Members of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) meeting in Chicago this week are excited about news that an agreement has been reached on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that could mean a vote as early as next week. “Mexico and Canada are our two biggest agricultural trading partners so we need that clear relationship,” said ASTA Chair Wayne Gale …
ASTA Announces Student Video Contest Winner
Recent Iowa State University PhD graduate Kevin Falk was honored as the grand prize winner of the Better Seed, Better Life Student Video Contest for the second year in row during the Opening General Session of ASTA’s CSS & Seed Expo 2019 in Chicago. Falk’s PhD work focuses around harnessing technology to develop high throughput phenotyping platforms and machine learning …
Basse Back at ASTACSS
The most popular session at the annual ASTA CSS & Seed Expo is always the agricultural economy update by Dan Basse, AgResource Company, and this year was no exception as he opened the general session for the seventh year. Basse offered his insights on this year’s yields, impact of African Swine Fever in China, the ABU countries (Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine), …
ZimmCast 631 – Hemp in the Heartland
In this week’s program you can hear Cindy talk with Wayne Gale, Stokes Seeds and Chairman of the American Seed Trade Association, about the upcoming ASTA CSS & Seed Expo. I then talk with Bill Cook, Executive Director of the Missouri Hemp Association about their inaugural Heart of America Agricultural Hemp Classic (registration started on Black Friday). Wayne talks about …
Hemp Seed is a Hot Topic for ASTA
American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) chairman Wayne Gale, Stokes Seeds, spent a lot of time answering questions about hemp seed at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk. Gale says ASTA’s role is to provide information for the growing hemp industry to help the seed industry identify sources of quality seed “to ensure that the growers that the …
ASTA Events App Now Live
The all-new, year-round mobile app for ASTA event information is now live and available. Replacing our former app, this new mobile experience includes a new, often-requested feature: one-to-one messaging and appointment setting with other attendees! To download the new app, search ASTA Events in your app store. Special thanks to our app sponsor, Corteva Agriscience! Like this sponsorship? Hurry to …
New ASTA Officers
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) announced its newly-elected officer team this week during the organization’s Policy & Leadership Development Conference (PLDC) in Denver, CO. Members of the FY2019-20 ASTA officer team—officially taking office on July 1 are: Chair: Wayne Gale, Stokes Seed First Vice Chair: John Latham, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds Second Vice Chair: Brad May, BASF A third generation …
Two Receive ASTA Honorary Lifetime Member Award
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Honorary Lifetime Member Award was presented to two seed-industry professionals at the organization’s Policy & Leadership Development Conference this week in Denver. Blake Curtis, Senior Vice President of Management and Sales for the family seed company Curtis & Curtis, has held a number of volunteer leadership positions over the years. From 1986 to 1995, …
New Platform for Food and Agriculture Innovation
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) have announced the launch of Innovature, a new platform for dialogue around innovation in food and agriculture, with an initial focus on gene editing. ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne says they are aiming to engage key influencers in a dialogue around shared values. “Our goal is to cultivate broad-based …
Growers Pleased With Bayer’s Fluency Agent Advanced
Response has been positive to Bayer‘s Fluency Agent Advanced, a seed lubricant the company introduced last year. The product helps not only with seed lubricity, but also with reducing dust that may escape during the planting process. “It’s primarily for corn and soybeans,” said Bayer’s Bill Striegel. “We introduced it for corn, but it works just as good for soybeans. …