International marketing was the focus of a press conference held by the United Soybean Board at Commodity Classic. First up on the podium was Phil Bradshaw, USB Chairman and a soybean farmer from Griggsville, IL.
He spoke about future efforts to increase soybean exports as conducted by the USB. A record 1.56 billion bushels of soybeans were exported in the most recent marketing year which is “every other row of soybeans produced in the United States.” He says the USB has just selected a new organization to represent soybean growers on the international level. That will be the newly re-organized U.S. Soybean Export Council.
The next person to speak was Jim Call, USB International Marketing Chair and a soybean farmer from Madison, MN.
Jim says the new model that USB has selected to increase soy exports will allow them to better coordinate on planning with exporters and customers. They expect to decrease the duplication of efforts and invest Checkoff dollars more wisely.
Last to address the press conference was Ike Boudreaux, USSEC Chairman and a soybean farmer from Lebeau, LA.
Ike says the USSEC is proud to have been selected by the USB to execute the new international marketing model. The new efforts will begin October 1, 2010. He says that USSEC is updating its operational structure in order to earn the business. He describes some of the elements of the plan they will be putting in place which includes targeting six key markets.
I had a chance to spend some time with Gail Stratman, the Midwest Technical Sales Lead for FMC, during Commodity Classic and I learned two things. First that Cadet and Authority Assist are big sellers, selling out the past two years, and second, why both products work so well.
Cadet is a post emergence herbicide that was introduced about two years ago for corn and soybeans. “It’s a very good product for growers using Roundup Ready or glyphosate tolerant crops, that are looking for an additional herbicide to put with their glyphosate to help control those weeds they may be experiencing some trouble controlling with straight glyphosate,” explained Stratman.
Some of the weeds that are controlled using Cadet (and Authority Assist) are velvet leaf, water hemp, morning glory, and lambs quarters. Stratman noted that it’s a unique product in that it has a very broad spectrum of weed control and it’s labeled for use at the same rates for corn and soybeans so if a grower has both crops, you don’t have to worry about spray drift.
Authority Assist is a pre-emergence herbicide for soybeans used to control early season weeds. The product limits weed competition, which researchers have found to be as important in soybeans as in corn, and helps to improve yields.
As Project Liberty gets closer every day to completion (The POET project is set to be online no later than 2012), farm equipment manufactures, such as Vermeer, are developing corn cob harvesting technology. During Commodity Classic, I caught up with Jay Van Roekel, the product manager for Vermeer’s Ag Division to learn more about their biomass technologies.
Van Roekel explained that they have a current hay tool line that is a big help in collecting round bales of switchgrass or corn stover. In addition, their latest and most focused is their corn cob collector, the CCX770. Vermeer has been working on this technology full steam ahead for two years but bought the patent from a farmer in Nebraska who had been working on the technology for 10 years.
Here’s how it works. You hook the CCX770 behind a Class 7 or greater combine. Then the machine catches all the materials coming out of the back of the combine and then it sorts out the cobs from the other residue and then the leaves and husks are blown back onto the soil and just the corn cobs are left.
This is a one-pass system but Van Roekel said the farmer will still need to add to his system a way to transport the cobs to storage. The CCX770 is currently available for purchase or lease and you can get more info by clicking here.
You can listen to my full interview with Jay below.
Being a brick artist doesn’t sound like a high pressure job but when you’ve got to finish your LEGO creation by the close of the Commodity Classic trade show it can get a little tense. Nathan Sawaya got this art work done for BASF in their Commodity Classic booth just in time. I think he actually had a couple seconds to spare.
I spoke with him while he was building the project to learn more about what he does and his plan for this project. He basically uses LEGO bricks to create art. In this case he was asked to create “crops” out of LEGO bricks. By the end he had corn, soybeans, wheat and a barn. He says he had an idea in his mind of what he’d do before the show to make sure he brought enough bricks. He also tours with an Art of the Brick Museum Exhibit.
The Pork Checkoff will honor Dale Miller, editor of National Hog Farmer, as the winner of its Distinguished Service Award. He will be recognized at the National Pork Industry Forum, March 4-6, 2010.
The National Pork Board recognized the latest class of Environmental Steward Award winners at the National Pork Industry Forum. These winners exemplify excellence in environmental care and conservation in pork production. Honored at the ceremony were: JAC Pork of Hartley, Iowa; Schafer Farms of Goodhue, Minn.; Bryant Worley Farms of Princeton, N.C.; and Sensenig Farm of Mohnton, Pa.
