Pam Fretwell, Conklin Companies, was working here at the Farm Science Review and shared a few photos of the damage in Illinois.

That’s going to be tough to harvest!

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

He says they had been running for two days and that they were getting between 130 to 150 bushels with 18 to 20% moisture.

I asked him what’s new from New Holland and he says it’s their 8 row corn head with stalk chopper on each row unit which he says, “Allows us to chop the stalk as the ear is being pulled off from it to help with the residue on the ground.” He says it’s on display at their exhibit. Mike also says he really enjoys the interaction with farmers at the show.

You can listen to my interview with Mike here: fsr-08-craig.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Mark is not only a professional drag racer but a farmer himself. He has 500 Holstein cows and farms 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. You’d think that would be enough to keep him busy!

One of his passions is ethanol. He basically grows his own fuel and has had a mission to help educate the public about this renewable energy source. So that’s part of his message here at the show. I asked him about how his farm business was going. He says that the past year or so has been pretty good but it’s basically making up for years that weren’t so good. However, he says that there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future and with the problems lately in financial markets there’s good reason to wonder.

He says the question he gets asked most often standing by his funny car is, “How much horse power?” It’s got 3,000 HP and goes from zero to 250 mph in 5.7 seconds! Of course he runs on ethanol and he says the car uses just over a gallon of ethanol per second.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: fsr-08-thomas.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Ron says this show is a great thing for agriculture. He says the message they’re trying to get across to growers is what’s happening with legislation, especially the farm bill and the rfs standard. In fact, he says, “. . . talking about the RFS which is even more important than the farm bill because it increases the demand for corn and has raised the price of corn to where farmers are getting their money from the market now instead of from the government.” That’s something he says he’s always wanted to see.

You can listen to my interview with Ron here: fsr-08-rockhold.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

I went out to the field when these got started and spoke with John Deere’s Jamie Bultemeier (pictured on the left). He was conducting a precision tillage demonstration. Jamie’s an agronomist by training so he focuses on crop production as it relates to seeding, tillage, sprayers and GPS equipment.

In his demonstration he was tying two of those together. He says they have a John Deere 2510S strip till rig being guided by John Deere RTK sub inch accuracy steering to allow for repeatable planting next spring. After running down a row a little ways he stopped to talk with farmers and they commented on how moist the ground was even though there had been little rain of late.

Questions he gets asked a lot include, “How should I set it? What fertilizer should I use? What kind of attachments should I put on?” He says he’s spoken with about an equal number of farmers who are using the technology and those who aren’t yet.

You can listen to my interview with Jamie here: fsr-08-bultemeier.mp3

I also caught Jamie doing an end of the row run during his demonstration which you can watch here:

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

One of the new things at the show this year is the re-naming of Chemical Ave. to Conservation Ave. He says this was done “to honor (farmers) who I call the ultimate conservationists.”

Another new feature of the show is a “wireless internet cloud.” Chuck says that they didn’t have cable out to the show site but this year they laid in fiber optic and put up over 50 small towers around the exhibit area. It’s fast, reliable and everywhere. So besides us media types, exhibitors now have a new resource.

I’d love to see other farm shows adopt this type of infrastructure at their permanent sites.

The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. Since I just attended a swine health seminar you get to listen to “Rocket Science” from Brain Buckit. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 187 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Chuck Gamble - ZimmCast 187

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Mid afternoon a selection of combines like this one from New Holland sprang into action in front of the crowd. I didn’t get any data on the crop but it looked pretty good. Although we had some rain early in the week prior to the show things have dried up again enough for it to be very dusty in the fields.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

I went out to the fields and just missed seeing the combines in action. However, I got up above a grain wagon being unloaded for this shot and took a short video clip of it too.

I’m not sure how many acres were harvested today but it was enough to satisfy a very large crowd that came out to enjoy the show.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

You really couldn’t have had better weather to harvest corn and soybeans and demonstrate tillage and manure spreading. The breeze even blew away from the people standing and watching.

I’ll have some more for you after dinner.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

On hand to talk about it is Roush Vehicle Marketing Coordinator, Taylor Bloor. He drove the vehicle down from Michigan. It’s a bright white truck that runs on liquid propane injection. He says you can go to any Ford dealer to order one. Basically, you buy the truck then have Roush customize it for you or you can order a kit to do it yourself.

The vehicles cost more upfront because of the fuel conversion but you make up for it he says in lower fuel costs. For example, at current prices, if you drive 15,000 miles per year you’ll make back the cost in 4 years. If you drive 30,000 miles/year it would only take two. The fuel is much cleaner burning and helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

I had Taylor take us on a video tour of the truck which you can watch here:

You can also listen to the tour of the truck here: fsr-08-bloor.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Kent says their basically the voice of propane marketers and that you can learn more by coming out and talking with them. He says farmers will find all the propane powered equipment they would be interested in including a lot of heaters and drying equipment.

