BASF Announces Armezon Herbicide

Cindy Zimmerman

BASFBASF Crop Protection has announced the addition of Armezon™ herbicide to help corn growers deal with resistant weeds and take advantage of strong commodity prices with more complete, comprehensive weed management solutions.

According to BASF, Armezon helps growers maximize their yields by controlling tough, yield-robbing weeds while being safe to all corn types.

BASFA post-emerge herbicide solution for corn, Armezon controls problematic grasses and broadleaf weeds such as common lambsquarters, waterhemp, giant foxtail and crabgrass – including those with resistance to glyphosate, triazines, PPOs, and ALS inhibitors.

“Armezon is definitely tough on weeds,” said John Sabatka, Post Corn Herbicides Product Manager with BASF. “At the same time, it’s also safe to use on all field and specialty corn, regardless of trait – including the most sensitive varieties.”

Armezon also has a wider window of application when compared to most other post-emerge corn herbicides on the market. It is an excellent cross-spectrum tank-mix partner, which makes it particularly helpful for growers who rely on post applications of atrazine or glyphosate to manage tough weeds.

Find out more about Armezon from BASF.

BASF, Corn

Mobile Technology Replacing Brochures At Trade Shows

Chuck Zimmerman

Why pack cases of flyers or brochures to stack in your trade show booth when you can just bring along an iPad to display more information in a multi-media format?

Pioneer Hi-Bred used to bring along more than 50 different product brochures to trade shows. Now they bring an iPad with a company-branded app. Pioneer, along with GROWMARK, worked with Float Mobile on these projects. Here’s what they did with GROWMARK.

At the 2011 Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK used an interactive “Yield Maximizer” game to draw attendees to their booth and keep them there longer. It’s part of a larger trend that’s going on in agribusiness – using innovative mobile technology to showcase products and services in unique ways.

“The FS/GROWMARK System upped its technology ante at the 2011 Farm Progress Show. Our goal at the show is always to engage and share valuable information with the farmers and other interested parties who attend. Making use of iPad-powered games that attracted attention, entertained show-goers, and conveyed information about our strong and diverse product lines was very effective,” said Ann Kafer, GROWMARK’s director of communications and marketing services. “We also debuted cropNAtion.com at the show and signed up those wanting to participate in the new social media platform for information about crop production across the country — farmer to farmer.”

Agribusiness, Apps, GROWMARK, Pioneer

Assistance Available To Attend 2012 IFAJ Congress

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s not too early to look ahead to the 2012 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress which will take place in Sweden. It’s on my calendar. If you need some assistance going, one option is for AAEA members to apply for a professional development stipend. Another is for young agricultural communicators to apply for an IFAJ-Alltech Young Leader Award.

AAEA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STIPENDS
The AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) is funding three, $2,000 stipends to help AAEA members at large (a fourth stipend is awarded to the current International Committee chair) travel to Sweden for the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress this summer.

Send your completed application to Steve Werblow, chair of the AAEA International Committee, by FEBRUARY 3. Stipend winners will be announced February 10 – the day IFAJ Congress registration opens.

Application Form (.doc)

IFAJ-ALLTECH YOUNG LEADERS AWARD
Applications are now available for the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award, an exciting program for agricultural communicators 35 years of age and younger. Here are some highlights:

– A 1,000-Euro ($1,272) prize
– Travel scholarship to the 2012 IFAJ Congress in Sweden
– Participation in a professional development Boot Camp with the other award winners from around the world
– Connection with a mentor from the IFAJ community

Each IFAJ member guild (AAEA is a guild, and you are all members) can nominate one candidate to the global competition. The AAEA International Committee will select one candidate from among the AAEA member applicants; judging of the 10-person Class of 2012 will be conducted by an IFAJ panel.

Entry requirements are available online. They include:

– Candidates must have been no more than 35 years of age on December 31, 2011
– Applicant must be an active or affiliate member in good standing of AAEA
– Application includes a brief essay
– Candidate must submit three samples of his or her work for judging.

Application Form (.doc)

Lycka till! (That’s Swedish for “Good luck!”)

IFAJ, International

European Network Of Agricultural Journalists Formed

Chuck Zimmerman

It looks like you have to be a member to log in to the new website but the EU has a new ag journalist organization.

The European network of Agricultural Journalists (ENAJ), a new organisation representing agricultural journalists from the EU was officially launched today in Brussels. The Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos was presented with the working charter for the ENAJ at a function attended by 140 journalists from the EU 27. The new journalist run organisation will be initially led by Belgian journalist Jef Verhaeran who explained at the launch how the idea came about following consultation between journalists and the EU Commission earlier this year. Leaders of agricultural journalist associations from member states came together to explore the possibility of establishing a new organisation and the idea received the backing of these member guilds and associations. A “project team” of eight journalists will now go about establishing and growing the network over the next twelve months.

The main objectives of the network is to help agricultural journalists throughout the EU communicate easily with each other while also providing members with better access to issues of importance including the CAP debate from DG Agri.

International, Media

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Bayer CropScience has created the Young Farmer Sustainability Award to acknowledge farmers under the age of 40 who are demonstrating sustainability in their operations.
  • U.S. soybean farmers can now apply for the United Soybean Board’s free See for Yourself program, which will enable 10 U.S. soybean farmers this year to witness for themselves how the soybeans they grow are used in animal feed at home and abroad.
  • BPA Worldwide announced the launch of its new free online tool for audited site traffic.
  • Deere & Company officials recently broke ground on the company’s second tractor factory in India, announcing the facility will be constructed in Dewas, which is located northeast of Indore, the largest city in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Zimfo Bytes

BASF Invests in Cellulosic Sugar Company

Cindy Zimmerman

BASFGlobal chemical giant BASF has invested $30 million in a Pennsylvania-based company that has developed a process to produce cellulosic sugars for renewable chemicals and biofuels.

BASF, through subsidiary BASF Biorenewable Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG led a $50 million financing round in the technology firm Renmatix Inc.

BASFRenmatix has developed the patented Plantrose™ platform whereby industrial sugar can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass (wood, cane trash or straw). In the Plantrose technology, biomass is split into cellulose and sugar in supercritical water at high temperature and pressure in a two-step process.

Industrial sugars are important renewable resources for the chemical industry and can be used, for example, to produce biofuels or basic chemical products and intermediates by fermentative processes. The availability of industrial sugars in sufficient quantities and at favorable cost is therefore important for the competitiveness of the products.

BASF, Biofuels

TOCA Offers Time Management Webinar

Chuck Zimmerman

The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association is offering a time management webinar to members and non-members. It will be held on January 26 at 2pm eastern time.

As a non TOCA member, if you are interested in participating, please send us a $25 check payable to TOCA and send to: TOCA, 120 Main St. West, New Prague, MN 56071. Please contact the TOCA office if you have questions at 952-758-6340 or email us. Thanks to GIE Media for coordinating this webinar as a member service.

Time Management for Creative Types
Find out how to get the most out of your workday. Spend an hour and learn how to:
· Identify time killers
· Email smarter
· Use software to improve your workflow

Presenter: Mike Prokopeak, Vice President and Editorial Director, MediaTec Publishing

Register here.

Uncategorized

National Farm Machinery Show App

Chuck Zimmerman

Going to the National Farm Machinery Show? We are and we’ll have the new NFMS App on our iPhones!

The first-ever mobile app, called “NFMS ’12,” for the National Farm Machinery Show is now available for free on smartphones (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) and features an interactive exhibitor map and listings, seminars and speakers, Championship Tractor Pull schedules, and Louisville area information to plan your trip to the largest indoor farm show in America.

The mobile app will include frequent updates right up to the opening day of the show. “NFMS ’12” also will provide digital information from exhibitors, text alerts, product updates and instant connectivity, all in the palm of your hand. Text alerts and mobile updates on what’s happening during the show are also features.

“In addition to the product-packed NFMS Show Guide, the mobile app will contain all the information needed to plan your visit and also help make your days at the National Farm Machinery Show very full and productive,” says Allen Barkve, general manager of Farm Industry News.

Social media will also be incorporated into the app to connect attendees (hashtag: #nfms12). To find additional information about the show, connect with National Farm Machinery Show by following it on Facebook and on Twitter @nfmslouisville.

The free application can be downloaded by searching “NFMS ’12” in the Apple Store, Android Market and BlackBerry’s App World or by clicking here.

Apps, National Farm Machinery Show

Harvest is over

Melissa Sandfort

Harvest season is behind us yet last night as I looked out our front window, this harvest moon graced the night sky. I did a little research about it and once every four years, it occurs in October in the northern hemisphere. Currently, the latest possible harvest moon is on October 11.

So I guess what I saw wasn’t a harvest moon, but just a brightly lit yellowish full moon.

It took my husband and I about 20 minutes of researching camera settings to get this just right so it didn’t look like a ball of fire against a black canvas. Thanks to Google, we figured it out.

That’s one of the many joys of living in the country – I feel like the moon and stars are closer to Earth here, unclouded by city lights and smog.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

John Deere Can Combine Sets World Record

Cindy Zimmerman

The John Deere Can-Do combine has officially set a world record.

afbf annual hawaiiThe John Deere “Can Do” project in November 2011 created a full-sized combine made entirely from food – 308,448 cans of food and 11,268 bags of food to be exact. According to Guinness® World Records, Project “Can Do” is by far the largest sculpture ever built from canned food, more than doubling the number of cans used in the previous record set two years ago.

The combine can-food sculpture depicting John Deere’s new S-Series Combine harvesting corn measured 60 feet wide, 80 feet long and 16 feet tall and weighed approximately 170 tons. It was created by John Deere to recognize the vital role that America’s farmers play in feeding the world and showcase how new equipment and technologies are helping farmers perform that role more productively and efficiently than ever.

The world-record can-food sculpture was built November 12-17 by a team of 450 John Deere volunteers including employees, retirees, employee families and friends. The structure took more than 1800 hours to build and contains more than 15 different kinds of canned food. In addition to the cans of food, the sculpture contains 11,268 bags of popcorn, peas and beans.

The sculpture was on display at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois, until December 12 when it was dismantled and all the food was donated to River Bend Foodbank. River Bend serves families in the Quad Cities and 22 counties in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

John Deere