Industry Ag News 4/26

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Nominations are now open for the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, Endowed by The Rockefeller Foundation. This accolade acknowledges exceptional achievements in international agriculture and food production based on scientific research and application. With a focus on individuals under the age of 40, the award comes with a $10,000 prize. Nominations close on June 15, 2024.
  • American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule to designate perfluorooctnoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the two most common per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous materials under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
  • America’s farmers and ranchers are leading the way in greenhouse gas emission reduction through voluntary conservation efforts and market-based incentives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022. The report shows American agriculture reduced emissions by almost two percent from 2021 to 2022, the largest decrease of any economic sector.
  • American Agri-Women (AAW) announced the success of the 2024 Mid-Year Meeting in the beautiful hills of Manhattan, Kansas. Each year in April, American Agri-Women hosts a Mid-Year Meeting for those interested in discussing current agricultural issues and policies and voting to create AAW’s Position Statements for that upcoming year, which is the basis for American Agri-Women Fly-In to Washington, D.C. in June each year.
  • The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) hosted a contest at the 2023 National FFA Convention. As part of this event, students could enter to win the opportunity to have agriculture influencer Rob Sharkey, known to many as “The SharkFarmer,” visit their school. This year’s winner was Dayton High School, located in Dayton, Oregon.
  • Firestone Ag, a business of Bridgestone Americas, has opened entries for its 2024 Rock the Crop Sweepstakes exclusively to chapters of the National FFA Organization (FFA) in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Firestone Ag partnership with FFA. In its third year, the Rock the Crop Sweepstakes will bring a private concert with Nashville-based country artist Hailey Whitters to one lucky FFA chapter.
  • U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers are pleased that U.S. wheat farmers can help increase global food assistance under a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding program announced.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the appointment of 32 members to Potatoes USA’s Board of Directors. The appointees include 30 producer members and two importers, each filling three-year terms that will expire Feb. 28, 2027.
  • Sunsweet Growers Inc. has announced a significant change in its leadership. Brad Schuler, a highly accomplished veteran of the company, has been elevated to the role of Chief Executive Officer. This promotion marks a pivotal moment for Sunsweet as it nears its 110th anniversary and seeks to aggressively widen the margin of its position as the world’s premier dried fruit brand.
  • Recently the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri released its outlook for U.S. agriculture. The projection is that American sugar production remains strong and is expected to grow, despite challenges seen over the past couple years including factory closures in Sidney, MT, and Santa Rosa, TX. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to update forecasts for this year’s production. USDA currently forecasts a near-record 9.215 million tons of sugar will be produced in the U.S. this year, meeting about 74 percent of U.S. demand with made-in-America sugar supplies. That would keep America the fifth largest producer of sugar in the world, and the third largest sugar importer.

    • 

    Zimfo Bytes

    The Best of NAMA 2024

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    Grand Champion: John Deere and Signal Theory

    John Deere was the big winner at the National Agri-Marketing Association “Best of NAMA” awards ceremony at the annual conference this week in Kansas City.

    The Best of NAMA awards program honors the best of the best work in agricultural communications with national winners chosen from regional competitions. There are 63 categories ranging from print to broadcast to social and winners are judged by a panel of agri-marketing professionals.

    Here are the Best of NAMA national winners:

    Grand Champion
    John Deere
    Agency – Signal Theory
    Entry title: Women In Ag “A Different Kind Of Crown” campaign

    Public Relations
    Channel – a Bayer seed brand
    Agency – HLK
    Entry title: Seedsmen Ignite 2023

    Digital
    BASF
    Agency – VML
    Entry title: Layered Residuals Keep Pigweed Away

    Consumer
    IL Farm Families Coalition – IL Beef Assn, IL Corn, IL Farm Bureau, IL Pork Producers, IL Soybean Assn and Midwest Dairy
    Agency – MorganMyers
    Entry title: Illinois Farm Families We Are The 96: The Corporation.

