I like radishes. But like some folks in Australia, not the wild kind.
A parody of the Gotye hit “Somebody I used to know” by agronomic consultant Bill Long, who farms on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia as well as consults to a number of farmers in the region. This is a farmer’s lament on attempts to control wild radish resulting in the loss of chemical options to the point where only radical options are available. Truly reflects the consequences of farming systems becoming reliant on herbicides for weed control.
Cultivate & Connect with AgChat
Calling all aspiring agvocates. The 2014 AgChat Foundation, Cultivate and Connect Conference will be held in Austin, TX, on August 21-22.
It has been said that everything is bigger in Texas. The AgChat Foundation’s 2014 Cultivate & Connect conference to be held at the Radisson Hotel & Suites in beautiful downtown Austin, Texas, August 21-22, 2014, will be no exception. For the first time, our annual conference will include an open registration process which does not require participants to complete an application and receive an invitation to attend. Additionally, there will be no limit on the number of alumni attendees nor a limit on non-farmers and non-ranchers. It will be the best and biggest AgChat conference to date.
Who should attend?
Cultivate & Connect is open to all farmers, ranchers, growers, agribusiness people and agriculture educators from all walks of agriculture. Large, small, organic, conventional, urban, hobby? You are all invited to attend.
Why should you attend?
Expansive networking within the AgChat community
Connect with leading experts and your peers
Learn and share innovative and cutting edge ideas
The best of the best in Ag speakers
Cultivate & Connect brings together the latest in technology and the farmers and ranchers who are using it
An experience you will never forget
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ASA Honors Lifetime Achievements
The American Soybean Association awarded two lifetime achievement awards during the annual banquet at Commodity Classic.
One was presented to a long-time friend of ours. Dave Drennan received the Lifetime Achievement Award – Membership Focus, which honors individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and dedication to ASA and helped further the interests of soybean farmers.
Drennan started his career with ASA in 1975 as newsletter editor. He was named interim Field Services Director at age 24. Dave was ASA’s first Membership Manager in 1979 to spearhead ASA’s membership efforts. In that year, ASA’s membership increased eight percent and more than 1,400 members from the previous year. Drennan was also recognized as the number one ASA Regional Manager for membership recruitment in 1980 from ASA’s 11 regions.
We got to know Dave when he worked for the National Corn Growers Association many years ago, and he currently serves as Executive Director for the Missouri Dairy Association.
ASA recognized David Womack from Shelbyville, Tenn. with its Lifetime Achievement Award – Association Focus, which honors individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and dedication to the ASA and helped further the interests of soybean farmers.
Womack has been involved in the state and national soybean organizations for more than 30 years. Womack held leadership positions in ASA, was a founding member of the United Soybean Board (USB) and the last president of the American Soybean Development Foundation. He also served on the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), Tennessee Soybean Association (TSA) and Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board (TSPB).
BASF Celebrates Corn and Soybean Farmers
BASF Crop Protection helped corn and soybean growers celebrate the achievements of the past year as sponsors of the big association banquets during the Commodity Classic last week.
At the National Corn Growers Association banquet, BASF Manager for Plant Health and Seed Treatment Dr. Gary Fellows talked about how corn growers are living Howard Buffett’s “40 Chances” challenge to make a difference in the world. “You are all greatly maximizing your 40 chances, or 40 seasons, to producing more out of the same acre,” Gary said, paying tribute to the corn yield contest and scholarship winners who were honored during the banquet.
BASF Communications and Industry Relations Manager Sharon Hall attended the American Soybean Association annual banquet and helped to present the Conservation Legacy Awards, which BASF co-sponsors. Iowa soybean farmer David Ausberger was honored as both the Midwest regional and the national award winner. Jerry Peery of Kentucky received the the South Region award, and Mark and Phyllis Legan of Indiana received the award for the Northeast Region.
BASF at the 2014 Commodity Classic Photos
Bayer Brings in Bloggers for Panel
During the Ag Issues Forum ahead of Commodity Classic last week, Bayer Crop Science brought in a panel of bloggers for a session called “Welcome to MY World: Consumers and Growers Seek Common Ground,” a conversation between three bloggers. The panel answered questions such as “What do your followers want to hear, how are they getting their information, and how should we start communicating with them?” The three panelist all agreed that biotechnology is a very hot topic right now, and shared how they each approach the topic with their followers.
The panelists included:
Mommy blogger Annie Schultz, Mama Dweeb – Annie is a lifelong Kansas resident who started her blog in 2009 as a stay-at-home mom to share inspiration, product reviews, and family stories. Roles have changed a bit in their home as Annie now works outside of the home and her husband, Josh is in the role of stay-at-home dad to their three children.
Farm wife blogger Emily Webel, Confessions of a Farm Wife – From central Illinois, Emily and her husband Joe have four children in their remodeled farm house raising children, dairy cows and crops. Husband Joe even gets in on the blogging by taking photos of the birthing process or harvest.
Farmer blogger Brian Scott, The Farmer’s Life/CNN’s Eatocracy – Brian is a 4th generation farmer from Northwest Indiana that farms about 2100 acres with his dad and grandfather. He utilizes social media to get his message out about agriculture and farming.
