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

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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:

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Got Propane In Your Truck?

Chuck Zimmerman

Taylor BloorThe Roush Ford F-150 on display at the Ohio Propane Gas Association exhibit here at the Farm Science Review is the big draw. With high diesel prices it’s easy to understand why.

On hand to talk about it is Roush Vehicle Marketing Coordinator, Taylor Bloor. He drove the vehicle down from Michigan. It’s a bright white truck that runs on liquid propane injection. He says you can go to any Ford dealer to order one. Basically, you buy the truck then have Roush customize it for you or you can order a kit to do it yourself.

The vehicles cost more upfront because of the fuel conversion but you make up for it he says in lower fuel costs. For example, at current prices, if you drive 15,000 miles per year you’ll make back the cost in 4 years. If you drive 30,000 miles/year it would only take two. The fuel is much cleaner burning and helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

I had Taylor take us on a video tour of the truck which you can watch here:

You can also listen to the tour of the truck here: fsr-08-bloor.mp3

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President of the Ohio Propane Gas Association

Chuck Zimmerman

Kent WittThe new President of the Ohio Propane Gas Association is Kent Witt, Hi-Grade Oil Co. He says they’re a supplier of propane. He became President just last month.

Kent says their basically the voice of propane marketers and that you can learn more by coming out and talking with them. He says farmers will find all the propane powered equipment they would be interested in including a lot of heaters and drying equipment.

He mentioned that farmers can find out more at AgPropane.com. He’s pictured here next to a display on using propane to control weeds.

You can listen to my interview with Kent here: fsr-08-witt.mp3

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Farmers Like Propane Powered Truck

Chuck Zimmerman

Jane NewtonThe second woman to become President of the Ohio Propane Gas Association was Jane Newton, pictured on the left of the propane powered corn popper here at the Farm Science Review. She is a propane marketer with a family business. Jane was President of OPGA in 2000.

She says their exhibit has just about every kind of propane appliance known to man. I caught up with her just as she was taking some chocolate chip cookies out of a propane powered oven.

When it comes to farmers she says the biggest drawing point has been the Roush Ford F-150 they have on display. She says, “They like the look of the truck. They like the cost of the truck and the cost of the fuel since it’s a lot less than diesel right now.” She says she’s thinking about getting one for their business since they haven’t had a propane powered vehicle in their fleet for a while. I’ll have more on the truck coming up later in my coverage.

You can listen to my interview with Jane here: fsr-08-newton.mp3

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RR2Y Soybean Technology Coming In 2009

Chuck Zimmerman

Troy PutnamOne of the people bringing technology to farmers in the field here at the Farm Science Review is Agrow/Dekalb Field Advisor, Troy Putnam (pictured on the Monsanto Mobile Greenhouse).

Troy says that the exhibit is helping promote the Roundup Ready 2 Yield launch. He describes it as second generation technology that will be in the Asgrow line. Farmers, he says, have seen great yield increases in corn over the years and they have been looking for the same in soybeans. “Roundup Ready 2 Yield will raise that bar and you’ve heard the numbers 7-11% in some of our research trials. We’re so excited about it that we’ll have a couple million acres in the launch for 2009.” Troy says there’s a plan in place to distribute out different varieties to various regions based on maturity, soybean volume and demand of the current Roundup Ready line.

When it comes to advantages of the new technology he says it will mean more beans per plant. An example he sites is that if you plant 180,000 plants/acre and get just one more bean per plant then you’ll have one additional bushel of yield for that acre. So increasing the number of beans on the plant has a major impact on yield.

Troy also talks about their Mobile Greenhouse which he says takes farmers through the process of looking at conventional beans through Roundup beans.

You can listen to my interview with Troy here: fsr-08-putnam.mp3

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