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.
Precision is the name of the game when it comes to farming these days. It’s getting hard to find a farmer anymore who doesn’t use auto steer at the very least – and the options to save resources, time and money just keep growing.
At the New Holland exhibit at Commodity Classic, I talked to Matt Ahrens about some of the products they offer for growers and a program they have that can help farmers see exactly how they can benefit from using different types of precision solutions on their own operations. “We have a website – PutYourFarmOnTheMap – and on that website we have a cost savings calculator and you can go in and put your input costs on their, how much fuel usage per acre depending on implement width, and you can see what kind of savings you can get,” Matt said. “The good thing with that is that it’s their numbers, their input costs, so they get to see what their savings are.”
Matt also demonstrates the new AgGPS® FM-1000™ integrated display working with the Trimble Field-IQ in the video below. You can find out more about New Holland’s product line-up and more on the website PutYourFarmOnTheMap.com. We offer our sincere thanks to New Holland for helping to sponsor our coverage from Commodity Classic here on Agwired!
Hopefully, Scott Richert’s wife believes him by now. He really did win the New Holland G4050 Zero Turn Radius mower in the drawing held at the New Holland exhibit at the Commodity Classic trade show Thursday evening.
Scott is president of the Nebraska Soybean Association and lives in Gresham, Nebraska. He was the sixth name to be drawn out of the tumbler and announced by AgriTalk host Mike Adams but the first one who was present on the trade show floor to win. But when he called his wife to tell her the news, she didn’t believe him. Scott says that when the snow finally melts in east central Nebraska, he expects to get some good use out of the new mower. “We gotta get the piles of snow off the yard yet,” he said. “But we were just talking about that it’s time for our kids to start mowing so this is going to come in pretty handy.”
Scott and his wife have four children, two girls and two boys, between the ages of 4 and 12 and the oldest daughter will be the first to learn on the new ZTR mower. Congrats!
Listen to my interview with Scott as he calls his wife below.
New Holland debuted the new Rustler utility vehicle at the 2009 Farm Progress Show, but the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show was really this baby’s “coming out” party, since commercial production of the Rustler just started in January and they are really just hitting dealer lots this quarter. I talked with Jared Godfrey of New Holland at the NFMS about the Rustler and what makes it different from other UVs on the market.
“What really makes it different is that our models are really more of a utility workhorse versus other brands that are more of a sporting kind of use, where ours are more on the farm, kind of weekend warriors,” said Jared.
The Rustler also has so many options it can be customized for just about any taste. “We have three models, the smallest one is the 115 which is a gas, 2 wheel drive option. Then we bump up to the 120 diesel option,” Jared said. The biggest model is the 23-hp 125 gas option. There are 2 passenger or 4 passenger options, cabs, aluminum wheels, all terrain tires and more.
Jared says they believe New Holland’s strong brand identity will attract farmers and rancher who buy blue to the Rustler.
Listen to my interview about the Rustler from NFMS here:
The New Holland Boomer 8N made its debut at the National Farm Machinery Show last year – but it was just as popular with young and old alike at this year’s show. Some of you might recognize our tractor model, Mr. Gene Hemphill, who is not too young and not too old either (even though he is supposedly retired) – he’s just right!
The Boomer 8N is a updated remake of the classic Ford 8N tractor, part of New Holland’s heritage. I talked about the Boomer’s first year with New Holland’s John Hundley. “The history of this project was basically a fusion between the old styling of the Ford 8N with new technology of today,” John said. Many of this first year’s sales have been to collectors or people who have fond memories of the legendary Ford 8N growing up on a farm in the 40s and 50s. “We have some people who are buying this tractor and parking it because they don’t want to use it, but this is a workhorse and we do have people buying it and running it in the field everyday.”
John says lots of people have stories to tell about the old classic tractor – and some have great stories about their new Boomer 8N. You can find out more on one of the Boomer 8N websites – myboomer.com features real people and real stories about Boomer tractors, and www.8N.com has information about the history and design of the tractor.
Listen to my interview with John about the Boomer 8N here:
When it comes to biodiesel in farm machinery, New Holland is outstanding in the field.
At the National Farm Machinery Show, most of the New Holland equipment on display proudly displayed soybean biodiesel signage, and company representatives wore buttons proclaiming their support for the domestically-produced fuel. “New Holland has a strong commitment to not only be a part of biodiesel, but also to be a leader in the industry as far as future fuel usage is concerned,” New Holland regional service manager Phil Cobb said at the farm show. He says it was natural for their company to take the lead. “Mainly because our customers are in the soybean areas and grow soybeans,” said Cobb. “Not only does it support farming, we also use the fuel. It’s important for the ag industry to be on the leading edge.”
Cobb says all New Holland equipment is approved for a minimum of five percent biodiesel, with the large combines approved for 100 percent and many of the tractors approved for up to 20 percent.
