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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.
In this episode I'm going to share stories from Syngenta since they were at all of the events I attended in the last few weeks. We really appreciate Syngenta's support which helps make what we do at ZimmComm possible. So let's get started.
At the NAFB Trade Talk we heard about Syngenta's sustainability efforts from Caydee Savinelli and Steven Wall.
Next, it was on to the Farm Journal MILK Business Conference where Enogen was in the spotlight to help dairy producers. Describing this are Todd Lunde, Ted Koehler, Liz Novotny, Katie Edmunds and from Penn State, Dr. Alexander Hristov.
Last but not least, Syngenta was a major sponsor at the ASTA CSS & Seed Trade Expo where I spoke with Eric Boeck and Mary Kay Thatcher.
Want to sponsor the ZimmCast? Just let me know and we can talk through ideas for your company. I’m AgriBlogger on Twitter or just email me at chuck@zimmcomm.biz.
That's the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.
This week's episode is sponsored by IDA-ORE ZEOLITE. Zeolite is a miracle mineral that is rapidly taking over the agricultural, turf, and water filtration industries. Visit www.ida-ore.com or call 208-515-6966 to get a quote for bulk orders.
Mention discount code "CHUCK" for savings!
In this week's program I have a conversation with Matt Lott, Sales Manager, Ida-Ore. The topic is Zeolite and we're going to learn all about it. Matt will provide us with background on the company and then focus on their products. Zeolite is used in a variety of industries like turf, soil amendment, animal feed additive, water filtration and waste and more. One that I found interesting was the use of Zeolite in pet products that include bedding and cat litter. It has enormous odor eliminating properties. Home Depot is a large retailer of their products.
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.
After missing it for a few years I was able to attend the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) Annual Meeting which took place in Richmond, VA. We had a good turnout with some great sessions. I interviewed several of the attendees. More on that in a moment.
The Golden ARC Awards, which were started in 1990 as the pre-eminent ag public relations awards, had many entries and awards were announced during the meeting. The awards themselves did not get to the hotel on time so they will be sent to the winners. You can find a list of all the winners on the ARC website.
So, let’s get started a conversation I had with Lynn Henderson, AgriMarketing, who was inducted into the ARC Public Relations Hall of Fame.
Next up, I spoke with Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse, who participated in an editor panel which had the job of talking about reaching editors with news and information.
Also participating on the editor panel was Jessica Johnson, NewsWise.
There was an ag panel discussion on the “Beneficial Swamp Dwellers.” I spoke with Bethany Shively, ASTA, who talked about the value of those fighting the good public relations fight for ag and food in Washington, DC. She also gets in a plug for the upcoming ASTA CSS & Seed Expo in Chicago in December.
I also spoke with Erin Nash, NAFB. NAFB was a sponsor at the ARC Annual Meeting. Erin talks about services NAFB offers to ag public relations professionals.
Lastly in the program for this week, I spoke with conference attendee, Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Animal Ag Alliance. This was her first ARC Annual Meeting. Hannah also provides a plug for the organizations annual Stakeholders meeting.
I’m really glad I was able to go to the ARC meeting this year and spend some face to face time with so many friends in the industry. Next on my schedule is the NAFB annual meeting in Kansas City. I’ll be there all day for Trade Talk, so maybe I’ll see you then.
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.
In this program we're going to get a preview of the 2021 Agricultural Relations Council Annual Meeting. Providing the details is Kristy Mach, Corner Window Communications and Executive Director of ARC.
Kristy walks us through the program and speakers as well as the annual business meeting and awards program. The second day will be tour day to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Colonial Williamsburg. There will be lots of networking opportunities as well.
The meeting if for agricultural public relations professionals of all kinds and levels of experience.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast, I’m Chuck Zimmerman.
In this program we’re going to learn all about the 2021 NAMA Fall Conference from the head of the conference committee, Michele Tibodeau, CHS, Inc. Michele walks us through a preview of the program which includes the presentation of the annual Professional Development Awards of Excellence, network opportunities like on and off-site receptions and great speakers and sessions.
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. Last week I attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, working primarily in the Buffalo Chip Campground with the Renewable Fuels Association. This is the 8th out of the last ten years I’ve had this opportunity. I get to work with a group of great people, creating content during the various sponsorship activities. It is both an educational as well as promotional effort.
The focus is on helping motorcycle riders understand the value and safety of using an E10 blend of ethanol and gas in their machines. All motorcycle manufacturers warranty this fuel.
Robert White, VP of Industry Relations for RFA, spearheads this project and has done so for all of the 13 years the organization has been involved with the Sturgis Rally. I talked to him about how things went this year as we were wrapping up the activities.
The Free Fuel Happy Hours on the Buffalo Chip property is the major component of RFA’s activities as bikers line up to fill their bikes with E10, 93 octane, fuel. It provides a great opportunity to talk one on one with bikers about ethanol and answer questions they may have. I spoke with several of the folks who came through and thought I’d share what they had to say.
RFA pumped more than 3,000 gallons of fuel during the four days of Free Fuel Happy Hours for three hours per day.
So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. Thank you for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast.
In this episode I’m sharing a conversation with Matt Crisp, CEO of Benson Hill, a food technology company that is unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants for the plant-based food revolution. It is some very new technology they are employing and Matt will walk us through it. There are some terms like Cloud Biology, nutrition security and the company’s CropOS platform that I think you’ll find them very interesting. So, let’s learn more about what is new with Benson Hill.
That’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. If you are into numbers this is episode # 674. Downloads of the ZimmCast have increased on a regular basis this year. If you’d like to be a ZimmCast sponsor, just let me know.
Cindy and I have been making travel plans for work. That’s something pretty rare since early last year. So we’ve got flights scheduled, hotel reservations and conference registered. I guess it’s kind of like riding a bike. Pretty simple list of things that are needed so it has been just like we missed a long beat is all.
So, speaking of travel for work this week’s episode will provide previews of two events that take us out on the agriblogging highway. The first is the Meister Media inaugural Tech Hub Live conference in Des Moines. Also included is the Souther Peanut Grower Conference where we create content for the conference blog, something we’ve done since 2008.
We will have virtual ag newsrooms from these events on AgNewsWire.com which provide free content for publications, websites, social media, newsletters and more. And we’ll also be sharing individual stories on AgWired.com.
So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. This is episode 673 since starting the podcast back in 2005. We’ve come a long way baby!
When I started the podcast and AgWired.com my target audience was the membership of the National Agri-Marketing Association. This program will focus on NAMA and specifically the annual Agri-Marketing Conference coming up in just over a month.
With me in this program is Greg Lammert, Corteva Agriscience who is chair of this year’s conference. Last year we had a virtual conference and this year we’re back to in-person. We start out the preview with the theme of this year’s conference, “Breaking New Ground.” From there we cover the keynote sessions, breakouts, Best of NAMA Awards, Connection Point and other networking opportunities.
If you have not registered the just click on this link to do so.
BTW. I will be attending and ZimmComm has a booth in the Connection Point. So, stop by and say hi. And while you are there please bid high on the NAMA Foundation silent auction. We’ve donated an Apple HomePod mini (grey) for your podcast listening pleasure.
So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. Look us up on your favorites podcast platform. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.