Nitrogen-Fixation Product Expands Options for SIMPAS System

Cindy Zimmerman

AMVAC® and Azotic North America are pleased to announce a collaboration to develop and commercialize the nitrogen-fixation product Envita™ adding to the expanding SIMPAS-applied Solutions™ portfolio.

Envita is a naturally occurring food-grade bacteria that allows a to fix nitrogen. Envita can be applied in-furrow to multiple crops including corn and soybeans, where it quickly establishes itself within the plant and grows with the plant as the plant grows.

Envita joins the portfolio of SIMPAS-applied Solutions (SaS), which are products prescriptively applied with patented SmartCartridge® container technology and using the SIMPAS® application system to address unique agronomic needs.

“With this new addition to SIMPAS-applied Solutions, growers will be able to utilize the precision of the SIMPAS system in areas where risk of nitrogen loss is greater such as in low-lying areas and on slopes,” said Jim Lappin, Director of SIMPAS Portfolio and Alliances at AMVAC. “This is important because applying additional units of synthetic nitrogen in high-yielding zones can begin to have a diminishing rate of return as N rates go higher. Envita provides an alternate source of nitrogen that continues as the plant grows or in conditions where uptake of synthetic N may be challenged.”

Learn more about SIMPAS.

AgWired Precision, AMVAC, Nutrient Management, Precision Agriculture

ZimmCast 687 – Verdant Robotics

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCastHello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman.

Before getting to this week’s interview I thought I’d summarize a little bit of our activities. Last week Cindy and I tagged teamed the National Ethanol Conference where we created a customized virtual newsroom for the Renewable Fuels Association. There is a lot of content in there including 2 different event photo albums and lots of interviews and other audio. That was in New Orleans.

Which is where I will be back to next week for the Commodity Classic and working with several companies and organizations.

Like most people I know, we are deeply concerned about the war taking place in Ukraine. We have friends there from time spent during IFAJ Congresses and we have heard that they are okay right now. We are praying for an end to this conflict. There are lots of parties that can share the blame on it but what is most important are the lives of people, including children, who are dying or have already become homeless.

So, let’s move on to one of the things we always like to talk about and that’s what is new in the world of agribusiness. Last week we distributed a news release for Verdant Robotics that announced its first multi-action autonomous farm robot for specialty crops. I talked with company co-founder and CEO, Gabe Sibley.

I want to thank Verdant Robotics for their business and AgTech Public Relations.

Listen to the ZimmCast here:
ZimmCast 687 - Verdant Robotics (12:54)

So, that’s the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you like it and thank you for listening.

Want to sponsor the ZimmCast? Just let me know and we can talk through ideas for your company. I’m AgriBlogger on Twitter or just email me at chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

Subscribe to the ZimmCast in:

Agribusiness, Audio, Precision Agriculture, ZimmCast

Animal Ag News 2/28

Carrie Muehling

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is making available up to $215 million in grants and other support to expand meat and poultry processing options, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas.
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association appreciates the Administration’s efforts to expand and diversify processing capacity and looks forward to working with USDA to ensure proper implementation of the funds mentioned above.
  • The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) has released its official 2021 Annual Report. Visitors to the CBB’s website can view specific sections of the report online or download the full report as a PDF.
  • National Milk Producers Federation announced important updates to its website, designed to offer more information to dairy farmers and their cooperatives as well as an easier-to-navigate interface.
  • DSM has announced they have received landmark EU approval for their methane-reducing feed additive for ruminants, Bovaer®. Bovaer® is the first feed additive authorised in the EU where the environmental benefits can be marketed paving the way for DSM to revolutionise the diary market.
  • Registration is now open for the 2022 World Pork Expo, hosted by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). World Pork Expo is the world’s largest pork-specific event, and will take place June 8-10 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
  • The dairy checkoff has entered a five-year collaboration with Mayo Clinic to explore research and consumer outreach efforts to improve public health and advance dairy’s benefits. The checkoff’s memorandum of understanding with Mayo entails Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), National Dairy Council (NDC) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy (IC).
  • The Dairy Calf & Heifer Association is excited to announce that conference registration is open. You can attend either in-person in Bloomington, MN, or virtually. This year’s committee decided to focus on three different areas that make up the dairy calf and heifer raising industry, and those are: wet-calf/weaning, post-weaning/reproduction, and beef x dairy.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Agri-Pulse Summit is Back In-Person

Cindy Zimmerman

As COVID restrictions are beginning to loosen up at last, Agri-Pulse Communications is pleased to present the 2022 Ag & Food Policy Summit live and in-person for the first time since 2019, and especially pleased to welcome the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) as the Platinum sponsor for the event.

The summit will offer both in-person and virtual options on March 21 and the timely theme this year is “Laying the groundwork for the next farm bill.”

“Agri-Pulse will explore the policies and politics under consideration with leading experts, members of Congress and administration officials. This is a great opportunity to learn from some of the most influential voices in farm policy,” said Sara Wyant, Agri-Pulse editor and founder.

Summit discussions will focus on global and domestic factors driving farm production and food demand, political and economic factors driving the next farm bill, conservation policy, what do food companies want in the next farm bill, and more. Registration is available here.

COVID restrictions are loosening up in the nation’s capitol and Agri-Pulse is closely monitoring all District directives and health measures. However, at this time, the National Press Club is requiring proof of vaccination to attend.

Agri-Pulse, Events

Industry Ag News 2/25

Carrie Muehling

  • The Todd and Louise Malecha family are the 2022 winners of Farm Journal’s annual Top Producer of the Year award. Their operation, Malecha Enterprises, is based in Villard, Minn., and includes 1,200 milk cows and 1,100 replacement heifers as well as 2,500 acres of diverse crop and forage production. The award was presented during Farm Journal’s Top Producer Summit, held from Feb. 14-16 in Nashville, Tenn.
  • Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., announced that Garrett Downs has joined the digital media company as an associate editor. Downs previously worked as a reporter at Inside U.S. Trade and prior to that, as an intern for POLITICO New York where he co-authored POLITICO’s New York – New Jersey energy newsletter and worked as an editorial clerk and a freelancer for the New York Post.
  • Cotton Council International (CCI) announced that Carlos C. Garcia, a cooperative official from Lubbock, Texas, was elected as its president for 2022. CCI is the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) export promotion arm.
  • “My Drone’s View Returning Home” is the grand prize winner of the 2021 National Corn Growers Association Fields-of-Corn photo contest. The picture was taken via drone by Todd Wachtel of Illinois. This was the first time a bird’s eye view category was offered as a part of the contest.
  • A Diversity Seminar: America, Race & Agriculture hosted by NAMA and North Central NAMA is scheduled for March 3 at 11:00 a.m. Central. Click here to register.
  • Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) and the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) formally announced a partnership aimed at gathering critical input from Native American U.S. military veterans working in the agricultural industry.
  • The American Soybean Association (ASA) announces Gena Perry as executive director of ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program. Perry, who currently serves as project director global strategy, will be promoted Feb. 28 to WISHH’s top staff role.
  • Sakata Seed America has officially launched www.SakataCEA.com, a comprehensive website detailing specifics of Sakata’s CEA product offerings.
Zimfo Bytes

RFA Honors Corn Growers With Industry Award

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA CEO Geoff Cooper, NCGA Chair John Linder, NCGA president Chris Edgington, NCGA CEO Jon Doggett

For the first time, the Renewable Fuels Association Industry Award was presented to an organization this year.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) was honored in recognition of the group’s dedicated and sustained efforts on behalf of the ethanol industry over the last 40 years. The award, RFA’s highest recognition, was presented this week at the 27th annual National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans.

RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper noted that NCGA has collaborated with RFA over the years on countless research and ethanol promotion efforts, such as technical work, market development programs, ethanol export initiatives, co-products research and development, and economic studies. “This is what a real partnership looks like, and we are so proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends at NCGA as we identify and seize new opportunities for ethanol and agriculture moving forward.”

RFA Industry Award (9:12)

2022 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, NCGA, RFA

Precision Ag News 2/23

Carrie Muehling

  • Riceland Foods announced a new partnership with Arva Intelligence as the cooperative shifts its sustainability focus towards capturing the agronomic and economic data associated with its farmer members crop production. Through the Ingrain Good Sustainability Initiative, Riceland is dedicated to creating value through sustainability for its farmer members.
  • To meet farmers’ demands for more sustainable and profitable growing practices, Verdant Robotics announced the expansion of its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) model to ensure access for more specialty crop farmers.
  • The Gadfly Project announced it has awarded a Q4 2021 in-kind climate grant to the Soil Health Institute to develop an application called the Drought Resilience Calculator. This free, web-based decision support tool will enable growers, advisors, consultants, and other agricultural stakeholders to calculate how much more water their soil can store by increasing the carbon in it. This application is based on a novel algorithm developed by the Soil Health Institute and is planned to be released in June 2022.
  • Meristem has announced the new formulation of EXCAVATOR. EXCAVATOR and Meristem’s other new biologicals are part of the antidote for high fertilizer prices and can help farmers boost yields and beat inflation.
  • Alltech Crop Science, the agronomic division of Alltech, announced Liqui-Plex® Mn, the latest addition to the Liqui-Plex® line of products, which also includes Liqui-Plex® Cu and Liqui-Plex® Zn. Approved for use across Canada for all agriculture and horticulture crops, Liqui-Plex products provide the right nutrients at the right time to help plants deal more efficiently with environmental and other stressors, in addition to improving overall plant health.
  • Honey bees and other pollinators play an important role in the agricultural ecosystem. These same pollinators are under stress from a number of factors: pests, disease, lack of habitat, and more. The GROWMARK System would like to help youth organizations do their part to help sustain and increase honey bee populations. Clubs across the United States wishing to participate should fill out the online application by March 11, 2022: http://bit.ly/2022GMKPollinator.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

Ethanol Industry Zeroes in on New Opportunities

Cindy Zimmerman

In his annual State of the Industry Address at the National Ethanol Conference Tuesday in New Orleans, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said the global quest to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 “may very well be the greatest opportunity for growth and value creation in the industry’s history.”

“Just as the ethanol industry seized on opportunities to stimulate the rural economy, reduce smog-forming air pollution, and bolster energy security, we now have—right in front of us—another great opportunity to provide a solution to one of the world’s most daunting challenges: reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change,” Cooper said. “And we cannot afford to miss this opportunity—not just because it will help our industry grow and thrive, but because the very health of the planet is at stake.”

The ethanol industry has already made great progress toward decarbonization, Cooper said, as today’s corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 50% percent compared to gasoline. And, as highlighted in a new study released at the conference, ethanol is on a trajectory to achieve net-zero carbon emissions well before 2050. But ethanol’s ability to contribute to decarbonization goals goes far beyond the light-duty vehicle fleet, Cooper said.

“With the right chemistry and technology, ethanol can serve not only as a future low-carbon fuel for jets, ocean liners, trucks, and farm equipment, but also as the fundamental building block for sustainable chemicals and plastics,” Cooper said. “In reality, anything you can do with a barrel of crude oil, we can do with a barrel of renewable ethanol.”

Cooper also highlighted a big opportunity for ethanol to help address another vexing problem: high gas prices. Oil prices topped $95 per barrel last week and average retail gas prices hit $3.50 a gallon, which Cooper said “reminds us of an inconvenient reality: We cannot frack our way to low gas prices and energy security. Whether we like it or not, pump prices here in America continue to be shaped by the whims of OPEC and geopolitical events—like the current situation in Ukraine.”

Read Cooper’s state of the industry remarks

Listen to Cooper’s full address below:
RFA CEO Geoff Cooper Industry address (29:16)

The 2022 NEC runs through Wednesday afternoon.

Audio, Ethanol, RFA

Verdant Delivers Multi-Action Robot for Specialty Crops

Cindy Zimmerman

Verdant Robotics today announced the expansion of its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) model to develop the first multi-action, autonomous farm-robot for specialty crop farmers.

Verdant raised $21.5 million to develop the robot, which is capable of millimeter-accurate spraying, laser weeding, and AI-based digital crop modeling. Verdant has already contracted to service approximately 40% of the U.S. carrot market exclusively for the next five years and is currently scaling to meet the needs of the U.S. multi-billion-dollar fruit and vegetable industry.

“Farmers told us not to give them more data, but to figure out what to do with the mountains of data they already have, or better yet just go do it,” said Gabe Sibley, PhD., co-founder and CEO, who brings more than 20 years of experience in geo-spatial computation and AI. “They want a complete solution that takes action in real-time and keeps farmers in control – all while improving profitability and automating dangerous, back-breaking field work.”

Following successful large-scale roll-out over the past 18 months, Verdant logged thousands of hours in 2021 and is already proven on multiple crops. “Today, Verdant machines are in the field all-day, every-day helping farmers achieve superhuman efficacy,” said Sibley.

Combining multiple technologies, the company’s 6-row and 12-row commercial implements can treat up to 4.2 acres per hour, achieving a higher weed-removal rate per acre than other technology or human ability, and reducing chemical usage by up to 95 percent. Simultaneously, its autonomous software system collects data and uses machine learning capabilities to optimize yield and growing outcomes, ultimately unlocking new revenues to help farmers reach profitability and sustainability goals.

Learn more about this new development in this interview with Sibley.
Interview with Verdant Robotics CEO Gabe Sibley (10:58)

AgWired Precision, AI, Audio, Precision Agriculture, robotics

Ethanol Industry Gathers in New Orleans

Cindy Zimmerman

From emerging technologies and new uses to opportunities in global carbon reduction policies, market insights, and international and domestic marketplace developments, there is much to learn and experience at the 27th Annual National Ethanol Conference: Zeroing in on New Opportunities.

New Orleans is the place where the ethanol industry is meeting this week and Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper says the agenda is packed but the best reason to go is to be in person again. “We’re just looking forward to seeing everybody again. It’s been two years since we’ve been able to have this event in person,” said Cooper. “The National Ethanol Conference really is the premier networking event for the ethanol industry.”

The theme “Zeroing in on New Opportunities” focuses on the commitment of the industry to achieving net zero emissions for ethanol by 2050 or sooner. “We’re going to spend a lot of time talking about how to achieve that goal which is admittedly ambitious but I believe is absolutely achievable,” said Cooper.

Cooper previews the NEC in this edition of The Ethanol Report.
Ethanol Report 1-31-22 (11:01)

Audio and photos from the event can be found in the:
2022 National Ethanol Conference Virtual Newsroom

Audio, Ethanol, RFA