New Holland’s TS6030 high-clearance tractor puts the power of 96 PTO horses into rows of tall vegetables or specialty crops without worry of plant damage.
EMD Crop BioScience has recently added three sales representatives in new territories in the United States and Canada: Lynn Justesen, sales representative for Western Iowa; Chuck Haefele, Nebraska territory; and Wyatt Burnett, South Western Prairies territory in Canada.
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health announces the introduction of RESFLOR GOLD, the only medication on the U.S. market that combines the antibiotic florfenicol and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug flunixin meglumine into one convenient dose for treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD).
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is preparing for the upcoming Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) director elections. Producers interested in representing their district should click here to learn more, or contact Noel Favia at (608) 224-5140.
AGCO’s Challenger brand is designed for professional producers, those who view farming as a business decision rather than a lifestyle decision. This year, Challenger had two new pieces of equipment on display during the AG CONNECT Expo including the MT600C and the MT595B. Both of these are prototypical equipment of what’s to come next explained Allison Bass with AGGO.
Last year the company launched the 600C with E3 technology and this technology has to do with fuel economy and emission reduction. Company expert Phil Jones told me that the E3 technology is important as the whole industry is approaching what’s known as Tier 4, which is emission reduction policy. Jones notes that meeting these requirements must be done in a smart way.
“Our path, we believe, is the most farmer friendly way. Farmers absolutely get why it matters, but are also concerned. Their concern is that in every step of the way, they have had to make trade-offs in terms of power, performance, fuel efficiency, and reliability as it relates to things done previously to achieve various tier standards in terms of emissions.” Jones continued, “We call this compliance without compromise.”
The E3 technology achieves emission reduction while also increasing fuel economy by 15 percent versus where the company and industry were in the past. Eventually the technology will expand beyond their tractor line into combines, other tractors and more.
Another product of great interest during the show was the prototype of the Big Biomass Baler. Dean Morrell spoke to me about this cutting-edge piece of equipment. It is designed to be able to take the corn cobs and leaves coming right out of the combine delivering it directly to the baler to make a 3 x 4 Big Bale.
This is a one-pass combine-baler system saving the farmer time and money. Morrell said they call the material it picks up MAWG – material other than grain — and it never touches the ground. Ultimately the bales can be delivered to cellulosic ethanol plants that will convert the MAWG to ethanol. This is exactly what Poet is doing in their Emmetsburg, Iowa plant and Morrell said their Big Biomass Baler was tested in 2009 in conjunction with the Poet plant. (The plant is expected to be operational in 2012.)
Biomass harvesting has been a challenge and Morrell said, “We feel we have the solution to the problem because we have something that they can pick up, move and transport very easily.”
The Big Biomass Baler is not yet available and Morrell stressed that they will keep testing it to ensure they concept can do what they say but should be to market within the next several years.
Listen to my interview with Allison, Phil and Dean below.
Sustainable agriculture is a much talked about trend right now and Agrotain International has a product that can help a farmer be profitable and sustainable at the same time – the Agrotain line of products. Micheal Stegmann, President of the company, explained to me during the AG CONNECT Expo what Agrotain does and why it is both economical and sustainable.
Agrotain is a product to be used with urea fertilizer. “Urea is a really great product for farmers to be using because it’s safe and abundant and it’s relatively inexpensive,” said Stegmann. “But it’s got a problem and that problem is when its applied to the surface, part of it is lost back into the environment.” A third actually. Stegmann continued, “When that loss occurs it’s not only an economic loss to the grower but also represents an environmental issue.”
Agrotain is not crop specific and can be used with any urea fertilizer. It is actually added to the fertilizer by the dealer and then the farmer applies the product as usual. The benefit to the grower is that it makes the urea more efficient and is a lot less expensive to use than the cost of the loss of nitrogen.
