Customer: Wyffels Brings Value to Our Operation

John Davis

When Mother Nature turns against you, you need all the help you can get. Corn farmers throughout the Midwest are certainly finding that out this year. During the recent Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies event at the Harmon Farm in Vincent, Iowa, those in attendance got a lot of information to help them overcome the challenges the drought has thrown at them this season. Jayson Willimack (on the far right in the picture), an Iowa corn farmer, told Chuck during an interview that they rely on the advice they get from their Wyffels rep because it’s just too costly not to have the kind of help everyone needs. “We can’t just plant corn and grow it anymore. We have to manage every aspect of our business to be successful,” adding that he knows he can call his Wyffels person at any time and get real solutions to problems.

This was Willimack’s fourth Corn Strategies, and he appreciates the information he’s able to get in a low-pressure environment. “Not trying to sell seed… they’re just trying to bring value to your operation, and help be a good business partner and help you make good business decisions.”

Even with backgrounds doing other jobs, such as working for a large grain company and a bank, and facing the challenges that years like the past two… with too much rain last year and widespread drought this year, Willimack still believes in farming. “I still think farming’s the best business to be in. You’re still your own boss. It’s a great future. We’ll have our ups and downs, but in the whole scheme of things, it’s a great way of life.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Bill here: Interview with Jayson Willimack, Iowa Corn Farmer

2012 Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Corn

Soybean Growers Also Interested in Conservation

John Davis

While much of the focus of the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour has been on corn, and in particular, nitrogen use and runoff in corn, soybean growers are also interested in the event. “Corn is a major crop, but soybeans are also a rotational crop, and lot of the research they’re doing on nitrogen management is on corn-soybean rotation farms,” said Ron Moore, an Illinois soybean grower and At-Large Director of the Illinois Soybean Association. In an interview with Chuck, Moore said his association is involved in this year’s tour because they want to make sure opinions of soybean growers are heard in research discussions.

Moore continued that much of the same type of research being done on corn would also apply to soybeans. “Some of the new opinions are that maybe we need to think about putting fertilizer on for the soybean crop prior to planting in the spring,” adding that we probably need to think about soybeans the same as planning the corn crop and not just as an afterthought to corn.

He also pointed out that the fact that a lot of non-agricultural groups attended the tour should help farmers in general get their message out to the general public that producers are responsible curators of the land and just as interested in conservation as the non-farming groups are.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Ron here: Interview with Ron Moore, Illinois soybean grower & At-Large Director of the Illinois Soybean Association

2012 Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Farming, Soybean

John Deere: Your Tractor is Calling

John Davis

One of the images Chuck saw at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture was a picture of a farmer on an cell phone, being called by his tractor. While it might be a bit of a parody, it’s not too far from the truth. In an interview with Aaron Bartholomay from the Intelligent Solutions Group of our sponsor, John Deere, they talked about expanding technologies, including the connectivity farmers are able to get through MyJohnDeere.com.

“We see this technology advancing and the demand in the agriculture industry to have that connectivity to the machines and their employees out there to make sure that everybody knows and is working in synch with what they want from the master plan,” Bartholomay said. “My John Deere has the capability of logging in through a smart phone or mobile device so customers can use their mobile phone and log in to that My John Deere website and connect to their tractor out there.”

Bartholomay added that customers can see a wide variety of information from several different John Deere products through the one website. Check it out!

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Aaron here: Interview with Aaron Bartholomay, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group

11th International Conference on Precision Agriculture Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the International Conference on Precision Agriculture is sponsored by John Deere
Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Wyffels Hybrids Expands into Western Iowa

John Davis

The success of Wyffels Hybrids has been demonstrated in how many more farmers are using the Illinois-based seed company and how rapidly it is expanding. “As we’ve moved forward, we’re kind of calling this year a revolution. We’re expanding into western Iowa with more focus,” Bill Backhaus the new Region Manager with Wyffels in Southwest Iowa told Chuck during the recent Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies event at the Harmon Farm in Vincent, Iowa. “We’re really excited and working hard to do what we can to take care of the customers!”

Backhaus said they have several numbers specially designed for his part of the state. In Southwest Iowa, he said closer to the Missouri River crops are doing pretty good, especially considering the flooded conditions of a year ago. But the further east you go, the more it is apparent that a good rain is desperately needed.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Bill here: Interview with Bill Backhaus, Southwest Iowa Region Manager with Wyffels Hybrids

2012 Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Corn

Tour Demonstrates Ag’s Commitment to Conservation

John Davis

Events such as the the recent Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour are giving agricultural producers a chance to show their commitment to conservation practices in the field. “We see this great opportunity for a volunteer collaboration between environmental groups and the farm community,” said Richard Breckenridge, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Advisor for the Illinois EPA during an interview with Chuck. He said it’s been an evolving, successful relationship, and agricultural interests need to tell their story.

“A lot of times we have forgotten about how to talk about that message of conservation on the farm, and because of the water quality issues, we now see a number of opportunities to not only talk about it from the agricultural and environmental perspective, but we can also begin to look at what are the things we can do,” Breckenridge said. He added that best management practices, such as water sampling and modeling, slow-release nitrogen products, tile drainage, buffer strips, and biomass, help the ag community talk about how it is taking care of the water quality. Breckenridge concluded that these kind of practices happen every day. This tour is just highlighting how those efforts actually happen across the country.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Richard here: Interview with Richard Breckenridge, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Advisor, Illinois EPA

2012 Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Farming

Grand Opening Attendees Tour Clayton Research Farm

Jamie Johansen

After the grand opening of Greenhouse 5, Bayer CropScience hosted a tour of the Clayton Research Farm, where Chuck caught up with Karl Morris, Bayer CropScience, Environmental Science, Clayton Research Farm site manager. Morris discussed the research efforts of the center and what’s new in pest management.

“I am one of six biologist that are here at our Clayton Development Center, but I am also the site manager. We are a subsidiary division of Bayer CropScience and our efforts here are directed a little different than your normal crop kind of things. We are developing products here that go into the professional turf area. We are also developing products that go into the pest management area, this would be products that protect your home from roaches, fleas, ticks and termites. And we are developing products that go into the consumer market and available in big box stores and garden centers.”

Listen to or download Chuck’s entire interview with Karl Morris here: Interview with Karl Morris

You can find the photo album for the Bayer event here: Bayer CropScience Greenhouse 5 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Bayer CropScience Brings Biotech into Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

The grand opening of Bayer CropScience’s Greenhouse 5 brought many biotech industry stakeholders together to discuss the future of agriculture and biotechnology. Chuck met up with Gwyn Riddick, VP, Agricultural Biotechnology, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, to discuss what they do to bring more biotech to the world of agriculture.

“What we do is work to get more biotechnology in agriculture because for the future one of the big things is to be able to feed the world and fuel the world and heal the world. Agriculture plays a big role in this and is going to play a bigger role coming into the next 40 to 50 years, as its predicted that we’ve got to produce twice as much food to keep everyone alive. The Biotechnology Center is a economic development organization that brings together resources and people to solve problems like that.”

Listen to or download Chuck’s entire interview with Gwyn Riddick here: Interview with Gwyn Riddick

You can find the photo album for the Bayer event here: Bayer CropScience Greenhouse 5 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Bayer CropScience Greenhouse 5 Media Briefing

Chuck Zimmerman

Bayer CropScience just held an online media briefing for ag journalists who could not make last week’s grand opening of Greenhouse 5. I was actually in the air but our John Davis was able to dial in and record the call.

Opening up the online media briefing was Courtney Beck, U.S. BioScience Outreach Manager. She welcomed the participants and introduced presenters Dan Tomso, BioScience Research & Development and Amy McCaskill, one of the scientists working in the facility. We missed introductions on our recording but you’ll hear Dan’s comments followed by Amy and then the audio of a tour video. I’ll be adding a link to that video when one is available.

So if you missed the grand opening or today’s briefing feel free to listen or download and use: Bayer Greenhouse 5 Media Briefing

You can find photos from the grand opening event that you are also welcome to download and use here: Bayer CropScience Greenhouse 5 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

Greenhouse 5 = New Products for Bayer CropScience

Jamie Johansen

Mathias Kremer is head of Global BioScience for Bayer CropScience LP and Chuck took the opportunity to chat with him at the grand opening of Greenhouse 5. They discussed Bayer’s upcoming plans for new product development that will help farmers across the world.

“Our key message is that we want to be one of the most innovative and most professional biotech companies in the world. This new facility is going to help enhance our research work in row crops, especially in soybean, cotton and corn. We have done this in the past with other greenhouses in the area, with universities and now we have this wonderful new facility.”

“Our lab facility is close so we are now perfectly equipped to advance in our work and to bring more innovative products to the market to benefit farmers all over the world. We are working here on new products such as wheat resistance, something that is spreading intensely in the United States, so we are working on new solutions to deal with that problem.”

Listen to or download Chuck’s entire interview with Mathias Kremer here: Interview with Mathias Kremer

You can find the photo album for the Bayer event here: Bayer CropScience Greenhouse 5 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer

USDA Announces More Drought Aid for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

Following President Obama’s directive last week to take additional steps to support struggling producers, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today announced new measures that will help livestock and crop farmers in drought-stricken areas of the country.

Vilsack announced new flexibility and assistance in USDA conservation programs to get help to livestock producers as the most wide-spread drought in seven decades intensifies in the United States. Vilsack also announced plans to encourage crop insurance companies to provide a short grace period for farmers on unpaid insurance premiums, as some farming families can be expected to struggle to make ends meet at the close of the crop year.

“USDA will open opportunities for haying and grazing on lands enrolled in conservation programs while providing additional financial and technical assistance to help landowners through this drought,” said Vilsack. “And we will deliver greater peace of mind to farmers dealing with this worsening drought by encouraging crop insurance companies to work with farmers through this challenging period. As severe weather and natural disasters continue to threaten the livelihoods of thousands of our farming families, we want you and your communities to know that USDA stands with you.”

Vilsack stressed that options to help farmers are very limited and what is needed most now is passage of a new food, farm and jobs bill.

Listen or download Vilsack’s announcement here. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack

Audio, USDA