John Deere Displays JDLink at AG CONNECT

John Davis February 5, 2013

Our friends at John Deere made good use of their time at the premier show for technology, innovation and education, AG CONNECT Expo, showing off some of their latest equipment. Swarupa Bakre, Associate Brand Manager for John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group talked to Chuck about their JDLink technology, a telematics solution to communicate important information gathered by the equipment and send it back to the user.

“It captures all your machine health, field data, performance and any number of variables,” and transfers the data by cellular network to a website. Swarupa said that producers can then go to the website and look at what they need to know about their machines to make their operation more efficient. “They have a ton of information at their fingertips.”

Swarupa added the whole system helps to do things like simplifying and scheduling maintenance and even setting up anti-theft tools.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Swarupa here: Interview with Swarupa Bakre

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere

Krone CEO Praises AG CONNECT, Promotes Products

John Davis February 5, 2013

The recent AG CONNECT Expo can certainly be considered a success, especially if you talk to some of the exhibitors who attended.

“We have a group of customers coming into this show, who are coming into here for education, taking part in the 50 educational sessions, and almost every one of them have been booked out,” said Rusty Fowler, President/CEO of Krone NA, adding that every customer coming to his booth is a serious buyer looking to see how technology can help the operation. “And that’s what this show is all about, and it’s working.”

And Rusty said they’re making to sure to show these buyers Krone’s latest technology, including their 1100-horsepower BiG X forage harvester with a 12-row corn head. “This is the top of the line technology in forage harvesters, in fact, the largest one in the world. [You can fill] a 40-foot trailer with corn silage in about three and a half minutes.” Plus, it comes with all the newest bells and whistles, including telematics, remote diagnostics and plug-and-play GPS technology compatible with many GPS applications. Throw in some of Krone’s newest top-of-the-line balers, and Rusty said they have a whole showcase that fits perfectly with AG CONNECT.

Rusty said they’re already looking forward to the next AG CONNECT Expo in 2015. “I told the folks who manage this show that we’ll need more space in 2015. It’s the best show experience [our potential customers] have ever had.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Rusty here: Interview with Rusty Fowler

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio

New Holland Initiative Supports Ethanol

John Davis February 5, 2013

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of New Holland‘s commitment to ethanol and corn growers through their initiative with Growth Energy. Started in March 2012, the company’s manager of Cash Crop Product Specialists, Jim Moellenberndt, told Chuck at the recent AG CONNECT Expo that the ethanol initiative has been growing in popularity.

“[We’re] getting the news out that New Holland is supporting farmers through Growth Energy,” Jim said. “It’s kind of grassroots, and it’s just been snowballing out there.”

Jim added that New Holland is the only equipment manufacturer supporting Growth Energy, and farmers appreciate it. “There’s been a lot of farmers that have actually come up and thanked us for this. It’s something they’ve been trying to get the word out, and the more [we can dispel] the myths about ethanol, the better off we are.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Jim here: Interview with Jim Moellenberndt

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Ethanol, New Holland

Claas Rolls Out New Lexion 780 at AG CONNECT

John Davis February 5, 2013

Farmers this fall will see a new combine that sets itself apart from the competition in its efficiency. During the recent AG CONNECT, Chuck caught up with Claas product specialist Christopher Girodat, who talked about the improvements they’ve made in the company’s new Lexion 780 over the old 770 model.

“We have a new feeder house drive system, which allows you to have more horsepower going down to the actual feeder house to drive those bigger corn heads. We have a new dynamic cooling for our engine compartment cooling system, and we also have a new rear axle on this unit,” Christopher said.

Fuel efficiency is also a big feature, along with a more efficient Accelerated Pre-Separation (APS) threshing system combined with the ROTO PLUS separation system to increase grain retention.

The build schedule starts in a couple of months, so units will be available for this year’s fall harvest.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Christopher here: Interview with Christopher Girodat

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio

A Look Back at Milestones in Biodiesel Industry

Chuck Zimmerman February 5, 2013

The ZimmComm team is in action at various locations like the National Ethanol Conference, Cattle Industry Convention and I’m currently covering the National Biodiesel Conference. We’re really enjoying seeing so many of our friends.

The opening general session of this year’s National Biodiesel Conference was a fantastic look back at 20 years of the National Biodiesel Board and 10 years of this conference. After some opening educational sessions the first general session took place.

You can listen to all of Joe Jobe’s (CEO of NBB) opening speech here: Joe Jobe Opening Speech

We’ll have more to share from today’s activities as time permits!

2013 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, National Biodiesel Conference

USPOULTRY Announces New Chairman

Jamie Johansen February 5, 2013

The passing of the “working man’s gavel” once again took place during the International Poultry Expo, now part of the International Production & Processing Expo. This year’s new U.S. Poultry and Egg Association chairman is James Adams, President and CEO of Wenger Feeds.

