Plato is quoted as saying “He was a wise man who invented beer.” With craft beers all the rage now, a wise brewery is taking a second look at corn as a main ingredient. Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland calls its new brew Agave Cerveza. Our latest Brewhouse Rarities release, Agave Cerveza, is the artisanal answer to the easy-drinking, …
USDA Predicts Record Corn and Soybean Crops
A little bit more corn and a lot more soybeans compared to last year is what USDA is forecasting in the latest report out today. U.S. soybean producers are expected to produce a record 3.82 billion bushels in 2014, up 16 percent from last year according to the Crop Production report issued today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National …
Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy
This is the first of a four part series on Nutrient Management sponsored by FS/GROWMARK In March of 2013, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hosted a meeting of stakeholders to announce the beginning of a statewide Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Marcia Willhite, chief of the Illinois EPA Bureau of Water, says the first step in implementing this strategy was to get …
SPADE Digs into Data Sharing
Many booths at the recent InfoAg Conference sported this little sign: AgGateway – SPADE Participant. We caught up with AgGateway Standards Director Jim Wilson at the John Deere booth to learn more about the SPADE project. “SPADE stands for Standardized Precision Ag Data Exchange,” Wilson explained. As a non-profit industry consortium, AgGateway is facilitating the project which will ultimately benefit …
Farmer Veteran Coalition to Hold Stakeholders Conference
Organizations that support military veterans pursuing food, farming, and agricultural careers will gather in November to hold a stakeholders conference. The event will be hosted by the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC), in coordination with the Drake University Agricultural Law Center (ALC), November 14-15, 2014 at Drake University Olmsted Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The conference is being held to “empower …
Minnesota Congressman at Ethanol Conference
The American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Minneapolis this week honored Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota with its highest award for supporters of ethanol, the Merle Anderson award. Anderson, known to many as the Father of Ethanol, presented Peterson with the award, as well as an ethanol lapel pin and a big five dollar contribution for his campaign. Peterson says …
Missouri Right to Farm Vote Tomorrow
It’s down to the wire in the final push for the Missouri Right to Farm amendment and the opposition, led by the Humane Society of the United States is pulling out all the stops. “Humane Society of the US has put in nearly a half a million dollars in (opposition to) the issue,” says Missouri Farm Bureau president Blake Hurst. …
Deere Driving Technology for the Bottom Line
John Deere was a major sponsor of the InfoAg 2014 Conference last week in St. Louis, as they have been since the beginning, according to Jerry Roell, Director of Business Development for Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group. “It’s a great way for the industry to learn about precision ag, it’s grown now and it shows the passion and the interest,” said …
IDEAg Fests Coming up in August
The IDEAg Minnesota Farmfest and IDEAg Dakotafest are both coming up in the month of August and both offer new and improved media facilities. Farmfest is scheduled for Aug. 5-7, at the Gilfillan Estate in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and Dakotafest is Aug. 19-21, at Schlaffman Farm in Mitchell, South Dakota. They are two of the IDEAg branded farm shows that …
GROWMARK Names New Vice President for Agronomy
GROWMARK has announced the appointment of Mark Orr as Vice President of Agronomy, succeeding Jim Spradlin who was recently named GROWMARK CEO-elect. “Mark brings proven leadership experience and an excellent understanding of retail agronomy marketing and operations to this role,” Spradlin said. Orr began his career in the GROWMARK System career in 1990 at Schuyler-Brown FS. He served as controller …