Join National Cattlemen’s Beef Association for their “Know Before You Go” pre-convention webinar to learn about meetings and events you don’t want to miss during the Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show. Get oriented to the location, hear meeting highlights, learn about “new” events for 2016 and more. This is a great resource for you to get answers to questions …
US Beef, Pork Exports Remain Strong
This week’s United States Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Audio Report discusses a few highlights from the November 2015 export results for U.S. pork and beef. November was a very strong month for pork muscle cut volume and combined pork/pork variety meat exports were also up. U.S. beef exports were down slightly from November 2014, but also posted their largest volume, …
Employees Earn FS Certified Applicator Awards
More than 400 individuals completed special training to become FS Certified Applicators. The individuals, employed by FS companies throughout North America, completed in person and on-line training sessions and tests to enhance their skills in application, safety, and best management practices. Lance Ruppert, GROWMARK Director of Strategic Agronomy marketing said the goal of the program is to develop best in …
GROWMARK Matching Gift Program
GROWMARK, through its Foundation, is introducing a matching gift program to team up with System members in support of local non-profit organizations. The GROWMARK Foundation’s Enduring Commitments program will match a member donation between $1,000 and $5,000 to a qualifying 501(c)(3). Enduring Commitments is designed to partner with members to increase their impact within local communities, according to Amy Bradford, …
#AFBF16 in Orlando
The 97th annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation was held January 10-12 in Orlando, Florida. The event kicked off with the Opening General Session where outgoing President Bob Stallman addressed thousands of farmers and ranchers from around the country and encouraged them to stand up and be counted. Check out the 2016 AFBF Convention photos. Listen to Bob …
Dietary Guidelines Reaffirm the Health of Lean Beef
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have released the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They have reaffirmed the role of lean beef in a healthy diet and confirm that Americans are, on average, consuming lean meat in daily amounts that are consistent with the recommendations for protein foods, according the …
Latest ZimmCast Features Hot Dogs & Sausages
His real title is President of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. He’s Eric Mittenthal. But, as Chuck Zimmerman notes during this week’s ZimmCast, we need a much better title for him and perhaps you could suggest one. Eric is taking over the position from the “Queen of Wien” herself, Janet Riley. Both also work for the North American …
iCropTrak Introducing Potato Farming Template
Long time AgWired supporter, iCropTrak, will be showcasing a “Potato Farming Template” during this year’s Potato Expo in Las Vegas. I interviewed Aaron Hutchinson to learn what a PFT is. Basically, the iCropTrak Potato Farming Template is a pre-designed template installed in their iCropTrak platform for potato users to get up and running very quickly. iCropTrak still allows the user …
USFRA Announces New Foundation
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has launched a new foundation with a mission of furthering agricultural education and understanding of agriculture among America’s consumers including young people and millennials. The U.S. Farming and Ranching Foundation (USFRF) is the result of a collaborative effort led by the agriculture and food industry to expand the dialogue with consumers regarding food …
US Beef Approved for Export to Columbia
This week’s audio report from the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) discusses an important policy change occurring in the South American country of Colombia, and what this change means for U.S. beef producers. Following Colombia’s recent decision to remove restrictions related to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) on certain bone-in cuts of beef, the U.S. beef industry has officially gained full …
Ethanol Report Takes a Look at 2016
A new year has dawned and with it new opportunities for the ethanol industry. In this Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen discusses some of the upcoming events in 2016, including the 21st National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans February 15-17, and comments on whether there may yet be a legal challenge by the industry …
Happy New Year from ZimmComm!
2015 was a great year and 2016 promises to be even better! In 2015, the ZimmComm team covered over 70 events in 18 states and four countries, including Australia and New Zealand. We uploaded almost 16,200 photos and 65 videos and did over 5,000 posts on our own five websites and several others. Our Flickr photo albums now have almost …
John Block Reports on Chipotle
The latest commentary from John Block Reports from Washington, sponsored by John Deere and the National Corn Growers Association, discusses the marketing and advertisement tactics of Chipotle Mexican Grill, the fast food restaurant that has been linked to several outbreaks of e. coli and norovirus nationwide. In December, however, a Boston-area Chipotle was linked to an outbreak of norovirus that …
Thirsty Land Featured on ZimmCast
Early in 2015 documentary film maker Conrad Weaver got into the field to start his latest project, Thirsty Land. He has been in states from Kansas to California filming the drought situation and meeting with many farmers to learn about the effect the drought has been having on rural communities. This week’s ZimmCast features the documentary Thirsty Land and an …
Ethanol Year in Review
2015 was another year of highs and lows for the ethanol industry. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen says many of the positives, such as record production and increased exports, were offset by negatives like tighter margins and trade barriers. In this Ethanol Report, Dinneen takes a look back at some of the good news and bad …