President to Sign Farm Bill Today

Cindy Zimmerman

deb-stabenowPresident Obama will sign the Agricultural Act of 2014 today at Michigan State University, the alma mater of Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

“This is a very exciting day and I welcome that the president is committed to agriculture in America and rural America and the research that we certainly exemplify at Michigan State,” said Stabenow earlier this week.

She will obviously be there and a few Michigan farmers have reportedly been invited to attend the private event, but House lawmakers who helped finally get the delayed legislation to the president’s desk will be absent. According to Politico, both House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) were invited but declined to attend.

The event is scheduled for around 2:00 pm Michigan time and is expected to be webcast live on local TV stations and the White House website.

Farm Bill

The Value of Data

Joanna Schroeder

Ag Leader Tyler AndersonWhy should we care about data I asked Tyler Anderson with Ag Leader during the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show. Anderson said we should care about data. So I asked the next logical question, “How do we know if it worked?”.

“We can check to make sure the data worked by reading the information we’ve recorded out in the field in our SMS Advanced Software program,” explained Anderson. “By looking at the maps we can make sure we’re not having any mechanical problems we didn’t see out in the field, but we can also confirm we’re actually getting results from the practices we’re doing.”

This, said Anderson, is what Ag Leader calls “the value of data”. He explained that growers spend all this money on precision technologies and farm equipment but how do you know if it’s actually having an effect? Using Ag Leader’s SMS tools, a grower can start analyzing various elements of the data or even analyze data across the entire operations.

Anderson said the data is also valuable because not only can you look to see what happened during the current year, but also using it to plan for the future.

Learn more about the “value of data” in my interview with Tyler Anderson: The Value of Data

Click here to view the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show photo album.

Ag Leader, Audio, Iowa Power Show, Precision Agriculture

Ag Leader’s Luke Bunkers on Water Management

Joanna Schroeder

Water management. An ongoing issue for growers across the country and around the world. To learn more about some of the big water management issues in agriculture, I turned to Luke Bunkers with Ag Leader who spent some time with me during the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show.

Luke Bunkers Ag LeaderToday with input costs and costs of fertilizer and seed being as high as they are when you don’t get the crop planted and a good emerged crop with a good stand to it, you don’t get the max benefits out of the crop that you can, explained Bunkers. He noted that too much water is a big proponent of this as well as not enough water and this is where water management comes in.

One of the solutions, said Bunkers, is adding tile to fields. Ag Leader has some precision ag technology, such as the Intellislop tile plow control system, that can raise the success rate of water management. Ag Leader also has software, such as the SMS Advanced Water Management module, that can help develop a tile plan and then analyze the data at any give moment or over time once the plan has been executed.

“The tile plan gives the grower an idea of what the whole system is going to look like including how many feet of tile, what the discharge of that system is going to be, how much water is that system going to be able to handle so Ag Leader encompasses all sides of water management with these two technologies,” explained Bunkers.

Bunkers stressed that every farm is different and tile systems can be put in during the fall or spring. He is going to be participating in some tile clinics during the next few weeks in North and South Dakota put on by Hefty Brothers.

Listen to my full interview with Luke Bunkers: Ag Leader's Luke Bunkers on Water Management

Click here to view the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show photo album.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness, Audio, Iowa Power Show, Precision Agriculture

Entry-Level Display from Ag Leader

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly ZimmComm’s Joanna Schroeder recently caught up with Ag Leader’s Josh Rasmusson about the Compass display, a simple and affordable precision farming display that offers guidance and virtual terminal capabilities.

Learn more about this new product offering which was just launched in November 2013 in Joanna’s full interview with Josh.

Listen to Rasmusson explain

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.

Click here to view the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show photo album.

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Support for the beef checkoff, at 78 percent, is the highest recorded in the past 21 years, according to a recent survey of 1,225 beef and dairy producers nationwide.
  • The Agrievolution Alliance announces that Japan has joined the alliance and is the 12th member of this global coalition of agricultural equipment manufacturing associations.
  • Hoegemeyer Hybrids, a family-run seed company based in Hooper, Neb., has selected broadhead, a Minneapolis-based full-service marketing communications agency, to solidify the brand’s reach across the Western Corn Belt.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Ram Truck brand announced a partnership at the organization’s 2014 Cattle Industry & NCBA Trade Show in Nashville, Tenn.
Zimfo Bytes

USA Pears Sponsors Olymic Athlete Torin Koos

Talia Goes

Koos_T_Skiier120x187Culinary experts often claim that “what grows together, goes together,” and Olympic cross-country skier Torin Koos proves that this adage rings true. Koos grew up in the heart of Pacific Northwest pear country, home to 84% of the U.S. fresh pear crop. Koos’s approach to healthy diet and fitness inspires all who want to live a healthier lifestyle. In support of that message, USA Pears has been an official sponsor of 33-year-old Koos for several years and is proud to continue its support as he competes in his fourth consecutive Winter Olympic Games in 2014.

To keep his fans and fellow pear aficionados updated on the latest from Sochi, Koos will be posting regular photo updates from USA Pears’ Instagram account. The popular smart phone application is available for Windows, iPhone, and Android and allows users to share photos and video with followers. As he’s preparing for the games and settling into Sochi, Koos has given USA Pears fans a glimpse from his journey via Instagram, recently reassuring followers that there are plenty of sweet and juicy USA Pears in the Olympic Village dining hall. The 2014 Winter Olympic Games are being held February 7-23 in Sochi, Russia.

