Monsanto to Debate GMOs on Dec. 3rd

John DavisGMO, Monsanto

iq2-logoProducers, consumers and the whole world can see a debate live online this Wednesday, Dec. 3rd. Monsanto Company Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Robert Fraley and Alison Van Eenennaam, Genomics and Biotechnology Researcher, UC Davis, will participate in an Intelligence Squared U.S. debate on the motion “Genetically Modify Food.” You can see a live stream of the debate 6:45 pm ET here or through IQ2’s new app.

Genetically modified (GM) foods have been around for decades. Created by modifying the DNA of one organism through the introduction of genes from another, they are developed for a number of different reasons—to fight disease, enhance flavor, resist pests, improve nutrition, survive drought—and are mainly found in our food supply in processed foods using corn, soybeans, and sugar beets, and as feed for farm animals.

Arguing against the science includes Charles Benbrook, Research Professor, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and Margaret Mellon, Science Policy Consultant & Fmr. Senior Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists.

New Holland Expands Crop Production Capability

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Company Announcement, New Holland

New-HollandCNH Industrial announced that it has completed the acquisition of precision spraying equipment manufacturer Miller-St. Nazianz, Inc. All assets and activities of Miller are being incorporated into CNH Industrial’s New Holland brand. The Miller products will be further integrated into the New Holland Agriculture portfolio which specializes in agricultural machinery.

The global capital goods company and Miller previously announced the merger in August and the transaction was closed on November 26, 2014. The assets of Miller acquired as part of the transaction will become part of New Holland Agriculture, a CNH Industrial brand. This builds on a successful four year manufacturing and distribution partnership between New Holland and Miller in North America that has seen strong acceptance of a differentiated and best-in-class front-boom self-propelled sprayer offering.

The acquisition of Miller, acknowledged as a leading innovator in front-boom sprayers, brings an exciting product portfolio into the New Holland family for worldwide distribution. This will further expand crop production sales utilizing the New Holland brand network, established in over 170 countries. With this acquisition, New Holland will also gain an expanded offering in hay tools as Miller’s Ag-Bag silage packaging product line will also be managed by New Holland.

Read More

Giving Thanks for Our Bounty

Cindy ZimmermanFood, General, ZimmComm

thanksgiving-2014aO God, source and giver of all things,
You manifest your infinite majesty, power and goodness
In the earth about us:
We give you honor and glory.
For the sun and the rain,
For the manifold fruits of our fields:
For the increase of our herds and flocks,
We thank you.
For the enrichment of our souls with divine grace,
We are grateful.

Supreme Lord of the harvest,
Graciously accept us and the fruits of our toil,
In union with Jesus, your Son,
As atonement for our sins,
For the growth of your Church,
For peace and love in our homes,
And for salvation for all.
We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Int’l Visitors See & Make Connections at Develop with Deere

John DavisAgNerd, Agribusiness, Audio, International, John Deere, technology

jd-developer-14-kwsOne place U.S. farmers are definitely ahead of their European counterparts is in the area of precision agriculture, in particular, connecting data from different platforms. Chuck caught up with Malte Isermeyer and Thomas Dedenk with KWS out of Germany at the recent 2014 Develop with Deere conference in Kansas City, who told him many farmers in Europe try to get into new technologies, but the Americans seem to be two to three years ahead in the arena.

“We are here to get an idea of what is happening in the market and maybe get some ideas about the next years in Europe,” Thomas said, adding that he’s also impressed with how Deere is able to set up an event like this that allows attendees to see the different connections able to be made on the various platforms… and the connections they are able to make with other farmers. “It was really great to talk to the people, and everybody thinks in the direction of networks and connecting the different platforms.”

You can hear Chuck’s interview with Malte and Thomas here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/jd-develop-14-kws.mp3″ text=”Malte Isermeyer and Thomas Dedenk with KWS”]

Develop with Deere Photo Album

AgVoice4Choice Supports Neonics

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, Crop Protection, Government, Insecticide, Soybeans

ag-voiceLast month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report on the “Benefits of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments to Soybean Production” concluding that “these seed treatments provide little or no overall benefits to soybean production in most situations.” Upon release of the report, a 60-day comment period was opened which concludes on December 22.

So far, the comment website reports just over 100 comments with the majority of those posted supporting the use of neonicontinoid seed treatments and asking EPA to review the data used to compile the report. Industry advocates for the use of neonics have created a website offering information and encouraging growers who use this important class of insecticides to make their voices heard.

AgVoice4Choice.com urges the agricultural community to ACT now –
Advocate for growers to have choices in production practices
Communicate the benefits of pest management
Tell EPA to review new information on seed treatments

A new study conducted by Ag Infomatics provides objective evidence of the benefits these products bring to modern pest management systems, which industry advocates can use to help make their case.

Watch FARMLAND On Demand for Thanksgiving

Cindy ZimmermanFarmers, General, USFRA

farmlandlogo4The feature film Farmland is now available for rent and purchase via On Demand platforms – providing more people with the opportunity to view the film from their own homes and digital devices. The film’s move to digital platforms takes place this month, following a successful four-week run on Hulu.com and Hulu Plus.

Farmland is available for digital download via iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster On Demand, Sony PlayStation, Vudu.com, Xbox and YouTube. The cost to download and own the film ranges from $14.99 to $19.99 for high definition and $12.99 to $14.99 for standard definition format. Online rental will cost approximately $4.99 to $7.99 for high definition and $3.99 to $6.99 for standard definition format.

Farmland will also be available to traditional satellite and cable television subscribers via their respective Video-on-Demand or Pay-per-View platforms in December 2014. DirecTV and DISH subscribers will have access to Farmland through their Video-on-Demand or Pay-per-View channels beginning on December 2. The film is also being made available to companies that deliver Video-on-Demand (VOD) or Pay-per-View (PPV) content to ATT U-Verse, Verizon Fios, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable. Viewers are encouraged to check their local VOD/PPV channels on their respective cable and satellite television providers for details.