The company is a big believer in sustainability needing to be a big part of their future of agriculture. However, Stegmann notes that sustainability means different things to different people. “In my opinion, sustainable means a way to endure that reconciles the needs of society, the needs of the environment and economic needs as well.” He stresses the importance of the general public in understanding that farming is a business and needs to make a profit. “If we’re going to meet the growing demands and if we’re going to do it in a way that is satisfactory to the public, we have to be able to make money in the process.”
He concludes that regulations or rules or pactices that prevent the industry from being profitable are also going to prevent it from doing the things the public wants them to do — feed the world.
In the growing field of biomass conversion to fuel there’s a plant that Mississippi State University thinks will help farmers and all Americans. It’s Giant Miscanthus and you can follow it on Twitter @GiantMiscanthus. They’ve actually licensed the product which is Freedom Giant Miscanthus that’s being marketed by Sunbelt Biofuels LLC. On the show floor at AG CONNECT Expo to talk about it were John Holmes (l) and Sunbelt’s Chairman Phil Jennings (r).
Phil says they’re taking the product commercial for MSU. He says they’ve been in the turf grass business for years and this new product caught their attention. He says they’re off to a great start and expect to see a lot of acres signed up in the next couple years as the demand for cellulosic ethanol production increases. John says Freedom is a play on words to denote the ability to become independent of foreign produced oil. Phil says “We know of no other plant that is a perennial, that is renewable as fast as it is that can give us the masses of biomass that we’re looking for.” He says Freedom provides four times the yield per acre of switchgrass.
You can listen to my interview with Phil and John below:
Most any photographer will know the Leica name. Oskar Barnack created a small 35mm camera back in 1925 that pretty much changed the way we look at things. What a lot of people are now learning about Leica is that they’re into precision agriculture technology in a big way. The company has three distinct divisions and the one on display at AG CONNECT Expo was Leica Geosystems. It was there that I met with Rob Kiernan, Global Sales & Marketing Manager.
Rob says that since they come from the optical business they’re basically a measurement company that has moved into GPS and that has led them into agriculture. At the show he says they’re promoting their mojoRTK which was launched in early 2008. He thinks they’re just now hitting their stride with the product. Service has been one of their priorities and they offer Virtual Wrench which allows the operator to get help without leaving the cab using mobile phone technology. The newest addition to their product lineup is their mojoMINI which does field guidance as well as standard navigation and will be available starting in February. You can see the unit on the display in the photo.
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has released their 2010 outlook for agricultural machinery. It looks like an expectation of continued “continued weakness in U.S. and Canadian tractor sales.” This is comes from a survey they conduct of members. So although this year’s outlook is somewhat negative, future years look much better.
For all sizes of two-wheel tractors, however, the declines are expected to be less steep than 2009 losses. Double-digit decreases are expected for four-wheel-drive tractors, following relatively flat business in 2009. Combine sales are predicted to drop in the double digits for 2010 after 2009 sales growth. Sales of tractors and combines are then predicted to start rebounding through 2011 and 2012.
For other types of farm-related equipment covered in the AEM survey, overall 2010 demand for most products in the U.S. and Canada is expected to improve after 2009 business declines. All categories are predicted to be in the plus column for 2011 and 2012.
One of the organizations that I met during the AG CONNECT Expo is the National FFA Organization. FFA was founded in 1928 and today has more than 7,400 chapters in all 50 U.S. states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The organization’s mission is agricultural education for kids in junior high and high school. I sat down with Phyllis McDonald and Rita Robertson, both with the foundation, to learn more about what they do.
The foundation’s main focus is on scholarships and grants that help students and ag teachers. One of their big initiatives is helping students go to their Washington Leadership conference in D.C. each year. Last year, the foundation provided $2 million in scholarships.
In addition to educational efforts, members of FFA spend a lot of time donating their time to charitable causes. Several of their largest programs are their work with Habitat for Humanity, and in conjunction with Campbells, their barn restoration program. FFA recently announced the five barns that will be restored this year and the local FFA chapters will be helping with the construction. And for alumnus a big program is Harvest for America, where members glean food and donate it to their local communities.
