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February 19, 2016 
Hello ZimmComm Fans:

Chuck and Cindy covered this week's 21st National Ethanol Conference in the Big Easy.  That's the first of 3 conferences they get to cover in New Orleans this year.  Mmm.  Jambalaya, Gumbo, sushi, oysters, beignets . . . Thank you ag groups for going to one of our favorite places to eat.  You know how important that is!  Right?

The results of the Bayer CropScience LibertyLink Real Yield Game have been finalized.  This project which we helped promote concluded with 5 winners receiving a year's supply of LibertyLink soybeans and Liberty herbicide.  One winner gets a year's lease on a John Deere tractor and the big winner receives a John Deere Combine.  The latest winners announced are:  Winner #4, William Graff, Illinois, Year's supply; Winner #5, Janson Patterson, Alabama, Year's supply and Tractor Winner,Rick Juchems, Iowa.  I think we'll learn the combine winner at Commodity Classic.

Our last ZimmPoll asked: "How many farm shows/conferences do you attend?"

We have a very wide spectrum in our results this week. It looks like most people attend around 2 to 5 farm shows or conferences each year. As you can guess, those on the AgWired Team would fit into the 5 plus category. 

Our new ZimmPoll asks, "What's your favorite social media outlet for agriculture?"  Let us know what you think.
 
Here's some audio from this week you might have missed:
 
 
Now for some news from the ZimmComm News Network:

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 AgWired  AgWired     
  
#NFMS16 ZimmCast with FMC

The 51st annual National Farm Machinery Show held last week in Louisville, Kentucky featured 880 exhibitors covering 1.2 million square feet of floor space. As the name of the show implies, the focus is on equipment, but FMC Corporation has continued to increase its presence at the show about the past 30 years, making the company really standout to exhibitors, media and attendees. MORE

ZimmCast 

FMC Highlights Ethos XB at #NFMS16

All farmers want to protect and nurture every seed from the moment they place it in the ground, and that is exactly what FMC's Ethos XB is designed to do.  MORE

Podcast


USB Educates Growers on Global Markets

The United Soybean Board (USB) invites soybean farmers with a desire to take a look at their customers beyond the elevator and to learn more about the soy checkoff's role in marketing U.S. soy, to take part in their See for Yourself program. Tina Holst, Chilston, Wisconsin soybean farmer, took advantage of this opportunity last year and I caught up with her during the 2016 Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference in Kansas City, MO to learn more about program.  MORE

Podcast  
DomesticFuel  Domestic Fuel 

#RFANEC Biofuels Policy Panel
 
The future of U.S. biofuels policy was the topic of a panel at the 2016 National Ethanol Conference this week in New Orleans. MORE

Podcast

 
Making #Ethanol the Consumers' Choice
 
An expert on consumer marketing offered some recommendations on how to make ethanol the natural choice for consumers during the National Ethanol Conference (NEC) in New Orleans this week. MORE

Podcast 
 
Iowa Biodiesel Day on the Hill
 
"Iowa Biodiesel Day on the Hill" recently took place hosted by the Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB). During the event, members called on state legislators to extend and expand biodiesel incentives that are set to expire. IBB notes these incentives help Iowa's 13 biodiesel producers make the state the top in the country for production. In 2015, 12 of these biodiesel facilities produced a record 242 million gallons of biodiesel. There is also a retailers credit that encourages fuel retailers to carry biodiesel blends, and according to the Iowa Department of Revenue, biodiesel-blended gasoline accounted for 48.9 percent of diesel gallons sold in 2014. MORE 
   
 
 Precision

Soybean Growers Look Beyond the Elevator

The United Soybean Board (USB) invites soybean farmers with a desire to take a look at their customers beyond the elevator and to learn more about the soy checkoff's role in marketing U.S. soy, to take part in their See for Yourself program. Tina Holst, Chilston, Wisconsin soybean farmer, took advantage of this opportunity last year and I caught up with her during the 2016 Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference in Kansas City, MO to learn more about program.MORE

Podcast 
 

Fly Ag Tech Offers Only FAA-Approved Drone Network

For growers who have previously lacked access to the data that comes from using drones in precision farming there is now a solution.  Fly Ag Tech is currently the only FAA-approved drone network in the U.S.  Their company gives farmers, agronomists and UAS operators the ability to collaborate to create precision maps for growers across the nation.  MORE 

Monitoring Irrigation Remotely Saves Money

AgSense, a web-based service that offers remote irrigation and pivot monitoring, continues to add value for customers. Tanner Oliphant, with AgSense, shared the latest with AgWired while at the National Farm Machinery Show last week. MORE

Podcast  

 
  
  
GROWMARK's ENDURE Program Assists Bees
 
Protecting pollinators is part of the GROWMARK sustainability initiative called ENDURE. Pollinator health is so critical, according to GROWMARK Director of Strategic Agronomy Marketing Lance Ruppert, the company started a pollinator program as part of ENSURE. Ruppert says all members are given enough seeds to plant up to ten acres of pollinator friendly flowers. "So our members are going to divide that up in 2-5 locations...so you could potentially see 100-125 pollinator gardens from our members," he said.  MORE

Podcast

  
USMEF Reports on The Dominican Republic
  
This week's audio report from the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) covers the Dominican Republic, one of the fastest-growing markets for U.S. beef and pork, and how food service training programs for Dominican chefs and other restaurant staff have helped create new opportunities in this promising market. The report is led by Julieta Hernandez, USMEF foodservice manager for Mexico and the Dominican Republic, who explains that these efforts include hosting visiting chef teams at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, as well as in-market training sessions and cooking demonstrations. MORE

Podcast 

  
#ShowMeYFR Leadership Conference
  
The American Farm Bureau Federation hosted their annual Young Farmer & Rancher Leadership Conference in Kansas City, Missouri last weekend. According to coordinator Marty Tatman, advocacy, leadership, and motivation were the three key areas of focus this year. MORE

Listen to audio here.

WDDMark  
 Animal  
   
U.S. Exports of DG Set New Record in 2015

A new summary of ethanol co-product trade statistics reports U.S. exports of distillers grains (DG) - a co-product of dry mill ethanol production - has set a new record of 12.56 million metric tons (MMT) in 2015. Last year's DG export number was 11 percent higher than 2014, and was more than double the amount exported in 2009. The report released by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) finds that U.S. DG exports were shipped to 45 countries on five continents in 2015. MORE

   
Let's Unite Our Voices

From the time Roger Rickard was 13 years old he was driven by causes and has been politically minded ever since. His experiences along the way lead him to start Voices in Advocacy and write a book, "7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates." He brought his expertise to the stage addressing attendees of the 2016 National Young Farmers & Ranchers conference in Kansas City, Mo. MORE

Podcast  
   
FARM & BQA's Commitment to Animal Care Issues

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the beef checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program announced they will jointly be offering more training opportunities for farmers and ranchers in 2016. MORE 
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