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ZimmCast

Weekly interviews with agribusiness industry leaders about what's new with a focus on agricultural marketing.
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Now displaying: 2022
Dec 14, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

As you know, our theme here on AgWired has always been, “What’s new in the world of agribusiness.” And in this program we’re going to learn about a relatively new way for farmers, ag processors and cooperatives to have more control over their own risk protection. There is more to the story in my interview with Dennis Daggett, a partner with AgriCap Group, LLC out of Minnesota. We had a great conversation during the recent AgGateway Annual Meeting.

Our team has cultivated relationships with top insurance companies to develop unique and cost-effective insurance solutions. By bringing together top re-insurers, captive insurance managers, and service providers we help farmers, ag processors and cooperatives retain the investment and tax advantages being lost to commercial insurance companies.

We are experienced professionals with a ‘hands-on’ approach to Ag Risk Management and Protection. Our reinsurers have earned an ‘Excellent’ rating from A.M. Best for over 50 years. This rating proves that they have the financial strength to pay your claims and give you peace of mind when you need it most.

So, listen in as Dennis tells us all about AgriCap and how farmers and their ag partners can find out more.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Dec 7, 2022

During the 2022 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo I met one of the international attendees yesterday who lives in Kenya and is Head of Seed Research & Systems Development for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). She has a great story and I think you’ll enjoy learning about farming challenges in the eleven country area that the organization works in.

I think it is always fascinating to learn more about agriculture in other countries. That’s why I’ve supported the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. They have an annual meeting in a different member country each year. By attending many of them I have been able to travel in Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, Switzerland and many others. You can learn more about IFAJ at IFAJ.org.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Nov 9, 2022

In this episode I’m going to share some interview with Syngenta leadership from the company’s crop protection media summit. So, let’s learn what’s new with Syngenta Crop Protection. First I’ll share my conversation with Vern Hawkins, President, Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, followed by Jeff Cecil, Head of North America Crop Protection Marketing. Vern will discuss a “View from the Top.”

Next we have Jeff who will discuss “Syngenta CP Innovation and Economics of Agronomics.”

For more interviews from the Syngenta Media Summit go to AgNewsWire.com and click on the virtual newsroom where you will also find lots of photos from the event in Louisiana.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Oct 17, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

We’re reached another milestone. This is episode 700 of the podcast that started back at the beginning of 2005. You can find them all on AgWired.com by searching the category link for the ZimmCast. 

This week I’m going to share a few interviews from my week last week in Minneapolis. First was the NAMA Fall Conference followed by the Export Exchange. First we’ll hear from Matt Coniglio, Farm Progress, and chair of the NAMA Foundation. Next up is Brian Torrey, John Deere, who is the chair for the 2023 Agri-Marketing Conference which will take place in St. Louis next April. He provides a little look ahead for that.

After the NAMA Fall Conference I changed hotels for the Export Exchange which is an opportunity for foreign grain buyers to come visit with farmers, agribusiness companies and the U.S. Grains Council, Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, who partner to put the even on. First up is Ryan LeGrand, U.S. Grains Council President/CEO. Next Ann Lewis of the RFA provides current numbers for the exports of U.S. ethanol and dried distillers grains.

It was a busy week in Minneapolis but later this week I’ll be in the Georgia woods hunting deer. Looking forward to a little R&R.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Sep 30, 2022

This week’s program will be a preview interview on the NAMA Fall Conference coming up very soon in Minneapolis. To get the details I talked with GROWMARK’s Chris Grogan who is the vice chair of the NAMA committee that has worked with staff to plan this year’s event. We’ll talk about the program and speakers, registration, the hotel and more.

The conference will be held at the Loews in Minneapolis on October 10-12. You can find the link to register on the NAMA website if you haven’t already done so.

Sep 9, 2022

In this episode I’m going to share interviews with Syngenta/Golden Harvest representatives who were on location at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, IA. Thank you Syngenta for making my attendance possible this year. There is a lot of content in the virtual newsroom on AgNewWire that includes lots of photos and interviews. Just go to AgNewsWire.com to check it out and feel free to download and use.

