Meet the Jerry Minore Scholarship Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

classic14-basf-wheatIn its second year, the Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship fund honors students pursuing careers in the agriculture industry. A total of four students will be awarded a $1,000 or $1,500 scholarship.

As a BASF Senior Market Manager, Minore was a liaison to the wheat industry, including the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and the Foundation, and an advocate for wheat growers, who passed away unexpectedly in February 2012. To honor his advocacy for the wheat industry, BASF partnered with NAWG to fund the scholarships.

“We are pleased to partner with BASF on something that was important to Jerry,” said NWF Chairman Jimmie Musick. “This scholarship is a great way to support youth who express interest in the wheat industry and also continue to honor Jerry’s legacy.”

Lee Moore of Red Springs, North Carolina – a freshman at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, studying agricultural business management.
Trey Heitschmidt of Bushton, Kansas – will be attending Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, in the fall of 2014 and plans on studying agronomy.
Heidi Jamison of Garfield, Washington – a sophomore at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, studying agribusiness.
Max Mielke of Davenport, Washington – will be attending Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, in the fall of 2014 and plans on studying agricultural economics.

Meet the 2014 winners in this interview: Interview with BASF Wheat Scholarship Winners


BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Audio, BASF, Education, Wheat

Water Management Software from Ag Leader

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly

Kaleb Lindquist, Ag Leader software specialist, recently joined ZimmComm’s Cindy Zimmerman at the National Farm Machinery Show to talk about water management.

“SMS Advanced from Ag Leader allows for directional flow arrows, elevation, slope, water shed mapping and printing,” says Lindquist. “There’s also a water management module that can create a tile plan so growers know if it will be enough tile to drain their fields.

nfms14-agleader1“A lot of growers don’t know this kind of software is available, but it’s extremely user-friendly and once they see it, they realize how much it can help them in their operation.”

Listen to Lindquist explain

Lindquist says you can only do tile once, and it needs to be right the first time. Growers can make their initial investment back in less than a couple hundred feet of tile run.

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

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • University of Missouri Extension researchers and USDA scientists on the MU campus are collaborating with DuPont Pioneer to pool soil data, expertise and other resources to help grain farmers improve yields and reduce costs.
  • Extended deadline for the 2014 Golden ARC Awards Contest is now Tuesday, March 11, 2014.
  • American Farm Bureau Federation Executive Vice President and Treasurer Julie Anna Potts and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Carl Shaffer presented Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson with AFBF’s “Golden Plow” award on Wednesday during Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s National Legislative Conference.
  • broadhead, a Minneapolis-based advertising and marketing agency, hires Cindy Hackmann as senior content writer and Taylor Carlson as account coordinator.
Zimfo Bytes

Meet the BASF NCGA Scholarship Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

classic14-basf-ncgaFor the seventh year in a row, BASF Crop Protection teamed up with the National Corn Growers Association to provide the William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students pursuing an agricultural degree.

Mark Scott, a Missouri farmer on the NCGA Grower Services Action Team, helped to present the scholarships. “We’d like to thank BASF for their commitment to the future of our industry,” said Mark. “We feel it’s vital to encourage and support our young people in an ag-related field.”

The program awarded scholarships of $1,000 each to the following students:
Clayton Carley of Milford, Illinois – a junior at Parkland College, Champaign, Illinois, studying crop science and agricultural education.
Emma Likens of Swanton, Nebraska – a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, studying agricultural journalism.
Nicole Schubert of Rockford, Iowa – a junior at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, studying animal science and animal ecology.
Hillary Kletscher of Lamberton, Minnesota – a junior at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, studying biological systems engineering.
Lauren Zitelman of Alma, Missouri – a sophomore at University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, studying agribusiness management.

Pictured from left to right are Mark, Clayton, Emma, and Nicole – Hillary and Lauren were not able to make it. You can hear from those who were in attendance in the interview here: Interview with NCGA Scholarship Winners


BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Corn

BASF Growing Today for Tomorrow

Cindy Zimmerman

basf-cc14-scholarsBASF Crop Protection is committed to growing the future of agriculture by investing in the next generation of professionals for the industry.

BASF this year has continued its partnership with the American Soybean Association (ASA), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) to present 10 students with scholarships today during the 2014 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The scholarships were awarded to students across the country who are pursuing degrees in agriculture.

Dr. Gary Fellows, BASF Manager for Plant Health and Seed Treatment, presented the awards to the students at the BASF exhibit in the Classic trade show. “We’re talking about the farm of the future and these kids are the ones that are going to run that farm,” said Gary. “If you saw their applications for these scholarships, there’s an excellent bunch of students here in all aspects of agriculture from communications, to science, to research, to practical agriculture. But what they all have in common is they are advocates for agriculture to the non-agriculture world.”

We will hear from all the different winners in posts to come, but you can find a list of them all here and see photos in the album linked below.

