Iowa State University PhD candidate Kevin Falk received the grand prize this year in the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) second annual “Better Seed, Better Life” student video contest during the CSS 2018 & Seed Expo in Chicago this week. The award was presented to him by Kerry Grossweiler of BASF, which sponsors the ASTA Communications Committee. The contest is …
Seed Treatment Tour at #ASTACSS
A new feature this year at the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo was a Seed Treatment Education Tour in the expo. Groups of attendees visited ten different booths in rotation where they heard a ten minute presentation from each company. I caught one of the groups in the Bayer booth. Doing the presentation is Greg Ginisty, SeedGrowth Product Manager. You …
FMC Focusing on Research & Development
FMC’s Hilary Winn, Communications Manager, spent a few minutes talking to me about the message for farm broadcasters at the NAFB Trade Talk session in Kansas City. She says the acquisition of branded products from DuPont has been a smooth process and it’s hard to believe it has been a year now. More focus on research and development is also …
Leaf Spot is FMC Disease of the Year
If there were an award for crop disease of the year, it would be a tie between two types of leaf spot this year, according to FMC Technical Service Rep Nick Hustedde. “In corn, we’ve had a tremendous amount of grey leaf spot…in soybeans, it seems like frogeye leaf spot’s the clear winner,” said Hustedde, adding that both are caused …
Meet Cargill’s Cowboy Robot
Cargill has developed the first ever robotic cattle driver to improve both animal welfare and employee safety. The robots are designed to move cattle from pens to the harvest area, reducing stress to the animals by minimizing their proximity to human activity. Employees operate the robots from a catwalk located above the pens, reducing safety risks by keeping those who …
On-Farm Audits Improve Dairy Profitability
When Alltech On-Farm Specialist Jeff Johnson evaluates a dairy farm, he concentrates on three specific areas – the people, the cows and the milking equipment. Johnson said all three factors have to be integrated together for the farm to work efficiently and effectively. He said there are some challenges to maintaining equipment and the milking environment, including weather that can’t …
Hubbard’s TRTM Program Having Positive Impact
Hubbard shared information about its Total Replacement Trace Minerals (TRTM) program with dairy producers at the 2018 World Dairy Expo. The program will enable animals to increase their genetic potential, resulting in improvements in production, health, reproduction and growth, according to dairy nutritionist Angie Manthey. “It takes into consideration not only the form, but also the amount of the trace …
New America’s Pig Farmer of the Year Named
The National Pork Board has named Patrick Bane, a pig farmer from Arrowsmith, Illinois, as America’s Pig Farmer of the Year for 2018. The award recognizes a pig farmer who excels at raising pigs using the We Care ethical principles and who connects with today’s consumers about how pork is produced. Raising pigs has been a life-long passion for Bane, …
Balanced Dairy Rations Improve Herd Nutrition
Each dairy farmer has different nutrition goals, based in part on what forages are available on farm. Hubbard dairy nutritionists like John Pretz help farmers with regular nutrient analysis so they can optimize the forages that are available and identify supplements that might further improve herd production, reproduction, and overall animal health. “I think we’ve absolutely evolved over the last …
Busting Myths About Mycotoxins
Misconceptions about mycotoxins can cause problems for cattle producers. One of the biggest myths out there is that most mycotoxin challenges are caused by weather. And while weather can play a role, it’s more often field agronomic practice and insect damage that are the larger culprits when it comes to mycotoxin development, according to Pat Crowley, on-farm specialist with Alltech. …