Europe is Crazy for Combines

Laura McNamara

John Deere Display at Agritechnica 2007John Deere offers five times as many combines in Europe as it does in North America. Paul Leathem, the manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, says combines are a popular product in Europe with John Deere offering 5 different lines of combines, with a total of 27 different models. John Deere’s newest series, the T Series, includes an extra threshing drum, with four drums instead of three.

Paul says unlike North America, where combines are designed more for low-input farming, Europe demands combines designed specifically for high-input farming. You can listen to Paul speak about combines here:

Leathem_Paul004combines.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farm Shows, Farming, International, John Deere, Technology

Reynolds Presents at Agribusiness Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

The NAMA Agribusiness Forum is underway here in Kansas City and Paulsen AgriBranding is on the scene. They’re providing some content for AgWired which I’m posting for them. Here’s the first installment:

Written by Paulsen AgriBranding on Tuesday, November 13, 2007

“Who’s Pulling Our Chain?”

Don Reynolds, Kick-Off Session

The 2007 Agribusiness Forum kicked off with Don Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds was Chairman of the Investment Advisory Board before his appointment by President Bush as Pension Board Chairman. In that position, he has oversight of $120 billion in pension and trust funds. Mr. Reynolds shared an overview of the major trends in the global economy and the effect those trends will have on agriculture. So, given the market volatility, how can we prepare for and profit from the changing marketplace? Reynolds says that the early 21st century is the “Golden Age” for agriculture.

Agencies, NAMA

Back In Action In KC, MO

Chuck Zimmerman

Chuck with a BuckThe agriblogger is back in action this week after some necessary time off in the woods.

It was a relaxing and successful deer hunt as you can see.

I just got in to Kansas City and will be heading down to the action at the end of the NAMA Agribusiness Forum and the start of the NAFB convention.

Expect to see lots of posts this week from here and I hope you’ve been enjoying Laura’s coverage of her trip with John Deere to Germany and AgriTechnica.

Uncategorized

John Deere Tractors Useful for North America, Popular in Europe

Laura McNamara

John Deere Exhibit at Agritechnica 2007Paul Leathem, the manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, says sales of the 9030 tractor are really starting to take off in Europe, particularly in Russia where the 9030 even won a gold at a farm machinery show. Paul says the 8030 series is another Waterloo, Ontario, Canada tractor series that’s picking up clout with dealers and farmers in Europe.

You can listen to Paul talk about both the 9030 series and the 8030 series here:

Leathem_Paul9030.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Shows, Farming, International, Technology

John Deere Committed to Consumers at Agritechnica 2007

Laura McNamara

John Deere Demonstration at Agritechnica 2007It’s hard to miss the eight moving, hi-definition flat screen T.V.s, the blonde German actor, and the big moving E Premium Series tractor on the John Deere stage. The screens, actor and tractor would put on a show regularly throughout the day highlighting the key products and technology Agritechnica attendees will find at the John Deere exhibit from November 13 through November 17. I didn’t get to wander around all of the 16 buildings filled with displays during the preview days on November 11 and November 12, but, from what I did see, no other exhibit had a live demonstration quite as hi-tech as John Deere’s.

You can listen to Paul Leathem, the manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East ,briefly describe the three platforms for communication with farmers and dealers attending Agritechnica 2007 here:

Leathem_Paul005cutomerinfo.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, Equipment, Farm Shows, Farming, International, John Deere, Technology

Road Savvy Sprayer

Laura McNamara

John Deere Exhibit at Agritechnica 2007The technology behind the 730 series sprayers is child’s play for Paul Leathem, the manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Paul says these sprayers can retract to dimensions suitable for road travel at the push of a button. The 730i series sprayers can also travel up to a speed of about 12 mph in the field. The sprayers are also equipped with intelligent applications such as the AutoTrac assisted steering system and SprayPRO.

