Category Archives: BASF

ASTA CSS 2013 Preview

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nafb13-asta-andyWhen I talked with American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CEO Andy LaVinge at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting the 2013 CSS & Seed Expo was still three weeks away, but all of the sudden it’s next week already!

I am heading to Chicago for the 68th annual Corn and Sorghum Seed Research Conference/43rd Soybean Seed Research Conference on Monday where I will be joined by Leah Guffey to bring you coverage of this important meeting “where seed business gets done.” Thanks to ASTA and BASF Crop Protection for sponsoring our coverage. BASF will be will be discussing their seed solutions profile today since they officially announced their plans with Becker Underwood at this meeting last year.

The new portfolio is the result of combined breakthroughs from the BASF global research and development platform and Becker Underwood’s biological seed treatment, seed treatment colors and polymer technologies.

Andy says there will be a big focus at the meeting this year on seed treatment stewardship and a new guide available under the industry banner of Seed Treatment Matters. “We got together with CropLife American, and the major grower groups – National Corn Growers, American Soybean, National Cotton Council and American Farm Bureau Federation – to talk about the adoption of new technologies we’ve seen on seed,” he said. “We want to make sure that technology is properly stewarded.”

The guide developed by the groups is available at seed-treatment-guide.com and it will also be offered and discussed at 2014 grower meetings.

Listen to my interview with Andy here: Interview with Andy LaVigne, ASTA

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Results from BASF Survey on Weed Resistance

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BASFA new grower survey by BASF Crop Protection shows majority of are facing challenges with glyphosate-resistant weeds.

Three out of four growers who participated in a recent survey by BASF suspect that glyphosate resistance is a cause of their tough to control weeds. As a result, a staggering 76 percent of these growers have already changed their weed management program to address resistance. In addition, many growers have experienced lower yields, which they attribute to resistant weeds. These growers have also spent more time scouting and invested more money in their crops due to resistant weeds.

Growers in the survey also identified how they plan to change their control programs next year, with more than two-thirds indicating they would be applying a preemergence herbicide this season and more than half planning to add an additional herbicide to their existing program. Half of the growers surveyed plan to use more than one site of action and nearly half said they plan on using overlapping residual herbicides to control resistant weeds.

According to the survey, growers say the most difficult weed to control is waterhemp, with ragweed species coming in a close second. Lambsquater and marestail were also identified as difficult weeds.

Read more from BASF.

BASF Advanced Plant Health and Grower Engagement

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Advanced plant health and grower engagement were two topics that BASF Crop Protection representatives discussed with reporters at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk.

nafb13-basf-reevesDr. Brianne Reeves is a member of the BASF Plant Health Technical Market team and in that role supports field research efforts and manages technical training for Priaxor® fungicide. Brianne is a DPM – Doctor of Plant Medicine – so she knows quite a bit about plant health and how Xemium® fungicide, the active ingredient in Priaxor fungicide, brings advanced plant health benefits to the table.

“The advanced plant health benefits are advanced growth efficiency, advanced disease control and advanced stress tolerance,” she says, noting that BASF has done hundreds of research projects to show those benefits, such as the “root and shoot” advantages. “Better roots, better shoots, more leaves, greener leaves, more photosynthesis, better yields.” Interview with Dr. Brianne Reeves, BASF

In addition to advancements in plant health, BASF has made a commitment to advancing its partnership with farmers in the field by introducing Innovation Specialists like Kaleb Hellwig to engage with growers and help them manage their operations more effectively.

nafb13-basf-kaleb“It’s not about selling them a product, I make recommendations for competitive products, I make recommendations in the fertility area,” Kaleb says. “So that when they make an application of Priaxor in soybeans or Headline AMP in corn or Twinline in wheat that they get the very highest return.”

Kaleb says BASF has gotten such positive feedback with Innovation Specialists in the field that they will be expanding the program next year. Interview with Kaleb Hellwig, BASF

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

BASF Beauties and Bozeman at NAFB

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nafb13-basf-lukeBASF Technical Market Manager for Herbicides Luke Bozeman is surrounded by a bevy of beauties here at NAFB Trade Talk. Left to right around Luke are Courtney Reigh and Amy Jensen with Padilla/CRT; Sandi Wilson, Pat Morrow and Hillary Jaworski of BASF.

We talked with Luke to get the latest update on Engenia™ herbicide and the BASF On-Target Application Academy (OTAA).

lukeEngenia is the BASF herbicide being developed for dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. Luke says all the field trials this year went well and the launch is basically just waiting on approvals. “Regulatory reviews are progressing nicely and we’re expecting to be in the marketplace following the approval of the dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton which looks like it could be 2015,” he said.

BASF’s OTAA just finished its second year and Luke says they plan to expand the program’s reach in 2014. “We’ve had over 3,000 growers come through our training events,” he said. “In 2014 we’ll be developing an on-line tool that will allow growers, at their convenience, to source the most up-to-date information on application technologies.”

Find out more from Luke here: Interview with Luke Bozeman, BASF

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

NAFB Night of Honors

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The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) bestowed honors on many deserving individuals last week – the best of the best.

nafb13-johnnieWe’ll start with the new members of the NAFB Hall of Fame. Johnnie Hood was one of our very first friends in NAFB, back in the day when he served as president in 1985 at the midpoint of his career as a radio farm broadcaster on WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was so great to see him and wife Peggy again last week, it’s been a long time! He and Peggy retired in 2002 and moved to Land O’Lakes, Florida where they live a quiet and happy life driving school buses and playing Santa Claus.

nafb13-wey1The second Hall of Fame inductee was Wey Simpson, radio and television pioneer in the great Northwest. Wey served three terms as NAFB regional vice president, edited the organization’s magazine CHATS for two years and served three years on the Sales/Marketing board. He hosted the NAFB Summer Meeting in 1974, the year of the World’s Fair in Spokane, the same year he was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year.

nafb13-lynnThe NAFB Meritorious Service Award was presented to Agri-Marketing Magazine publisher and industry leader Lynn Henderson. This award, named after NAFB advocate and volunteer leader Dix Harper, annually recognizes outstanding support and leadership to the broadcasting industry and association by a member of the Management & Sales Council or the Allied Industry Council.

In addition, the National Farm Medicine Center and agency Broadhead received the Plambeck Award Best Series for their campaign, “You’re a Parent First, Farmer Second,” and BASF Crop Protection agency Mullen was recognized for Best Single Ad for Verdict herbicide. The Plambeck award is named after NAFB legend Herb Plambeck, second president of the organization.

Our sincere congratulations to all!

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Big Bucks for the NAFB Foundation

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nafb13-lakeThe NAFB Foundation auction raised over $20,000 last week, thanks in a big way to the now-traditional boys and girls fight over the Agri-Pulse Lake Trip, which was responsible for nearly ONE THIRD of that amount!

Sara Wyant and Al Johnson’s generosity means they will once again host two NAFB groups next summer at their beautiful home on Lake Ozark. The dorky boys club ran up the bid again to a record $3100 – and the fabulous farm chicks met their price for a second trip. It’s a friendly rivalry for a very worthy cause.

We were happy to welcome a few new members to the girls club this year – including Pat Morrow of BASF and Haylie Shipp of Northern Ag Network. They will be a great addition to our group, which will celebrate our fifth Lake Girls Trip next year. Oh yeah – and our own Leah Guffey will be joining us as well.

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

BASF Gives Back to NAFB

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nafb13-patThe National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) is blessed with the support of many agricultural companies and organizations and BASF is one of the best.

Our wonderful friend Pat Morrow (aka Queen of Half the Universe) took their support of the organization to another level this year by being elected to the board as an Allied Industry Council representative. “I think it’s a great opportunity to give back to broadcasters because they have been so good to BASF over the past 7 or 8 years I’ve been with the ag industry,” said Pat.

BASF has been a long time sponsor of the NAFB Broadcast Center, which is one of the most important venues for the working broadcasters to get their programs produced during the convention. “We have been doing that for long before my time and it’s a tradition that we’re proud to continue,” Pat said, who adds that it is important for them to support the farm broadcasters because they help “set the agenda and create the dialogue” not only within the industry but outside the industry as well.

We are also grateful to Pat and BASF for being one of the sponsors of our coverage here at NAFB to bring the convention to those who couldn’t be here, and for those who could to get photos and interviews they might want to share.

Listen to my interview with Pat here: Interview with Pat Morrow, BASF

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

The ZimmComm Team at NAFB

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nafb13-teamThe ZimmComm Team was hard at work during the 70th National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. The all girl troop was comprised of our intern Kristyn Stidham, Jamie Johansen, me and Leah Guffey.

We adopted the method of ‘divide and conquer’ for this year’s Trade Talk and have many great post that you can look forward to checking out in the coming weeks, as well as coverage of NAFB activities and awards.

We would like to say a big thank you to BASF and FMC for sponsoring our attendance to the event and allowing us to bring you the news from the agriculture community.

