Cogent3D, makers of iCropTrak, have taken soil sampling to a whole new level for farmers this fall. Aaron Hutchinson, Cogent3D president and co-founder, says they took the best practices from their dedicated soil sampling apps and feedback from soil sampling customers to upgrade iCropTrak Soil Sampling capabilities. “iCropTrak is the third generation of our farming technologies that we’ve built,” he …
Catfish on the Farm Bill Conference Plate
Catfish was a word only heard once in the first farm bill conference committee meeting, giving some hope that it might be one of the less contentious issues in completing the legislation. “We’re certainly hopeful of that,” says Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, which has been actively engaged in the push to repeal the USDA catfish inspection program …
#FarmBill Trends on Twitter
People actually seemed to be paying attention to the first House Senate Conference Committee meeting on the farm bill Wednesday. #FarmBill was a trending topic on Twitter for awhile during the meeting. There were lots of tweets on the King amendment regarding interstate commerce of agricultural products since HSUS is opposed to it, and also plenty of #SNAP comments. There …
Open Mic with Sen. Klobuchar
New on Agri-Pulse this week: As House and Senate leaders head into a farm bill conference meeting, Sen. Amy Klobuchar provides keen insight on the negotiations. She says the challenge is to merge the reductions in spending, contained in the House of Representatives Farm Bill, with the more moderate reductions in the Senate bill and to mediate those provisions in …
DialogueNEXT Panels at World Food Prize
Novus International president and CEO Thad Simons moderated a two-part panel discussion on the next generation and what technologies will be “enabling smallholder farmers in the future to be part of the agricultural revolution.” The panels focused on “Capacity and Capitol” in the morning and “Beyond the Big Idea” in the afternoon. “We were happy to be able to show …
GROWMARK Supports Kleckner Fellowship
One of the many ways that GROWMARK participates in the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue is through support of the Truth About Trade and Technology (TATT)Kleckner Fellowship. GROWMARK Corporate Relations Specialist Karen Jones attended the World Food Prize events for the first time this year, the first time they have helped sponsor the fellowship, which was created last year in …
Rep. Kristi Noem Unplugged
Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) took advantage of last Thursday’s bonus day off from Congress to head back west and meet with some of her peeps at the AgFirst Farmers Cooperative in Aurora, SD. Noem, who is a member of the farm bill conference committee scheduled to begin meeting this week, kicked back with a couple of the coop members and …
John Deere Supports Global Harvest Initiative
One of the many agricultural companies represented at the World Food Prize symposium last week in Des Moines was John Deere, which is a member of the Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) along with companies such as Elanco, DuPont Pioneer, and Monsanto. I spoke with Cory Reed, Senior VP of John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group, about the release of GHI’s 4th …
Monsanto Research Center Groundbreaking
Monsanto celebrated the groundbreaking of a $400 million Chesterfield Village Research Center expansion this week, marking what they are calling the “next generation for agriculture and St. Louis.” According to the company, the new global hub for research, development and agricultural innovation will create 675 new jobs in St. Louis over the next three years. “Our Chesterfield expansion is focused …
Future of Ag Technology and Investment
Executives from DuPont Pioneer, Elanco and Monsanto all participated in a panel discussion at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue last week on “Research and Returns: The Future of Agricultural Technology and Investment.” “In general, we’re talking about the importance of continued investment and innovation and taking it even further to consumer acceptance,” said panelist Rob Aukerman, President of US/Canada …