There is no question that AgNite is THE “go-to” event in the Twin Cities this second evening of the Republican National Convention. Organizers were expecting 3-4,000 and that expectation has been surpassed. As someone said, “What if you threw a party and everyone showed up?” It sure seems like that has happened here. One of the people responsible for making …
AgNite Will Help Hurricane Relief Efforts
The Minnesota Agri-Growth Council is the organization hosting AgNite in Minneapolis. Their President is Daryn McBeth, seen here being interviewed by Cindy. This was at the Feeding America food packing event held at their local network affiliate, Second Harvest Heartland. Second Harvest Heartland is also a member of the Council and Daryn says the unique partnerships between the food bank …
Second Harvest Heartland Potato Packing
Second Harvest Heartland of Minnesota pulled in volunteers from the Republican National Convention Tuesday to help pack close to a million pounds of potatoes at their headquarters warehouse in St. Paul. Executive Director Rob Zeaske says the potatoes are supplied by a generous donor from St. Cloud who prefers to remain anonymous. “Last year they gave us 750,000 pounds of …
More Monsanto Sustainability
The potential for increasing yields exists everywhere if you ask Michael Doane. Michael is the Sustainability Team Lead for Monsanto. He spoke at the Monsanto discussion on sustainability on the 2008 Farm Progress Show last week. After his speech, I caught up with him and we spoke more about how he thinks the world will answer the global food demands …
Biotechnology Feeds Sustainability, Feeds the World
Thirty-three percent of the land’s surface is used for food production. That’s the figure that John Hoffman, Iowa farmer and President of the American Soybean Association puts out there. He says that 33 percent makes up 55 percent of the land that’s arable. So, we’re already using more than half the arable land out there to feed the world. Much …
Farmers get FIT with Mapping
Pioneer is offering a new, free service that it says can give farmers more: more information and more uses for that information. Pioneer Hi-Bred’s FIT mapping combines GPS data with a free mapping service offering farmers detailed information about their crops, where they’re growing their crops and whether they’re growing them in way that maximizes their resources. Did I mention …
Searching for an IRON Solution
At the Farm Progress Show I got to meet the Canadian farm boy who is now the President and CEO of IRON Solutions. He’s Darwin Melnyk and he comes from western Canada. IRON Solutions had some major activity this summer when they were acquired by StarVest Partners, a New York venture capital firm. Darwin says the firm has given them …
PERC Makes Progress
At this summer’s farm shows you’ll see the folks at the Propane Education and Research Council providing support to various state groups. Here at the Farm Progress Show, Mark Leitman stopped by the AgWired table in the media tent. He says that PERC is supporting the Iowa Propane Gas Association. Mark says that farmers are stopping by their exhibit and …
New Holland Tedder Gets It Dried Faster
While I’m on the subject of hay equipment from New Holland, let’s add one more item. This one is the new H5270 Tedder. In the haymaker’s race against the rain, a New Holland H5270 six-rotor pull-type tedder provides the edge by fluffing heavy, damp crop and distributing it evenly for faster drydown. Dave says one of the improvements in this …
New Big Balers From New Holland
Small square balers aren’t the only new balers from New Holland. How about those big square balers? I spoke with Colin Skoronski in the New Holland exhibit about this big BB9060. New Holland is certainly making some style changes which you can see in the rounded edges for example. Colin says they’ve made a lot of improvements in this line …