So, in this program you will hear what’s new from the company from:

Rex Gray, Golden Harvest corn product manager

David Schlake, Golden Harvest agronomy manager - west

Andy Ackley, Ph.D., Golden Harvest corn portfolio manager

Ron Beyer, Golden Harvest agronomist

Logan Romines, Syngenta fungicide product lead

And that's the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it.

Aug 17, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. This is the 697th episode. Almost to 700!

I’m sharing two of the interviews I conducted during the Bayer Crop Science Field Technology Showcase last week. We had multiple in-field demonstration plots and presenters. I was most interested in one about small stature corn which you’ll hear is the core of Bayer’s Smart Corn strategy. Then on the soybean side of things you’ll hear about new technologies coming to help farmers with weed control and also a description of their investment in CoverCress which is planted in the fall and harvested just ahead of spring planting. The product works as a good cover crop and has additional opportunities for farmers to obtain additional income from the harvested crop. Bayer recently purchased a majority stake in CoverCress, Inc.

First up is my interview with Kelly Gillespie, VP Digital Ecosystems Services, Bayer Crop Science. Then there is my interview with Jennifer Ralston, Global Soybean Seed & Traits Portfolio Manager, Bayer Crop Science.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Jul 26, 2022

Interview with Oliver Peoples, President and CEO

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is an agricultural bioscience company that is using its differentiated trait gene discovery platform, the “Trait Factory”, to develop improved Camelina varieties for the production of biofuel feedstock oils, PHA bioplastics and omega-3 (DHA+EPA) oils and to license our yield traits to major seed companies for commercialization in major row crops, including corn, soybean and canola. Yield10 is headquartered in Woburn, MA and has an Oilseeds Center of Excellence in Saskatoon, Canada.

Jul 8, 2022

This will be episode 695 of the ZimmCast. I’d love any feedback you want to give. Do you like the format? What would change? What topics or speakers would you like to hear? Message me and I really appreciate it.

In just over a week the annual Ag Media Summit will take place in Raleigh, NC. If you have not registered, you can do so on site if you need to. But you can also follow on social media with the hashtag #AgMediaSummit2022 and I’ll be posting lots of photos and interviews when I can.

In this week’s program you can hear a preview of the event from Kenna Rathai, Broadhead, who is Chair of the Steering Committee for the Ag Media Summit this year.

It is easy to find more information about the Ag Media Summit and to register. Just go to AgMediaSummit.com.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Jun 17, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

This week I got on the agriblogging and podcasting highway to Altoona, Iowa for the AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting. This is the organization’s “roll up your sleeves, working meeting.” There are many topic work groups and discussions. All of which will lead to the agenda for the Annual Meeting later this year.

So, for this episode I’m going to share some of the interviews I conducted. You can find all of them and photos in the virtual newsroom on AgNewsWire.com. Let’s get started.

First up is Brent Kemp, President/CEO, AgGateway.

Next, let’s listen in to Doug Farrington, BASF, who is Chair of AgGateway.

Now we’ll learn about what AgGateway means to Andres Ferreyra, Syngenta.

I had a great conversation with Dennis Daggett, Enterprise Ag Strategies.

Finally, I’m sharing my conversation with Jacob Crow, GROWMARK, who serves on the board of AgGateway.

As you have heard during the program, AgGateway has organized itself to be a more global organization and I think we’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more about them in the future. I’ll be on a short break from the road but will be attending the Ag Media Summit next.

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Jun 10, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

In this week’s podcast I’m going to share a couple of speakers who have just been added to the AgNewsWire virtual newsroom for the Alltech ONE Conference. I thought you might be interested in their topics.

Let’s start out with Amy Bell-Elmohammed, Quality Manager for Alltech. Amy managed the Stay Curious Track for the conference. She will explain what that means.