A photo album is quickly growing full of images from this year’s convention. More will be added as the event continues. 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

BASF Helping to Fight Weed Resistance Globally

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basf-germany-jordiWeed resistance is an increasing problem on a global scale, but BASF vice president for global research herbicides Jordi Tormo says the problem in the United States really stands out.

“I would say it’s more spectacular because of the speed of the development of the resistance,” he said during an interview at the BASF global press conference in Germany. “It’s growing at a speed that we never expected.”

That is why BASF is working so hard to help farmers understand how they can fight or even prevent resistance. “Farmers should use more modes of action in a rotational way,” said Jordi, adding that application timing should include both pre- and post-emerge herbicides. Interview with Jordi Tormo, BASF Global Research Herbicides

2013 BASF Germany Photos

BASF is Big on Farming

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basf-farming“Farming, the Biggest Job on Earth” is the tag line of a campaign for agriculture by BASF Corporation which is hitting the United States now on Facebook and YouTube with the new video “Growing Today for Tomorrow.” The Facebook campaign urges people to watch the three minute video to learn more about how farmers are growing more with less land – and enter to win a $250 gift card!

basf-germany-markus“We feel that farmers are doing a great job,” said BASF Crop Protection President Markus Heldt in an interview at last week’s BASF Global Press Conference in Germany. “But we as society have not recognized that contribution. So we decided to launch a global campaign as part of our long term strategy to make sure we raise our voice and talk about the importance of farming.”

“We are passionate about farming and we believe there is a very bright and exciting future in farming,” Markus said. “We just have to make sure that some of our critics better understand why we’re here.”

Markus is pictured here during this interview with me and Cyndi Young-Puyear of Brownfield. Interview with BASF Crop Protection president Markus Heldt

2013 BASF Germany Photos

BASF Engages Growers

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Grower engagement on both the people and services level is important for BASF Crop Protection to ensure they are doing all they can to help farmers grow smarter, market smarter and live smarter.

basf-germany-growersDuring one of the breakout sessions at the BASF Global Press conference in Germany this week, we heard from (left to right) Hannes Lutz – vice president of business development; Kaleb Hellwig – U.S. innovation specialist; and Elmar Groiss – global head of information technology.

Hannes explained that they have found four main fundamentals that farmers have in common. “First, farmers feel they are in a competition … with their neighbors and on the world market,” he said. “Second, they are part of a community. They want to be connected with their neighbors, other farmers, and experts.” They also believe they are food providers and stewards of the land. Interview with Hannes Lutz, BASF Crop Protection VP of business development

Among the ways BASF is engaging with growers is through a new position called the Innovation Specialist, which Kaleb says is the best job he has ever had in 17 years with BASF. “I travel every day, meet customers, help identify some of the challenges and problems they have, and then put plans together to help them solve that,” said Kaleb, who is based on the western side of Missouri. Interview with Kaleb Hellwig, BASF Innovation Specialist

When it comes to services, BASF has a couple of new technological developments in the works, according to Elmar. One is DigiLab, which offers a microscope quality digital camera combined with a tablet application that helps identify plant diseases. “Farmers in the field can take a high quality picture of the disease, have an on-tablet comparison with a library, but they can also send it back to BASF experts to get detailed analysis,” he said. DigiLab is now being used in Brazil and is expected to be available in the United States soon. Interview with Elmar Groiss, BASF Global Head of Information Technology

2013 BASF Germany Photos

BASF Raises Sales Target for Crop Protection

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basf-germany-13-5At a global press conference in Limburgerhof, Germany Wednesday, BASF announced an increase in the long-term sales target for its Crop Protection division.

The Chemical Company’s important agricultural division is now forecast to achieve sales of more than $8 billion by 2015 and $10.8 billion by 2020 – that’s up about $2 billion from previous estimates. Markus Heldt, President of BASF’s Crop Protection division, made the announcement during the opening session of the global press conference that includes agricultural journalists from 10 countries.

“We have demonstrated sustainable growth in our sales and earnings and are confident we will continue with this development,” said Heldt. “ We continue to expand our portfolio, for and beyond crop protection products, to deliver integrated technologies that can help growers run their business more efficiently.” BASF Crop Protection president Markus Heldt comments

2013 BASF Germany Photos

BASF and John Deere are German Neighbors

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basf-germany-13-4Global agribusiness giants John Deere and BASF are friendly neighbors in Germany, located just over a mile away from each other on opposite sides of the Rhine River.

John Deere’s Christoph Wigger, pictured here on the right with BASF’s Markus Heldt, crossed the river to speak at the opening dinner of BASF’s global media event, a literal “United Nations” of agricultural journalists from ten countries. “You as ag media play a very key role in communications,” Christoph said. “It’s extremely important that we get your support to explain to all the stakeholders what’s going on.”

As always, the key message is producing enough food to feed a rapidly growing population and Christoph says there are three key pillars to succeeding in that goal. “How do you increase yields?,” he asked. “One third comes from pesticides, one third comes from seeds and one third will be driven by machinery.” Very true!

Listen to Christoph’s remarks here: Christoph Wigger, John Deere

2013 BASF Germany Photos

Visit to a German Vineyard

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basf-germany-13-2As everyone in the United States was waking this morning to a political battle and a government shutdown, a few lucky U.S. agricultural journalists were enjoying a day in the countryside of central Germany topped by a fabulous luncheon and delicious wine that came from the vineyard we toured, courtesy of our friends with BASF Crop Protection.

Our guide for the tour of Weingut Wiesenmühle was Verena Schottle who told us that the 300 year old estate, owned by the Schilling family, has 185 hectares of vineyards and more than 200 hectares of other crops including cereals, potatoes and sugar beets.

basf-germany-13-3It’s harvest season for grapes in Germany and Verena says it was a difficult year but the grapes look good now. “Winter had been very long and very cold, then the rain starts, the springtime was also very cold, and we have rain in March, April, May and June – June it also was too cold. But we’ve had a very nice summertime, a hot July, the grapes can ripen in a very fine September,” she said.

Verena says they use fungicides 8-10 times a year to protect the crop but they use biologicals for insects.

Listen to this shared interview with Verena between me and Cyndi Young-Puyear of Brownfield Ag News. Interview with German viticulturist Verena Schottle

2013 BASF Germany Photos

Willkommen to BASF Germany

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basf-germany-13-1Gutan Tag from BASF headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany!

BASF rotates media events for agricultural journalists between the United States and Germany – with the odd years being for European media with a small group from the U.S.

Organized by the incomparable Pat Morrow, the event is always first class and often includes a visit to the equally incomparable BASF Weinkeller (wine cellar). This wine connoisseur’s heaven features four floors with a MILLION bottles – some true collectors items that are even older than the cellar itself, which was founded by BASF in 1901. While the wine cellar includes over 1,000 vintages from all over the world, they are most proud of those from Germany.

Sommelier Bernhard Wolff was the guide for our tour, which began with a locally produced “best sparkling Pinot Noir of Planet Earth,” and concluded with a 1933 Chateau Mosse Rivesaltes from France. Enjoy some of Bernhard’s welcome in the video below and check out the photos in the 2013 BASF Germany album.

BASF Launches New Mobile Website

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BASFBASF launched a new mobile platform, m.agproducts.basf.us, for U.S.-based Crop Protection products. This platform gives BASF customers and employees access to company and product information for use on all tablets and smartphone models.

The m.agproducts.basf.us website features full access to all BASF Crop Protection product information. This includes relevant product labels and material safety data sheets (MSDS). The Contact Us section has a Rep Finder option to allow customers to quickly find out the BASF representative for their location. This section also has Customer Service and Media Contact information available.

The Product section gives customers an A to Z listing of the BASF product portfolio. Each product features information on How It Works, Labeled Crops, Problems Controlled and a Research Library. The m.agproducts.basf.us platform allows users to share any of the information through social media including Facebook, Google+, Twitter and YouTube.

BASF to Acquire Verenium

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BASF BASF Corporation has entered into an agreement to acquire biotechnology company Verenium Corporation.

The agreement, in which BASF will purchase all of the outstanding shares of Verenium’s common stock for US$4.00 per share, has been unanimously approved by both Verenium’s and BASF’s Boards of Directors. Based on all outstanding shares and including all net financial liabilities, the enterprise value would be approximately US$62 million. Verenium is based in San Diego, California, and generated sales of US$57 million in 2012. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

VereniumVerenium Corporation is focused on the development and commercialization of high-performance enzymes. According to a BASF press release, the company believes that combining “Verenium’s scientific and technological excellence with BASF’s enzyme activities and its global access into all relevant markets will strengthen BASF’s footprint in the strategic enzyme growth market.”

Monsanto “Follow-A-Field” Initiative

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Monsanto is encouraging farmers to “Follow-A-Field” in order to learn more about the next innovation in soybean and cotton weed control.

extend-follow-fieldThe Follow-A-Field initiative from Monsanto is an interactive experience featured on XtendFollowAField.com that follows three farmers as they take their Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybean fields from burndown through harvest as part of the Monsanto Ground Breakers® Field Trials Under Permit program. The initiative will include testimonials, videos and photos captured from the three growing sites in Missouri, Illinois and Minnesota.

Michelle Vigna, Monsanto Roundup Ready Xtend launch manager, says the goal of the program is to prepare farmers, retailers and applicators to effectively use Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans with a diversified weed management plan such as Roundup Ready PLUS® Weed Management Solutions. “By bringing dicamba tolerance as an option within soybeans, it’s a totally new mode of action for helping manage tough-to-control and resistant weeds,” she said.

Pending regulatory approval, the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System will introduce Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans, which contain tolerance to dicamba and glyphosate herbicides, which Vigna says they hope will happen in time for the 2015 growing season. “We’re working with USDA and EPA to get approval for the traits themselves and also for the chemistry used over the top,” said Vigna. They are also working for approval in export markets.

Monsanto has been working with BASF on the development of the herbicide to use with the dicamba-tolerant soybeans. BASF has already applied for registration of Engenia™ herbicide in anticipation of regulatory approval. “It’s really been a great opportunity to share learning and make sure we’re developing a system that growers and applicators can be successful with right out of the gate,” Vigna said, adding that they are working on bringing dicamba-tolerance into cotton as well. Interview with Monsanto's Michelle Vigna

BASF Expands RTP Faciity

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While we were in Argentina last week, BASF held a ribbon cutting to officially open its $33 million facility expansion in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

basf-ribbon-cutting“This expansion demonstrates BASF’s strong commitment to Agricultural Solutions and strengthens our research and development capabilities”, said Peter Eckes, President BASF Plant Science. “This investment demonstrates our commitment to our employees, our neighbors and the state of North Carolina.”

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, Commissioner Steve Troxler, U.S. Representative David Price, Mayor of Durham William Bell and other guests from government, business and academia were invited to join BASF employees at the event.

“A significant share of BASF’s insecticide research is conducted in RTP. These larger facilities will enable us to evaluate our promising insecticide candidates faster,” said Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President, BASF Crop Protection North America.

The facilities include a climate-controlled greenhouse and laboratories for plant biotechnology research and a new environmentally-controlled insect production facility to expand insect control research.

Photo courtesy of BASF. Pictured left to right: Congressman G.K. Butterfield, Congressman David Price, President of BASF Plant Science Peter Eckes, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, Senior Vice President of BASF Crop Protection Nevin McDougall and City of Durham Mayor William Dell.

BASF Plant Health – Weather or Not

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fps13-basf-souljeKeeping plants healthy in all types of weather conditions was the theme of a BASF Crop Protection presentation at the 2013 Farm Progress Show and if there ever was a year of weather extremes, this has been it.

“You can come up with an extreme spell of dryness, an extreme spell of wet weather, you put them together and technically speaking it’s a ‘normal’ distribution of moisture but a producer will tell you it’s anything but,” said meteorologist Greg Soulje. He gave an overview of 2013 weather, how 2012 set the table for this year, and what he expects for the harvest season. Interview with meteorologist Greg Soulje

fps13-basf-kenFarmer Ken Dalenberg of Mansfield, Illinois – who is also an agronomist – talked about his experiences farming in adverse weather conditions and how fungicides are one management tool he has in his toolbox to grow good crops.

Ken says whether it’s late planting like this year or early like last year, fungicides have been important both years to moderate crop stress. “In 2012 when we had the drought, it was important to keep the plant alive as long as we could,” and Ken said the use of fungicides helped slow down respiration and keep yields. “This year, with the early wetness, delayed planting, early wet season and now flash drought…we did have a season that did allow the plant to pollinate and so we should have average to above average yields if we can maintain plant health.” Interview with farmer Ken Dalenberg

fps13-basf-ajBASF’s AJ Woodyard discussed the BASF fungicide portfolio and how they help maintain plant health in all weather condiitons.

“In the corn market, our primary product recommendation is Headline AMP…because it delivers two modes of action that give you the best disease control on the marketplace and number two also give you the most yield benefit,” said AJ. “Priaxor is a recent addition to our portfolio…it brings a unique chemistry into the row crop market that delivers some advance plant health benefits.” Priaxor is recommended for early timing in corn and also soybeans.

Among the benefits that the fungicides offer are disease protection and more efficient utilization of nitrogen in wet weather, as well as improved photosynthesis and reduction of ethylene in dry weather. Interview with BASF's AJ Woodyard

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album