Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is confirmed to once again be the keynote speaker for an expected crowd of more than 4,800 corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers and guests during the 2012 Commodity Classic, March 1-3 in Nashville, Tenn.
“The secretary’s return for a third straight visit is testament to the value of our grower constituency in Washington,” National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer said. “Given the concerns farmers have around the federal budget and 2012 farm bill discussions, the secretary’s message will be of great importance to attendees.”
”We are privileged and honored to have Secretary Vilsack as the keynote speaker for the Commodity Classic General Session,” said American Soybean Association President Alan Kemper. “The secretary’s visit will be a highlight of this dynamic event where farmers share ideas, network and learn about future trends in agriculture.”
Commodity Classic is the nation’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused conference and trade show, presented annually by the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers. For more information, visit CommodityClassic.com.
Here’s what’s new from FMC. At the Commodity Classic I spoke with Matt Foster, FMC, about Authority XL which was just recently launched. This is the fourth brand in the Authority portfolio which he says is a nice fit in the “I-70 corridor.” We’re at planting time so hopefully weed management decisions have been made but it’s not too late to contact FMC about this new option.
FMC Corporation announces the introduction of Authority® XL herbicide, part of the Authority® herbicide line of products for soybeans. This new product offers best-in-class pre-emerge and burndown chemistries to control a broad spectrum of summer and winter annuals. When used as a spring pre-emergent herbicide, Authority XL gets fields off to a clean start by providing long-lasting residual control of troublesome summer annuals. Authority XL also helps growers get a head start on planting by controlling tough winter annuals after a fall application. Growers can improve their yield and crop quality with a timely application of Authority XL.
At the Commodity Classic Pioneer announced a “partnership with NBC Learn, the education arm of NBC News, to bring science to life for high school students in Iowa and Illinois. The program is focused on building students’ understanding and interest in agricultural science by providing innovative, video-based educational resources to schools at no cost.” I spoke with Todd Frazier about the program to learn more.
You can listen to my interview with Todd here: Interview with Todd Frazier
Through this partnership, Pioneer will fund subscriptions to the NBC Learn Science Collections for 40 schools in Iowa and Illinois for the 2011-2012 school year. The partnership was announced at Commodity Classic in Tampa, Fla.
Through the grant from Pioneer, NBC Learn will make available more than a thousand video clips from NBC News archives, plus current NBC News science coverage, to Iowa and Illinois teachers, students and schools to use as teaching tools.
“Meeting the challenge of doubling agricultural productivity by 2050 is dependent on the next generation of young talent with an interest and understanding of agriculture,” said Judd O’Connor, vice president – Pioneer Hi-Bred. “We are proud to support the expansion of the NBC Learn science curriculum across Iowa and Illinois to help engage young people in the opportunities available in this growing industry.”
“NBC Learn is proud to partner with Pioneer and DuPont to make compelling real-life stories of agricultural science available to students and teachers. Through this effort, NBC Learn hopes to inspire a new generation of students devoted to innovation in agriscience,” said Soraya Gage, executive producer – NBC Learn.
I joined the press conference late but you can listen in here (includes Q&A): Pioneer Press Conference
AGROTAIN continues to line up the university research on the performance of their products that control nitrogen loss.
At the Commodity Classic earlier this month, plant science professors from the University of Kentucky and the University of Delaware presented some of their findings during a press conference. They were also available to talk with growers at the AGROTAIN booth and recorded a segment of the AGROTAIN educational series on RFD-TV that aired on March 7.
Dr. Greg Schwab, University of Kentucky, has been researching the performance of inhibitors in no-till corn under high loss conditions. “AGROTAIN under those high loss conditions performs just as well as the ammonium nitrate fertilizer,” he said. “This is important because a lot of our farmers historically have used ammonium nitrate but find it harder and harder to get it and it’s much higher priced.”
Dr. Greg Binford, University of Delaware, tells farmers to make sure the products they use are supported by data. “I think there’s clear data with AGROTAIN to show that it is definitely a urease inhibitor,” he said. “DCD which is a product in SuperU and AGROTAIN Plus, there’s definite data to show that it’s a nitrification inhibitor. So both are providing the mode of action that they claim they are.”
