With 202 companies exhibiting in 816 booths, the 2010 Commodity Classic Trade Show once again raised the bar on must attend industry events in agriculture. The show surpassed previous turnout for a Commodity Classic held in California with 1,369 growers attending and a total attendance of 4,330.
ZimmComm’s coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic also raised the bar once again, setting a record for number of posts. Three of us covered the event in Anaheim, posting a total of 78 stories on Agwired, Domestic Fuel, Precision Pays and Corn Commentary, 58 of them with audio. We also uploaded nearly 1,000 photos and produced five YouTube videos – one of which has already been viewed over 4,200 times. There were too many tweets to count! Of the 202 companies exhibiting at the Classic, we did interviews with 26 of them, including our sponsors and all of the hosting commodity groups.
We would like to once again express our gratitude to sponsors BASF and New Holland on Agwired, and John Deere on Precision Pays for enabling us to cover this event for our readers.
Each year, soybean growers around the country take the American Soybean Association (ASA) and BASF up on their challenge to reduce weed competition, increase plant health and protect yields – but only three are chosen.
We already met first place winners David and Sue Roehm in an earlier post. Today we meet Dave and Mary Jonas of Pinnconning, Michigan, one of two runners up in the 2009 Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Challenge, which won them a trip to Commodity Classic and $2000 in cash.
Dave says the SOY Challenge worked out well for them with a two and a half bushel increase in yield. “They had a certain program they wanted you to follow just to see the difference,” Dave said. Test acres received an application of a BASF residual herbicide, such as Prowl® H20, Scepter® or Extreme® herbicides, and a treatment of Headline® fungicide for disease control and Plant Health benefits. Control acres were treated with a single pass of glyphosate in-crop only – no fungicide or residual herbicide.
The goal is not so much to see how much of a yield bump they get with the program, but how taking part in the ASA/BASF SOY Challenge has helps them to be more successful soybean producers. Contestants must submit a testimonial in words or video to explain how the challenge worked for them. Dave says it worked well enough that they plan to use it on more acres this year.
Listen to an interview with Dave and Mary in the player below.
NutriDense has a new marketing manager as announced by BASF Plant Science. She’s Heather Goode.
In this position, she will support the NutriDense sales and marketing team through the development of marketing communication plans and tools that align with NutriDense business strategies and objectives.
“Heather has worked on many agricultural accounts in an agency setting and is well-suited to lead our NutriDense marketing communications efforts,” said Fran Castle, BASF North American group communications manager. “We are excited to have her on board, and we are confident that she will be a strong addition to our BASF Plant Science company and NutriDense.”
Goode has eight years experience in agricultural communications. Prior to joining BASF Plant Science, she was a client service advisor at Quarry Integrated Communications Inc. in Durham, N.C., where she worked on the swine business for Novartis Animal Health. Goode began her career on the crop chemical side, working on the Syngenta Crop Protection horticulture business at Gibbs & Soell, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.
BASF Headline fungicide continues to make headlines, even after years on the market. The more research they do with growers using this product, the better it gets.
During a press conference at Commodity Classic, BASF Regional Sales Manager Gary Schmitz and Technical market Manager Nick Fassley talked about the more than 6,000 on-farm trials that have been held just in the United States on various crops. While we talk a lot about Headline in the major crops of corn, soybeans and wheat, Nick says the fungicide also provides plant health benefits for crops like peanuts, citrus and even sugarcane. “We’ve done a lot of work on southern crops,” Nick said. “We actually see some added benefits on our plant health label for citrus growers who see their crop mature more at the same time.” Nick says peanut growers have seen an overall increase in quality and yield with Headline, and some new rust species in sugarcane moved Florida to requested a section 18 for the use of Headline in that crop.
Gary talked about Headline AMP™, which is being offered for the first time this year for corn. “What they’ll get with Headline AMP is all the benefits that they’ve seen with Headline over the years, plus it has an additional active ingredient called metconazole, which is a best in class triazole and has very broad spectrum control of many of the diseases you find in corn,” Gary said. In trials, Headline AMP provided control for tough diseases like Rust and Southern and Northern corn leaf blight and delivered higher yields.
