I was actually supposed to interview Steve and his dad back in the freezing December of 2009 for BASF Headline Harvest reports, which was certainly not the best harvest year to do interviews! It just so happened that the frigid day we were scheduled was the same day that little Cam decided to enter the world, so dad and granddad both were a little tired and preoccupied. We did interview Henry but Steve had other matters on his mind that took priority.

This year, little Cam is big enough to start learning about farming and the season so far has been fabulous. As of last week, Steve says they were already half done with beans and the corn was coming up. “We got the corn sprayed so we’re sitting pretty good,” Steve said.

According to USDA, nearly all of the corn in Iowa is planted already and over 80% is emerged and most of it in good to excellent condition. Steve probably has the rest of his beans planted by now since 85% was planted in the state as of Sunday with over a quarter of the crop emerged.

Last year, the wind blew all their corn down, “so we definitely took a look at height on corn and root structure and doing more of the smart stacks,” he said. They are sticking to their normal 50/50 rotation and were happy to be able to get lots of preparation for planting done last fall.

Steve said they did change their herbicide program for corn this year. “We went to a pre-emerge herbicide. Last year, we went post-emerge and we got caught when it started raining and rained for about two weeks,” he explained. “So we’re doing things differently to make sure we get the chemical where it needs to be at the right time.” They scout both corn and soybeans to determine the best time to apply Headline.

BASF wants to know – what types of crop protection products are you using this year on soybeans? Answer the Production Poll here.

Listen to or download my interview with Kip here and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up. BASF Great Grower Steve Miller

37.5% of respondents said they don’t have resistant weeds (at least not yet!). However, the same number said they would be using a mix of methods to control or prevent resistance – pre-emergence herbicide, additional sites of action, and working with a consultant on a plan. Another 25% said they would be using a pre-emerge application for control.

With soybean planting running way ahead of schedule already – 46% planted, nearly twice the five year average – our new poll asks what farmers are doing to protect that crop this year. Let us know!

Priaxor is expected to provide unprecedented disease protection and post-infection disease control from some of the toughest fungal diseases in soybeans, as well as several other crops. Merivon will do the same in several pome and stone fruit crops, including apples, cherries and peaches.

Priaxor is a 2:1 premix fungicide containing F500—the same active ingredient as Headline fungicide—and Xemium fungicide, a new active ingredient in the carboxamide family, providing a new mode of action in row crops. Merivon is a 1:1 premix fungicide of F500—an active ingredient in Pristine fungicide —and Xemium.

From 2009 through 2011, soybeans treated with Priaxor showed nearly 17 percent less severity of Septoria brown spot compared to untreated soybean acres. Priaxor is also labeled for use in potatoes and tomatoes to control disease, leading to improved crop quality. Priaxor has also shown effective disease control in corn, controlling several yield-robbing diseases including Northern and Southern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot and common rust.

Click here for more product-specific information.

Listen to interviews from Commodity Classic with BASF Technical Market Manager Nick Fassler and Dr. Caren Schmidt, BASF Technical Service Representative for Michigan and Ohio.

“We raised about 1200 acres of corn and soybeans,” Nick told me during an interview at Commodity Classic, noting that he got his undergrad degree from Western Illinois and got a Masters in Crop Science from the University of Illinois. “The chemical protection business really intrigued me and encouraged me to go into graduate school.”

Nick started with BASF right out of graduate school eight years ago and is now Technical Market Manager, primarily responsible for row crop fungicides with corn and soybeans – mainly Headline and Headine AMP. “Our pipeline and the amount of products we’ve been launching in the last several years has kept us busy,” he says, adding that it’s rewarding for him to educate growers about those new products to bring value to their farm and help them be more productive.

Nick expects 2012 to be an interesting year for insect and disease pressure. “We have a lot of early season seedling diseases that seed treatments provide protection from, but with the foliar fungicides we’re primarily looking at those reproductive stages, July-August-September time frame,” he said, encouraging growers to take preventative action and do active scouting throughout the season.

Listen to my interview with Nick Fassler here: Nick Fassler with BASF

With planting now well underway and ahead of normal, we are definitely hearing that weed resistance is a major concern this year – all over the country now. Each year the problem is getting more challenging, so we want to know – how are you controlling resistant weed on your farm this year?

