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

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Solum Inc. announced it has changed its name to Granular Inc. and launched a new cloud business software and analytics offering for farmers.
  • BASF announced that Sercadis fungicide has received full U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration.
  • Elanco, the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company announced an agreement to acquire Lohmann SE (Lohmann Animal Health), a privately-held company headquartered in Cuxhaven, Germany.
  • The Tuskegee University College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS) has received $1.5 million to add research laboratories to the newly constructed Henderson Hall.
Zimfo Bytes

Syngenta Answers Grower Questions at NFMS

Jamie Johansen

nfms-14-matt-wellsThose who walked through the dynamic Syngenta booth during the National Farm Machinery Show were not disappointed. Producers were able to ask questions and get first-hand advice from Syngenta reps while taking in all the sights.

Chuck spoke with Matt Wells, a Syngenta Sale Representative in the central/eastern region of Kentucky, about what growers are asking and what advice they are giving.

Matt said they have had a lot of questions about resistance. Growers want to know what they can do to avoid herbicide resistance on their farms.

“At the same time they are looking at commodity prices and how they have changed over the last year. How are we going to make everything work? Let’s keep our fields clean, increase our yields and take advantage of going into 2014.”

In Matt’s territory he shared that they are introducing a few new soybean varieties for growers to take advantage of. There are also some new corn varieties that he is very excited about along with new technologies Syngenta is looking at doing some testing on in the coming year.

You can listen to the interview with Matt here: Interview with Matt Wells

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Syngenta, Video

Ag Interest in UAVs Really Taking Off

Jamie Johansen

nfms14-uavUnmanned Aerial Vehicles – call them UAVs or drones or just remote-controlled airplanes – have been around for decades, but using them for agricultural practices is just really starting to take off.

A good crowd showed up for a session on UAVs sponsored by Farm Industry magazine at the recent National Farm Machinery Show where University of Kentucky (UK) mechanical engineer Dr. Suzanne Smith was one of the presenters. The UK recently announced the formation of an Unmanned Systems Research Consortium (USRC) to advance unmanned aerial, ground and underwater systems, and to explore commercial applications for the technology in Kentucky.

nfms14-uav-uk“It’s faculty members from across the university,” says Smith. “From ag, ag engineering, forestry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science – all working together to advance technologies – and we’re working with companies.”

She and other panelists entertained lots of questions from the audience at the NFMS which indicated a great deal of interest from farmers in using more advanced UAV technology. “It’s very exciting right now,” she said. “In the end it’s really time-saving and efficiency, and that’s what everybody is really looking for.”

Find out more in this interview: Interview with Suzanne Smith, University of Kentucky

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Technology

Agribusiness Needs More Young People

Chuck Zimmerman

Inci DannenbergBringing new talent into an industry like agriculture and specifically a company like Bayer CropScience was a key theme that Inci Dannenberg wanted to discuss with ag media attending the 2014 Ag Issues Forum. I got to chat with her on my ZimmGlass. She is doing an interview with another ag journalist attending the Ag Issues Forum here in San Antonio.

bayer-issues-buttonInci says that there is a big need for more young scientists in the ag field to help companies like Bayer continue to bring innovation to the field in the future. What is troubling her is seeing a decrease in the U.S. of students interested in science, technology, engineering and math. She says we need more of that to be competitive globally.

Learn more about how Bayer CropScience is encouraging new talent to come into the industry in my conversation with Inci.

2014 Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Crop Science, Farming, Video

Julie Borlaug Corrects Biotech Misunderstandings

Chuck Zimmerman

Julie BorlaugYou will really enjoy listening to Julie Borlaug, Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. She just spoke at the annual Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum, held prior to the Commodity Classic.

She started her remarks by telling some entertaining anecdotes about her famous Grandfather Norman Borlaug. One that I enjoyed was when she was holding her baby he asked her, “How do you know when they’re hungry.” That got a good chuckle.

