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Dec 19, 2014
Welcome to the holiday season ZimmComm Fans:

We're already getting OOTO messages letting us know that some of you are on vacation until after Jan. 1!  The ZimmComm Team will be doing a little time off too but not just yet.  ZimmComm World Headquarters will be officially closed between Christmas and New Years but . . . you can still reach us if you need to and you can still expect fresh content except for those two days.  Posting will be light though.  If you or your company have some story ideas that would lend themselves to post during that time please send them asap so we can get them in the process.

Chuck has been looking for a new outlet for his gadget fascination and that got kicked off this week   He is beginning a regular column affectionately called The AgNerd Cloud.  The cloud kind of covers everything and is also one of the biggest drivers of new technology, including on the farm.  Chuck plans to publish this AgWired column two times/month and is open to and looking for ideas.  Ideas can include a trip to your facilities to spend some in-depth time on new technology, especially in the precision area.  Sponsorships of this column are available right now btw.

According to our latest New Holland sponsored ZimmPoll  most think that anti-GMO attitudes present the biggest challenge to the seed industry followed next by environmental regulations.  

In the spirt of AgNerdish gadgetry our new ZimmPoll wants to know "What type of gadget is on your wish or to-give list?"

A couple things to think about include: The 12 Days of Christmas Sale for the 2015 AgChat Foundation National Collegiate Congress.  You can get a registration discount or pay for one if you know a budding agvocate who wants to go.  Also, you can now register for the 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference which will be held in KC, MO.

Hopefully, you have all or most of your Christmas shopping done.  If not, take a deep breath, let it out slowly, relax in your recliner, take a short nap, then git er' done!

Here are some interview from this week you might have missed:


*  Don't forget that you can now hear AgWired interviews and audio in the On-Demand section of the MyFarmRadio App! Get it now.

Now for some news from the ZimmComm News Network:

Sponsored by:
  
  
  
Growmark 
 AgWired  AgWired     

 

2015 Interest Rates for Rural America
 
Brian O'Keane, Executive Vice President of AgriBank, spoke with our intern, Taylor Truckey, during Trade Talk at the 2014 National Association of Farm Broadcasting's annual meeting. AgriBank is one of four banks in the Farm Credit system. Their main priority is accessing capital from Wall Street and making that available for borrowers in rural America.  MORE


The AgNerd Cloud

Welcome to a new regular column I will be publishing on all things AgNerdish. I'm calling it the Cloud since the cloud covers everything and is one of the hottest things developing in the AgNerd world. This week's ZimmCast gets things started with a discussion I had with Willie Vogt, Editorial Director, Penton Farm Progress. Like me, he loves new technology. MORE
 
 
  

 Agriculture May Benefit From Cuba Relations

 

The White House announcement Wednesday that the United States will begin the process of normalizing relations with Cuba brought positive responses from the agriculture industry. MORE 

DomesticFuel  Domestic Fuel 

Nebraska Seeks to Export Wind Energy 
 
The Nebraska Power Review Board (PRB) has commissioned a study that identifies the factors that impact the desirability of developing between 5,000 -10,000 MW of renewable energy for the state. Performed by the Brattle Group, the study also presents options available to policy makers to meet the state's economic development objectives. The report has been submitted to the Nebraska Legislature for review. MORE 

Happy Anniversary RFS

Friday marks the seventh anniversary of the signing into law of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) which expanded the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as we know it today. MORE 

Senate Passes Tax Extenders

 
Following the recent action by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate on Tuesday evening passed the package of tax incentives for 2014 that will expire once again in just two weeks. MORE

 
 
 Precision

Bayer CropScience Soybean Update

Grower needs drive the Bayer CropScience soybean business according to Diego Angelo, director of US soybean operations, who was at last week's CSS 2014 and Seed Expo to provide an update.  MORE 


Comments Needed on EPA Neonic Report


Farmers and other stakeholders have only a few days left to comment on the EPA report about the "Benefits of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments to Soybean Production" which finds little or no overall benefits. The comment period concludes on December 22. MORE

Podcast  

Hick Chick Chat: Koch Talks AGROTAIN Upgrades

 

At the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk I had a chance to visit with Ron Restum vice president of sales for North America with Koch Agronomic Services. He explained how they've been working with new technology for the grower with the addition of two new nitrogen stabilizers to the AGROTAIN� product family; AGROTAIN� ADVANCED and AGROTAIN� DRI-MAXX. MORE


 
  

  

2014 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo

            

ASTA's 69th Annual Corn & Sorghum Research Conference and 44th Soybean Seed Research Conference is America's largest seed industry conference. Over 2,600 attendees representing the U.S. and 20 countries come to CSS for an exciting week of collaboration and networking. MORE

Listen to audio here.

  

NFU on RFS Report and Congress Action
  
The National Farmers Union represented agriculture on a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) advisory group that helped develop a new report on "Options for Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard." MORE
 

  

2014 North American PRRS Symposium
  
The North American PRRS Symposium took place in Chicago, December 5-7, 2014. Boehringer Ingelheim's sponsored PRRS session was centered around coordinating efforts for area disease control. The 20th anniversary of global PRRS solutions brought together the leading researchers and veterinarians to drive the discussion on the next steps to tackling the long-standing virus. MORE
 
Listen to audio here.



WDDMark  
 Animal  

   

  

Pork Board Provides Update on PEDv


During the 2014 National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting, Taylor spoke with Dr. Lisa Becton, Director of Swine Health, Information & Research for the National Pork Board, about PEDv and it's impact on the U.S. swine industry. They also discuss the research currently being conducting to combat this epidemic. MORE 

Meat & Poultry Execs Join to Tell Story of Meat Supply

 

Thirty C-Suite level executives from meat and poultry companies big and small have added their voices and faces to a new video highlighting facts about today's amazing meat and poultry industry. The video called "Amazing Meat" shares the numerous benefits of the U.S. meat supply delivered by the industry's leaders themselves including affordability, nutrition, food safety, animal welfare and more. It was produced by the American Meat Institute (AMI). MORE

Livestock Provisions in CRomnibus

  

The $1.1 trillion measure to keep the government funded through September 2015 includes several provisions important to agriculture. "This legislation contains important policy provisions that prevent the government from reaching into the lives of ordinary American citizens," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK). "Provisions like those that prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from regulating farm ponds and irrigation ditches." MORE 
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