The survey found that about four out of five farmers plan to alter their weed control programs in 2012 due to resistance issues.

More than 50 percent of farmers surveyed acknowledged the existence of glyphosate-resistant weeds in their fields, and many of them blamed resistance for hurting their yields. In addition, even farmers who have not seen glyphosate resistance in their fields said they would make changes to their weed control programs.

BASF Technical Market Manager Dr. Dan Westberg found the results encouraging. “It indicates that farmers understand that today’s weed control challenges demand the use of a more comprehensive management approach,” he said. “For a long time, farmers relied almost solely on glyphosate to control their weed problems, but those days are over. The repeated use of a single chemistry is the number one reason many have developed resistant weed populations.”

A majority of survey respondents acknowledged the need to do more, with more than 80 percent saying they would be willing to invest additional dollars to control resistant weeds.

Read more from BASF here.

Tell us if you are excited about the 2012 growing season by clicking here.

We are looking forward to your comments. To tune into this blog just follow us on Twitter or Facebook and keep on coming back once in a while. You will find new blog posts every three to four weeks.

We meet so many fascinating people every day. And each one has a story to tell. In our new blog, we want to share some of these stories, especially those that may lead to a good discussion.

Visit our website www.agro.basf.com or go directly to www.farmperspectives.com to find out more about our new blog “Farm Perspectives”.

Noting that no two years are alike when it comes to farming, Kip says 2011 was definitely a “unique year” but they still did well. “One thing we’ve learned about this business is we treat it as manufacturing and we have a ‘pick list’ that if something is occurring in our weather that requires a change, we know how to adapt,” Kip said. “Yields were surprisingly better than we thought they would be.”

A wet fall kept them from getting some fall tillage done, which put some pressure on them to get work done this spring but they are off to a “fabulous” start. “We’re about 45% planted on commercial corn acres and about 15% planted on soybeans,” Kip says, which is ahead of schedule.

To deal with weed pressure, Kip says they use winter annual herbicides to control weeds like henbit, dandelion and chickweed. “We apply a herbicide on during the fall and early winter. Then we come in with a pre-emerge grass herbicide on our corn acres and follow up with Roundup,” he said.

However, Kip says they are getting concerned about the resistant weeds and he thinks BASF is being very pro-active in that area. “I applaud BASF and the other companies that have been working hard on new formulations that will allow us to stop resistance yet make sure that we’re good stewards with our neighbors,” he said, particularly noting the work being done on lower volatility Dicamba formulations.

Listen to or download my interview with Kip here and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up. BASF Great Grower Kip Tom

How do you think this crop year is looking so far? Give your opinion in the BASF Production Poll.

Please let us know if you have any questions about the poll.

Our first interview is with one of the most famous farmers in the country – Kip Cullers of Purdy, Missouri. To call Kip a “great grower” is an understatement, considering he holds the title of World Champion Soybean Grower with a record 160.6 bushels per acre set in 2010. Even with last year’s “horrible” season, Kip still managed to break 100 bushels an acre. So, what about this year?

Kip says he is already planting away down in southwest Missouri and some of his corn has already started emerging. “We planted for 12 straight days and never shut the planters off,” he said. “It’s just been unbelievable.”

While Kip was very disappointed with his 2011 crop, he says it has not had much of an impact on his plans for this season. “I haven’t seen a year like that since 1980 so we’re just on track to do everything like normal,” he said. Winter in Kip’s part of the country was the same as pretty much every where else. “It’s just crazy how warm it was,” Kip said. “Mildest winter I’ve ever seen in my life.”

As pleasant as it was, the mild winter combined with a warmer than normal March has led to increased weed pressure. “The weeds are absolutely horrible,” Kip says. “We’ve got crabgrass that normally doesn’t come out until May” along with henbit and chickweed. “But we used the Kixor technology along with some Roundup and that just burns it down within seven days. Then we come back over the top later on.”

Kip says he is planning to plant more corn and soybean acres this year and he is really pleased right now with his barley crop on which he used Headline at the flag leaf stage. “It’s the best barley I’ve ever raised,” he says.

Listen to or download my interview with Kip below and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up soon!

