Deere & Company has announced an agreement to sell its crop insurance business, subject to regulatory approval, to Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company (FMH) of West Des Moines, Iowa. The action is a result of Deere’s previously announced review of strategic options for the crop insurance business. The agreement will result in Deere selling both John Deere Insurance Company and …
New Holland Wins Four Innovation Awards
Our friends at New Holland are being honored for their engineering innovation. This company news release says New Holland won fourprestigious AE50 Awards for smart engineering innovations by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). “We’re proud to receive these awards recognizing industry-leading advances in technology,” says Abe Hughes, New Holland’s Vice President of North America. “In 2015, …
Farm Bureau Names New Promotion Committee
In an effort to develop and centralize resources that inspire and equip Farm Bureau members to convey the significance of agriculture, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has appointed farmer and rancher members to the organization’s new national Promotion & Education Committee. AFBF President Bob Stallman announced the appointment of the following members to the committee: Phyllis Couture, West Valley, …
Bayer Encourages Comments on Neonic Benefits
Farmers and other stakeholders have only a few days left to comment on the EPA report about the “Benefits of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments to Soybean Production” which finds little or no overall benefits. The comment period concludes on December 22. Dr. Becky Langer, Bayer CropScience Bee Care Program manager, says they developed a platform for people to comment on the …
Nufarm U.S. Promotes Schwehr
Nufarm announced that Rob Schwehr has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Innovation & Regulatory Affairs for Nufarm Americas. In this position, Schwehr will oversee product development and interactions with governmental agencies which regulate Nufarm products. In addition, he will oversee the Technical Service Group within Nufarm Americas. He will continue to be located in the company’s …
2015 Interest Rates for Rural America
Brian O’Keane, Executive Vice President of AgriBank, spoke with our intern, Taylor Truckey, during Trade Talk at the 2014 National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s annual meeting. AgriBank is one of four banks in the Farm Credit system. Their main priority is accessing capital from Wall Street and making that available for borrowers in rural America. “If you look at the …
How BASF Flo-Rite Helps Increase Yields
Keeping seed treatment on the seed to retain the active ingredient at maximum capacity is one of the main benefits of BASF’s Flo Rite Plantability Seed Coating and that benefits growers at harvest time. “Our Flo Rite plantability polymer acts as a thin film coating that locks that seed treatment on the seed and keeps it there where a grower …
NFU Disagrees with RFS Report Recommendations
The National Farmers Union (NFU) represented agriculture on a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) advisory group that helped develop a new report on “Options for Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard.” “It was very important that agriculture that supports the renewable fuels industry be present at the table,” said NFU vice president of programs Chandler Goule, who notes that while the meetings …
The AgNerd Cloud
Welcome to a new regular column I will be publishing on all things AgNerdish. I’m calling it the Cloud since the cloud covers everything and is one of the hottest things developing in the AgNerd world. This week’s ZimmCast gets things started with a discussion I had with Willie Vogt, Editorial Director, Penton Farm Progress. Like me, he loves new …
Gadget Gift Giving & Receiving
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s the biggest challenge for the seed industry?” All of agriculture depends in some way on seed. The long term survival of the seed industry impacts everything. It looks like you think anti-GMO attitudes have the greatest negative impact on the seed industry. Environmental regulations came in with a close second. Here are the …