Extending the Xtend Soybean Platform

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

Farmers can look forward to the next generation of the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, with approval of Roundup Ready Xtend Flex Soybeans expected in 2020. The current system has helped growers maintain clean fields even in a challenging year, according to Ryan Rubischko, Soybean Portfolio Lead for Bayer Crop Science.

“We know across the Midwest many farmers have had some challenges,” said Rubischko, who was at the 2019 Farm Progress Show. “Planting got delayed because of the wet conditions, and then as planting got delayed, weeds became more of a challenge to deal with. And I think what farmers have really seen is what the value that Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System can provide them in terms of weed control.”

Rubischko said farmers can anticipate wider availability of the next generation system for the 2021 growing season.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Ryan here: Interview with Ryan Rubischko, Bayer

Bayer at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Soybean

Farmers for Free Trade Rally for USMCA

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

Farmers for Free Trade brought its #MotorcadeForTrade to Washington D.C. Thursday to highlight the importance of ag trade with Canada and Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that Congress will consider to upgrade NAFTA.

Members of Congress and farm leaders discussed how USMCA provides farmers with new market access while maintaining a zero-tariff platform, and stressed the need for Congressional leaders move forward with consideration of the agreement without further delay.

Among those who spoke were House Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Ranking member Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX); U.S. Dairy Export Council CEO Tom Vilsack, AFBF president Zippy Duvall, and National Association of Wheat Growers president Ben Scholz.

Listen to Rep. Peterson kick off the rally here:
Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) at USMCA Rally

AFBF, Ag Group, AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Trade

Zimfo Bytes 9/13

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Corteva Agriscience, together with Des Moines Area Community College, has awarded the first of 25 scholarships created as part of a pilot program announced June 5 to train rural-based students in high-value, high-demand software development and technology skills. Corteva contributed $187,500 to fund 25 scholarships of up to $7,500 each.
  • The National Science Teaching Association and Corteva Agriscience have collaborated to bring new, science-based lesson plans and resources to elementary teachers nationwide. A series of 10 teacher-reviewed lesson plans exploring food and agricultural themes are now available at https://www.nsta.org/corteva.
  • American Vanguard Corporation and AMVAC, an American Vanguard company, welcome Nathaniel Quinn as the marketing manager for the corn, soybean and sugar beet portfolio. In addition, Director of Portfolio and Marketing Communications Management Neil DeStefano has added business development to his responsibilities.
  • The Renewable Fuels Association is pleased to announce that The Greenbrier Companies has joined the organization.
  • Now that sign-up for the 2018 farm law has begun, National Cotton Council staff will be conducting
    farm law education webinars. The dates and times (all Central) are: Thursday, September 19, 8:00 a.m.; Monday, September 23, 8:00 a.m.; Wednesday, September 25, 8:00 a.m.; and Thursday, September 26, 10:00 a.m. For this webinar, guests will need to use Zoom software. To connect, click https://cotton.zoom.us/j/589146147.
  • For the last six years, Culver’s and its Thank You Farmers Project have teamed up with farms from across the country to create beautiful, elaborate corn mazes. This year’s corn maze is at Feltz’s Dairy Store in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with a design featuring iconic images like a windmill, barn and tractor among the winding maze. Since the creation of the Thank You Farmers Project in 2013, Culver’s has donated over $2 million to advancing agricultural education for FFA and other agricultural organizations. Learn more about this year’s mazes and the Thank You Farmers Project at http://www.culvers.com/thankyoufarmersproject.
  • Learfield IMG College is pleased to announce the addition of Ted Bright to the Brownfield Ag News Sales Team.
  • UPL announced that Adrian Percy is joining the company as Chief Technology Officer for the Crop Protection Business. Percy previously served as Head of Research and Development for the Crop Science division of Bayer, where he held responsibility for internal and open innovation activities in the areas of crop protection chemistry, biologicals, seeds, and traits.
  • The National FFA Organization is answering the need for more highly skilled graduates to fill job openings in the field of agriculture, and nowhere is this more evident than in the organization’s growing membership. The organization announced a record-high student membership of 700,170, up from 669,989 in 2018.
  • National Farmers Union proudly recognized 26 outstanding U.S. Senators and Representatives who have demonstrated leadership and support at the federal policymaking level for family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities. The Golden Triangle Award, the family farm organization’s highest legislative honor, was presented to each recipient this week during NFU’s Fall Legislative Fly-In.
  • Tate & Lyle PLC and Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN announced a major new initiative to help bolster sustainability on 1.5 million acres of U.S.-grown corn. Using best-in-class technology and sustainability solutions from Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN, U.S. Midwest corn farmers will be helped to more effectively target and measure the impact of efforts to protect the environment.
  • To gather real-world insights into the professional landscape for women in agriculture, Alltech has announced its support of an industry-wide survey. Launching on Sept. 10, this global survey, which will be conducted in partnership with AgriBriefing, aims to collect feedback about the barriers that impede progress and to identify the resources needed to ensure workplace equality. The survey is open to women and men across all sectors of the agri-food industry, and the results will be revealed at the Women in Food & Agriculture Summit, to be held Dec. 3–4, 2019, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
  • The theme for the 2020 GROWMARK Essay Contest is: “Describe the ‘Farmer of the Future.’ What tools or skills will he or she need to be successful?” The contest is open to all high school FFA members in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
  • The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium has received $255,500 from the United Soybean Board to help develop an ecosystem service protocol for the Soy and Corn Belt. In addition to the partnership with USB, ESMC has added six new members to its Consortium. Nestle is joining as a Founding Circle Member, and the American Soybean Association; NativeEnergy; Newtrient, LLC; the Conservation Technology Information Center and World Wildlife Fund are joining as Legacy Partners.
Zimfo Bytes

