New Holland Attracts Ag, Construction Folks at NFMS

John Davis

nfms-13-nh-skid-steerNew Holland recently announced that it was folding its construction group back into the ag side of the house, so the recent National Farm Machinery Show seemed like the perfect venue for the company to show off some of their equipment capable of filling both roles.

“We have a lot of farmers who have construction equipment, and there’s a lot of contractors who have farms, so it’s a good mix,” explained Barry Newton with New Holland’s construction group. He said this show was the perfect chance to show off their new model 220 skid steer loader. “It will lift 2,200 pounds straight up in the air and walk around with it,” adding it has 68 hp and the quietest cab in the industry.

Barry said they saw lots of folks who have had many skid steers over the years and were really interested in this latest model.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Barry here: Interview with Barry Newton

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland

New Holland Already Becoming Sprayer Leader

John Davis

nfms-13-new-holland-sprayerNew Holland might be new to the sprayer business, jumping into the arena just a few years ago in 2010, but our friends there are already becoming leaders in the field. During the recent National Farm Machinery Show, sprayer marketing specialist for New Holland, Scott Lauher, told Chuck that their new Guardian self-propelled front boom sprayer already has several advantages over the competition.

“The travel distance on our independent hydraulic suspension system is 20 inches… nearly twice the nearest competitor,” Scott said, adding it has the largest tank size of any self-propelled sprayer, holding up to 1,600 gallons. Its six feet of clearance is also the highest of any sprayer, and that allows growers to get into the field later in the season to do late-season fungicide applications and spread out fertilizer treatments to maximize the effects. Scott said it all comes down to making producers’ bottom lines better. “By being able to use the machine for multiple applications throughout the year, and not having to hire third-party companies to do it for them, it helps them justify the cost of the machine.”

He concluded saying this New Holland sprayer is available at dealers now, so go see your local New Holland supplier to check ’em out for yourself.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Scott here: Interview with Scott Lauher

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland

Does a New Equipment Warranty Matter?

Talia Goes

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What grade would you give Ag Sec. Vilsack during his first term?”

Our poll results: The majority of you at twenty-nine percent gave Vilsack an A. Twenty-two percent said D; eighteen percent said B; seventeen percent said C; and fourteen percent said F. Since the poll grades were similar across the board we decided to calculate his overall average. On his first term paper Vilsack scored a C+.

zp

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Does warranty influence your decision to purchase new equipment?” When shopping for new equipment there are many factors to consider that may make or break a purchase decision. Is warranty one of the top considerations? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

New Holland, ZimmPoll

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  • American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman presented Rep. Frank Lucas with AFBF’s “Golden Plow” award on Monday during Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Annual Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City.
  • PigCHAMP inc., continues to add to the strengths of its team by welcoming Angie Bowman as Software Development Project Manager and Gordon Becton as Marketing Communications Specialist.
  • According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s quarterly Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions drought sparked a rush in irrigated farmland sales during the fourth quarter of 2012.
  • Wyffels Hybrids has released a new corn hybrid for the 2014 season.
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Celebrate FFA Week

Jamie Johansen

164408_10151453625740660_34121918_nFFA Week is in full swing as FFA members from across the country take part in activities promoting and past members reminisce about all the opportunities the organization gave them.

The National FFA Organization has been a part of my life since the day I was born. My dad was an ag teacher, so I was raised in the organization. Once I was old enough to zip up my very own FFA jacket I couldn’t wait to take in everything the FFA had to offer. The blue corduroy let a shy girl, who lacked confidence, blossom into a public speaker, leader and advocate for agriculture.

Later in life the National FFA Organization gave me the opportunity to share my passion with my students as a ag teacher. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your students hard work pay off as they walk across the stage to receive their State FFA Degree or an award for a Career Development Event.

Today, the FFA is more to me than just memories. National blue and corn gold bleed through me each day. The FFA Motto of:
Learning to Do
Doing to Learn
Earning to Live
Living to Serve
Is a motto we should all bring into our everyday lives. Everyday is a learning opportunity. Everyday hard work gives us the opportunity to provide for our families. Everyday we should live to serve our friends, family and community.

I was disappointed to find out the video, So God Made An FFA Member, has been removed from YouTube. I hope to get it posted as soon as it is back online.

Education, FFA

Agronomic Design Shows How Case IH Listens

John Davis

nfms-13-case-robGiving the customers what they want is a hallmark of good business, and Case IH practices that with every piece of equipment they roll out.

