Farmland in the Big Apple

Leah Guffey April 18, 2014

Director James Moll (3rd from left) and film editor Tim Calandrello pose with farmers David Loberg, Leighton Cooley, Sutton Morgan, Ryan Veldhuizen and Brad Bellah attend the Private New York Premiere of “Farmland” during the Tribeca Film Festival (Getty Images)

Farmland the movie was screened last night at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), which has been actively involved in promoting the film across the country, reports that the premiere of Farmland in the Big Apple was a huge success with two packed theaters screening the film.

In an age where most Americans have not stepped foot on a farm or ranch or even talked to those who grow and raise the food we eat, Farmland takes an intimate look at the lives of six young farmers and ranchers, all of whom are now responsible for running their farm operation. Before the showing, director James Moll and the six farmers and ranchers involved in the film took a moment to host a press conference with ag media.

The featured farmers are:
Brad Bellah – 6th generation cattle rancher in Texas
Leighton Cooley – 4th generation poultry farmer in Georgia
David Loberg – 5th generation corn and bean farmer from Nebraska
Sutton Morgan – 4th generation vegetable grower in California
Ryan Veldhuizen – 5th generation hog farmer
Margaret Schlass – CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) grower in Pennsylvania

Ways you can support the film are by going to farmlandfilm.com and with hashtag #farmlandfilm. There’s a list of showings by state and you can also expect to see Farmland on your own television via OnDemand in the future.

You can listen to the press conference here: Farmland the movie New York press conference

Audio, Farming, USFRA

Summer Precision Ag Training

Melissa Sandfort April 18, 2014

Did you know Ag Leader offers a variety of SMS training sessions to help answer your questions about the software? That’s right, whether you’re more comfortable listening in on a webinar from your home computer, or attending an in-person, hands-on classroom training session, Ag Leader has a variety of courses to fit your needs.

Jessica Ahrens, software training specialist, says the software is always changing and customers need to stay up-to-date on the new features in order to best utilize them for their operations.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Ahrens says Ag Leader provides a wide variety of training for customers. Find out what’s available to you.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Ahrens says the training enables customers to troubleshoot and answer questions on their own instead of spending time on the phone with software support specialists, even though they are always available as a resource.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Be sure and sign up today for your training!

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

Tim’s Real Easter Basket Grass

Chuck Zimmerman April 18, 2014

Does it ever seem like you’ll never get all the plastic Easter basket grass out of your house when the holiday is over? Do you find it years later? Still in mint condition?

Solution: Tim’s Real Easter Basket Grass

Here’s part of The Story:

Tim’s Easter Basket Grass was conceived of when I began collecting hay from the neighboring farm to fill my sons’ Easter baskets. I thought it added to the Easter basket experience as it seemed to make the Easter Bunny a more genuine creature. Being an animal, wouldn’t he/she be more likely to use fresh, fragrant hay rather than a manufactured, plastic product?

Agribusiness

AdFarm Brings Ag to Kansas City’s Crossroads District

Jamie Johansen April 17, 2014

AdFarm, a full-service marketing communications agency, is the first tenant to inhabit the 1925-constructed building after the property’s transformation to a multi-use commercial space.

“Moving is not only refreshing for clients and AdFarmers, but the new office is also more welcoming and conducive for hosting industry events,” says Roger Reierson, AdFarm’s president and board chairman. “The location is close to the energy and creativity that brings people to the Kansas City Crossroads District – it’s fitting for AdFarm.”

Located in Kansas City, Mo., at 2101 Broadway Boulevard, the new 6,768-square-foot office space can accommodate future expansion in the agency’s Kansas City location. While the new address is only 1.8 miles from the old, relocating the AdFarm office proved to be a substantial process – which is captured in an one minute time-lapse video below.

The interior design uses AdFarm’s signature reclaimed barn wood throughout. Also, loyal to the agency’s agriculture foundation, is a silo-stylized lobby and grain bin-inspired boardroom. Now the office greeter, a weathered antique windmill – the AdFarm-Kansas City icon – is anchored to the floorwith dramatic ground-lighting.

AdFarm partnered with Kansas City-based architecture firm Finkle|Williams and 3D Development to create thework space. The three-level building, listed in National Register of Historic Places and expected to commission a LEED Gold certification, has been updated with high-efficiency systems and insulated glass in the original warehouse windows – maintaining unobstructed views of the downtown skyline. Other building tenants include Pezzettino Italian Deli and Market andValorem Consulting.

“AdFarm’s excited to relocate to a new space that represents aconfluence of agriculture tradition with the verve and pulse of Kansas City’s Crossroads District – we’re investing in the agency, agriculture and Kansas City; it’s very rewarding,” says Les Kahl, AdFarm U.S. managing partner.

Advertising, Agribusiness, Marketing

Fix-A-Flat

Melissa Sandfort April 17, 2014

Living in a small town most of my life, I’ve spent countless hours driving the back country roads whether they be rock or gravel. On Sunday afternoon when we were kids, dad would pile us in the old brown pickup that had a hole in the floorboard by the stick shift and take us for a drive. He’d show us this old place and that old house, we’d get stuck in mud as we learned to drive and I was always amazed at how he could get us out. I thought I was “big time” when I got to shift…he would tell me “up one and over one” to get to second gear.

But spending that much time on rock roads also meant flat tires. When the road grader would come by, he would loosen things on the road that may have bounced out of those old trucks we used for Sunday drives. Nails, screws, pieces of metal…whatever had been tossed in the beat-up old truck bed which also had holes in it!