Julie says we in agriculture still need to continue to make greater efforts to help educate the public, especially about biotechnology and GMOs. She gave us some great examples of how severe these misunderstanding are. One was a story about a friend having her over for an organic meal with a number of other women. Julie went point by point educating these women about all the products they were using that they believed to be organic or GMO free. One example was one of the ladies saying she gives her children hormone free milk. Julie pointed out that cows produce hormones naturally so there is no such thing as hormone free milk. It’s funny but also sad. She showed a picture of salt that was labelled Non-GMO. The label is very misleading since salt is by definition non-GMO. No such thing as gmo salt. She pointed out that the GMO hysteria is really all about making money for niche markets.

You can listen to Julie’s remarks here: Julie Borlaug Remarks

bayer-issues-buttonThe Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum brings together a broad audience of agricultural journalists to learn about and discuss current issues. This year’s theme is “What the World Needs.” We’ll have a lot more stories from here probably mostly after Commodity Classic. It’s a busy week!

I’m also uploading photos from the forum here: 2014 Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Biotech, GMO

Alliance Announces Summit Keynote Speaker

Jamie Johansen

AAA 2014 Stakeholders SummitThe Animal Agriculture Alliance announced that famed author Jeff Fromm will be the keynote speaker at the Stakeholders Summit, to be held May 8-9, 2014 in Crystal City, VA. Early registration is now available for the Alliance’s 13th annual capstone event, themed: “Cracking the Millennial Code.”

Fromm holds a marketing degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has more than 25 years of brand marketing and innovation experience for Hallmark, KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce, Build-A-Bear Workshop and other brands.

Author of “Marketing to Millennials: Reach the Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever,” Fromm spearheaded the millennials research partnership with The Boston Consulting Group and Service Management Group. Fromm is also the Founder of ShareLikeBuy, a Millennial Insights & Consumer Trends Conference, contributor to Forbes, AdAge and PSFK, co-author of numerous consumer trends reports including “Millennials as New Parents: The Rise of a New American Pragmatism” and editor of a blog, www.millennialmarketing.com.

“We’re excited that we were able to secure such an esteemed expert for our Stakeholders Summit—someone who’s able to present verifiable research about the importance of connecting with millennial consumers,” said Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith. “I think our audience will greatly benefit from his insights into the relationship between millennials and food.”

The Summit is attended by a diverse group of farmers, ranchers, food processors, restauranteurs, grocery store marketers, legislators, universities and government agency representatives.

As always, the Alliance’s Stakeholders Summit will be social! Be sure to follow the hashtag #AAA14 for updates about the event. For more information on registration visit the Summit website. For general questions about the Summit please contact summit@animalagalliance.org or call (703) 562-1411.

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Events

Hartz Named 2014 NAMA Marketer of the Year

Jamie Johansen

NAMAWyffels Hybrids’ director of marketing, Jeff Hartz, was named the 2014 NAMA Marketer of the Year. The NAMA Marketer award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference, on Thursday, April 10 in Jacksonville, FL and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

Jeff Hartz spent his first 6 to 12 months at Wyffels Hybrids just listening. He asked a lot of questions and attended a lot of meetings. Through this intense discovery period, he defined what Wyffels stood for, how they are different than competitors, what the marketing team needed to focus its efforts on and new strategic growth strategies.

Hartz was instrumental in improving customer retention year after year. As of today, Wyffels Hybrids has reached 67% retention rate of new customers and 78% continued customer retention, the highest in the business along with one of the industry leaders, according to market research.

As the marketing director, Hartz oversees all strategic marketing efforts including advertising and public relations and the development of the Wyffels brand. He works closely with growers, the sales force and the National Sales Director to develop programs and materials that meet their needs and reinforce Wyffels’ position as one of the leading independent seed corn companies in the industry.

With the brand document as his guide, Hartz directed awareness, retention and advertising campaigns that stood out from the pack. The new “black & gold” campaign is simple by design with bold, yet honest copy. All ad messages are based on a truth – something the company believes in, the way they do business, product performance, etc. But it’s stated in a clever way, reinforcing the company’s brand.

Hartz became active on a national scale with NAMA when he joined the Careers Committee in 2008 and provided value to that committee for three years, motivating future members of the ag marketing industry. His work as vice chair, then chair of the Best of NAMA Committee in 2012 ensured members received recognition for the outstanding work accomplished. He also served as a national awards judge in 2010.

Ag Groups, NAMA