By a vote of 20 to 1, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 Wednesday. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was the sole dissenting vote, continuing his long-time crusade for payment limitations. Grassley was the first to make his comments during the mark-up. Here are his remarks. Grassley also opposed including the Hemp Farming Act of 2018 …
EPA Administrator Gets an Earful from Corn Farmers
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been on a tour of farm country this week, meeting with corn farmers and ethanol producers in Kansas and South Dakota already and next to Nebraska. At the East Kansas Agri-Energy ethanol plant in Garnett, Kansas, Kansas Corn Growers Association President Ken McCauley says they pressed Pruitt on EPA’s granting of small refinery exemptions which …
New Driving Ethanol Podcast from Growth Energy
The past two years have been among the most challenging for the ethanol industry, and Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor has been at the front lines of the battles which are continuing stronger than ever. In this edition of the Driving Ethanol podcast, Skor reflects on her two years at the helm of the industry organization and talks about what …
ASTA Elects 2018-19 Officer Team
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is pleased to announce its 2018-19 officer team, officially elected during the ASTA Policy & Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C. The members of the 2018-19 ASTA officer team are: • Chair – Jerry Flint, Corteva Agriscience™ • First Vice Chair – Wayne Gale, Stokes Seeds • Second Vice Chair — John Latham, Latham …
2018 Fuel Ethanol Workshop
The 34th annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Omaha June 11-13 features industry awards, speakers, sessions and a large trade show. Organizers say the event is on pace to be the biggest since 2009, with over 550 biofuels producers registered and more than 300 industry companies and organizations exhibiting. The opening general session Tuesday features the High Octane Award and …
ZimmCast 587 – IFAJ Congress 2018
In this week’s program we’ll get a preview of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists annual Congress which will take place in the Netherlands this year. I spoke via Skype with one of the organizers of the Congress, Jacqueline Wijbenga, Adjunct-uitgever, Eisma Businessmedia. We discussed the program and the theme of this year’s Congress. Listen to the ZimmCast here: Subscribe …
2018 Corn Utilization & Technology Conference
The 2018 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference is about to start in St. Louis, MO. This event is held every other year and features technical presentations on various topic related to corn and uses for corn. The theme this year is, “Increasing efficiency across the supply chain to enable new products.” This virtual ag newsroom includes links to photos and …
Bayer Provides Monsanto Closing Details
Bayer intends to complete the acquisition of Monsanto this Thursday, June 7, following the receipt of all required approvals from regulatory authorities. According to the conditional approval from the United States Department of Justice, the integration of Monsanto into Bayer can take place as soon as the divestments to BASF have been completed. This is expected to be in approximately …
Ethanol Report on EPA Lawsuits
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has joined a coalition of biofuel and agriculture groups in a lawsuit against EPA over lost volumes of renewable fuel resulting from retroactive small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations. RFA is also a petitioner in a lawsuit filed last week over three specific small refinery exemptions granted by the agency. “EPA Administrator …
ZimmCast 586 – CCA Institute 2018
This edition of the ZimmCast includes interviews from the CCA Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. In this week’s program I’m going to share interviews with Nickie Sabo, AMPI, now past president for CCA, Chellie Phillips, Coweta-Fayette EMC, new president of CCA and Matt Wettersten, GROWMARK, meter of CCA. Listen to the ZimmCast here: Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here. Use this …
GROWMARK Foundation Announces Scholarship Recipients
Fifteen agriculture students have been selected as the second class of recipients of the GROWMARK Foundation scholarship. “Each scholarship is worth 1500 dollars,” says Karen Jones, Youth and Young Producer Specialist at GROWMARK. “We’ve awarded some to incoming freshmen but about half are going to students that are sophomore level or above.” Click here to see the full list of …
CCA Institute 2018
The Cooperative Communicators Association is holding it’s annual Institute in Ft. Worth, TX in 2018 with the theme, “Earn Your Spurs, Communicate in the Lone Star State.” About CCA CONNECT. CREATE. ACHIEVE. Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) is an organization of 350 professionals who communicate for cooperatives. Our organization is unique in both its mission and membership. We work toward helping …
John Deere Introducing Updated Harvest Equipment
A new track system and a new draper lineup are among updates to harvest equipment coming from John Deere. A new track system is now fully suspended, offering the ability to transport up to 25 miles per hour from field to field. Track widths are available in 30-inch or 36-inch options. The company now also offers seven draper headers to …
GROWMARK: Agriculture Background Not Required
Although GROWMARK and its FS Member companies are clearly rooted in agriculture, a farming or agribusiness background is not required to thrive as an employee there. GROWMARK’s Director of Talent Management Tom Swearingen is a prime example of that. Originally a commercial airline pilot, Swearingen left that industry after the events of 9/11/2001 changed it forever, and came back to …
Cousin Elected to Heifer International Board of Directors
Ertharin Cousin, former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, has been elected to the Heifer International Board of Directors, joining other members with diverse backgrounds in the business, agriculture, academic, faith-based and private sectors. Cousin will serve on the board as an at-large delegate for a three-year term. Cousin spoke at the Water for Food International Forum …