The first flat tire I ever had was when I lived in Omaha and at the time, mom and dad had AAA so I called them, used mom’s name, and they fixed my flat and I went on my way. Since then, I’ve had numerous nails and slow-leaking tires, but I take them to the filling station for patching. I know back in Driver’s Ed I learned how to fix a flat and could probably do it in a pinch, but am thankful I’ve never had to.

Things were different back when Grandpa’s family owned their first vehicles. Listen as Grandpa recounts a story about this tire-patching kit and what all it entailed.

Listen to Grandpa explain

Makes changing a tire today sound easy!

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Tour of Bayer Bee Center

Cindy Zimmerman April 17, 2014

Meet Sarah Myers, the apiarist in charge of the North American Bayer Bee Care Center. She is our guide for this YouTube tour through the newly opened facility with a taste of what it has to offer for visitors. You can register for tours on the Bayer CropScience website.

You can also find lots of photos of the new center here:
Bayer CropScience Bee Care Center
Grand Opening Photo Album

Take it away, Sarah!

Agribusiness, Bayer, pollinators, Video

Congresswoman Visits Bayer Bee Center

Cindy Zimmerman April 17, 2014

Even though she had to miss the grand opening ceremony due to a conflict, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) made it a point to make it out to see the new Bayer CropScience North American Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park.

“The research and development that they are doing here is going to help us grow more food into the future,” she said in an interview. “It is vital to the North Carolina economy but also to the world.”

Ellmers added that bees are an important part of the discussion about genetically modified crops. “It’s a discussion that’s being had on the national level,” said Ellmers. She is pictured here at the Bee Care Center with Bayer’s Robyn Kneen who was instrumental in the development of the center.

I also asked the Congresswoman about the new farm bill and why she is a strong supporter of immigration reform for farmers in her state. Interview with Rep. Renee Ellmers

Bayer CropScience Bee Care Center Grand Opening Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, pollinators

End of the USDA Telephone Newsline

Cindy Zimmerman April 17, 2014

This week will mark the end of an era as the USDA Radio Newsline will no longer be available via the telephone starting tomorrow. I can remember recording that newsline on a reel-to-reel machine just like this one when I first started in the business back in 1980. At that time, the newsline was also sent out on small reel-to-reel tapes. That soon gave way to cassettes, and then the internet came along and changed everything.

According to the USDA announcement out today:

It was in 1968 when the Department of Agriculture made its news stories accessible through phone lines. It was known then as The Spot News Service. Now 46 years later, thanks to technological changes and upgrades the telephone news service will end effective Friday, April 18, 2014.

The USDA Radio Newsline will still be available electronically through the USDA.gov website. For your convenience you will still get the daily email highlighting all of the stories produced for that day.

FYI, you can get the news line stories via iTunes as a podcast and/or an RSS feed in your email, as well as, the same way you get the weekly features.

You really have to give USDA credit for adopting new technology quickly and keeping that newsline as relevant as ever, especially to Gary Crawford who has been there for the whole evolution. I can’t say I miss recording newslines off the phone on reel-to-reel, but I do wonder what will come next!

Media, USDA

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes April 16, 2014

Archer Daniels Midland Company announced three significant actions in the company’s ongoing portfolio management: an agreement to sell the company’s South American fertilizer business, pursuit of the sale of the company’s chocolate business, and the acquisition of the remaining stake of Alfred C. Toepfer International GmbH.
More than 150 area member-owners and guests joined the Wheat Growers’ Frederick agronomy staff to celebrate the opening of the Wheat Growers Frederick Agronomy Center.
Since the purchase of the Sil-All range of forage inoculants in 2011, Lallemand Animal Nutrition’s team of forage experts have developed a new product formulation in the United States to best meet the needs of today’s producers.
Semex sire 0200HO00402 Mainstream Manifold reached the pivotal Millionaire Sire mark at Semex, joining 11 other elite Semex sires that have each produced over one million doses of semen.

Zimfo Bytes

More Then Just Barns

Jamie Johansen April 16, 2014

The Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI is growing thanks to New Holland Agriculture. The expansion is underway and during the groundbreaking ceremony last week I spoke with Mark Clarke, director of the Alliant Energy Center.

“We’re partaking on a project that we started a little over 18 months ago and to see it finally come to together is really exciting for me. We are going to have some really neat buildings when this is all said and done.”

“What you are going to see is two brand new state-of-art building facilities and I don’t know if anywhere else in the United States is going to be able to compete with these when we are done. We designed these from an animal standpoint. We had the representatives from World Dairy Expo and Midwest Horse Fair at the table last summer when we were designing these buildings. We are going to have 290,000 square feet of exhibition space and they are really versatile.”

Listen to or download my interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Clarke

Another big player in this expansion is Ben Brancel, Secretary of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

“The state of Wisconsin is recognizing the value of the livestock industry and World Dairy Expo is an international exhibit that brings people from around the world.”

Ben explains that they already have had inquires about using the New Holland Pavilions for catering and sporting events along with many trade show type conferences.

They all know that the deadline is tight, but have great confidence in the endeavor. The Dane County Fair Grounds are accommodating with the use of tents for other activities held there throughout the summer. I know I’m not the only one who can’t wait for the ribbon cutting this fall.

Listen to or download my interview with Ben here: Interview with Ben Brancel

Checkout photos from the event here: New Holland Pavilion Groundbreaking Ceremony

Agribusiness, Audio, New Holland, World Dairy Expo

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