Stabilized Nitrogen Center Explained

Cindy Zimmerman

Dan Kuttenkuler AgrotainMedia got the first look at the Allen R. Sutton Stabilized Nitrogen Center prior to the official grand opening on Tuesday in St. Louis and our tour guide was Dan Kuttenkuler, project manager for Lange-Stegmann and AGROTAIN International.

Dan explained how the center uses a falling curtain granulation process for quality control and production efficiency. The process allows finished products to be manufactured to a specific size for different markets. “By varying the size of the holes in the screens we are able to control the final size of the product,” Dan says. “We have an agricultural market which is used to grow corn, wheat and cotton, we have a turf and ornamental and we also serve the golf industry which is very specific in terms of types and height of grasses.”

The Center is designed to meet the increasing demand for stabilized nitrogen fertilizer, with a production capacity of 125,000 tons annually.

Listen to an interview with Dan here: agrotain-kuttenkuler.mp3


AGROTAIN Grand Opening Photo Album

Agribusiness, Fertilizer

Wind Damaged Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn Down From Hurricane IkeWe’ve heard a lot about wind damage to corn but I guess it’s not just limited to here in Ohio.

Pam Fretwell, Conklin Companies, was working here at the Farm Science Review and shared a few photos of the damage in Illinois.

That’s going to be tough to harvest!

Farm Science Review Photo Album

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

Corn, Farm Science Review, Farming, Propane

Farm Science Review Corn Harvest Information

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Harvest CrewHere’s the New Holland crew after just finishing corn harvesting at the Farm Science Review. I spoke to Mike Craig about what they found.

He says they had been running for two days and that they were getting between 130 to 150 bushels with 18 to 20% moisture.

I asked him what’s new from New Holland and he says it’s their 8 row corn head with stalk chopper on each row unit which he says, “Allows us to chop the stalk as the ear is being pulled off from it to help with the residue on the ground.” He says it’s on display at their exhibit. Mike also says he really enjoys the interaction with farmers at the show.

You can listen to my interview with Mike here: fsr-08-craig.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, Corn, Farm Science Review, New Holland, Propane

3,000 Horsepower From Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Mark ThomasWhile I was visiting the Ohio Corn Growers exhibit at the Farm Science Review I had a nice talk with 5 time IHRA Funny Car Champion Mark Thomas. Here he is explaining his car to an FFA student.

Mark is not only a professional drag racer but a farmer himself. He has 500 Holstein cows and farms 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. You’d think that would be enough to keep him busy!

One of his passions is ethanol. He basically grows his own fuel and has had a mission to help educate the public about this renewable energy source. So that’s part of his message here at the show. I asked him about how his farm business was going. He says that the past year or so has been pretty good but it’s basically making up for years that weren’t so good. However, he says that there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future and with the problems lately in financial markets there’s good reason to wonder.

He says the question he gets asked most often standing by his funny car is, “How much horse power?” It’s got 3,000 HP and goes from zero to 250 mph in 5.7 seconds! Of course he runs on ethanol and he says the car uses just over a gallon of ethanol per second.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: fsr-08-thomas.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, Corn, Ethanol, Farm Science Review, Propane

Ohio Corn Educating About RFS

Chuck Zimmerman

Ohio Corn GrowersThe Ohio Corn Growers Association have a nice building on the grounds of the Farm Science Review. One of their board members has been involved with it for many years. He’s Ron Rockhold, pictured on the right. Ron says he farms in southern Fayette County and has been on the board for going on 20 years. He spends one day working in the exhibit and one day with his brother “taking in the sights.”

Ron says this show is a great thing for agriculture. He says the message they’re trying to get across to growers is what’s happening with legislation, especially the farm bill and the rfs standard. In fact, he says, “. . . talking about the RFS which is even more important than the farm bill because it increases the demand for corn and has raised the price of corn to where farmers are getting their money from the market now instead of from the government.” That’s something he says he’s always wanted to see.

You can listen to my interview with Ron here: fsr-08-rockhold.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.

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Farm Science Review, Propane

Precision Ag At Farm Science Review

Chuck Zimmerman

Jamie BultemeierHarvesting corn and soybeans isn’t the only field demonstration you’ll see at the Farm Science Review. There’s also a section devoted to precision agriculture.

I went out to the field when these got started and spoke with John Deere’s Jamie Bultemeier (pictured on the left). He was conducting a precision tillage demonstration. Jamie’s an agronomist by training so he focuses on crop production as it relates to seeding, tillage, sprayers and GPS equipment.

In his demonstration he was tying two of those together. He says they have a John Deere 2510S strip till rig being guided by John Deere RTK sub inch accuracy steering to allow for repeatable planting next spring. After running down a row a little ways he stopped to talk with farmers and they commented on how moist the ground was even though there had been little rain of late.

Questions he gets asked a lot include, “How should I set it? What fertilizer should I use? What kind of attachments should I put on?” He says he’s spoken with about an equal number of farmers who are using the technology and those who aren’t yet.

You can listen to my interview with Jamie here: fsr-08-bultemeier.mp3

I also caught Jamie doing an end of the row run during his demonstration which you can watch 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.

Audio, Farm Science Review, John Deere, Precision Agriculture, Propane, Video

Reviewing Farm Science

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-187 - Farm Science ReviewI think this year’s Farm Science Review has had the best weather of any farm show I’ve ever attended. Of course they had to go through some nail-biting times just prior to the show when the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through. In this week’s show I talk with show manager, Chuck Gamble. He says he’s all about promoting agriculture. In fact, he received one of the new Honorary Farm Broadcaster awards from ABN Radio on the opening day.

One of the new things at the show this year is the re-naming of Chemical Ave. to Conservation Ave. He says this was done “to honor (farmers) who I call the ultimate conservationists.”

Chuck GambleAnother new feature of the show is a “wireless internet cloud.” Chuck says that they didn’t have cable out to the show site but this year they laid in fiber optic and put up over 50 small towers around the exhibit area. It’s fast, reliable and everywhere. So besides us media types, exhibitors now have a new resource.

I’d love to see other farm shows adopt this type of infrastructure at their permanent sites.

The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. Since I just attended a swine health seminar you get to listen to “Rocket Science” from Brain Buckit. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 187 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Chuck Gamble - ZimmCast 187

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

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

Audio, Farm Science Review, Farm Shows, Internet, Propane, ZimmCast

Soybean Harvest Demo at Farm Science Review

Chuck Zimmerman

Soybean HarvestSpeaking of corn, how about soybeans? They were also ready to harvest here locally at the Farm Science Review.

Mid afternoon a selection of combines like this one from New Holland sprang into action in front of the crowd. I didn’t get any data on the crop but it looked pretty good. Although we had some rain early in the week prior to the show things have dried up again enough for it to be very dusty in the fields.

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, New Holland, Propane, Video

Unloading Corn at Farm Science Review

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Science Review Grain UnloadingWe finally got to see corn being harvested at a farm show this fall.

I went out to the fields and just missed seeing the combines in action. However, I got up above a grain wagon being unloaded for this shot and took a short video clip of it too.

I’m not sure how many acres were harvested today but it was enough to satisfy a very large crowd that came out to enjoy the show.

Farm Science Review Photo Album

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

Corn, Farm Science Review, Propane

Farm Science Review Field Demos

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Science ReviewField demonstrations got into full swing this afternoon at the Farm Science Review. I think this is the first show to be able to provide in-field demos and farmers were out to see the show.

You really couldn’t have had better weather to harvest corn and soybeans and demonstrate tillage and manure spreading. The breeze even blew away from the people standing and watching.

I’ll have some more for you after dinner.

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