EPA Officially Ditches the #WOTUS Rule

Cindy Zimmerman Leave a Comment

Agricultural organizations are celebrating the official repeal of a rule that they have been fighting since 2015 – Waters of the United States, better known as WOTUS.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Department of the Army Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James announced that the agencies are repealing the rule and “recodifying the longstanding and familiar regulatory text that existed prior to the 2015 Rule—ending a regulatory patchwork that required implementing two competing Clean Water Act regulations, which has created regulatory uncertainty across the United States.”

“Today’s Step 1 action fulfills a key promise of President Trump and sets the stage for Step 2 – a new WOTUS definition that will provide greater regulatory certainty for farmers, landowners, home builders, and developers nationwide,” said Administrator Wheeler.

Listen to Wheeler’s announcement:
EPA Administrator announces WOTUS repeal

Happy to be on hand for the announcement was American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall who said the WOTUS issue and AFBF’s “Ditch the Rule” campaign generated more interest among member than any ever before.

Listen to Duvall’s comments:
AFBF president Zippy Duvall comments on WOTUS repeal

AFBF, Ag Group, AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, EPA

Syngenta Offers Choices for 2020 with NK Soybeans

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

Syngenta is bolstering its already strong NK Soybean platform with different traits that will help farmers when it comes to fighting weed pressure in their fields.

“Soybeans used to be easy. It used to be the easy button. But today, it’s a lot more complex,” said Jim Shertzer, Head of NK Marketing for Syngenta. “And what we’ve learned is with that complexity, you have to offer choices to help growers manage through these different things that they’re having to manage, which is weeds, risk… and trying to find a return on investment as it relates to soybeans.”

Syngenta is offering 68 new varieties available for the 2020 season, including Enlist E3™ soybeans, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® and LibertyLink® GT27™. As many are ready to put a challenging 2019 behind them, Shertzer pointed out the importance of having trusted advisors and partners as growers make decisions for the 2020 growing season.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jim here: Interview with Jim Shertzer, NK Brand


Syngenta at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show, Soybean, Syngenta

GROWMARK Vetting New Technology with AgValidity

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

GROWMARK‘s AgValidity platform is allowing the company to work with new companies offering innovative technologies in order to test out products and services that could be beneficial to their member companies.

“The number one thing that we hear farmers talk about and that we’re talking with our crop specialists about is that ‘one click to value.’ There are a lot of really exciting new technologies out there right now, but figuring out which ones are real, which ones are providing the best value, and then doing it quickly and efficiently so the grower just has to see he’s got a problem and a couple of clicks later has already solved it,” said Katie Hansen, GROWMARK Agronomy Project Manager.

Hansen said the new MyField 365 app is an example of a technology product where GROWMARK worked with other companies to bring different layers of data together for the benefit of growers. Hansen shared the cooperative’s findings with visitors to the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Katie here: Interview with Katie Hansen, GROWMARK

GROWMARK at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK, Technology

Get to Know IntelliFarms

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

Driving profitability back to growers is the name of the game for IntelliFarms, a technology company offering a platform to help growers make better decisions on a daily basis.

While farmers are often looking at ways to increase yield or increase acres, IntelliFarms can help them to become more profitable with what they already have within their operation.

“One of the things we can provide is with the acres that you have, if you are able to make better decisions and farm smarter, you can be more profitable with what you do have,” said Brett Andricks, Vice President of Strategic Division.

