We at Alltech wish you and your family a joyful festive season and the best of health and happiness in the new year.
2014 is a special year for Alltech and we’d like to share the excitement with you.
Celebrity Speaker Announced for AFBF Convention
The “beardless brother,” Alan Robertson, will be the keynote speaker at the general session during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2014 Annual Convention, January 12-15 in San Antonio. Alan stars on A&E’s hit reality show “Duck Dynasty” and is the oldest son of Phil Roberson, founder of the Duck Commander Company, the family’s Louisianan-based duck call business.
Before rejoining Duck Commander in 2012, Alan was a full-time minister at White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in Louisiana for more than 25 years. He and his wife, Lisa, enjoy helping carry out the family’s commitment to spreading the gospel of Christ through their love of hunting and the great outdoors. He grew up hunting and fishing, helping to build the foundation of the company in the 1970s and 1980s.
More than 7,000 Farm Bureau members from across the nation are expected to gather in San Antonio for the 95th Annual Convention to hear from distinguished leaders and participate in a grassroots policy-setting process that will guide AFBF through 2014.
Stallman is the keynote speaker at the Sunday opening session. Alan will speak at Monday’s general session. Gen. Stan McChrystal, a retired four-star general and former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, will speak at the closing session on Monday afternoon.
Farm Bureau members can register for the 95th AFBF Annual Convention through their state Farm Bureau. Learn more about convention events and related activities at www.annualconvention.fb.org/. Download the mobile app and stay up-to-date on event news and schedule here: www.afbf14.quickmobile.mobi. Join in the Twitter chatter for the event using the official hashtag of the meeting, #AFBF14.
Ethanol is a Win for Illinois, A Win for Agriculture
Illinois State Representative Donald Moffitt knows agriculture. He grew up on a family farm, on which his son still farms (and Don occasionally helps). This has been a huge asset for him in his role as state representative because agriculture is the number one industry in both his 74th District as well as the state of Illinois.
Rep Moffitt was serving in this role seven years ago when Patriot Renewable Fuels broke ground on their ethanol plant (and in November they broke ground on a biodiesel plant) and I asked him what the feelings were like about ethanol during that time. He said there was a lot of excitement and there still is a lot of excitement.
“We’d been hearing about ethanol. We knew as farmers and producers we wanted to encourage the use of ethanol,” said Rep. Moffitt. “We were trying to get acceptance of ethanol years ago and finally one comes to our area with the construction of Patriot Renewable Fuels. So it was genuine excitement.”
The excitement went way beyond farmers, explained Moffitt. First there were the construction jobs to build the plant and that brought a lot of jobs and economic activity to the area. Once the plant was running, there were the permanent jobs and then he noted there is the benefit to the community such as value added benefits to corn, for example. Producers are now able to get a higher price for their corn.
“What do farmers do when they have a little more money? They spend it. They spend it in our local communities. They spend it on farm equipment. The spend it at the hardware store. They buy a new truck,” explained Moffitt. “So it’s a win-win for our state, for our community, for agriculture and we need to have this type of diversity.”
He added that something he rarely hears others talk about is that Illinois is leader in the railroad industry. Ethanol transports its products (both the fuel and the food/DDGs) in unitrains (80 plus cars) and these two industries complement each other. “Agriculture is bringing more business to the railroads of our state and that’s important too,” added Moffitt. “And then the railroads are helping agriculture by giving them access to markets farther away.”
Rep. Moffitt stressed that biofuels is a national security issue. “The production of biofuels is actually a national security issue. Because we don’t want to be dependent on foreign countries for our energy supply. Not all of them are friendly to the United States. But the American farmer is always going to be our friend. They are always going to deliver a product that they want to sell.”
Listen to my interview with IL State Rep Donald Moffitt here who talks about the connection between ethanol, agriculture and national security: IL State Rep Moffitt: Ethanol is Still Exciting
Check out the Patriot Renewable Fuels photo album.
BASF Announces Plans for 2014
BASF recently announced plans to expand its services and initiatives for growers and agricultural professionals worldwide in 2014 through a significant investment in the development of new IT tools.
“The initiatives that were announced reflect the very strong commitment by BASF to the agricultural industry to provide modern tools to help growers get the most out of every acre,” said Nevin McDougall, BASF Senior Vice President Crop Protection North America.
BASF has also announced a partnership with John Deere to jointly develop a suite of integrated precision farming and farm management solutions for farmers. “We see the partnership allowing us to integrate BASF’s expertise in agronomics and crop protection and biotechnology with John Deere’s strengths in agricultural machinery, equipment, precision ag, and data management,” Nevin said. As part of the agreement, BASF will offer a new service for field scouting and agronomic decision support. John Deere will provide a new application for sprayer setup as well as integration of field data via its collaborative farm management portal ‘MyJohnDeere.com’, which will enable growers to better manage their farm operations.
Nevin says BASF says the goal is to launch the first joint integrated tools by the end of 2014 in key agricultural markets with additional markets to follow.
Listen to or download my interview with Nevin here. Interview with Nevin McDougall, BASF
Zimfo Bytes
- The University of Illinois announced it has achieved the $2 million fund raising goal for the Dr. James F. Evans Endowment in Agricultural Communications that will extend the contributions of the program into the future.
