The Illinois Soybean Association is offering a special deal for Illinois farmers to become members during Farm Progress Show that offers a pretty substantial return on investment. “For $145, they’re going to get a three year membership,” says ISA chairman Matt Hughes of Shirley, Illinois. “They also get a free toy semi, $100 worth of free biodiesel and 100 units …
2011 Farm Progress Show Opens
Welcome to the first day of the 2011 Farm Progress Show. A crowd gathered at the opening gates to enter at 8:00 am, led by a custom Orange County Chopper, sponsored by DeKalb. Chuck was up on the Sukup grain bin and shot video of the entrance, which will be added here soon. We are having a few connectivity issues …
Illinois Corn Growers at Farm Progress Show
One of our first stops coming in on pre-opening day at the Farm Progress Show was at the Illinois Corn Growers tent, where Chuck posed with his Illinois Family Farmers t-shirt and Illinois Corn Communications Director Tricia Braid while I got to interview her. Tricia says the IL Corn exhibit really has two main themes – with race cars outside …
Illinois Farm Bureau is Proud GROWMARK Parent
As GROWMARK enters its 85th year, the Illinois Farm Bureau (ILFB) is proud to have watched the cooperative grow into something bigger and better over the years. “The GROWMARK system started under the auspices of Illinois Farm Bureau years ago, so we’re kind of the parent of the organization,” said ILFB president Philip Nelson at the cooperative’s annual meeting last …
Dale Minyo Speaks at Mavis Farm Stop on CTIC Tour
It’s always great to see farm broadcasters as featured speakers at events, so it was fun to see our good friend Dale Minyo with the Ohio Ag Net as luncheon speaker at the Conservation Technology Information Center tour August 9 in Northwest Ohio. Dale talked about the importance of messaging for agriculture. “Sometimes we’ve got to clear up the message,” …
John Deere Goes Way Back With CTIC
John Deere has been a partner with CTIC since the T stood for Tillage. Now the T stands for Technology, and John Deere’s relationship with the Conservation Technology Information Center is stronger than ever. “John Deere was a founding member with CTIC back in 1982,” said John Deere product manager Pauley Bradley on the recent CTIC 2011 Conservation in Action …
Difference Between Herbicide Tolerance and Resistance
The problem of resistant weeds, especially glyphosate-resistant broadleaf weeds, continues to become more worrisome, but some weeds have always had a tolerance for certain weed killers. BASF Herbicide Technical Market Manager Dr. Dan Westberg says there’s is a difference between resistant weeds and tolerant weeds. “Tolerant weeds are ones that a herbicide never really controlled in the first place,” Dan …
GROWMARK Reports Record Sales, 2nd Best Year
GROWMARK CEO Jeff Solberg had great news for the system’s stakeholders at the Annual Meeting in Chicago Friday. “Our sales this year are $8.5 billion, which is a record level of sales for us,” Jeff said. “A lot of that is price inflation, we’re a commodity based business, but we also have a lot of volume growth there – higher …
BIVI’s New State of the Art Research Facility
It may not look like much on the outside, but the new Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) livestock vaccine research facility in Sioux Center, Iowa is everything a pig could want on the inside. “It’s a state of the art facility,” said Dr. Phil Hayes, BIVI Executive Director for Biologicals Development. “To demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of new vaccines, we …
GROWMARK Annual Meeting is Value Driven
The theme of the 2011 GROWMARK Annual Meeting is Value Driven and there are over 1,000 stakeholders attending the meeting in Chicago this week. I spent a few minutes with Dan Kelley, Chairman of the Board and President of GROWMARK, prior to the opening reception Thursday night about what value-driven means to GROWMARK. “The GROWMARK system has historically been recognized …