Put B20 In Your New Holland Tractor

Chuck Zimmerman

Ed HeglandBiodiesel fans can cheer New Holland today. They are the first equipment manufacturer to fully approve B20, a 20 percent blend of biodiesel, in their tractors. The release I received came from the National Biodiesel Board which is appropriately happy.

Ed Hegland (pictured), a soybean grower in Appleton, Minn., has waited for this news for years. The maker of his tractor, New Holland, has approved the use of 20 percent biodiesel (B20) in all of its equipment using New Holland engines. It is the first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to announce full support of B20 in all of the diesel engines that it produces.

“I am elated that New Holland has taken this step to show support for biodiesel, a farmer-grown fuel,” Hegland said. “Their customers asked for it, and they listened. I truly hope others will follow suit soon.” Read More

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Biodiesel, Tractor

DTN Hires Matthew Herman

Chuck Zimmerman

Data Transmission NetworkDTN has a new VP for agribusiness advertising. He’s Matthew Herman and he’ll be based out of the Minneapolis office.

Herman is responsible for sales of advertising to major agricultural companies across the United States. He will supervise sales representatives in Texas, Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana as well as plan the placement of DTN’s advertising efforts to agribusiness. Prior to joining DTN, Herman worked as a national sales manager at Farm Journal Media in Minneapolis, as an associate publisher at Farm Journal Corp. in Philadelphia and as a regional sales manager with Intertec / Primedia. Herman earned his Bachelor of Arts in Advertising from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Media

Coordinator of the Year

Chuck Zimmerman

Jonathan OverlyThe big award winner at the Clean Cities Congress was Johathan Overly, Executive Director of East Tennessee Clean Fuels (right). Jonathan won the Clean Cities Coordinator of the Year award. Presenting him the award is Gunnar Lindstrom, American Honda Company, (left).

Jonathan describes what the award means to him in a short interview I did just before he had to head back home. You can listen to my interview with Jonathan here: Listen To MP3 Jonathan Overly Interview (4 min MP3)

Audio

Brother, How Art Thy Hobby

Chuck Zimmerman

HorsesI’m slowly making my way back home to Missouri from south Florida. Chelsea (one of my college daughters) and I are spending today out in rural Georgia on my brother’s farm. We hear so much today about hobby farming and I’ve got a great resource to watch and learn from.

Paul works in pharmaceutical sales and when he’s not selling he’s building fence, mowing, planting, taking care of the horses or something. Actually one of the something’s is establishing some great deer stands. Another sideline for him is fire ant treatment. He has an applicator mounted on a 4-wheeler and is certified to apply pesticide. He does it mainly on pasture and large lots in the area.

We are out in the middle of the woods a long way from any town and he’s set up with wireless broadband from his DSL connection. He spends a fair amount of time online, including finding and learning about how to develop and take care of his place.

Farming

Manage Weeds On Your R&P

Chuck Zimmerman

Dow ForeFrontHave you got weed problems in your range or pasture? Then you might want to apply some of this stuff. It’s Dow AgroScience’s new ForeFront R&P herbicide.

ForeFront R&P is the first product to combine the new, advanced molecule aminopyralid — the active ingredient in Milestone™ herbicide — with the trusted broad-spectrum control of 2,4-D. This powerful combination provides outstanding control of more than 60 tough broadleaf weed species, including biennial and perennial thistles, cocklebur, horsenettle, curly dock, ironweed, ragweed, vervain and more.

Agribusiness

Whistling Sounds of Spring

Chuck Zimmerman

Emu ChicksSpringtime in Massachusetts means the whistling of Emus at this farm. According to a news release it’s egg hatching time at Songline Emu Farm. The release is a good description of how the whole process works.

Our hens began laying eggs in early winter just before Christmas. They are keyed to the shortened daylight ours of fall/winter because winter in the Australian outback is milder than the brutally hot, dry summer. We’ve tried to explain to them that New England winters are not the best time for a bird to lay eggs – but they don’t seem to listen. The eggs are large, Florida avocado sized, and emerald green. Hens lay regularly every 3 – 4 days and can lay 20 – 50 eggs in a season. We gather the eggs (during many a February blizzard) and place them in a 45-degree refrigerator to inhibit incubation until we have a sufficient number (12 or so) to batch. They are then moved into a computerized incubator set at 97.5 degrees with 27 percent humidity for 50 days. The eggs are rolled a quarter turn every half hour. We weigh the eggs weekly; to be sure they are on target to lose between 12 and 18 percent of their total weight prior to hatching. If they lose too much weight the chick can hatch dry and red-eyed, too little weight and the chick can actually drown inside the shell. We adjust our humidity based on these numbers.

Farming

Danica Likes Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Danica PatrickAt last week’s Ethanol Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway I got to meet Danica Patrick, one of the drivers for Rahal-Letterman Racing. Team Ethanol is a big sponsor of the team and Jeff Simmons drives the ethanol-wrapped car. But I wanted to find out what his teammates think of this new fuel they’re putting in their cars this year.

I got to interview Danica just before they headed out onto the track to take some practice laps. She thinks putting ethanol in your car is a great thing. You can listen to my interview with Danica here: Listen To MP3 Danica Patrick Interview (2 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol

More Rural Broadband Development

Chuck Zimmerman

USDA Rural DevelopmentHere’s an example of what USDA is doing to help improve rural broadband internet access. The Rural Development Broadband Access Loan program is providing the funds. USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr had this to say. “Broadband can help to put rural communities on a level playing field when competing with bigger cities for new residents and businesses,” said Dorr. “When people can live in smaller communities that have a higher quality of life and still compete globally, that presents a great opportunity for rural America.”

RC Technologies Corporation in New Effington, South Dakota will receive a loan of more than $3 million to expand broadband access in South Dakota and Minnesota.

Since the program’s inception more than $850 million has been loaned to 57 entities which projects to nearly 300,000 new subscribers in rural America.

Internet, USDA

Weekly Winner In John Deere Toy Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere 4310 ToyThe winner of the Deere Gear Toy Tractor Contest for this week is Antoinette McDemrott from New Cumberland, PA.

She chose a 1/16 Scale 4310 Tractor with Attachments. This contest is over for now but a new one will be starting next week. You can find out about it here.

Equipment, International, Tractor

BBQ At It’s Best

Chuck Zimmerman

World Pork ExpoThe World Pork Expo is not too far away. It’s coming up June 8 – 10 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. I’ve been meaning to let you know about it and the 19th Annual Great Pork Barbeqlossal. It looks like it will be a good one. I will however be at a different event taking place at the same time but I’m sure I’ll get information to bring you from the event. Here’s some more information on this year’s contest:

Great Pork Barbeqlossal“More than 100 teams are expected to compete in this year’s Great Pork BarbeQlossal contest which would make this one of the largest field of competitors in the history of the competition,” said Barb Determan, a pork producer from Early, Iowa. “There are several changes to the contest this year including a new meat sponsor, W&G Marketing, and over $39,000 in prizes and awards.”

You can see the complete schedule of activities here. As they say, “If it has to do with pork production, you’ll find it at the World Pork Expo.”

Ag Groups, Pork