Everything Propane On Display At FSR

Chuck Zimmerman

Tracey LemmonWhen it comes to propane products, the Ohio Propane Gas Association building is the place to be.

I spoke with Farm Science Review exhibit coordinator Tracey Lemmon, seen here in one of the propane powered vehicles they have on display. His company installs propane systems for marketers. He says they have quite a list of products for farmers to look at. It includes, water heaters, ranges, stove tops, refrigerators, freezers, vehicles, portable heaters, fireplaces, overhead infrared tube heaters, torpedo heaters, gas grills, garage heaters, smokers, fish cookers . . . Just about everything that runs on propane!

Tracey says they put up the building about 10 years ago and this year he was really glad to have it since the weather was disastrous prior to the show opening. However, their building didn’t have any damage.

He says the show has started out great and that farmers are not only looking at agricultural applications of propane but also others since they’re consumers with homes as well.

You can listen to my interview with Tracey here: fsr-08-lemmon.mp3

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Audio, Farm Science Review, Propane

Monsanto Mobile Greenhouse at Farm Science Review

Chuck Zimmerman

Monsanto Mobile GreenhouseMonsanto has their traveling mobile greenhouse on location here at the Farm Science Review. It’s filled with plants at various stages of growth and has been receiving a lot of traffic.

The unit is 28 feet long and showcases Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans. The mobile green house is a unique way to show the benefits of the new technology. Farmers also have a chance to get entered into a contest to win a family dream vacation worth $8,000. There’s also a short video illustrating the science behind the seed. I walked through the display yesterday and you can see it here.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Farm Science Review, Propane, Soybean, Video

Day Two of Farm Science Review

Chuck Zimmerman

Touchstone Energy BalloonDay two of the Farm Science Review is underway and I’ve got a lot of items to post during the day. I’m kind of playing catch up on the whole jet lag thing but a second cup of coffee is helping.

Pam Fretwell, Conklin Company, is sitting next to me in the media building, typing away. We’ve been talking about blogging. I think there’s a blogger inside her that’s just waiting to get out.

I don’t know how many shows the Touchstone Energy balloon flies over but it caught your attention as we waited in the very short lines of traffic. The weather is beautiful so come on out.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

Farm Science Review, Propane

Urea by the Ton

Cindy Zimmerman

Rich DiffleyThe statistics for the new Richard W. Stegmann St. Louis Urea Center are pretty amazing.

Lange-Stegmann Director of Operations Rich Diffley says the facility has a capacity for 63,000 tons in 15 bins, ranging from 800 to 20,000 tons, which can be turned four times a month. “We can unload barges in approximately five hours, we can load truckloads in approximately six minutes and we can load a full rail car in approximately 17 minutes,” Rich says. “It allows us the ability to load a full unit train up to 80 rail cars within a 24 hour period.” That’s about a million tons a year, if you do the math.

Diffley explained that the fully automated system makes it the most efficient way to move large volumes of urea quickly and easily.

Agrotain Urea CenterDiffley showed the media through the storage facility prior to the AGROTAIN International grand opening on Tuesday and impressed us with the mountains of urea in the bins. This photo shows the largest bin – at 20,000 tons – from above. It was maybe a third full and just looked like a pile of freshly plowed snow. Check out the photo album for more shots of the nation’s largest urea import terminal.

Listen to an interview with Rich Diffley here, conducted by myself and Tom Steever with Brownfield Network: agro-diffley.mp3


AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

Agribusiness, Fertilizer

Stabilized Nitrogen Center Named for AGROTAIN VP

Cindy Zimmerman

Agrotain Stabilized Nitrogen CenterWhen Lange-Stegmann acquired AGROTAIN eight years ago with that acquisition came Allen Sutton, vice president of business and product development. You could say the Stabilized Nitrogen Center that opened in St. Louis Tuesday was his brain child. Because of that, it will now bear his name – the Allen R. Sutton Stabilized Nitrogen Center.

Allen SuttonMaking that announcement, Lange-Stegmann president Mike Stegmann explained that five years ago he asked Allen to find a way for customers to make their SuperU product at their own locations. “After a little while, he came back and said ‘I don’t think there is a way, but I found something better’ and that something was the stabilized nitrogen center that you see here today,” Mike said. They made the decision to name the center after Allen because of his “commitment and dedication to the technology, the company and the industry as a whole.”

Allen’s enthusiasm and excitement for the fertilizer industry was evident when he talked to the media prior to the opening ceremony and proudly displayed and discussed the company and products they offer for the agriculture, turf and ornamental and golf course industries.

Listen to an interview with Allen here: agro-allen.mp3


AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

Agribusiness, Fertilizer

Urea Center Christening

Cindy Zimmerman

Mike and Rich StegmannThe brand new urea center in St. Louis received its official name at the grand opening ceremony on Tuesday – the Richard W. Stegmann St. Louis Urea Center.

Lange-Stegmann
president Mike Stegmann (left) surprised his father Rich, who is chairman of the company, by naming the center after him. “It was really humbling,” Rich said in an interview after the ceremony.