That could include matching growers up with processor who offer premiums for specific products, or helping them to transition into growing varieties that might pay more. Andricks said helping farmers to prove traceability and sustainability from seed to market can often improve profitability, and the company offers that through the SureTrack PRO platform. He said IntelliFarms works in nearly every state as well as eight countries, currently managing and marketing more than 80 different crops. Andricks was at the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Brett here: Interview with Brett Andricks, IntelliFarms

2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Farm Progress Show

ZimmCast 625 – 2019 NAMA Fall Conference Preview

Chuck Zimmerman Leave a Comment

In this week’s program we’ll get a preview of the 2019 National Agri-Marketing Association Fall Conference. Conference committee chair, Brittany Phillips, Brighton Agency, talks us through the program and activities of #NAMAFall19.

Registration is available on the NAMA website with the early registration deadline of September 16. The hotel is the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis. 

2019 NAMA Fall ConferenceThe program starts on Monday with a tour organized by the Gateway NAMA Chapter, which I am a past-president of. I’m sure they’ll do an awesome job. After a welcome reception that night the sessions get underway on Tuesday and the program ends mid day Wednesday.

I hope to see you there. Thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 625 - #NAMAFall19

Subscribe to the ZimmCast by clicking here.

Audio, Marketing, NAMA, ZimmCast

Channel Brand Seedsmen Lend Vital Support

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

As farmers anticipate harvest and begin to plan for next year, a trusted support system could be vital to future success.

“The difficult part about planning for 2020 is going to be understanding what is usable information in 2019 and what is not,” said Brock Helgerson, Channel Brand Marketing Lead. “I think having a trusted partner like a Channel Seedsman going into 2020 planting is going to be a key element of that, because you’re going to need somebody that saw a lot of crops, is very familiar with our products, how they should be placed. Going into 2020 it’s going to be key to have a partner like that.”

Helgerson spoke to visitors to the Bayer exhibit at the 2019 Farm Progress Show, where he shared a message about the support available from a Channel Seedsman throughout the entire growing season from product purchase to delivery to scouting to developing a harvest plan.

He said Channel continues to move new products through the research and development process, like the recently introduced Channel Protexus corn products, offering high tolerance to four diseases that are prevalent across the Corn Belt every year.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Brock here: Interview with Brock Helgerson, Bayer

Bayer at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show

Precision Ag Bytes 9/11

Carrie Muehling Leave a Comment

  • Fieldin, which has developed an all-in-one farm management platform that helps specialty crop growers optimize all of their field operations, has secured $12 million in financing to fuel company growth and expand its precision agriculture technology.
  • The new Vermeer 604 R-series balers feature a range of components, features and options. Three 6 ft x 4 ft (1.8 m x 1.2 m) models — Classic, Signature and Premium — offer unique combinations that provide the right levels of sophistication, performance, speed and versatility to meet the needs of just about every hay producer.
  • The Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business will host the National Conference for Food and Agribusiness on November 6-7, 2019 on the university’s West Lafayette, IN campus. Register here.
  • Celebrating 45 years of New Holland-pioneered Twin Rotor® technology, 2020 will mark an exciting year for the agriculture equipment leader in combines. The CR Series 2020 models will feature a significant power upgrade, the revolutionary proactive IntelliSense™ system, and significant cab and capacity improvements.
  • Delair and Geosys announced a partnership aimed at expanding the options for gathering and analyzing data for enhanced crop inputs placement, seed production and crop monitoring practices. This partnership will deliver a single analytics platform with seamless integration of high-value drone and satellite data to better meet the needs of today’s precision agriculture users.
  • Working toward earning his Precision Agriculture Technology certificate from the University of Missouri, Bo Young understands the importance of implementing precision practices on the farm. Young, who is also a climate activation specialist with The Climate Corporation, works with farmers and producers, helping them incorporate Climate FieldView technology in their operations. Young and The Climate Corporation are now partnering with MU Extension and the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources to bring important technology and datasets to the CAFNR Agricultural Research Centers.
  • Blue-and-gold bags of Mycogen® brand seed are back for the 2019-20 season. Mycogen Seeds is continuing its Turn the Bag Blue & Gold program with the National FFA Organization for the third straight year. The program has raised more than $56,000 for a total of 12 FFA chapters across the Corn Belt throughout the past two years. Participating FFA members learn foundational agronomic principles and professional sales training while raising funds for their local FFA chapters, state FFA associations and National FFA Organization.
  • Case IH is releasing two new boom styles and a new tank option available on the Patriot® 4440 sprayer. By increasing the size of the tank and the length of the booms, and reducing the overall weight of the sprayer, operators can make the most of application windows.
  • The plant and soil experts at Brookside Agra have developed a unique Digester Program that utilizes its natural products H2OExcel™ and Advanced Bio Pro™ to return 20-30% of valuable biomass nutrients back into the soil, therefore reducing the amount of nutrients growers would need to apply in the spring.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes