The entire ZimmComm Team was present for this year’s Farm Progress Show and as expected it was packed with interviews, press conferences, photography and of course, lots of blogging. But don’t worry it wasn’t all work and no play. Leah and I took advantage of Farm Progress Show, Iowa State Center and Syngenta’s sponsorship of the first of many to …
GROWMARK CEO Retiring Comments
After 38 years with one company, GROWMARK chief executive officer Jeff Solberg, has announced his retirement. Solberg joined GROWMARK in 1976 and has held many leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, Finance, Vice President, Finance, and Treasurer. He was named CEO in November 2010 and assumed the CEO duties in January 2011. “My goal was to always become the Chief Financial …
AgInfomatics Identying the Benefits of Insecticides
I learned a lot this week during the Farm Progress Show but one particular thing I learned about was neonicotinoids. Until I met Pete Nowak with Madison, Wisconsin-based AgInfomatics and an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison, I had never heard the term nor had any idea what it meant. Now I do. So let’s go to school …
BASF Farm Perspectives Survey
At the Farm Progress Show this week, BASF released a new Farm Perspectives Study, conducted earlier this year, comparing consumer and farmer viewpoints on agriculture-related issues based on opinions from more than 9,000 people in seven different countries. “This is actually the second study, it was first conducted in 2011,” said BASF Technical Crop Production Specialist AJ Woodyard. Conducted in …
Summit Group Announces Corn Ethanol Plant in Brazil
Alden, Iowa-based Summit Group announced a project to build the first modern corn ethanol plant in Brazil during the 2014 Farm Progress Show. The project will consist of a US$140 million ethanol plant near Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso, a leading agricultural state in west central Brazil and the country’s largest producer of corn and soybeans. The project …
FMC Partners with John Deere Financial
Adam Prestegord is an oilseed and cereals crop segment manager for FMC who has recently partnered with John Deere Financial to offer several offers for growers to finance key crop inputs. I learned more about this initiative from Prestegord during the 2014 Farm Progress Show held in Boone, Iowa. FMC was a sponsor of our coverage of the event. “We’ve …
Land Values Showing Softness Across Illinois
The Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers announced during the 2014 Farm Progress Show held this week in Boone, IA that prices being paid for farmland across Illinois have seen a “softening” from 2.0 percent to 4.1 percent. This was discovered during the organization’s Midyear Land Values Snapshot Survey. The decline was found for the first half …
EPA Official Talks WOTUS at FPS
Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks held an informal press availability at the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to mainly talk about the proposed Waters of the United States rule. He stressed the point that has been made by other officials that the rule exempts all normal farming practices that are currently exempt. “If you did not need …
FMC Capture LFR & the Zone of Protection
It’s time to talk about the Zone of Protection offered by FMC’s Capture LFR Insecticide. I first heard this term from Gail Stratman, the Midwest technical sales lead for FMC who spoke with Cindy this week. FMC was one of our sponsors for the 2014 Farm Progress Show. Capture LFR is an insecticide that is specifically designed to combine, or …
Corn Growers at Farm Progress Show
National Corn Growers Association officers were out in force at the 2014 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa this week. Right out of the gate on the first day I met up with NCGA chairwoman Pam Johnson of Iowa, First VP Chip Bowling of Maryland, and President Martin Barbre of Illinois. It was a soggy start to the show on …