“What we’re really talking about is loss. Anytime that you have a producer putting urea fertilizer out, it’s subject to loss – upwards of 30%,” said John Hassell, AGROTAIN International’s Manager of Research and Agronomic Development. “Today, we’re seeing urea prices around $500 a ton and if you’re losing 30% of that, you’re losing $150 right off the top. So, it’s really important that we be able to provide a technology to protect urea fertilizers and that’s what AGROTAIN does.”
AGROTAIN also recently released some new data from California and Arizona that shows the effectiveness of AGROTAIN technology in controlling nitrogen (N) loss for higher yields in almonds, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, cotton, lettuce, rice, tomatoes, and wheat.
Syngenta held a press conference at the recent Commodity Classic to discuss challenges growers have in the upcoming season and the Syngenta commitment to make their R&D investment “local” to the grower. Getting things started was Tracy Mader, head of product marketing for Syngenta Seeds. He asked the ag media how many new technologies they had heard about, seen or product launches they had encountered in the last twelve to twenty four months. I don’t keep count but there has been a lot. He calls it a golden age of opportunity for many growers not only because of commodity prices but also for available technologies. Syngenta had a full team on hand to talk with the media. I was able to record the press conference for your listening pleasure but didn’t have a chance to talk one on one at that time.
Let’s learn more about this new thing called AgHaven in this week’s program. In the photo below you can see AgHaven President, Srik Soogoor, discussing the agricultural search engine and social networking community that’s a whole lot more, during Commodity Classic.
One of the board members of AgHaven is Tom Taylor, High Plains Journal. I sat down with Tom during the show to learn how he got involved with AgHaven. He says he got a call from Srik about getting ag input into what they were doing with an online search engine. At first he wasn’t really sure what Srik was talking about but after listening they put together a meeting and then they were off to the races.
One of the first aspects of AgHaven we talked about was the intent to partner with media companies like High Plains Journal to distribute news and information. HPJ is a media partner and Tom says the agricultural search engine is what really drew them to the project. I asked him what he suggests for agrimarketers when it comes to looking at this unique online destination. He says to first go visit AgHaven.com and that he thinks that as it grows it will offer opportunities to those in agricultural marketing.
All the ag. None of the aggravation.
Relevant web search results. Streamlined social networking. Concentrated industry news and advice. AgHaven combines technology and expertise to provide you with a single source for all your online ag industry business. If you’re a producer, rancher or other industry professional, AgHaven is everything you need, and nothing you don’t.
BASF Crop Protection showed farmers “the magic of quality crop protection” and how to unlock the potential of their crops during the 2011 Commodity Classic.
In addition to sharing their innovative crop protection portfolio with visitors, BASF had a variety of activities at their booth throughout the show, including live performances by noted corporate magician Jon Petz, complimentary fruit smoothies and special giveaways. Jon entertained crowds that gathered by locking himself, handcuffed, inside a suitcase-sized box and escaping within 90 seconds! Fun for all.
BASF also sponsored a fun, exciting and completely unforgettable event for customers and farm media just prior to the start of Commodity Classic at Busch Gardens that included a “night safari” where we got to go out and see some of the attraction’s animals close-up and personal. We even got to feed and pet a giraffe, which was about the coolest thing I’ve ever done!
A high school senior from Iowa now has $5000 toward his college education in an agriculture field, thanks to the American Soybean Association and BASF Crop Protection.
This is the fourth year that the ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, has been presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college.
Kevin Berkland, a high school senior from Sibley, Iowa, (pictured here with BASF VP Paul Rea) was named the 2011-2012 scholarship recipient. Kevin plans to study microbiology at Iowa State University beginning next year. “As an active member in 4-H and Future Farmers of America, I have developed a strong interest in different agricultural production practices,” Berkland said. “This scholarship will provide me the resources I need to jump-start my education towards a career in a field I’m very passionate about.”
Congrats to Kevin and thanks to BASF for helping to support the next generation of agriculture!
During Commodity Classic I visited once again with Mike Harvey, New Holland. We didn’t talk equipment as much as farm show exhibiting. I see Mike at various shows throughout the year so just to be different we talked about what it takes for New Holland to put together all the exhibits at all the shows they do during a year.
