Meet Zimmie the Zebra. This rare pygmy zebra has been homeless for some time as habitat in her native land of Zambia has been disappearing. When Chuck Zimmerman found out about this he called Brian Rund, Nufarm, because they had worked on a zebra home placement project during Potato Expo earlier this year. During that show AgWired helped Chip, a …
Research Finds Cost-Cutting and Survival Strategies of Farmers
A new research study conducted in February by Millennium Research and commissioned by J.L.Farmakis, Inc. shows the extent to which growers are reacting to low commodity prices. Farmers shared the changes they are making to survive the downturn and signaled dramatic shifts in their plans for 2016. Among the findings of the Farmer Speaks Study are: • Half of the …
Meet New Angus CEO Allen Moczygemba
Four months ago the American Angus Association brought in Allen Moczygemba to help lead the organization as Chief Executive Officer. Jamie Johansen recently had to the opportunity to sit down with him. During the interview, Allen shared the story about his life-long commitment to agriculture his vision for the breed going forward. Angus is known as the ‘Business Breed’ and Allen …
Early Bird Registration Extended for IFAJ Congress
The organizers of the IFAJ Congress 2016 have extended early bird registration to April 10. So you have a little more time to look at the programs for the pre and post tours as well as the main Congress. Chuck Zimmerman Skyped with Mark Moore, freelance agricultural journalist and photographer who is helping the Congress committee. Mark has been living …
Get Ready to Fly In for ACE’s Fly In
The 8th annual American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) legislative fly-in is coming up next week, April 13-14, and some 70 members of the organization from about 15 states are planning to attend this year. “It’s really important that we show the human face of ethanol and renewable fuels,” said ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings during an interview with Cindy …
RFA Pushes Back on API Push Poll
The American Petroleum Institute has unveiled an anti-biofuel poll. The latest released during a media call today was conducted by Harris Poll. According to the poll, 77 percent of registered voters are concerned that breaching the so-called ethanol blend wall would drive up the cost of gasoline for consumers and reduce the nation’s fuel supply (85 percent Republicans, 75 percent …
Ethanol Report Features Trade Mission to Peru
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) was part of a recent trade mission to Peru led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack which included discussions about increasing cooperation with that country when it comes to ethanol production and exports. The March 13-15 trip went to Lima and the Piura region, where cane-based ethanol is produced, and featured meetings with ministry of energy …
#Dairy Farmers Questions Prez Candidates
Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were both asked about immigration and farm labor by Wisconsin dairy farmers during CNN town hall events in that state this week. Wisconsin dairy farmer Jason Vorpahl, asked Cruz about about immigrant workers. Noting the need for an adequate labor force for agriculture, Cruz indicated the answer may be increasing mechanization …
#USDA Report – Corn Up, Soybeans Down
The 2016 Prospective Plantings report out from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) shows farmers expect to plant more corn and less soybeans this year. U.S. corn growers expect to plant 93.6 million acres to corn this year, the first increase in corn planted acreage since 2012 and, if realized, will be the third largest corn acreage since 1944. In …
ScoutPro Continues to Grow
AgWired first introduced us to ScoutPro back in 2011 but the company has come a long way since then. ScoutPro co-founder Stuart McCulloh says the company started by three entrepreneurial Iowa State University students is now full service crop scouting program. At the recent Commodity Classic the company announced the apps are now a free download because, as McCulloh points …
GROWMARK Partners with Climate Corp
GROWMARK has partnered with The Climate Corporation to become an official dealer of Climate Pro, The Climate Corporation’s premium web and mobile offering. Climate Pro is a web-based data information system that provides weather information specific to an individual farmer’s field of interest. The software allows farms to import or load field boundaries into Climate Pro, and the Climate Pro …
ZimmCast: Tweet a Bee #Feed a Bee
Bayer is gearing up to make a significant impact on pollinator health in 2016 by planting more forage and spreading the word about the importance of pollinators with the debut of the Feed a Bee song and video and new social media initiatives to help keep pollinators healthy. In this week’s ZimmCast, Cindy Zimmerman spoke with our favorite Queen Bee …
Pork Checkoff Presser on Hog and Pig Report
The Pork Checkoff hosted a news media conference call following the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report on Friday, March 25, 2016. Three distinguished agricultural economists: Dr. Scott Brown, Extension Livestock Economist, the University of Missouri, Dr. Lee Schultz, Livestock Economist, Iowa State University, and Altin Kalo, Senior Analyst, Steiner Consulting Group, were on hand to give their reactions to …
I am USFRA – Dawn Caldwell
Dawn Caldwell is a very busy woman. Besides helping to run her family’s cow-calf operation in north central Kansas, not far from where they live in Clay County, Nebraska, the wife and mother of two works as head of governmental affairs for the Aurora Cooperative. In addition, she serves on the board of the Federation of State Beef Councils, and …
AgCareers Going Strong
A recent survey conducted for Land O’Lakes suggests that there is very low interest in college grads to pursue a career in agriculture. However, AgCareers.com sees a very different trend. AgCareers has a 33 percent increase in the number of visits to their website in the last year. Chuck Zimmerman spoke with Eric Spell, AgCareers.com president, who says that enrollment …