Kansas wheat producer Jerry McReynolds was elected president of the National Association of Wheat Growers at the organization’s Board of Directors meeting.
Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC announces the launch of its newest multi-media tool for dairy producers and calf enthusiasts — Calf Wise — on Facebook.
The Supreme Court will soon make a decision on whether or not farmers can grow biotech alfalfa – and it could ultimately impact other genetically modified crops.
That’s why the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and several other agricultural organizations have filed an amicus curiae brief with the court in the case of “Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms” regarding Roundup Ready® alfalfa.
The groups urge that the lower courts’ decision to approve an injunction without adequately hearing the key evidence must be reversed “to protect the farmers who choose to grow genetically-engineered crops, as well as the public benefits that agricultural biotechnology brings to producers and consumers around the world.” They argue that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has studied Roundup Ready® alfalfa and found no significant human environment impact and has recommended that farmers be allowed to grow it. APHIS just recently concluded a comment period on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the crop.
This case is important case because it marks the first time the high court has weighed in on the risks of genetically engineered crops. It is scheduled for oral argument on April 27 and a decision is expected from the Court by June.
Syngenta made two announcements during Commodity Classic last week - a new sustainability team and that their water optimization technology is on track. I spoke with Terry Stone who is heading the new sustainability team as well as Tracy Mader, Project Marketing Head who is working with the team developing the water optimization technologies.
I asked Stone to tell me what the mission of the new sustainability team was and he explained, “Our focus is helping growers produce more from less and to realize where they’re at in terms of not just how much they are producing but now much energy, water, soil loss and other impacts they are having from production.”
There is a lot of talk now about how the world will need to feed nine billion people in the next 30 years so I asked Stone how sustainability and world food production go hand in hand. “Farmers are the original stewards of the land and when you think about land, you have to think about soil and the soil is the farmer’s bread and butter,” explained Stone. “They’ve been very careful about the health of their soil and the more healthy the soil, the more productive it will be.”
Water optimization also goes hand-in-hand with sustainability and Mader gave me an update on their technology that is close to market. “Our water optimization technology is on track and has made several technical milestones. We plan to introduce this technology in the 2011 planting season for growers in the plains and the Western cornbelt of the United States.”
Nebraska and California are the two most irrigated states and Syngenta did research in both of these states as well as other regions. However, they are developing the technology to both work during drought conditions and during optimal conditions.
“We are really committed to two guiding principals,” said Mader. “Number one to help the plant maximize its yield based on the available water and number two, when growing conditions are ideal, that the technology doesn’t offer any yield penalty. And our initial hybrids will meet both of these criteria.”
Listen below to my back-to-back interviews with Terry Stone and Tracy Mader.
The American Soybean Association (ASA) is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and has a lot to celebrate. Last year, the organization received more than $12.8 million in export funding from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service for the promotion of U.S. soybeans and soybean products. ASA President Rob Joslin noted in the organization’s press conference during Commodity Classic that this was the largest of that type of grant ever given to one organization. ASA’s committee, Rural Initiative Soy and Human Health, also received a historic grant of $26 million for the promotion and infrastructure of soy in Afghanistan.
However, grant dollars were not the only success for 2009. Joslin highlighted some of the policy work his organization is undergoing in the beltway that affects soybean farmers in terms of both biofuels development and the farm bill.
“ASA led efforts to correct a flawed proposal by the EPA. This proposal would have disqualified soy as a feedstock from the mandated Renewable Fuels Standard,” said Joslin. He continued by saying that ASA believes this was not the intent of Congress and with their efforts, among others, the new rule by the EPA allows for the continuation of soy as a feedstock for biodiesel.
Biodiesel has also been hit with the lack of extension for the Biodiesel Tax Incentive. Joslin said that to date, 23,000 workers across the country are idled and the longer the biodiesel plants don’t produce biodiesel, the harder it will be for the plants to begin running again once the incentive is passed; yet, ASA is confident the incentive will pass.
But the lack of the biodiesel tax credit also affects farmers. Joslin said that it costs farmers 25 cents per bushel by not having biodiesel production. Of the 3.3 billion bushels harvest in ’09, this will costs farmers $825 million in income.
Joslin, on behalf of ASA, expressed continued hopefulness for 2010 for soybean farmers across the country and reiterated that they will continue to work on their behalf both here in the states and abroad.
You can listen to the highlights of the ASA press conference below.
This year, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) will launch an image and activism campaign to reinforce the importance of agriculture, according to NCGA President, Darrin Ihnen during a press conference at Commodity Classic. While many people are still confused about food versus fuel, an issue perpetuated by media around the world, and the debate continues around international indirect land use change, it’s time to set the record straight. Ihnen noted that a few simple facts can take care of both of these issues. This year, corn farmers harvested 13.2 billion bushels of corn, or 165.2 bushels per acre, on 7 million less acres than in 2007 when the harvest was nearly identical.
In an effort to curb misinformation and ensure effective policy is put into place, corn growers around the country have been getting involved. One great example is the outpouring of comments around indirect land use, E15 and the RFS2.
“We’re proud of the tens of thousands of farmers who commented to the EPA on that subject (E15). In fact, this is a perfect example of how we’ve seen a resurgence of activism on the part of American agriculture and we’ve held numerous discussions with our allies around the world on this,” said Ihnen.
He continued, “That’s why this year we’re launching an unprecedented image and activism campaign to do two things. First, we will aggressively reinforce the importance and positive image most Americans have with farmers and the products they grow. Second, we will create a more united and vocal army of farmers and their friends who can speak out against the myths and misinformation that we see so often.”
The Corn Farmers Coalition will focus its efforts in the beltway and the activism/grassroots campaign will focus on Americans around the country. Ihnen stressed that the campaign will be more successful the more people are involved and said in closing, “We’re excited about this challenge and invite all interested parties to join us.”
You can listen to Darrin’s full comments about the campaign below.
Southeast AgNet has added two new folks to their team.
Marc Stockwell comes on board as a Senior Account Executive, bringing 20 years of advertising sales and management experience to the position. Stockwell was most recently employed with Meister Media Worldwide, where he sold advertising to citrus, vegetable, and ornamental horticulture industries. At Southeast AgNet, he will be involved in marketing multiple media in-region and nationally, including Web and print advertising for Citrus Industry and Florida Pest Pro magazines and the company’s primary agriculture news website, www.SoutheastAgNet.com.
Tacy Callies, as Southeast AgNet’s Communications Strategist, will focus on multi-media communications strategies, planning and content development; public relations; and editing and writing for Citrus Industry and Florida Pest Pro. Callies has worked in Florida agriculture media for the past nine years as an editor for Florida Grower and Ornamental Outlook magazines.
With the addition of Stockwell and Callies, Southeast AgNet’s team now includes 17 members who publish two monthly magazines, broadcast daily radio shows on more than 70 stations throughout Florida, Georgia and Alabama, deliver daily Web news at www.SoutheastAgNet.com, and manage the “world’s premier Citrus Expo” annual grower seminar/trade show program.
Last week John Deere unveiled a very unique promotional tractor designed by Chip Foose.
It’s a 1970 John Deere 4020. The tractor will be given away to one winner as part of the John Deere Big Buck Promotion. You may find rules to enter on the John Deere website.
I interviewed Chip right after the unveiling. He talks about how he got into automobile design and this project in particular. You can listen to that interview below.
You can find out more details about the project by reading the post about the unveiling on our Precision Pays website.
I also shot the unveiling so you can watch it as well. As of this writing it has been viewed 3,134 times.
Ever wonder if you really need to vaccinate your swine herd? Or, maybe if you can just get by with partial doses of vaccine? Well, the veterinarians who attended the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Omaha, NE got an important lesson from farmers in South America who found out just how important vaccine really is.
Dr. Edgar Diaz, a technical manager for BI, told the group how in Chile, farmers had years when they vaccinated against PCVAD. Then, because of economic issues, they stopped vaccinating. Now, they’ve started vaccinating again and are seeing much better survival rates in their swine herds.
“The reduction in mortality was around 60 percent, and the improvement in prime market pigs was around 30 percent.”
Dr. Diaz says the numbers were enough for the South American operation to go from operating in the red to a profitable company once again. He says data like this is invaluable to BI as it is able to show farmers black and white numbers on how a vaccine program, such as the ones his company offers, can make or break a producer’s bottom line.
It should also be noted that Dr. Diaz filled in at the last minute for his colleague, Gonzalo Castro, who was in Chile taking care of personal business after the tragic earthquake in that country.
You can hear more of my conversation with Dr. Diaz below.
In practically every discussion at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Omaha, NE, the talk has been about Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome … better known as PRRS.