Lange-Stegmann, the parent company of AGROTAIN International, was started in 1926 by Rich’s father-in-law Henry Lange and his brother Dewey. “At that time, it was meat scraps and tankage and steam bone meal that was fertilizer,” said Rich.

Agrotain Grand OpeningThe reason the plant was first located at the site near the Mississippi River was because it was next to the stockyards. “At that time a lot of livestock moved by rail and they had to unload it every 24 hours,” Rich explained. “People would come in with trucks and they would haul back fertilizer.”

Stegmann celebrates his 48th year with the company on Friday and he is proud that this global corporation is still very much family-owned. “And our employees are like family too,” Stegmann says. “And that is very gratifying.” A whole line of family, friends, employees and business associates lined up to cut the ribbon opening the urea center and the adjacent Stabilized Nitogen Center.

Listen to an interview with Rich here: agro-rich.mp3


AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

Agribusiness, Fertilizer

DTN Acquired by Telvent

Chuck Zimmerman

TelventTelvent announced today that it has acquired DTN.

Telvent (NASDAQ: TLVT), the IT company for a sustainable and secure world, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire one hundred percent of U.S.-based business information services provider, DTN Holding Company, Inc. (DTN), headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The acquisition represents an all cash purchase of DTN for a total enterprise value of $445 million U.S. dollars (approx. 310 million Euros), to be financed through a combination of fully funded senior indebtedness and the issuance of common equity. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008 and is subject to customary regulatory and shareholder approvals.

The acquisition of DTN marks another important strategic step in Telvent fulfilling its vision to help build a sustainable world, by adding an important new segment – agriculture – and by strengthening its Robert Gordonexisting energy, transportation and environment segments. DTN has a large list of world class customers in the areas of downstream refined fuels, wind farms, grain producers, agribusinesses, biofuels producers, departments of transportation and aviation companies, among others.

Robert Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of DTN commented, “We are thrilled about the future with Telvent, which will allow us to develop a long-term plan headed to better serve our customers with the information and systems that they need to make day-to-day critical decisions. We see many opportunities to integrate our services and achieve extensive new growth on a global scale, while allowing our professionals to develop their careers in a solid global company”.

Media

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications announces the hire of two staff members to the growing Bayer CropScience team — Ann Fleming and Kimberly Bergmooser. Fleming joins Rhea + Kaiser as senior account executive working on the Bayer CropScience horticultural crops team. Bergmooser joins as assistant account executive for the corn, soybean and sorghum team.
  • New Holland’s 98D Series corn heads unite the best attributes of a point-to-point pinching style stalk roll with the capacity required by larger, more productive combines. It gets under downed corn and takes in less trash. With residue management a key part of farming practices, the 98D corn heads are especially beneficial for no-till planting and minimum-till operations.
  • Joe Kapraun was named manager, GROWMARK Grain Division, effective Sept. 1, 2008. He replaces Larry Keene who retired with 23 years of service.
  • Case IH has made several upgrades to its mower lineup in order to continue to provide rugged, long-lasting machines while improving user productivity and simplifying serviceability. New models of key mower, mower conditioner and mower conditioner header products now feature a shock protection system. This system replaces the drive hub of discs with a shock hub, making in-field repairs fast and easy after encountering field obstructions.
    Zimfo Bytes

    ABN Radio To Relocate to WOSU Facility

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Andy Vance and Lindsay HillIt seemed like the ABN Show midday here at the Farm Science Review. The BARN has a nice barn. Here’s Andy and Lindsay just before their big announcement today.

    Basically, ABN is partnering with WOSU Radio and will be relocating their studios to WOSU facilities in Columbus in early 2009.

    It seems like WOSU grew so much that they had to move into new studios opening up this opportunity for ABN. WOSU is the University of Ohio radio station.

    You can hear Andy’s comments at their press conference here: fsr-08-andy-vance.mp3

    You can hear Lindsay’s comments here: fsr-08-lindsay-hill.mp3

    Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill with Dr. E. Gordon GeeAlso on hand to commemorate the announcement was University of Ohio President, Dr. E. Gordon Gee. He said this was an exciting day for him since ABN Radio founder (deceased), Ed Johnson, was his friend and he knows that Ed would be proud of this announcement and to see Andy and Lindsay carry on his legacy.

    You can hear Dr. Gee’s comments here: fsr-08-gee.mp3

    Farm Science Review Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Farm Science Review is being sponsored by Monsanto and the Propane Research and Education Council.

    Audio, Farm Science Review, Media, Propane

    Cathedral to Fertilizer

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Urea CenterAGROTAIN International and parent company Lange-Stegmann today celebrated the grand opening of a $20 million expansion project in St. Louis.

    The Stabilized Nitrogen Center and the St. Louis Urea Center represent the country’s first urea plant using phase modification and the nation’s largest inland urea import terminal – or as one AGROTAIN official called the project, a “Cathedral to Fertilizer.”

    The grand opening was a glorious event and I have lots of interviews to share later when I get back to home base. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos – I took a bunch of them!

    AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Fertilizer