AMVAC® Unveils Logos for Newly Acquired Herbicides

Cindy Zimmerman

The four herbicides recently acquired by AMVAC® have a new look.

The American Vanguard® company has designed new product logos and web pages for Classic® Herbicide, FirstRate® Herbicide, Hornet® Herbicide and Python® Herbicide.

Provides preemergence and postemergence control of key broadleaf weeds in soybeans.

Expands postemergence weed control spectrum in soybeans.

Delivers postemergence broadleaf weed control of glyphosate-resistant weeds in field corn.

Allows flexible broadleaf weed control in soybeans and field corn.

“These products have been a key component to growers’ operations for many years, and we are pleased to offer these trusted solutions now with a refreshed brand image,” said Nathaniel Quinn, marketing manager for corn, soybean and sugar beet.

AgWired Precision, AMVAC, Crop Protection, Herbicide

Animal Ag News 4/6

Carrie Muehling

  • More than 2,000 COVID-19 sampling kits will soon be on their way to hospitals across the state, thanks to Aggie innovation and ingenuity. Viral sampling kits — usually used on pigs, cows and chickens — are being repurposed to test humans by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station. The sampling kits are being assembled from lab supplies already in stock at TVMDL’s four labs across the state. Once assembled, they will be shipped to hospitals in cities with a Texas A&M System campus to help meet the surge in needed test kits including campuses in Galveston, McAllen and the Texas A&M School of Law in Fort Worth. The university presidents will determine where there is the greatest need for the kits in their community.
  • During the 2020 International Production & Processing Expo, six researchers presented their findings from recently completed research projects funded by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and its Foundation as part of the TECHTalk sessions offered during the expo.
  • USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation are accepting nominations for the Dr. Charles Beard Research Excellence Award through July 1. The goal of the award is to recognize outstanding completed research projects, funded by USPOULTRY or the USPOULTRY Foundation, which have made a significant positive impact on the poultry industry. The nominee may be recognized for multiple completed USPOULTRY research projects, all focused on the same subject area. To submit a nomination, please send a letter to Dr. Denise Heard (dheard@uspoultry.org), director of research, which includes the nominee’s name, a brief description of the nominee’s research accomplishments and the impact of the research.
  • As Americans are spending more time at home, parents may be looking for meal inspiration to keep the whole family happy. The Beef Checkoff is here with recipes that everyone in the family can enjoy and even make together. Check out BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com for easy recipes that call for five ingredients or less and affordable meals under $15 as well as a full collection of cooking lessons and even virtual farm and ranch tours.
  • Groups representing dairy farmers and cooperatives in the Midwest urged the federal government to provide direct assistance to farmers and to expedite the purchase of additional dairy foods amid unprecedented disruptions in supply and demand due to the COVID-19 national emergency.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) applauded a congressional letter that was sent to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, urging swift relief for American cattle producers who have been adversely impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of over 145 lawmakers from both chambers of Congress.
  • A global pandemic is not the optimal time to start raising chickens, Marisa Erasmus, an assistant professor of animal sciences at Purdue University, cautions. As the COVID-19 virus spreads across the country and the globe, food security and sustainability is increasingly on people’s minds as government leaders issue stay-at-home orders and grocery stores are frequently low on staples. Recent popular press reports have said that anxiety around the food supply may be causing an uptick in the U.S. of people ordering chicks so they might have a reliable supply of eggs.
  • Ralco is pleased to announce and welcome the return of Dr. Jeff Hill to the company as a brand manager. In his new role, Dr. Hill will focus on managing product lines utilizing Ralco’s patented Microbial Catalyst® technology and its various applications in the marketplace as well as supporting Ralco’s expanding beef nutrition line.
AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

Farmers are Suffering But #StillFarming

Cindy Zimmerman

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall on Friday provided some hard numbers for reporters about how COVID-19 is impacting commodity prices.

In the past month, dairy prices have dropped 26-36%, corn futures have dropped by 14%, soybean futures are down 8% and cotton futures have plummeted 31%. Hog futures are down by 31%. A surge in demand for beef emptied grocery store meat aisles, but there is no lack of supply. Despite a rise in retail prices in some areas, the prices paid to cattle ranchers have fallen 25%.

AFBF president Zippy Duvall on impacts COVID-19 on ag (3:23)

Farm Bureau brought together several farmers from different areas of the country to talk about how the crisis has impacted them personally.