You can listen to Paul elaborate further on the 730i series sprayers here:

Leathem_Paul001bsprayer.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Shows, Farming, International, John Deere, Technology

Self-Propelled Sprayer Debuts on Consumer Market at Agritechnica

Laura McNamara

Paul Leathem, Manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle EastJohn Deere has officially introduced its first ever self-propelled sprayer for the European market, the 5430i, as one of the latest options in sprayer technology at Agritechnica 2007. The Manager of John Deere advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Paul Leathem, says European business is moving away from mounted sprayers and is demanding more self-propelled technology. He says the 5430i sprayer is only offered as an intelligent package that offers almost a complete automation of the entire sprayer application procedure. The intelligent sprayer integrates ten innovative AMS (Ag Management Solutions) features, including SprayPRO technology. The SprayPRO system uses GPS technology to offer more precision on sprayer functions such as steering the tractor, recording application rates, monitoring overlaps and skips, switching boom sections on and off, or any other GPS-based function.

Paul gave our group of reporters who traveled to Agritechnica with John Deere a detailed overview of the 5430i sprayer. You can listen to Paul here:

Leathem_Paul001.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farming, International, John Deere, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Mark your calendars. The 2008 NCBA Legislative Conference is set for March 31 to April 4, 2008 in Washington, D.C. – Holiday Inn on the Hill. This is your chance to speak with key congressional and agency influencers and make your voices heard! A strong showing in Washington is vital to the beef industry. Questions? Contact the NCBA Convention & Meetings Department at (303) 694-0305 or e-mail meetings@beef.org.
  • The Progressive Agriculture Foundation elected 2008 officers and welcomed two new members to the Foundation Board of Directors during its recent annual meeting in Indianapolis. Guiding the Foundation’s efforts to help keep kids safe and healthy on farms, ranches and at home will be president, Robert Marshall, Bunge North America; vice president, Sharry Nielsen, University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension; and secretary/treasurer, John Hays, Farm Credit System Foundation Inc. They are joined by two new members of the board, Glen Blahey, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives/Manitoba Labour Immigration, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada and Tim Roberts, University of Tennessee Extension agent and Agricenter International educator from Brownsville, Tenn.
  • Alltech’s organic selenium, Sel-Plex®, recently received clearance in equine supplements from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This clearance allows horse owners to offer Sel-Plex in a full range of feeding applications, including equine supplements. Sel-Plex is an organic selenium yeast.
Zimfo Bytes

The Winner and Still Champion

Cindy Zimmerman

Soybean 1Missouri soybean grower Kip Cullers beat his own world record by 15 bushels this season to once again claim the title of soybean champion. Cullers produced an outstanding 154.7 bushels per acre on his southwestern Missouri operation, compared to last year’s 139.9 bushels and he believes he could do even better.

“200, 250 – it’s totally possible. The genetics are there, we just need to figure out how to do it,” Kip said.

The average yield per acre in Missouri last year was 38 bushels per acre. “So, as you can tell, Kip’s doing a little bit better than that,” said Missouri Soybean Association executive director Dale Ludwig.

Cullers was honored by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt who made the official announcement during a media event at the Missouri Soybean Association office in Jefferson City. He called Kip the “Babe Ruth” of soybean producers.

Soybean 2“Kip is setting records because he knows his business as well as anyone and works diligently to cultivate not just high yields, but record-breaking yields,” the governor said.

Cullers credited his success to a soybean dream team of professionals who helped him with his contest plots, including experts from Pioneer and BASF. He accomplished his record-breaking production by planting Pioneer® 94M80 soybeans on an irrigated and conventionally-tilled field and he used BASF Headline fungicide to protect against disease pressure. He also used Syngenta Warrior insecticide, Optimize technology from EMD Crop Bioscience, and a Monosem twin row planter.

Listen to Blunt’s announcement here:
soybean-winner-blunt.mp3

Listen to some of Kip’s remarks here:
soybean-winner-kip.mp3

Audio, BASF, Pioneer, Soybean, Syngenta

E Premium Pride

Laura McNamara

Paul Leathem, Manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle EastJohn Deere’s E Premium Series tractors are the first designs to introduce an electrical power network for operating tractors. The new electrically powered generator produces up to 20 kW of electric power at an engine speed of 1800 rpm. In an earlier post, I detailed just how this new electric power system works. But, our group of reporters traveling with John Deere spoke with Paul Leathem, the manager of John Deere Advertising in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, at Agritechnica to get a little more insight on this technology.

You can listen to Paul here:

Leathem_Paul002a.mp3

Agritechnica 2007 Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farm Shows, Farming, International, John Deere, Technology, Tractor