Look, Kids, It’s The Swamp Buggy!

Melissa Sandfort

We used to call it the “Swamp Buggy,” otherwise politely known as the sprayer. We’d run down to the end of the driveway when it passed through town and wave like kids trying to stop an ice cream truck (also not-so-politely known as the “ding ding man”). Today, inspired by the sound of the swamp buggy approaching town, I decided to look into the effects of these two different front tires on soil compaction.

According to the University of Minnesota, some soil compression can be good: it can speed up the rate of seed germination and reduce water loss. Excessive soil compaction can, however, adversely affecting crop yields. And, the number one cause of soil compaction on fields is wheel traffic.

According to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crop Watch report, the wider and taller a tire is, the better, as it will have a larger footprint on the soil surface and spread out the weight. Large, single tires are preferred over duals as duals often increase the total axle weight and have a “pinch row” between them.

Then, here are some test results published from Penn State: Dual tractor tires, compared to single tires, decrease pressure on soil, but the affected area is at least twice as large…Testing at USDA’s National Tillage Laboratory indicate there is no crop yield increase for dual tires over single tires. But, by spreading the weight over more axles, deep compaction is reduced or eliminated. Which also has big benefits.

This is a picture of two sprayers our family farming operation runs (the swamp buggy is on the left). I guess they couldn’t decide which one was best either.

Until we walk again…

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BIVI Swine Health Seminar Concludes

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarYou can’t have a swine health seminar without having a little pig on the menu and at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar we got it at our closing dinner which was a luau on the lawn. I have just updated the photo album with a lot of photos from yesterday’s events that include the dinner and entertainment. I think I’ll have a video clip to add to this post later too.

You’ll be able to see from the photos that BIVI likes to mix a little fun and fellowship with their business and the customers I talked with really enjoy and appreciate it. Like with all our event photo albums you can click on any photo and download it. You’ll find a choice of photo sizes to choose from so please enjoy them. A big thank you to BIVI for including Cindy and myself in this event for the third year now. We’re already looking forward to next year.

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Swine Health Seminar Take Aways

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarIt’s always good to hear from the producers who attend a farm production meeting like the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar. I’ve posted interviews with all the presenters so let’s hear from a couple of the attendees.

First up is Mark Daughtry, Prestage Farms. He actually has a contract farm with Prestage bu also works for them. He says he’s only missed a couple of the BIVI seminars. He says it’s a really good opportunity to get together with other producers and hear some excellent speakers and share information. That allows them to sit back and think about how to improve the health of their animals. Some of the PRRS research he heard helped him better understand how to manage it. He says BIVI has always been good to him and very helpful when he needed anything. Mark Daughtry Interview

Next we have Jon Hoek, director of animal husbandry, Belstra Milling Co.. This was his first seminar which has found to be very informative. He describes BIVI as a very important resource for his company. At this seminar he is taking away a reminder of some of the strategies for the control and elimination of PRRS. He says their facility is part of the area regional control project in Indiana and they are now PRRS negative. Jon Hoek Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Farming, Swine

Wyffels Attendees Hear About Great Potential in Ag

John Davis

Too often we hear about all of the negatives in agriculture – bad weather, bad markets, opposition from groups that really don’t understand production agriculture. But attendees of the recent Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2010 held in a tent on the Cummings family farm just outside of the eastern Iowa town of Malcom heard that there is tremendous potential in farming.

Moe Russell, president of Russell Consulting Group of Panora, Iowa, told the group of about 600 farmers gathered for the one-day seminar last month that they need to remember the opportunity in production agriculture.

“Often times, we look at the negatives. But the successful farmer focuses on the controllables,” echoing the sentiments of fellow presenter Steve Johnson, a farm and ag business specialist with Iowa State University.

Russell admits that it can be tough for producers to focus on the controllables, with all of the distractions they face. That’s why he encourages producers to network with other growers, especially those from other states. He says this Wyffels forum provides plenty of time for interaction between farmers. “It’s the successful farmers who take the time to come to opportunities like this.”

Finally, Russell encourages farmers to get and stay excited about their business, learn the most they can, focus on the controllables, and have fun doing it.

You can hear or download my entire conversation with Moe here: Moe Russell

Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2010 Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Seed

Treating Post Weaning Scours

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe last presentation at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar did not focus on PRRS. Instead we heard a presentation from Chad Stahl, North Carolina State University, on controlling post wean scours. Yeah, it’s as nasty as it sounds too.

Chad was talking about post E. coli caused post weaning diarrhea and ways to mitigate it in your herd. How bad is it? Chad says that in a USDA survey of the largest swine producers 78% reported incidences of the disease. It is a big problem but there is a tremendous amount of variation in the outcome of the disease because different pigs react to it differently. He says research has shown that one mitigating practice would be leaving the piglets on the sow longer. He says that any producer can call his department at NC State for more information. Chad Stahl Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Awards Handed Out at Int’l Conf. on Precision Agriculture

John Davis

Nothing like moving across country to put you a bit behind. Just a couple of things left over from last month’s 10th International Conference on Precision Agriculture that I wanted to share with you. First and foremost is the awards handed out at the ICPA gathering. The awards were presented by Paul Schrimpf, Group Editor the CropLife Media Group at Meister Media Worldwide, which includes PrecisionAg.com, the award sponsors.

Paul presented the Farmer Award to Ken Dalenberg (above) of Marshfield, Illinois – who was recognized for the role he has played in helping to develop and promote new agricultural technology for crop management. Ken has worked with a number of research projects on his farm to evaluate precision farming technology, along with other innovative products and practices through the University of Illinois, the Potash & Phosphate Institute, the United Soybean Board, and others.

Dr. Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer of Purdue University (left) and Dr. Harold Reetz (right, below) of Reetz Agronomics were honored with Legacy Awards during the conference. Dr. Lowenberg-DeBoer’s work in precision agriculture economics included groundbreaking research into the profitability of every aspect of it, including tracking the adoption of technology at the farm and service provider level, which played an important role in the growth of precision.

Reetz has been a champion of technology and precision agriculture throughout his four decade-long career, founding the InfoAg Conference in the mid-1990s as a way of getting people together to share experiences and build a networked community of vendors, users, and service providers. Now with Reetz Agronomics, Harold continues his champion role, especially in the use of precision technology for conservation. Chuck just did an interview with him last week at the Conservation in Action Tour.

Picking up the Consultant/Entrepreneur Award was the OptiGro Team at Jimmy Sanders, Inc. of Cleveland, MS. In addition, there were several student winners recognized at the event, including: Eric Allphin, Xystus Amakor, David Harper, Ming Li, Joe David Luck, Daniel K. Mullenix, Georg Ruß, Ajay Sharda, Yeyin Shi and Luciano S. Shiratsuchi. There’s too many pictures to put them all in this one post, but you can see all the photos at the conference Flickr photo site below.

ICPA Photo Album

Coverage of the 10th International Conference on Precision Agriculture brought to you on Agwired by leica When it has to be RIGHT!

Leica Geosystems, Precision Agriculture

Train Your Pig To Test Orally

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarWe’ve heard about the oral testing of hogs for disease from Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, Iowa State University, before, here and here. But a guy with a last name of Zimmerman is worth hearing again! And that’s what we did at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar.

Jeff has found in his work that there is a better way to test pigs and that’s via oral fluids. It saves on manpower and that alone makes it a good idea for hog producers. But there are other advantages that include better reliability in testing for diseases like PRRS. Additionally, he says that there is research being done to use this type of diagnostics to monitor for antibiotics in oral fluid. Jeff showed us several video clips from his research showing how they’ve actually trained pigs to create the samples. It makes for a much easier, less volatile situation when you need to test your herd. Jeff Zimmerman Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Positive Swine Industry Economic Report

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe participants at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar heard a positive economic report from Steve Meyer, Paragon Economics. Steve also modeled a new BIVI cap for us.

He starts out saying the best news this year has been hog prices which recovered very nicely in the spring. Supplies have been reduced as a consequence of increased input costs a couple of years ago. This was expected to happen and it has. Exports have been up about 7 percent this year through June. So producers have been able to generate some sorely needed profits. You can hear some more of his thoughts in my interview with him. Steve Meyer Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Don’t Forget Swine Diseases Other Than PRRS

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarWhen it comes to hog production your veterinarian is one of the first sources of information and often considered a “team member.” At the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar Mike Elsenmenger, DVM, Swine Vet Center, talked to us about production.

Mike wanted attendees to know that to have successful grow-finish pigs it starts at the sow farm and that it really starts back at the gilt developer and a lot of time needs to be spent there in the barns preparing the pigs to enter the finish barns. He also wanted the group to know that while PRRS is extremely important, so are the other things. However, because PRRS is so important he says systems need to be created that will produce a PRRS negative pig. Then producers have more options. A negative pig is one that has never seen PRRS virus. Mike Elsenmenger Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Encouraging Area/Regional PRRS Control

Chuck Zimmerman

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health SeminarThe first presentation of the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar focused on the control of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome which is better know as the PRRS virus. Dr. Laura Batista, DVM, Boehringer Ingelheim, provided a look at various projects to create area or regional control of the disease. She was also encouraging attendees to get involved or start projects in their area.

Laura says the BIVI team supports these projects and initiatives because the PRRS virus is the most important disease right now. She points to the $1.5 million it is costing the industry each day. The projects she has studied and supported range from very local areas (county) to very large regions (state). This is an international effort too. She’s been involved with projects in Canada, Mexico and now France. She says that the efforts have been pushed mostly by veterinarians so far but it really needs farmer/producer buy in and she says that has been coming along nicely. Laura Batista Interview

BIVI Swine Health Seminar Photo Album.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine