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Hello ZimmComm Fans:
It has been a relatively quiet week. The ZimmComm Team is not complaining. A good break from the agriblogging highway is welcome. Our next stop is Kansas City for the Agri-Marketing Conference. You'll find us there in Connection Point booth 417-419. We hope to see you and show you a new kind of selfie. More to come on that.
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, "What should Congress do about GMO labeling?" We got a mixed bag of results. Most agricultural organizations supported Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Robert's bill on Biotechnology Labeling Solutions, blocking advancement of the legislation that would create a voluntary federal standard for labeling foods with genetically modified ingredients. Yet, Senate failed to agree and now it is in the hands of Congress.
Here are the poll results:
* Nothing, let states decide - 31%
* Pass mandatory national law - 25%
* Pass voluntary, educational law - 35%
* Don't know - 6%
* Other - 3%
Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, Do you have a degree in agriculture?
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% increase in the number of visits to their website in the last year. This led us to wonder if you have a degree in agriculture and how you might be using it.
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
Tweet a Bee, #FeedABee
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. We talked with our favorite Queen Bee Becky Langer, Bayer Bee Care Program Director, about the new aspects of the 2016 Feed A Bee program and got to know a little more about the busy, buzzy little buggers and other pollinators
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ZimmCast
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Pope Francis Prays for Small Farmers
Each month the Pope publishes a special prayer intention. The faithful are encouraged to add their prayers to his.
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Culver's Raises Money for 153 FFA Jackets
The average age of the American farmer gets a little older each year, but Culver's restaurant is working with their franchisees to encourage the next generation of farmers. Culver's Support Center in Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin and the National FFA Organization are helping match deserving young people with a local Culver's restaurant where money is being raised to provide that iconic blue FFA jacket for a student who might otherwise not have one.
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 Domestic Fuel
Ethanol Report on 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 officials and a biofuels roundtable with ethanol producers and fuel distributors.
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Podcast
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NexSteppe CEO Anna Rath Wins BIO Award
This year's 2016 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award is being given to Anna Rath, CEO of NexSteppe. The award is given to an outstanding woman in the field of industrial biotechnology. According to the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), who presents the honor, Rath's work led to a biotech breakthrough. Her research is focused on developing scalable and sustainable bioenergy feedstocks. The award will be officialy presented during the 2016 World Congress taking place April 17-20, 2016 in San Diego, California.
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Caribbean's Largest Solar Array Goes Live
The largest solar array in the Caribbean is now producing energy. Monte Plata is a 33.4 MW PV solar array located in the Dominican Republic that will produce more than 50,000 megawatt hours of energy each year. The "power switch" was turned on by Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina. The project was designed and deployed by Dubai-based Phanes Group along with partners General Energy Solutions and Soventix.
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Precision
First of its Kind Report Details Impact of Fertilizer
While we often take for granted the important role fertilizer plays in food production, the economic impact in terms of jobs provided by the industry has been generally overlooked. Now a study sponsored by The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is shedding light on those numbers at both the state and congressional district levels.
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NCGA Returns with Sixth Season of Field Notes
The National Corn Growers Association has begun their sixth season of Field Notes. The program highlights a year in the life of American farm families from a variety of locations and operations. Each family has one important thing in common- a love for agriculture.
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Deere and Hagie Enter Joint Venture
Deere & Company and Hagie Manufacturing have entered into a joint venture. Hagie is a national market leader when it comes to high-clearance sprayers. In this new agreement Deere gains majority ownership of Hagie Manufacturing. The equipment produced in the current plant at Clarion, Iowa will continue to carry the Hagie brand, but sales and services will be integrated into Deere's global distribution network throughout this year and next.
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#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.
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#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. MORE
Podcast
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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 out, everyone is scouting crops in some capacity. MORE
Podcast
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AAEP Offers Summer Continuing Education Programs
The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is presenting three continuing education meetings during summer 2016 for equine veterinarians to use as resources to supplement their foundational knowledge with the latest diagnostics and treatments in core areas of horse health. Each meeting will feature a team of presenters from both private practice and academia.
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Novozymes Launches New Lactase Enzyme
Novozymes has officially launching Saphera, a lactase enzyme that is setting a new standard for production and quality of a wide range of lactose-free products, including milk and fermented dairy products such as yogurt.
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Animal Ag Supports National Economy
A new soy-checkoff-funded study has found that animal agriculture plays a signifiant role in the support of the nation's economy. The analysis shows animal ag, U.S. soy's top end user, increased gross national product by $123 billion in economic output, improved household earnings by over $21 billion and added 645,629 jobs from 2004-2014.
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