You don’t have to be a former member of FFA to become a member of the alumni organization and Phyllis and Rita were able to catch up with more than 100 former FFA members and current alumni members. They were also able to spend time with many of their corporate sponsors, who were also exhibiting at the show. To learn more about becoming an FFA alumni member or sponsor, visit www.ffa.org.
Topcon Precision Agriculture is a global company with a strong presence in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and is growing in Europe. One of their most popular products is the AGI-3 receiver. This system not only picks up GPS satellites, but also receives information from Galileo, the European satellite and Glonass, the Russian satellite said Michael Gomes, the company’s Director of Global Strategic Alliances, during the AG CONNECT Expo.
The most unique aspect of this precision ag technology is that the receiver can steer the tractor and I asked Gomes why this was advantageous to a farmer. He explained that being a farmer is economically hard. Input costs keep rising whereas commodity prices are not neccesarily increasing so farmers are squeezed for profit. So, he continued, products like the AGI-3 are tools for efficiency.
“What they allow you to do is get more productivity out of the asset. When you put in an auto steering system on a tractor it is not uncommon to get double hours. Now you can get day and night repeatability,” said Gomes. This also allows farmers to go through re-tooling and ultimately a farmer can farm more acres at a lower cost per acre.
The AIG-3 works directly with steer ready tractors but if a farmer doesn’t have one, he can use the AES25 which in essence, gives the farmer a steer-ready tractor.
Also: Don’t forget to RSVP for LPC Luncheon at NCBA Convention in San Antonio
For the first time this luncheon is being co-sponsored by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and will recognize the 2009 LPC Forrest Bassford Student Award Winner, Whitney Wallace, from the University of Missouri. Incoming NCBA President Steve Foglesong has been invited to address the group plus we’ll update you on all of the exciting LPC events planned for 2010. The luncheon will be on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 12 noon at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel (note there are two different Marriotts close to the Convention Center). The exact location are Conference Rooms 17-18 but the room locations will be posted at the hotel if you forget.
You MUST RSVP by Friday January 22 to Diane; dianej@flash.net or call 817/336-1130. No-shows obviously won’t be charged but will be unappreciated!
A big thanks to Intervet/Schering-Plough for their generosity in support of this event and the student award program for LPC.
BASF Headline® fungicide is a four time winner for no-till farmers.
Headline® fungicide from BASF was recognized as fungicide of the year during the Annual National No-Tillage Conference 2009 No-Till Product of the Year awards presentation. The recognition marks the fourth consecutive year that Headline fungicide has been proclaimed the leading fungicide on the market by no-till farmers nationwide.
Strip-Till: Blu-Jet Strip-Till unit, Thurston Manufacturing. Honorable Mention: 2510S Strip-Till Residue Master, John Deere; Pluribus Strip-Till unit, Dawn Equipment.
After a detailed analysis, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has come out in opposition to the House version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act HR 2454, better known “cap and trade” legislation.
“Since the passage of this bill by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009, the National Corn Growers Association has maintained a neutral position on the legislation pending further review,” said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen. “Although our neutrality has often put us at odds with the majority of other mainstream agricultural groups, we believe it was critical to remain engaged with lawmakers while the economic impacts were analyzed.”
NCGA retained Informa Economics to analyze those impacts and as a result of this study, “NCGA has no choice but to oppose H.R. 2454. The results of the Informa study indicates that every corn grower in the country will experience increased costs of production resulting from H.R. 2454. In the early years of this legislation, these higher production costs will be relatively minor. However, over time these prices will significantly increase, placing an unnecessary burden on growers.”
NCGA, along with other agricultural organizations, is sending a letter to Congress supporting a “disapproval resolution” in the Senate, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), that would stop EPA from promulgating rules to regulate greenhouse gases.
Listen to a press conference about the NCGA announcement this morning.
During a time when sales of middle meats are traditionally slower, the checkoff’s food and nutrition communications team is gearing up to capitalize on a month that boasts many familiar holidays and special occasions. Thus, the beef checkoff is initiating an “I Heart Beef” campaign.
The program was specifically designed to help strengthen interest in beef middle meats by reminding consumers of their passion for great steaks like the T-bone and tenderloin. Not only that, but February is Heart Health Month.
The checkoff-funded consumer survey used as a foundation for the campaign found:
• In this month of romance, beef is the preferred choice of Americans (62 percent) because nothing says love like a great steak dinner for Valentine’s Day.
• Americans associate steak as a “best match” for love (44 percent), romance (42 percent) and passion (41 percent)—more so than other high-end proteins.
• When it’s time to share that Valentine’s Day meal, beef wins. A ribeye (35 percent) or T-bone steak (32 percent) are chosen as the best meal to share with a significant other.
• Americans most often associate beef with celebrations (50 percent), compared to chicken (18 percent), pork (17 percent) or fish (15 percent).
• Sixty-two percent of Americans say they choose to prepare beef if they are looking for gratitude or appreciation from their dinner partner.
• Fifty-three percent of Americans identify filet mignon as the food most associated with candlelight romance and 50 percent of Americans think filet mignon is the best way to say “I love you.”
The campaign includes numerous media outreach components, online and electronic communications, and communications and a recipe contest geared toward registered dietitians, encouraging them to share their love for lean beef.
Syngenta Seeds, Inc. has named Evan Uthof of Jackson, Neb. the 2009 Golden Harvest Seeds, Inc. Seedsmen of the Year.
Headline fungicide from BASF was recognized as fungicide of the year during the 17th Annual National No-Tillage Conference 2009 No-Till Product of the Year awards presentation.
has named Todd Greenwood the new team leader, corporate contributions, effective Jan. 25, 2010.
No-Till Farmer readers have weighed in on the products that performed the best in their no-till operations, citing the Keeton Seed Firmer as the “2009 No-Till Product Of The Year.”
Cheryl Muzinic has been promoted to VP, Group Account Manager, at Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications.
Muzinic, who joined Rhea + Kaiser in 2005 as management supervisor, manages strategic development and planning for the agency’s business-to-consumer accounts: DePaul University, Hammes Company and Central Garden & Pet, including Excel Marketing, Gulfstream Home & Garden, Pennington Seed and TechPac, LLC.
“Cheryl has deep consumer experience, drive and an ability to see beyond the expected. Our clients benefit every day from her unique insights into their needs,” said Steve Rhea, president and CEO of Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications. “This promotion recognizes her accomplishments in the growth of our consumer group and her dedication to excellent client service and team leadership.”
Just in case I didn’t mention it. I want to be like Russell Graves when I grow up. Here’s a short video he just released about a little girl and her show pig. I think you should let others see it. It’s the kind of thing we need more of out there in the web. It kind of made my morning.
One of the exhibits I visited at AG CONNECT Expo is our primary Precision Pays.com sponsor, Ag Leader Technology. Mike Olson, Sales and Support Manager, was on the floor interacting with attendees when I stopped by.
The Ag Leader booth was one of the ones displaying the “New Product” banner. I asked Mike what was new. He says there have been several new products released recently by the company including their new INTEGRA display. The 12.1 inch screen combines the operation control options Ag Leader is known for, with a built-in full-featured steering and guidance system including an on-screen lightbar.
Mike says most of the growers he spoke with know they need to implement precision technology but are asking questions about how they can use it in their operation.
You can watch or listen to my interview with Mike below:
What a week we had on AgWired last week at AG CONNECT Expo and what a week we’re going to have next week. Besides the Cattle Industry Convention and International Poultry Expo we’re going to have full coverage of the U.S. Ag Associates Conference courtesy of StollerUSA. So that’s the subject of this week’s program.