It’s estimated that the disease costs pork producers $560 million a year in this country alone. And it’s why Dr. Randy Jones, a veterinarian with Livestock Veterinary Services, has told his fellow vets that the only real option is eliminating the disease altogether.
“If we can’t control it, we need to eradicate it.”
But Dr. Jones says that eradicating it is easier said than done. So in the meantime, producers have to minimize their risks.
“We can’t take [risk] away, but we can minimize it with immunizations and biosecurity.”
He says if they can get outbreaks of PRRS down to once every five years instead of once a year, farmers will save money. Dr. Jones says that eradication is probably still years away, underscoring the importance of good vaccines and good management practices. He adds that while the current PRRS vaccine isn’t a perfect tool, it is a tool that can help cut down on those outbreaks and, hopefully, preserve some bottom lines.
You can hear more of my conversation with Dr. Jones below.
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC ) made a significant announcement during a press conference at Commodity Classic last week with the announcement of key speakers for the upcoming Global Food Security Symposium, which is sponsored by the organization. USGC Chairman Rick Fruth confirmed that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is expected to deliver the keynote address at the symposium, scheduled for April 7, 2010, in Tokyo, Japan. This announcement came shortly after the Global Food Security Symposium was formally introduced in Tokyo by USGC President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos.
The Symposium will gather U.S. and Japanese government, agribusiness and biotechnology leaders for a first-ever, day-long examination of how international cooperation, policy and technology can be used to feed a burgeoning world population. More specifically, Fruth said, “The key points of discussion will be, how to leverage biotechnology and other emerging technologies to improve the quality of life and global economy, how the world’s economic powers can harness these technologies for the benefits of developing countries around the world and how can we build upon this these past successes to increase food security around the world.”
Fruth also noted that sustainability and biotechnology are an inherent part of this symposium as you can’t have global food security without using biotechnology or develop new technologies that are not sustainable.
The Symposium is part of the “Partners in Agriculture” series of events being held throughout Japan from March through May of 2010. The “Partners in Agriculture” events celebrate the successful, enduring agricultural trade partnership between the United States and Japan. This event goes hand-in-hand with the mission of USGC which is to develop overseas markets for U.S. corn, barley and sorghum and enbable trade around the world for these commodities.
His presentation was entitled “The quagmire of Enzootic Pneumonia: a view from the trenches.” But while that was a mouthful of a title looking at one disease, Dr. James Lowe’s real message to his fellow veterinarians was to take a more holistic approach when looking at the health strategy of a swine herd.
The visiting assistant clinical professor at the University of Illinois and veterinarian with the Carthage Veterinary Service told attendees of the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Omaha, NE that they need to think about not just controlling or eliminating the disease-causing organisms, but how do they control overall disease in pigs.
“We really have got to think about that in a holistic approach. We have to think about the system and, really, what tools are available to us.”
He says when vets think about managing diseases, such as PRRS, they really need to use all of the tools in their tool bag, such as how gilts entering the farm are handled and how pigs leaving the farm are taken care of as well. He says the right vaccine strategy in concert with the pig flow in and out of the farm is that holistic approach.
“I don’t care about the agent. What I really want to know is how much disease we have, because that’s what costs us profit.”
He also encourages producers and veterinarians to look at the long-term, not just what they do today and tomorrow.
More of my conversation with Dr. Lowe is available below.
Precision is the name of the game when it comes to farming these days. It’s getting hard to find a farmer anymore who doesn’t use auto steer at the very least – and the options to save resources, time and money just keep growing.
At the New Holland exhibit at Commodity Classic, I talked to Matt Ahrens about some of the products they offer for growers and a program they have that can help farmers see exactly how they can benefit from using different types of precision solutions on their own operations. “We have a website – PutYourFarmOnTheMap – and on that website we have a cost savings calculator and you can go in and put your input costs on their, how much fuel usage per acre depending on implement width, and you can see what kind of savings you can get,” Matt said. “The good thing with that is that it’s their numbers, their input costs, so they get to see what their savings are.”
Matt also demonstrates the new AgGPS® FM-1000™ integrated display working with the Trimble Field-IQ in the video below. You can find out more about New Holland’s product line-up and more on the website PutYourFarmOnTheMap.com. We offer our sincere thanks to New Holland for helping to sponsor our coverage from Commodity Classic here on Agwired!
Since learning never seems to stop in the real world, an Iowa State University veterinary diagnostician has advised his fellow veterinarians to do their homework.
