Monsanto Update on FieldScripts

Cindy Zimmerman

fps13-fieldscriptsLast year at Farm Progress Show, Monsanto previewed FieldScripts, the company’s first product from the Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) platform. This year, we got to actually see how it worked in the field – sort of.

“Our original plans were to harvest the first FieldScripts here at the Farm Progress Show,” said FieldScripts launch lead for Monsanto Dave Rhylander at a media event on the eve of the show. When weather caused planting to be delayed in the spring, they moved to a shorter season hybrid. “Then we had that cool weather in July and early August and it just slowed everything down and we couldn’t get it harvested.”

fps13-monsanto-rhylanderEver able to adapt, Monsanto was still able to put on a good demo for the media with recently planted fields and had several Ground Breakers farmers on hand to talk about their experiences with FieldScripts this year. “We had about 150 farmers that tested this in the four states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana,” Dave said. “We’ve had great feedback from them as far as simplicity, how it worked in the cab, and we’re very excited to hear now how the yields are going to be.” Interview with Dave Rhylander, Monsanto

Jamie and Kristyn went on the tour of the field trials and will be sharing interviews and video from company representatives and growers about both FieldScripts® and Ground Breakers® Field Trials Under Permit for Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans.

Check out photos from the event here:
Monsanto Farm Progress Show Media Event Photo Album

Audio, Farm Progress Show, Precision Agriculture, Weather

New Holland Brings it to Farm Progress Show

Chuck Zimmerman

Abe Hughes New HollandThere was plenty of “new” to see in the New Holland exhibit at the Farm Progress Show. Abe Hughes, VP North America, tells us all about it.

From hay and forage tools to pro tools or new machines for row crop work, New Holland had a lot on the lot. Abe talks about some of those products as well as the partnerships the company has formed and developed with American Ethanol and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Agribusiness, Farm Progress Show, Farm Shows, New Holland, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Center for Rural Affairs announced that Assistant Executive Director Brian Depew has been named the new Executive Director, effective September 1, 2013.
  • Tractor Supply Company, the largest retail farm and ranch store chain in the United States, announced that its Board of Directors approved a two-for-one stock split of its common stock.
  • Five FS member cooperatives were recognized by GROWMARK, Inc. for business performance improvement during the GROWMARK annual meeting in Chicago
  • Katie Hancock, Water Valley, Ky., recently joined Brock Associates as an agricultural commodity marketing consultant and will work one-on-one with farmers to minimize market risk and capture market opportunities.
Zimfo Bytes

Staying on Target With BASF

Kristyn Stidham

fps-13-126-editedBASF held a press conference at the Farm Progress Show where technical market manager for herbicides Luke Bozeman talked about the goals of the company’s On Target Application Academy.

BASF wants to make sure that the growers that use their products are pleased with them. Within the company, they are focusing on providing information to the growers, as well as training them on the usage of these herbicides through the creation of this program.

“The On Target Application Academy does a great job of bringing to the grower applicator the most recent break technologies and how to apply products effectively,” said Bozeman.

BASF is excited about the feedback they have received from growers. They provide surveys to the students of the academy at the end of the course and 95% of those that attend have thought it to be worth their while.

Listen to my interview with Luke here: Interview with Luke Bozeman, Technical Market Manager, Herbicides, BASF

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, BASF, Farm Progress Show

Ag Leader Brings Compass to Farm Progress Show

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyGrowers looking for a simple and affordable precision farming display now have an entry-level solution, thanks to the new Compass™ display from Ag Leader Technology, Inc.

The Compass display was designed for growers who want a display to use primarily for guidance. With a built-in lightbar, the Compass display provides on-screen guidance and coverage mapping that allows operators to improve pass-to-pass accuracy and easily track where they have been in the field, reducing costly gaps and overlaps.

fps13-agleader-compassMike Olson, Ag Leader North America Sales Manager, was on hand to talk about the new display during Farm Progress Show. He says Compass is simple to operate and set up guidance operations. “The user doesn’t need to know how to set up field information within the display to operate, with the new event feature they can simply create a new event each time they enter a field and go.”

