According to a new survey of U.S. farmers and ranchers, the majority view biotechnology and GMO crops as an important solution in helping raise crops more efficiently. The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) surveyed over 280 farmers across the United States about their attitudes toward GMO crops and specifically the impact of biotechnology …
USDA Announces New GIPSA Rules
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday announced updated regulations under the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). The “Farmer Fair Practices Rules” outline “common sense protections to restore fairness and reduce the burden for farmers seeking justice under the Packers and Stockyards Act.” “For years, American farmers have been calling for protections against the most damaging unfair and deceptive practices …
DuPont Pioneer Virtual Pressers Unveil New Products
With the theme of “Innovation Elevates Performance for Growers,” DuPont Pioneer used virtual press conferences this week to unveil new corn and soybean products by region, and pulled it off with technical perfection! Technical issues are common even in simple telephone press conferences, so it was amazing to see one incorporate a phone feed with a live web feed including …
Sorghum Yield Winners Announced
This year’s winners of the National Sorghum Producers Yield Contest have been announced and the top yield for 2016 comes in at 208.40 bushels per acre. “The future looks really bright for the sorghum industry because of the way we’ve seen our national average yield increase and as we get closer to the 250 bushel per acre goal in this …
Vilsack Receives Norman Borlaug Medallion
At a special ceremony at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines last week, the World Food Prize Foundation honored the USDA and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Medallion. Ambassador Ken Quinn explained that the Borlaug Medallion, which was created to recognize institutions not eligible to receive the World Food Prize itself, …
Bayer Partners with ASTA for Communications
Bayer’s Crop Science division announced a new partnership with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) at last week’s ASTA CSS and Seed Expo in Chicago. David Hollinrake, VP Marketing for North America, says the partnership involves Bayer sponsoring the ASTA Communications Committee and sharing Bayer’s successful AgVocate initiative research and materials. “It’s really about engaging farmers and engaging all agriculturalists …
White is the New Black from @Clariant
Clariant used the ASTA CSS 2016 & Seed Expo to unveil their new Agrocer White 006 Dispersion pigment. As a leader in specialty chemicals, Clariant has created this new color using titanium dioxide to enhance the coverage of seeds and to be compatible with seed treatment pesticide formulations. The new addition makes the seventh important colorants for seed coatings offered …
BASF’s Future #Seed Giant at #ASTACSS
Justin Clark is a Technical Marketing Manager for BASF Ag Products who was named Future Giant of the Seed Industry by Seed World this year. At the ASTA CSS and Seed Expo, we talked with Clark about BASF’s recent agreement with FMC for in-furrow seed protection. “We think it’s a unique technology that addresses a grower need,” said Clark. “As …
Chromatin Talks #Sorghum at #ASTACSS
One of the S’s in ASTA CSS stands for sorghum and one of the sponsors for the American Seed Trade Association 71st Corn & Sorghum Seed Research Conference 46th Soybean Seed Research Conference and Seed Expo is a company that’s all about sorghum. “Chromatin is a sorghum-focused company – we only work in sorghum,” said Charles Miller, Chromatin vice president …
AgCompass Helps You Navigate Your Software
The technology has been around for years now but there is still some confusion when it comes to cloud computing or hosted software solutions and who can benefit from it most. Ken Wedig, who was retired from John Deere after 30 years, partnered with Everett Chambers in 2003 to create AgCompass, one of the pioneers in the technology which supports …