Agrow Awards Honor Dupont Innovation

Laura McNamara

DupontDuPont has earned some lofty recognition from the agriculture industry. The science-based products and services company is the recipient of three Agrow Awards.

DuPont has received three prestigious Agrow Awards in recognition of its innovative and industry-leading agricultural product pipeline and technologies. The awards were presented to DuPont’s Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred businesses at the inaugural 2007 Agrow Awards ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 16.

DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition was recognized for the following products and technologies:

Best R&D Pipeline. DuPont received the 2007 Agrow Award for “Best R&D Pipeline” in recognition of the broad array of new active ingredients and biotech traits in development across the DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition platform.

Best Novel Agricultural Biotechnology — Optimum(TM) GAT(TM) Trait. DuPont used proprietary gene shuffling technology to develop the Optimum(TM) GAT(TM) trait that provides tolerance to glyphosate and ALS herbicides, giving growers a new and better choice that maximizes yield potential, improves crop safety and expands weed control options.

Most Innovative Chemistry — DuPont(TM) Rynaxypyr(TM). DuPont Crop Protection was recognized for its novel insecticide, DuPont(TM) Rynaxypyr(TM). This unique molecule is extremely effective at providing long-lasting control of a broad spectrum of chewing insects and several other important insect species at low application rates in a wide variety of crops.

Agribusiness, Technology

Tomato King Will Receive World Food Prize

Chuck Zimmerman

2007 World Food PrizeAlthough it was announced in June, Dr. Philip Nelson will formally receive his World Food Prize tomorrow at the Iowa State Capitol as part of the World Food Prize’s Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium. The theme of it is “Biofuels and Biofood: The Global Challenges of Emerging Technologies.” Is there anyone not holding a conference with biofuels and food as the topic this year?

Dr. Philip E. Nelson of Purdue University was named winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize for his innovative breakthrough technologies which have revolutionized the food industry, particularly in the area of large-scale storage and transportation of fresh fruit and vegetables using bulk aseptic food processing.

Dr. Nelson has been involved in the storage and packaging of food since childhood. He spent his early years working on his family’s tomato farm and canning factory in Morristown, Indiana and once earned the crown of “Tomato King” at the Indiana State Fair.

Ag Groups, Food, University

Mike Wagner is BRFA’ing a New Baby

Chuck Zimmerman

Map of Ohio Ethanol PlantsWhen I ran into Mike Wagner here at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit I was with a group and got introduced to him. I said “I bought a water bed from you in 1983.” He blinked and said that I sure did. That’s been 24 years ago. At the time he was leaving Florida Farm Bureau Federation and I had just been hired. Let’s not dwell on the water bed thing.

Anyway, Mike is a mover and shaker in the corn and ethanol industry and he’s not sitting still. There will soon be a number of ethanol plants in operation in Ohio. To help them and the biodiesel industry as well, he’s formed a new group called the Buckeye Renewable Fuels Association. Mike says the Ohio Corn Growers are playing a key role in the development of this organization.

Mike and I sat down to talk about BRFA. He says they’re just getting started and that there was a real need for an organization like this. BRFA will work on regulatory, legislative, promotional and educational issues of behalf of the industry. He says they’ve got 5 ethanol plants coming on line in the next 90 days with 2 or 3 more soon after that. Right now he encourages anyone wanting more information to contact the Ohio Corn Growers office. The new organization will hold it’s first board meeting later this year.

You can listen to my interview with Mike here: cellulosic-summit-07-wagner.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

Novus Launches Headquarters at Missouri Research Park

Laura McNamara

Novus International Inc.The construction of new headquarters for Novus International Inc. broke ground at Missouri Research Park in St. Charles, MO last week. The producer of animal nutrition and health products says its expanded headquarters adheres to sustainable design.

“Novus believes in creating environmentally sound, sustainable programs that enable health through nutrition for people and animals.” explained Thad Simons, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novus International, Inc. “Delivering on the Novus vision ‘To help feed the world affordable, wholesome food’ becomes possible when we look at each of our programs as a way to improve our business and world simultaneously. The Novus global headquarters will be our symbol to the world and an expression of our sustainable efforts.”

Recognized as a leader in the animal health and nutrition industry, Novus is expanding their current research facility with a $20 million investment. When complete, the 90,000 square foot structure will consolidate Novus’s headquarters and the Novus International Research Center. The structure is being designed within the environmentally-focused framework of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The highest level of LEED certification is platinum, and the Novus facility is designed to achieve this status.

Designed by Forum Studio, Inc. and Clayco, the St. Louis areas premier construction company, the global headquarters will accommodate many established and forward-thinking elements of sustainable design and construction.

Progress on the Novus International global headquarters may be viewed at www.clayco.com and clicking on webcams.

Agencies, Animal Health, Environment

American Farmland Trust Says “Pick up the Phone”

Chuck Zimmerman

American Farmland TrustSpeaking of viral campaigns, Jimmy Daukas at American Farmland Trust wants you to pick up the phone today and call your Senator.

Today thousands of people representing 30 conservation and environmental organizations are contacting their Senators demanding funding for conservation in the 2007 Farm Bill.

Take 1-minute to call your Senators now!

