Posts Tagged ‘Agriculture’

Written by: Joy Jelimo Chelagat, 2014 AGCO Africa Ambassador

Joy Jelimo Chelagat, AGCO’s 2014 Africa Ambassador

On the 15^th of January at 5:00 am in the morning I drove to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on my trip to Berlin, Germany. Just five months before I had seen a competition online for an ambassadorship opportunity. Having only a week to the deadline, I was pretty sure that my chances were slim, but I decided to apply anyway.

To my surprise, the AGCO team got in contact with me. A few Skype interviews later I was informed that I could represent Africa at the annual AGCO Africa Summit in Berlin. Two months passed by fast and I was aboard a plane heading to Germany. The trip was long and the weather was a stark difference from the sunny Nairobi climes, but the warm welcome of the team in the Adlon Hotel made me feel at home.

The day after I arrived I hit the ground running. I had a meeting with a team of AGCO people to prepare for the activities scheduled. It was only our first meeting yet they were very friendly and resourceful. I also met Sue Musunga Chuzu, who was the first AGCO Africa Ambassador and who works now as Marketing Services Specialist at AGCO in Zambia. She shared her experiences with me and gave me some presentation tips for moderating the conference.

Agriculture is Universal

One of my tasks as Africa Ambassador was to represent AGCO at the International Green Week fair. The “Grüne Woche”, as the Germans call it, is an agricultural trade show that attracts exhibitors from around the world. Together with Marco Prehn, Sahra Malin, Sue Chuzu and Philip De Leon from AGCO we talked to numerous people about what the company is doing in Africa. One thing was evident during the fair: agriculture is a global concern. Even though the visitors and exhibitors were from far flung corners of the globe, they all came together in one place for once cause: agriculture.

The night before the AGCO Africa Summit we had an exclusive dinner with the conference‘s speakers and the top brass of the AGCO team. The room was full of exceptional people who had done great things for the African continent. From the conversations we had that evening, I could tell that the summit would be full of wonderful insights. As I woke up that Monday I was fully charged for the conference.

African Solutions

Walking into the conference hall, the excitement was palpable. You could see crowds of people huddled together immersed in conversation. You could spot top decision makers of key sectors of the agricultural industry. As the program kicked off, I was slightly nervous but as we moved along I eased up. Each speaker rose to the podium with wonderful ideas about the improvement of the agriculture industry in Kenya and on the African continent.

The speakers and panelists talked about their activities in Africa and about what they plan to do in days to come. Robert Sichinga, Agriculture Minister of Zambia, riled the crowd when he passionately explained why solutions to African agriculture have to be African. Another topic that got the audience excited was the appeal to make agriculture “sexy” for it to attract young people. Several speakers also emphasized the issue of innovation. Thus by the end of the full-day event I was more convinced than ever that agriculture is not only the present but also the future for Africa.

Yet, my trip was not all business. I had several opportunities to shop and tour the German capital. Berlin is a beautiful city with rich history: I visited the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and the Holocaust memorial. Another highlight of the trip was the opportunity to meet and make friends with remarkable people from all around the globe.

All in all, this journey was an inspirational and eye-opening experience. I was able to see how small-scale innovations in the field have a global impact on food security. The importance of efficient production, transportation and distribution was also brought home. At the end of the trip I felt charged to take up my role as AGCO Africa Ambassador for the year 2014.

Yesterday we celebrated, and helped sponsor, National Ag Day 2014, the 41^st anniversary of celebrating agriculture’s role in the world. Every spring, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and others join together in recognition and appreciation of the agriculture industry.

We’d like to take this time to express our deepest gratitude to the many men and women across the globe who make agriculture possible: THANK YOU!

How did you celebrate National Ag Day yesterday? We’d love to hear from you — please share your stories in the comments below.

The AGCO marketing team for Australia and New Zealand recently visited  the Mazaris property in Werribee South, Australia, to get a better understanding of how Massey Ferguson has evolved alongside farmers.

