A dozen years ago, if someone told me they were flying to create good cover for the field, we would have been talking about fighter pilots protecting troops on the ground. Well, it’s not exactly warfare, but after hearing one of Chuck’s interviews with some folks on the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour, now that phrase means using aerial …
AGROTAIN SuperU to the Rescue
The extreme dry weather in the midwest was very evident at this week’s Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour. Out in the corn fields we had a nice breeze, but that breeze was blowing a lot of dust! On our first stop, Martin Case, AGROTAIN, was a presenter. This is the second year of this tour and we’ve gone from …
Controlled Release Nitrogen on Corn
The Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour stopped at Herb Steffen’s farm again this year. At his farm we received presentations on the use of controlled release nitrogen on corn that according to Herb includes our sponsor’s products – AGROTAIN! Herb says he and his family have farmed in the area since 1863 so you know these people really take …
Preview of Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour
The 2012 CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour is about to kick off in sunny Illinois. I spoke with CTIC Executive Director Karen Scanlon this morning to get a preview of the project and our tour. Internet access and time is limited today since we’re on a farm tour but I’ll be collecting stories and interviews to share in …
NRCS Chief David White Receives ASTA DSA
The American Seed Trade Association presented their Distinguished Service Award this morning to NRCS Chief David White, pictured on right with ASTA Chairman Mike Gumina. Mike says the award recognizes people who have gone above and beyond or made some special contribution to the industry. He says that in the area of conservation ASTA has had very good success. Chief …
New Mississippi River Basin Conservation Projects
Today Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $8.4 million in financial assistance is available to support 23 new partnership projects in several Mississippi River Basin states under USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). On the phone with reporters to talk about it this morning was NRCS Chief David White, seen here talking with participants in the recent Conservation …
Wrapping Up Conservation in Action Tour
It’s time to wrap up my coverage of the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. To do so I’m sharing a couple of interviews I did at the end of the tour. To start with you’ll hear Danny Murphy, Mississippi soybean grower and First Vice President of the American Soybean Association talk about what he saw and learned during this year’s …
Finding Balance Between Business and Environment
At the closing dinner for the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour, Trudy Fisher, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality spoke to our group. Trudy told us that she’s a farmer’s daughter and has farming experience herself. For that reason, the things we were seeing and hearing about on the tour are near and dear to her heart. …
Precison Ag Puts Medicine on the Hurt Place
We like new technology and we like our gadgets. We’re called AgNerds. And AgNerds are pretty open to precision agriculture. John McKee is one of us. John is a farmer of corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat. He was a civil engineer prior to farming so precision ag has come natural to him. He was also one of the speakers on …
Corn Technology Utilization Conference Concludes
The 2012 Corn Utilization Technology Conference has come to a close and attendance was officially higher than in 2010. It has been a tremendous showcase of all kinds of research being done to continue to make new products and improve others made out of corn which is “Rooted in Human History (pdf).” To close out the conference and give us …