Peter Bakken is a cattle producer from Minnesota
Comments from MN cattle farmer Peter Bakken (4:19)

James Alderman is a vegetable farmer in Palm Beach County, Florida
Comments from Florida vegetable grower Jim Alderman (4:50)

Alan Reed is a dairy farmer in Idaho
Comments from Idaho dairy farmer Alan Reed (4:05)

Complete call:
AFBF Impact of COVID-19 on agriculture (58:57)

AFBF, Audio

Industry Ag News 4/3

Carrie Muehling

  • MGEX announces its best March and the fifth best overall month in MGEX history with a total of 277,629 contracts. This new record shatters the previous record by 37%, previously set in 2017. March’s volume is also 6% higher than February 2020.
  • The House Agriculture Committee has launched a resources page for food and agriculture and COVID-19.
  • CNH Industrial announces the temporary appointment of Brad Crews as General Manager North America. In this role, Mr. Crews will ensure cross-functional governance and coordinate all North American regional efforts during the COVID-19 situation. He will also temporarily join the Company’s Global Executive Committee, an operational decision-making body of CNH Industrial, which is responsible for reviewing the operating performance of the segments and making decisions on certain operational matters.
  • American Farmland Trust started taking applications for its Farmer Relief Fund last week with Farmland®foods giving $25,000 and individual donors another $35,000 within the first 48 hours. The fund launched Tuesday and will award eligible farmers with cash grants of up to $1,000 each to help them weather the current storm of market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The initial focus will be on farms that sell at farmers markets or to restaurants, caterers, schools, stores, or makers who use farm products. That focus could change over time as the negative impacts of the crisis become more widespread within U.S. agriculture. All monies raised will go directly to farmers.
  • The farm and ranch families of Farm Bureau donated 26.3 million pounds of food and raised more than $494,000 to assist hungry Americans in 2019 as part of the organization’s “Harvest for All” program. Combined, the monetary and food donations totaled the equivalent of 24.5 million meals.
  • American Agri-Women’s President, Karolyn Zurn, stresses that America consists of farmers and ranchers from all over the U.S. and most are in very rural areas. Zurn says, “American Agri-Women is concerned that even though 5G implementation seems forthcoming to rural America where 3G and 4G services are now, there are still farmers and ranchers unable to get any coverage. We ask that Chairman Pai move forward making 5G connectivity and coverage available for all rural America.”
  • Swanson Russell welcomes four new employees in its Lincoln office: Justin Anthony, Lana Erickson, Stephanie Havranek and Ryan Holt.
  • To further the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) work on the Agriculture Innovation Agenda (AIA), USDA announced it is seeking public and private sector input on the most important innovation opportunities to be addressed in the near and long term. Using input provided, USDA will identify common themes across the agriculture customer base to inform research and innovation efforts in the Department, the broader public-sector, and the private sector.
  • U.S. soy is now available in Skechers footwear, thanks to their collaboration with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company — opening the door to a new market for U.S.-grown soybeans. To learn more about these innovations and soy-based products, visit soynewuses.org or unitedsoybean.org.
Zimfo Bytes

Important Info About PPP for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

The Georgia Peanut Commission hosted a webinar discussion on Friday with U.S. Congressmen Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Austin Scott (R-GA) and Bob Redding, The Redding Firm, to learn more about the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law March 27.

The discussion includes important information for farmers and ranchers about the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) that is applicable nationwide.

GA Peanut Commission webinar with GA Reps Austin Scott and Sanford Bishop (40:50)

Audio, Peanuts

Dairy Groups Call for Direct Aid

Cindy Zimmerman

Groups representing dairy farmers and cooperatives in the Midwest are urging the federal government to provide direct aid to farmers and to expedite the purchase of additional dairy foods due to unprecedented disruptions in supply and demand due caused by the COVID-19 national emergency.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the groups cited the mass closure of restaurants, schools and other food service outlets, decimated export markets and a sharp drop in prices farmers are being paid for their milk.

The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, Dairy Business Association and Edge Farmer Cooperative held a media conference call Thursday to discuss the current situation being experienced in the dairy industry and to call on USDA for direct aid to farmers and a massive dairy commodity purchase.

Participating in the press conference were:

• John Umhoefer, Executive Director, Cheese Makers Association
• Tim Trotter, Executive Director, Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
• Gordon Speirs, Farmer/Owner of Shiloh Dairy in Brillion, Wisconsin

Listen here:
Dairy industry calls for direct aid (13:57)

Audio, Dairy

AMVAC® Closes Agreement With Clean Seed Capital Group

Cindy Zimmerman

AMVAC®, an American Vanguard® company, today announced a strategic license and investment agreement with Clean Seed Capital Group Ltd.

The relationship results in Clean Seed licensing to AMVAC certain intellectual property rights for an initial investment of US$2,500,000, plus an undisclosed royalty that will be payable to Clean Seed by AMVAC in conjunction with AMVAC’s future SIMPAS™ hardware sales. AMVAC will invest an additional US$2,500,000 through the purchase of shares of Clean Seed stock, bringing the total AMVAC investment to US$5,000,000.

“AMVAC is investing in this strategic technology relationship in order to leverage the superior prescriptive at-plant application technology of both companies. We believe our organizations are truly symbiotic,” said Chief Operating Officer Dr. Bob Trogele. “By combining Clean Seed’s leading-edge ability to prescriptively plant and apply high-dose rate crop inputs like N, P, and K, with AMVAC’s low-dose rate SIMPAS application technology, farmers will realize prescriptive application capabilities that simply are not presently available.”