Green farm equipment apparel has gone pretty mainstream in the past several years, but if you see someone sporting a New Holland blue shirt or cap, you can be fairly certain they are a real farmer.
I talked with Glenn Brumley who was staffing the New Holland toys and merchandise display at the National Farm Machinery Show about some of the popular items at the big show. “Hats are always popular, especially with the cold weather,” he said. Camo hats are always big sellers and the “All about the Blue” hat pictured is especially popular with the FFA crowd.
They always have a new feature item each year at the NFMS and this year it was the CR9080 Combine in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the twin rotor combine for New Holland. Glenn says the dated toys are always big sellers for collectors, but the kids like them, too! You can find some New Holland merchandise here on-line.
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.
Near the start of our coverage from this year’s National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, Cindy talked to President and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, Harold Workman, to get a preview of what was to come. After four big days with more than 800 exhibitors showing their latest and greatest for the ag industry, it only seemed fitting to go back to where we started and talk with Workman again to get his take on how things went. He says after a snowy start, the show has been a great success.
“We thought early on it would [be successful] because all of our exhibit space sold out very early.”
Of course, after a record one day snowfall for Louisville the night before the opening, Wednesday was a bit light. But Workman says every day since then has been great, and people really turned out. While he says they don’t have attendance numbers for this year’s show put together quite yet, his feel is that it will be pretty close to last year’s numbers when it was the second biggest on record. Workman says the good year grain farmers had last year could be a real economic stimulus for this country, as producers look to invest some of those profits in their operations in the coming year.
Workman adds that a show like this one also helps producers find the best deals on equipment and technology that will help them continue to be successful … and keep their economic stimulus going.
He says they’re already planning next year’s show … even already selling tickets to next year’s Championship Tractor Pull. But he says he would be remiss if he didn’t thank all the folks, including his staff and the show’s staff, for all their hard work.
It’s a great conversation, and you can hear more of it below.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
One of the best parts of the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. is the cutting-edge technology you see in just about every booth along the way. Companies obviously know this gathering is the perfect place to show off what they’ve got and time the release of many products to coincide with the show. So when we got this press release from TeeJet Technologies about its new New ISOBUS Sprayer Control Solutions, it made a bee line to the TeeJet booth where I met Jon Reinecker, one of the company’s technology specialists.
He told me that ISOBUS gives farmers the ability to communicate with other virtual terminals already in the cabs of their tractors.
“A lot of farmers are buying these newer implements that have these newer displays, and they say ‘Why can’t I hook my implement up to that new display?’ Think of ISOBUS as a universal language everybody can understand.”
Reinecker says the display in the cab can communicate with, say, a sprayer or spreader hooked up to the back of the tractor. That lets farmers make adjustments right there in the cab without having to have different boxes that clutter the area.
“Manufacturers like the idea of being able to work together, and it keeps the farmer happy [because] he can mix and match implements with the different tractors using this universal language,” says Reinecker.
One black box in the cab serves as the brains of the operation and connects with the universal connector on the back of most new farm machines, making it compatible with many makes and models without having to add more consoles to the cabs.
There’s another innovation from Trimble making its debut at the National Farm Machinery Show here in Louisville, Ky.
Trimble has sent out this press release introducing its EZ-Sync™ solution, a wireless data transfer capability that provides enhanced information management for growers and agribusinesses. While I was at the Trimble booth checking out the newly announced EZ Surface Software that provides surface drainage analysis and design for farmers and drainage contractors, I also caught up with Brian Stark, who does information management for Trimble and is the company’s EZ-Sync expert.
“EZ-Sync allows you to take data wirelessly from a mobile computer or from the Trimble FMX display and send that data from the field to the office. Or, if I’m in the office, I can send my data from the office, [such as] prescription maps or target points, to the field.”
Stark says the software is compatible with several different computers Trimble offers, and it lets producers and managers exchange information in real time. Plus, it decreases the amount of data that is lost simply because workers don’t have time to manually enter information gained in the field when they come back to the office. And, managers are able to better communicate with their workers still in the field.
“Just think about the possibilities here. If you have someone out there soil-sampling, they could be out there collecting sample points, finish the job, hit a button, [and download that information directly to the office],” says Stark.
Stark says you can’t really put a price on how valuable that fresh data will be for those in the field and at the office.
For more information, check with your local Trimble dealer or go to www.Trimble.com.
You can hear more of my conversation with Brian below.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
California-based Trimble, a technology company specializing in software that has, among others, applications for agriculture, construction and mapping, has introduced its EZ Surface Software to provide surface drainage analysis and design, especially for farmers and drainage contractors. This marks the first time in the industry where the complete survey, design, layout, machine control, install and map capabilities in one system like this comes from one company.
