, Audio, GROWMARK, Precision Agriculture

Smart Stories from New Holland

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 431We’ve probably all heard the phrase, “New Holland Smart,” in the company’s marketing campaigns the past few years. Now New Holland has taken the concept a step further with a new campaign that kicked off last month called, “Smart Stories.”

Mark Hooper and Dawn PelonI spoke to Mark Hooper, Director of Marketing for New Holland North America, during last week’s Operation Blue Force Train to Win event. Mark is pictured with New Holland Brand Manager, Dawn Pelon, during our lunch stop. With the Smart Stories campaign Mark says, “We focused on our customers. On some of the smart things they’re doing in their operations to be more efficient, more productive, to have a better use of resources and we focused on how those customers are using our products and their relationship with their dealer.” The campaign is using a mix of media that includes online social media as well as traditional television, print and radio.

You can listen to this week’s program here. Smart Stories from New Holland

Here’s an example of one of the Smart Stories you’ll find as part of the campaign. Jordan Kambeitz shares how his five-generation family farm has evolved from 160 to 20,000+ acres, using high capacity equipment from New Holland and with a helping hand from his dealer, Markusson New Holland.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

Agribusiness, Audio, New Holland, ZimmCast

How Ukraine Unrest is Impacting Ag

Leah Guffey

usubc-logoDuring the World Food Prize in October, we were able to get to know some people from Ukraine and learn more about the US-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC). So our thoughts have been with them as the news has been tuned to the unrest happening there.

usubc-morganOur friend Michael Datsenko with the USUBC put me in touch with his president and CEO Morgan Williams, who is currently in Kyiv, to get an update on the situation there and how it is impacting agriculture. (That’s not a typo – they spell it Kyiv not Kiev – and it’s just Ukraine, not THE Ukraine)

Williams told me that as the former Prime Minister has fled the country and sought refuge in Russia, a new parliament, new Prime Minister and new Ag Minister, Ihor Shvaika, are all in place and beginning to rebuild their infrastructure. Williams has already met Shvaika and will be meeting with him again later this week, along with some of the USUBC agribusiness member representatives.

In our conversation, Williams did debunk some rumors, such as explosives embedded in corn or wheat fields and that farmers aren’t holding onto their corn to hedge against the financial ruin the country currently finds itself in. In fact, he says that in Kyiv things are fairly normal while the upheaval is really happening in the area of Crimea. He does say that farmers are facing some issues getting operating capital with spring planting at hand, and that shipping could also be impacted by the unsettled financial situation.

Listen to our conversation here: Interview with Morgan Williams, U-S Ukraine Business Council

*Also, read here from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) some thoughts on the situation by Iurii Mykhailov, “Agribusiness-Ukraine” magazine editor and President of the Union of Agricultural Journalists of Ukraine.

Agribusiness, Audio, IFAJ, International

Bayer Tackling Citrus Greening

John Davis

bayer-aif14-schrickCitrus growers in the country, especially those in Florida, have been under siege from a disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB) or perhaps better known as citrus greening. During the recent Ag Issues Forum, Chuck caught up with Bayer CropScience‘s Rob Schrick, who said while his company is able to provide some chemicals to fight the disease, they want to offer growers a more sustainable solution.

“We need these growers to be in it for the long term, so we need to be able to look beyond that [chemical solution],” he said, adding there are promising treatments out there, some of them in the GMO realm, which creates its own issues with how quickly a company can respond with a solution, trying to clear the regulatory hurdles, as well as consumer confidence hurdles to prove the technology. But Bayer wants to find a real solution for the long haul. “There’s no silver bullet, so we’re investing into enhanced research and partnering with universities and grower groups to combine our efforts.”

Rob pointed out that they are racing the clock to find a solution. In the more accepted GMO realm of crops, such as corn and soybeans, it takes 10-12 years to get a new strain through the regulatory process. For direct consumable crops, that timeframe could be extended substantially. He hopes that working with the government and universities will get them to take a new look at this to provide a solution that has that citrus tree applying its own natural defenses without the introduction of more chemicals before it’s too late.

“We need to keep these growers viable and keep these orchards in production for the long term and let these growers get back to doing what they do best: grow oranges.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Rob here: Interview with Rob Schrick, Bayer CropScience

bayer-issues-button2014 Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Citrus, Research

Register Today For New Farmer Summit

Jamie Johansen

image003Attention new and aspiring farmers you can learn about both the field and financial sides of farming while making valuable connections at the two-day New Farmer Summit April 4 and 5, 2014 at Primrose Valley Farm near New Glarus, WI.

The low-cost event includes 24 practical workshops on topics such as caring for livestock, organic vegetables, orchards, bees, soil, equipment and more. Other workshop topics include creative access to farmland, finding funding, making a business plan, and how to obtain organic certification.

Registration includes two full days of workshops, large group sessions, a farmer panel, organic meals, a seed swap, and an evening barn dance with live music and a caller. Cost is $75. Scholarships are available, and a discount is offered to farm partners. Lodging is not included, however, rooms have been set aside at hotels in New Glarus and several local inns.

Participants can sign up for an optional “behind-the-scenes” tour of three local, sustainable farms from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 3. The $35 fee includes bus transportation, lunch and snacks.

Primrose Valley Farm is an 83-acre farm, owned by Jamie and David Baker, located in the Driftless region of South Central Wisconsin. It is five minutes outside of New Glarus, 25 minutes from Madison, and under three hours from Chicago. The Bakers left corporate careers in Chicago in 2008 to take up farming. Now they grow 75 varieties of produce for a 300-member CSA (community-supported agriculture group). Their diversified farm includes a 14,000-square-foot packing house with a community room on the second floor, which is where group sessions and meals for the New Farmer Summit will be.

The New Farmer Summit is organized by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and Renewing the Countryside. Sponsors include Agrarian Trust, the National Young Farmers Coalition, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Funding is provided by a grant from the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

Registration and additional details are available online at mosesorganic.org/newfarmersummit, or by calling 715-778-5775.

Ag Groups, Education, Events, Farming

A Sad Goodbye to Joe Watson

Chuck Zimmerman

Joe WatsonI am shocked and saddened by the abrupt passing of Joe Watson. He is one of many agricultural journalists Cindy and I have come to know and love around the world through our participation in IFAJ.

This is a photo of yours truly with Joe during the closing banquet at last year’s IFAJ Congress in Argentina. Joe was dressed in full kilt and toasted us with some good scotch whiskey as he helped promote this year’s Congress in Scotland. Needless to say we were having a good time. I could have posted a different photo buy I’d rather remember Joe with that big grin. I absolutely loved his sense of humor. Some people have said he could be grumpy. I can believe it but I most often saw a serious journalist who loved his work and was a real down to earth person. If Cindy and I can attend this year’s IFAJ Congress we will greatly miss Joe as I know all of our members who knew him will.

Here’s some information about Joe:

Joe was a former Chairman of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists and currently the organisation’s executive representative to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). Joe had been the hard-working agricultural editor of the Press & Journal in Aberdeen since 1996.

Jane Craigie, the president of the British guild says: “It is because of Joe we are hosting in Scotland. It’s tragic that he will not be able to enjoy it. He was actively involved in organising one of the tours to Philip Benzie, Gregor Mackintosh and Maxwells farms. His was a great character, a prolific writer, he was often controversial but he was always proud of his principled stand; he had the courage of his convictions and he was a better journalist for it. We will miss him, his sense of humour and his input greatly. Joe won the P&J the Stuart Seaton award for the best farming content in a regional newspaper, an accolade that he proudly shared on his Farming pages in the Saturday Farming supplement”.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this extremely sad and difficult time.

IFAJ, Media

In Class with New Holland Operation Blue Force

Chuck Zimmerman

Nick GrahamLast week I shared my experience in the tractor cab learning about New Holland’s Auto Command CVT Transmission. Before we got in the field though we were in class with Nick Graham.

The Auto Command transmission gives the operator precise speed control. You can even set it to .1 MPH! I did that when I was out in the field. Not sure why you’d want to go that slow buy you can. You can preset speeds so that you can go to them at the touch of a button. There’s a lot more to learn about this transmission and controller which you can also learn from Nick.

You can listen to Nick’s lesson here or watch it below: Nick Graham Lesson

New Holland Operation Blue Force Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, New Holland, Tractor