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 …
PrecisionAg Legacy Awards
There were two PrecisionAg Institute Legacy award winners recognized this year at the InfoAg 2014 Conference in St. Louis. Dr. Scott Shearer, Professor and Chair of the Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Ohio State University, was recognized for his work in spectral and spatial image processing in agriculture and controls and methodologies for metering and distribution of inputs …
Welcome to the MapShots AgStudio Expo
The 2014 InfoAg Expo kicks off tomorrow at St. Louis Union Station, but prior to that event, MapShots has brought in about 140 farmers and crop consultants for an AgStudio Expo today. “Little day session that goes through some of the aspects of AgStudio and that line of products from the farm version to the pro version,” said Clint Ingram …
Serious Thoughts from a Funny Guy
Damian Mason is a seriously funny guy. Chuck interviewed him twice last year – at the NAMA conference and then again at the O.H. Kruse event – but the first time I have seen him was over the weekend at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, and I suspect it won’t be the last. He is making a name for himself …