North American Ag Spotlight: Agriculture & Farming News and Views

In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak sits down with Jon Zuk, crop protection product manager with WinField United to talk about the biologicals market and it's role in modern agriculture.   
 
WinField United is the seed, crop protection products, agricultural services and agronomic insights business of Land O’Lakes, Inc. As an industry leader, WinField United focuses on meeting the needs of nearly 1,300 locally owned and operated cooperative and independent agricultural retailers and their grower-customers across the United States. Through data-backed, insight-driven agronomics, operational excellence and sustainable solutions delivered under the WinField United brand, the business helps retailers successfully meet farmers’ needs.

Jon is based in southeastern Minnesota and grew up working on a dairy farm near Willow River, where he was immersed in agricultural systems and science from an early age. His passion for providing high-quality care for his animals, crops and the environment led him to study the chemical and molecular systems in plants and animals, earning Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry and biology from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Jon later went on to earn a Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Iowa.

In his role, Jon uses his 14 years of experience as an agronomist to focus on understanding the complexities of protecting crops from pests and diseases, and recommending sustainable solutions that benefit farmers. From planting to nutrient application methods to harvest yield, Jon specializes in seed selection, crop nutrients and crop protection solutions.
 
Learn more about WinField United at - www.winfieldunited.com
#biologicals #farming #agriculture

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak learns about the drive for compatibility in farm equipment electronics with Ryan Milligan, the Deputy of Marketing and Communications for the AEF & the Business Dev. Manager for Powell Electronics.

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) is an independent organization founded in 2008 by seven international ag equipment manufacturers and two associations. Today eight manufacturers and three associations are working as core members together with 300 general members. They work to improve cross-manufacturer compatibility of electronic and electric components in agricultural equipment, and to establish transparency about compatibility issues.

Implementing international electronic standards is a cornerstone of their work. AEF encourages the development and implementation of new technology. While the AEF’s intention is to enable mutually beneficial links between companies, the effort is first and foremost directed at their farming customers, i.e. to make work easier for them and to provide them with economic benefits.

Ryan Milligan has over 15 years’ experience in the electronics connector industry coupled with an MBA from Drexel University. Ryan is well versed in developing go to market strategies and connector product solutions, and is an expert in sensing and connectivity for ISOBUS applications and more electronic solutions for Agricultural machinery. 

Learn more about AEF at https://www.aef-online.org/home.html
#farmequipment #farming #agriculture 

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This episode is sponsored by AMS Galaxy - BRINGING PRECISION DAIRY EQUIPMENT TO THE AMERICAN FARMER. Spend more time doing what you love. Use technology to your advantage.
Visit https://agr.fyi/galaxy

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com. 

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak sits down with Ricardo Reyes who serves as Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing, Quality, and R&D for Heartland Food Products Group, owner of the iconic Splenda® Brand. Ricardo shares the story of their stevia farm located in Central Florida. It all started over 20 years ago when they began investing in the natural breeding of stevia plants. Plant A and Plant B are cross-pollinated by bees and their seeds are tested for strong agricultural properties and, of course, the sweetest and best tasting sugars, called glycosides. The process is repeated until they had the best stevia plants and the best-tasting combinations of stevia glycosides, sweet and without bitterness. They then take cuttings from those mother plants and propagate them over and over again, growing roots from the cuttings, creating more versions of the same plant. This gives a consistency of sweetness from acre to acre. An all-natural process, without genetic engineering.

Ricardo is an experienced Food Processing Engineer, holds a Master of Science in Product Design and Development from Northwestern University, and is a noteworthy leader in the food & beverage industry. Ricardo’s passion to help people reduce sugar has led him to develop the best-tasting Splenda products and the innovative farming process at Splenda Stevia Farms. Included in his areas of expertise are sugar reduction, coffee processing, and thermally processed beverages, of which he is credited with holding two patents, one for a unique coffee cold brew extraction process and one for a heat exchanger design for aseptically processed purees. Over recent years, Ricardo’s leadership over Manufacturing and R&D has expanded the Splenda® Brand beyond sweeteners into other product lines, including Splenda Coffee Creamers, Splenda Diabetes Care Shakes, Splenda Sweet Teas and more.

