USDA’s Drive in Support of Rural Communities

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Audio, Farm Bill, Government, NAFB, USDA

nafb-13-49-editedUSDA Rural Development was on hand during last week’s NAFB Trade Talk to share their work with rural communities across the United States and promote the use of #MyFarmBill.

I spoke with Colleen Callahan, Illinois State Director for Rural Development, during the event and she was eager to express their commitment to rural communities and their passion for brining value to agricultural businesses who drive the growth of those rural communities through their financial and loan programs.

“When it comes to the breadth of what USDA does, we at Rural Development feel that we are the jewel in the crown of USDA because it’s not just about any one program or any one business. It’s about entire communities and regions.”

During the Secretary of Agriculture’s press conference at NAFB, Vilsack gave credit to Colleen for her committed work with the National Drought Resiliency partnership. USDA, along with numerous other government organizations have teamed up in effort to become better prepared to mitigate the consequences of future droughts. You can find the complete audio from the press conference here.

You can’t talk with anyone from USDA without bringing up the Farm Bill. Colleen talked about the power of strength in numbers and their promotion of #MyFarmBill. The use of the hashtag will allow us all to express our opinions and share our agriculture story to the decision makers. As one it’s hard to make a stand, but together we can share our words, photos and video using #MyFarmBill to be heard. Colleen also reminds us that this is more than simply a farm bill, it is a food bill. It is about producing food for exports and putting wholesome food on the tables in homes across the country.

“In agriculture during this time of year we use a lot of technology. We use that GPS, we know where we are in the field, what the yield is in that very spot. We use the no-steer guidance to get use where we are at that point in the field and so using that technology helps us with social media. The #MyFarmBill really completes that circle. You’re at the end of the field, you’re unloading, it goes from the augur to the grain cart and you are sitting there watching. Take advantage of the time you have to communicate the business you are in.”

Listen to my complete interview with Colleen here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb-13-usda-callahan.mp3″ text=”Interview with Colleen Callahan”]

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

NAFB Night of Honors

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Audio, NAFB

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) bestowed honors on many deserving individuals last week – the best of the best.

nafb13-johnnieWe’ll start with the new members of the NAFB Hall of Fame. Johnnie Hood was one of our very first friends in NAFB, back in the day when he served as president in 1985 at the midpoint of his career as a radio farm broadcaster on WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was so great to see him and wife Peggy again last week, it’s been a long time! He and Peggy retired in 2002 and moved to Land O’Lakes, Florida where they live a quiet and happy life driving school buses and playing Santa Claus.

nafb13-wey1The second Hall of Fame inductee was Wey Simpson, radio and television pioneer in the great Northwest. Wey served three terms as NAFB regional vice president, edited the organization’s magazine CHATS for two years and served three years on the Sales/Marketing board. He hosted the NAFB Summer Meeting in 1974, the year of the World’s Fair in Spokane, the same year he was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year.

nafb13-lynnThe NAFB Meritorious Service Award was presented to Agri-Marketing Magazine publisher and industry leader Lynn Henderson. This award, named after NAFB advocate and volunteer leader Dix Harper, annually recognizes outstanding support and leadership to the broadcasting industry and association by a member of the Management & Sales Council or the Allied Industry Council.

In addition, the National Farm Medicine Center and agency Broadhead received the Plambeck Award Best Series for their campaign, “You’re a Parent First, Farmer Second,” and BASF Crop Protection agency Mullen was recognized for Best Single Ad for Verdict herbicide. The Plambeck award is named after NAFB legend Herb Plambeck, second president of the organization.

Our sincere congratulations to all!

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Yara Acquires Water Crop Sensor Tech Company

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Nutrient Management

yaraYara purchaes ZIM Plant Technology’s crop water sensor technology, which is mostly used in high-precision irrigation systems to improve yields and water use efficiency.

“We will incorporate the knowledge and technology into Yara’s existing Crop Nutrition solutions, providing a valuable add-on for our offering to irrigated farming. This clearly improves Yara’s leadership position within the growing fertigation segment,” says SVP and Head of Downstream Egil Hogna.

The farmers’ motivation to purchase the technology is reduced water consumption, increased yields and improved crop quality. Integrating the water precision tool with Yara’s knowledge about precise application of water soluble and liquid fertilizer (fertigation) will multiply the market potential for both.

