Novus to Expand Mineral Product Portfolio

Cindy Zimmerman

novusNovus International has announced plans to acquire the Animal Nutrition Division of Albion Laboratories in Clearfield, Utah.

novusProducts from the acquisition will align with Novus’s MINTREX® chelated trace mineral products and further expand its mineral technology. When complete, this acquisition will enable Novus to offer its customers and the animal agriculture market an expanded chelated trace mineral product portfolio to support their livestock operations.

Since its establishment in 1956, Albion has been an innovator in mineral chelate nutrition. Albion manufactures highly bioavailable nutritional mineral forms and has a long-standing customer base in both the beef and dairy markets.

“The intent to acquire Albion’s animal division is consistent with the direction Novus has taken to work with industry partners to achieve greater production efficiencies and minimize environmental impact,” said Giovanni Gasperoni, Executive Vice President, Novus International.

Read more here.

Livestock, Novus International, Poultry

Monsanto and BASF to Develop NutriDense Corn Hybrids

Cindy Zimmerman

basfBASF Plant Science and Monsanto today announced they will be working together to develop new corn hybrids with better nutrition for animal feed.

The new hybrids will contain BASF’s NutriDense® traits that are designed to enhance animal feed performance. NutriDense corn has higher levels of essential amino acids and energy, greater phosphorous availability and is more digestible.

BASF’s NutriDense traits will be combined with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® Genuity™ VT Triple PRO™ and Genuity™ SmartStax™ corn. The new high quality hybrids are expected to deliver the best feed value and yields equivalent to elite conventional corn. Once launched, seed companies will market the new hybrids through licensing agreements.

Read more here.

BASF, Corn, Feed

Ag Leader Opens Academy

Cindy Zimmerman

A blizzard was brewing outside but the brand new Ag Leader Academy was just getting warmed up yesterday in Ames, Iowa.

AgleaderZimmComm’s Precision Pays website reporter Kurt Lawton was there for the kick off of the academy, along with more than 200 dealers who attended to learn about all the company’s new products and the steering technology and services gained from the recently announced partnership with AutoFarm.

There was a lot of buzz about teaming up two new products in particular, which highlights the strengths of the new partnership between Ag Leader and AutoFarm. The ability to pair the new ‘flagship’ products—Ag Leader’s INTEGRA monitor with the high-accuracy automatic steering ParaDyme product from AutoFarm—will offer the most advanced and innovative precision ag system ever, say the companies.

The INTEGRA full-featured, year-around display, comprised of a 12-inch HD touchscreen, features a new hardware platform that can handle mapping, planter and application control, yield monitoring, real-time data logging and more—controlling virtually every operation from the cab.

And to make this a fully integrated system, a patented dual-antenna roof module called the ParaDyme, delivers a unique steering system that can handle any correction (from WAAS to RTK), plus it offers factory-activated and integrated wireless and cellular communications for remote diagnostics. It not only can provide sub-inch accuracy with RTK or the CORS Network, but it can track pitch, roll, yaw, vehicle position and heading.

Read more about it here on Precision Pays.

Ag Leader, Precision Agriculture

More Grain Storage Needed In Jordan

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe USDA Ag Specialist on the ground in Jordan is Mohamed N. Khraishy. He took time to meet with our Corn Mission team after we arrived this afternoon. He says that he acts mainly as a facilitator on our behalf or as he puts it, “See me as the grease between the wheels.”

I recorded part of our discussion with Mohamed for you to listen to. He says that quality doesn’t seem to be much of an issue for feed grain imports but that price does matter. The global economic recession has had an impact even here. He’s afraid that we might see a short term decline in American grain imports. To avoid fluctuations in the market he sees a real need for more storage facilities. He fields lots of questions about finding an American company that may want to invest in storage here in Jordan.

You can listen to part of our discussion with Mohamed below:

USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Board of Directors of the American Soybean Association has confirmed Rob Joslin from Sidney, Ohio, as President, and Johnny Dodson from Halls, Tenn., as Chairman. Board members also elected Alan Kemper from Lafayette, Ind., to serve as First Vice President. Click here for the full Board list.
  • Webinar: Trading Opportunities with the Soft Red Winter Wheat Index (SRWI) and Soft Red Winter Wheat Cash Markets. Thursday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. E-mail marketing@mgex.com for more information.
  • The MU Ag Alumni Association announced the 2010 Ag Unlimited silent and live auctions will be held Feb. 6, 2010.
  • Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., celebrates its 25th anniversary as a world-class facility for crop genetics research and discovery.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Marketing Grain To The Middle East

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Corn MissionThe Regional Director for the U.S. Grains Council coordinating our Corn Mission visit to Jordan is Joe O’Brien. Joe covers the Middle East and part of India.

    He says that Jordan is “one of the bright spots of the Middle East.” There are biotech issues in the region though, especially toward Turkey and India. He says it’s a very competitive market with recent pressure coming from the Black Sea area. During the next couple days we’ll get to see a Jordanian dairy and meet with the poultry industry.

    You can listen to my interview with Joe below:

    USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

    Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC

    Get Away From Winter to AG Connect

    Cindy Zimmerman

    January in Orlando is looking pretty good right now to most of us here in the frigid Midwest.

    Ag Connect ExpoSo if you have not made plans to attend AG Connect Expo 2010 in Orlando on January 13-15, take this snow day to get on line and make your reservations.

    Besides offering the opportunity to get away to a warmer climate, Expo 2010 will provide a world-class event for the global agriculture industry—bringing together the latest in equipment, technology and ideas. The show was developed by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) with the support of a variety of industry organizations and companies, including Agwired and parent company ZimmComm New Media.

    Find out more about what AG Connect offers from previous posts here on Agwired – including this interview with AEM’s Charlie O’Brien, and one with expo director Sara Mooney about the show’s awards program.

    AEM, Audio

    Corn Grower Says “Show Me” The Market

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Corn MissionFellow Show Me State resident and corn grower from the southeast part of Missouri, Jim Stuever, took a few moments to provide his thoughts on how the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is doing after arriving in Amman, Jordan. In the photo, Jim (pictured left), is listening to a presentation we’re having from Mohamed Kraishy, USDA Ag Specialist in Jordan.

    Jim has seen a very diverse set of conditions from country to country as we’ve traveled. That means that market development efforts are going to be very different in each country too. After seeing the USGC “on the ground” he says that they’re increasing the environment for corn and corn by-products which is helping keep our markets viable. Jim thinks that corn grower investment in the USGC reinforces and increases foreign market use of American feed grains.

    You can listen to my interview with Jim below:

    USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

    Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC

    Webinar with Bloggers: FDA’s Pet Health and Safety Widget

    Amanda Nolz

    fda-logo To anyone that might be interested: tomorrow there will be a blogger seminar about animal health and safety. This was posted on the FDA website, and I thought I would pass it along.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a webinar for animal health and safety bloggers Tuesday, December 8, from 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET. The featured speakers, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA, and Dr. Bernadette Dunham, Director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, will focus on the announcement of a widget containing information on the importance of pet health and safety for both animals and pet owners. After the presentations, there will be an opportunity to ask questions or offer feedback.

    If you are interested in attending, please send an email to CVMHomeP@cvm.fda.gov. You can also email questions to this address before the webinar. Follow or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #FDApet.

    This looks like a pretty informative event. I plan on following on Twitter tomorrow. Are you going to participate? For more information on the blogger seminar, link here.

    Animal Health, Food

    Dairy Industry Loses Leader

    Cindy Zimmerman

    TomMemorialFrontPageThe nation’s dairy producers are mourning the loss of an industry leader, Dairy Farmers of America Chairman Tom Camerlo, who passed away December 3 after a courageous battle with cancer. Tom served as DFA’s chairman since 2003.

    “Tom’s commitment to the dairy industry ran deep, and was second only to his devotion to his family,” said Rick Smith, DFA president and CEO. “The entire DFA family extends our heartfelt sympathy to the Camerlos. We share in grieving the passing of our colleague, a dear friend and a man whose lifetime commitment and leadership made an everlasting difference in the dairy industry.”

    A scholarship to honor Tom’s legacy – the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship – has been established at Colorado State University, his alma mater. Contributions in Tom’s name can be sent to the Colorado State University Foundation at P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1870. Checks should mention the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship in the memo line.

    Dairy