BASF Exclusive Sponsor of SoyRAP

Chuck Zimmerman

SoyRAPIt sounds like a certain kind of soy music but it isn’t. It’s actually great advice about soybean rust and aphids.

BASF is proud to announce its exclusive partnership with the American Soybean Association (ASA) and Doane Advisory Services to provide the Soybean Rust and Aphids Program (SoyRAP) Web site (www.soyrap.com). BASF, among several companies, had previously been a co-sponsor of the Web site for several years.

SoyRAP is the foremost Web site for advice about the prevention of Asian soybean rust and treatment of soybean aphids. It utilizes a nationwide network of crop consultants who monitor the progression of confirmed soybean rust outbreaks in the U.S., and it provides growers with fungicide and insecticide application recommendations based on regional analysis.

Agribusiness, BASF, Soybean

Add American Lamb To Your Grill

Chuck Zimmerman

American Lamb BoardA tasty sounding addition to your summer grill is American lamb. It looks like the competition was fierce when the American Lamb Board held their summer grilling recipe contest.

When the smoke cleared, two contestants remained in the second annual “Get Your Grill On” American lamb video contest: Nikki Norman and the lamb loving duo, Matt Charpentier and Joe Riley. After a fierce competition, these grill masters scorched the competition resulting in a draw with Nikki’s Mystical Mediterranean Grilled Boneless Leg of American Lamb, and Matt and Joe’s Brie-Stuffed American Lamb Burger Pitas. Showcasing the rich flavor of American lamb, each contestant added their own touch with flavors like cloves, cardamom, mint and lemon. Their dishes showcased the versatility of fresh, homegrown American lamb, for easy to prepare meals any night of the week.

Both winning teams will be rewarded with a grill-on-the-go set, BBQ package and lamb for six, just in time for Labor Day grilling.

To view the winning videos, click here: http://tinyurl.com/owa6kc. For more inspiration on how to prepare sweet, flavorful American lamb on the grill, as well as tips on using budget-friendly cuts visit www.americanlamb.com.

Uncategorized

My Amercian Farm Teaches

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF My American FarmThe American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has an online game you can play to help teach about where your food comes from and how it gets to your dinner plate.

It’s called My American Farm. It’s a very simple educational program that would be good for kids to play with and learn from.

AFBF, Ag Groups

Farm Progress Show On The Horizon

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Progress ShowIt’s time to look forward to the annual Farm Progress Show. I sure hope you’ve got your hotel reservations.

Rich in history and tradition, the 56th annual Farm Progress Show, to be held September 1, 2 and 3 in Decatur, Ill., offers plenty for visitors to see and do which includes an expanded exhibit area, field and livestock demonstrations, and a whole lineup of events.

This year’s show is set to host more than 500 exhibitors displaying new farm equipment, tractors, combines and farm implements; seed and crop protection products; and many other production items. Ag manufacturers and suppliers from across the country and around the world are set to participate. The show always features the latest agricultural high-tech equipment including computer-controlled guidance systems, GPS-based management systems, and a long list of state-of-the-art information and technology available for today’s farms.

Field demonstrations are a show mainstay and include side-by-side equipment, tractor and combine performance comparisons on hundreds of corn acres available for harvesting and tillage demonstrations.

Media are reminded to get registered so they have credentials available upon arrival.

Farm Progress Show

Travel Day To Ft. Worth, TX

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ/AMSToday Cindy and Carly will be heading to Ft. Worth, TX for the combined IFAJ Congress/Ag Media Summit. I’m sure going to miss everyone but that doesn’t mean I won’t be lurking online!

Since so many Twittering friends will be attending this week please use the #AgMS hashtag in your tweets so we can all follow along.

The program is going to be great in this first ever combined meeting. Attendees can attend either, or, or both overlapping programs. There’s going to be a lot of fun and fellowship with plenty of professional improvement activities and farm tours. You’ll be able to follow along here since our coverage this year includes sponsors, Successful Farming, Novus International and Pioneer Hi-Bred. We really thank them for their support.

Ag Media Summit, IFAJ

Looking Forward to a Headline Year

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Skip ShivelyBASF may be excited about the the new herbicide on the block Kixor moving in, but they are continuing to see growers get more profitability from their crop with Headline fungicide.

While the field day in Belleville, IL on Tuesday was focused on Kixor herbicide technology, Headline had a role to play in the show as well. Western Illinois BASF business rep Skip Shively talked to growers about how Headline can help even late in the season with late-planted crops. “There’s been a tremendous amount of stress on crops this year and the later planting has given us an opportunity to enhance yields with Headline, particularly with disease control in the first part of August,” Skip said.

“The best application timing for corn would be full tassel to the brown silk stage,” he added. “On soybeans, we’re looking at an R-2 to R-3 time frame.”

BASF Kixor Herbicide Technology plot tour photos

Listen to my interview with Skip here:

Audio, BASF

Growers Interested in New BASF Herbicide Technology

Cindy Zimmerman

Eric KixorThere wasn’t a big crowd at the BASF Kixor Herbicide Technology plot tour event in Belleville, IL on Tuesday since many were out spraying, but the nearly 30 who attended were very interested in hearing and seeing what the new family of products from BASF could do for them.BASF

Southern Missouri and Illinois farmer Eric Doza says he attended to learn how to get rid of some of the weed problems that he has. “Mare’s tail, giant ragweed, morning glory, velvetleaf, you name it, it’s there,” he told me. He thinks that the Kixor technology is what he is looking for to get more profitability from his crop.

BASF Kaleb HellwigKaleb Hellwig, who is district sales manager for BASF in the southern MO and IL region, says they have been getting great feedback from growers at field days around the countryside. “All the growers that have been able to see the Kixor family of products work are really impressed with the speed of control and the completeness of the broadleaves that it controls and that it will allow them a better tool to go in and plant earlier in a no-till situation in particular.”

Final approval and registration for the Kixor technology is expected soon and at that time BASF will be launching several brands based on the technology, including Optill, Integrity and Sharpen.

See photos from the BASF Kixor Herbicide Technology plot tour in Belleville here on Flickr.

Listen to my interviews with Kaleb and Eric here:

Audio, BASF, Farming

Grad Student Makes Kixor Her Career

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Kixor CrewBASF reps around the country are excited about getting the new Kixor™ technology on the market for growers soon.

Tracy Mellendorf, pictured here in the center with other BASF reps at a Kixor field day in Belleville on Tuesday, is a recent graduate of Southern Illinois University with a degree in weed science and has been working for BASF since April. Her research project was “Burndown Control of Mare’s Tail with Kixor Products” and she found that it was very effective for one of the most pesky weeds in this part of the country. “I always tell people that I worked with it in grad school and I chose to keep coming and working with it for my career,” she said. “So I’m definitely very excited and a true believer in the product.”

BASF is looking forward to getting final registration for products containing Kixor herbicide technology, hopefully by the end of August.

BASF Kixor Herbicide Technology plot tour photos

Listen to my interview with Tracy here:

Audio, BASF, Farming

Kixor Registration Expected Soon

Cindy Zimmerman

Dennis BelcherBASF is anxiously awaiting final registration for the herbicide technology known as Kixor™.

“It’s going well, the registration is anticipated shortly,” said BASF Tech Service rep Dennis Belcher. “This is kind of a unique registration because it’s actually being reviewed by three countries – Canada, Australia and the United States.”

Belcher says once the technology is approved, they will put four “Powered by Kixor” herbicides on the market, including Optill, Integrity and Sharpen for corn, soybeans, sorghum and other crops. “These products will be made in Hannibal, Missouri and we’ve had the plant ready to go and we will be selling some products after we get registration yet in 2009.”

BASF Kixor Herbicide Technology plot tour photos

Listen to an interview with Dennis here:

Audio, BASF, Farming

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • On its first anniversary, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program is celebrating a year of progress, from the creation of the organization to the granting of $1.25 million in research funding. The checkoff program was created to address the issue of declining sorghum production and demand.
  • A new study published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine finds that soyfoods and soy isoflavone supplements have no significant effect on male reproductive hormone levels in men. The literature review indicates that soy does not decrease testosterone levels.
  • U.S. and Canadian farmers are one step closer to realizing the greater whole farm corn yield advantages of a new corn seed trait combination, SmartStax, which is the outcome of a cross licensing agreement and research and development collaboration between Monsanto Company and Dow AgroSciences LLC.
  • Bayer CropScience is expanding its global research and development activities in seeds and traits to include a focus on cereals. The company recently formalized a long-term alliance with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s national research organization.
    Zimfo Bytes