The 132nd annual meeting of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is being held this week in Washington DC where members of the industry will be talking with lawmakers about issues important to them. ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says it is a chance for them to raise awareness about the seed industry with elected officials. “We will be …
Seed Education Campaign Taking Root
Registration is now open for the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) 132nd Annual Convention which will be in Washington DC this year, June 17-20, where members will be sowing seeds of information inside the Beltway. “One of the focuses there is going to be on advocacy,” said ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne at Commodity Classic, who adds that it will be …
New Holland’s Flexi-Coil® P Series Air Carts
On display at the 2015 Commodity Classic was New Holland’s Flexi-Coil® P Series Air Carts. The redesigned carts have an unprecedented number of patent-pending features for all operations. Chuck met up with New Holland’s Trevor Rempel, Global Product Marketing Manager, on the trade show floor to learn more about the rather large piece of equipment. “We started with a completely …
How BASF Flo-Rite Helps Increase Yields
Keeping seed treatment on the seed to retain the active ingredient at maximum capacity is one of the main benefits of BASF’s Flo Rite Plantability Seed Coating and that benefits growers at harvest time. “Our Flo Rite plantability polymer acts as a thin film coating that locks that seed treatment on the seed and keeps it there where a grower …
ASTA Seed Foundation Update
First the Seed Foundation (FTSF) is a not-for-profit organization established in 2008 by the American Seed Trade Association with a focus on attracting bright young minds to the industry. “The seed industry is an exciting, dynamic, high tech industry,” said Foundation chairman Bud Hughes of Verdant Partners during an update at CSS 2014 and Seed Expo last week. “We want …
African Seed Trade Learns from ASTA
It was AFSTA meets ASTA last week at the CSS 2014 and Seed Expo in Chicago. Denias Zaranyika is the Vice President of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) and he attended last week’s event to see what he could bring home to his colleagues in the countries of Africa. “We want to exchange information and learn from Americans,” he …
Future Seed Executives at CSS & Seed Expo
Future Seed Executives (FuSE) had a week full of activities last week at the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo, including some quality time with Bill Whitacre president and CEO of Simplot. FuSE Iniative is an official subcommittee of the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) Management Skills Committee. Since its formal inception in 2004, FuSE has focused on educating and supporting …
Economic Outlook at ASTA
Back again by popular demand this year at the ASTA CSS 2014 and Seed Expo was AgResource Company president Dan Basse giving his economic outlook for the year ahead. Basse says the protein side of the plate is doing very well right now, dairy and beef in particular, “so we call it the Year of the Cow” and while grain …
Research Looks at Value of Neonicotinoids
The agriculture industry is working to show the benefits of neonicotinoids in the face of an EPA report released in October concluding that the seed treatments “provide little or no overall benefits to soybean production in most situations.” During the ASTA CSS and Seed Expo last week, Dr. Pete Nowak with AgInfomatics discussed some of his findings on the value …
BASF on Importance of Coatings and Inoculants
Coatings and inoculants are where it’s at in the seed industry these days and BASF Ag Products is in the forefront of this important technology for agriculture. “When we speak of inoculants, we’re talking about rhizobia-based products,” said BASF US Crop Seed Enhancement manager Steve Bergschneider during an interview at the ASTA CSS 2014 and Seed Expo in Chicago. “We …