InfoAg Conference Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

2013 InfoAg ConferenceThe 2013 InfoAg Conference is underway in Springfield, IL. It’s time to learn what’s new in the precision ag realm and I’ll be doing that for the next couple days courtesy of our sponsor, Ag Leader Technology.

This three day conference is brought to us by the International Plant Nutrition Institute. It has grown so much that it will be moving to an annual conference instead of every other year. Attendance is a record this year and I’ll find out actual numbers later. I’ve been told there over 200 more registered than last conference.

I have a photo album started for the conference. Feel free to view and share: 2013 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Precision Agriculture

Chicks Rockin the Swine Industry

Joanna Schroeder

Dr Abby HardingThere are hundreds of women rockin the swine industry and there is no better place to meet some of these women than during a Swine Link event. Swine Link is a network for women, by women and sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, and is focused on women in agriculture and especially women in the swine industry. Several women took on Des Moines, Iowa on July 12-13, 2013 including Dr. Abbey Harding, a swine vet working with Lowe Consulting.

I had a chance to get to know Dr. Harding a bit over the weekend and asked her how she became a swine vet. Like so many other vets, she knew she wanted to be a vet for small animals since she was young, but after working with production animals and enjoying the experience, she shifted gears. She said since joining the swine industry, she has discovered that she really enjoys the travel and working with the people in the industry, including other swine vets.

Dr. Harding said she came to Swine Link through an invitation from Dr. Erin Johnson. She mentioned that the event has been a great experience for her and has really enjoyed getting to know the other women who participated. She said it was also great to put a face to a name, such as Dr. Marie Culhane, with whom she has been corresponding one various swine issues.

She encourages other women to participate in Swine Link and gave a piece of advice for others: “Get out of your comfort zone. Try new things.” Schools are time to take advantage of different opportunities and she encourages women and men alike to try out swine medicine.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Abbey Harding here: Chicks Rockin the Swine Industry

Check out the photos from the event in the Swine Link photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pork, Swine

A Few Words From 2 Swine Industry Mentors

Joanna Schroeder

Historically the swine industry has been dominated by men, but over the past few years, the dynamic is changing as more women join the industry. Yet despite the accomplishments women have made in the workforce over the past 100 years, it can still be challenging to be a woman in a male dominated world. That is one reason why Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) launched Swine Link, a network for women by women.

This past weekend, BIVI hosted an event for several swine vets and other women in the industry to help them network among their peers as well as offer them some educational opportunities. Two women came in from North Carolina, Dr. Melissa Billing and Dr. Jessica Seate both with Murphy-Brown.

Dr Mellisa BillingI asked Dr. Billing about her experience as a female in the swine industry as well as one of the most important things she took away from the weekend. She knew since she was six that she would be a vet, but it wasn’t until vet school that she decided she wanted to land a job in the swine industry. Dr. Billing is unique in that when she began in the industry, her boss was a woman and she really looked up to her as a role model to show her the way in the industry and profession. She said that she really enjoyed interacting with other women in the industry and getting to know other professionals.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Melissa Billing here: Advice from Dr. Melissa Billing

Dr Jessica SeateDr. Jessica Seate was one of the newest vets in the swine industry and unlike many of her colleagues, she knew she wanted to be a swine vet since undergrad. She said she has some really great professors and mentors at Michigan State University who really helped her pursue her goal of practicing swine medicine. She said that her entry into the field hasn’t been that difficult, but what has been challenging is working with older growers who are set in their ways, to introduce new management tools and ideas. Dr. Seate said she enjoys participating in events such as Swine Link because it gives her the ability to bounce ideas of other professionals.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Jessica Seate here: Advice from Dr. Jessica Seate

Check out the photos from the event in the Swine Link photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pork, Swine

Farmers Want to Save Nitrogen, Too!

