Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes February 7, 2014

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.

USA Pears Sponsors Olymic Athlete Torin Koos

Talia Goes February 6, 2014

Culinary 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 February 6, 2014

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.

“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

Agribusiness, Audio, International, IPPE, Novus International

MapShots Customer Conference

Chuck Zimmerman February 6, 2014

I’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 February 6, 2014

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).

The 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 February 6, 2014

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.

Lindquist 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

Let Ag Leader’s Compass Guide You

Joanna Schroeder February 6, 2014

Ag Leader introduced the Compass display last fall during the Farm Progress Show and in the few months it’s been available, it has seen great success. To learn more about the technology, I spoke with Josh Rasmusson with Ag Leader during the 2014 Iowa Power Farming Show.

He explained that the Compass display is their new, high-definition, 7 inch touch screen with a guidance display. He also noted that you can incorporate other Ag Leader precision technologies such as OnTrac2+, GeoSteer or the assisted steering, ParaDyme for your high-end hydraulic system.

Rasmusson told me that nearly 50 percent of farms in the U.S. aren’t using any type of precision technologies but the Compass display is designed for entry-level users – an easy way to ease them into the world of precision ag.

“The Compass display would be a generic lightbar for them to use in a tillage scenario or a spring scenario if they wanted to do coverage mapping,” explained Rasmusson. “There is a built in guidance so they don’t have to use markers, and you can also incorporate the steering into the system.”

In fact, says, Rasmusson, the system is so easy to use a grower can figure it out in around an hour. If not, Ag Leader has 24/7 free technical assistance available.

Listen to my full interview with Josh Rasmusson: Let Ag Leader's Compass Guide You

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

Ag Leader, Audio, Iowa Power Show, Precision Agriculture

What is Best in New Farm Bill

Talia Goes February 6, 2014

Before we get to the Farm Bill let’s look at our latest ZimmPoll which asked the question, “Could drones (UAV’s) serve a purpose on your operation?”

Well over half of the voters this week said that drones could in fact serve a purpose on their operation. Price is still a factor and may be the reason that some operations would not use them yet. We’re going to see a lot more about this new technology since predictions have been made that eighty percent of the multi-million dollar market will be for agricultural use.

Our poll results:

Yes, if affordable – 50%
No – 18%
Yes, at any price – 14%
No, worried about privacy – 14%
What are they? – 5%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What’s best in the new farm bill?”

The Senate finally passed its version of a conference bill Jan. 29, and now the farm bill goes to President Obama’s desk. As you can read on Senator Debbie Stabenow’s website: “This isn’t your father’s Farm Bill. It is a bill for our future that grows our agriculture economy, helps provide greater access to healthy Michigan-grown foods, preserves our land and water, and cuts unnecessary spending. The Farm Bill is a rare example of a major bipartisan jobs bill and a bipartisan deficit reduction bill,” Chairwoman Stabenow said. Have you had the chance to review the new bill? Let us know what you think is the best part.

Farm Bill, Farm Policy, ZimmPoll

Deer Farmers Pleased with Farm Bill

Chuck Zimmerman February 6, 2014

Thanks to the Farm Bill I just learned about the North American Deer Farmers Association. Farm Bill? Yep. They sent me a release about their take on the legislation which I’m posting below. I’m thinking of joining. I may not actually farm deer but work a property lease where we harvest them!

“We’re very pleased to have a final, comprehensive Farm Bill,” says NADeFA Executive Director Shawn Schafer. “This bill is a significant step forward for the deer industry and includes several provisions specific to the deer industry, not the least of which are disease research for deer, elk and other cervidae; country-of-origin labeling for venison; and much needed disease indemnity for individual farmers.”

The 2014 Farm Bill includes several key victories for NADeFA and the national cervid farming industry, such as:

• Deer in USDA’s Research Initiatives: The USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiatives (AFRI) program has been amended to include emphasis on disease (EHD, CWD), mapping the genome, pest/parasite, diagnostics and vaccination research for deer, elk and other cervidae.
Read More

Ag Groups, Farming, Food

Ag Leader’s Hydraulic Down Force Improves Planting

Joanna Schroeder February 5, 2014

It’s hard to forget the spring of 2013 when growers had more rain then they could handle. For some they lost crops, for others the seed was planted a bit late. But what if there was a way to improve your changes for a better harvest despite too much soil moisture. Well, there is a way to do just that: Ag Leader’s new Hydraulic Down Force System.

To learn more about how this precision technology works, I spoke with Ag Leader’s Brett Buehler during the 2014 Iowa Power Farming show. As explained by Buehler one of the big issues growers face during planting is that the seed is planted at the proper depth. When the seed is not optimally planted, it can negatively impact yield. While there are technologies on the market to help address this, Buehler said that many of them have limitations that the Hydraulic Down Force System overcomes.

For many growers, last year’s crops were planted in wet conditions. (During planting the soil gets compacted and in essence turns in to cement so the roots can’t grow deep enough to access the water and nutrients they need throughout the growing season). “Last year was the perfect storm. We had a wet planting spring and it got dry during the summer. So the guys who used our Hydraulic Down Force System last year had tremendous yield,” said Buehler.

Planters still come from the factory with springs that growers have to adjust and it is hard to determine what the right adjustment is when field conditions can change in less than 50 feet. So unlike the air bag option that some companies have developed, Ag Leader went with a hydraulic actuator that in essence allows the planter to react nearly instantaneously.

“So instead of taking 30 or 40 seconds to compass the air to get the right amount of downforce,” explained Buehler, “we can react within a second with the hydraulic down force.”

The technology, says Buehler, is excellent for the grower who has varying soil types his field.

Listen to my full interview with Brett Buehler: Hydraulic Down Force Leads to Up in Production

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

Ag Leader, Audio, Iowa Power Show, Precision Agriculture

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