- Seed World Media is excited to announce the launch of American Seed Magazine – a publication aimed directly at America’s top crop producers.
- Farm Journal Media announced the acquisition of “American Countryside” from its founder, producer and well-known journalist, Andrew McCrea.
- Advanced production techniques, informed growing practices and improved seed varieties helped corn growers achieve high yields in the National Corn Growers Association 2013 National Corn Yield Contest.
Students and Industry Leaders Program Launched
A new program looks to bring university students together with agricultural and food system industry leaders. Farm Foundation is launching the program that will allow six undergraduate and graduate students to spend two days at the January Farm Foundation Round Table, with some help in the form of an $8,800 grant from CHS Foundation.
“The opportunity to meet and visit with agricultural leaders is a valuable opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to gain insights into the industry,” says William Nelson, CHS vice president for corporate citizenship and President of the CHS Foundation. “This program is a good fit with the CHS Foundation focus on education and leadership development to build a strong rural America.”
The grant funds provided will cover expenses for six students to participate in the Farm Foundation® Round Table in Houston, Texas, in early January 2014. A Round Table member will serve as a mentor to each student, introducing them to other leaders and encouraging their participation in discussions. The students’ work will be highlight at a reception during the meeting.
“The Cultivators’ Program provides a link for students about to enter the work force to connect with the men and women leading agriculture and food businesses across the value chain,” explains Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “This academic-to-real world linkage allows students to see their potential role in the industry, and the opportunities ahead.”
The students picked for next month’s meeting in Houston, Texas are: E.M. Sajeev, a graduate student at Purdue University; Maci Lienemann and Ryan Hanousek, both undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska; Duminda A. Gunawardena and Luis Enrique Secaira, both graduate students at Texas A&M University; and Garrett Lister, a graduate student at Kansas State University.
Cow That Stole Christmas 10 Years Later
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the “cow that stole Christmas” – a day that will live in infamy for the U.S. cattle industry and one that Kendal Frazier with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association remembers well.
Kendal recalls that NCBA received a phone call from USDA at 1:30 pm on December 23, 2003. “We immediately started to implement a crisis management plan that we had worked on for nearly 10 years in anticipation of that moment,” he said.
By taking action to get accurate information out to the public, the beef industry was able to calm American consumers’ fears about so-called mad cow disease, but the international market was a different story. “Countries around the world … immediately closed their borders to U.S. beef, and that was a tremendous fallout for our industry,” said Kendal. “We just now this year, ten years later, have reached the levels from a volume standpoint of beef exports that we had. It’s been a long road back.”
Two major milestones were reached just this year with Japan now allowing imports of beef from cattle less than 30 months of age and the approval of a final BSE rule by USDA in November, but the cow of Christmas past still haunts us. “The market is still not fully open although we are selling a lot of beef products into Japan,” said Kendal, adding that they have high hopes for the future where beef trade will no longer be impacted by BSE. “This is a dying disease,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll have wide open markets regarding BSE in the not too distant future.”
Listen to or download my interview with Kendal here: Interview with Kendal Frazier, NCBA
Happy Holidays from Michigan Corn
The staff at Michigan Corn wishes you happy holidays.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the staff at Michigan Corn.
Kay, Jim, Natalie, Penni, Theresa and Dennis
Weed Control for Soybean Growers
FMC Agricultural Solutions announces a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) crop registration of its Anthem SE herbicide now for use on soybeans. Anthem herbicide offers both corn and soybean growers control of broadleaf weeds and grasses with flexible application timing up to 45 days preplant, preemergence and early postemergence.
Introduced for corn in fall of 2012, Anthem herbicide provides powerful control of broadleaf weeds and grasses. Now available for soybeans, Anthem offers growers a soybean application window up to 45 days preplant through V3 with 4-8 weeks of residual activity. Applied in-season, growers can easily combine the concentrated liquid formulation of Anthem with tank mixes of companion herbicides with effective rates as low as 4 to 11 ounces per acre.
With preemergence and postemergence application flexibility, Anthem provides growers with a residual herbicide that also has postemergence activity on several broadleaf weeds including pigweed species, like waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, before or after soybean emergence. Anthem also is an excellent tool as part of an OverlapSM system when used postemergence in conjunction with Authority® herbicides preemergence as part of a sequential program for outstanding, season-long residual on key grasses and broadleaf weeds that challenge growers’ ability to maximize yield potential.
National Corn Yield Contest Winners for 2013
Advanced production techniques, informed growing practices and improved seed varieties helped corn growers achieve high yields in the National Corn Growers Association 2013 National Corn Yield Contest. Entrants continued to far surpass the national average corn yield, setting a contest record with a new all-time high yield of 454 bushels per acre. Additionally, a record five national entries surpassed the 400-plus bushel per acre mark.
The National Corn Yield Contest is in its 49th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members, setting a new participation record this year with 8,827 entries. This surpasses the previous record of 8,431 entries, set in 2011, and far outstrips the 8,263 entries received in 2012.
The 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 354.6 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 160.4 bushels per acre in 2013. While there is no overall contest winner, yields from first, second and third place farmers overall production categories topped out at 454.9837.