Interview with Mike Olson, Ag Leader

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Growth Energy Says You’re No Dummy

Cindy Zimmerman

fps13-growthenergy-buisGrowth Energy announced earlier this week a new campaign with a website You’re No Dummy featuring Mr. Slick and Dummy. CEO of Growth Energy Tom Buis and Gen. (Ret.) Wesley Clark stopped by the Farm Progress Show this week to talk about how the new campaign intends to defend renewable fuels against stepped up attacks by Big Oil.

Buis says there’s a lot of misinformation and too much stretching the truth by the large oil companies so the ethanol industry is taking a stand to push back with the facts. “The attacks in Washington have become more intense,” said Buis. “This is a fight about market share, nothing more, nothing less. We know we have the facts on our side.”

fps13-growthenergy-clarkClark says defending the Renewable Fuel Standard is about defending national security. “For those of us who served our country in uniform, we know it’s about national security, first and foremost,” said the retired general. “All we have to do is give the biofuels marketplace an opportunity to sell to the American motorist.”

Listen to Press Conference here: Growth Energy Press Conference

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show

2013 Farm Progress Show is History

Leah Guffey

biggest_farm_show_year_back_decatur_1_635011156903480000The 60th Annual Farm Progress Show draws to a close today on the final day.  I had the pleasure of catching up with Show Manager, Matt Jungmann, who said the weather was hot, the crowds were strong and the field demonstrations, well, that’s just Mother Nature.

“For the first time in 60 years we couldn’t harvest a crop because it wasn’t mature.”

Matt went on to say that planning for future years here at Progress City are already underway, making notes and continuing to keep moving ahead to make the Farm Progress Show the place to be for all the latest and greatest agriculture has to offer.

Listen to my interview with Matt here: Interview with Matt Jungmann

The show may be over but we still have lots of interviews to share from the event that will be posted on through next week. Stay tuned and check out the photo album to see hundreds of sights from the show.

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Farm Progress Show

Fueling the Farm Progress Show

Jamie Johansen

fps-13-685-editedYou can only imagine the fuel consumption during the Farm Progress Show. GROWMARK and FS have sponsored the fuel for the largest outdoor farm show for the last 30 years and expect to go through about 2,500 gallons this year. That amount is down from previous years because the field demonstrations had to be cancelled.

Gerald Doty retired from the cooperative seven years ago and was asked to come back and run the fueling station. He eagerly agreed to do a it for three years, but has been here ever since. Gerald said it was a great opportunity for him to stay in-touch with the industry.

“GROWMARK and FS have sponsored fuel for the Farm Progress Show for over 30 years. Typically they would get 50 gallons of free fuel in exchange for us putting a fueled by FS sticker on their equipment, but this year because there wasn’t any field demonstrations we have cut that back to 25 gallons. Here we do this in cooperation with Evergreen FS. Evergreen FS takes care of all the fuel needs inside the fences and we take care of the equipment they need for demonstrations and golf carts.”

Listen to my interview with Gerald here: Interview with Gerald Doty

Check out photos from the event here:2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Cooperatives, FS System, GROWMARK

Bayer Markets New Wheat Herbicide

Kristyn Stidham

9612299838_5841056bce_b (250x166)Bayer CropScience released the new Huskie Complete this year. Cereal Herbicides Product Manager for Bayer, Thorsten Schwindt, was very excited to talk about the product here in Decatur, IL at the Farm Progress Show.

A few years back, Bayer released a product called Huskie. The product was successful, but Bayer decided to do some research to extend the product beyond just broad leaf weed control. Huskie Complete is essentially the same product as Huskie, plus one more mode of action for grass control in spring, winter, and durham wheat.

“We believe it’s the most complete herbicide solution and the fantastic thing about Huskie Complete is that it’s all in one product,” said Schwindt.

According to Schwindt, growers have responded positively. He hopes the new hassle free, all-in-one product will continue to benefit growers in the industry.

Listen to my interview with Thorsten here: Interview with Thorsten Schwindt

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, weed management, Wheat

NAMA at Farm Progress Show

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA at FPSThe National Agri-Marketing Association held a reception for agrimarketers attending the 2013 Farm Progress Show. Here’s some of the group that showed up to get out of the sun and enjoy some fun and fellowship.

Efforts like this are part of NAMA’s efforts to reach out to other organizations and find ways to collaborate. It is also a great way to introduce more people to NAMA and encourage membership. The reception was sponsored by Heartland NAMA.

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Farm Progress Show, NAMA