Download or listen to back to back interviews with Nick and Gary in the player below.
The chemical company, BASF, produces a podcast called The Chemical Reporter. In the latest episode you can learn about fungicides.
Just like animals and human beings, plants can get sick. In many cases, the cause is a fungus. Not a mushroom like you see poking up out of the ground in the woods, but a network of branching, filamentary cells that botanists call ‘hyphae’. In entertaining episodes our Chemical Reporter answers questions of our Podcast listeners on Chemistry in our everyday life.
His wife calls him a “PMG” – Professional Meeting Goer – because Alan Kemper has been serving on the boards of state and national agricultural organizations for over two decades now.
Alan was a very busy guy at the Commodity Classic last week but I was able to do a quick interview with him while he was in the BASF exhibit presenting the annual BASF/ASA Scholarship award. He talked about the scholarship program, the attendance at Classic, his thoughts on Secretary Vilsack’s speech and the importance of the soybean export market. Listen to or download that interview in the player below:
The future of agriculture is important to BASF and that is why the company sponsors scholarships for young people along with both the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Soybean Association (ASA).
The NCGA program awards five $1,000 scholarships to college students studying agriculture, while the ASA program chooses one student to award $5,000. So, each year for the past three years, BASF has helped six students pay for their future career in the field of agriculture. All awards are presented at the annual Commodity Classic
I talked with BASF North American Crop Protection Group Vice President Nevin McDougall about the scholarship programs as he was presenting the students with their awards during the Classic last week. “We have a very common base and understanding in terms of vision, values and goals for the respective grower organizations and we feel it’s our obligation to contribute to the long term sustainability to their membership, to help educate the young talent that will be contributing to the growth of our industry in the future,” Nevin told me.
Nevin enjoyed getting to meet the scholarship winners who were able to make it to the Classic to receive their awards and talk about their future goals, as well as getting to meet their families. “Our scholarship initiative is a good example of how we are trying to contribute to individual family farms, support their children in terms of their educational goals and to be a part of the future they’re trying to create,” he said.
Listen to my interview with Nevin in the player below:
Being a brick artist doesn’t sound like a high pressure job but when you’ve got to finish your LEGO creation by the close of the Commodity Classic trade show it can get a little tense. Nathan Sawaya got this art work done for BASF in their Commodity Classic booth just in time. I think he actually had a couple seconds to spare.
I spoke with him while he was building the project to learn more about what he does and his plan for this project. He basically uses LEGO bricks to create art. In this case he was asked to create “crops” out of LEGO bricks. By the end he had corn, soybeans, wheat and a barn. He says he had an idea in his mind of what he’d do before the show to make sure he brought enough bricks. He also tours with an Art of the Brick Museum Exhibit.
I’m going to do another post about Nathan Sawaya, Brick Artist, who built a farm scene in the BASF booth at Commodity Classic out of LEGO building blocks because I interviewed him during the show. For now though I just thought you’d like to see the final creation in this short video clip from my iPhone right at the end of the trade show.
In partnership with BASF, the National Corn Growers Association Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program awarded five $1,000 scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field during the 2010 Commodity Classic.
Three of the five recipients were at the Classic to be honored on Friday and they are pictured here at the BASF trade show exhibit between Nevin McDougall of BASF and NCGA Chairman Bob Dickey of Nebraska.
Left to right, they are:
John Schultz of Dyersburg, Tennessee, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville studying food and agricultural business; Gina Meyer of New Ulm, Minnesota, a junior at the University of Minnesota pursuing a major in animal science; Carly Cummings of Pleasantville, Iowa – Carly is a sophomore at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business.
Charlene Barlieb of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania who graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2009 and will be returning to Penn State this fall to pursue her graduate degree in animal sciences, and Lisa Tronchetti of Paton, Iowa
Listen to an interview with John, Gina and Carly below.
