Monsanto Summer Learning Opportunities

Melissa Sandfort

Farmers throughout the country will have many opportunities to attend learning events this summer as the industry pushes for more education on diversified weed management practices (DWMPs) and insight into the seed, trait and herbicide technologies expected to soon become available. A greater number of in-field, educational events in 2013 reflects the motivation of academics, farmers, manufacturers and retailers to …

Agribusiness

New Ag Leader Responsive Website

Melissa Sandfort

Growers using a smartphone, tablet or laptop will now have an optimized experience when visiting agleader.com, thanks to the launch of Ag Leader’s new responsive website. “Responsive web design is an approach that businesses are implementing to provide users with the best possible viewing experience, no matter what device they are using,” explains Jake Smith, web developer for Ag Leader …

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

First Annual Ozarks Bacon Festival

Melissa Sandfort

It was bound to happen and now it is official – KOZL and the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds are putting on the first annual Ozarks Bacon Festival. Ozarks Bacon Fest – a tribute to Bacon, Bourbon & Beer – holds its inaugural tasting event on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds E-Plex. Tickets give tguests accss to a …

Agribusiness, Food, Pork

The Seasons of a Farmer

Melissa Sandfort

Hi! I am Melissa’s Aunt Jeanette. I would like to invite you to take a stroll with me until Melissa walks with you again. Although teaching was my chosen career, I grew up on a farm and also married a farmer. That last thing – marrying a farmer – was something I said I would never do, but I guess …

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Studying Affects of Weather and Climate on Cattle

Melissa Sandfort

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded $19.5 million to support research, education and Extension activities associated with climate solutions in agriculture aimed at the impacts of climate variability and change on dairy and beef cattle. USDA remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. The announcement is one part of the Department’s efforts …

Agribusiness, Beef, Research, USDA

Roll with the Changes

Melissa Sandfort

I’m a child of the 80s, and I think the best part of the era was the music. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to roll down the window, rest your arm along the edge, let your hair down and cruise. It reminds me of summer evenings, fishing along the river and cutting up my feet from …

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Ag Leader Summer Dealer & Customer Training

Melissa Sandfort

Ag Leader offers a variety of SMS™ training sessions to help answer grower and dealer questions about the software. Today, we caught up with Jessica Ahrens, Ag Leader training specialist, and asked her: • What’s new this year? • How do these training sessions set Ag Leader apart from other precision ag companies? • Why is attending a training important …

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Paving the Way

Melissa Sandfort

Three years ago when we moved from Denver back to my rural hometown in Nebraska, I had driven to town to go to the bank and on my way out, noticed that the clock read 5:00 p.m. I immediately thought, “Oh no, leaving town right during rush hour.” Then I laughed out loud. Rush hour in a town of 3,500 …

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Barriers to Using Precision Ag

Melissa Sandfort

Have you seen Joe Neighbor in town at the local precision ag dealer, asking questions, smiling and nodding his head, followed by a hand-shake … then a month or so later, in the cab of his tractor multi-tasking on different screens while talking on his smart phone? Did you wonder how he knew what questions to ask regarding what was …

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

So what was it really like?

Melissa Sandfort

After listening to hours worth of stories from my grandfather about old farm machinery, hand tools and butchering livestock, it dawned on me I’d never asked the most generic question of the farmer sitting in front of me: What was it like to be a farmer back in the 30s and 40s? And by that I mean, describe a typical …

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