John Deere SVP Doug DeVries

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

At the conclusion of the stage show tonight we heard from John Deere Senior Vice President, Agricultural Marketing – North America, Australia & Asia, Doug DeVries. Doug came out to thank the dealers who work directly with the customers.

I spoke to him as soon as the floor was opened to us to wander around and see the new equipment first hand. Doug says this is the widest range of products they’ve ever brought to the market at once. He says it covers all areas and types of customers and is the culmination of a lot of R&D work. He comments on the growth in precision agriculture and says they see no change in the continued growth in this category of equipment.

You can listen to my interview with Doug here: launch-07-devries.mp3

John Deere Product Launch Photo Album

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New John Deere 70 Series Combines

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

Wow did we see a show tonight here at the John Deere product launch. When you hear the engines roaring and then they come out of the dark and the smoke it really generates some excitement.

I think we had almost 1,500 people on hand for tonight’s show in the Cincinnati convention center. They were mostly representatives of John Deere dealers as well as securities analysts and media.

One of the new products on display is the John Deere 70 Series Combines like this largest version, the 9870 sporting a new 600 series Cornhead. I’ve got lots of new pictures in the photo album so be sure to check it out.

New technology in planting, tilling and spraying crops leads to higher, denser yields per acre. This creates new challenges in harvesting more acres, while managing higher levels of crop residue. John Deere’s solution is a new line of “bullet rotor” STS combines which deliver ultimate harvesting performance to meet the productivity requirements of today’s growers. The 70 Series Combines are powered by field-proven, John Deere PowerTech Plus™ engines that are cleaner-burning, more fuel-efficient and factory-approved to use up to B5 biodiesel fuel.

John Deere Product Launch Photo Album

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Test Driving a New John Deere 7330 Tractor

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

One of the first things my group got to do when we arrived at the John Deere product launch field site was drive a new 7330 premium cab tractor.

It was hot so the air conditioned cab was a welcome break. We had a John Deere representative in the cab with us just to keep us safe and of course we buckled up. The tractors were equipped with gps receivers and AMS and AutoTrac integrated.

Jen Clark was my co-pilot and she was very cooperative in allowing me to videotape my test drive.

I’m getting ready to head over to the convention center for the next part of our program here in Cincinnati today. I’ll have more posts over the next day or so. Feel free to browse the online photo album which I have had time to add to: John Deere Product Launch Photo Album.

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Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara August 22, 2007

Novus International, Inc., a leader in the animal health and nutrition industry, have announced that it has broken ground on a new global headquarters facility in the Missouri Research Park in Saint Charles, Missouri (suburban Saint Louis). When completed, the 90,000 square foot facility, a $20 million investment, will consolidate Novus’s headquarters and the Novus International Research Center into a single, flagship global facility. In addition to office space, the building will include 10 research laboratories, a state-of-the-art employee and customer training center, a fitness center, and a library. The building will include a multitude of meeting spaces ranging from large conference rooms to “huddle spaces” for small, private meetings. A coffee bar and lounge will be available for more casual gatherings.
Syngenta crop specialists are emphasizing trait rotation as farmers plant more corn-on-corn to keep up with the growing ethanol demand. “We’ve witnessed a historic shift in the Midwest, with total corn acreage increasing by nearly 20 percent over 2006,” says Tracy Mader, marketing manager for Agrisure® Corn Traits, Syngenta. “Many of these new corn acres were planted into last year’s corn crop, which raises the importance of trait rotation to maintain yield potential while optimizing weed and insect control.” Cultivation is currently the only post-emergent control option for volunteer corn in conventional corn hybrids. “Agrisure GT, for example, allows for glyphosate application to control non-GT volunteer corn, while Agrisure CB/LL allows for control of conventional or GT hybrid volunteer corn with LIBERTY® herbicide (glufosinate),” says Mader.
This season, Pioneer Hi-Bred will again offer to its customers the Pioneer FITSM (Field Information Tool) mapping system, now integrated with the Pioneer GrowingPoint® website online record keeping system. These innovations can help growers make better management decisions and do a better job of managing their important crop records using a simple and secure online system. These services are available at no charge. The Pioneer FIT mapping system provides growers a harvest summary report including high-quality yield maps for each field with soil type overlays, a farm overview map including a high-resolution aerial image, and a tabular harvest report showing yield statistics for each field. FIT mapping seamlessly integrates with the Pioneer GrowingPoint website recordkeeping system. Growers very easily can keep crop field records and track growth stages on their online maps. Growers also can access their yield maps through the GrowingPoint website.

Zimfo Bytes

John Deere Introduces 9030 Series Tractors

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

Here’s a preview of what we’re going to see and drive today at the John Deere product launch.

John Deere introduces a new line of large, high-horsepower tractors – the 9030 Series. There are eight new tire- and track-equipped models ranging in horsepower from 325 to 530 hp. Also included are models specifically designed for construction job-site scraper applications. These tractors are engineered for big-time field operations and provide cleaner-burning engines and more power, productivity and operator comfort.

The six-cylinder PowerTech Plus engines are designed with four valves per cylinder, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a variable geometry turbo (VGT). The result is a cleaner-burning engine delivering up to a 38 percent torque rise and a 10 percent power bulge to bring more power and performance to the ground while meeting federal emissions standards.

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Media Registering For John Deere Product Launch

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

There are quite a few media representatives attending the John Deere product launch here in Cincinnati. Here’s some of the first to check in this morning.

Besides media there are about an equal number of security analysts attending to see what’s going on with the company and to get a better feel for how agriculture is doing as an industry.

Very shortly we’ll be boarding buses to go out and do some Ride and Drive. They’ll be rotating us in groups through all the equipment on display and then we’ll come back here to the hotel before going to the stage show and dinner tonight at the convention center.

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Leadership By Design in a Historic Location

Chuck Zimmerman August 22, 2007

It’s John Deere Product launch day. The theme of the event is “Leadership By Design.”

We’ll be getting out into the field later today but we’re staying at the historic Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hilton. This is a historic landmark and really interesting hotel.

I’m just getting an event photo album started and you can see the first entries here. I’ll be adding to it today and tomorrow.

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She’s Corn Fed

Chuck Zimmerman August 21, 2007

I had not heard of Shannon Brown before tonight but with a song called “Corn Fed” and featuring a green combine and mentioning John Deere while I’m attending the John Deere product launch it had to be a post.

Shannon is an Iowa native and Nashville artist who performed last week at the opening of the VeraSun Charles City, IA ethanol plant.

You can watch the video of the title track to her album here. It’s a good country rocking tune and I’m just betting we’ll be hearing it played at a lot of ag events in the future.

As her bio says, “Corn Fed is truly Brown’s musical autobiography, a sonic sketch of the sojourn she has experienced as her dream has taken her from a small town in Iowa to Music City USA.”

Audio, Corn

Kicking Off The John Deere Product Launch

Chuck Zimmerman August 21, 2007

The ag media were welcomed to Cincinnati this evening by John Deere in advance of their big product launch which will be kicked off tomorrow.

Yours truly will be on hand as we go out in the field and test drive some new green equipment. I don’t have details yet but according to Barry Nelson, public relations manager for John Deere this will be one of the biggest product launches for the company in recent history. I asked him if he was comfortable having us media types driving their equipment and he assured me that there will be certified John Deere people with us at all times.

Barry also says that besides ag media there will be some attending from Wall Street since investors have noticed how well many companies in agriculture are doing lately including John Deere. You can listen to my kick off interview with Barry here: launch-07-nelson.mp3

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Susan Milius Receive Plant Pathology Journalism Award

Chuck Zimmerman August 21, 2007

Here’s Susan Milius, Science News, receiving an award from Doug Jardine, director of the APS Office of Public Relations and Outreach. Thanks to Amy Steigman for sending the picture.

The American Phytopathological Society (APS) named Susan Milius, Science News, the recipient of the 2007 Plant Pathology Journalism Award. The APS Plant Pathology Journalism Award, sponsored by the APS Office of Public Relations and Outreach (OPRO), recognizes outstanding achievement in increasing public awareness, knowledge, and understanding of plant pathology.

Milius was selected for her article entitled “They’re All Part Fungus” that appeared in the April 15, 2006 edition of Science News. In this article, Milius provided an insightful look into how fungi and microorganisms interact with plants and the outcomes of these interactions. “I’m quite tickled and very grateful to APS,” Milius said. “There’s fascinating material in the diseases and creatures that prey on plants and the way plants fight back,” she said.

Milius received the award during the society’s annual meeting that was held jointly with the Society of Nematologists (SON), July 28–August 1, 2007 in San Diego, Calif.

You can find out more information about the award online. They’ll be accepting nominations again in January, 2008.

Ag Groups, Publication

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