Ben Bellar, a high school senior from Howard, Kansas, was named the 2010-2011 ASA Scholarship recipient during the 2010 Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California. An active member of the ASA and FFA, Bellar has been raising soybeans since he was a child and plans to study agriculture technology management at Kansas State University next year. He is pictured here at the BASF exhibit on the trade show floor with ASA First Vice president Alan Kemper of Indiana and Nevin McDougall, Group Vice President, North America Crop Protection Division at BASF. Ben is the one in the middle, in case you were wondering!
Bellar’s scholarship package includes a one-time $5,000 education award, a trip to the Commodity Classic and special recognition during the ASA Awards Banquet. The scholarship is offered and managed by the ASA and is made possible through a grant by BASF.
I talked to Ben about his background and goals in life and you can listen to that interview below.
BASF’s The Science Behind Soybeans seminar at the 2010 Commodity Classic on Wednesday was focused on how the BASF Crop Protection portfolio for soybeans can help growers achieve higher yields, and how BASF is always looking to the future and what growers will want tomorrow.
“The soybean market has great potential for growth but yields haven’t increased that much in the last few years so what we really see is an opportunity is to get more from every acre by using some different practices and new technologies such as the new Kixor herbicide technology that BASF has,” said Paul Rea, Director of BASF US Crop Protection Division.
BASF Technical Service Manager Rick Chamblee says Kixor, which is the active ingredient in a number of new products that were just approved for use in this country last fall, is a great example of how BASF looked ahead to anticipate grower needs in the future. “When we started working on the Kixor family of products 9-10 years ago, glyphosate tolerant weeds were not even on the horizon,” Rick said. In fact, only one weed was resistant in the United States, today there are six broadleaf weeds that are tolerant to glyphosate that are commonly found in soybean production.
Not content to rest on their laurels, BASF has NINE active ingredients in the pipeline for the next FOUR years, expecting to introduce 28 new products. Compare that to 29 new products in the last nine years! Find out more in my back to back interviews with Paul and Rick in the player below.
Illinois farmers are on a quest for higher soybean yields, according to University of Illinois soybean specialist Vince Davis, who spoke at the BASF Science Behind Soybeans seminar at the 2010 Commodity Classic on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of discontent about where they’re at with soybean yields,” Vince said. “A lot of them feel that soybean yields are not keeping pace with corn yields in Illinois.”
The average soybean yield in Illinois has been 45-46 bushels per acre the last two years, which Vince says has been pretty consistent for the past five years and growers would really like to see that improve by at least two bushels per acre. They would really like to see yields as high as the 100 bushels per acre that Kip Cullers sees on his farm, so Vince took a closer look at what Kip does last year to bring back to Illinois. “There’s a lot we have left to learn on how to maximize each individual plants’ productivity in soybean and really approach some of the levels of individual plant management like we’ve been doing in corn,” said Vince. He stresses the importance of early weed control as something growers can do to help improve yields. “Controlling weeds, starting with a clean field and making sure you don’t lose bushels to weeds early in the season is very important,” Vince said.
The Illinois Soybean Association, with the help of the universities and sponsors like BASF, is helping to provide some incentive for growers to increase yields with a new program called the Illinois Soy Yield Challenge. “It’s different than a contest in that we’re really focused on a team concept,” said Vince. “We’re also focused on being able to compare practices between farmers’ normal practices and experimental practices and see what we can do in Illinois,” he said. Find out more at soyyieldchallenge.com.
You can never get enough of the always entertaining World Soybean Yield Champion Kip Cullers.
During the BASF Science Behind Soybeans seminar at the 2010 Commodity Classic on Wednesday, Kip talked about the recent trip he took to Brazil and what he learned there. “The reason I went to Brazil is because, if you want to learn something, you got to go where there’s a problem and Brazil is challenged by so many things,” Kip says. One of the problems he had on his farm in southwest Missouri last year was white mold, which is a big issue in Brazil. “I got about five or six brand new ideas from Brazil on how to control white mold,” he said.
