USDA’s new planted acreage report out this morning says corn acres are two percent higher than last year, but that is down a point from the March report with more acres are going to soybeans. Corn planted area for all purposes in 2010 is estimated at 87.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Acreage is up in Illinois, …
Farm Foundation Spotlights Zoonoses
I have to admit, I have never heard the word “zoonoses” until today. Up until now, I would have thought that “zoonoses” were the prominent part on the faces of animals that are primarily used for smelling. But, no – actually, the definition of zoonoses would be those infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans or visa …
New Soybean Federation Officers and Affiliates
The year-old U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF) has two new state affiliates and new officers to announce. According to a news release, the Minnesota Soybean Federation (MSF) and the Oklahoma Soybean Federation (OSF) have joined USSF as state affiliates. They join the Nebraska Soybean Federation, Missouri Soybean Association, Oklahoma Soybean Federation and the Minnesota Soybean Federation as part of the group …
Farm Bureau Outlines Farm Bill Principles
The House Agriculture Committee has been holding hearings already to get input on the 2012 Farm Bill. Last week, the committee heard from representatives of major agricultural organizations about farm safety net programs. Among those testifying was Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation, who noted that farmers in every state rely in …
Novus World Pork Expo Podcasting
Have you checked out “What’s New with Novus” lately? Jill Mahoney, Novus International PR specialist, is the host of the company’s twice monthly podcast, which they started last year. She recorded a couple of them at World Pork Expo with the many Novus experts who were there to talk with pork producers, like Randy Anderson, National Pork Sales Manager. Jill …
BASF Eco-Efficiency Model Shows Headline Benefits
The biggest news out of the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit was the first Eco-Efficiency Analysis for corn in the Midwest, both with and without the fungicide Headline. The reason it was relevant is that it shows the potential for measuring sustainability. During a breakout session at the summit, BASF vice president for Crop Protection Marty Mascianica got into …
Crop Protection Needed to Feed the World
Combine increasing global population and decreasing land availability with pests and diseases that like the same crops we do and you get a continued demand for crop protection tools to feed the world. The problem is that the public in general views pesticides as unsafe, even though they both safe and necessary, according Dr. Jeff Driver, a toxicologist with George …
International Visitors Enjoy World Pork Expo
More than 20,000 producers from 30 countries and over 400 exhibitors, including Novus International, celebrated the pork industry’s return to profitability during the 2010 World Pork Expo in Des Moines last week. One of the international visitors who stopped by the Novus tent at WPX was Leonardo Cuevas, a consultant from Chile, who said the event provided him with lots …
Novus Introduces Sow Program at World Pork Expo
New from Novus International at the World Pork Expo this year was the Equalizing Sow Performance program designed to optimize herd production. I talked with Randy Anderson (left), who is the National Pork Business Sales Manager for Novus, about the sow program, which he says is basically a combination of their MINTREX® and ZORIEN® products. “We’re feeding the sows through …
Positive PRRS Progress
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) was proud to present some positive progress on the control and eradication of Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) at World Pork Expo last week. First, they held a PRRS Area Regional Control workshop on Wednesday and Thursday that was for producers and veterinarians to find out what they can do to implement ARC. On …