You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Brian Scott here: Interview with Farmer blogger Brian Scott
Soil Health Partnership Update at Classic
Since the health of a farm depends largely on healthy soil, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), with support from the Walton Family Foundation and Monsanto, recently announced the formation a new Science Advisory Council and the Soil Health Partnership (SHP).
During a press conference at the Commodity Classic, members of the partnership discussed plans to help farmers enhance soil health and introduced the initiative’s first demonstration farmers – Bill and Tim Couser of Nevada, Iowa. NCGA vice president of production and utilization Paul Bertels, Monsanto sustainable business solutions lead Michael Doane, and Sean McMahon, North American agriculture program director for The Nature Conservancy, also took part in the discussion.
SHP’s ultimate goal is to measure and communicate the economic and environmental benefits of different soil management strategies; and provide a set of regionally specific, data-driven recommendations that farmers can use to improve the productivity and sustainability of their farms. Over the next five years, SHP will work to aggregate regional data to catalyze a platform for knowledge-sharing from farmer to farmer to create a set of best practices to improve soil health.
Listen to the full Soil Health Partnership press conference here: Soil Health Partnership Press Conference
Interview with Tim and Bill Couser: Bill and Tim Couser Interview
2014 Commodity Classic Photos
New Holland Auto Command Lesson
My first lesson during the New Holland Operation Blue Force field training event was in a T7 210 Auto Command CVT transmission tractor. My teacher was Luke Zerby. He says this tractor is perfect for hay and forage work. Luke talked me through the control stick which is mounted on a Sidewinder II comfy armrest. The controls allow you to preset three different speeds to switch between easily. There is also an Integrated Control Panel which allows for even more pre-set options and finer tuning those settings. This allows you to maximize engine efficiency.
The Auto Command™ Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) makes it easy to find the perfect speed for each job because your choice of speeds is infinite. You accelerate from zero to maximum speed smoothly, without multiple steps. And, with no clutching, the shuttle shifting is the smoothest you’ll find, making the Auto Command transmission ideal for loader work.
Ride along with me via ZimmGlass to learn more about what this feature offers:
I’ve got lots of photos from this week’s event for your viewing/sharing pleasure: New Holland Operation Blue Force Photo Album
Facts on Ethanol’s Side in Fight with Big Oil
It’s not always fact-based arguments proponents of ethanol are up against when battling Big Oil. But that’s why it’s all more important to make sure you have good facts on your side in the fight. Farmers who attended the recent Commodity Classic in San Antonio were able to sit in on a session titled, “Biofuels and the Renewable Fuels Standard, A Farmer’s Avenue to American Energy Independence,” to make sure they can talk about the success stories and silence ethanol’s critics.
Brian Jennings with the American Coalition for Ethanol was one of the panelists taking part. He said you’re not necessarily battling facts when it comes to taking on some of the myths put out by the petroleum industry.
“The message I was trying to relay to the corn growers is stay involved, remain engaged, get your neighbors and friends involved, and know that this isn’t a fact-based fight. When the fight is about facts, we always win,” Brian said, adding that ethanol doesn’t have to stoop to the lies and scare tactics of Big Oil.
Listen to Brian’s interview here: Brian Jennings, American Coalition for Ethanol
Another effective tool in the fight is showing the positive change ethanol has brought to Rural America, creating better markets for farmers’ corn, helping the country achieve energy independence, and building up communities, like the one that Northwest Iowa corn farmer James Doxtad comes from. He says while many folks back in his home state are aware of the good the renewable fuel has brought to the heartland, too many people in the country just don’t know.
“It’s amazing how many people out there are unaware of the advantages of ethanol. Ethanol is a good thing, we’re producing a good product, and we’re doing it for a good reason.” he said.
Check out James’ interview here: Iowa farmer James Doxtad
2014 Commodity Classic Photos
Seed Treatment Stewardship Promoted at Classic
We first heard about “The Guide to Seed Treatment Stewardship” last year at Commodity Classic.
The second phase roll out of the guide – produced by the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) in collaboration with organizations like the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association and American Farm Bureau – began this year and we heard more about it from ASTA VP for Government and Regulatory Affairs Jane DeMarchi.
“The Guide to Seed Treatment Stewardship was created to touch all aspects of seed applied technology,” said Jane. “Our goal is to emphasize stewardship practices across crops and treatment segments and to minimize the risk of seed dust exposure to pollinators.”
Jane says they have developed videos about seed treatment stewardship and began taking them on the road this year to state and national corn, soybean and farm bureau meetings, and she says awareness of pollinator issues is growing among farmers across the country.
Learn more here: Press conference with Jane DeMarchi, ASTA
2014 Commodity Classic Photos
Zimfo Bytes
- During the annual meeting of its voting delegates at last week’s Commodity Classic in San Antonio, the farmer members of the American Soybean Association plotted the association’s policy course for the coming year during the open resolutions process.
- Farmer and rancher members of Farm Bureau from around the country officially kicked off the organization’s new “Our Food Link” program in conjunction with a conference for state leaders of Women’s Leadership and Promotion & Education programs.
- The Purdue University College of Agriculture has awarded $1 million in state-funded grants for a wide variety of projects designed to advance Indiana’s leadership in plant and animal agriculture and rural development.
- Nominations are due March 15 for the Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame, an award program honoring agricultural public relations professionals who have made lifetime contributions to the industry.