That’s what Kip does best – try new things to help increase his yields, not just for contests, but for his overall production. “60-80 percent of all my experiments fail miserably, but we never quit trying and we’re able to average 100 bushel soybeans across our whole farm,” Kip says, and that’s what pays the bills. To that end, he is a strong believer in BASF Headline for plant health, and the new Kixor technology herbicide, which he helped test for BASF prior to registration last fall.
The last time I talked to Kip was on his farm toward the end of the 2009 harvest season. You will have to check out that post and listen to the interview or watch the video to hear the goat story that he references in the interview below.
David Roehm and his lovely wife Sue of Leesburg, Ohio are the grand prize winners of the 2009 SOY Challenge Program. David was on the program for the BASF Science Behind Soybeans seminar for the media Wednesday at the 2010 Commodity Classic in Anaheim and he gave Sue plenty of credit as his partner for their achievement in the 2009 Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Challenge, sponsored by the American Soybean Association and BASF Crop Protection.
In the challenge, they used a couple of BASF products – Scepter and Headline – and did a side by side yield comparison on several different varieties beans. “We did come up with a yield bump, about four bushels better in every case, pays for the application – especially with $10 beans,” David told me. “I think the economics were especially good in 2009, as well as the pressures with the added rain and moisture we had.”
As winners of the challenge, the Roehms got a new Dodge truck, but as an added benefit, they also got a new kitchen.
Since Sue takes care of the bookkeeping on the Roehm farm and she admits to being a little skeptical when they entered the challenge because of the additional upfront cost involved. “With the chemicals, that’s a very big portion of our budget for farming,” Sue said. One of those additional costs was for Headline, which increases plant health. “And by increasing the plant health, you hopefully get a better yield – and it was through that better yield that I got to remodel my kitchen!”
Listen to or download back to back interviews with the Roehms in the player at the bottom. And watch a video of David’s presentation at “The Science Behind Soybeans” below.
Here at Commodity Classic a group of us media types are learning about The Science Behind Soybeans from BASF. We have a panel of experts that includes soybean growers like world record holder Kip Cullers.
Cindy and I are attending the seminar and will posting photos and interviews here soon. The media who could not attend are invited to download and use them if they would like.
“At BASF, we know growers are focused on higher yields and improving their return on investment,” said Eric Kalasz, BASF Soybean Market Manager. “That is why we wanted to get together with the media to discuss the tools growers can employ to address current challenges in soybean production and get the most out of every soybean acre.”
The ‘Science Behind Soybeans’ event showcases the most recent information on soybean management, including weed resistance management, disease control and Plant Health. Speakers include Vince Davis, University of Illinois; record-breaking soybean grower Kip Cullers; ASA-BASF SOY Challenge winner David Roehm of Leesburg, Ohio; Paul Rea, Director of BASF US Crop Protection Division; and Rick Chamblee, BASF Technical Service Manager.
According to BASF, contest winner David Hula, of Renwood Farms in Charles City, Virginia said Headline really helps him with plant health. “In the Eastern United States, we’re very concerned with storm season, so we like our plants to have better stalk strength and standability. Headline has helped us achieve better plant health through each phase of the plant’s life, and, of course, that translates into higher yield.”
Once again this year I had the pleasure of attending the Farm Industry News (FIN) FinOvation Awards banquet at the National Farm Machinery Show. FinOvation awards go to the most innovative products coming to the market, based on Farm Industry News readers’ interest
Among the award winners this year was New Holland’s BB9000 Series large square balers. New Holland’s Bob Hatz picked up the baler category award on behalf of the company, presented to him by FIN senior editor Jodie Wehrspann. “Thank you very much – and hay tools rock!” Bob said.
Also picking up a crystal Finny (I just made that up) this year were our friends at BASF for Kixor in the crop/herbicide category. On hand to accept the award were Dr. Dan Westberg, Sandi Wilson and Mike Hofer. Great to see them get this award for an exciting new product for weed control.
We also saw John Deere get two awards – for the DB120 planter and AutoTrac RowSense. Syngenta was honored with two awards for the Viptera corn seed trait and Avicta seed treatment. Other winners included Agco, Case, Vermeer, Bayer and Trimble. Check out all 20 of the winners here on the FIN website.