Listen to my interview with Gary here: Interview with Gary Fellows, BASF
BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Corn, Soybean, Wheat

2014 Commodity Classic Ribbon Cutting

Chuck Zimmerman

Commodity ClassicThe 2014 Commodity Classic ribbon has been cut and the trade show is open for business. The media had some quiet time with exhibitors prior to the general opening which is always nice for us to get some interviews completed.

So the ZimmComm team will be on the floor in sessions and the trade show over the next couple days. I have to move on to the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show in Memphis this afternoon. So I’ll be seeing you from there.


2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Commodity Classic, Video

The Intern is Here!

Kristin Liska

Group PicWe made it to the 2014 Commodity Classic! I am Kristin Liska, the intern for this semester, and the one wearing purple on the right hand side. We all arrived safely in San Antonio, TX and are awaiting the rest of the team to join us. It has been an exciting week so far with attending pre-sessions with the Commodity Classic. This is my first year at the Commodity Classic, and my first time in media! So far I have learned a lot about what is all incorporated with interviewing, taking photos and getting to know other agriculture journalists and broadcasting. We are all looking forward to the rest of the week and what it all has in store.


2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Agribusiness, Commodity Classic

Opinion on Chipotle’s Farmed & Dangerous?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “If available, would you put E15 or E85 in your vehicle?”

Although for different reasons, the majority of you said you would use E15 or E85 in your personal vehicle if it was available. It seems the availability is the question. When will we see more stations carrying different blends of ethanol beyond the Midwest?

Our poll results:

  • Yes, if save money – 29%
  • Yes, supports USA – 31%
  • Maybe, need for info – 5%
  • No, have concerns – 14%
  • I already do – 21%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What do you think about Chipotle’s Farmed & Dangerous?”

Chipotle is at it again. It seems their is no limit to their extreme marketing tactics. Many in the agriculture community have voiced their opinions via social media and other online outlets. Has that made a difference? Are we preaching to the choir or are our words only reaching deaf ears?

ZimmPoll

BASF Shares Science Behind the Advanced Acre

Cindy Zimmerman

basf-cc-14This is the eighth year for the BASF Crop Protection Science Behind media event series held prior to the kickoff of the Commodity Classic and this year the theme is The Advanced Acre.

“The advanced acre is a comprehensive approach that BASF wants to take in its relationship with growers,” said Scott Kay, BASF Vice President for U.S. Crop Protection. “It’s a very good approach to start with the agronomics, talk to the growers about what they have going on on their farm and what they’re planning to do in the future.”

basf-cc14-scottScott is carrying a different title at BASF these days than the last few times we talked to him. He recently moved from the Canadian Crop Protection division of the company back to the United States, taking the place of Paul Rea who has gone global with BASF.

Scott is excited to be back in the North Carolina BASF headquarters and sharing with the U.S. ag media what BASF is doing to help growers get the most out of every acre. “BASF is very committed to agriculture,” said Scott. “We make up roughly six percent of the overall BASF business, yet we receive 35% of the overall R&D investment. That equates to about two million dollars every day.”

BASF now expects its crop protection R&D pipeline to achieve a peak sales potential of nearly €2.1 billion ($2.9 billion), an increase of €400 million over the past year, driven primarily by global demand for BASF’s new Xemium fungicide and Kixor herbicide. BASF also plans to launch a host of new products across a wide range of crops and markets until the end of the decade. Supported by favorable market trends, the R&D pipeline and continued investments will contribute to the Crop Protection division reaching its previously-announced sales target of €8 billion ($11 billion) by 2020.

Listen to my interview with Scott here: Interview with Scott Kay, BASF Listen to Scott’s Science Behind presentation here: BASF Science Behind with Scott Kay
BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, BASF, Corn, Crop Protection

Another Record Setting Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

classic14-regAnother record-setting Commodity Classic is getting underway in San Antonio where corn, soybeans, sorghum, and wheat growers are gathering from around the country.

“At last count, we had over 6500 people and typically we pick up another 500 or so once we get here, so 7000 people is within reach,” said Classic Co-Chair Rob Elliott, an Illinois farmer on the board of the National Corn Growers Association. The trade show will be the biggest ever, but perhaps most significant, there are about 1100 first time attendees and the mood is very upbeat. “We’ve got a lot of young people attending who haven’t been to Classic before.”

classic14-elliottThe event officially kicks off with the opening reception tonight but there were lots of meetings going on with all the four organizations involved in the Classic. Rob was heading into the NCGA issues briefing when we caught up and he says one of the biggest policy concerns facing them now that the farm bill is done is protecting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “Maybe we’ll have some impact on where EPA takes this thing yet,” said Elliott.

Listen to my interview with Rob here: Interview with Rob Elliott, Classic Co-Chair


2014 Commodity Classic Photos

Ag Groups, Audio, Commodity Classic, NCGA