This morning I spoke with Stoller Group President and CEO, Jerry Stoller. This is the 17th Conference which he says is a very unique collaboration and sharing of research among consultants, university professors, growers and Stoller Group representatives. I had the opportunity for a short visit there last year and next week our Joanna Schroeder will be on location for full coverage.
Some of the leading researchers in the field will participate. Among them are Dr. Ron Heiniger, North Carolina State University; Dr. Michael Orzolek, Penn State University; Dr. Ron Salzman, Director of Bioscience, StollerUSA; and Dr. T X Liu, Texas A&M Weslaco, Texas who will report on a record soybean yield of 166.8 bushels per acre achieved with Stoller technology under controlled conditions in replicated plots. Featured presentations will include trials conducted on soybeans, corn, wheat, blueberries and other crops by Stoller’s fourteen subsidiary companies from nineteen countries.
“The conference is a showcase of results from trials conducted around the world,” says Jerry Stoller, president and CEO of the Stoller Group. “Our primary goal is for attendees to learn from each other and take that information home to customers or to their own farms. It’s the kind of education resource successful growers need to maximize their bottom lines.”
Besides AgWired you can also follow along with information from the Conference on the StollerUSA blog.
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.
The webinar is free for AAEA members and $50 for non-members. If you’re not a member yet, but would like to be, you can become one for just $100 and the webinar is FREE!
Farmers who are considering growing miscanthus as a bioenergy feedstock now have a tool to make it easier. After years of collaboration and research, a miscanthus rhizome regeneration harvester and planter system has been developed. The unveiling took place during the Bioenergy Feedstocks Symposium held at the University of Illinois (U of I). Typically, miscanthus is a labor-intensive crop requiring multiple machines, and costly manual selection and grading – but not any longer.
Timothy Mies, Deputy Director of Operations at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the U of I, said, “When this project started, the propagation of rhizomes was done with shovels and lots of manual labor. These machines will take miscanthus production to a new level.”
The new machine is the result of a three-year collaboration between U of I, Tomax Ltd and Bermuda King USA. According to a news release from U of I, this machinery can lower the cost of miscanthus rhizome production by up to 40 percent and create opportunities for miscanthus to be used more widely as a high-yield bioenergy crop.
“Bioenergy feedstock processors require security for supply and unless we dealt with regeneration and planting issues for miscanthus, we simply couldn’t make progress,” said Gavin Maxwell, Tomax Ltd Senior Bioenergy Consultant.
In recent U.S. trials, the machine has demonstrated a 200 percent increase in rhizome collection over manual systems. this allows, says the research team, the opportunity for regional nurseries to more efficiently expand to meet the demand for both solid and liquid fuel conversion.
So here is how it works. The planter demonstrates a more uniform stream of rhizomes, enabling plant placement at a rate that matches rhizome weight, quality and ground conditions. The four-row planter incorporates separate feed hoppers and placement channels enabling it to be used for both two-row nursery work and larger scale plantations.
In addition, the harvester does bulk lifting of rhizomes on a continual basis with a patented one-pass digging head and oscillating de-soiler. Rhizomes exit via bulk side discharger conveying rootstock to an adjacent trailer. The speed of extraction allows faster transfer of rhizomes to storage which is a real benefit given the seasonal weather restrictions and narrow window of time that may prevail during the rhizome winter dormancy period.
The harvester and planter package will be available beginning this year and will be available for expanded grower crops in time for the 2011 season.
I spent quite a bit of time in the Case IH booth during AG CONNECT Expo last week – AgriTalk broadcast live one day and the next AgDay TV taped its show. However, my education didn’t end there. I spent a few minutes learning about Case IH’s dedication to helping farmers gain more efficiency from John Bohnker.
“A lot of farming is based upon efficiency. We’ve got to get more efficient operations. There are fewer farmers farming more acres. So we deal a lot with efficiency. If you look at our combines, we’re getting bigger and bigger combines. Bigger heads, wider operations, so we can do more operations with less manpower and get the process done faster,” said Bohnker.
