National Farmers Union (NFU) officials made a stop in Africa to talk about how cooperatives can promote sustainability. This news release from the group says NFU President Roger Johnson talked about the development of cooperatives at the National Food and Agric Show (FAGRO) in Ghana. “I am excited to be able to discuss and promote cooperatives as a means for …
Soybean Farming Challenges
During the recent Bayer CropScience Corn and Soybean Future Forum in Germany, soybean producers talked about the challenges ahead for farmers. American Soybean Association board member Richard Wilkins of Delaware believes that the most pressing challenges facing farmers right now include the need for deregulation of new technologies, public perception, and trade disruptions. At the same time, Wilkins believes that …
Forum Looks at Future of Corn Farming
What does the future hold for corn farmers? That was a question addressed at the Bayer CropScience Corn and Soybean Future Forum in Frankfurt, Germany last week, and some farmers gave their views. Among them was Iowa Corn Growers chairman Roger Zylstra, who farms in Jasper County, who talked about the opportunities and challenges of sustainable corn production. “There are …
Bayer CropScience Advancing Sustainable Ag
Starting out the second day of the Bayer CropScience Corn and Soybean Future Forum was Liam Condon, CEO, Germany. The theme of his remarks was how Bayer CropScience is advancing sustainable agriculture. One of the remarks that Liam made during his comments that struck me was how the growth in demand for meat in countries around the world is driving …
Raising Cane in the Everglades
2014 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album Planting at U.S. Sugar Corporation is done with precision, as we found out on the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour last week in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Steven Stiles, U.S. Sugar farm manager, says cane is a “ratoonable crop” which refers to the stalks that are called ratoons and normally one …
Barn Owls are Sustainable Rodent Control
2014 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album Barn owls are being used in the Everglades Agricultural Area as sustainable rodent control – and it’s working amazingly well! Richard Raid, a plant pathologist with the University of Florida, told us all about these hungry little raptors during what was arguably the most interesting stop on the 2014 CTIC Conservation in …
Embarking on #NHAgWorld Adventure
The AgriBlogger will be on the road this week to work side by side with agricultural bloggers from around the world. It will be all about where in the world we are at #NHAgWorld. Follow that hashtag which will become more active on Wednesday. So to give you at least some clues until then, let’s just say this involves New …
Bill Northey Talk Corn Crops, Water Quality
During the Farm Progress Show this week, I caught up with Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey. I asked him what the corn crop was looking like in Iowa in particular, as Boone, Iowa is the host of this year’s Farm Progress. Northey said that for the most part, Iowa is going to have a great corn crop as well as …
Field to Market Announces New Supply Chain Program
Field to Market®, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, has just launched a new agricultural supply chain program for commodity crops. The Field to Market metrics and benchmarks developed through a multi-stakeholder process over the past several years will now become an important platform for measuring, promoting and reporting on continuous improvement in corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, potatoes and other …
Millennial Views of Biobased and Sustainability
The hostess for the the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders’ Dialogue at George Washington (GW) University this week was the moderator for an important discussion about what the “millennial generation” thinks about biobased and sustainability. University sustainability director Kathleen Merrigan, who is also former deputy ag secretary, invited some current students and recent graduates to be on the panel. “What I …