The “new format” is now in its second year. That is the new format of the annual Beltwide Cotton Conferences. The conferences have been slimmed down to three days and there is no trade show. I missed last year’s in New Orleans but thanks to my sponsor, Nufarm, I am able to spend a day here in San Antonio. To …
AgNerd Cloud – Ayrstone Ayrmesh
It’s time for another edition of the AgNerd Cloud, a fairly regular column on new technology for the farm. In this program we’ll learn about how you can obtain a good internet cloud on your property that can include remote ethernet connections via a new wireless device! Thanks to Bill Moffitt, Ayrstone Productivity, for working with us by supplying some …
Four Industry Trends for 2015
Looking for what some of the trends in agriculture will be in 2015? Well, Bo Warren, director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Agribusiness, has four key ones for you. In this week’s program he talks about them. Precision agriculture will become more precise The FAA has been paying close attention to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as the technology …
PacificAg Can Help Growers Increase Profits in 2014
The largest and most experienced biomass harvest company in the country is helping growers see increased profits in the emerging biomass markets. The company provides a comprehensive suite of services that allow growers to further diversify their operations and experience additional revenue. PacificAg started in the residue management business nearly 20 years ago harvesting forage crops for feed in Oregon …
Future of Ag Apps
In my last program the focus was on ag gadgets. This week’s the focus is more on apps. This isn’t about all different kinds of specific apps. It’s more about where we’re at with apps and what we can expect in 2015. I had a conversation with ag app man, Aaron Hutchinson, iCropTrak. His company has been a long time …
Bayer Encourages Comments on Neonic Benefits
Farmers and other stakeholders have only a few days left to comment on the EPA report about the “Benefits of Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments to Soybean Production” which finds little or no overall benefits. The comment period concludes on December 22. Dr. Becky Langer, Bayer CropScience Bee Care Program manager, says they developed a platform for people to comment on the …
2015 Interest Rates for Rural America
Brian O’Keane, Executive Vice President of AgriBank, spoke with our intern, Taylor Truckey, during Trade Talk at the 2014 National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s annual meeting. AgriBank is one of four banks in the Farm Credit system. Their main priority is accessing capital from Wall Street and making that available for borrowers in rural America. “If you look at the …
How BASF Flo-Rite Helps Increase Yields
Keeping seed treatment on the seed to retain the active ingredient at maximum capacity is one of the main benefits of BASF’s Flo Rite Plantability Seed Coating and that benefits growers at harvest time. “Our Flo Rite plantability polymer acts as a thin film coating that locks that seed treatment on the seed and keeps it there where a grower …
NFU Disagrees with RFS Report Recommendations
The National Farmers Union (NFU) represented agriculture on a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) advisory group that helped develop a new report on “Options for Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard.” “It was very important that agriculture that supports the renewable fuels industry be present at the table,” said NFU vice president of programs Chandler Goule, who notes that while the meetings …
The AgNerd Cloud
Welcome to a new regular column I will be publishing on all things AgNerdish. I’m calling it the Cloud since the cloud covers everything and is one of the hottest things developing in the AgNerd world. This week’s ZimmCast gets things started with a discussion I had with Willie Vogt, Editorial Director, Penton Farm Progress. Like me, he loves new …