Case IH is focusing strongly on its CDT technology where they are “doing a better job of finding the sweetspot” with energy efficiency. “We’re doing a better job of getting the energy to the ground, power to the ground where we need it,” said Bohnker.
I asked Bohnker about the growing concerns over sustainability and profitability and he stressed that they have to go together. “Farmers are really the truest green people on the earth. They have to earn a living on the land, and long-term they have to keep the farm economical but they understand the environment is the right place.”
The company is developing some new equipment that pares sustainability and profitability together, in particular, a prototype baler that is being designed to pick up corn cobs and stover for cellulosic ethanol production. By enabling the farmer to harvest this biomass, he can get more revenue off the same amount of land. The equipment is not quite ready for production yet, but it’s close; however, their other equipment is in the pipeline and ready to go for the upcoming planting season.
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.
Another product of great interest during the show was the prototype of the Big Biomass Baler. Dean Morrell spoke to me about this cutting-edge piece of equipment. It is designed to be able to take the corn cobs and leaves coming right out of the combine delivering it directly to the baler to make a 3 x 4 Big Bale.
Agrotain is a product to be used with urea fertilizer. “Urea is a really great product for farmers to be using because it’s safe and abundant and it’s relatively inexpensive,” said Stegmann. “But it’s got a problem and that problem is when its applied to the surface, part of it is lost back into the environment.” A third actually. Stegmann continued, “When that loss occurs it’s not only an economic loss to the grower but also represents an environmental issue.”
In the growing field of biomass conversion to fuel there’s a plant that Mississippi State University thinks will help farmers and all Americans. It’s Giant Miscanthus and you can follow it on 
Most any photographer will know the 
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has released their 
The foundation’s main focus
The most unique aspect of this precision ag technology is that the receiver can steer the tractor and I asked Gomes why this was advantageous to a farmer. He explained that being a farmer is economically hard. Input costs keep rising whereas commodity prices are not neccesarily increasing so farmers are squeezed for profit. So, he continued, products like the AGI-3 are tools for efficiency.
The Livestock Publications Council has implemented 
Headline® fungicide from BASF was recognized as fungicide of the year during the 
“Since the passage of this bill by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009, the National Corn Growers Association has maintained a neutral position on the legislation pending further review,” said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen. “Although our neutrality has often put us at odds with the majority of other mainstream agricultural groups, we believe it was critical to remain engaged with lawmakers while the economic impacts were analyzed.”
During a time when sales of middle meats are traditionally slower, the checkoff’s food and nutrition communications team is gearing up to capitalize on a month that boasts many familiar holidays and special occasions. Thus, the beef checkoff is initiating an “I Heart Beef” campaign.
Cheryl Muzinic has been promoted to VP, Group Account Manager, at 
One of the exhibits I visited at AG CONNECT Expo is our primary 
What a week we had on AgWired last week at AG CONNECT Expo and what a week we’re going to have next week. Besides the Cattle Industry Convention and International Poultry Expo we’re going to have full coverage of the 
This morning I spoke with Stoller Group President and CEO, Jerry Stoller. This is the 17th Conference which he says is a very unique collaboration and sharing of research among consultants, university professors, growers and Stoller Group representatives. I had the opportunity for a 
Farmers who are considering growing miscanthus as a bioenergy feedstock now have a tool to make it easier. After years of collaboration and research, a miscanthus rhizome regeneration harvester and planter system has been developed. The unveiling took place during the 
“Bioenergy feedstock processors require security for supply and unless we dealt with regeneration and planting issues for miscanthus, we simply couldn’t make progress,” said Gavin Maxwell, Tomax Ltd Senior Bioenergy Consultant.
I spent quite a bit of time in the 
Case IH is focusing strongly on its CDT technology where they are “doing a better job of finding the sweetspot” with energy efficiency. “We’re doing a better job of getting the energy to the ground, power to the ground where we need it,” said Bohnker.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
