The record number of prevented plant acres around the country this year means a lot of weed fields for growers to manage this fall for the 2020 season.
FMC Technical Service Manager Drake Copeland says the problem is that some of those fields have already gone to seed. In this interview from the Farm Progress Show, Copeland shares some FMC advice on fall field prep this year.
Interview with Drake Copeland, FMC Technical Service Manager
2019 has been another winning year for the partnership between ethanol and crappie fishing.
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) just wrapped up a third year as co-title sponsor of the Crappie Masters All American Tournament Trail with the national championship in Grenada, MS, concluding September 28. Missouri Corn Growers and the National Corn Growers Association have also both been closely involved with this event for many years.
In this podcast interview, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White talks about how they have working with this family-oriented fishing event has been for promoting the use of E10 in boat engines and how it is getting even bigger.
Ethanol Report 9-27-19
BASF continues to innovate in a number of agricultural spaces, including a sustainable cotton program. Working with Wrangler and other companies, products like blue jeans branded as “Rooted” can be documented as being grown through sustainable practices.
“All this cotton is grown by a system of documented sustainability which we help growers with. They, through a farm management system, record all their production steps that prove it is sustainable so therefore Wrangler can say that these were produced sustainably,” said Rick Turner, Sr. Vice President of seeds and traits, BASF.
The jeans are identified as “Rooted” on the front left pocket with the identification of the grower on the front right pocket. Turner said there are currently five growers in the program. BASF has a network of around 40 different apparel companies looking at these types of sustainability programs for cotton.
The company continues to make strides in other crops, as well, including wheat, canola and vegetables. Stronger hybrid programs for both wheat and canola are improving yields and making those crops more economically successful for growers. The company is also getting ready to launch a new, tearless onion, which could be game changing for consumers.
Listen to Cindy’s interview with Rick here: Interview with Rick Turner, BASF Senior VP Seeds and Traits
The U.S.-Japan trade agreement signed by President Donald Trump this week “will solidify our longstanding partnership for the future and create a platform for growth into new sales and new sectors, including the potential for sales of U.S. ethanol,” according to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC)
Japan is one of the largest and most loyal U.S. corn customers, having bought more than $2 billion of U.S. corn in the most recent marketing year. It is an important market for food and feed barley and sorghum. And as a country looking to improve the environmental impact of its fuel, it is an important future market for U.S. ethanol products.
USGC chairman Darren Armstrong, a farmer from North Carolina, was on a grower panel at the BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Event this week and he talked about the impact that trade negotiations have had on farmers over the past two years, but said the Japan agreement and USMCA are bright spots in the picture, and so is ethanol.
“There are so many new markets that we can move ethanol in that would really use up a lot of corn, and that’s what we’re after,” said Armstrong.
This interview with Armstrong was done the day before the Japan deal was signed, but he said they were looking forward to it because Japan has been a good customer in the past and they were hoping to increase ethanol exports under the agreement.
Interview with USGC chair and NC farmer Darren Armstrong
Representatives for farmer and rancher organizations were present for a meeting with President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Abe in New York City as the two signed a trade deal Wednesday worth billions for U.S. agricultural producers.
Under the market access agreement, Japan will open the market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports, eliminating or significantly lowering tariffs for U.S. beef, pork, poultry, wheat, cheese, wine, certain nuts and berries, cherries, ethanol, and more. “So it’s a tremendous trade deal. It’s a very big trade deal,” said President Trump.
Agricultural group leaders in attendance were invited by President Trump to make comments. While National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Jennifer Houston was busy testifying about the current state of the cattle industry before the Senate Agriculture Committee, President-Elect Marty Smith of Florida was speaking to the president on behalf of beef producers. “We asked for a level playing field, and you delivered that to us, and we thank you for that,” said Smith. “And it’s a great day too for, we think, for the Japanese people. This will enable them to buy more American beef, more American agricultural products.”
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said that farmers and ranchers are thankful for the new agreement “and what we need in the future is more agreements like this all around the world.”
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President David Herring of North Carolina, said the agreement provides new opportunities for the 60,000 pork producers across the country. “We’ve seen market share declines in Japan, historically our largest value export market, since the start of the year when international competitors gained more favorable access through new trade agreements. Once implemented, the agreement signed today puts U.S. pork back on a level playing field with our competitors in Japan.”
The Japanese Parliament is expected to approve the agreement later this fall and it could be implemented as early as Jan. 1, 2020.
Listen to these comments and those from others present at the meeting below – watch it on the White House YouTube channel.
President Trump, farmers and ranchers on Japan deal
It’s time to change the conversation from weed control to on-farm eradication, according to a new strategy announced this week by BASF Agricultural Solutions.
BASF launched Operation Weed Eradication, which calls on growers and partners to take action against troublesome weeds in their fields, through cultural practices, chemical control and enhanced diligence.
“Our approach to on-farm eradication will uproot problem weeds and help secure a sustainable farming future that builds a successful legacy for seasons and generations to come,” said Scott Kay, Vice President U.S. Crop, BASF Agricultural Solutions. “Weed eradication will be a personalized, tailored journey for each grower with different start and end points. BASF will support growers with expertise and continuous innovation to support this journey.”
Operation Weed Eradication takes a balanced approach of utilizing cultural practices such as conventional tillage, chemical control such as rotating chemistries, and eradication diligence such as hand weeding to help growers eradicating troublesome on-farm weeds.
In the coming months, BASF will assemble a coalition of industry leaders, develop a specific eradication customer offering and launch an educational initiative to support its efforts with Operation Weed Eradication.
In this interview, Kay explains why they are taking this approach and how they plan to implement it.
Interview with Scott Kay, BASF Vice President U.S. Crop
Find more photos of Scott Kay and other BASF execs from the Agricultural Solutions Media Event this week in Research Triangle Park, NC in this photo album.
BASF Ag Solutions Media Event photos
In this week’s program let’s meet Lindsay Graber Runft, Executive Director, Livestock Publications Council, pictured on the left with the LPC Board at the 2019 Ag Media Summit. Lindsay started with LPC in July this year and I met her at the AMS.
Lindsay has a solid background in livestock production and association management. As an example, she served as director of marketing and communications of the Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) from 2013 to 2018. She has been principal of Prairie Public Relations since 2018.
“I am incredibly excited, and honored, to accept the role of Executive Director for Livestock Publications Council,” Runft said. “It will be a privilege to further LPC’s purpose of serving the livestock communications industry through collaborative work with Board leadership and membership service.”
You can learn more about Lindsay in the program. I’m looking forward to working with her in the future as she takes over the helm from retired long time friend and director of the LPC, Diane Johnson.
I hope to see you there. Thank you for listening.
Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 626 - New LPC Executive Director
Subscribe to the ZimmCast by clicking here.
