The Director for Agronomy for Koch Agronomic Services, Greg Schwab, visited with me in the media room at Commodity Classic. Greg runs the company research program. He says they have twenty five land grant universities working on their products. He coordinates that effort.
Since it’s planting season I asked him what advice he has for growers. Greg says that with farmers managing larger amounts of land these days it is becoming increasingly important to get in the field to plant quickly and that the planting date means a lot in terms of final yield. He points to their AGROTAIN nitrogen stabilizer which allows a farmer to use a broadcast application of urea instead of a more traditional incorporated or injected application. The AGROTAIN treated urea prevents volatilization loss that would normally occur with surface applied urea. This means a faster start for plants. He says growers are also finding a split application helpful.
Listen to my interview with Greg here: Interview with Greg Schwab
2012 Commodity Classic Photo Album
Coverage of the 2012 Commodity Classic Show is sponsored by BASF and New Holland
The tour had a record number of participants this year, over 200, and many of them were farmers who had the chance to learn about conservation practices from other farmers. During time on the bus, Tim did an interview with one of the farmer participants, Gerald Heck of Monroe, Michigan. 
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“This is by far our largest tour ever,” said tour chairman Larry Clemens of The Nature Conservancy. “I think that as CTIC we’re learning that our tours are enjoyable for people, they’re gaining in reputation, and we’re going to have to make some adjustments on how to handle over 200 people in the future.” Despite the very large group, the tour went smoothly, on time and without a hitch. Next year’s tour is slated to be in the Mississippi Delta region.
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Al Bensch, vice president of northern operations for The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group, spoke on one of the three tour buses as we drove past much of the company’s Maumee, Ohio operations. “We have 27 locations in the fertilizer business – Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Florida,” Al said. “We handled last year a little over two million tons of fertilizer.”
We made a very brief stop at the Anderson family compound where we heard from the Plant Nutrient Group president Denny Addis about the Andersons’ commitment to agriculture and the environment. “Production agriculture and care for the environment are not mutually exclusive, they need to work in harmony together,” he told me in an interview. “We’ve got to continue to find more ways to produce more fiber, more food, more energy for the world at the same time make sure we care for the environment.”
The rosy glow over the Maumee River as we returned from the 
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Field days and tours are heating up this summer along with the weather. During the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour one of our stops put us right out in the corn, looking at the impact of various levels of nitrogen application. Martin Case, 
At the Commodity Classic earlier this month, plant science professors from the University of Kentucky and the University of Delaware presented some of their findings during a press conference. They were also available to talk with growers at the AGROTAIN booth and recorded a segment of the AGROTAIN educational series on RFD-TV that aired on March 7.
According to University of Illinois professor Dr. Fred Below, there are “Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World,” and one of the most important is nitrogen. 
Conservation Technology Information Center Chairman Tim Healey, 
During the Nutrient Use Efficiency Expo on the Conservation in Action Tour our sponsor, 
Chuck talked with John Hassell, who is Manager for Research and Agronomic Development at AGROTAIN, about some new research they are very excited about – one at the University of Illinois and one at Oregon State University – which help to show how nitrogen can be used more efficiently in different areas of the country.
Nutrient use efficiency is one of the topics at at the