Ag Secretary Visits NAFB

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, environment, Ethanol, Farm Bill, NAFB, USDA

vilsackAg Secretary Tom Vilsack made a trip to Kansas City to visit with farm broadcasters during the 70th National Association of Farm Broadcasting Annual Convention. The Secretary centered his comments around the RFS announcement, record levels of exports, drought issues and of course, the farm bill.

Vilsack started off by thanking all the farm broadcaster for the work that they do and shared how nice it was to talk to a crowd that understood what truly happens on the farm and appreciates the rural lifestyle.

The first topic Vilsack discussed was his excitement with agricultural exports. He stated, “We have now reached a record level of agricultural exports. Once again, $140.9 billon exports. It’s the best five years of ag exports in the history of the country. If you compare it to the pervious five year period we’ve done $230 billon more of agriculture exports and our volume is up as well.”

Next, the Secretary commented on this mornings announcement about the establishment of the National Drought Resiliency partnership. It is a collaborative effort between the Department of Commerce, Department of Interior, Department of Energy, Army Corp of Engineers, EPA, FEMA and the USDA. The goal with this team effort is to become better prepared and to mitigate the consequences of future droughts.

The final announcement came from the EPA today about RFS. Vilsack said, “At USDA we are going to focus on those aspects of this industry that we can control.” They plan to work with the industry and specifically the larger operators to create a distribution system to increase the availability of ethanol products and not depend on the petroleum industry.

You can listen to the entire press conference here [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb-13-vilsack-conference.mp3″ text=”Secretary Vilsack Press Conference”]

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

The ZimmComm Team at NAFB

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Events, FMC, NAFB

nafb13-teamThe ZimmComm Team was hard at work during the 70th National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. The all girl troop was comprised of our intern Kristyn Stidham, Jamie Johansen, me and Leah Guffey.

We adopted the method of ‘divide and conquer’ for this year’s Trade Talk and have many great post that you can look forward to checking out in the coming weeks, as well as coverage of NAFB activities and awards.

The team did numerous precision ag interviews that we will be sharing here in the coming days and weeks, thanks to the generous sponsorship of our friends at FMC Agricultural Products.

A photo album is quickly growing full of images from this year’s convention. More will be added as the event continues. 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Utility Vehicles Gaining Traction for Hunters

Talia GoesZimmPoll

zp-nhOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ”Which vehicle do you prefer for hunting?”

Our poll results:
· None – 37%
· UTV – Utility Terrain Vehicle – 26%
· Other – 21%
· ATV – All Terrain Vehicle – 16%

Although off-road vehicles have become popular on farm and ranch settings there is nothing like putting some miles on your hunting boots. Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How do you show food thanks?” Do you extend your thanks to farmers or donate to the local food bank to show appreciation? Let us know.

FMC Keeps Mid South in High Cotton

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, Cotton, Equipment, Farmers, FMC, Harvesting, NAFB, Profiles

nafb-fmc-1FMC has a lot to offer cotton producers and mid-South consultant Bentley Curry was at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) this week in Kansas City to talk about it.

“The cotton market this year used a new product called Display. It’s a harvest aid material. What we do is after the cotton is mature we put it on and take the leaves off the cotton. It normally takes two applications of product to do that. We use Display along with a boll opener with the first application and after that we come back with another FMC product called Aim to finish. We call it to take in the skirt off the cotton and then in about 10 days the harvesting equipment can come into the field and begin picking the cotton.”

Bentley has been an agricultural consultant for 40 years and still lives on the farm he was born on. He started in the private sector and has done contract work with FMC for about the last 20 years. He also welcomes around 50,000 guests to his farm each year where he focuses on agritourism. Guests can take part in holiday activities such as picking pumpkins and finding their own Christmas tree.

Bentley remembers the time when they were only concerned about controlling crab grass. But it didn’t take long for the cotton fields in the South to start to see the appearance of weeds. He shared that the entire South was consumed with cotton fields, soybeans were simply used for hay and corn was used to feed the animals on the farm.

“We’ve gone from big cotton to very little cotton in the mid-South and a multi-crop culture. We’ve gone to banding herbicides to broadcast herbicides. We’ve gone from cotton gins baling six bales an hour to cotton gins that will bale 75-100 per hour. And we’ve gone from cotton being picked by human beings to six row pickers. There have been great changes in agriculture in our area since I was a kid.”