Dr. Kent Schwartz was one of the featured speakers at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) Swine Health Seminar in Omaha, NE, and he told the group that diagnosing endemic diseases is a lot more work than epidemic diseases.
“There’s a lot of risk factors that contribute to it, so assessment requires diligence in diagnostic workup, but moreover, diligence in assessing production practices, parameters and outcomes.”
He says the most common answer to questions regarding biology is: “It depends.” You need to take into account production practices and all the other factors that might affect the health of the herd. Dr. Schwartz says veterinarians must be open to exploring holes in their dogma or in areas that need further investigation. He says that means getting better at field trials. And that’s where BIVI comes in. He says the company has some top-notch field research that has trustworthy results.
“I truly think BI’s a leader in that.”
Dr. Schwartz hopes the veterinarians that have participated in this BIVI Swine Health Seminar will be able to go back and think about how they think about things and challenge their own assumptions.
More of my conversation with Dr. Schwartz is below.
Farm Market iD announced it has entered into a sales agreement with Bock & Associates who will join the Farm Market iD (FMiD) sales team in making FMiD’s data and information intelligence available to agribusinesses, effectively extending the sales reach of the company. The agreement is effective immediately.
The 2010 All Aboard Wheat Harvest Tour gives followers across the U.S. and around the world a real-time opportunity to interact with the 2010 wheat harvest and the crews who make it happen.
DuPont and the state of Missouri announced DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred plans to construct a commercial and parent soybean seed production facility in New Madrid County, Mo.
Nobody has made a guess yet on the last “Guess Whose Boots” from Commodity Classic, but here is another pair that was spotted on the trade show floor. These “boots with bling” were purchased by the owner at last year’s classic in Texas.
I don’t think we have ever done a “Guess Whose Jeans” but these are just too good to pass up. These Ethanol Jeans were profiled on Domestic Fuel last year and on Corn Commentary and they are very hard to find. Very appropriate fashion statement for the corn growers, since the jeans even came with a little packet of corn attached.
For a hint on whose boots and jeans they are – both of them can be found on Domestic Fuel. As to the one that has not been guessed, you could say she is long and tall and rides a Mustang. There – I gave them all away – you have to be able to figure them out now!
Researchers at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) have unveiled the results of a performance study of their swine vaccine products during BIVI’s Swine Health Seminar in Omaha, NE.
Dr. Keith Bretey, a professional service veterinarian at BI, told the group of veterinarians in attendance that the company’s CircoFLEX and PRRS vaccines were safe to be used concurrently and did not affect the performance of the swine herd.
“Because concurrent use is something we’re seeing a lot of out in the industry today, so we needed some evidence to say, ‘Is that a good idea or not?’ ”
Dr. Bretey says there was a significant improvement in using both of Inglevac’s CircoFLEX and PRSS vaccines.
“In the nursery, the non-vaccinated pigs performed the same as the vaccinated pigs. And what this tells us is, with very little pathogen presence in the nursery, the vaccines did no harm in the nursery.” He says lots of producers ask the question whether the vaccine will hurt the performance of the non-infected pigs. Dr. Bretey says they now have conclusive evidence the vaccines are very non-stressful and smooth to the pigs.
They also found the vaccines were helpful in several finisher performance categories.
You can hear more of my conversation with Dr. Bretey below.
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.
International marketing was the focus of a press conference held by the United Soybean Board at Commodity Classic. First up on the podium was Phil Bradshaw, USB Chairman and a soybean farmer from Griggsville, IL.
The next person to speak was Jim Call, USB International Marketing Chair and a soybean farmer from Madison, MN.
Last to address the press conference was Ike Boudreaux, USSEC Chairman and a soybean farmer from Lebeau, LA.
and 
Being a brick artist doesn’t sound like a high pressure job but when you’ve got to finish your LEGO creation by the close of the Commodity Classic trade show it can get a little tense. 
The Supreme Court will soon make a decision on whether or not farmers can grow biotech alfalfa – and it could ultimately impact other genetically modified crops.
I interviewed Chip right after the unveiling. He talks about how he got into automobile design and this project in particular. You can listen to that interview below. 
Precision is the name of the game when it comes to farming these days. It’s getting hard to find a farmer anymore who doesn’t use auto steer at the very least – and the options to save resources, time and money just keep growing. 
Nobody has made a guess yet on the last 
I don’t think we have ever done a “Guess Whose Jeans” but these are just too good to pass up. These 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