    Specialty
    Environmental Sciences U.S., Inc.
    Agency – HLK
    Entry Title: Share The Spark Project Campaign

    2024 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

    NAMA

    NAMA Presents Highest Honors

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) presented its three highest honors Thursday for Agribusiness Leader of the Year, Marketer of the Year, and Ag Association Leader of the Year.

    Laura Svec and John Rozem present award to Todd Frazier

    Todd Frazier, Vice President of U.S. Marketing for Corteva Agriscience, is the 2024 Agribusiness Leader of the Year.

    Frazier credits his success to a listening first approach, using each day as an opportunity to strive for newer, better solutions. His career is highlighted by unique experiences with industry-leading companies, including American Cyanamid, DuPont Pioneer and Corteva, lending a broad and diverse perspective that serves him well in his current role as Vice President of U.S. Marketing at Corteva.

    NAMA24 Todd Frazier, Corteva 2:54

    Brian Torrey, Advertising & Marketing Communications Manager at John Deere, is this year’s Marketer of the Year award recipient.

    Torrey has held three key roles in his time at John Deere, overseeing both creative and media activities. During his tenure in these roles, he’s demonstrated a passion for customers that is consistently reflected in the creative work produced, and the relationships he’s built with industry professionals and social media influencers — all while keeping John Deere’s customers and marketing goals top of mind.

    NAMA24 Brian Torrey, John Deere 3:32

    Richard Guebert Jr, Illinois Farm Bureau, is NAMA’s Ag Association Leader of the Year.

    In December 2023, Richard Guebert Jr. took a step back from a 40-plus-year career serving agriculture when he wrapped up the end of his decade-long term as Illinois Farm Bureau President. Guebert spent the last 20 years at the highest level of IFB, serving maximum terms of 10 years as Vice President and 10 more as President. He also served as President of Country Financial, Illinois Agricultural Service Company and the IAA Foundation.

    NAMA24 Richard Guebert Jr, Illinois Farm Bureau 3:35

    2024 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, NAMA

    First Golden Mic Awards Presented at NAMA

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    AEM’s Curt Blades and John Rozem

    In honor of ZimmComm’s 20th anniversary, we decided to recognize some of the people who have spent the most time talking into the Golden Microphone. Since we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 interviews from over the years, we narrowed it down to just NAMA members and we still had lots of candidates. Our judging criteria was based on both number of interviews and being among our earliest interviews.

    We will be giving out more Golden Mic awards later this year because there are lots of people we have interviewed even more than the individuals on this first list – such as Bob Dinneen, former President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, who we interviewed over 300 times between 2005 and 2019!

    Chuck interviews Tom Slunecka at the 2007 NAMA conference

    Ag Management Solutions and Minnesota Soybean CEO Tom Slunecka was the very first person to be interviewed with the ZimmComm Golden Microphone at the NAMA conference in 2007 and deserves some of the credit for making that our trademark since he encouraged Chuck to use the gold windscreen on the new Heil mic we had just gotten. Slunecka and Curt Blades with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) received the highest of this first batch of Golden Mic Awards – the coveted gold mic trophy. An additional ten NAMA members received the Golden Mic gold medal. Next we need to come up with some kind of award for the people we have the most photos of in our photo albums! Pretty sure Tom Vilsack would win that one.

    Beth Burgy, Kenna Rathai, and Amy Bradford proudly display their Golden Mic medals

    Here is the complete list of all the 2024 ZimmComm Golden Mic Awards presented at NAMA:

    Tom Slunecka – 26+ interviews since 2005
    Curt Blades – 19 since 2009
    Amy Bradford – 20 since 2011
    Beth Burgy – 12 since 2008
    Sara Steever – 11 since 2010
    Matt Coniglio – 10 since 2007
    John Rozum – 10 since 2008
    Don Tourte – 10 since 2008
    Lynn Henderson – 9 since 2007
    Kenna Rathai – 8 since 2007
    Stephanie Gable – 7 since 2007
    Gardner Hatch – 4 since 2006

    Media, NAMA, ZimmComm Announcement

    Precision Ag News 4/25

    Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Some of the timely session topics for this year’s Tech Hub LIVE in Des Moines include The Most Promising Technologies for 2025, Navigating Today’s Autonomous Farming, Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Growth and Grower Profitability. And Maximizing ROI with Effective Grower-Retailer Communication in the Age of AI. Check out the full schedule and register for the third Tech Hub LIVE July 29-31.
  • Two scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have been named 2023 Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Martin Williams, an ARS research ecologist, and Dr. Jay D. Evans, an ARS research entomologist, were named Fellows in a vote by the AAAS Council in recognition of their scientific contributions and leadership in the organization’s “Agriculture, Food and Renewable Resources” section.
  • The ASTA Leadership Summit, held this June 15-19 in Nashville, provides a crucial opportunity for mid- to senior-level seed company leadership. From keeping current on the latest seed policy issues, to finding your next great hire, the Summit offers a set of learning objectives specifically for experienced seed professionals that have been built into the event’s design. Register today!
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) proudly announces the recipients of the first round of grants for the Historically Underserved Farmer-to-Farmer Outreach Program. The inaugural round of grantees includes the Guadalupe Soil and Water Conservation District in New Mexico to design and install an implementation project to address the degradation of the Pintada Arroyo Watershed due to erosion and sedimentation, and the Marengo County Soil and Water Conservation District in Alabama to begin the implementation of climate-smart water, soil, and plant health monitoring activities to decrease agriculture input costs and increase yields on historically underserved producer farms in Marengo County, Alabama and Jackson County, Florida.
  • Four research and outreach projects have been funded through the new Agricultural Climate Resiliency Program, a partnership among Michigan State University, the Michigan Plant Coalition, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
  • Registration is now open for the 2024 Water and Natural Resources Tour. Join the Nebraska Water Center and Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District as we visit Tecumseh, Nebraska City, and more.
  • The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) and John Deere are proud to announce a new collaboration, bringing an integrated digital experience to farmers participating in SWOF’s leading agricultural ecosystem services program. This digital integration with the John Deere Operations Center will streamline the enrollment process and field data management, empowering farmers to adopt sustainable practices more effectively. The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund provides financial incentives to farmers for the environmental outcomes resulting from new or expanded conservation practices. The integration with John Deere Operations Center gives farmers the option to seamlessly record and share their field operational data with SWOF directly from John Deere’s precision ag technology, saving farmers time and increasing accuracy.
  • Digi International revealed the winners of its 2024 Green Tech Customer Innovation Awards. Digi’s fourth annual awards highlight the advancements made by companies and organizations committed to solving today’s environmental challenges — recognizing Digi customer initiatives incorporating the latest green technologies to champion sustainability, carbon reduction and environmental stewardship.
  • Custom Agronomics, a custom formulator and manufacturer of private-label liquid plant nutrition, nutrient use efficiency, and other specialty products for the agriculture, turf, and ornamental markets, announced that it has acquired BioTek Ag to expand its focus on nutrient use efficiency products.
  • Bayer announced that it has signed an agreement with UK-based company AlphaBio Control to secure an exclusive license for a new biological insecticide. The new product will be the first available for arable crops, including oilseed rape and cereals. Targeted for initial launch in 2028 pending further development and registration, this new insecticide was discovered by AlphaBio, with whom Bayer distributes FLiPPER an award-winning bioinsecticide-acaricide.
    • AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

    Grounded in Ag Training Platform Introduced

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    Communications and training firm Grounded Communications LLC is launching Grounded in AgTM, a new online training platform to address the agricultural knowledge gap for organizations.

    The platform is designed to meet the needs of anyone seeking a better understanding of agriculture starting with foundational topics, according to Janice Person, founder of Grounded in Ag and CEO of parent company Grounded Communications LLC.

