Welcome to 2013 Commodity Classic

Chuck Zimmerman

Welcome to the 2013 Commodity Classic. The ZimmComm Team is here. Actually, Cindy is off on an adventure with our sponsor, BASF, while I got things started here in the Commodity Classic Media Room. Jamie Johansen will be joining us late this evening. So expect lots of stories from the trade show, the general sessions, participating organizations, press conferences. We’ll …

Ag Groups, Commodity Classic

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Talia Goes

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the appointment of ten members to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board. Monsanto Company has announced that six recipients will be awarded research grants as part of the Corn Rootworm Knowledge Research Program. Elanco announces the availability of FeedLINK, a web-based tool from GlobalVetLINK that makes it quicker and easier for …

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Bayer CropScience Announces Balance GT Soybeans

Chuck Zimmerman

We recently knew it as FG72 Soybeans. Now it is Balance GT Soybeans! Bayer CropScience and MS Technologies announced the new soybean performance system during the annual Ag Issues Forum here in Kissimmee. To learn more about it I got perspectives and information from both sides by visiting with Lauren August, MS Technologies Brand Manager, and Eric Peters, Soybean Herbicide …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Seed, Soybean

Bayer Ag Issues Forum Sustainability Discussion

Chuck Zimmerman

Sustainability. What does it mean to you? There is no real good definition. I like what Frank Sesno, moderator for the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum (pictured on left), said during his introduction of a session on day one, “I think if I had my druthers I’d ban it altogether because it’s such a catch all.” That it is! The …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Sustainability

8th Annual Bayer Ag Issues Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

After surviving an evening of entertainment with Jerrod Niemann (photos in album) the agricultural journalists gathered here in Kissimmee for the 8th annual Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum are up and at ’em for round two. I spoke with Beth Roden, Bayer CropScience Director of Communications, to find out about the history of the event and how it is going. …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

New Holland Adds to Legacy with BigBalers

John Davis

They’ve been known for a long time for their baling products, and at the recent National Farm Machinery Show, our friends from New Holland really showed their legacy with two new models, the BigBaler 330 and 340, producing 3’x3′ or 3’x4′ large square bales. “You’ll see a new styling, a new appearance,” all designed to have better serviceability, said New …

Agribusiness, Audio, Hay, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS

Authority Treatments in One Area Could Help Others

John Davis

Taking the initiative with a good pretreatment herbicide doesn’t just pay benefits for the original producer, but it could also stop the spread of weeds to other regions of the country. Bob Hooten with FMC explained during the recent National Farm Machinery Show that their Authority product could have helped stop the spread of Palmer amaranth, a plant that kicks …

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS

Taking a Look Back at Agriculture From the Future

Chuck Zimmerman

Let’s pretend we’re in the future as in 2025 or 2050 and take a look back at agricultural production. Let’s do it with Rich Kottmeyer, Senior Executive and Global Agriculture & Food Production Leader, Accenture. That’s what we watched Rich do on stage during the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum and that’s what I asked him to do when we …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Technology

Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

Although I still have a couple of interviews to share from The Annual Meat Conference I have moved on down the agriblogging highway to Kissimmee, FL for the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum. Here are some of our ag journalists attending this annual pre-Commodity Classic program. We will be hearing from the leadership of Bayer who are talking about how …

Agribusiness, Bayer

See Propane-Fueled Technology at Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

If you are heading to Commodity Classic this week, be sure to stop by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) booth to see what is new for the farm from propane. PERC will display new propane-fueled engines for irrigation and register producers for more than $4,000 in propane equipment incentives through the Propane Farm Incentive Program. Producers visiting PERC …

Commodity Classic, Farming, Irrigation, Propane