The National Cotton Council is urging consultants to join cotton producers at the 2008 Beltwide Cotton Conferences at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Jan. 8-11. The conferences’ theme is “Orchestrate Your Opportunities.” The general session will open with a welcome from Tennessee Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens and feature updates from the NCC and Cotton …

Novus International, Inc., announces the inauguration of its first animal feed input plant in Brazil. The plant, strategically located in Indaiatuba, is in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The 37,000 square foot facility is equipped with cutting-edge machinery, made in Brazil or imported from the US and Germany. The technology allows for complete automation of the manufacturing processes. The …

Tractors and other farm equipment can be a challenge to start in cold weather, so many farmers install block heaters to preheat their engines. However, using a timer on a block heater can save up to 85 percent on energy costs. A simple 24-hour clock timer can automatically turn the heater on so it’s ready when needed. The energy savings …

Bayer CropScience announced that its vegetable seed business Nunhems has acquired the U.S. seed company Paragon Seed Inc. Based in Salinas, Calif., Paragon Seed specializes in the breeding, production and sales of lettuce varieties. The lettuce seed market with a volume of about $60 million is one of the three most important vegetable markets in the United States. Furthermore, the …

The Agricultural Leadership alumni of Kings and Tulare counties are pleased to host the 14th annual fundraiser breakfast to benefit the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation. This year’s speaker is Keni Thomas. Sgt. Thomas was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia, during the summer of 1993 as part of Task Force Ranger, a special operation package to find and capture Mohammad Farrah Aideed, …

Farm Bureau membership across the country has surpassed the 6 million mark for the second consecutive year—6,231,176 member families. The milestone was passed as state Farm Bureaus reported 30,838 additional members registered for Farm Bureau membership in 2007. The membership gain of nearly 31,000 member families is due primarily to the growth of several state Farm Bureaus in the South. …

DuPont announced it has sold its terbacil herbicide assets to Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. (TKI). Terbacil is marketed globally through the Sinbar® trademark. In Japan, terbacil also is sold in a mixture with diuron through the Zobar® trademark. TKI will acquire the rights to the Sinbar® and Zobar® trade names, a license to the technology required to make terbacil, and the …

Bunge North America renewed its support of the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program for 2008 with the presentation of $100,000 during the Progressive Agriculture Foundation annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind. And Bunge not only contributes financially, but encourages company’s employees to volunteer with the program. DuPont and Beijing Weiming Kaituo Agriculture Biotechnology Co., Ltd. announced the formation of a joint …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Foundation in cooperation with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The partnership will facilitate the registration of additional cattle premises as part of the National Animal Identification System. Raven Industries, is now offering its new “Cruizer” guidance system product as an affordable choice for farmers who have not yet …

Servigistics, the leading strategic service management solution provider, announced that AGCO Corporation, whose well-known equipment brand names include Massey Ferguson, Challenger, Valtra, and Fendt, has selected Servigistics to plan the company’s service parts globally and to optimize prices in individual markets globally. AGCO will utilize the Servigistics solution to offer dealers competitive prices, enhance customer service, and drive efficiencies across …