Mike says they have a show manager who works on the layout and lot space but they have marketing and sales staff who make decisions about what to do and where to exhibit as well. He says Commodity Classic is different than others like the recent NFMS. It moves around year to year for one thing and if often in a facility not used to having farm equipment on display. So all the various shows have their own character and challenges. It’s a team effort to put on these displays. The show manager will often contract with local helpers to help set things up and take them apart at the end of the show. Mike says he was at six shows last year and the company does about twice that not counting dealer events.
The 2011 Commodity Classic is one for the record books.
Attendance at the annual meeting of corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers shattered previous records. Total attendance was more than 4826, breaking the previous record at Nashville three years ago by almost 300. Total number of growers was over 1600, compared to the previous record of 1513 in 2009 in Grapevine. The number of media was down a bit, but still a pretty substantial 126. Next year, Classic is back in Nashville, maybe to set yet another record!
In a show of unity, the leadership of the National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the American Soybean Association and the National Sorghum Producers issued a joint statement on the federal deficit and debt reduction following the conclusion of the Classic business sessions.
“We note that agriculture made a down payment in cutting spending when the Department of Agriculture directed $4 billion in savings under the Standard Reinsurance Agreement for federal crop insurance toward deficit reduction. We believe any further reduction in discretionary spending should recognize and reflect this contribution. We would also note that agriculture-related programs represent less than one-half of one percent of the federal budget.
“Looking forward, we believe any meaningful approach to deficit and debt reduction in the FY2012 budget must encompass all entitlement programs and all discretionary spending. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to develop a budget that successfully addresses the need for federal deficit and debt reduction balanced with the need of ensuring a successful agricultural economy.”
The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee discussed government over-regulation and prospects for the 2012 Farm Bill during the general session at Commodity Classic 2011.
U.S. Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK) first expressed concern about the over reach of government agencies, especially the EPA. “The Environmental Protection Agency’s assault on production agriculture must stop,” he said, noting that his committee is scheduled to hold hearings in which EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will answer questions on the agency’s basis for such decisions as limiting rural dust and continually questioning the safety of proven chemicals such as atrazine.
Lucas questioned the current administration’s USDA policies that favor “niche” markets “that should not become the dominant focus of departmental activities.”
Lucas says the 2012 farm bill will be the third on which he has worked, but half of his committee are new. “This (farm bill) is shaping up to be a doozy,” he said.
The 2011 Commodity Classic had a rock and roll ending. The evening entertainment was the Little River Band.
I think they played most of their hits and a couple of songs with a new twist. They sounded great and a little loud but then that’s what I remember when Cindy and I saw them a long time ago. The coolest thing was seeing the Golden ZimmComm Microphone on stage. You can see it in this photo. They have good choice in mics (Heil PR20).
There are a bunch of photos from the concert in the photo album. We’re taking some time to relax today and visit with friends from college before getting back on the agriblogging highway tomorrow. I’ll be heading to Texas while Cindy will be going to Reno, NV. We’ll fill you in on that as we go.
The American Agricultural Editors Association held a reception for members attending this year’s Commodity Classic. Quite a few of the 126 members of the ag media attended including past president Karen Simon, Iowa Soybean Association.
I spoke with Karen and Willie Vogt, Farm Progress Companies, about this summer’s Ag Media Summit. Karen is the Conference Chair and Willie is chairing the sponsorship committee. This year Ag Media Summit will be July 24-27 in New Orleans. So get an AMS preview and if you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, let them know.
You can listen to my interview with Willie and Karen here: AAEA Interview
The biggest machine in the New Holland booth at this year’s Commodity Classic is their Guardian Rear Boom Sprayer. There wasn’t enough space for it to “spread its wings” though. I talked with Tyler Roberts about the self propelled sprayers now being made by New Holland.
Tyler says these machines are ready to get out in the field after being introduced last fall. He says the Guardian name ties into the crop protection capabilities of the sprayers. And these are big Guardians! Besides the rear boom they also offer a front boom sprayer which Tyler gets real excited talking about.
