USDA has no plans to regulate “plants that could otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding techniques as long as they are not plant pests or developed using plant pests,” according to an announcement yesterday from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). This includes a set of new techniques that are increasingly being used by plant breeders to …
John Deere Connected Support Helps Dealers Help Growers
John Deere Connected Support™ Expert Alerts was honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) with the AE50 Award for 2018 as one of the most innovative designs in product engineering in the food and agriculture industry. But for John Deere dealers, what it means is helping their customers reduce downtime and save money, and that gives …
Precision Ag Bytes 3/28
A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service finds that despite higher winter loss rates, the number of U.S. honey bee colonies has remained stable or risen between 1996 and 2016. The report, “Effects and Responses to Changes in Honey Bee Health” provides an overview of the pollination services market and examines empirical data on pollinated crop production, pollination service …
ZimmCast 578 from Ag Week in DC
Last week was a busy one in Washington, DC with National Ag Day Activities, the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit and American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual Fly-in. It was a week of crazy weather, including six inches of snow the second day of spring, but all events went as planned and were all very successful and well attended. …
Soil Health Partnership Grows and Changes
As the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) heads into its fourth year of long-term data collection on working farms, the National Corn Growers Association initiative (NCGA) continues to grow and change. Nick Goeser, who has served as the project’s director since its launch in 2014, has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Production and Sustainability for the National …
Walker Retires from Case IH
Case IH Vice President in North America Jim Walker has retired from the company after more than 11 years, and Scott Harris, current vice president of CASE Construction, will transition to Case IH and lead the brand as vice president for the North American region. The company made the announcement Monday. “Jim’s leadership has made a significant impact on the …
Easter Eggs Are Up in Farm Bureau Survey
Your Easter basket is just a little pricier this year, according to the lastest American Farm Bureau Federation Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey. Higher retail prices for several foods including eggs, orange juice, meat products, bagged salad, shredded cheddar and vegetable oil contributed to the overall increase of two percent compared to last year. The informal survey showed the total cost …
Agri-Pulse Summit Hits Timely Trade Topics
Trade was definitely in the spotlight last week as the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit was being held. Speakers included Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Agricultural Trade, and Food Assistance Ray Starling, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and USTR Chief …
FMC Offers Season Long Disease Protection
FMC ever-growing portfolio of products offers corn, soybean and wheat farmers season-long protection from the top disease threats. At Commodity Classic, FMC Technical Service Manager Matt Wiggins was talking about the three primary solutions they offer for diseases such as Northern corn leaf blight, grey leaf spot, frog-eye leaf spot, target spot, and white mold in soybeans, rust and head …
Liberty Weed Control Guarantee Returns
For the second year, Bayer is offering the Liberty® Weed Control Guarantee on the effective weed control of Liberty herbicide. Heading into the 2018 season, growers who use Liberty can look forward to clean fields, thanks to the herbicide’s effective weed control and the guarantee. To qualify, growers must talk to their retailer about local requirements and S.T.O.P. Weeds with …