Cadet and Authority Assist Big Sellers for FMC

Joanna Schroeder

I had a chance to spend some time with Gail Stratman, the Midwest Technical Sales Lead for FMC, during Commodity Classic and I learned two things. First that Cadet and Authority Assist are big sellers, selling out the past two years, and second, why both products work so well.

Cadet is a post emergence herbicide that was introduced about two years ago for corn and soybeans. “It’s a very good product for growers using Roundup Ready or glyphosate tolerant crops, that are looking for an additional herbicide to put with their glyphosate to help control those weeds they may be experiencing some trouble controlling with straight glyphosate,” explained Stratman.

Some of the weeds that are controlled using Cadet (and Authority Assist) are velvet leaf, water hemp, morning glory, and lambs quarters. Stratman noted that it’s a unique product in that it has a very broad spectrum of weed control and it’s labeled for use at the same rates for corn and soybeans so if a grower has both crops, you don’t have to worry about spray drift.

Authority Assist is a pre-emergence herbicide for soybeans used to control early season weeds. The product limits weed competition, which researchers have found to be as important in soybeans as in corn, and helps to improve yields.

You can learn more about the two products by listening to my interview with Gail below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Soybean

Vermeer Launches Corn Cob Collector

Joanna Schroeder

As Project Liberty gets closer every day to completion (The POET project is set to be online no later than 2012), farm equipment manufactures, such as Vermeer, are developing corn cob harvesting technology. During Commodity Classic, I caught up with Jay Van Roekel, the product manager for Vermeer’s Ag Division to learn more about their biomass technologies.

Van Roekel explained that they have a current hay tool line that is a big help in collecting round bales of switchgrass or corn stover. In addition, their latest and most focused is their corn cob collector, the CCX770. Vermeer has been working on this technology full steam ahead for two years but bought the patent from a farmer in Nebraska who had been working on the technology for 10 years.

Here’s how it works. You hook the CCX770 behind a Class 7 or greater combine. Then the machine catches all the materials coming out of the back of the combine and then it sorts out the cobs from the other residue and then the leaves and husks are blown back onto the soil and just the corn cobs are left.

This is a one-pass system but Van Roekel said the farmer will still need to add to his system a way to transport the cobs to storage. The CCX770 is currently available for purchase or lease and you can get more info by clicking here.

You can listen to my full interview with Jay below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Farm Machinery

LEGO Artist

Chuck Zimmerman

Nathan SawayaBeing a brick artist doesn’t sound like a high pressure job but when you’ve got to finish your LEGO creation by the close of the Commodity Classic trade show it can get a little tense. Nathan Sawaya got this art work done for BASF in their Commodity Classic booth just in time. I think he actually had a couple seconds to spare.

I spoke with him while he was building the project to learn more about what he does and his plan for this project. He basically uses LEGO bricks to create art. In this case he was asked to create “crops” out of LEGO bricks. By the end he had corn, soybeans, wheat and a barn. He says he had an idea in his mind of what he’d do before the show to make sure he brought enough bricks. He also tours with an Art of the Brick Museum Exhibit.

You can listen to my interview with Nathan below.

See more photos of Nathan’s work in progress in the BASF Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Pork Checkoff will honor Dale Miller, editor of National Hog Farmer, as the winner of its Distinguished Service Award. He will be recognized at the National Pork Industry Forum, March 4-6, 2010.
  • The National Pork Board recognized the latest class of Environmental Steward Award winners at the National Pork Industry Forum. These winners exemplify excellence in environmental care and conservation in pork production. Honored at the ceremony were: JAC Pork of Hartley, Iowa; Schafer Farms of Goodhue, Minn.; Bryant Worley Farms of Princeton, N.C.; and Sensenig Farm of Mohnton, Pa.
  • Kansas wheat producer Jerry McReynolds was elected president of the National Association of Wheat Growers at the organization’s Board of Directors meeting.
  • Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC announces the launch of its newest multi-media tool for dairy producers and calf enthusiasts — Calf Wise — on Facebook.
Zimfo Bytes

Ag Groups Defend Biotech Alfalfa

Cindy Zimmerman

gm alfalfaThe Supreme Court will soon make a decision on whether or not farmers can grow biotech alfalfa – and it could ultimately impact other genetically modified crops.

That’s why the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and several other agricultural organizations have filed an amicus curiae brief with the court in the case of “Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms” regarding Roundup Ready® alfalfa.

The groups urge that the lower courts’ decision to approve an injunction without adequately hearing the key evidence must be reversed “to protect the farmers who choose to grow genetically-engineered crops, as well as the public benefits that agricultural biotechnology brings to producers and consumers around the world.” They argue that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has studied Roundup Ready® alfalfa and found no significant human environment impact and has recommended that farmers be allowed to grow it. APHIS just recently concluded a comment period on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the crop.

This case is important case because it marks the first time the high court has weighed in on the risks of genetically engineered crops. It is scheduled for oral argument on April 27 and a decision is expected from the Court by June.


Read more here.

AFBF, Biotech

Syngenta Announces New Sustainaiblity Team

Joanna Schroeder

Syngenta made two announcements during Commodity Classic last week – a new sustainability team and that their water optimization technology is on track. I spoke with Terry Stone who is heading the new sustainability team as well as Tracy Mader, Project Marketing Head who is working with the team developing the water optimization technologies.

I asked Stone to tell me what the mission of the new sustainability team was and he explained, “Our focus is helping growers produce more from less and to realize where they’re at in terms of not just how much they are producing but now much energy, water, soil loss and other impacts they are having from production.”

There is a lot of talk now about how the world will need to feed nine billion people in the next 30 years so I asked Stone how sustainability and world food production go hand in hand. “Farmers are the original stewards of the land and when you think about land, you have to think about soil and the soil is the farmer’s bread and butter,” explained Stone. “They’ve been very careful about the health of their soil and the more healthy the soil, the more productive it will be.”

Water optimization also goes hand-in-hand with sustainability and Mader gave me an update on their technology that is close to market. “Our water optimization technology is on track and has made several technical milestones. We plan to introduce this technology in the 2011 planting season for growers in the plains and the Western cornbelt of the United States.”

Nebraska and California are the two most irrigated states and Syngenta did research in both of these states as well as other regions. However, they are developing the technology to both work during drought conditions and during optimal conditions.

“We are really committed to two guiding principals,” said Mader. “Number one to help the plant maximize its yield based on the available water and number two, when growing conditions are ideal, that the technology doesn’t offer any yield penalty. And our initial hybrids will meet both of these criteria.”

Listen below to my back-to-back interviews with Terry Stone and Tracy Mader.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Sustainability, Syngenta

ASA Celebrates 90th Anniversary by Highlighting Soybean Successes

Joanna Schroeder

The American Soybean Association (ASA) is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year and has a lot to celebrate. Last year, the organization received more than $12.8 million in export funding from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service for the promotion of U.S. soybeans and soybean products. ASA President Rob Joslin noted in the organization’s press conference during Commodity Classic that this was the largest of that type of grant ever given to one organization. ASA’s committee, Rural Initiative Soy and Human Health, also received a historic grant of $26 million for the promotion and infrastructure of soy in Afghanistan.

However, grant dollars were not the only success for 2009. Joslin highlighted some of the policy work his organization is undergoing in the beltway that affects soybean farmers in terms of both biofuels development and the farm bill.

“ASA led efforts to correct a flawed proposal by the EPA. This proposal would have disqualified soy as a feedstock from the mandated Renewable Fuels Standard,” said Joslin. He continued by saying that ASA believes this was not the intent of Congress and with their efforts, among others, the new rule by the EPA allows for the continuation of soy as a feedstock for biodiesel.

Biodiesel has also been hit with the lack of extension for the Biodiesel Tax Incentive. Joslin said that to date, 23,000 workers across the country are idled and the longer the biodiesel plants don’t produce biodiesel, the harder it will be for the plants to begin running again once the incentive is passed; yet, ASA is confident the incentive will pass.

But the lack of the biodiesel tax credit also affects farmers. Joslin said that it costs farmers 25 cents per bushel by not having biodiesel production. Of the 3.3 billion bushels harvest in ’09, this will costs farmers $825 million in income.

Joslin, on behalf of ASA, expressed continued hopefulness for 2010 for soybean farmers across the country and reiterated that they will continue to work on their behalf both here in the states and abroad.

You can listen to the highlights of the ASA press conference below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

ASA, Audio, Commodity Classic, Soybean

NCGA to Focus on Image and Activisim Campaign

Joanna Schroeder

This year, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) will launch an image and activism campaign to reinforce the importance of agriculture, according to NCGA President, Darrin Ihnen during a press conference at Commodity Classic. While many people are still confused about food versus fuel, an issue perpetuated by media around the world, and the debate continues around international indirect land use change, it’s time to set the record straight. Ihnen noted that a few simple facts can take care of both of these issues. This year, corn farmers harvested 13.2 billion bushels of corn, or 165.2 bushels per acre, on 7 million less acres than in 2007 when the harvest was nearly identical.

In an effort to curb misinformation and ensure effective policy is put into place, corn growers around the country have been getting involved. One great example is the outpouring of comments around indirect land use, E15 and the RFS2.

“We’re proud of the tens of thousands of farmers who commented to the EPA on that subject (E15). In fact, this is a perfect example of how we’ve seen a resurgence of activism on the part of American agriculture and we’ve held numerous discussions with our allies around the world on this,” said Ihnen.

He continued, “That’s why this year we’re launching an unprecedented image and activism campaign to do two things. First, we will aggressively reinforce the importance and positive image most Americans have with farmers and the products they grow. Second, we will create a more united and vocal army of farmers and their friends who can speak out against the myths and misinformation that we see so often.”

The Corn Farmers Coalition will focus its efforts in the beltway and the activism/grassroots campaign will focus on Americans around the country. Ihnen stressed that the campaign will be more successful the more people are involved and said in closing, “We’re excited about this challenge and invite all interested parties to join us.”

You can listen to Darrin’s full comments about the campaign below.

Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA

Southeast AgNet Adds Two To Team

Chuck Zimmerman

Southeast AgNet has added two new folks to their team.

Marc Stockwell comes on board as a Senior Account Executive, bringing 20 years of advertising sales and management experience to the position. Stockwell was most recently employed with Meister Media Worldwide, where he sold advertising to citrus, vegetable, and ornamental horticulture industries. At Southeast AgNet, he will be involved in marketing multiple media in-region and nationally, including Web and print advertising for Citrus Industry and Florida Pest Pro magazines and the company’s primary agriculture news website, www.SoutheastAgNet.com.

Tacy Callies, as Southeast AgNet’s Communications Strategist, will focus on multi-media communications strategies, planning and content development; public relations; and editing and writing for Citrus Industry and Florida Pest Pro. Callies has worked in Florida agriculture media for the past nine years as an editor for Florida Grower and Ornamental Outlook magazines.

With the addition of Stockwell and Callies, Southeast AgNet’s team now includes 17 members who publish two monthly magazines, broadcast daily radio shows on more than 70 stations throughout Florida, Georgia and Alabama, deliver daily Web news at www.SoutheastAgNet.com, and manage the “world’s premier Citrus Expo” annual grower seminar/trade show program.

Media

Chip Foose 4020 Unveiled by John Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

Last week John Deere unveiled a very unique promotional tractor designed by Chip Foose.

It’s a 1970 John Deere 4020. The tractor will be given away to one winner as part of the John Deere Big Buck Promotion. You may find rules to enter on the John Deere website.

Posing with the tractor is Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association.

John Deere Chip Foose 4020I interviewed Chip right after the unveiling. He talks about how he got into automobile design and this project in particular. You can listen to that interview below.

You can find out more details about the project by reading the post about the unveiling on our Precision Pays website.

I also shot the unveiling so you can watch it as well. As of this writing it has been viewed 3,134 times.

Audio, Commodity Classic, John Deere, Video