I stopped by the Trimble booth here at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. and talked to Joey Schlatter of Schlatter Inc. of Francesville, Indiana, who sells Trimble products.
“This software helps contractors define watersheds and flow patterns so they know how to properly drain their fields, whether using surface or sub-surface drainage methods.”
Schlatter says studies indicate that crop yields can be affected by 20 percent or more, well above most producers margins. With this system, elevation data is gathered through using some GPS-based tools from Trimble.
“Once we’ve collected all that elevation data, we bring that data into the office, into our EZ Surface program and generate a 3-D elevation map. Then, with a click of a few buttons, we can see the flow lines, watesheds and all the tools we need to properly design that [drainage] system.”
Schlatter says you can find out more information from your local Trimble dealer and at the company Web site: www.Trimble.com.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
You can hear all of my conversation with Joey here:
Chalk up another innovation for our friends at New Holland!
The company that is bringing you AgWired’s coverage of the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. is being recognized with Farm Industry News’ FinOvation Award for New Holland’s BB9000 Series large square balers at this year’s show.
I caught up with New Holland’s Platform Marketing Manager for Crop Packaging (which includes balers), Colin Skoronski, to get some of his thoughts about the award and the baler.
“The BB9000 is continuing to bring innovation … integrated density systems, on-the-go changes, the ability to adjust itself for what the customer has for desired inputs.”
He adds that New Holland is the first company to bring an true integrated bale weight system, an on-the-go weighing system that lets the customer know exactly what he’s making for bale weights. Skoronski says that’s especially important for producers who are custom baling and want to make sure they have just the right amount of weight in that bale. And for the customers on the receiving end, they know exactly what they are getting as well.
Skoronski says it’s a culture of innovation at New Holland.
“That’s how New Holland started way back when … [what New Holland was known for was] talking to the customers and listening to the customers and understanding what their true needs were and figuring out a better way for them to do it.”
And that innovation continues today.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
You can hear more of my interview with Colin here:
Hello from the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky! Cindy is off to Florida, and I’m going to be here at NFMS for a couple of days covering events.
Just a few minutes after I got into the airport, I was able to find my way to the Louisville Convention and Expo Center just in time for a seminar officially entitled “High-horsepower, Row-crop Tractors.” But it might be more accurately called “What’s New at NFMS.”
Among those presenting from some of the major manufacturers of farm equipment was our friend Tom Lano from New Holland. I videotaped his presentation with Chuck’s Flip video camera:
I apologize for the shaky video (not quite like the good ol’ days of betacams) and shaky editing (Windows Movie Maker is a little different than what I used to use), but I think you get a sense of what he presented. For time purposes, I had to edit out part of the promotional video Tom presented, but I was able to keep the video of the T-7000 line of tractors’ new anti-lock braking system (ABS).
“The tractors are getting bigger and bigger and heavier and heavier, and we’re carrying huge loads behind them down the road … so they need to be safe.”
Tom went on to say that New Holland does farm machinery shows all over the world, and these events gives New Holland not only the opportunity to show off what they have, but they can also get a lot of good feedback from the farmers who have to use this equipment every day.
Tom also talked about how New Holland was the first company to OK a 100 percent biodiesel blend in all their tractors … pretty darn important when you consider many of the folks who use their tractors are using them to plant and harvest the feedstocks, such as soybeans and canola, that make that same biodiesel they put in their tanks.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
You can here more of my conversation with Tom here:
There’s so much to see at New Holland exhibit at the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show that I had Dennis Hann take me on a tour and explain a little bit about everything. It ended up being just a few minutes longer than the 10 minute limit for YouTube, so I split it into two parts. Definitely worth watching.
You never know who you are going to run into at the National Farm Machinery Show, but I am sure this young man has been to many of these shows over the years.
Many of our Agwired readers will recognize Mr. John Harvey, who was with DuPont for numerous years and very active with NAFB. He has been living out his passion in his golden years as president of Classic Tractor Fever and I have to say he looks marvelous. The years have certainly been a friend to him. Gene Hemphill snapped this photo of us and John scampered away before I had a chance to interview him, but it was great to see him again. I think he looks even younger than the last time I saw him at least ten years ago!
I am heading to the Sunshine State for a couple days of fun with daughter Carly, my sister and niece at Disney World before covering the National Ethanol Conference, but ZimmComm reporter John Davis will be taking over for me and covering the last couple of days here at NFMS. I will still get a couple more posts on before I’m done here and more later.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
I had a chance to chat about the state of the farm machinery industry with Dennis Hann, manager of North American Strategic Planning for New Holland, at the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show. He told me that, even though some segments of the farm economy are suffering, they were seeing serious buyers at the show this year.