AMVAC’s patented SIMPAS (Smart Integrated Multi-Product Prescription Application System) enables simultaneous, prescriptive application of multiple crop protection and nutritional inputs and runs parallel with Clean Seed’s patented SMART Seeder™ and SMART Planter™ technologies.

Read more from AMVAC.

AgWired Precision, AMVAC, Planting, Precision Agriculture, Seed

Lower Ethanol Demand Could Impact Planting Decisions

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA’s 2020 Prospective Plantings report released Tuesday estimates planted acres for corn this year at 97.0 million acres, up 8 percent or 7.29 million acres from last year. But when farmers were surveyed a month ago, coronavirus had yet to have the impact it is now having on ethanol demand and prices thanks to a drastic cut in demand for gasoline with millions of Americans staying at home.

Top ethanol producer POET last week stopped buying corn at seven of its 27 plants and Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says there are many more. “There are probably close to three dozen ethanol plants that have completely idled their capacity, we think there’s another two or three dozen facilities that have greatly reduced their output,” said Cooper. “If we get up close to three billion gallons of capacity that is coming off line, we’re talking about a billion bushels of corn.”

Listen to Cooper’s comments here:

RFA CEO Geoff Cooper discusses drop in ethanol demand (2:24)

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, RFA

Summit Agro USA Launches New Website, Products

Cindy Zimmerman

Summit Agro USA today announced the launch of a new website designed from the ground up to be a solutions-centric tool with a robust database that catalogs multiple diseases, insects and weeds for over 600 crops.

“We surveyed our customers and distribution partners about website resources. What we found was that these other sites tend to be product-focused in their approach,” said Bill Lewis, Summit Agro CEO. “We wanted our website to be an easily searchable tool that allows users to quickly and simply get answers for the control of the specific pests threatening their particular crops. This mobile-friendly website fits with Summit Agro’s overall strategy of bringing the market a unique mix of conventional and biological offerings.”

In addition to the launch of the new website, Summit Agro is introducing two new products – Verdepryn 100SL insecticide and Timorex Act fungicide.

Verdepryn insecticide allows growers to maximize both yields and crop quality by providing exceptional broad-spectrum insect control in pome fruit, stone fruit, grapes, berries, tree nuts and citrus. “We have been pleased with the results seen with Harvanta insecticide in vegetable crops. Now we can bring that same successful active ingredient – Cyclapryn – to additional crops in the form of Verdepryn,” said Mary DeMers, Summit Agro marketing manager for insecticides and fungicides. “Verdeprynis a Group 28 insecticide with a control spectrum that is competitive with, or better than, most currently available diamide insecticides and does so with much less active ingredient.”

A purely organic formulation, Timorex Act is a botanical broad-spectrum fungicide with preventative and curative activity based on an extract of the tree tea plant. “An OMRI-listed product, Timorex ACT is poised to meet the rigorous standards for sustainable agriculture,” said Fred Yates, Summit Agro marketing manager for biologicals.

Learn more at www.summitagro-usa.com.

Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Crop Protection, Fungicide, Insecticides, Precision Agriculture

Precision Ag News 4/1

Carrie Muehling

  • A new soybean variety – with resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) derived from the breeding line PI 89772 – is being released by Syngenta in small quantities in 2020. Syngenta is sharing seed with university researchers and farm cooperators now, and full commercial launch is coming next year.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the registration of the use of isoxaflutole on genetically engineered soybeans, providing soybean farmers with a new tool they can use to control weeds that have become resistant to many other herbicides.
  • BASF has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration of Alite™ 27 herbicide for use in select counties across Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee. Alite 27 herbicide is the first and only group 27 herbicide (4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, HPPD) available for use in soybeans as part of the LibertyLink® GT27™ soybean trait system.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will host its annual USDA Data Users’ Meeting on Tuesday, April 21st as a virtual meeting. To participate in the 2020 USDA Data Users’ Meeting, please register online at www.nass.usda.gov/Education_and_Outreach/Meeting/.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the award of $8.5 million in new technical assistance grants to over 300 conservation districts in 49 states and territories.
  • Farm Market iD announced that it is making its data accessible to clients in real-time through the launch of its new API (application programming interface).
  • The Mosaic Company announced Ben Pratt has been named SVP-Government and Public Affairs and will join the company’s Senior Leadership Team effective April 1.
  • SVG Ventures-THRIVE in partnership with Forbes Live is delighted to announce the release of the 2020 THRIVE TOP 50 AgTech and TOP 50 FoodTech Research Reports. For the past three years, SVG Ventures has compiled a list of the TOP 50 AgTech growth stage companies and new this year, have introduced the TOP 50 FoodTech companies.
  • A strategic partnership between Specialty Granules LLC, Monty’s Plant Food Company and OrganoCat has developed MagmaHume™, a mineral-rich soil and plant fortifier, that shows promise in boosting crop yield while having potential to reduce a farmer’s carbon footprint.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes