After the unexpected passing of GROWMARK vice president and long-time employee Mike Builta in April 2019, the GROWMARK Foundation is helping his family to honor his memory by providing FFA jackets to FFA members in Illinois. “In the weeks and the days after his passing, his wife approached us and asked if the GROWMARK Foundation could become a place to … Read More
Ag Media Summit Awards
Ag Media Summit is the annual awards extravaganza for LPC and AAEA. AAEA, The Agricultural Communicators Network, handed out communications awards for writing, design, mar-com, photography, digital and social media, in addition to the Lifetime Achievement and Andy Markwart Horizon awards. Jim Patrico and Jo Ann Alumbaugh were honored for their career achievements, and Cassie Yontz with Charleston-Orwig received the … Read More
Companies Partner to Expand Corn Hybrid Choices
Benson Hill Biosystems has entered into a partnership with Brownseed Genetics, a Wisconsin-based seed breeder of new corn hybrids that are higher in both oil content and essential amino acids. The new Brownseed hybrids, developed through conventional breeding methods, yield about 9 percent corn oil – nearly triple the normal production – and are rich in the amino acids lysine … Read More
USDA Officials Provide Details of Support Package for Farmers
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and other agency officials today announced further details of the $16 billion package “aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals.” In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs … Read More
ZimmCast 621 – Ag Media Summit/IFAJ Congress Preview
This week we have a preview of the upcoming 2019 Ag Media Summit and International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Minneapolis/Bloomington, Minnesota. This is the largest gathering of agriculture’s top writers, editors, photographers, publishers and communication specialists in the U.S. This year’s dates are July 26-31 for the Congress with AMS overlapping on July 27-31. The last time the … Read More
USDA Corn Acreage Report Surprises
With all the weather-related planting delays we’ve had, USDA’s Acreage report out Friday was a big surprise to the trade with corn acres estimated to be three percent higher than last year. At the same time, soybean acres are estimated to be the lowest in six years. Corn planted area for all purposes in 2019 is estimated at 91.7 million … Read More
Congrats to 2019 Golden ARC Awards Winners
The Ag Relations Council (ARC) had a great annual meeting last week in Kansas City where they announced the winners for the 2019 Golden ARC Awards contest. The Golden ARC de Excellence award is given to the best all-around entry in the campaigns division and this year that honor was 2019 Golden ARC Award Winners bestowed upon a campaign produced … Read More
USDA Feral Swine Eradication Program is Good News
The meat of feral hogs is pretty good but we would rather have more deer, thanks very much. Since 2013 I have hunted on a piece of land we affectionately call the Crystal Pig Hunt Club in central Georgia with my brother Paul and Gary Cooper of AgNet Media. The hogs started moving in about 2016 and have since made … Read More
USDA Picks Kansas City as New Home for ERS, NIFA
The Kansas City area will be the new home for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “Following a rigorous site selection process, the Kansas City Region provides a win win – maximizing our mission function by putting taxpayer savings into … Read More
Manure Constituent Sensing Available with John Deere Feature
A new feature from John Deere allows producers and commercial service providers to measure N, P, and K values in liquid manure applied as fertilizer. The John Deere HarvestLab 3000 with Manure Constituent Sensing analyzes liquid manure 4,000 times per second to provide laboratory-quality values for important nutrient constituents to help producers manage their total fertilizer program. According to John … Read More