Based outside of Indianapolis, Heartland Food Products Group is a global leader in the production of low-calorie sweetener products, creamers, beverage concentrates, coffee, and nutritional drinks. Heartland is on a mission to help people live happier, healthier and longer lives by making it easier to reduce sugar through its delicious, low-calorie sweeteners. The Splenda® Brand is the most recognizable and iconic low-calorie sweetener ("LCS") brand in the world, having sold more than 100 billion yellow packets since its launch in 1991. Today, the Splenda Brand is the clear #1 LCS brand in the USA. Splenda is the name for great tasting, low calorie foods and beverages. Its line features a range of products including low-calorie sweetener products, natural sweeteners such as Splenda Stevia Sweeteners and Splenda Monk Fruit Sweeteners, Splenda Coffee Creamers, Splenda Diabetes Care Shakes, Splenda Sweet Teas and more. To learn more, visit Heartland at www.heartlandfpg.com and Splenda at www.splenda.com. 

Learn more about 
#farm #farming #agriculture

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This episode is sponsored by AMS Galaxy - BRINGING PRECISION DAIRY EQUIPMENT TO THE AMERICAN FARMER. Spend more time doing what you love. Use technology to your advantage.
Visit https://agr.fyi/galaxy

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak talks about agriculture diversity, travel, immigration & migrant workers with TCTS Global LLC CEE Orlando Gil.

A native of Venezuela, Orlando came to the United States to further his education. He attended Oklahoma State University and received B.S. degrees in Animal Science and Agronomy back in 1983.

Orlando owns and operates “TCTS Global LLC”, a consulting company that assists businesses “bridge the gap” with the Latino workforce in the agricultural and food related industries as they meet their needs for professional and skilled labor.
 
Orlando’s experience in the agricultural industry includes a variety of positions in training, recruiting as well as production areas. His corporate work experience includes working as Recruiting Director and Training Manager for Kerber Companies in NW, Iowa. Before relocating to Iowa, Orlando was a Training Production Manager for Seaboard Foods, one of the country’s top 10 integrated pork producers and processors, while at Seaboard Foods, he also managed a 13,225 sow - farrow to wean swine operation in Beaver County, Okla. 
 
Orlando was also employed by PIC (Pig Improvement Company), an international genetic breeding stock company, where he held a variety of training and customer support positions in Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. 
 
Orlando is a certified PQA and TQA advisor and helps support the Pork industry’s efforts to maintain a safe, high-quality supply of pork. Prior to joining PIC, Orlando worked in the restaurant industry and owned and managed a restaurant in Stillwater, Okla.
 
As a speaker, Orlando has delivered international talks, workshops and webinars in Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, and the U.S.
Orlando’s topics have to do with employee development, engagement, and retention. 

Orlando’s activities include membership in the Knights of Columbus, the Shelby County Nicaragua Partners, and St. Michael Parish. He is also an active contributor to the National Pork Board, the Iowa Pork Producers Association, and the National Pork Producers Council. As a certified PQA Plus and TQA advisor he helps support the Pork industry's efforts to maintain a safe, high quality supply of pork.

 TCTS Global is a consulting firm that helps companies involved in agriculture and food related industries bridge the communication and training gaps with Latin American and global talent. As TCTS Global bridges these gaps, companies meet their need of highly qualified and professional talent. Their services help companies achieve their production improvement goals and offer a solution to the growing demand for qualified talent.

Since 2001, TCTS Global has expanded into other areas related to leadership development, training and cultural experiences. Since 2008, they have been developing talent with thier Professional Enhancement, Leadership development, and Cultural Exchange programs.

TCTS Global Mission:
To develop talent...
We live our mission on a daily basis by focusing on having a positive impact on each individual we interact with.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tcts-global/
https://www.facebook.com/tctsglobal/
Tiktok: @tctsglobal

Learn more about TCTS Global at https://tctsglobal.net/
#farm #farming #agriculture

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak discusses cybersecurity risk and the food supply chain with Eracent founder Walt Szablowski.

Walt Szablowski is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Eracent and serves as Chair of Eracent’s subsidiaries (Eracent SP ZOO, Warsaw, Poland; Eracent Private LTD in Bangalore, India, and Eracent Brazil). 

Cyber attacks are becoming more common and the stakes are high! JBS USA confirmed it paid the equivalent of $11 million in ransom in response to the criminal hack against its operations. In consultation with internal IT professionals and third-party cybersecurity experts, the company made the decision to mitigate any unforeseen issues related to the attack and ensure no data was exfiltrated.

The FBI stated this is one of the most specialized and sophisticated cybercriminal groups in the world. The company spends more than $200 million annually on IT and employs more than 850 IT professionals globally.

In other industries the lack of a cyber security plan has big consequences, for the first time since 9/11, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), on January 11, 2023, had to issue a nationwide ground stop in the United States. In the outage that lasted 11 hours and 50 minutes, a total of 10,563 flights were delayed, while more than 1,300 flights were canceled, as reported by FlightAware. Although the FAA eventually confirmed that the outage was caused by a data file, related to the Notices to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, that was unintentionally damaged by a contractor who failed to follow procedures and was not caused by a cybersecurity breach, it raises plenty of questions and has understandably triggered panic across the nation. 

This incident raises questions about the security of a government agency’s software system – not only to implement measures to prevent human error but also to guard against cyberattacks. 
Szablowski recognizes the necessity of the right processes and the importance of discovering the data, defining the network, and putting them in the processes. “Eracent has all the systems one needs to effectively put these processes in place,” concludes Szablowski.

Eracent helps its customers meet the challenges of managing IT network assets, software licenses, and cybersecurity in today’s complex and evolving IT environments. Eracent’s enterprise clients save significantly on their annual software spend, reduce their audit and security risks, and establish more efficient asset management processes. Eracent’s client base includes some of the world’s largest corporate and government networks and IT environments — the USPS, VISA, US Airforce, British Ministry of Defense — and dozens of Fortune 500 companies rely on Eracent solutions to manage and protect their networks. 

Visit https://eracent.com/ 

#farm #agriculture #cybersecurity

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

This episode is sponsored by AMS Galaxy - BRINGING PRECISION DAIRY EQUIPMENT TO THE AMERICAN FARMER. Spend more time doing what you love. Use technology to your advantage.
Visit https://agr.fyi/galaxy

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight the President of American Agri-Women Heather Hampton+Knodle joins Chrissy Wozniak in the first discussion in a series about ag policy. Heather has agreed to be on the show every six to eight weeks to give us an update on what's happening in Washington and across the US in terms of ag policy, how it impacts the agriculture industry and how we can help. 

This Ag Spotlight episode addresses Contradictions & Conflicting Goals in Food & Energy Policy, identifying areas that need more clarity and what action can be taken on behalf of the public. 

Heather Hampton+Knodle grew up working on her family’s farm near Windsor, Illinois and continues to farm with her husband Brian and their four children in Montgomery County where they grow corn, soybeans, winter wheat and black Angus cattle. Their use of technology informs their efforts to apply regenerative practices across their farm and capture data to improve management.

Heather earned her bachelors in agriculture news/editorial with emphasis in geography and economics and the equivalent of a minor in Russian language and area studies from the Univ. of Illinois, including an academic year at the University of Nottingham, England and exchange with St. Petersburg Agricultural Institute in Russia. Her masters work in post-socialist privatization was at University of Illinois Springfield as she launched her communication consulting business that quickly evolved into association management.

Heather has served as Executive Director for the Upper Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri Rivers Association and statewide organizations in Illinois as well as the volunteer President of Illinois Agri-Women. She was the founding chairman of the public-private Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation and the $250 million, 11-county bond authority Central Illinois Economic Development Authority. In her time as an elected official on the Montgomery County Board, she helped leverage $6000 in coal royalty funds into a more than $15 million privately-funded fiberoptic to the premises buildout.

She has been appointed by four governors to serve on the Illinois Governor’s Rural Affairs Council and was reappointed in 2021 by the Federal Communications Commission to serve on the Precision Agriculture Task Force and chair the Examining Current and Future Connectivity Demand Working Group. Heather also serves as Farm Journal Foundation’s Lead Farmer for Illinois to advocate for agricultural research investments and training for smallholder farmers in developing countries.

American Agri-Women are women from farms, ranches and agri-business forming a nationwide coalition of state and commodity affiliates and at-large members with a mission to provide networking and leadership development opportunities as we educate each other and the public about issues impacting our ability to feed, fuel and clothe our country and others around the world. 

Learn more about American Agri-Women at https://americanagriwomen.org/
#farm #farming #agriculture

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This episode is sponsored by Fastline - A LEADER IN FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
Visit https://agr.fyi/fastline

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak talks to Keely Wachs, Senior Vice President of Marketing at ProducePay, about their tech platform that matches growers with buyers. Keely outlines how they help with cashflow when its needed most. 

Keely is passionate about leading global teams to develop and execute creative and strategic marketing, communications sustainability and social impact efforts for ProducePay.

Founded by Pablo Borquez Schwarzbeck, a fourth-generation farmer, ProducePay is transforming the fragmented produce industry into a more connected and sustainable movement. ProducePay gives farmers unprecedented access to the market, financial solutions, and trade protection they need. Buyers and consumers receive fresher produce more efficiently, knowing it is grown and delivered in responsible ways. This simplified and empowering approach is helping to eliminate over 50% of economic and food waste, while creating value for everyone involved.

Learn more about ProducePay at https://producepay.com

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak speaks with the Communications Manager of ECHO Global Farm, Danielle Flood about the passion behind the Fort Myers demo farm. She explains the reach that the farm has around the world, and how they empower farmers with the tools and info they need to grow food successfully.

Danielle has traveled to more than 20 countries while championing agricultural development through hands-on training and knowledge sharing. 

For more than four decades, ECHO has been equipping and empowering hungry families with knowledge and the life-giving grace of God. We’ve impacted millions of lives by teaching small-scale, sustainable farming methods so families can provide for themselves and their communities. By tackling hunger at the source, we’re growing hope from the ground up.

ECHO introduces sustainable plants, techniques, and technologies to farmers around the world who are struggling to feed their families. We go out into the world to provide training and resources that empower small-scale farming families to thrive. 

Learn more about ECHO at www.echonet.org

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This episode is sponsored by Fastline - A LEADER IN FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
Visit https://agr.fyi/fastline

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak talks to ERD's Glenn Flaherty about the memorandum of understanding that was decided on early this year between The American Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere that ensures farmers’ and ranchers’ right to repair their own farm equipment. He gives his advice to producers and offer's his company's services when they need help with electronics repair.

Earning a degree in both Electrical Engineering and Philosophy may seem incongruous to most people, but it makes perfect sense to Glenn Flaherty, president, and owner of ERD, LTD., Inc.  Glenn has employed this unlikely marriage to create a highly successful industrial electronic repair business. Combining his extensive knowledge of electrical concepts and physics with superb critical thinking skills, Glenn has pushed ERD to the forefront of the technical services world. These qualities are essential in the diagnosis and repair of aging legacy electronic equipment for which OEM support and/or documentation no longer exist.

ERD's electronic repair/refurbishing process is simple and effective. With twenty plus years of experience in refurbishing legacy and new electronics, they are the repair center of choice. Their global leading 3-year warranty is backed by their technical group averaging over 20 years of electronic refurbishing experience. Over the years they have repaired more than 4,500 OEM product categories.

ERD is proud and privileged to be a recipient of the U.S. Presidential “E” Award. This prestigious award is given each year in Washington DC to less than 100 organizations across the country for excellence in exporting. Extending the use life of electronics is a win for everyone because the process reduces waste in global landfills and eliminates the need to buy expensive new equipment. 

Learn more about ERD at https://www.industrialrepairstore.com/

Check out ERD's educational YouTube channels here:
https://www.youtube.com/@erdltd/featured
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfiCScGXEhR_XGCEFdOd5Vw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnEbloBp7JD5O_I71EdrdRw

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

Need help with your agriculture based company's marketing plan? Visit https://chrissywozniak.com

This episode is sponsored by Fastline - A LEADER IN FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak talks to Trevor Williams about his podcast The Farm Traveler. He recounts how he started the podcast, and what he's learned over nearly 200 interviews with farms and agribusiness professionals over the years. 

Trevor is a former FFA State officer and Florida Ag teacher, he has been podcasting the podcast for 3 years as well as all the content for the YouTube channel. 

Farm Traveler is a podcast and YouTube channel that focuses on showing how consumers can connect with farmers through agritourism, direct-to-consumer products, and more! 

Learn more about the Farm Traveler at https://thefarmtraveler.com

North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

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This episode is sponsored by Fastline - A LEADER IN FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE. Visit https://agr.fyi/fastline

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