Hear ye, hear ye! New daddy and heir to the British throne will be studying agriculture in 2014. A royal press release has announced that Prince William, otherwise known as the Duke of Cambridge, “is to undertake a 10-week bespoke programme in agricultural management, organised by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.” The course has …
BASF Announces Plans for 2014
BASF recently announced plans to expand its services and initiatives for growers and agricultural professionals worldwide in 2014 through a significant investment in the development of new IT tools. “The initiatives that were announced reflect the very strong commitment by BASF to the agricultural industry to provide modern tools to help growers get the most out of every acre,” said …
Cow That Stole Christmas 10 Years Later
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the “cow that stole Christmas” – a day that will live in infamy for the U.S. cattle industry and one that Kendal Frazier with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association remembers well. Kendal recalls that NCBA received a phone call from USDA at 1:30 pm on December 23, 2003. “We immediately started to implement …
ASTA Takes Seed Theft Seriously
As the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) was concluding its annual seed research conference and trade show in Chicago last week, word came that arrests had been made in two separate conspiracies to steal seed and trade secrets of U.S. companies. ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says they were pleased that the U.S. government took swift action on a …
BASF Advanced Seed Enhancement is Global
At the ASTA CSS 2013 and Seed Expo last week, we heard about the BASF portfolio of Advanced Seed Enhancements including inoculants, colorants, and biological and chemical seed treatments. Much of this new portfolio comes from the BASF acquisition of Becker Underwood in late 2012, according to Alyson Emanuel, Vice President of Global Business Management for BASF Functional Crop Care. …
International Seed Federation Update
Illinois Foundation Seeds president Tim Johnson is currently serving as the elected president of the International Seed Federation (ISF), which represents seed industry interests on a global level. Tim gave an ISF update during the first general session of the ASTA 2013 CSS last week, first pointing out to attendees that as members of the American Seed Trade Association they …
AgAccord is Complete
The big topic at last year’s ASTA CSS 2013 and Seed Expo was The Accord, which is an industry agreement developed to provide a mechanism to transition from proprietary biotech events to off-patent or generic biotech events. Just prior to the expo this year, the second part of what is now called the AgAccord was opened up for signature. That …
ASTA Chair Looks Ahead to Annual Meeting
Finally caught up with American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) chairman Craig Newman as I was heading out of the hotel to go home Friday morning so I caught a quick interview. Craig says the expo this year was great with a record number of exhibitors. “In fact, it’s just bulging,” he said. “Sometimes we think that the industry’s consolidating when …
BASF’s Advanced Seed Enhancement Platform
At the ASTA CSS 2013 and Seed Expo this week we had the opportunity to learn more about BASF’s Advanced Seed Enhancement platform which includes a number of important products that can accomplish increased emergence and help farmers get more from every acre. Those products include Vault HP plus Integral for soybeans, Stamina F3 for cereals, and Flo Rite Plantability …
Sonny Ramaswamy at ASTA CSS 2013
The Director of USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture Sonny Ramaswamy gave a presentation on “Setting the Table for a Hotter, Flatter, More Crowded Earth” during the opening general session at the ASTA CSS 2013 on Thursday with a focus on how public sector research and private sector support need to work together to feed our growing population. Ramaswamy …