The productive region is a tightly knit community only a short distance from the populous Melbourne, with furrows of vegetables growing to the roads edge, rich soil and good irrigation networks. The area supplies around 70% of lettuces consumed in Australia and has experienced adaption and change brought about through drought and tight market conditions.

Settling in the area in the 1930’s, Great Grand Father Mazaris purchased a Fergie to assist in tilling and to borrow an old cliche, the rest is history. Through four generations, the Mazaris’ have continued their connection with Massey Ferguson. The horsepower of their most recent purchase, the MF 7495,  allows for deeper tilling and increased speed while maintaining greater fuel efficiencies. The evolution of MF tractor technology is increasingly important on the Mazaris property as the cost of diesel inputs outstrip produce prices

The ability to do more with less looks likely to continue the Mazaris and Massey Ferguson connection for another generation to come.

Peter, Don and Ricky Mazaris with their MF7495

A team of all female farmers are marking St George’s Day (April 23) by launching the second Great British Beef Week (GBBW).

Ladies in Beef, who are backed by TV star Lynda Bellingham, are encouraging people across the UK to celebrate in the traditional way by ensuring delicious Red Tractor assured British beef is on the menu.

GBBW has harnessed support across the industry from livestock markets to independent butchers. Major supermarkets including Asda, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons have also agreed to add their weight to the initiative by carrying special on-pack logos. This year, Ladies in Beef are on a mission to raise funds for the national Help for Heroes charity which aims to provide better facilities for British servicemen and women wounded in action.

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice, who helped launch this year’s GBBW inWestminsteron Monday, said: “With the world’s population growing fast, Britain’s got huge opportunities to export our high quality beef and breeding stock to the world. I fully support the valuable work being done by Ladies in Beef to generate growth in the industry, which will go hand in hand with all the work this Government is doing to rebuild confidence and respect for British farming.”

Minette Batters, Ladies in Beef co-founder, said:  “Great British beef is delicious, versatile and great value. It can be bought from your local butchers, farm shop or supermarket and is perfect for any occasion, whether you’re having a large gathering with family and friends or looking for a quick, simple and low-cost meal option at home.”

Robert Dunk, Manager, Sales Massey FergusonUKandIreland, said “We are delighted to help promote Great British Beef Week with the loan of an MF 5450 tractor and fully support the Ladies in Beef initiative. There are thousands of Massey Ferguson tractors working in the livestock sector – an area which makes a huge contribution to the UK’s agricultural output.”

To help inspire people to get cooking with beef, the Ladies in Beef have created a variety of mouth-watering recipes which can be found on the website www.greatbritishbeef.co.uk

It’s the 2 year anniversary of the AGCO blog, and we feel it’s important to take a moment to look back at where we were in the beginning and where we are today. The goals of the AGCO blog are to provide fresh, relevant information to our customers, dealers, partners and fellow agvocates about our brands and AGCO as a company. Being a global organization it can be a challenge to produce content that is useful to our broad base of readers, but today we are proud to share that since inception, we’ve had visitors from 182 countries around the world.

In April 2010 the AGCO blog was 2-bloggers-strong. Today, we have 28 contributors from all walks of the company, including every major brand and region. Our topics range from farm safety, agriculture industry news and employee spotlights to information about new product launches, our valued dealers and customer stories. Our original single blog stream has grown to 8, all of which can be subscribed to via various RSS/readers and email.

More interesting stats about the AGCO blog on its 2 year anniversary:

• Over 500 blog posts
• Translated over 2,000 times into 148 languages
• Nearly a half million views since January 2011

We hope our readers find content on the AGCO blog to be informative and our plans for the next year include continuing to grow our global contributors and bringing in more guest bloggers from other organizations to share their perspectives. We’d also like to see more comments: please share your thoughts, questions and perspectives on any of our posts and let’s keep the conversation going. Read on!