EOS Crop Monitoring Case Study

Cindy Zimmerman

How to get maximum value from satellite monitoring: EOS Crop Monitoring case study
Sponsored content provided for AgWired by EOS Crop Monitoring

Finding the reason behind low field performance could be tricky. Often seems there were no pests and fertilizers properly applied, but somehow results are unsatisfactory. EOS Crop Monitoring case study illustrates how satellite data enables problem-solving on a field.

Satellite monitoring in a nutshell
Satellite crop monitoring is an online-based technology that enables ground surface analysis for vegetation levels assessment. This allows to track plant development dynamics and identify problem spots on a field without leaving the office. Other features include weather prediction tools, rainfall information, and field historical data. Insights from satellites are visualized in software platforms for efficient field management.

How to detect issues on a field via satellites
In October 2019, EOS Crop Monitoring team was requested to identify the reason behind low NDVI readings. NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) is a formula that estimates near-infrared light reflected from the Earth’s surface to assess vegetation conditions. The platform reported sparse plant performance which in NDVI spectra is visualized in shades of red. (click on image for larger version)

And in order to examine sprouts conditions, the EOS team joined up with an agronomist and traveled to the area. Pictures directly from the field confirmed low quantity and quality of the sprouts: Read More

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture

BASF Offers New Fungicide Products

Carrie Muehling

BASF‘s newest fungicides are powered by a new active ingredient that provides fast uptake and curative activity, enhanced binding strength, and exceptional performance under high disease pressure. Revysol fungicide brings a new level of disease control and efficacy to the Class 3 group of chemistry for BASF’s Revytek soybean fungicide product and Veltyma corn fungicide offering.

“We want to make sure that we’re protecting our plants from everything that Mother Nature is throwing their way, making them as robust as possible so that they can maximize their opportunity for photosynthesis and yield production,” said Paula Halabicki, technical marketing manager.

Halabicki said the chemistry is unique in the way it gets into the plant and moves to control diseases, providing a residual effect that lasts throughout the season. Both products are registered and available for use during the 2020 growing season.

Listen to the interview with Paula here: NAFB19 Paula Halabicki, BASF (3:21)

2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Fungicide, NAFB

Zimfo Bytes 12/6

Carrie Muehling

  • GROWMARK has announced the acquisition of Solu-Cal USA, a premier supplier of enhanced calcium products in the turf care industry. In addition, GROWMARK and Mid-Iowa Cooperative announced an agreement for GROWMARK to acquire the agronomy and energy assets of Mid-Iowa Cooperative.
  • The J.R. Simplot Company and Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings, LLC have announced Simplot’s agreement to acquire all of the interests in Pinnacle Agriculture Enterprises, LLC and its subsidiaries. The acquisition will bring together two market leaders in the distribution of agricultural crop inputs and related services. The target acquisition close date is in early 2020.
  • Registration is now open for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s 56th Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held February 12-14 at the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort in Bonita Springs, Florida.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement announced fellowship opportunities to connect USDA resources with faculty and staff at Hispanic Serving Institutions, 1994 Tribal Colleges and Universities, and 1890 Land-Grant Universities.
  • The Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies announced that Nicholas J. Goeser has been named Chief Executive Officer.
  • FarmlandFinder, a digital toolset for farmland professionals, has raised a $3 million Series Seed funding round. Cultivian Sandbox led the round with participation from Iowa Farm Bureau’s Rural Vitality Fund and Next Level Ventures.
  • USDA announced details of the 96th Agricultural Outlook Forum program, which takes place February 20-21, 2020 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The 2020 Forum is themed The Innovation Imperative: Shaping the Future of Agriculture.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will conduct the 2019 Census of Horticultural Specialties this winter to provide a comprehensive picture of the U.S. horticulture industry. Survey codes will be mailed this month to more than 40,000 horticulture producers to respond online. Collected just once every five years, the Census of Horticultural Specialties is the only source of detailed production and sales data for U.S. floriculture, nursery, and specialty crop industries, including greenhouse food crops.
  • The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance tabbed Curt Petrich to continue as chair of the premier business association representing identity-preserved soya and specialty grains.
  • American Agri-Women elected its national officers at its 2019 national convention held recently in Tigard, Oregon.
  • Vermeer Corporation announced it has purchased Schuler Manufacturing, a family-owned and operated manufacturer of high-quality feeding solutions based in Griswold, Iowa.
Zimfo Bytes

Bayer on ‘The Watch’ for Corn Rootworm

Carrie Muehling

Bayer is promoting awareness around corn rootworm with “The Watch.”

“The Watch is really a program to make growers aware of different options that you can use to manage it,” said Jody Gander, technology development manager with corn traits. “Corn rootworm is called the billion dollar pest because it’s estimated that between cost of control and lost yield, corn rootworm can cost growers over a billion dollars a year. There’s a number of different options – crop rotation, soil applied insecticides, traited pyramid products, and scouting. That’s where The Watch comes in.”

Gander said typically adult beetles will lay eggs that will overwinter in the soil and hatch into larvae the following spring. They will then will move to corn roots and cause feeding damage, which reduces ability of plant to uptake water and nutrients which can lower the yield and compromise the stand, as well.

This year’s campaign provided growers with yellow sticky cards they would place in their crop to monitor activity. Adult rootworm beetles would stick to those and growers would count and find the average to indicate if there might be corn rootworm issues in that field the following year. More information is available at www.genuity.com/thewatch.

Listen to the interview with Jody here: NAFB19 Jody Gander, Bayer
2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, NAFB

Heliae and R.W. Griffin Team Up for Georgia Soil Health

Cindy Zimmerman

Appropriately on World Soil Day, Heliae® Agriculture announced a partnership with the R.W. Griffin family of companies to drive soil health in Georgia and North Florida. R.W. Griffin, one of the largest fertilizer retailers in Georgia, has become one of the company’s official distributors for the southeast region.

Griffin Evans, Chemical and Seed Director for R.W. Griffin says, “We are happy to create a strategic alliance with Heliae. Their efforts to drive healthy soils allows us to help our growers achieve improved return on investment on their current crops, while sustaining their soil for future generations.”

In this strategic partnership, R.W. Griffin will be working with Heliae on the application of its microalgae soil microbe food PhycoTerra®, to support its efforts in peanuts, cotton, and specialty crops. PhycoTerra® is created from a Heliae-proprietary strain of microalgae that feeds microbes present in soil, which in turn creates a more complex soil profile that improves water retention and nutrient use efficiency in the field, among other demonstrated benefits.

“Our soil microbe food will give the R.W. Griffin Specialty Ag product line the additional tools needed to support their efforts in soil health to their growers across the region,” said N.R. (Norm) Davy, Chief Revenue Officer of Heliae. “Our U.S. third party trials have seen more than 10:1 ROI’s for farmers in a number of key crops. This is another important step in providing regenerative agriculture solutions to growers in the southeast region.”

Learn more in this interview with Davy from the Agricultural Retailers Association convention in New Orleans this week.

Audio interview with N.R. (Norm) Davy, Heliae Chief Revenue Officer (7:57)

AgWired Precision, Audio, Cotton, Peanuts, Soil

AgLink International Announced at ARA Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

The formation of new agribusiness entity AgLink International was announced this week at the 2019 ARA Conference in New Orleans, uniting independent rural retailer membership businesses from Australia, the United States, Canada and Brazil.

Founding members AgLink Australia, Integrated Agribusiness Professionals (IAP), AgLink Canada and AgriRede have come together to provide an international platform that links independent agricultural retailers serving farmers, according to AgLink Australia CEO Ian Scutt. “Our goal is to define and champion the position of Independents as a powerful and strategic segment of the global agribusiness economy,” said Scutt.

Collectively, AgLink International represents a total annual revenue of US$3.8 billion. The 112 owner shareholder businesses employ more than 7,700 people – 1,860 of which are agronomist and sales representatives – at over 660 locations in four countries.

Joining Scutt in making the announcement this week at ARA were Dean Fahselt, CEO AgLink Canada; Jim Fargo, president of US-based IAP; and Rogerio Cabral, international relations director of AgriRede in Brazil; as well as other representatives from all companies. Listen to interviews with some of the stakeholders here:

ARA19 Interview with Ian Scutt, CEO, AgLink Australia (5:57)

ARA19 Interview with Jim Fargo, president, IAP (5:34)

ARA19 Interview with Dennis Bulani, AgLink Canada (2:02)

2019 ARA Convention and Expo

Agribusiness, ARA, Audio

BASF Launches ‘Operation Weed Eradication’

Carrie Muehling

BASF is launching a new inititative called “Operation Weed Eradication” to help farmers learn to control weeds rather than just manage them.