On behalf of a number of well-wishers in the agricultural world, BASF Crop Protection congratulated soybean yield world champion Kip Cullers during a special presentation at Commodity Classic in Tampa, Florida.
Kip, a corn and soybean grower from Missouri, is a rock star in the ag world. He set yet another new world soybean production record in 2010 – for the third time – with a yield of 160.6 bu/A in 2010, breaking the previous record he set in 2007 by six bu/A. Kip’s soybean acres regularly yield more than 75 bu/A, which is 35 bu/A higher than the average Missouri operation.
Kip is never speechless – but he was when BASF presented him with a special “Kip Cullers Bobblehead” to commemorate his new world record. “I didn’t really know what to say,” he said. “It’s just great working with BASF. They’re just such a great team to work with and such a joy. I really appreciate everything they do for all American farmers.”
Kip says the mood of farmers at Commodity Classic was energizing. “More than anything, what it is is corn is $7 and soybean’s $14 and I think farmers really want to yield more, they want to make money,” Kip said.
Listen to or download an interview with Kip here about BASF, the bobblehead, his world record and optimism at Commodity Classic: Kip Cullers Interview
Watch the presentation by BASF’s Paul Rea to Kip here from YouTube:
The Chief Technology Officer for AgHaven is Pat McGinty. He’s responsible for the software that runs AgHaven. We talked about their agricultural search engine which is really tweaking the interest of a lot of people. He says that it allows for search results specific to agriculture. It’s not search results from other search engines. He says they crawl the web and find pages that fit the ag category and then prepare them for delivery to users. He knows of no other website that can do this. This could make searching much less time intensive.
We also talked about the social networking section of AgHaven. He says that businesses can feel comfortable using it since there are a number of built in security features that make it a better environment for business than a place like Facebook.
Pat also makes a point to encourage people to visit and provide feedback. There’s still a lot of development to do in AgHaven and this is a good time to let them know what you think.
We’re talking commodity group unity here at Commodity Classic. Here’s the leaders of each of the participating groups, Bart Schott, NCGA, Alan Kemper, ASA, Gerald Simonsen, NAWG and Jerry McReynolds, NSP.
Emceeing this morning’s general session once again was Mark Mayfield. He asked them each to answer the question, “What are you doing to enhance public trust and what efforts do you have to make ag more sustainable?” Listen to their answers in this entertaining part of the session.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave the keynote address today to an audience of more than 4,500 farmers and commodity group representatives during the General Session of the 16th Annual Commodity Classic in Tampa, Florida. In his remarks, Vilsack commended American farmers, ranchers and producers for helping to lead the United States’ economic recovery by shattering agricultural trade records, creating jobs at home and ensuring affordable food for U.S. families.
“We are all fortunate to be living through one of the most productive eras in history for U.S. agriculture,” said Vilsack. “American farmers and ranchers are seeing record sales of farm goods abroad and looking forward to some of the best net incomes in decades. U.S. agricultural exports for fiscal 2011 are on course to shatter previous records and enjoy a record $47.5 billion trade surplus. This record productivity is creating employment across a variety of sectors, including transportation and storage. Moreover, because American agriculture produces 86 percent of the food we consume, our families spend less at the grocery store compared to consumers in much of the rest of the world. As producers of high-quality products and conscientious stewards of our lands, American farmers and ranchers deserve our gratitude.”
Best Vilsack comment that I heard was “OPEC has more to do with food prices than farmers.” He got loud applause for that!
“BASF is dedicated to providing the next generation of agricultural industry leaders with resources to further their education and advance the agriculture industry,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Together with the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association, we’re happy to support future leaders in agriculture through scholarships.”
The NCGA Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program awarded five $1,000 scholarships to college students pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field. The winners are Hayley Bunselmeyer, a junior at the University of Illinois majoring in crop sciences; Kristin DeSutter, a junior at the University of Illinois pursuing agricultural communications; Amy Peyton, a junior at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business, economics, and public service and administration; Andy Pringnitz, a junior at Iowa State University studying agricultural business, economics and international agriculture; and Jessica Schwartz, a first-year graduate student at Ohio State University specializing in horticulture and crop sciences.
