Headline News from Commodity Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF commodity classicBASF Headline fungicide continues to make headlines, even after years on the market. The more research they do with growers using this product, the better it gets.

During a press conference at Commodity Classic, BASF Regional Sales Manager Gary Schmitz and Technical market Manager Nick Fassley talked about the more than 6,000 on-farm trials that have been held just in the United States on various crops. While we talk a lot about Headline in the major crops of corn, soybeans and wheat, Nick says the fungicide also provides plant health benefits for crops like peanuts, citrus and even sugarcane. “We’ve done a lot of work on southern crops,” Nick said. “We actually see some added benefits on our plant health label for citrus growers who see their crop mature more at the same time.” Nick says peanut growers have seen an overall increase in quality and yield with Headline, and some new rust species in sugarcane moved Florida to requested a section 18 for the use of Headline in that crop.

Gary talked about Headline AMP™, which is being offered for the first time this year for corn. “What they’ll get with Headline AMP is all the benefits that they’ve seen with Headline over the years, plus it has an additional active ingredient called metconazole, which is a best in class triazole and has very broad spectrum control of many of the diseases you find in corn,” Gary said. In trials, Headline AMP provided control for tough diseases like Rust and Southern and Northern corn leaf blight and delivered higher yields.

Download or listen to back to back interviews with Nick and Gary in the player below.

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

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Cooking with Soybean Oil at Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

pioneer corporate chef at commodity classicThe Pioneer exhibit at Commodity Classic got lots of attention from pancake lovers with the Pioneer corporate chefs demonstrating the versatility of soybean oil for cooking.

I stopped by and happened to catch Adam Moore flipping flapjacks on the griddle and later was able to do a video interview with Chef Charlie Baggs who showed off the dishes they were making for the trade show crowd, including Chicken Marsala and a sweet Romaine and cranberry salad with feta cheese and a soy oil/mustard vinagrette dressing. Charlie is president and founder of Charlie Baggs, Inc., and he and his Chicago-based staff travel around the country doing this kind of gig for Pioneer and other corporate clients. Seems like a pretty sweet job!

Commodity Classic Photo Album

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

Commodity Classic, Food, Pioneer, Video

IFAJ Congress 2010 – Ostend, Belgium

Chuck Zimmerman

Between Passion and Pressure is the them of this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress. It’s going to be held seaside April 17-21 in Ostend, Belgium at the Thermae Palace hotel. I’ll be attending and get back just in time for the start of the NAMA convention in Kansas City.

This year’s IFAJ Congress is being hosted by the Belgian Association of Agricultural Journalists (BVLJ-ABJA), a founding member of IFAJ. Here’s a look at the program:

Saturday April 17th, 2010 – Arrival at the Thermae Palace Hotel (Ostend)

* Beach animation in the morning and afternoon
* Executive meeting at 2 P.M.
* Welcome dinner at 8 P.M

Sunday April 18th – The city of Ghent

* Symposium ‘Ghent, cradle of biotech’ (morning)
* Partner program: ancient city of Ghent (morning)
* Visit to the Floralies (afternoon)
* Dinner at ‘t Boerenhof and tribute to the sax” by the new Orleans Night Owls

Monday April 19th – Tours

* Tour 1 – West-Flanders : Intensive horticultural production, horticultural auction, arable crops and
beef production
* Tour 2 – East-Flanders : Pig production and processing, biogaz and agro-environmental management
* Tour 3 – Antwerp & Flemish Brabant : Intensive horticultural production & horticultural auction, horticultural research, Belgian endive and dairy
* Tour 4 – Antwerp :Janssen Animal Health, veal production and dairy
* Tour 5 – Wallonia : Agricultural machinery (Joskin), artificial insemination, cattle breeding (Belgian White Blue), beef production

Tuesday April 20th

* Partner program: city of Bruges: historical centre, Belgian chocolate and lace(morning)
* Specific technical tours (morning)
* Partner program: city of Ostend (afternoon)
* Workshop: ‘Agricultural journalism, between passion & pressure’ (afternoon)
* General assembly at 4 P.M.
* Farewell dinner – IFAJ Band

I’d like to thank in advance AgWired sponsors for coverage of this year’s IFAJ Congress, Novus International and Pioneer Hi-Bred.

IFAJ

State Soybean Checkoffs Team Up for Research

Cindy Zimmerman

Taking a team approach to problem solving often saves both time and money and that has been the goal of the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) in using soybean checkoff dollars more efficiently for the benefit of growers.

NCSRP David Wright with Michelle Rook at Commodity ClassicDuring the Commodity Classic I talked with NCSRP executive director David Wright, seen here with South Dakota farm broadcaster Michelle Rook, about the program which is run by soybean producers for soybean producers. “NCSRP is a grower-based organization that invests soybean checkoff dollars into research and education activities to improve soybean yield,” he told me. “These are state checkoff dollars combined with some national checkoff dollars. We’re a regional organization, we pool money from both sides, and then invest it at approximately 20 land grant universities throughout the United States.”

Twelve states participate in the program, from Kansas to North Dakota and east across to Ohio and Michigan, and the dollars are distributed each year through a very competitive grant process. “We don’t just do research, we target research to solve problems,” David said.

NCSRP has a website (www.ncsrp.com) where growers can find all of the latest management recommendations to increase soybean yields, and they also hold numerous meetings in the various states during the year to get the information out to farmers. In addition, NCSRP has a producer communications effort called the Plant Health Initiative which aims to help growers manage soybean from the ground up. That site features a regular update on soybean health issues by David called David’s Desk.

Listen to or download my interview with David in the player below.

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

Audio, Commodity Classic, Soybean

Fungicides Explained In BASF Podcast

Chuck Zimmerman

The chemical company, BASF, produces a podcast called The Chemical Reporter. In the latest episode you can learn about fungicides.

Just like animals and human beings, plants can get sick. In many cases, the cause is a fungus. Not a mushroom like you see poking up out of the ground in the woods, but a network of branching, filamentary cells that botanists call ‘hyphae’. In entertaining episodes our Chemical Reporter answers questions of our Podcast listeners on Chemistry in our everyday life.

You can listen to the latest episode here:

BASF, Podcasts

Preparing For Ag Day and Week

Chuck Zimmerman

Spring is near and that means so is AgDay which is coordinated by the Agriculture Council of America. This year you can follow AgDay on Twitter and Facebook. AgDay also has a blog now too.

Tune in to the ZimmCast on Monday for an interview with ACA Chair, Linda Tank, CHS, Inc.

Every year, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless other across America join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture. This year, Ag Day will be celebrated on March 20, 2010, and Ag Week during the week of March 14-20, 2010.

Ag Day

World Soy Foundation Helping the Malnourished Through Soy Protein

Joanna Schroeder

The world’s population is growing and simultaneously, malnutrition is growing. The World Soy Foundation (WSF) is a nonprofit organization that is helping to eradicate malnutrition around the world through soy protein. I had the chance to spend a few minutes with Nathan Ruby, Executive Director of the World Soy Foundation to learn more about what they do.

Ruby explained that they address malnutrition issues through soy protein in four ways:

  1. Food distribution of soy protein
  2. Microenterprise – helping people start small businesses like the soy cow where people add 1 lbs of soybeans to 1 gallon of water to produce soy milk which they then sell in the local community
  3. Research – studying soybeans in different nutritional settings
  4. Education – working with people around the world to help them learn how soy protein can increase nutrition

WSF is currently working in areas with high malnutrition including Haiti. “Our program there is really about development,” said Ruby. “We’re not a diasaster relief agency so we’re more concerned about what happens when the television cameras leave and go away and the world kind of forgets about Haiti. We’re still going to be there developing and we have a long-range plan to do that.”

The organization is typically anywhere where people live in areas that are disconnected form the general flow of resources and opportunities. Currently, they are considering some programs in Iraq to help them learn how to farm soybeans and a similar program in Central America.

As a nonprofit, WSF is always looking for more people to become involved in their programs. Soybean farmers around the world can participate through the Acre Challenge. Ruby explained that in this program, soybean farmers donate the proceeds from one acre of production.

To learn more, click here and you can listen to my full interview with Nathan below.

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

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Purina Looking For Bloggers

Chuck Zimmerman

Hey horse loving bloggers. Want to blog the upcoming 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games? Enter this contest.

Land O’Lakes Purina Feed is excited to announce the Purina® “Live from Lexington” Contest, an opportunity for horse lovers everywhere to showcase their blogging skills for a chance to attend and report live from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Lexington, Ky. The contest is sponsored by Purina Mills, LLC and co-sponsored by EquiSearch (www.EquiSearch.com) and Active Travel. Contestants can learn more about “Live from Lexington” and enter online at www.LiveFromLexington.com.

“Two grand prize winners of the contest will be our Purina blog-o-spondents and will report to our fans on the latest happenings at the Games,” said Brant Gilbert, marketing manager, Horse Business Group. “We know that Purina has some of the most loyal customers and horse enthusiasts in the industry, and we are excited to find the perfect duo to send to the competition and enjoy the festivities.”

Contest entries can be submitted online at www.LiveFromLexington.com between March 1 and May 31, 2010. To participate, entrants must submit a video of sixty seconds or less explaining why they want to be a Purina® Live from Lexington blog-o-spondent. Videos will be judged based on the entrant’s response, qualifications, articulation, and talent.

Agribusiness, Horses

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Pork Producers Council at its annual business meeting – the National
    Pork Industry Forum – held March 4-6, elected new officers and members to its board of directors. Click here for a complete list.
  • Syngenta Seeds, Inc. announced it has submitted to the U.S. EPA an application for the registration of its Agrisure Viptera 3220 trait stack, featuring two modes of action against all major lepidopteran corn pests and a reduced refuge of 5% in the Midwestern Corn Belt.
  • The National Organic Coalition and Center for Food Safety are announcing more than 200,000 individuals have contacted the USDA saying they disapprove of the government’s potential deregulation of Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered Roundup Ready Alfalfa.
  • Syngenta Seeds, Inc. released performance data for the Aphid Management System.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Case IH CVT Hits the Sweet Spot

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Case IHCVT stands for Continuously Variable Transmission and Case IH was spotlighting its benefits over power shift during Commodity Classic, both at their exhibit and during a WIN session.

    “The advantage of having a completely variable transmission is that you can allow the computer to operate both the engine and the transmission to dial in the ‘sweet spot’ for power and for fuel consumption with the tractor,” says John Bohnker, Case IH marketing manager.

    The technology has been around for many years, but Case just recently narrowed it up to use in row crop applications. CVT is now available on Case IH MagnumTM 180, 190, 210 and the new 225 tractors, as well as the Puma 165 to 225 series. “If you look at North America, the row crop tractor is the area where there’s a strong demand for variable transmission,” Bohnker said. “In particular, the sugar beet and potato areas, as well as the Midwest row crops.”

    Listen to or download my interview with John below.

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

    Audio, Commodity Classic, Equipment, Tractor