Blog Training at NCGA

Chuck Zimmerman

Can you tell that this is the National Corn Growers Association mailbox? I spent some time there today doing a training session on Corn Commentary. If you haven’t checked it out then you’re missing a great application of blogging by an ag group. Of course I’m biased since we built and help manage content for the site. In our session …

Ag Groups, Corn

Lower Insurance Premiums for Farmers Using Monsanto Hybrid

Laura McNamara

Monsanto says its latest agreement with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation means farmers can opt to have their insurance premiums slashed by up to 24 percent in four states. Monsanto is launching an innovative crop insurance pilot program with its hybrid corn seeds. A new pilot program recently approved by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) will provide farmers an …

Agribusiness, Corn, Farming, Research, Technology

Fending Off Body Odor With Corn

Laura McNamara

Inventive ag producers have come up with yet another way to use corn in an eco-friendly way. Dupont and Tate & Lyle are now offering corn-based deodorants. The DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products joint venture today announced that it is providing its innovative Zemea(TM) renewably sourced propanediol (Bio-PDO(TM)) product to Terra Naturals Inc., a personal care company, that has …

Ag Groups, Corn, Environment, Technology

Last BASF Execs Interview

Cindy Zimmerman

Finally we have “escaped” from our non-stop tour activities here in Japan so maybe I can clear out all my interviews from Germany and Brussels, which seems like it was a month ago. The last of our interviews with BASF executives was Markus Heldt, who is group vice president for BASF North American Ag Chem. In this photo, he is …

BASF, Corn, International, Soybean

BASF R&D

Cindy Zimmerman

I am in Japan now with Chuck and will be spending much of this week posting interviews and pictures from last week’s BASF trip while Chuck is covering the IFAJ events. So, I am starting at the beginning of the trip and posting the interviews with BASF executives done after the global press conference September 12. Research and development of …

Audio, BASF, Corn, Farming, Research, Soybean

Competing Crop Solution Companies Monsanto and Dow Launch Joint SmartStax Innovation

Laura McNamara

The competition in crop protection is getting rather friendly. Two of the largest suppliers of technology-based agricultural solutions in the U.S., Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences, are teaming up in the unprecedented release of an eight-gene stacked corn combination. See the Zimfo Bites Melissa posted for media event information. Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, …

Agribusiness, Corn, Farming, Research, Technology

Interview with BASF Ag Products President

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Agricultural Products division president Michael Heinz is in a good mood because prices for farm products are higher and farmers are spending more money on their input costs to increase production. “It makes us very excited because when the farmer is in a good mood, in general, we are in a good mood,” Heinz says. This optimism was the …

Audio, BASF, Corn, Farming, International

Monsanto’s Road Map to Success

Laura McNamara

“See the next decade of biotechnology products.” That’s what Monsanto says its Technology Showcase Tour: The Road Map to Success will demonstrate to farmers in Progress City, IL. The gene optimization, desired trait characteristics and advanced product development that Monsanto promotes with its products is all on display in a live side-by-side comparison of crops with Monsanto products and crops …

Audio, Biotech, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, Farming, Food, New Holland, Seed, Soybean

Tour de Dow

Laura McNamara

Dow AgroSciences says it’s planning for the future of biotechnology. But, the company is quick to point out a host of innovative technologies available now for improving crop yields. Dow AgroSciences says its Herculex family of traits offers the broadest protection when comes to safeguarding crops against most insects, both above ground and below ground, in corn. Representatives add that …

Audio, Biotech, Corn, Farm Progress Show, Farming, New Holland, Soybean

Dow Agrosciences Says No More Limitations for 2,4-D

Laura McNamara

Dow AgroSciences hasn’t set up camp at the Farm Progress Show in ten years. But, this year, the company says it has some exciting new technology to present and couldn’t skip out on offering farmers in Progress City a first-hand look. Dow AgroSciences Global Corn Business Leader Tom Wiltrout kicked off a press conference introducing the company’s Herbicide Tolerant Traits …

Biotech, Corn, Cotton, Farm Progress Show, New Holland, Soybean, Technology