Our final stop at the BASF research facility last week was the seed treatment center where we heard from Dr. Andreas Landes who is in charge of the center. “Our goals here are the development of products which are easy to use,” said Dr. Landes. “Seed treatment is one of the most target oriented crop protection measures you can imagine.” …
BASF Ecotoxicology
Okay, so if Dr. Speakman was excited about fungi, Dr. Christoph Kunast is simply buggy about insects. Kunast’s job with BASF is ecotoxoxicology, which he explains “is the science of side effects of chemicals against living organisms.” “What we must ensure for registration purposes is that these side effects are acceptable,” said Kunast. What that means is politically driven to …
BASF Fungi Guy
This is a guy who really loves fungi. Mycologist Dr. John-Bryan Speakman is a research scientist with BASF Fungicide Research and you wouldn’t believe how excited he can get talking about fungi. But some of them are really very pretty. I never knew there were so many different types of fungi with so many colors and shapes and sizes. We …
Pioneer Known in Ukraine
Since our sponsor for coverage of this year’s IFAJ Congress is Pioneer I couldn’t help but post a picture of Jurii Mikhailov, Univest Media, Ukraine. Jurii was sporting his Pioneer t-shirt during our first full day of activities. We’ve had a chance to spend some time talking with Jurii and like with all the participants there’s lots we can learn …
IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism
A main sponsor for the IFAJ Congress here in Japan is Alltech. One of their representatives traveling with us is Billy Frey. He was onstage presenting the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Awards. Cindy was there while I was working in another location at the time so I’m not sure who is on stage with Billy here. Maybe somebody …
Back Online in Sendai
I’m back online here in Sendai, Japan on Thursday morning. It’s a beautiful day here. Cindy and I elected not to tour today. We were so exhausted by the time we got in last night that we needed some time to relax. Most of our IFAJ group is out on one of 4 different tours. They’re going overnight and won’t …
Prescreening Process for BASF
Making new compounds for crop protection is no overnight process and we got to learn a little bit about how it is done during our visit to the BASF research facility in Limburgerhof, Germany last week. Our first stop at the research facility was prescreening, where Dr. Franz Rohl explained some of the steps they take in looking at the …
Future is in the Genes
According to the President and CEO of BASF Plant Science Dr. Hans Kast, the future is in the genes for agriculture. Kast gave ag journalists an overview of that future in Germany last week. “Plant biotechnology will play a crucial role in ensuring that the rapidly growing population continues to have a sufficient supply of high quality food,” said Kast. …
Last BASF Execs Interview
Finally we have “escaped” from our non-stop tour activities here in Japan so maybe I can clear out all my interviews from Germany and Brussels, which seems like it was a month ago. The last of our interviews with BASF executives was Markus Heldt, who is group vice president for BASF North American Ag Chem. In this photo, he is …
Consumers Tempted by Tender Beef
The beef industry isn’t just asking “Where’s the beef?” anymore, but “How’s your beef?” Elanco Animal Health says research shows consumers spend more for tender and tasty beef. Consumers tell us that tenderness and taste are two of the most important attributes when they are evaluating their beef eating experience. They want tender beef and are willing to pay for …