New Holland Agriculture received two prestigious 2009 GOOD DESIGN™ awards for the Boomer 8N compact tractor and the SideWinder II armrest.
USDA reports commercial red meat production during December totaled 4.148 billion pounds, including a new record high for the month in beef production. 2009 red meat production totaled 49.264 billion pounds, down 2% from 2008′s 50.225 billion.
KIOTI Tractor is pleased to announce the appointment of Brent Baer as territory manager in the Canadian province of Ontario.
United Soybean Board CEO John Becherer (left) received the 2009 Agribusiness Leader of the Year award from the St. Louis Agribusiness Club.
According to Dale Ludwig, executive director of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, “John leads one of the most successful farmer-checkoff programs in the world.” Ludwig, a senior staff member of a Qualified State Soybean Board, nominated Becherer for the award. The St. Louis Agribusiness Club represents farmers and others involved in one of the richest agricultural regions of the world.
Becherer describes himself as a consensus builder and views his position at USB as an opportunity to continue his career-long interest in helping farmers farm more profitably.
“This well deserved honor reflects highly upon John’s leadership, but also to the level of commitment this organization has to U.S. soybean farmers,” says USB Chairman Phil Bradshaw, a soybean farmer from west-central Illinois. “For 15 years, John has provided guidance in leveraging checkoff dollars and complying with the federal law that established the national soybean checkoff. He helped to spearhead QUALISOY, an industry-wide effort to help market the development and availability of healthier soybeans and soy oil, and helps lead SOY 2020 to create a long-term vision for the U.S. soy industry.”
Becherer was raised on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin and has always maintained strong ties with the agricultural community. John has more than 20 years of management experience and holds a master’s degree in agricultural economics.
When it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with Novus International is a serious expert, and this is no simple subject.
“When you chelate a trace mineral, you basically react it with an organic mineral called a ligand,” says Jim, who is Novus Manager of Cell Biology Research. Now, that likely means very little to the cell biology illiterate, but it means a lot to poultry. “You’re basically feeding the bird a form of mineral that’s much more absorbable than you get with your trace mineral salts.”
That is what is known as bioavailability. “With a higher bioavailable form of trace mineral, more will be absorbed and less will be excreted out in to the environment, and that is the real point of feeding a chelated trace mineral,” Jim says. Because it’s more available, it’s more efficient and better for the environment, in addition to being better for the animal and the producer.
Jim gets into a whole lot more detail about this subject in the latest issue of Feedstuffs, which he is proudly displaying in this photo. For a quick explanation about it and what Novus is doing in the field, listen to or download my interview with Jim from the International Poultry Expo in the player below.
The International Poultry Scientific Forum is held in conjunction with the International Poultry Expo each year and is sponsored by the Southern Poultry Science Society, the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases, and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. As part of that event, Novus International hosts a luncheon and speaker for the attendees on a topic of general interest to the poultry science community.
This year, it was “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by well-known poultry science expert Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph, pictured here on the right with Dr. Scott Carter, Novus Poultry Market Manager, on the left. Dr. Leeson entertained the group with some great historical photos of poultry management through the years. According to Leeson, the commercial poultry industry as we know it pretty much started in the ’60s, as the broiler industry developed and the egg and meat industries began to diverge. Talking about feed management, he noted that producers early on were feeding poultry diets consisting of corn, soybean meal, milk, fish meal, meat meal and some raw vegetables. “They were looking for the vitamins that really hadn’t been recognized and we couldn’t buy them artificially,” he said. Milk was an especially important part of the diet to deal with health issues in flocks.
As poultry science began to develop as a specialty field, researchers found that key nutrition requirements could be met in other ways, which helped the industry expand and become much more productive and efficient.
Scott says Novus chose a historical perspective for this year’s topic as a way of taking a look back in order to move forward. “We’re at a really critical junction right now as we’re going to need to produce twice as much food in 2050 as we do today,” Scott said. “Poultry is going to be a key part of helping to feed the world by 2050.” Increasing productivity and efficiency even more will play an important role in meeting that goal.
Novus is also celebrating two significant anniversaries this year of products that have been part of the historical progress in poultry feed management. “It’s our 30th year for Alimet and our 50th year for Santoquin in the marketplace as nutritional tools that have helped us improve performance,” said Scott.
This is an interesting display in the entrance hallway to the Cattle Industry Convention.
It’s a large map of the United States with a bowl of pins so you can pinpoint where you’re from. It’s early but there are already a lot of pins from all over the country.
I’ll try to remember to get a final shot of it so we can see just how diverse the attendance of people in the cattle industry is here in San Antonio.
The combined meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Cattlemen’s Beef Board have started here at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. To kick off our coverage I conducted a short interview with an officer from each organization.
Pictured are Tom Jones, CBB Secretary/Treasurer (left) and Bill Donald, NCBA Vice President. I caught up with them prior to their joint officer’s mtg. this afternoon. The basically get together to go over the schedule and make sure everyone is on the same page so all the programs and meetings run smoothly.
Tom says the Beef Board will be dealing with the challenge of reduced revenues coming into the Checkoff. But he says that when the industry comes together they find ways to work through the challenges. He’s heard that attendance is expected to be up here at this year’s convention. Some of the highlights of the work the Checkoff is doing, according to Tom, are issues management and foreign marketing where he sees potential for even more work. He hopes they’ll be able to do some things to “put a little more money in the bottom line of our producers and help beef demand all over and that’s what we’re here for.”
Bill says this convention is where NCBA will “take the next step” on governance goals as outlined by the task force that’s been working on the issue for the past 18 months. They’ll report here at the convention and a vote will be taken on it Saturday. Bill says it will make them “more inclusive, more efficient and more effective” in representing producers across the country. It’s a major step in the ongoing evolution of the organization. He echoes Tom’s comments about attendance being up and says “We’ve got the eyes of the entire U.S. cattle industry looking at us.”
The 2010 International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo is getting underway here in Atlanta with associated conferences today, including the Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference and Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit.
Our sponsor, Novus International, is hosting a seminar/luncheon for expo attendees entitiled “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph. About 200 are in attendance, with a good portion of those among the international guests for the expo. I will be interviewing him after the presentation to get a nice summary of how the poultry industry developed in the area of nutrition and feed over the past century or so.
There was an unintended theme during the Ag Associates Conference in Houston today–root health. I heard from several researchers, consultants and growers from all over the world that most farmers concentrate on plant health above the ground but don’t spend enough time learning about the plant under the ground. For StollerUSA, root health is one of their biggest areas of research.
A plant’s root health is very important, I learned, because stronger roots aid the plant against various stresses such as drought and disease, but also improve the quality of the crop as well.
Dave Alexander, with Agri-Science Technologies and Mike Molnar with Town & Country Ag had a brief but informative conversation about the importance of root health, and with a little cajoling and a big smile, I convinced them to “go on air” to teach us about root health and nutrition.
This is only a snapshot of the research that was discussed during the 17th annual Ag Associates Conference today and I’ll be bringing you more details throughout the week. But if you’re too excited to wait, you can sit in StollerUSA’s Founder and CEO, Jerry Stoller’s lesson on root mass.
Thanks go to Merial for sponsoring the Cattle Industry Convention media room once again. The media room “officially” opens tomorrow morning but somebody had to be first in. That would probably be Grace Webb who has already stocked the bowls on the tables with chocolate.
The action really gets going tomorrow and picks up on Wed. I’ll be here all week doing some Beef Board Blogging so you’ll be seeing a lot of posts from the world of agribusiness.
We’re having a great time here in Houston at the Ag Associates Conference. So much so that it was hard to get everyone to take a break and have lunch! Last night, Lynn Balinas, the President of the Hondo Group, celebrated his birthday with the entire StollerUSA team. His team Patricia Lawson and Brenda Gilbertson, the PR gurus who are helping StollerUSA get the word out about its great yield enhancing projects, took a minute to say happy birthday as did a few others.
Don’t forget to follow the conference right here on AgWired.com. Dozens of people are sharing their research about the success they are having with all the Stoller products. I also had the chance, along with several other reporters, to spend some time alone with Stoller CEO and Founder, Jerry Stoller.
Farmers haven’t been trained to listen to their plants. But for Jerry Stoller, CEO of StollerUSA, that is what his company does best. In some circles, you could even call him the “plant whisperer.” While having breakfast with Jerry this morning, he taught a group of journalists how to listen and what we heard is….”epigenetics.” “This is going to be exciting,” he enthused.
According to Jerry, epigenetics is the study of how you enhance DNA in crops that are already there. Currently, he noted, 75 percent of all DNA in a plant is wasted. So let’s delve deeper into how exactly epigenetics is a breakthrough for agriculture. To simplify the science, a change in the plants gene structure occurs without changing the underlying DNA. What scientists are discovering is that when these genes are changed, the “mother” will pass the gene off to her offspring. This is a big deal because the plant has the potential of an exponential yield advantage.
Speaking of yield enhancements, Jerry discussed three that they’re working on.
According to Jerry, here are three of the most important things for us to learn. “Can we teach the plant to use nitrogen more effectively so that we can use less nitrogen? Can we teach the plant to become more disease resistant so we don’t have to use as much fertilizer? Can we teach the soybean plant to use nitrogen more effectively so that the nodules don’t go to sleep?”