It’s the perfect film to watch at a time when we are giving thanks for our bountiful supply of food in the United States – and the great people who produce it!

NCGA Calls for Pollinator Health Dialogue

Cindy ZimmermanAg Group, Agribusiness, Bees, Corn, pollinators

NCGA-Logo-3The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is calling on agriculture industry stakeholders to facilitate partnership and dialogue for improving pollinator health.

“Although corn does not rely on bees or other pollinators, we recognize their importance to agriculture,” said Don Glenn, chairman of NCGA’s Production and Stewardship Action Team, who spoke at the recent Pollinator Health Task Force’s public listening session. “It’s important for us to be at the table, as a voice for farmers, and engaging in a productive conservation about how to solve this challenge.”

The listening session was the latest in a series of activities from the task force, which was created by a presidential initiative in June and is jointly run by the USDA and EPA. Glenn said NCGA is eager to partner with Task Force members on grower education efforts and to continue dialogue.

“Farmers, beekeepers, conservationists, industry, government – we are all partners. NCGA is committed to finding and implementing solutions that will improve pollinator health and ensure a thriving population that are economically viable and practical for farmers.”

Earlier this year, NCGA joined the newly-formed Honey Bee Health Coalition, a diverse group comprised of more than 30 agricultural organizations and agribusinesses, researchers, beekeepers and conservation groups. The coalition’s mission is to help achieve a healthy population of honey bees and to support healthy populations of pollinators in the context of productive agricultural systems and thriving ecosystems.

WOTUS Tops AFBF Policy Issues List

Cindy ZimmermanAFBF, Audio, NAFB, water

nafb14-afbf-mooreNew congress, WOTUS, second beef checkoff, and what to do about COOL were a few of the topics that American Farm Bureau Federation executive director for public policy Dale Moore discusses at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting last week.

“We are excited that we have a lot of new leaders – seasoned leaders – coming in,” said Moore of the new Congress, mentioning Mike Conaway from Texas as the new chair of the House Agriculture Committee, just officially named yesterday. “What we’re looking for is those friends of Farm Bureau outside the ag committees that can work on issues like Waters of the U.S., immigration reform, tax reform…these issues are the kinds of things that can put farmers and ranchers out of business.”

When it comes to WOTUS, Moore says he does not expect any further action from Congress in the lame duck session, but he also does not expect EPA to back off on the proposed rule. “It’s going to take legislation to push them back, it may take litigation,” he said. “They don’t ditch the rule on their own, we’re going figure out a way to help them do it.”

Listen to my interview with Dale here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb14-afbf-moore.MP3″ text=”Interview with Dale Moore, AFBF”]
2014 NAFB Convention Photos

Coverage of the NAFB convention is sponsored by
NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC

AyrMesh Bridge Wireless Point-to-Point Bridge

Chuck ZimmermanAgNerd, Audio, Internet

ZimmCast 456How about an ethernet cable without the wires on your farm network? Yes, it’s possible. That is, with the Ayrstone Productivity AyrMesh Bridge!

Ayrmesh BridgeDuring the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention I spoke with company president Bill Moffitt about their newest product. The Bridge joins a growing family of products from Ayrstone like their AyrMesh Hub, Receiver and a Hub that mounts in your cab.

You AgNerds will want some specific information, so here it is:

The AyrMesh Bridge is a wireless 5 GHz. point-to-point bridge. It is transparent to the network, behaving just like an Ethernet cable, but without the wires. The Bridge consists of two radios, which are mounted facing each other, with clear line-of-sight between them. Just like an Ethernet cable, one radio is connected to your network, the other end is connected to a device you want connected to the network. They are connected to power supplies (provided) with Ethernet cables, and Ethernet ports on the power supplies serve as the ends of the virtual Ethernet cable. The radios can be up to 5 miles apart, although the throughput (data speed) of the link will be reduced as the distance between the radios increases. Throughput at a few hundred yards may be as high as 30 Mbps; at 5 miles it will be about 6 Mbps (with no interference and clear line-of-sight). NOTE: The AyrMesh Bridge does not use or provide WiFi – it uses a special narrow-band signal in the 5 GHz band which may interfere or be interfered with by 5 GHz WiFi signals (802.11a, dual-band n, or ac).

Have you got all that? If not, listen to this week’s program to hear Bill explain things: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/zimmcast/zimmcast456-11-24-14.mp3″ text=”New AyrMesh Bridge”]

You can find a press release here.

2014 NAFB Convention Photos

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.

ASTA CSS & Seed Expo Returns to Chicago

Leah GuffeyASTA, Audio, Events, NAFB, seed

15780475251_1292a426f4_mI had a chance to catch up with American Seed Trade Association president and CEO Andy LaVigne at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention last week and talk about the upcoming CSS 2014 & Seed Expo coming up just around the corner.

The event, being held December 8-12 in Chicago, is America’s largest seed industry conference. Over 2,600 attendees representing the U.S. and 20 countries come to CSS for a week of collaboration and networking. The CSS schedule has been expanded and includes programming to fit any interest, offering more focused educational opportunities. Andy tells me that seed treatment will dominate this year’s conference and attendees can check out new products and equipment in the seed expo.

If you can’t make it to the event, no worries – Cindy and I will be there to bring it to you!

You can listen to my interview with Andy here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb-14-asta-lavigne.mp3″ text=”Interview with Andy LaVigne, ASTA President and CEO”]


2014 NAFB Convention Photos

Coverage of the NAFB convention is sponsored by
NAFB Convention is sponsored by FMC