As a professional athlete, Koos says that sound nutrition is integral to his success and pears are a key part of his diet. Having been raised among the orchards in Leavenworth, Washington, he holds a special affinity for pears, which inspires his important pre-race meal, “a tall glass of orange juice and a big bowl of oatmeal, topped with slices of Green Anjou pears three hours before race time. Works like a charm.”

Agribusiness, Food, Social Media

IFAMA and the African Connection

Cindy Zimmerman

Africa’s agriculture and agribusiness future is at the top of the world’s food and economic growth agendas, so it is appropriate that the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) will hold its annual Symposium and World Forum in Cape Town this year.

ifama-13-thad“We’re really looking to highlight the needs for agribusiness development and education and careers throughout the African context,” said IFAMA president Thad Simons, who is also president and CEO of Novus International.

The World Forum will have three main themes – The Talent Factor, Feeding the World, and Africa Agribusiness Age of Opportunity. The Symposium portion of the conference features two days of research presentations on topics addressing the global food system that will form the foundation for discussions during the forum. “These are people doing research with regard to economics, marketing, all the parts of agribusiness that are important to understand how we are linking the farmer to the consumer,” Thad told me during an interview at the International Production and Processing Expo last week.

IFAMA is also helping to promote the 40 Chances Fellows program, which was announced at the 2013 World Food Prize. “There’s an open submission process happening right now through the end of May,” Thad explained. “We’re just trying to make sure as many people are putting forth their submissions so we get four really great candidates.”

The fellowships will fund four applicants under the age of 40 submitting a social enterprises plan that addresses issues of hunger, conflict, or poverty in Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Malawi.

Find out more in this interview with Thad – Interview with IFAMA president Thad Simons


International Production and Processing Expo Photos

Sponsored by Novus International Inc

Agribusiness, Audio, International, IPPE, Novus International

MapShots Customer Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

MapShots Customer ConferenceI’m going through a little bit of precision agriculture immersion today through Saturday at the MapShots Customer Conference in Atlanta. This event brings in MapShots customers as well as third party partners for an intensive couple of days of training sessions and presentations. Today’s pre-conference program includes two sessions:

Getting Started with AgStudio – this session is designed to enhance new users’ experiences with AgStudio and AgStudio Select.

Building Variable Rate Calculators and Scripts – for more advanced users, this session guides you through customizing calculators and scripts to meet your specific needs. Emphasis will be on fertility scripts, but seeding scripts will also be addressed.

To get a preview of the conference I visited with MapShots Tim Taylor, seen conducting one of this afternoon’s sessions. He says the company just wrapped up their largest sales year ever and this conference provides their customers to get up to speed on products like AgStudio.

You can listen to my interview with Tim here: Interview with Tim Taylor

You can find my photos from the event online here: 2014 MapShots Customer Conference Photo Album

Agribusiness, Precision Agriculture

GMO Coalition for Safe Food Formed

Cindy Zimmerman

A diverse group of industry and non-governmental organizations today announced the formation of a new coalition dedicated to the advancement of a federal solution on the labeling of food products derived from genetically modified ingredients (GMOs).

cfsafThe goal of the “Coalition for Safe Affordable Food” is to urge Congress to seek a federal solution that would establish standards for the safety and labeling of food and beverage products made with GMOs.

Representatives of some of the participating groups announced the coalition during a media conference call today – including Grocery Manufacturers Association, National Council of Farm Cooperatives, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), American Soybean Association and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

“American families deserve safe, abundant and affordable food,” said NCGA President and Illinois farmer Martin Barbre. “And America’s farmers rely on this proven technology to protect crops from insects, weeds and drought, enabling us to deliver on that promise and to do so through sustainable means. A federal solution on GMO labeling will bolster consumer confidence in the safety of American food by reaffirming the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) role as the nation’s foremost authority on the use and labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.”

Listen to the conference call here: GMO Coalition Announcement

Ag Groups, Audio, Biotech, Corn, Food, NCGA, Soybean

Head to the Clouds with Ag Leader’s AgFiniti

Joanna Schroeder

The big trend in the data world these days is the “cloud”. The cloud is a way to store your data in a safe, secure place and have access to it anywhere you may be. Ag Leader recently headed to the “clouds” with their new AgFiniti precision technology and to learn more, I spoke with Kaleb Lindquist during the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show.

Ag Leader Kaleb LindquistLindquist explained that AgFiniti is a cloud-based solution, or platform, Ag Leader developed to make the growers, dealers and the agribusiness community’s life easier. “It’s designed to interconnect everybody,” said Lindquist, “whether that be the grower to the dealer, the grower to the agribusiness or vice versa.”

So seriously, what is the cloud? Lindquist explained that it is a metaphorical term for a remote server somewhere. Data is uploaded to the cloud, in other words to a remote, secure server so your data is not housed on your physical desktop. The data is safe, secure and backed up regularly (so if your hard drive in your desktop or laptop computer crashes you still have all the data you stored in AgFiniti).

Here is how it works. Using a wiresless hot spot, a grower can take a file from his or her display (both Integra and Versa) while he’s out in the field, upload it to AgFiniti and bam, it’s there. Then the grower can call his agronomist, tell him or her he’s uploaded a file and the agronomist (with the grower’s permission) can instantaneously pull down the file, review it and then give the grower some recommendations. Is there any more instantaneous way to share data other than having the agronomist with you on the farm? Nope.

I’m waxing lyrical because I’m having fun in AgFiniti’s cloud. You will too once you learn more about this precision ag technology.

Listen to my full interview with Kaleb Lindquist: Head to the Clouds with Ag Leader's AgFiniti

Click here to view the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show photo album.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness, Audio, Internet, Iowa Power Show, Precision Agriculture