Next we'll turn to a topic area many of you are involved in which is crop science. Learn what Alltech is doing in this area from Steve Borst, Vice President of Alltech Crop Science.

So, if you liked these topics you can find more if you register for the Alltech ONE Conference and look through all the virtual content.

And, that’s the ZimmComm for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

May 26, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

This week I was in Lexington, KY for the Alltech ONE Conference. It has been 3 years since Alltech created one of the very first virtual conferences in 2020. So you can imagine the excitement and joy of being with customers and friends from all over the world. That includes agricultural media who had a great press room to work out of as usual.

So, for this week’s ZimmCast I’m going to share two interviews. First will be the 2021 Alltech Canada Planet of Plenty Award Winner, Andrea Stroeve-Sawa, Shipwheel Cattle Feeders, Alberta. Next will be the 2022 Alltech Canada Planet of Plenty Award winner, Jillian Byers, Blue Ridge Farms, Alberta. 

May 6, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

Before getting to our featured guest I did a little look into the way back machine of AgWired. I found a ZimmCast I did with an interview with PrecisonEarth, owned by Cogent3D, Inc, and that’s where I met Aaron Hutchison. We were at the InfoAg Conference in 2011 where the company was showcasing a new iPad soil collect and display app called PrecisionEarth. At the time that was still early use of iOS devices for precision ag. The company then moved on to a product called CropTrak.

Now look forward to today and I just interviewed Aaron, President and Co-Founder, about CropTrak, a cloud technology solutions company that helps multinational food, beverage, agriculture, and protein customers increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of their supply chain management processes and systems. CropTrak just released a platform update that expands its capabilities to provide multi-stakeholders complete visibility of the financial transactions across their ingredient supply chain. For the first time, food and beverage companies managing grower contracts and settlements can do so in one seamless platform optimized for collaboration and insights. Aaron says “Our goal is to continue to lead the food industry with ongoing innovation and process improvements to help assure food is safe, affordable, and sustainable, while making paper contracts a thing of the past.” 

Sounds like a lofty goal and it is as CropTrak is working with companies like Del Monte, Bolthouse Farms, Corteva, Pivot Bio, Benson Hill and more. 

That's the ZimmCast. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Apr 14, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast, I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

The topic of this episode is the 2022 Agri-Marketing Conference which took place last week. Besides exhibiting in the Connection Point I was also taking photos for NAMA, over 500 of them which you can find in our online album. Just click on the Flickr icon on AgWired.com or AgNewsWire.com to find them.

During the conference I recorded remarks from our industry award winners as well as interviewing the new president of NAMA, Deron Johnson, Curious Plot. The Golden ZimmComm Microphone was active in our Connection Point booth and I conducted interviews with a number of attendees and other exhibitors. You can find them all on the virtual newsroom on AgNewsWire.com. 

I’m going to share a number of these remarks and interviews with you in this week’s program. 

That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Mar 30, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

Trips on the agriblogging highway continue with the Agri-Marketing Conference coming up next week. After that conference it will be on to Lexington, KY for the Alltech ONE Conference in May. 

ZimmComm will be exhibiting in the Connection Point at the Agri-Marketing Conference once again, in booth 201. The ZimmComm Golden Mic will be there to conduct interviews with attendees. All you have to do is stop by and we can chat about what is new in the world of agribusiness with you. You can also stop by to enter a drawing for a blue Apple HomePod mini while you’re at it.

To get a preview of this year’s NAMA conference I’m sharing a conversation with Tom Posta, Bader Rutter, who is Chair of this year’s event.

Mar 16, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.

In this week's program we'll get a preview of National Ag Day activities in Washington, DC from Amy Bradford, GROWMARK, and Chair of the Agriculture Council of America.

March 22 is the offical Ag Day but there will be activities on the 21st and 22nd. These include on Monday, a Celebration of Ag with company and association exhibits on the National Mall, the annual Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit, a joint reception at the National Press Club and then on Tuesday the exhibits are open again, Sec. of Ag Tom Vilsack will sign a declaration for Ag Day and there will be a virtual event with several speakers including the Outstanding Young Farmers and the Ag Day Essay Contest Winners. You can go to AgDay.org to register now.

