#SubEnvironment Holds Hearing on RINs

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment took a deep dive into the complex world of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) during a hearing on Wednesday. The committee, chaired by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), heard from a panel of independent witnesses to provide background on RINs and how the market for them works. The panel included: Brent Yacobucci – Energy …

Milan No-Till Field Day

The Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day is one of the most far-ranging agricultural field days in the nation. This year’s event started out with cool weather and a good crowd. Tours cover topics as diverse as row crop sustainability, beef cattle production, natural resource management and precision agriculture. A total of 16 tours are on the agenda. “Although we’ve …

EPA Approves Sorghum Oil as Biofuels Pathway

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler yesterday announced the approval of sorghum oil as an eligible feedstock under the Renewable Fuel Standard during a signing event at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., with sorghum farmers and other stakeholders. In addition to the nine ethanol producers already extracting oil from sorghum, several other facilities will now be able to purchase and …

USDA Announces Trade Disruption Relief for Farmers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take several actions to assist farmers negatively impacted by recent trade actions. President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a short-term relief strategy to protect agricultural producers while the Administration works on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, …

Stoneville Varieties Featured at Sunbelt Expo Field Day

The Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day brought hundreds of farmers from Georgia and surrounding states. The event let’s you see demonstration plots with the latest innovative research, and visit with industry and university researchers to get up-to-date information on topics such as new seed and forage varieties, irrigation and water management, crop protection, soil fertility and precision agriculture. Stoneville took …

ZimmCast 592 – Comedian Tim The Dairy Farmer

This week let’s meet Comedian, Tim The Dairy Farmer. Humor and dairy are near and dear to my heart and I hope you’ll enjoy the program as Tim talks about how he got into a comedy career. He also has some big news! Blue Collar meets Green Acres. That’s how comedian, Tim the Dairy Farmer, describes the release of his …

Growth Energy Urges EPA to Correct RFS Course

Growth Energy is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to chart a “major course correction on annual biofuel targets.” The proposed rule raises the total 2019 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) by 3 percent over the 2018 requirement, and maintains a 15-billion-gallon requirement for conventional biofuels like corn ethanol, but does nothing to address the 2.25 billion gallons worth of …

Inari Aims to Transform Agriculture

A new plant breeding technology company called Inari Agriculture is being introduced today with the mission to transform agriculture and its impact on society and the environment by developing a more personalized plant breeding approach. Inari is a Flagship Pioneering company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., which started in early 2016 and has since recruited more than 80 leading research scientists …

FDA Considering Fake Meat and Milk

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is spending time this month discussing meat and milk. Last week, FDA held a public meeting to discuss foods produced using animal cell culture technology – mainly lab-grown fake meat products – and which agency should be in charge of regulating. The meat industry believes fake meat should be regulated by USDA. Speaking …

Biofuels Advocates Testify at EPA Hearing

Biofuels advocates brought their concerns about damage to the industry caused by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to a hearing on the proposed 2019 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Wednesday in Michigan. In its proposed rule, the agency declined to accept comments on the controversial waiver program or Reid Vapor Pressure restrictions on E15, but …

ZimmCast 590 – Precision, Pork, Podcasts

Happy Independence Day week. This episode of the ZimmCast will introduce you to some other farm podcasters you may not be familiar with. If you are not subscribing to podcasts then get started. There are many really good programs and quite a few that have started recently. In this week’s program I’ll share the following: The Raven Precision Podcast – …

AMVAC Purchases Bayer Bromacil Business

AMVAC Chemical Corporation recently announced the purchase of the Bromacil herbicide business in the United States and Canada from Bayer Crop Science. The transaction is unrelated to the acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer, and financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. I spoke with Greg Warren, Marketing Manager, AMVAC, about the transaction and what it means to the company. …

Timac Agro USA Continues to Gain Popularity in Managing Early Season Stress

Fertiactyl®ST is a seed treatment formulated for stronger emergence Timac Agro USA, a provider of crop nutritional solutions, introduces Fertiactyl® ST, a liquid seed treatment suitable for any crop started from seed. This formulation was developed from Timac Agro’s Fertiactyl® GZ to help farmers battle environmental stress during spring planting. It is the newest addition to an extensive portfolio developed …

ZimmCast 589 – Incredible Eggs & New CEO of USFRA

In this week’s program you’ll hear mostly from Cindy and the people she interviewed recently. So, let’s get started by thanking our sponsor, GROWMARK, Locally Owned, Globally Strong. First up will be an interview Cindy did with American Egg Board Marketing Communications Manager Marc Dresner. They discuss the AEB’s eggciting promotional sponsorship of Disney-Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” that has audiences scrambling …

GROWMARK Wants More Interns to Stay

GROWMARK would like to see more of their interns to choose a full-time career at the cooperative after completing the internship experience. The Exploring Agriculture program is geared towards community college students and those with an interest in the operational side of GROWMARK’s business. This year a total of 32 interns joined that program, being placed throughout the cooperative’s core …