To Bentley the 80’s brought about the most change for the mid-South region. Farmers started using precision technology to level land for drainage and irrigation purposes. Today weather doesn’t affect area as much as it did in the past. During that era the usage of herbicides and then pesticides were more widely seen and then at the tail end of the 80’s farmers began to see GMO’s come on to the scene.

Listen to Bentley’s complete interview here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb13-fmc-bentley.mp3″ text=”Interview with Bentley Curry”]

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

ISOBUS Task Controller for Planters

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly Ag Leader Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision farming equipment and software, continues to expand the ISOBUS capabilities of the Ag Leader® Integra and Versa™ displays with the addition of Task Controller for planters. ISOBUS provides a universal standard for communication between tractors and implements allowing for plug and play compatibility within the operation’s fleet – regardless of equipment color.

New_ISOBUS_Task_Controller_for_Planters1-280x226ISOBUS Task Controller enhances the communication capabilities between the tractor and ISOBUS-compatible planter by enabling swath control, prescription rate control and as-applied mapping. These features use a GPS signal to determine the planter’s location in the field and automatically turn the rows off when entering already applied areas and end-rows. When exiting these areas, the rows will automatically turn on, resulting in substantial cost savings on seed as well as increased yield.

“With many of our customers operating with a mixed fleet, the ISOBUS Task Controller allows them to hook multiple colors of equipment together and have full control of planting operations through the Ag Leader Integra and Versa displays,” says Brett Buehler, Product Specialist. “We are continually adding new features and compatibility to our displays to provide our customers with the tools to achieve optimal planting results,” he adds.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

John Deere Opens MyJohnDeere Platform

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, Data Collection, John Deere, NAFB, technology

nafb13-jd-batdrofAt today’s NAFB Trade Talk, John Deere’s had a big announcement about their MyJohnDeere platform collaborating software developers and companies. Cindy spoke with Product Marketing Manager for John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, Chris Batdorf, during the fast-paced event.

“Last summer we introduced a product called Wireless Data Transfer and that helped to do away with the USB stick and seamlessly transfer production data on and off the machine to MyJohnDeere platform. What this new announcement means is now we are working with the software companies out there. Then with their customers permission, tap in to this information and serve it up on their applications.”

Customers are able to view and manage this information from smart phones, tablets, and computers when and where they need it. Chris went on to share how this new technology will increase efficiency and make the job of the farmer easier overall.

“Their able to use applications that make sense to them, but we are doing a lot of things through the MyJohnDeere platform that customers are going to see in the coming year around showing the information actually on that platform. Making it a one-stop shop, helping them to not only see their John Deere equipment but other equipment as well.”

Earlier this year we had a preview of this announcement when Chuck attended John Deere API Integrator Conference. Here a link to that post.

For companies or developers interested in connecting their applications to MyJohnDeere platform visit Developer.deere.com. More information on MyJohnDeere, Wireless Data Transfer, and JDLink, check out MyJohnDeere.com or contact your local John Deere dealer.

Listen to Cindy’s complete interview with Chris here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb13-john-deere-batdorf.mp3″ text=”Interview with Chris Batdorf”]

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Farm Credit Sponsors NAFB Social Media Corps

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, NAFB, social media

10844765406_d86e3f9495_bFarm Credit sponsored the Trade Talk Social Media Corps for the first time ever and brought them to NAFB 2013. The team is made up of seven students from colleges all over the nation who are all majoring in agriculture communications. Farm Credit’s National Communications Director Margaret Fogarty took on the task of heading up the students and teaching them the ropes.

“We had the idea that we wanted to expand and amplify the conversation from the trade talk floor through channels in the social media space,” said Fogarty. “We wanted to expand the conversation and get some interest from folks in the industry who aren’t able to be here at the event.”

Following NAFB, there may be a future for the Social Media Corps.

“We are already talking to folks about bringing the Social Media Corp to other industry events throughout 2014,” Fogarty said.

The students posted throughout trade talk on various facets of social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They posted interviews with companies they sought interest in, video clips, photos, and posts. Following trade talk students will continue with blog posts and follow up pictures from the event. They used various hashtags like #NAFB13 and #TradeTalkSocial.

Listen to my interview with Margaret here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nafb/nafb-13-margaret-fogarty.mp3″ text=”Interview with Margaret Fogarty”]

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album