James has a long history in the poultry industry working in egg production, feed manufacturing, transportation, purchasing and sales and marketing. He has also served on the USPOULTRY board of directors since 2002.

Other newly elected officers:
Vice Chairman – Elton Maddox, Wayne Farms
Treasurer – Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods
Secretary – Paul Hill, West Liberty Foods
Immediate Past Chairman – Mark Waller, Ingram Farms

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is an all-feather organization representing the complete spectrum of today’s poultry industry, with a focus on progressively serving member companies through research, education, communication, and technical assistance. Founded in 1947, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is based in Tucker, GA.

You can find photos from the event here:International Production & Processing Expo Photo Album

IPPE, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Three Pillars of Headline Plant Health

Cindy Zimmerman February 5, 2013

Growers at the recent BASF Crop Protection “Fields of Innovation” symposium heard from Technical Market Specialist Dr. Jennifer Holland about the three pillars of plant health – disease control, growth efficiency and stress tolerance, and how Headline fungicide plays a role in those.

“Headline fungicide really controls the pathogen in a preventative manner,” she explained, adding it keeps the pathogen from germinating and getting through the surface of the plant.

As far as the growth efficiency portion of the equation, Jennifer said Headline helps increase photosynthesis by up to 20 percent. “Even one of the growers spoke to that today: the longer you can keep your crop green, the better your potential is at the end of the season.”

And finally, the better the plant grows, the better its roots are, helping the third pillar: stress tolerance. “Stress tolerance and growth efficiency are actually related to one another by photosynthesis,” Jennifer said. She added that during heat and drought, the openings on the leaf surfaces will shut down, stressing the plant by building up heat in it… much like when car windows are shut on a hot day. Headline helps make sure those openings, stomates, stay open, allowing for a free flow of air and gases in and out of the plant.

Listen to an interview with Jennifer here: Dr. Jennifer Holland, BASF

BASF Grower Symposium Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Crop Protection, Farming

AG CONNECTers Invited to Agritechnica in Fall

John Davis February 4, 2013

The recent AG CONNECT Expo gave farmers across the U.S. a chance to see the latest in American agriculture. But if you want a more international feel, you might want to check out what next November’s Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany has to offer.

“Usually in America, you meet Americans. But when you go outside, especially to this #1 show [Agritechnica], you meet people from Russia, China, South America, and from every spot of the world, and they’re bringing their most topical innovations,” said Peter Grothues, Managing Director of DLG, Germany’s agricultural society.

With four million square feet of exhibition space and some 2,500 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, Peter said it is a great gathering of innovation and education. He urged attendees to plan to spend at least two-three days visiting… and maybe more time if you want to see some farms and sites in Germany.

More information is available at www.agritechnica.com.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Peter here: Interview with Peter Grothues

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio

John Deere Recognized for Machine Sync Excellence

John Davis February 4, 2013

At the recent AG CONNECT Expo, John Deere was recognized for its efforts picking up an AE50 Gold Medal. Kathy Michael, Senior Product Manager, Intelligent Solutions Group for John Deere, explained to Chuck what their Machine Sync, which won the award, can do.

“What [Machine Sync does is allow] the combine to control the tractor of the grain cart and can do on-the-go unloading much more efficiently and eliminate some of that human error,” Kathy said. She added that U.S. custom harvesters, who are meeting in connection with AG CONNECT, have had good reactions to the product. “They’re really excited about the efficiency, especially since often their crews change year-to-year, so they’re able to make sure they have a little bit more logistics optimization in the field by being able to connect the combine to the tractor.”

Machine Sync is available now from John Deere dealers, and Kathy added they are really excited what the next fall will bring.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Kathy here: Interview with Kathy Michael

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere

Understanding the Connections at IPPE

Jamie Johansen February 4, 2013

Connecting the interests of the poultry industry sums of the theme Novus International adopted for this year’s International Production & Processing Expo held earlier this week in Atlanta, GA.

Today’s poultry industry faces multiple and often contradictory challenges to profitability. Between managing margins and servicing customers, every stakeholder in the supply chain is working to meet financial metrics, strict quality expectations and dynamic market demands.

Novus recognizes these challenges and is here to help turn them into opportunity. From our unique position, we understand the perspective of all stakeholders and can facilitate the connections needed to solve problems and meet customer demands.

During the event I talked with Scott Hine, Vice President of Product Management Operation for Novus. Scott shared how their goal is to challenge their processers to not only think about the feed mill and poultry operations, but to think of all operations and connect the dots between them.

Check out my complete interview with Scott: Interview with Scott Hine

You can find photos from the event here:International Production & Processing Expo Photo Album

Audio, IPPE, Novus International, Poultry, Video

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