That's the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Feb 28, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman

Before getting to this week’s interview I thought I’d summarize a little bit of our activities. Last week Cindy and I tagged teamed the National Ethanol Conference where we created a customized virtual newsroom for the Renewable Fuels Association. There is a lot of content in there including 2 different event photo albums and lots of interviews and other audio. That was in New Orleans.

Which is where I will be back to next week for the Commodity Classic and working with several companies and organizations.

Like most people I know, we are deeply concerned about the war taking place in Ukraine. We have friends there from time spent during IFAJ Congresses and we have heard that they are okay right now. We are praying for an end to this conflict. There are lots of parties that can share the blame on it but what is most important are the lives of people, including children, who are dying or have already become homeless.

So, let’s move on to one of the things we always like to talk about and that’s what is new in the world of agribusiness. Last week we distributed a news release for Verdant Robotics that announced its first multi-action autonomous farm robot for specialty crops. I talked with company co-founder and CEO, Gabe Sibley.

Feb 15, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast, I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

Our friends at Agri-Pulse have launched a national news show called Agri-Pulse Newsmakers. The inaugural show was published this past Friday and you can find it on the Agri-Pulse website. The program designed for a broader audience and to engage lawmakers and key influencers on the hottest political topics.

I talked with Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse Founder and Editor about the new program and that’s the topic for this week’s ZimmCast.

To sign up for updates from the new weekly Newsmakers program and daily newsletters just go to the Agri-Pulse website.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

Feb 8, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

Last week I traveled to Houston for the annual Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show. We produced a customized virtual newsroom for NCBA on AgNewsWire.com. It is loaded with content including photos, interviews and session audio that is all available all media.

In this week’s episode I’m going to feature some of my interviews. Included are now-past president Jerry Bohn and new president Don Schiefelbein. They each bring their perspective to the last year and the year ahead.

Also in this week’s program you’ll hear from NCBA staff members CEO Colin Woodall and VP of Government Affairs, Ethan Lane.

A very well attended each year is the Cattlefax Outlook. Afterward I spoke with Cattlefax VP of Industry Relations and Analysis to get a summary of what the outlook is for the cattle industry.

Finally, I thought you might enjoy hearing Markie Hageman who received the Beef Advocacy Program Advocate of the Year.

It was a great conference. Like in Florida, there were no mask requirements or other ones. Over 6,000 people had a great time and that is the way I’d like to see all conferences from now on. No good reason not to.

This week I’ll be back on the agriblogging highway to the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau annual meeting near Palm Springs, CA. See you from there.

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you like it and thank you for listening.

Jan 24, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. 

Recently retired farm broadcaster Mike Adams was honored by the biodiesel industry last week at the National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Adams was presented with the Biodiesel Impact Award.

“As I look back, I remember those soy diesel days,” said Adams. “It made so much sense to me I couldn’t understand why anyone would ever be against either ethanol or biodiesel.”

During the conference I sat down with Mike to talk about his career and the award.

That's the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you listening.

Jan 13, 2022

Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

This episode will be about wrap-ups and previews.

2022 got off to a fast start with our virtual newsroom production for the National Cotton Council and the Beltwide Cotton Conferences. You can find the interviews and photos on AgNewsWire.com which has a link to the custom page we created for this project. I’m going to share my wrap-up interview of the conferences with Gary Adams, President/CEO, National Cotton Council.

Next week both Cindy and I will be on the agriblogging highway to separate locations. Cindy will be in Glendale, Arizona for the PrecisionAg Vision Conference while I will be in Las Vegas for the National Biodiesel Conference. So, to preview these conferences I have my preview interview with Meister Media’s Eric Davis and Richard Jones. And then Cindy’s interview with Brad Shimmens, National Biodiesel Board. 

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