John Davis

ctic-13-tim-smithContrary to what seems to be reported many times, farmers don’t want to see their field nutrients washed on down the river to contribute to some “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Farmers don’t want nitrogen to leave their fields. They want it in their corn crop,” explained Tim Smith during the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill. Tim is a managing agronomist for Cropsmith and a Certified Crop Adviser. He also used to work for the University of Illinois developing ways to improve nitrogen use efficiency in crop production and helped develop the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test (ISNT) to improve nitrogen recommendations for corn. During the tour, he presented information about their demonstration plots in the Indian Creek watershed. “Anything we can do to demonstrate and show them how they can be more efficient, they’re very interested in, and it’s also good for the environment. So I think it can be a real win-win.”

Tim said this has been a real good group to work with, and he’s impressed by the large number of farmers in that area participating and the questions he’s heard on the CTIC tour.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Tim here: Interview with Tim Smith, Cropsmith

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC

Cover Crops Improving Soil Health

Chuck Zimmerman

Roger Windhorn USDA-NRCSWhen I attended the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Tour last year it was in the middle of the drought and the ground was so dry that Roger Windhorn, USDA-NRCS, couldn’t even find moisture when he dug a soil pit. Different situation this year since he found water about 30 inches down on the Bachtold farm.

Roger was giving a presentation on soil health giving us an up close and personal look at how cover crop roots grow and contribute to improve the soil. You’ll be able to see it yourself in the video and listen to him explain.

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Conservation, CTIC, Video

Maintaining Motivation During a PRRS Break

Joanna Schroeder

Dr Erin JohnsonMaintaining motivation among your producers is challenging during a PRRS outbreak (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome) but it is an important action to be taken to keep a swine herd healthy. During the Swine Link event held in Des Moines, Iowa on July 13, 2013 and sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI), Dr. Erin Johnson, PRRS Technical Manager for BIVI led an interactive discussion on ideas for motivating team members.

Swine Link is focused on women in the swine industry and is a network focused on both interacting with other women and also on educational opportunities. I had to ask Dr. Johnson how she got involved and became a mentor, in the swine industry.

It turns out Dr. Johnson is not a typical swine girl – she fell in with the wrong crowd in vet school and during her senior year became interested in pigs although at the time, her main focus was livestock. However, she said, she knew that she wanted to stay in the Midwest and would have to branch out of dairy and after an externship focused on pigs, decided that was the right place for her to be.

With a focus on PRRS, Dr. Johnson has first hand experience on the frustration that PRRS can cause. She noted that the industry has techniques, tools, vaccines and management tools but none of these things really address the people. She said that every day and every farm takes people to get things done and the industry can’t lose focus on motivating the person to do the right things when it comes to PRRS and other issues. She has done this through giving them a greater sense of purpose and helping them better understand where they are going and why.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Erin Johnson here: Maintaining Motivation During a PRRS Break

Check out the photos from the event in the Swine Link photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pork, Swine

Syngenta Commits to Renewable Fuels

Joanna Schroeder

Syngenta has announced a three-year commitment to contribute $1 to the renewable fuels industry for every acre planted with Enogen trait technology. The initiative, that began with this year’s growing season, will help support America’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and promote the benefits of renewable fuels grown in America.

enogen“Renewable fuels are an essential part of the American energy equation, benefiting consumers, farmers and American energy independence,” said David Witherspoon, Head of Renewable Fuels at Syngenta. “Ethanol, whether from corn or other biomass sources, is an energy source for today and tomorrow driving economic growth and innovation.”

Syngenta is currently focused on increasing the productivity of renewable fuels made from traditional and non-traditional feedstocks such as corn. The Enogen trait technology is a biotech output trait designed specifically for ethanol production. The corn expresses alpha amylase enzyme directly in the corn kernel and replaces liquid alpha amylase enzyme. According to Syngenta, the unique enzyme present in Enogen grain facilitates a simpler, more efficient ethanol production process helping to maximize the productivity of every gallon produced, and thus the profitability of the ethanol plant.

By helping to create savings in electricity, natural gas and water usage, Enogen corn also has the potential to help an ethanol plant reduce its carbon footprint. Syngenta says that for a 100-million gallon plant, efficiency improvements by Enogen can save annually:

  • More than 68 million gallons of water
  • Nearly 10 million KWh of electricity
  • More than 350 billion BTUs of natural gas
  • More than 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions

Enogen corn represents a unique value proposition for local communities as well. Enogen corn hybrids are planted under contract with an ethanol plant licensed to use the technology. In exchange for high-quality grain and robust alpha amylase enzyme, ethanol plants pay an average 40 cent per bushel premium to local farmers for their Enogen grain, an economic boost that could mean as much as $80 to $90 an acre for some Midwestern farmers.

Agribusiness, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Syngenta

CTIC Tour Host Big Believer in Filter Strips

John Davis

ctic-13-terry-bachtoldHealthy soils are products of good management practices. And topping the list of practices for Terry Bachtold (shown getting an appreciation present for all his hard work of hosting), one of the host farmers for last week’s Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., is using filter strips.

“I’m a big believer in filter strips,” he exclaimed. “Whether it is my cattle operation or a corn grain farmer, I just feel filter strips do a lot for water quality improvements.” Even with his affinity toward filter strips, Terry believes that a variety of techniques can bring healthy soils to a farm, including cover crops, no-till or rotational grazing.

Terry admitted that he is not a row crop farmer, separating his farm into pasture paddocks rotational grazing for his cow-calf operation. He added what a difference a year had made in recovering from drought conditions on his farm.

“Last year at this time, we were buying hay from July 4th. This year, we’ve got plenty of pastures.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Terry here: Interview with Terry Bachtold, host on CTIC tour

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Environment

The Future of SIV

Joanna Schroeder

What is the future of SIV, or swine influenza virus? While most don’t know the path SIV will take for sure, Dr. Marie Culhane may be a better predictor of both due to her work on SIV. Dr. Culhane is an associate clinical professor with the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and she gave a presentation on the Future of SIV during the Swine Link networking event July 13 in Des Moines, Iowa hosted by Boehringer Ingelheim.

Dr Marie CulhaneDr. Culhane said she refers to SIV as the flu because influenza virus is a shared virus between humans, and animals. The viruses go back and forth so to designate the flu as a swine only virus is untrue.

During her presentation, Dr. Culhane began by giving an overview of SIV, and noted that the flu goes back hundreds of years and in the U.S. discovered influenza in around 1918 and was a normal virus that caused respiratory problems in pigs. However, in 1998 a new virus was introduced into pigs, H3N2. This virus came after H1N1 and since then, the two viruses co-infected pigs and started to exchange genetic components of the virus, or reassorting.  This has caused a lot of changes in viruses and pigs and thus a need for new vaccines.

Because of the challenges with the new viruses, Dr. Culhane said there has been a lot of collaboration and the industry has learned a lot. She touched on this during her presentation and also gave some tips for producers to help keep the flu from affecting their pigs and also some tips on treatment if their pigs come down with the flu.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Marie Culhane here: Thoughts on SIV

Listen to Dr. Marie Culhane’s presentation here: The Future of SIV

Check out the photos from the event in the Swine Link photo album.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pork, Swine

Good Drainage Key to Managing Watershed Runoff

John Davis

ctic-13-phil-algreenOn the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., we’ve talked a lot about nutrients draining into the local watershed and how to prevent that. Part of that formula includes controlling any water drainage from the land, and Phil Algreen with Agri Drain, a company that specializes in drainage management, talked to the crowd about some of his company’s products.

“Well, the main thing we use to [manage drainage] is called a water level control structure, a device you put on a tile main outlet [that allows] you to control [at one spot] the water table in that area affected by that tile,” adding that it is seasonally adjustable — less drainage in the winter and summer and maybe more in the spring when you’re trying to plant a crop.

But Phil talked bigger picture with the folks on the CTIC tour, explaining how their systems are not necessarily good for every situation and how they are mostly built for the flat topography of an area like Livingston County, Ill.

“But there are other practices besides drainage management we talked about: saturated buffers, wood-chip bioreactors… different things you can do, depending on the area where you live. Kind of like tools in a tool box. You’ve got to pick the right one.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Phil here: Interview with Phil Algreen with Agri Drain

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC