The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting marks the end of Mark Herrmann’s service as Chair of the organization. For the past year he has lead the group in some major changes and successes, including the passing of a federal GMO bill. “The GMO transparency bill being a federal bill, as opposed to the patchwork that was being done …
Panel Offers Food Company Perspectives
The Opening Session of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting featured three speakers offering “Perspectives from Today’s Major Food Companies.” John Wiebold from General Mills, Jenny Verner from Cargill, Inc., and Autumn Price representing Land O’Lakes each addressed the audience before participating in a panel discussion and taking questions from the audience. Each spoke of the challenges of …
The GROWMARK Endure Initiative Grows
The GROWMARK Endure sustainability initiative is enduring. For the second year GROWMARK has announced winners of the Endure 4R Advocate award. They are: Adam Dexter – West Central FS – Williamsfield, Illinois Don Jones – GROWMARK FS – New York/Pennsylvania Jay Matthews – AgVantage FS – Charles City, Iowa John Musser – Stephenson Service Company – Stockton, Illinois Nicole Weber …
Trump Commits to Agriculture in Iowa
President Donald Trump stood among various models of John Deere and Case IH farm equipment as he pledged to boost agriculture exports, loosen federal regulations on the agriculture industry, and support ethanol and biofuels yesterday while speaking to a crowd of about 250 at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Today we are celebrating the dignity of work and …
Joe Funk Earns ASTA Distinguished Service Award
Joe Funk, Editor at SEED TODAY, was selected as this year’s American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Distinguished Service Award winner. He was honored during the Opening General Session of the ASTA Annual convention in Minneapolis, MN. The award is given to a member who has made a significant contribution both to ASTA and the seed industry. “Joe has been faithfully …
ASTA Annual Conference in Full Swing
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual conference is in full swing in Minneapolis, MN with both Cindy and Kelly on the ground to bring you all the news. To kick off our coverage of the event Cindy spoke with President and CEO Andy LaVigne about the past year’s work and what ASTA hopes to accomplish at the conference for the …
Joe Swedberg to Lead Farm Foundation Board
Joe C. Swedberg of Longmont, CO., was elected to serve as chairman of the Board of Directors of Farm Foundation on June 9th at the Board’s annual meeting in Charlottesville, VA, succedding Mark Scholl from Owensboro, KY. Larkin Martin, Courtland, AL, was elected to serve as Vice Chair. In addition to the election, the Farm Foundation Trust Agreement name has …
Bayer Celebrates National Pollinator Week
To celebrate National Pollinator Week, Bayer Bee Care has granted funding to 58 projects that will focus on forage planting. Projects in more than 30 states and Washington D.C. and will recieve between $1,000 and $5,000 in hopes of meeting Feed a Bee‘s latest initiative of forage planting in every state by the end of 2018. “It’s thrilling to see …
NCGA Moves Forward with Farmer Success
It should be noted that the efforts of growers to create healthier soils and cleaner water are having an impact, which is why the National Corn Growers Association is taking that momentum forward. Last week the staff of the NCGA in Illinois, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio met to learn more about the balance between …
Volvo Trucks Improve Sugar-Cane Harvest
Volvo’s new self-steering truck is changing the Brazilian sugar-cane harvest with precision steering through the fields to avoid damage to young plants that will grow into next year’s crop. Currently, growers face a four percent loss each season as plants are run over by vehicles, meaning each of these trucks has the potential to save tens of thousands of U.S. …