Missouri cotton farmer and Chairman of the National Cotton Council Charles Parker welcomed everyone to the 2012 Beltwide Cotton Conferences. His remarks kicked off the Beltwide Cotton Production Conference. Besides talking about this year’s conference Charles talked about the activities of the National Cotton Council during 2011. Following the opening remarks we heard about weather patterns in the cotton belt, …
The Environmental Footprint of Cotton
At the 2012 Beltwide Cotton Conferences the media received a preview of the Cotton Life Cycle Inventory & Life Cycle Assessment. This is a benchmark study for cotton sustainability. Cotton Incorporated announced today the completion of a comprehensive life cycle inventory and life cycle analysis of cotton products. The endeavor is part of the Cotton Foundation VISION 21 Project and …
MyWay RTK Grows in 2011
2011 has been a phenomenal growth year for MyWay RTK. The service was launched in the fall of 2010 to bring subscription-based Real Time Kinematic positioning and wireless Internet access to the state of Illinois. That has been more than accomplished with coverage throughout the entire state and base stations being added almost daily in other states from Iowa to …
Rhea + Kaiser A Year Later
It was just over a year ago that I started doing a series of interviews with the leadership at agricultural agencies. I started out with Diane Martin, President/CEO, Rhea + Kaiser and thought it very appropriate to talk with her again to see how things have been going at the agency. To start off, Diane says that things are going …
MaxVisor Provides Personal Grain Market Consulting
It’s that time of the year when many of us are looking back at the past year and ahead to the new year, especially when it comes to our finances. Farmers who are making a New Years resolution to consider options for managing risk should check out MaxVisor for consulting with a personal touch. “It is sit down, one on …
St. Louis Agribusiness Club
The St. Louis Agribusiness Club has gone through a number of changes since it was started many years ago. To learn how things are going with this unique organization I spoke with the current leadership. Here’s Molly Cline, President and Wendell Knehans, Vice President. We visited at last week’s regular club meeting. Molly says this is the 30th year for …
BASF Sponsors ASA Educational Podcasts
BASF is sponsoring a series of educational podcasts for the American Soybean Association. Here are three currently in the list that you might be interested in: This podcast recaps the 2011 soybean growing season with BASF Technical Market Manager, Nick Fassler. Developed by the American Soybean Association, this educational podcast is designed to provide growers with the latest information about …
AgChat Foundation Hires Executive Director
Big news from the AgChat Foundation today! Welcome Emily Zweber as the first Executive Director. It seems like it has been a long time coming to some of us board members but really, it hasn’t been. In fact, the AgChat Foundation is less than two years old. So let’s meet Emily: Zweber, an organic dairy farmer from Elko, Minn., will …
BASF Helps Custom Applicators in North Dakota
At the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) convention last week I had the opportunity to chat with Chris Wharam, a BASF tech services rep with in North Dakota, about how they help farmers and custom applicators in his state. Chris was already pretty familiar with the crop protection business before he took the job with BASF, since his family owns …
A FAPRI Farm Market Outlook
Patrick Westhoff is the Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a professor in the MU department of agricultural and applied economics. He was also our St. Louis Agribusiness Club speaker yesterday. I spoke with him beforehand since I had to leave early. He says his job was to talk about …