“Before we lay down the product definition for any future design, we go out and visit with the customers at length,” explained Case IH’s Rob Zemenchik during an interview with Chuck at the National Farm Machinery Show. Rob calls their approach of taking an in-depth survey of their customers’ needs “agronomic design,” rather than assuming what the customers need. “With the investments our growers are making today in seed and fertilizer and land, we want to be sure our equipment is able to meet those needs and deliver on the best opportunities for high yield.”

He pointed to one example of Case IH’s application of this agronomic design principle with his company’s 500T Seed Drill, a product that features an industry-first parallel linkage in the row units. “That was identified by our customers.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Rob here: Interview with Rob Zemenchik

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Case IH, National Farm Machinery Show

Get Fields Clean Before Planting

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto Roundup Ready PlusWith spring planting just around the corner, Monsanto is encouraging growers to take planned, proactive steps to prevent and manage resistant and tough-to-control weeds.

Monsanto Roundup Ready Plus marketing manager Chris Reat says that means putting down residual herbicides. “Whatever the current status of your fields are, when we go to drop that plant in there we want to make sure that everything’s clean,” said Reat. “Then have that pro-active plan to use pre-emerge residuals down and multiple modes of action to allow that stand to get off to a good strong start and stay clean during that critical early period.”

Reat adds that using residual herbicides in combination with Roundup® agricultural herbicides provides multiple modes of action to help reduce the risk of resistant weeds developing and they encourage growers to apply full labeled rates of Roundup agricultural herbicides and all residual herbicides since lower rates can allow weed escapes, which may require a second trip to control, reduce crop yield and set seed for next season.

Listen to or download my interview with Chris here: Monsanto's Chris Reat
These and other weed management recommendations are part of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready PLUS Weed Management Solutions. Roundup Ready PLUS offers integrated and diverse management practices for weeds developed in conjunction with leading academics, agronomists and other industry partners for control of all your weeds, including tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds. Roundup Ready PLUS also offers financial incentives to help farmers offset the cost of qualifying residual herbicides and other weed management resources.
For more information, please visit www.RoundupReadyPLUS.com.

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming, weed management

Renewed Energy at New Holland

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 384During the National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland was once again a prime sponsor of ours. There was a lot of blue and yellow on their lot.

New Holland at National Farm Machinery ShowSo let’s learn about some of the changes going on in the marketing area at New Holland. I visited with Mark Hooper who has been named Director of Marketing for New Holland North America. Mark is very excited about the future since they’ve had a couple of great years with growth in different segments.

Just a week ago New Holland held it’s national sales and dealer meeting. Mark says it gave them an opportunity to focus on where New Holland is headed as a brand with new relationships like the one with the National Cattlemen’s Association and Growth Energy. He says, “We’re working with our dealers to improve their performance and their support of the products because it takes the whole package from products to the support end as well.”

At the same time New Holland is working on its brand within the agriculture industry it is also doing the same in the construction industry with both segments working together. In fact, there are products like skid steers and excavators that fit both segments and were on display at the show.

Learn more about what’s going on with New Holland in the marketing arena in this week’s ZimmCast here: New Holland Marketing

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, ZimmCast

Mighty Mississippi Rolling Along

Cindy Zimmerman

bargesAt the beginning of this year, closing the Mississippi River to barge traffic as a result of low water levels was a very real possibility, but that crisis has been averted thanks to some Army Corps of Engineers work.

“There was an emergency move by the Army Corps of Engineers to blast rocks out of the river floor at Thebes and Grant Tower, Illinois,” said Tracy Mack, director of bulk and packaged goods logistics for GROWMARK. “That added about two feet to the navigable channel between Memphis and St. Louis.”

gmk-mackThat project was complete by the beginning of February, sooner than expected, and some timely rains also helped. “Because of the recent rains and the forecast rain right now, we’re not in imminent danger of closure,” Tracy said. “It’s looking that we have enough water to get us through the month of March at least if drought continues.”

It was a different situation when Tracy was a guest on the AgFanatics podcast in early January so he is glad it has improved.

Listen to my interview with Tracy here: GROWMARK's Tracy Mack

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming, Fertilizer, GROWMARK

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  • The latest Agricultural Finance Monitor released by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis announced that abundant crop insurance shielded farmers’ income from much of the impact of this summer’s drought across the Midwest and Mid-South.
  • Tuskegee University is going to host one of the oldest professional farmers conferences in the nation.
  • Wheat Growers has been awarded first place honors in regional and national competition for its newsletter Wheat Growers News and its annual meeting video.
  • Bayer CropScience recently updated its Innovation Plus platform to provide program information, rebate and yield calculators, an education center and redemption catalog.
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