Not too early to start thinking ahead to the 2013 Commodity Classic – especially since this year was such a record-setter! Building upon record-breaking numbers in 2012, next year’s event, scheduled for February 28 through March 2 in sunny Kissimmee, Florida, promises to be a winner. “There is already a great buzz building for next year’s trade show,” said 2013 …
American Ethanol on the NASCAR Track
The American Ethanol No. 3 Chevy made its debut recently at the Las Vegas Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 with rookie driver Austin Dillon finishing strong in 7th place. Representatives of American Ethanol partners, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and Growth Energy, were at the March 10 race – pictured here with RCR team owner (and Dillon’s grandfather) Richard …
FMC Stand Up and Be Heard Anthem Contest
How would you like a chance to sing the National Anthem on national tv? It’s possible if you win the FMC “Stand Up and Be Heard Anthem Contest.” We’re investing in farming’s future with our new Anthem™ herbicide (coming soon—EPA registration pending) and $25,000 in college scholarships as prizes in our Anthem Singing Contest. Beginning soon, enter by submitting a …
Pioneer FIT® Harvest Mapping System
During Commodity Classic Pioneer Hi-Bred was talking about farmers getting FIT®. At first I thought this was a new exercise program but it is actually the Pioneer FIT® Harvest Mapping System. I got the full explanation from John Chism, Pioneer Senior Marketing Manager. He says FIT stands for Field Information Tool. As farmers look to 2012 planting John says the …
Midwest 2011 Farm Mom of the Year
During the Commodity Classic I met April Hemmes, 2011 Midwest Region winner of the Monsanto Farm Mom of the Year contest. Thanks to Janice Person for taking the photo. April is the farmer in the family. Her husband works at a job in town. She was nominated by her daughter. Here’s an excerpt of the essay she wrote for the …
Important Issues to Sorghum Producers
During Commodity Classic I got to visit with Terry Swanson, Chairman, National Sorghum Producers. I asked him what his message is to not only sorghum producers but all the farmers belonging to the four commodity groups at Classic and he says, “We have to be unified.” He says that altogether they’re still a small group of people that need to …
Stabilized Nitrogen For Faster Plant Start
The Director for Agronomy for Koch Agronomic Services, Greg Schwab, visited with me in the media room at Commodity Classic. Greg runs the company research program. He says they have twenty five land grant universities working on their products. He coordinates that effort. Since it’s planting season I asked him what advice he has for growers. Greg says that with …
Talking Corn and Soybeans with BASF
Weeds were a big topic of concern for farmers who visited the BASF Crop Protection exhibit at Commodity Classic this year and with planting season now upon us and commodity prices looking good, growers are really looking to control those yield-robbers. In soybeans, early-season weed competition poses a potential 6 to 10 percent yield loss. In corn, weeds allowed to …
2012 Conservation in Action Tour
The Conservation Technology Information Center has announced their 2012 Conservation in Action Tour and it’s going to be done “southern style.” At Commodity Classic I spoke with Karen Scanlon, CTIC Executive Director about this year’s program. I’ll be there again this year thanks to support from CTIC and AGROTAIN. Here’s information on the tour which is open for registration now. …
2012 Classic Officially a Barn Buster
It’s official now – the 2012 Commodity Classic was a major record-breaker. Final attendance at the event surpassed all previous turnout records with a total of 6,014 attendees, up 25 percent increase from last year’s record of 4,826 attendees. Once again, farm families represented over half of the participants, with 3,505 growers, spouses and children attending. “We broke records in …