Taking DC Bureaucrats to the Farm

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Corn Growers Association recently joined with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the American Seed Trade Association to host officials from EPA and USDA for demonstrations on planting practices, seed treatments, and equipment innovations in an effort to help them understand modern farming. The event took place on the working farm of NCGA Chairman Chip Bowling in …

AEM, AgWired Precision, ASTA, NCGA, Seed, Technology, Video

Moving Africa from Rain-Fed to Irrigated Farming

Jamie Johansen

Now founder and CEO of KickStart International, Martin Fisher, at first wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with his life. A Fullbright scholarship took him to Africa for a year to look for the potential use of technology and engineering in development. That one year turned in to 17 years in Kenya. Martin presented his case study at …

Ag Groups, Audio, Food, Irrigation, Technology, Water, Water for Food

Expanding Africa’s Access to Ag Technology

Lizzy Schultz

Another session at the 2017 Water for Food Global Conference was “Upscaling Solutions: Expanding access to irrigation for smallholders in sub­-Saharan Africa.” This session explored how public and private sector investors can support smallholder-irrigated agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve greater yield gains and improve livelihoods. The presentation included a whitepaper synthesis of case studies relevant to this topic. One …

Audio, International, Technology, Water, Water for Food

Raising Protein for a Sustainable Future

Jamie Johansen

Future Food-Tech took place in San Francisco last week and brought together over 300 food business technology leaders, investors and food-tech innovators. Brad Greenway, Chairman, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) sat on a panel titled, “Creating Consumer Demand for Healthier and More Sustainable Ingredients.” As the sole panelist who represented the animal agriculture community, Brad was able to share …

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Sustainability, Technology, USFRA

FMC to Acquire Portion of Dupont Crop Protection

Chuck Zimmerman

In an early morning call FMC and DuPont made a major announcement: FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) and DuPont (NYSE: DD) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for FMC to acquire the portion of DuPont’s Crop Protection business it must divest to comply with the European Commission ruling related to its merger with The Dow Chemical Company. Additionally, DuPont …

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC, Herbicide, Insecticides, International, Technology

World Backup Day 2017

Chuck Zimmerman

It is back. It is more important than ever. It is World Backup Day. C’mon, what are you waiting for? Back up your phone, tablet, computer. You don’t want to be one of the ones who does not and waits to think about it when they have lost all their photos, music, confidential company documents, etc. Do you? Check out …

Technology

Farmers Edge Generates Major Buzz at #Classic17

Kelly Marshall

Farmers Edge had not one, but two major new product launches at Commodity Classic in San Antonio last week and their Vice President of Marketing, Marina Barnes was on hand to tell us about them both. FarmCommand takes precision agriculture to decision agriculture, Barnes said, with it’s easy to use, all-in-one system. It eliminates the need for multiple passwords and unusable data. …

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Farm Economy, Tech & Legacy of John Deere

Jamie Johansen

“I’m an advocate for agriculture because I think it’s the finest industry in the world.” Those words spoken by John Lagemann, Senior VP, Sales & Marketing for the Agriculture and Turf Division, who has 35 years with John Deere – which in itself is a true testament. Lagemann had a busy schedule at the 2017 Commodity Classic, not only wearing …

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic, Equipment, Farm Machinery, John Deere, Technology, Video

USFRA Offers Unique 360˚ Look at Farming

Jamie Johansen

At the recent South Beach Wine & Food Festival, a national event showcasing the talents of some of the world’s most renowned chefs and culinary personalities, U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®) shared a one-of-a kind experience with event goers. Through USFRA’s new 360-degree video, which utilizes a virtual reality (VR)-style headset, booth visitors had a chance to experience life …

Ag Groups, Food, Sustainability, Technology, USFRA

An #AgVocate Example to Feed the Future

Chuck Zimmerman

What better department than R&D to fulfill the 2017 AgVocacy Forum theme “Feed the Future.” In charge of that department for Bayer CropScience is Dr. Adrian Percy. Adrian has embraced the use of social media to help communicate to consumers, regulators and others, the benefits of the type of work Bayer does. He has been a real positive example for …

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Social Media, Technology, Video