“I’d say it’s a mindset shift because today we think about weed control in terms of maximizing the yield potential on farm, and that’s very key,” said Kate Greif, Product Manager. “So when we’re applying weed control, we’re thinking about are we controlling the weeds enough nutrients from our crop that we can maximize our yields. What the shift is to is controlling even those last weeds standing. The last weed on the farm is arguably probably the most adaptable weed and it’s likely the most herbicide resistant to the herbicide programs we’re using today.”

Greif said growers have historically relied heavily on chemistry for weed control, but this approach is far more holistic. Eradication diligence means taking time to hand row those last weeds standing. It includes controlling weeds not only on farmable acres, but also waterways and areas next to the field where there may be weed pressure as well.

Greif said the biggest setback the industry has had is the over reliance on a single mode of action chemistry, and “Operation Weed Eradication” aims to change that. Any farmers and industry partners interested in joining the effort can visit operationweederadication.com or reach out to a local BASF representative.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Kate here: NAFB19 Kate Greif, BASF (4:15)

2019 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, BASF, NAFB, weed management

ARA 2019 Retailer of the Year is Premier Ag

Cindy Zimmerman

Premier Ag was named 2019 ARA Retailer of the Year during the Agricultural Retailers Association convention in New Orleans this week. The award, sponsored by Bayer and AgPro magazine, honors an ARA member retailer company or individual representing quality and prestige within the industry.

Premier Ag is the agricultural retail branch of Premier Companies, a farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Seymour, Ind., and founded in 1927 with a mission to enhance the success its member-customers by ensuring a premier source of supplies and services including fuel, propane, seed, fertilizer, crop protection and more in the agricultural and energy sectors.

“We are honored to be named the 2019 the ARA Retailer of the Year, receive an Environmental Respect Award, and to have all our facilities certified by ResponsibleAg,” said CEO Harold Cooper.

Listen to Cooper’s remarks:
ARA19 Retailer of the Year, Premier Ag (1:27)

2019 ARA Convention and Expo

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio, Precision Agriculture

ARA Recognizes BRANDT’s Tim McArdle

Cindy Zimmerman

Tim McArdle, executive vice president at BRANDT, was honored today with the with the Agricultural Retailers Association Distinguished Service Award for his support of the association and the agricultural retail industry.

McArdle’s long-term service to ARA through participating on the board of directors and in officer roles is one reason he is being recognized; however, it is how he stepped out of ARA leadership and into leadership roles for two allied organizations, ResponsibleAg and AgGateway, that secured his place as the 2019 winner of ARA’s Distinguished Service Award.

“Both of these organizations are rendering very important services to ag retailers, and McArdle plays a critical role as chairman of both,” says ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock.

McArdle grew up on a farm in south Alabama and received his Master of Science from Auburn University. Prior to joining BRANDT, McArdle was at Trace Chemicals for 25 years serving as partner and general manager of Trace Chemicals. Listen to his remarks upon receiving the award:

ARA19 DSA winner Tim McArdle, BRANDT (4:05)

2019 ARA Convention and Expo

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio, Precision Agriculture

Agricultural Retailers Association Conference Underway

Cindy Zimmerman

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) 2019 Conference & Expo is underway in New Orleans this week. The annual gathering draws nearly 600 agricultural retail industry professionals for speakers, educational sessions, a world-class expo and networking opportunities.

Tuesday’s events included the ARA Invitational Golf Tournament and the opening of the sold-out expo hall. The industry speaker lineup includes a keynote presentation and a Q&A session with CEO and Chairman of the FMC Corporation Pierre Brondeau, and a panel on competing retail models moderated by Margy Eckelkamp, editor of AgPro, and comprised of Alexander Reichert, co-founder and CEO of AgVend; Dave Thomas, executive vice president of Helena Agri-Enterprises LLC; and John Demerly, CEO of CommoditAg.

Earlier in the week, the ARA Board of Directors gathered for its quarterly meeting. The agenda included the review of regular business operations of the organization and opportunities to strengthen and create efficiencies. The Board took action to expand the Executive Committee to include two additional retailer seats, and to shift the seats on the Board of Directors from 24 to 27 retailers.

ARA Senior VP for Public Policy & Counsel Richard Gupton talks about this year’s conference and some of the issues facing agricultural retailers in this interview.
ARA19 Interview with Richard Gupton, ARA Sr VP, Public Policy & Counsel (6:34)

Follow the action on Twitter with the hashtag #AgRetailers19, and find content from the convention for sharing in the 2019 ARA virtual newsroom.

2019 ARA Convention and Expo
2019 ARA Convention Golf Tournament

Agribusiness, ARA, Audio