Farmers will be able to use the new product in combination with other herbicides and agronomic practices, under a weed control system enabled by dicamba-tolerant crops currently in development.

“Farmers fighting against herbicide resistance have an important new tool in Engenia which, field research shows, will offer excellent weed control and crop safety, as well as low-volatility characteristics for improved on-target application,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF.

A registration decision by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Engenia is anticipated in a parallel time frame with commercialization of a dicamba-tolerant soybean system.
Commercialization of the dicamba-tolerant system for soybeans is expected in the U.S. mid-decade, with cotton, corn and canola to follow. (Read more from BASF)

We had a chance to see how Engenia works at the 2012 Commodity Classic, with the help of BASF ag biologist Chad Brommer, who explained how the product is researched and tested in the lab. We shot a little video of Chad doing some show-and-tell, which you can see below.

Dan’s interest in weeds goes back to his roots. “I grew up on a small farm in northwest Arkansas and I started to work when I was in college at the (University of Arkansas) Altheimer lab with the weed science group,” Dan said. “So I got very interested in weed science and controlling weeds in row crops and helping growers solve the problems that they had.” He got his Masters in Weed Science at Arkansas and his PhD from North Carolina State University and then took a field position with Sandoz.

He joined BASF 21 years ago when the company bought the Sandoz corn business, and that allowed young Dr. Westberg to see the world. “For the first couple of years I got to travel internationally to develop markets outside of the U.S.,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to visit Brazil, Argentina, virtually every country in Europe, particularly France and Germany.”

In 2002, Dan became responsible for the global development of Kixor herbicide technology and was able to play a role in its launch. “You don’t get the opportunity more than once in a career to work from start to finish with an active ingredient, so it’s been really rewarding,” he said.

Now the weed control expert’s big focus is on helping farmers fight glyphosate resistant weeds. “Glyphosate-resistant Palmer Ameranth has really taken over the mid-south and the southeast to the point that growers are losing some of their fields to this weed,” he said. “And this last year in 2011 was a tipping point for waterhemp in many areas of the Midwest. Certainly the southern third to half of Illinois and Missouri are probably already there with the level of problems that they have with waterhemp and it’s something that we need to start dealing with proactively.”

BASF has a number of tools in its herbicide portfolio to deal with problem weeds. “It actually represents ten different sites of action that we can bring to bear on these weed populations. It’s the most that anybody has in the country,” Dan says, noting that they can tailor specific programs to different areas of the country. BASF’s pre- and post-emergence products include Verdict, Status, Op-Till Pro, and Armezon – among others.

Learn more about Dr. Dan Westberg and BASF herbicides in this interview: BASF's Dr. Dan Westberg

“BASF is steadfast in its commitment to help grow the ag aviation industry, as demonstrated by their generous support of NAAA once again,” said Andrew Moore, Executive Director of NAAA. “We’re grateful for their partnership and for making these incentives available to encourage the most effective, targeted application and increased safety.”

More information about Operation S.A.F.E., including dates of fly-ins as they are scheduled, is available on the NAAA website. Visit BASF’s plant-health-pilots.com for a variety of resources BASF provides aerial applicators, including an “Ask the Expert” section for your toughest aerial application questions.

A corn and soybean farmer from Hillsboro, Ohio, Jason says he uses Sharpen® herbicide, powered by Kixor, to help control his tough weeds. “We have heavy marestail pressure on our farm, so I used a fair amount of Sharpen last spring,” he said. “It’s a good product and always works well.”

Jason, pictured here in the red shirt with his guests at the race, not only received tickets to the 54th annual DAYTONA 500®, they also got an expenses-paid three-day, two-night trip to Daytona Beach. That race, you might remember, was one for the history books – rain-delayed for the first time ever, the first under the lights race in prime time, and a sensational fire-ball crash into a jet dryer truck. After all that, Jason says they had “a real nice trip, and it was a real fine race.”

The Kixor® Road to DAYTONA® sweepstakes was open to all growers 18 years or older with an operation of 250 acres or more. Ten other winners received $100 gift cards.

In this BASF Personality Profile, we learn more about Luke, who was born and raised on a diversified farm in northwest Florida and received a degree in entomology from Auburn University. His first job was with Sandoz (remember them?) where he spent 13 years, “starting at their research farm in Mississippi and then the last seven years in Chicago as a product manager for Dicamba,” he said. Afterward, he spent several years in contract research working with several different clients, including BASF, and then spent 10 years with Monsanto working on seed traits.

Wanting to get back into the crop protection side of the business, Luke was happy to get the opportunity with BASF 18 months ago. “I am very excited about bringing new tools to the growers for controlling weeds in their crops,” Luke said.

A couple of up-and-coming products that he is particularly excited about are Zidua® herbicide and Engenia™ herbicide. Zidua will first be labeled for use in corn this year to deal with difficult weeds like waterhemp and pigweeds. “Zidua has a very long-lasting residual, up to two weeks longer than products commonly used now, and it’s also going to be very flexible,” Luke said. “Engenia is our latest dicamba innovation and has been developed specifically for use in the dicamba-tolerant cropping system being developed by Monsanto.”

Learn more about Luke, Zidua and Engenia in this interview: BASF Technical Market Manager Luke Bozeman

Monsanto’s next generation Acceleron® Seed Treatment Products for soybeans and cotton will contain F500®—the same active ingredient found in Headline® fungicide—and the innovation Xemium® fungicide, which is expected to be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2012.

According to BASF North America Market Manager for Seed Solutions Bob Yaklich, Xemium’s new generation of the carboxamide class of chemistry provides significant control of key soybean and cotton diseases. “The combination of BASF fungicides, Xemium and F500, provides a new level of disease control, as well as healthier plants and improved crop quality, which can improve yield potential,” said Yaklich. “This new agreement with Monsanto will give growers the opportunity to give seedlings a stronger start and their growing seasons a stronger finish.”

Under the agreement, Monsanto will have exclusive rights to commercialize the new seed treatments. Monsanto’s global seed treatment platform complements the company’s seed and trait strategy, as well as its investments in breeding and biotechnology.

“Farmers choose Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybeans and Deltapine® brand cottonseed for their proven yield advantages” said Tom Schaefer, Monsanto’s Marketing Manager for Acceleron® Seed Treatment Products. “These additions to the Acceleron Seed Treatment Products line can help those seeds emerge strong and yield strong.”

Details on how strong stand establishment and early plant health can reflect higher yields at harvest are available at www.AcceleronSTS.com.

Neil started his career in retail agriculture in northwest Illinois and became a sales rep for BASF and American Cyanamid (dating yourself there, Neil!). After spending several years with the BASF marketing team at headquarters in North Carolina, in 2008 Neil took an assignment as a global marketing manager for BASF in Germany. “I had the chance as a global marketing manager to see a lot of agriculture around the world,” said Neil. “It was interesting to see the diversity of agriculture, the practices, and how we can help farmers get the most from every acre.”

Neil and his family enjoyed their time in Germany, but he’s happy to be back in the United States now and working with the growers here to help them improve their efficiency and productivity. “We really want to make sure that we continue to work with farmers, to help bring the solutions that we can create in a way that’s very meaningful to them,” he said.

One way they are doing that is offering incentives to help growers manage risk. “We call it our Advantage Suite of offers,” Neil said. “What it really starts with is making the right selections of the right products to maximize the yield on the acre.” Once the grower makes the decision to use BASF products for yield advantage, Neil says they offer other advantages. “We have offers such as Finance Advantage, which is a way growers can purchase our products and have zero interest financing until December,” he said. “We have a very innovative tool called Investment Advantage, in which if a grower purchases our high yield packages, BASF is willing to participate in the risk of the market.”

Investment Advantage has a March 15 deadline, but there is still time to participate in BASF’s other offers. Information on all BASF Grower Advantage offers is available at growersadvantage.basf.us.

Learn more about Neil and his dedication to helping farmers get the most from every acre in this interview: BASF Director of Marketing Neil Bentley

In soybeans, early-season weed competition poses a potential 6 to 10 percent yield loss. In corn, weeds allowed to reach 4 to 6 inches in height can reduce yield potential by 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively. The potential losses due to weeds total almost $10 billion, based on current national projected yields and commodity prices.

BASF Soybean Market Manager Bryan Perry says from his conversations with growers this year, the big issue is weed resistance management. “We’ve launched a couple of new products, like OpTill PRO this year, to help manage resistance. But keeping weeds out of the field at any point helps maximize yield.”

The warm winter is causing fields to green up earlier, which will make burn down more important for some growers going into planting. “We launched Kixor® herbicide technology a couple years ago, great burn down, and OpTill PRO has Kixor in it, plus two other sites of action, so you’ve got a product that burns down the weeds and has phenomenal residual to keep them from coming back.”

Listen to or download an interview with Bryan here: BASF Soybean Market Manager Bryan Perry

BASF Corn Market Manager Mike Hofer says he talked with southern farmers at Classic who expected to start planting the following week, but they too were concerned about weed resistance. “Farmers continue to tell us that they’re battling more weeds that have developed resistance to multiple herbicides that farmers have used over time,” Mike said. “We just recently launched Armezon™, which is a new HPPD inhibitor, and it essentially controls those tough broadleaf weeds post-emerge in corn. It’s unique because it is safe to all types of corn varieties.”

Mike notes that BASF offers several different programs to help farmers called the Grower Advantage offers. “We have a really unique offer this year that we’re calling Investment Advantage for growers that purchase a high yield package,” Mike says. “If they purchase that by March 15 and commodity prices significantly decline into harvest time, BASF would offer a partial refund on the purchase of those products. It’s the first time that a company is partnering with growers to help them manage risk after they purchase crop protection products.”

Investment Advantage has a March 15 deadline, but there is still time to participate in BASF’s other offers, including Headline Advantage, Finance Advantage and Insurance Advantage. Information on all BASF Grower Advantage offers is available at growersadvantage.basf.us.

Listen to or download an interview with Mike here: BASF Corn Market Manager Mike Hofer

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

BASF participated in both the American Soybean Association (ASA) and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) banquets during the 2012 Commodity Classic and was honored to have company executives speak during those events about the importance of partnerships aimed at strengthening the future of agriculture. BASF Senior Vice President North America Crop Protection Nevin McDougall (pictured) spoke at the ASA banquet, while Paul Rea, Vice President U.S. Crop Protection, spoke at the NCGA banquet.

Nevin says BASF’s partnerships with ASA and NCGA showcase how they are sustaining and supporting the future of agriculture. “The future for BASF is very bright,” Nevin said. “The ag economy in North America is very robust and with our investment in R&D and bringing new solutions that can help growers be more efficient and more productive with less impact on the environment we’ll help them to achieve the goal of feeding the world.”

Listen to or download a quick interview with Nevin here: BASF Senior VP Nevin McDougall

We sincerely appreciate our partnership with BASF as well, which helped to bring coverage of the Commodity Classic to AgWired readers. Thanks BASF!

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

What’s really new for NAWG is a brand new scholarship program with BASF just announced at the Classic, and CEO Dana Peterson says they are happy about the scholarship but sad about the circumstances that brought it about. “We are pleased to join with BASF to honor a longtime friend of wheat, Mr. Jerry Minore. He passed away just recently from a sudden illness and we were sorry to see him go,” Dana said.

Because Jerry just passed away less than a month ago, the details on the scholarship are still being developed, but Dana says they will be announced soon and available on the NAWG website.

Dana says they are thrilled with the record turnout of over 6,000 producers at Classic this year and pleased to celebrate their fifth year being one of the commodity groups that join together for the event.

Listen to my interview with Dana here: NAWG CEO Dana Peterson

I also spoke with U.S. Wheat president Alan Tracy at the wheat industry booth and he told me how excited they are about export opportunities in Asia, noting that they just celebrated their golden anniversary in Philippines. “In Asia, we continue to do very well,” he said. “I just returned from the Philippines where we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our having an office there in Manila.”

Alan says the Philippines have become at least the 5th largest market for U.S. Wheat. “This year it’s going to be 95% of their wheat comes form the United States,” Alan said, adding that the export market makes up about half of the U.S. crop in a given year.

Listen to my interview with Dana here: US Wheat President Alan Tracy

2012 Commodity Classic Photo Album

BASF Crop Protection has partnered with application technology specialist Dr. Bob Wolf, retired Professor Emeritus of Kansas State University, to help growers get the most out of their pesticides by using best application practices with the On Target Application Academy.