He mentioned that farmers can find out more at AgPropane.com. He’s pictured here next to a display on using propane to control weeds.

You can listen to my interview with Kent here: fsr-08-witt.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

She says their exhibit has just about every kind of propane appliance known to man. I caught up with her just as she was taking some chocolate chip cookies out of a propane powered oven.

When it comes to farmers she says the biggest drawing point has been the Roush Ford F-150 they have on display. She says, “They like the look of the truck. They like the cost of the truck and the cost of the fuel since it’s a lot less than diesel right now.” She says she’s thinking about getting one for their business since they haven’t had a propane powered vehicle in their fleet for a while. I’ll have more on the truck coming up later in my coverage.

You can listen to my interview with Jane here: fsr-08-newton.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Troy says that the exhibit is helping promote the Roundup Ready 2 Yield launch. He describes it as second generation technology that will be in the Asgrow line. Farmers, he says, have seen great yield increases in corn over the years and they have been looking for the same in soybeans. “Roundup Ready 2 Yield will raise that bar and you’ve heard the numbers 7-11% in some of our research trials. We’re so excited about it that we’ll have a couple million acres in the launch for 2009.” Troy says there’s a plan in place to distribute out different varieties to various regions based on maturity, soybean volume and demand of the current Roundup Ready line.

When it comes to advantages of the new technology he says it will mean more beans per plant. An example he sites is that if you plant 180,000 plants/acre and get just one more bean per plant then you’ll have one additional bushel of yield for that acre. So increasing the number of beans on the plant has a major impact on yield.

Troy also talks about their Mobile Greenhouse which he says takes farmers through the process of looking at conventional beans through Roundup beans.

You can listen to my interview with Troy here: fsr-08-putnam.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

I spoke with Farm Science Review exhibit coordinator Tracey Lemmon, seen here in one of the propane powered vehicles they have on display. His company installs propane systems for marketers. He says they have quite a list of products for farmers to look at. It includes, water heaters, ranges, stove tops, refrigerators, freezers, vehicles, portable heaters, fireplaces, overhead infrared tube heaters, torpedo heaters, gas grills, garage heaters, smokers, fish cookers . . . Just about everything that runs on propane!

Tracey says they put up the building about 10 years ago and this year he was really glad to have it since the weather was disastrous prior to the show opening. However, their building didn’t have any damage.

He says the show has started out great and that farmers are not only looking at agricultural applications of propane but also others since they’re consumers with homes as well.

You can listen to my interview with Tracey here: fsr-08-lemmon.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

The unit is 28 feet long and showcases Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans. The mobile green house is a unique way to show the benefits of the new technology. Farmers also have a chance to get entered into a contest to win a family dream vacation worth $8,000. There’s also a short video illustrating the science behind the seed. I walked through the display yesterday and you can see it here.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Pam Fretwell, Conklin Company, is sitting next to me in the media building, typing away. We’ve been talking about blogging. I think there’s a blogger inside her that’s just waiting to get out.

I don’t know how many shows the Touchstone Energy balloon flies over but it caught your attention as we waited in the very short lines of traffic. The weather is beautiful so come on out.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Basically, ABN is partnering with WOSU Radio and will be relocating their studios to WOSU facilities in Columbus in early 2009.

It seems like WOSU grew so much that they had to move into new studios opening up this opportunity for ABN. WOSU is the University of Ohio radio station.

You can hear Andy’s comments at their press conference here: fsr-08-andy-vance.mp3

You can hear Lindsay’s comments here: fsr-08-lindsay-hill.mp3

Also on hand to commemorate the announcement was University of Ohio President, Dr. E. Gordon Gee. He said this was an exciting day for him since ABN Radio founder (deceased), Ed Johnson, was his friend and he knows that Ed would be proud of this announcement and to see Andy and Lindsay carry on his legacy.

You can hear Dr. Gee’s comments here: fsr-08-gee.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

It has caused some challenges though like me not having a room since the hotel I was supposed to stay in is closed due to no electricity. I did get another one though.

I’ll be here doing interviews with my sponsors from Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council. I’ve already got a photo album started too. This picture is of the show’s media center.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

This will be my first time at the show and you’ll be seeing interviews with coverage sponsors, Monsanto and the Propane Education and Research Council.

I’ll get in early this afternoon and probably start posting later today.

2008 Features at a Glance

We expect to completely fill the commercial exhibit area this year, with about 600 exhibitors from all over North America in the Central Exhibit Area.