“We see three different product segments,” Dennis says. “The under 60 horsepower tractors, that follows automotive, trending wise, so that’s the toughest of all the industries because a lot of that is discretionary income. The dairy/livestock area, tractors in the 60-140 horse and our hay tool line, that industry was off about 24% last year as an industry. We grew share, but the industry’s down and we believe that will continue to be depressed in 2010. What’s really surprised us is the cash crop, the combines, the 140 plus horsepower tractors and 4 wheel drive continues to be very strong.”
Dennis also talks about some of New Holland’s various products, including the new Rustler and the 9090 combine, and their commitment to the biodiesel industry. Listen to or download his interview below.
I happened to be in the right place at the right time to be a guest on “The Sheep and Goat Radio Hour” live with Ray Bowman from the National Farm Machinery Show on Thursday.
Ray is executive director of the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office and does this live internet show every week on America’s Web Radio, which is pretty cool. He is very into social media as a communicator and follows us on Twitter. Ray did his whole show live from the media room on two cell phones, grabbing various guests to interview and talking about the NFMS. It was a really impressive use of the latest technology and he was a pleasure to meet.
AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland’s new WORKMASTER™ tractors bear a trusted name, and the same important qualities that made the original WORKMASTER tractors so popular in the 1960s.
The new Workmaster made its debut right out of the box and off the boat here at the National Farm Machinery Show. I talked with Mike Stolitca, New Holland sales manager for Kentucky, about this dependable, basic workhorse. “We are very excited to have this tractor here, first tractor in North America for the Workmaster series,” he told me. “This provides a reliable, efficient tractor at an affordable price.”
Mike says this tractor is great for hobby farms and smaller operators looking for a good chore tractor. Some of the features that allow for ease of operation include an 8×8 shuttle transmission and a comfortable, open operator station.
Syngenta sponsors the Championship Tractor Pull at the National Farm Machinery Show, which kicks off each year to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” This year it kicked off to Lee Greenwood performing his signature song live at the arena and on Thursday morning he was in the Syngenta booth, signing CDs for fans and helping Syngenta kick off a new campaign called “Weeding Out Hunger.”
“This is a very important event for the tractor pull and for Syngenta, there’s a great cause here and that’s feeding America,” Lee told me in a real quick interview as he was signing autographs. You can here more from Lee on today’s AgriTalk from the NFMS.
I learned more about the campaign, which is associated with Halex GT herbicide, from Carroll Moseley with Syngenta Crop Protection. “We directly affect and feed the population by controlling weeds in corn, this is a product for glyphosate-tolerant corn,” he said. “What better way to relate it to another direct way to impact people more needy than others than to have this Weeding Out Hunger campaign where we are contributing to feeding America affiliates across the United States.”
Find out more about the campaign at WeedingOutHunger.com.
Listen to back-to-back interviews with Lee and Carroll in the player below and here’s a little video from the Syngenta booth.
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.
Precision is the name of the game when it comes to farming these days. It’s getting hard to find a farmer anymore who doesn’t use auto steer at the very least – and the options to save resources, time and money just keep growing. 
and 
Hopefully, Scott Richert’s wife believes him by now. He really did win the
New Holland 
“What really makes it different is that our models are really more of a utility workhorse versus other brands that are more of a sporting kind of use, where ours are more on the farm, kind of weekend warriors,” said Jared. 
The New Holland Boomer 8N made its debut at the 
The Boomer 8N is a updated remake of the classic Ford 8N tractor, part of New Holland’s heritage. I talked about the Boomer’s first year with New Holland’s John Hundley. “The history of this project was basically a fusion between the old styling of the Ford 8N with new technology of today,” John said. Many of this first year’s sales have been to collectors or people who have fond memories of the legendary Ford 8N growing up on a farm in the 40s and 50s. “We have some people who are buying this tractor and parking it because they don’t want to use it, but this is a workhorse and we do have people buying it and running it in the field everyday.”
At the 
Green farm equipment apparel has gone pretty mainstream in the past several years, but if you see someone sporting a 
I talked with Glenn Brumley who was staffing the New Holland toys and merchandise display at the National Farm Machinery Show about some of the popular items at the big show. “Hats are always popular, especially with the cold weather,” he said. Camo hats are always big sellers and the “All about the Blue” hat pictured is especially popular with the FFA crowd. 
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.
You never know who you are going to run into at the National Farm Machinery Show, but I am sure this young man has been to many of these shows over the years. 
I had a chance to chat about the state of the farm machinery industry with Dennis Hann, manager of North American Strategic Planning for 
I happened to be in the right place at the right time to be a guest on 
New Holland’s new 
I learned more about the campaign, which is associated with Halex GT herbicide, from Carroll Moseley with Syngenta Crop Protection. “We directly affect and feed the population by controlling weeds in corn, this is a product for glyphosate-tolerant corn,” he said. “What better way to relate it to another direct way to impact people more needy than others than to have this Weeding Out Hunger campaign where we are contributing to feeding America affiliates across the United States.”
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
