The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) announced the winners of its 2018 seed industry awards last week during the Policy & Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C. The ASTA Distinguished Service award was presented to Osama El-Lissy, Deputy Administrator for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ). The award recognizes those whose efforts …
ASTA Elects 2018-19 Officer Team
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is pleased to announce its 2018-19 officer team, officially elected during the ASTA Policy & Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C. The members of the 2018-19 ASTA officer team are: • Chair – Jerry Flint, Corteva Agriscience™ • First Vice Chair – Wayne Gale, Stokes Seeds • Second Vice Chair — John Latham, Latham …
ASTA Policy and Leadership Conference Next Month
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) will be in Washington, D.C. June 9-13 for the new ASTA Policy & Leadership Development Conference. This new event combines ASTA’s annual convention, which has been held each June in different locations for the past 134 years, and the organization’s annual Storm the Hill lobbying day on Capitol Hill. Educational session tracks will cover: …
Midwest Seed Genetics Expansion and Growth Continues
Midwest Seed Genetics continues its growth with four senior managers joining the team. “The addition of these highly skilled individuals underscores our resolve in building a new, high quality, high performance hybrid corn and soybean company. Midwest Seed Genetics plan is to match exemplary products and people together to provide America’s row crop farmers with new choices.” said Don Funk, …
ASTA Pleased With USDA Decision on Gene Edited Plants
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is pleased with the clarification made by USDA last week regarding oversight of plants produced through innovative new breeding techniques, including gene editing. “The (USDA) announcement really clarifies the practice they’ve had had ongoing for the last couple of years in that products created through gene editing don’t need to go through pre-market, regulatory …
Seed Treatment Can Harness Soil Microbes
A new and improved seed treatment will soon be available for corn growers that promises to help them “be dirt rich” to reach higher yield potential. The Poncho®/VOTiVO® 2.0 system is the next generation of the top selling seed treatment, Poncho/VOTiVO, which combines a fast-acting systemic insecticide with a biological seed treatment that provides protection against nematodes. The 2.0 is …
New Bayer Cotton Varieties Focus on Yield
Five new Bayer cotton varieties are available in limited quantities for 2018 planting to give growers more options. “Choosing the right variety for the right field to harvest the right yield is paramount to successfully managing a cotton crop,” says Jason Wistehuff, Bayer product manager for FiberMax® and Stoneville® cotton. “These new varieties combine with our existing variety lineup to …
SMART Farmer Jerry Flint
Jerry Flint may not technically be a farmer, but he did grow up on a farm in Ohio and his entire career has been focused on delivering new innovations to smart farmers. In addition to being vice president of regulatory affairs for Dow DuPont Agriculture Division, Flint is also first vice chair for the American Seed Trade Association, and his …
Chromatin Growing Sorghum Improvements
The first S in the CSS 2017 and Seed Expo is for Sorghum, which was one of the first two crops that started the annual conference back in 1945 as the Corn & Sorghum Conference. Sorghum has come a very long way since then and improvements being made in the crop could make a major difference in developing countries, according …
New Bayer Seed Treatment Offers Promising Yield Benefit
Bayer is helping growers bring more value without increasing inputs with Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0. The seed treatment is designed to bring a healthier soil environment around the plant root, yielding an additional average 3.8 bushels per acre. “With Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0, you don’t have to change what you’re doing today – especially in the cost effective environment that we’re in today – …