    “The goal of Grounded in Ag is to offer a new way for people to be more productive early in their tenure and help them avoid costly mistakes that jeopardize customer trust or, more importantly, their own credibility or that of their employer,” Person said, noting that the audiences for the platform primarily include professionals who serve agriculture organizations, in functional areas including marketing, communications, human resources, legal, regulatory and even finance. “The diversity of sources and topics is incredible – we have 40 plus experts offering more than 700 years of experience in ag teaching in these courses,” Person said.

    The platform includes easy-to-follow videos (most ranging from 5-20 minutes in length) augmented with a full range of curated, vetted links to resources online that can add more depth to the understanding of a given topic. In addition, downloadable PDFs are available to provide additional information and for future reference. Because applying this information to their current organization is so critical, there are other PDFs provide areas of inquiry for the employees to dig into what impacts their segment most and why. All of this coursework is paired with a community that lets people interact with peers and stay current on real-time industry developments.

    Press release link

    Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Education

    2024 Agri-Marketing Conference Underway

    Chuck Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    2024 Agri-Marketing ConferenceDon’t let your future pass you by at the 2024 Agri-Marketing Conference April 24–25 in Kansas City, Missouri. There will be lots of photos and some interviews for you.

    The theme this year is Bright Horizons and it’s a beautiful day in Kansas City as the students are working on their presentations and the exhibitors are setting up booths for the big kick off tonight with the Best of NAMA awards and Connection Point opening reception. We’ll be exhibiting in the Connection Point in booth 202.

    The photo album is started so stay tuned for more!

    2024 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

    NAMA

    Animal Ag News 4/23

    Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) welcomed members and guests to Kansas City for the 2024 Annual Conference, The Next Generation of Animal Agriculture. More than 120 guests joined the conference to connect with fellow animal agriculture leaders to explore and discuss gaps in animal agriculture technology and innovation and solutions to encourage continuous improvement in today’s food system. Additionally, industry leaders were honored and new directors were elected.
  • The Meat Institute recognized more than 200 meat and poultry plants at the 2024 Environmental, Labor and Safety+ Conference in New Orleans for their positive environmental impact efforts. Thirteen additional establishments that went above and beyond were granted Environmental Achievement Awards for their progress with emissions reduction, energy conservation, packaging/food waste reduction, technological innovation, and water conservation.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced that G Bar C Ranch, in Rosston, Texas, is the 2023 National Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) winner. The award, which annually recognizes the outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of cattle producers, was presented to the Ellis family during NCBA’s annual Spring Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) condemned the Biden Administration’s three finalized Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulemakings that significantly expand federal overreach and roll back reforms that previously provided some relief to farmers and ranchers.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) concluded another successful Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day event brings cattle producers from across the country to Washington to meet with federal agencies and elected members of Congress.
  • USDA-NASS recently announced that, due to budget constraints, NASS will not collect data nor publish the July Cattle report and will no longer publish livestock county estimates beginning in 2024. The county level estimates are for all livestock classes as well as crops. American Livestock Markets & Dealers Association (ALMDA) has responded to USDA-NASS by sending a letter. USDA-NASS has already responded and we are working on a time to meet and work through possible solutions.
  • Innovative ice cream and cultured dairy products inspired by bakery specialties and fruity florals were showcased at the International Dairy Foods Association‘s (IDFA) annual Innovative Ice Cream Flavor and Innovative Cultured Dairy Product competitions, co-sponsored by Dairy Foods magazine.
  • Zoetis announced it has received an expanded label approval from the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) for Synovex Choice to increase rate of weight gain in growing beef steers or heifers in the dry lot production phase. Also approved is a new implant from Zoetis, Synovex Primer that will be available for the dry lot market later in 2024.
  • The Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas (ICA) will host its Annual Convention & Tradeshow this July 1-3, 2024, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Marcos Hotel Conference Center. Established in 1974, ICA serves as the voice for independent Texas cattle producers in Austin and Washington, D.C. The group will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with this year’s convention theme of “Land and Legacy.”
  • USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation have approved $414,000 for five new research grants at five institutions through the Comprehensive Research Program. The research funding was approved by the boards of directors of both organizations, based on recommendations from the Foundation Research Advisory Committee. The Committee evaluates research proposals to determine their value to the industry and then makes recommendations to the boards for funding. Committee members are professional specialists from different segments of the poultry and egg industry who represent a variety of scientific disciplines.
    • AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

    ZimmComm Celebrates 20th Anniversary

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    ZimmComm is celebrating 20 years of serving the agricultural business, marketing, and media industries in 2024.

    The company was founded in 2004 by former farm broadcasters Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman with the idea of helping agribusinesses and organizations reach media outlets with their message in a new way.

    “What is now social media was called ‘new media’ at the time,” said Chuck Zimmerman. “The idea of using the internet for communications was just starting with blogs and podcasts.”

    First, ZimmComm created AgWired as an on-line publication for news and information from the world of agribusiness. It was the first blog targeted to agriculture, and still is a blog, which was a new term at the time that meant “web log” – a simple website that allowed users to post new messages in a chronological format. “We became agribloggers,” said Zimmerman, who adopted that name as his Twitter handle (@AgriBlogger) when the platform, now known as X, was launched in 2006.

    ZimmComm started the first agriculture-focused podcast in early 2005 and coined the term “farm podcasting” with the ZimmCast, which continues to include interviews from around the agribusiness world.

    ZimmComm developed “Talking News Releases” as one of its first services in 2005, creating AgNewsWire.com for posting and sharing content with audio, in addition to direct distribution by email. “As former farm broadcasters, we recognized the importance of having sound bites for stories,” Cindy said. “We wanted to make it easier for both the newsmakers and the news reporters to get quality audio without having to set up interviews.”

    The first blog dedicated to the U.S. biofuels industry was developed by ZimmComm in September 2005, just one month after the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was signed into law. Called DomesticFuel.com at the time, Energy.AgWired continues to work with the industry and includes the Ethanol Report podcast, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008. Both the ethanol and biodiesel industry were early adopters of new media.Read More

    ZimmComm Announcement

    Farm and Biofuel Groups Pleased with E15 Waiver

    Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

    The Environmental Protection Agency Friday issued a waiver to allow E15 (15 percent ethanol fuel) to continue to be sold this summer. The temporary waiver under the Clean Air Act was issued “to address extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances caused by a confluence of events, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, that are affecting all regions of the Nation.”

    Ethanol organizations and stakeholders welcomed the action, which the Renewable Fuels Association says will help American consumers save money at the pump this summer, while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions and harmful tailpipe pollution. However, RFA Senior VP for Government & Public Affairs Troy Bredenkamp says the ultimate goal is to find a permanent solution to allow E15 sales in the summer. “We are certainly seeking some sort of legislative solution to solve this long term so we don’t have to keep begging and pleading to make sure that E15 does not disappear during the summer.”

    Learn more in this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast with Bredenkamp and Chief Economist Scott Richman.
    Ethanol Report 4-19-24 28:13

    American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings said he was grateful to see the administration respond to the industry’s requests. “Earlier this year, the Biden administration finally confirmed E15 can permanently be offered in eight Midwest states, but postponed year-round access in those states until the summer of 2025….A permanent solution to year-round E15 will ensure these benefits aren’t left to the whim of ad hoc agency decision making in the future.”

    The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and state corn grower organizations also praised the decision. “This waiver is good news for corn growers and those in rural America who will benefit economically from this decision and for consumers who will save money at the pump during a busy travel season,” said Minnesota farmer and NCGA President Harold Wolle.

    ACE, Corn, EPA, Ethanol, RFA