Ed Hegland is a farmer from Minnesota and currently serving as Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board. He stopped by the New Holland booth here at the Commodity Classic trade show where I got to talk to him about how equipment manufacturers are supporting biodiesel. Ed says that as a farmer he’s excited to see companies like New Holland and …
The 3 Amigos on Stage
Each year at the Commodity Classic general session we get to hear from the Presidents of the participating associations. Here they are on stage involved in an interactive discussion with moderator John Phipps. Pictured left to right are John Hoffman, ASA, Ron Litterer, NCGA and John Thaemert, NAWG. John starts out wondering how in the world these three guys got …
Classic Scholarships
BASF, the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association are supporting the future of agriculture by awarding scholarships to young people working towards careers in the industry. The first scholarship winners were announced today at a Commodity Classic news conference. I did interviews with all the winners who were here, which I will post later, but here is …
New Holland at Maximum Capacity
The head of the Cash Crop Segment for New Holland is Ed Barry who is here at Commodity Classic. He says they have a T8040 Tractor on display and a CR9060 Combine along with a lot of training aids. Business is good as evidenced by the somewhat short supply they currently have on equipment. He says that New Holland has …
Secretary Schafer Press Conference
After his speech Secretary Schafer met up with the press near the media room. You might find this more interesting than his speech since he gets to respond to specific questions. He fielded quite a few relating to the recent meat recall and made the point over and over that “the rules will be followed.” He said that although he …
Secretary Ed Schafer’s Commodity Classic Speech
Our Secretary of Agriculture made an appearance here at Commodity Classic. He took the stage after we heard from political analyst Charlie Cook who provided a pretty clear analysis of where we’re at with the Presidential campaign. I like the way session moderator John Phipps, U. S. Farm Report, described our Secretary as the “closer” following up on the work …
BASF Seed Treatment Portfolio
Craig Lindholm is marketing manager for seed treatments with the US Crop Protection division at BASF. He has some 28 years of experience in the seed treatment business and his enthusiasm for the technology was evident during his presentation to the media at the BASF Science Behind Seed Treatments symposium at the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville. Craig did a …
New Holland Mower Drawing
This afternoon the winner of the New Holland Zero Turn Radius Mower was drawn near the end of the opening trade show session. Pictured are Mike Adams, AgriTalk, who emceed the drawing, Gene Hemphill, New Holland and Bill Zurn (winner) and his wife Karolyn. Bill says he’s got a nice sized yard that the mower will be put to use …
Seed Treatment Revolution
Gary Munkvold is associate professor and Seed Science Endowed chair in the Iowa State University Department of Plant Pathology. His message at the BASF seed treatment symposium was that there is a seed treatment revolution taking place today. “Take a look at some of the things that have happened just in the last few years that have dramatically changed in …
Seed Treatment Increases Value
Steve Hawkins is managing director of The Context Network in West Des Moines, Iowa – and formally with Delta and Pine Land Company and Asgrow Seed Company. He was also one of the presenters at the BASF seed treatment media event at Commodity Classic this week. His topic was values within the seed industry. “Seed treatments have gone from protection …