Dr. Wolf says the program focuses on research and education of applicators to “maximize control of weeds and minimize spray drift.”

One of the educational tools he uses is a spray table that is designed to allow applicators to actually see the differences between spray nozzles, the droplet size and drift produced. “I encourage them to put water in their sprayer on a day when they’re not busy, turn the sprayer on, get out and walk along and do some comparisons,” he said.

On Target Application Academies will be held throughout 2012 at industry and state events. Sessions will be about two hours long and cover a number of topics including best practices for self applications, nozzle selection, adjuvants, calibration, sprayer set up, equipment clean out, and more. More information on dates and locations will be available from BASF representatives and on the BASF website.

Listen to or download an interview with Bob Wolf here: Dr. Bob Wolf

Watch Dr. Wolf’s demonstration of the spray table during the BASF “Science Behind” event held in conjunction with Commodity Classic in Nashville:

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

With the results of field trials from the 2011 season now available, three years of research show Priaxor™ fungicide and Merivon® fungicide provided effective disease control and consistent yield increases in a wide range of crops and the two new products are expected to receive EPA registration yet the first part of this year.

Priaxor research was conducted on row crops – focusing primarily on soybeans – as well as on some specialty crops, such as potatoes and tomatoes. Merivon research was conducted on specialty crops, specifically pome and stone fruits.

“Priaxor in soybeans provides a consistent level of disease control on Septoria brown spot and frog eye leaf spot,” said Nick Fassler, Technical Market Manager, BASF. From 2009-2011, soybeans treated with Priaxor showed nearly 17 percent less severity of Septoria brown spot and 13 percent decrease in the severity of frogeye leaf spot and compared to untreated soybean acres. Priaxor has also performed well in corn on several troublesome corn diseases, including gray leaf spot, common rust, and Northern and Southern corn leaf blight.

Listen to or download an interview with Nick here: BASF's Nick Fassler

Dr. Caren Schmidt, BASF Technical Service Representative for Michigan and Ohio says research shows Merivon fungicide will provide apple growers with protection against apple scab and powdery mildew. “We’ve been looking at Merivon and apple scab with Michigan State University,” she said. “We’ve seen very good protection with Merivon application programs compared to current commercial standards.”

Caren says there are current no systemic fungicides in Michigan that are effective against apple scab, so the introduction of Merivon will be very important.

Listen to or download an interview with Caren here: BASF Tech Rep Caren Schmidt

Find out more details about Priaxor™ fungicide and Merivon® fungicide.

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

Paul Rea, Vice President of U.S. Crop Protection for BASF, says Jerry passed away suddenly just a few weeks ago. “It was a real loss and everyone was looking for a way we could remember his service so what better way than to award a memorial scholarship in his name,” said Paul.

Listen to or download Paul talking about BASF’s commitment to the future of agriculture and the new scholarship: BASF VP U.S. Crop Protection Paul Rea

BASF has funded the Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship for up to $5,000 per year the next three years. Applications for the scholarship program will be accepted through the end of 2012, with the first recipients to be announced at next year’s Commodity Classic.

This year, for the fifth consecutive year, BASF partnered with the American Soybean Association (ASA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to present another six students with scholarships.

Recipients of the $1,000 NCGA scholarships, pictured here with Paul Rea and NCGA Chairman Bart Schott, are (left to right): Andy Chamra, a junior at Iowa State University pursuing agricultural business; Denise Beam, a sophomore at Pennsylvania State University pursuing a degree in animal sciences with an agricultural business management minor; Gracie Weinzierl, a sophomore at Illinois State University majoring in agricultural education in addition to crop and soil science; Andrew Perry, a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying agricultural economics and plant science; and Bethany Olson, a junior at Iowa State University specializing in agricultural business and international agriculture.

Melissa Schenck of Boston, Kentucky – pictured here with Paul and ASA president Steve Wellman – was chosen as the 2012-2013 ASA SOY scholarship recipient. Schenck, a senior at Nelson County High School, will pursue a degree in agriculture communications at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, beginning this fall.

Melissa says she plans to go to Murray State University and major in ag communications or ag business. “Getting a scholarship from ASA and BASF means that college is going to be easier to pay for,” she said. “This scholarship has taken a load off my shoulders” and her parents too! She’s never been to Commodity Classic before and is really enjoying it.

Listen to or download an interview with Melissa here: ASA-BASF Scholarship Winner Melissa Schenck

See video of all scholarship winners here:

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

That was probably the most memorable quote of the entire BASF Crop Protection “Science Behind the Future of Weed Control” event prior to the kick-off of the 2012 Commodity Classic in Nashville on Wednesday. It came from Row Crop Weed Specialist Dr. Larry Steckel with the University of Tennessee.

“I often tell our growers, think back to 2002-2003, you’re going to think of that as the good old days, because weed control is never going to be that easy again, or simple or cheap,” he said.

Dr. Steckel estimates that resistant weeds in Tennessee cost growers $45 an acre more in herbicides last year. “We got 1.6 million acres so that’s $72 million in herbicide costs,” he said, not counting other costs like having to actually weed by hand, as many farmers in the south have had to start doing the past couple of years.

What this means is that growers just have to use all the tools in the toolbox now to fight resistant weeds, including pre- and post-plant herbicides, cultural practices, cover crops, row width, crop rotation.

Listen to or download Dr. Steckel interview: Interview with Larry Steckel

Dr. Jeff Stachler, extension agronomist with North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota, says the weed resistance problem is growing bigger. “The entire Midwest and even us in the northern plains are having a big issue,” he said. “The number one problem clearly is waterhemp, and not just glyphosate-resistant waterhemp, we have to deal with multiple resistant waterhemp.”

And then there’s the ragweeds and marestail, which he thinks is being managed to some degree “compared to the waterhemp, which I think is getting out of control,” he said. “Weeds are here on the planet Earth for a reason, to cover the soil, and they have a huge genetic diversity that we don’t truly appreciate.”

Not to mention a tremendous survival instinct, which is why they are finding ways to adapt and outsmart the weapons designed to kill them. “It is hard to prevent resistance, but there are certainly things we can and need to do to reduce the risk and that simply is being more diverse in our practices,” he said.

Listen to or download Dr. Stachler interview: Interview with Jeff Stachler

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

BASF Vice President U.S. Crop Protection Paul Rea says resistant weeds are a significant challenge for growers. “And innovation is one of the keys to solving that challenge,” he said, noting that BASF is planning the release of three new herbicides this year – Armezon, OpTill PRO, and Zidua. “BASF invests close to $2 million every day in R&D which makes us a very good partner for growers who are looking for new technologies to increase their yield.”

Listen to or download Paul Rea interview: Interview with Paul Rea

BASF is also planning the release of Engenia™ herbicide, an advanced dicamba formulation, that will be ready when dicamba-tolerant crops make the market in a few years. “We have a long track history with dicamba,” said Steve Bowe, BASF Biology Group Leader. “With our latest formulation advancement Engenia it takes that another step forward.”

Listen to or download Steve Bowe interview: Interview with Steve Bowe

Dr. Dan Westberg, BASF Technical Market Manager, says using multiple sites of action is one way to fight the resistance issues. “In particular, we need to get back to using pre-emergence herbicides in soybeans, so that we provide a strong foundation of weed control and post emergence applications will be more effective,” he said. Scouting, proper planning, and cultural and mechanical strategies should also be considered.

Listen to or download Dan Westberg interview: Interview with Dan Westberg

2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

The event is providing a “closer look at the new innovation in development, Engenia herbicide, an advanced dicamba formulation with low-volatility characteristics for improved on-target application. Engenia will help control more than 100 of the annual broadleaf weeds that farmers are battling in their crops today, including glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth, waterhemp and marestail.”

I’m collecting our photos from the event here: 2012 BASF Science Behind Photo Album

Garry is looking forward to a great, big Classic this year – with registration already at a record level. “We have 5,400 people showing up for this – the largest by almost 25% that we’ve ever had,” Garry told me. And that’s just pre-registration! Actual numbers will increase this week with on-site registrations.

Garry says NCGA will be setting policy this week at the meeting and among the main issues will be recommendations for a 2012 Farm Bill, assuming there is one this year. “We have adopted the Aggregate Risk and Revenue Management program that has been put forth by Senators Brown, Thune, Durbin and Dick Lugar. Hopefully, we’re going to move that policy forward because that makes the most sense to us,” Garry said.

Other issues of concern to corn growers include maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and protecting against government over-regulation.

Listen to or download my interview with Garry here: Garry Niemeyer Interview

The Commodity Classic – which is the annual meeting of corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producer organizations – officially kicks off on Thursday. Our coverage this year is once again sponsored by our good friends at BASF and New Holland.

During the 65th Annual Meeting of the Southern Weed Science Society (SWSS), BASF presented research related to Engenia™ herbicide, the company’s next-generation formulation of dicamba.

“Engenia will be an important new tool for soybean growers battling herbicide- resistant weeds, like Palmer amaranth, waterhemp and marestail,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Research presented at the half-day symposium at SWSS showed that Engenia will provide a valuable, new herbicide option as part of a comprehensive weed control system to help growers protect their crops from yield-robbing weeds.”

Engenia will be used with the dicamba-tolerant soybean system currently in development. BASF anticipates making the Engenia submission to the regulatory agency in the United States in 2012. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval of Engenia is anticipated prior to commercialization of Monsanto’s Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® dicamba-tolerant soybean system. U.S. commercialization of the new system for soybeans is expected mid-decade with cotton, corn and canola to follow.

“BASF is committed to providing innovative, effective solutions that help growers get the most out of every acre,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Headline and Headline AMP continue to be powerful tools for growers looking to control yield-robbing diseases, maximize yield potential and realize Plant Health benefits.”

You can find a full list of winners here:

Following is a listing of 2011 award winners by category, along with honorable mentions:
• No-Till Product of the Year: 20/20 SeedSense/AirForce system, Precision Planting.
• Fertility: Agrotain, Agrotain International. Honorable Mention: Avail, SFP; Bio-Max Defender G4, FHR Farms.
• Fungicides: Headline/Headline AMP, BASF. Honorable Mention: Quilt/Quilt Xcel, Syngenta Crop Protection; Stratego, Bayer CropScience.
• Insect Protection: Herculex Insect Protection, Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred. Honorable Mention: Warrior insecticide, Syngenta Crop Protection.
• No-Till Equipment: 1770NT Planter, John Deere & Co. Honorable Mention: Early Riser planter, Case IH; U-Trough system, FHR Farms.
• Planter/Drill Attachments: Keeton Seed Firmer, Precision Planting. Honorable Mention: Martin-Till 1360 Floating Row Cleaner, Martin Industries.
• Precision Tools: 20/20 SeedSense/AirForce system, Precision Planting. Honorable Mention: AgGPS Auto-Pilot, Trimble Navigation.
• Residue Management: Bt Crusher/Chopper Stalk Rolls, Calmer Corn Heads. Honorable Mention: 600C Series Corn Heads, Deere & Co.; Stalk Stomper, May Wes.
• Seed Treatment: Poncho 1250, Bayer CropScience. Honorable Mention: CruiserMaxx, Syngenta.
• Application Equipment: Apache 20 Series Sprayer, Equipment Technologies. Honorable Mention: 4830 Sprayer, Deere & Co.; Patriot Sprayers, Case IH.
• Strip-Till: Blu-Jet StripTill systems, Thurston Mfg. Co. Honorable Mention: Pluribus Strip-Till Unit, Dawn Equipment Co.
• Weed Control: Ignite herbicide, Bayer CropScience. Honorable Mention: Roundup PowerMax, Monsanto; Sharpen herbicide, BASF.

According to BASF, Armezon helps growers maximize their yields by controlling tough, yield-robbing weeds while being safe to all corn types.

A post-emerge herbicide solution for corn, Armezon controls problematic grasses and broadleaf weeds such as common lambsquarters, waterhemp, giant foxtail and crabgrass – including those with resistance to glyphosate, triazines, PPOs, and ALS inhibitors.

Armezon also has a wider window of application when compared to most other post-emerge corn herbicides on the market. It is an excellent cross-spectrum tank-mix partner, which makes it particularly helpful for growers who rely on post applications of atrazine or glyphosate to manage tough weeds.

Find out more about Armezon from BASF.