Today’s National Biodiesel Conference general session featured National Biodiesel Board Chairman Ed Hegland. He’s completing his final term as Chairman.
He started his comments by reminding everyone that today is the anniversary of daylight savings time which was created to conserve on our energy supply during World War I. It was an innovative idea then and when it comes to the innovative work the industry is doing today he says, “We’re here to fuel change.”
Ed pointed out that there are members of all segments of the petroleum industry here today and they participated in a panel discussion after his comments. I’ll post that shortly. He presented some of the findings from a research study done by NBB on consumers and their awareness and perceptions of biodiesel. He says the study finds that consumers who are aware of biodiesel have a favorable opinion of it. He also talks about being a soybean farmer and the incredible technology that is allowing him to grow more with less.
The training program examines the three pillars of Plant Health—disease control, stress tolerance and growth efficiency—and how Headline fungicide can best affect the most important aspects of growing a healthy plant.
The audio-visual presentation also examines the science behind Headline fungicide and includes trivia questions, statistical information, visual evidence and user testimonials.
I’m sure we will find out more about this new program for growers at the upcoming Commodity Classic in Anaheim, March 4-6. Coverage of Classic on Agwired will be once again sponsored in part by BASF.
Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.
With 202 companies exhibiting in 816 booths, the 2010 Commodity Classic Trade Show once again raised the bar on must attend industry events in agriculture. The show surpassed previous turnout for a Commodity Classic held in California with 1,369 growers attending and a total attendance of 4,330.
We already met first place winners 
and 
His wife calls him a “PMG” – Professional Meeting Goer – because Alan Kemper has been serving on the boards of state and national agricultural organizations for over two decades now. 
The 
Being a brick artist doesn’t sound like a high pressure job but when you’ve got to finish your LEGO creation by the close of the Commodity Classic trade show it can get a little tense. 
In partnership with BASF, the 
Ben Bellar, a high school senior from Howard, Kansas, was named the 
“The soybean market has great potential for growth but yields haven’t increased that much in the last few years so what we really see is an opportunity is to get more from every acre by using some different practices and new technologies such as the new Kixor herbicide technology that BASF has,” said Paul Rea, Director of BASF US Crop Protection Division.
BASF Technical Service Manager Rick Chamblee says Kixor, which is the active ingredient in a number of new products that were just approved for use in this country last fall, is a great example of how BASF looked ahead to anticipate grower needs in the future. “When we started working on the Kixor family of products 9-10 years ago, glyphosate tolerant weeds were not even on the horizon,” Rick said. In fact, only one weed was resistant in the United States, today there are six broadleaf weeds that are tolerant to glyphosate that are commonly found in soybean production.
The average soybean yield in Illinois has been 45-46 bushels per acre the last two years, which Vince says has been pretty consistent for the past five years and growers would really like to see that improve by at least two bushels per acre. They would really like to see yields as high as the 100 bushels per acre that Kip Cullers sees on his farm, so Vince took a closer look at what Kip does last year to bring back to Illinois. “There’s a lot we have left to learn on how to maximize each individual plants’ productivity in soybean and really approach some of the levels of individual plant management like we’ve been doing in corn,” said Vince. He stresses the importance of early weed control as something growers can do to help improve yields. “Controlling weeds, starting with a clean field and making sure you don’t lose bushels to weeds early in the season is very important,” Vince said. 
You can never get enough of the always entertaining World Soybean Yield Champion Kip Cullers.
David Roehm and his lovely wife Sue of Leesburg, Ohio are the grand prize winners of the 
Here at Commodity Classic a group of us media types are learning about The Science Behind Soybeans from 
Once again this year I had the pleasure of attending the 
Also picking up a crystal Finny (I just made that up) this year were our friends at BASF for Kixor in the crop/herbicide category. On hand to accept the award were Dr. Dan Westberg, Sandi Wilson and Mike Hofer. Great to see them get this award for an exciting new product for weed control.
Today’s National Biodiesel Conference general session featured National Biodiesel Board Chairman Ed Hegland. He’s completing his final term as Chairman.
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