Ultimately discovering the answers for this is threefold: 1) they will improve sustainability; 2) they will improve the yield per acre; and 3) they will improve the farmer’s profitability at the same time he is becoming even more sustainable in his practices.
StollerUSA is dedicated to this very research but there is a challenge for the company to keep moving forward. “One of our biggest challenges is raising the capital to continue the research. However, no matter what, the research will continue both in the traditional sense and in a unique way: “We work backwards. We work from the fields to the lab,” said Jerry.
BASF Plant Science and KWS SAAT AG announced a collaboration in plant biotechnology. The objectives are developing sugar beet varieties for the global market with higher sugar and energy yields as well as greater drought tolerance.
Novus International, Inc. announced its establishment of a new blending plant in Singapore for animal feed supplements.
The deadline for nominating a peer for the NAMA Marketer of the Year awards is Friday, Jan. 29. This award, along with the Agribusiness Leader of the Year award, will be presented at the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 21-23, in Kansas City, Mo.
AGCO is providing a great example of how to integrate social media and networking into their communications strategy and to learn more about what they’re doing I spoke with Sue Otten, Director, Corporate Communications & Brand Communications Worldwide. In our conversation we talk about why the company has invested in very active social communications channels. Sue says that it’s a great way to “learn” from their customers and target a new demographic too.
As you can see in this image from their homepage they’ve put the spotlight on their Facebook page where you can see photos and video from their participation in AG CONNECT Expo. They’re working consistently to create online content relevant to their products and their customers.
One of the recommendations Sue makes is to not be afraid to get started with social media. She says that there are some great consultants out there who can help you too. I’ll use this opportunity to make a little plug for Todd Lohenry with e1evation, Inc. who has worked with AGCO.
Thanks to new AgWired Sponsor, Novus International, for their support of the ZimmCast.
You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.
I spent the evening getting a preview of the research that is going to be presented tomorrow in Houston during the 17th annual Ag Associates Conference. I chatted with people from all over the world including Canada, Australia, Jamaica, Trinidad, North Korea, Cameroon, and more. One of the things I found most fascinating was to hear about the diversity of crops that have seen yield increases using Bio-Forge as well as X-Tra Power and Sugar Mover.
I spoke to dealers and growers who have seen great success using StollerUSA products on potatoes, corn, soybeans, table grapes (an Australian specialty according to my new “bloke” Shane) wheat, and various fruits and vegetables. I listened to many of the growers not only talk about what’s working but about what’s not and other growers who have had similar successes or issues in their fields, share tips that have helped them. Ultimately, the goal of this conference is to bring products to market that will help growers see yield increases and ultimately higher profits.
I barely got a sample of what I’ll be learning about tomorrow but from the initial reports, it’s going to be exciting. I’ll be blogging during the conference tomorrow right here on AgWired.com and continuing coverage throughout the week. In addition, you can follow the conference on StollerUSA’s website, www. StollerUSA.com.
On hand for the presentation were Alltech’s Tyler Bramble (r) and Dr. Alan Wessler, MFA Inc. MFA is an official animal health and nutrition partner for the games. They join more than 60 other organizations who have also partnered with Alltech for this first time competition in the United States. The games will be held in Kentucky from Sept. 25 to October 10.
I talked to both Tyler and Alan about their partnership and what it means to each company this evening.
I’m packing my bags for Houston as I get ready to head to the U.S. Ag Associates Conference. I’m a kind of a self-proclaimed geek so I’m really excited to hear the research presentations from professors, consultants, growers, and StollerUSA group representatives.
The conference began 17 years ago as a gathering of seven people, mostly consultants, whose goal was to enlist a group of people who were doing different things in the field and were willing to share their results. People went home, tested out a few things on their farm, or went back to the lab to conduct more research and field tests and came back the next year to give updates. Eventually, this became a gathering of the minds with more than 100 people from around the world coming to share their advancements in ag. As neat as this is, there is just one catch. You can attend for one year as an observer, but if you want to come back the next (and everyone does) then you have to give an update on something that you have done.
I will be blogging from the conference beginning tomorrow evening here on AgWired, and complements of StollerUSA, there will also be day-to-day conference coverage on their website at www.stollerusa.com. Oh, and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag but there will be a big announcement made during the conference this week so check back often – you’ll not want to miss it!
It’s time once again for the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show and I’ll be Beef Board Blogging again. It’s hard to believe but this will be my 5th year of blogging for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. Wow.
Of course I’ll be providing coverage of the convention right here on AgWired and with support from new sponsor Novus International.
So while Cindy is in Atlanta at the International Poultry Expo and Joanna is in Houston for the U.S. Ag Associates Conference I get to go to San Antonio. Looking at the current midwest weather forecast I’m glad I’m going south.
I’ll be heading that way on Monday and should have coverage start on Tuesday.
The nation’s peanut industry is helping out the relief effort in Haiti by donating high protein peanut butter and you can support that effort with your own donations. Peanut butter is especially good for emergency situations like this because it’s a great source of nourishment that needs no refrigeration.
The peanut industry has already donated $108,500 in contributions and four truckloads of peanut butter have been shipped so far totaling nearly three million servings. The peanut butter is being delivered to families in Haiti through Operation Blessing, Catholic Relief Services and Food for the Poor.
Donations can be sent to: EC 2055 – PB for Haiti P.O. Box 725 Blakely, GA 39823
Make checks payable to Early County 2055 and note on check: PB for Haiti. All donations are tax deductible and you will receive a letter acknowledging the donation.
For the second year in a row, Novus International is sponsoring coverage of the International Poultry Expo (IPE) here on Agwired. This is a huge event for the poultry industry, with about 20,000 attendees, but it really doesn’t get much in the way of “mainstream” ag media coverage, so we are pleased to be able to be there for those who are unable to attend.
IPE has a great deal to offer for everyone. In addition to the massive trade show, featuring nearly 900 exhibitors, it is also home to the International Poultry Scientific Forum, Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit, International Feed Education Program, Pet Food Conference and lots of educational programs and workshops. Look for lots of interviews and photos from the event – and to our friends in the ag media, please feel free to download and use whatever you want.
We read a lot about precision agriculture hardware but you’ve got to have good software too. That’s what ZedX, Inc. is all about. On the floor of last week’s AG CONNECT Expo I met Twitter Master, Nathan Taylor, Business Analyst for the company.
Nathan says the company supplies precision support tools for the management of production agriculture. He says they also have a strong focus on R&D through universities government and private. They also have a weather division. The software ZedX offers is fully web based and Nathan claims they’re the only company that can make that claim right now.
Nathan says that “what’s new” with the company is an expansion of their AgFleet product so that growers can wirelessly sync from the field. He says they’re also hoping to have some new product releases very soon.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
When it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with 
This year, it was “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by well-known poultry science expert Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph, pictured here on the right with Dr. Scott Carter, Novus Poultry Market Manager, on the left. Dr. Leeson entertained the group with some great historical photos of poultry management through the years. According to Leeson, the commercial poultry industry as we know it pretty much started in the ’60s, as the broiler industry developed and the egg and meat industries began to diverge. Talking about feed management, he noted that producers early on were feeding poultry diets consisting of corn, soybean meal, milk, fish meal, meat meal and some raw vegetables. “They were looking for the vitamins that really hadn’t been recognized and we couldn’t buy them artificially,” he said. Milk was an especially important part of the diet to deal with health issues in flocks. 
This is an interesting display in the entrance hallway to the Cattle Industry Convention.
The combined meetings of the 
The 2010 International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo is getting underway here in Atlanta with associated conferences today, including the Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference and Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit. 
Thanks go to 
According to Jerry, epigenetics is the study of how you enhance DNA in crops that are already there. Currently, he noted, 75 percent of all DNA in a plant is wasted. So let’s delve deeper into how exactly epigenetics is a breakthrough for agriculture. To simplify the science, a change in the plants gene structure occurs without changing the underlying DNA. What scientists are discovering is that when these genes are changed, the “mother” will pass the gene off to her offspring. This is a big deal because the plant has the potential of an exponential yield advantage.
acre; and 3) they will improve the farmer’s profitability at the same time he is becoming even more sustainable in his practices.
I spent the evening getting a preview of the research that is going to be presented tomorrow in Houston during the 17th annual 
I barely got a sample of what I’ll be learning about tomorrow but from the initial reports, it’s going to be exciting. I’ll be blogging during the conference tomorrow right here on 
The 
I’m packing my bags for Houston as I get ready to head to the 
this became a gathering of the minds with more than 100 people from around the world coming to share their advancements in ag. As neat as this is, there is just one catch. You can attend for one year as an observer, but if you want to come back the next (and everyone does) then you have to give an update on something that you have done.
It’s time once again for the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show and I’ll be Beef 
So while Cindy is in Atlanta at the International Poultry Expo and Joanna is in Houston for the 
The peanut industry has already donated $108,500 in contributions and four truckloads of peanut butter have been shipped so far totaling nearly three million servings. The peanut butter is being delivered to families in Haiti through Operation Blessing, Catholic Relief Services and Food for the Poor. 
IPE has a great deal to offer for everyone. In addition to the massive trade show, featuring nearly 900 exhibitors, it is also home to the International Poultry Scientific Forum, 
We read a lot about precision agriculture hardware but you’ve got to have good software too. That’s what 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