Thanks for your commitment! Please forward to at least five friends, family members and colleagues to help make sure conservation needs don’t get ignored in the farm bill.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Daukas
Farm and Food Policy Campaign Director
American Farmland Trust

Ag Groups

Blog Action Day Results

Chuck Zimmerman

Blog Action Day GraphYou might remember my post on Blog Action Day earlier this week. Now that’s it’s past the organizers have a pretty comprehensive summary of what they accomplished. Remember that the theme was “environment.”

For example:

20,603 Blog Participated
23,327 Blog Posts (Google Blog Search)
14,631,038 RSS Readers

That RSS Readers number doesn’t count visitors to the respective websites which is a much bigger number generally speaking!

The graph below shows the frequency of terms appearing in the blogosphere courtesy of BlogTrends. Additionally “Blog Action Day” was the top Technorati search term AND tag for the day.

Pretty impressive showing for the blogging community if you ask me.

Uncategorized

Buckeye Video On Demand

Chuck Zimmerman

The BARN stands for Buckeye Ag Radio Network but Andy and Lindsay are into a lot more than radio these days. Take a look at what they’ve done with their video since I mentioned blip.tv to Andy at World Dairy Expo. Here’s a sample:

Buckeye Video On Demand. Very cool and well done y’all.

Media, Video

AEM Releases Annual “Outlook” Report

Melissa Sandfort

Good news for ag machinery manufacturers: U.S. retail sales of tractors and combines are expected to grow overall in 2008, led by four-wheel drive tractors, according to the yearly agricultural equipment “outlook” report of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). Demand is expected to be generally positive for the majority of other types of agricultural machinery covered in the AEM survey.

According to the survey, combine sales are expected to increase 3.8 percent. Sales growth is also predicted for all sizes of 4-wheel drive tractors – up 6.5 percent.

3490.jpgFor 2-wheel drive tractor business, unit sales of machines in the 100-HP-and-over range are predicted to be strongest with a 3.4 percent increase, followed by essentially flat growth in other categories – an increase of 0.7 percent for units 40-100 HP and a decrease of 0.7 percent for 2-wheel drive tractors under-40 HP.

Each forecast in the AEM survey is the average of responses from companies in each product line, predicting industry wide expectations rather than individual company performance, and unit sales rather than company profitability. The AEM ag industry outlook for 2008 covers 20 types of farm field and farmstead type equipment.

“A major factor in the expected increase in high HP tractor, combine and tillage equipment sales is the continued focus on renewable energy, creating high demand and resulting higher commodity prices, with the resulting increases in net farm income ultimately equating to optimism around equipment sales,” noted AEM Vice President of Agricultural Services Charlie O’Brien.

For full survey results, visit the AEM Web site.

Equipment, Tractor

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • On Oct. 17, 2007 at 8 a.m., a National FFA Convention Courtesy Fleet delivery of 54 Toyota vehicles on 7 car carriers will arrive for the 80th National FFA Convention at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. During the convention, many dignitaries and behind the scenes staff members will be navigating the Circle City. To help with logistics, Toyota is providing FFA with 54 courtesy vehicles that will be used during the week of Oct. 22. The Indianapolis public will be able to spot the vehicles throughout the city via the magnetic signs, as well as the FFA license plates. The Georgia Street skybridge will also be decorated with “FFA WAY” street signage starting Oct. 17.
  • America’s largest flying American flag will be proudly displayed at RFD-TV The Theatre on Nov. 9–11 as a part of Veteran’s Homecoming, the country’s largest Veterans Day celebration, which takes place in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-11. The flag, which is 120 feet long, 65 feet wide and weighs over 200 lbs, is a project of the United Veterans of America chapter from Gastonia, NC. The flag, accompanied by four veterans from North Carolina, will be raised on Friday, Nov. 9th at 1:00 PM on the RFD-TV parking lot in Branson.
  • The Missouri Soybean Association Board of Directors is inviting farmers to participate in the 2008 DuPont Young Leader program. This program is considered one of the premier agricultural leadership programs in the country and helps build a valuable resource of leaders for the soybean industry. The program is a partnership between the Missouri Soybean Association and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont. For more information regarding applications, call 1-800-MOBEAN-1 and ask about the DuPont Young Leader program. The application deadline is Dec. 17, 2007.
Zimfo Bytes

Meeting Acting Ag Secretary Conner

Chuck Zimmerman

Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck ConnerI got my first opportunity to meet our Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner today. He was the luncheon keynote speaker at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit which is underway in Washington, DC. He addressed the group on the subject of what agriculture’s role is in building a national cellulosic industry. I caught up to him outside as he was leaving and asked him what his department is doing in this regard.

He says that USDA has several ongoing research projects involving enzymes and the plants that will be needed to use in the production of cellulosic ethanol. However, he says more needs to be done. That’s why the Administration has asked for $1 1/2 billion more in the proposed farm bill for new research in this area. He says the House has supported it and they’re hoping the Senate will too.

You can listen to my interview with Acting Secretary Conner here: cellulosic-summit-07-conner.mp3

I’ve got more items to post from the event but the venue they have us in has no internet access. In fact, I’ve had to go upstairs and outside to make a mobile phone call. You could say I’ve been having internet access withdrawal all day. I just ran back to my hotel to get this posted and it’s time to hurry back to the end of the day reception. I really hope more conference organizers will take this into account when planning a facility. It’s not just us media types that want it.

Audio, Ethanol, USDA