“Providing students with the financial resources to complete their education is the key to building strong agricultural leaders of tomorrow,” said Pam Johnson, a Corn Board member and liaison to the Grower Services Action Team. “We thank BASF for its integral role and support in these scholarships.”
The ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, is a $5,000 award presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college.
Kevin Berkland, a high school senior from Sibley, Iowa, was named the 2011-2012 scholarship recipient. Kevin plans to study microbiology at Iowa State University beginning next year. Unfortunately, his flight from Iowa was delayed and he was unable to make it to the awards presentation press conference on Thursday, but he will receive recognition at the ASA banquet on Friday night.
We did get a chance to hear from Laura Stevens of Falls City, Nebraska, who is now a junior at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was the very first ASA SOY Scholarship winner in 2008. “This was just a really helpful scholarship to me as it helped me to be able concentrate on my studies during my first year in college and also strengthened my commitment to stay in agriculture,” Laura said.
Our sponsor New Holland is also sponsoring the media room. Cindy took a photo of me with Gene Hemphill, New Holland and good friend.
We’ve covered some miles over the years and I’m very proud to be working with Gene once again here at Classic. This evening New Holland also sponsored the annual reception for the media. We had some nice social time with the leaders of the NCGA, ASA, NAWG and NSP. They all made brief remarks, thanking the ag media and of course New Holland. I’ll add mine to theirs. Photos are in the photo album.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
“The secretary’s return for a third straight visit is testament to the value of our grower constituency in Washington,” National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer said. “Given the concerns farmers have around the federal budget and 2012 farm bill discussions, the secretary’s message will be of great importance to attendees.”
Here’s what’s new from FMC. At the Commodity Classic I spoke with Matt Foster, FMC, about 
At the Commodity Classic Pioneer announced a “
At the Commodity Classic earlier this month, plant science professors from the University of Kentucky and the University of Delaware presented some of their findings during a press conference. They were also available to talk with growers at the AGROTAIN booth and recorded a segment of the AGROTAIN educational series on RFD-TV that aired on March 7.
Let’s learn more about this new thing called 
One of the board members of AgHaven is Tom Taylor, High Plains Journal. I sat down with Tom during the show to learn how he got involved with AgHaven. He says he got a call from Srik about getting ag input into what they were doing with an online search engine. At first he wasn’t really sure what Srik was talking about but after listening they put together a meeting and then they were off to the races.
BASF also sponsored a fun, exciting and completely unforgettable event for customers and farm media just prior to the start of Commodity Classic at Busch Gardens that included a “night safari” where we got to go out and see some of the attraction’s animals close-up and personal. We even got to feed and pet a giraffe, which was about the coolest thing I’ve ever done! 
This is the fourth year that the ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, has been presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college. 
During Commodity Classic I visited once again with Mike Harvey, 
The 2011 Commodity Classic is one for the record books.
In a show of unity, the leadership of the National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the American Soybean Association and the National Sorghum Producers issued a joint statement on the federal deficit and debt reduction following the conclusion of the Classic business sessions.
U.S. Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK) first expressed concern about the over reach of government agencies, especially the EPA. “The Environmental Protection Agency’s assault on production agriculture must stop,” he said, noting that his committee is scheduled to hold hearings in which EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will answer questions on the agency’s basis for such decisions as limiting rural dust and continually questioning the safety of proven chemicals such as atrazine.
The 
The biggest machine in the New Holland booth at this year’s Commodity Classic is their 
On behalf of a number of well-wishers in the agricultural world, 
Kip is never speechless – but he was when BASF presented him with a special “Kip Cullers Bobblehead” to commemorate his new world record. “I didn’t really know what to say,” he said. “It’s just great working with BASF. They’re just such a great team to work with and such a joy. I really appreciate everything they do for all American farmers.”
The Chief Technology Officer for 
We’re talking commodity group unity here at Commodity Classic. Here’s the leaders of each of the participating groups, Bart Schott, NCGA, Alan Kemper, ASA, Gerald Simonsen, NAWG and Jerry McReynolds, NSP.
Along with the 
The ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, is a $5,000 award presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college. 
Our sponsor New Holland is also sponsoring the media room. Cindy took a photo of me with Gene Hemphill, New Holland and good friend.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
