RFA Ethanol Podcast

Trump to Visit 100th Farm Bureau Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite ongoing negotiations to end the government shutdown, President Donald J. Trump is keeping his promise to members of the American Farm Bureau Federation and will address the organization’s 100th annual convention next week in New Orleans

“This is your 99th year, so I was very disappointed to hear that,” Trump said in his remarks to a record crowd at the annual convention in Nashville last year. “A hundred is so much cooler, I have to be honest. So I’ll be back, I think. Next year, I’ll come back.”

The president is expected to address the group on Monday and will likely bring his case for a border wall to the rural supporters who helped elect him.

AFBF

BASF Breeding Goals and Trial Varieties for 2019

Carrie Muehling

BASF Global Cotton Breeding Manager Dr. Margaret Shields took the opportunity to thank producers attending the inaugural BASF APT (Agronomic Performance Trials) Summit for their work and how important it is to ongoing research.

Shields shared the company’s mission of being the leading, innovated and trusted seeds and traits organization providing superior, differentiated solutions to customers. With regard to cotton, she told growers that includes a focus on yield protection, yield stability and potential, fiber quality and seed quality, and agronomics. Research on native traits is helping to boost yield protection, especially when it comes to diseases like bacterial blight. The company is also implementing predictive tools to bolster yield stability and potential.

Shields said BASF has a presence in all major areas of the Cotton Belt from North Carolina to Texas to Arizona and even Costa Rica.

Listen to the entire presentation here: Remarks from Dr. Margaret Shields, BASF

2019 BASF APT Summit Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Cotton, Seed

Bayer Expands The Climate Corporation Digital Pipeline

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer subsidiary The Climate Corporation (Climate) has announced strong harvest results for farmers using Seed Advisor, its new predictive seed selection and placement technology for corn. In addition, Climate accelerated 25 innovation advancements in 2018 through its global, digital farming pipeline to provide farmers more data-driven insights.

Seed Advisor, which was just announced in August 2018, provides seed dealers with a predictive model to help determine the best performing hybrids for each of a farmer’s fields. The tool was field tested by a group of farmers and their dealers through the company’s FieldView™ Innovators program across 100,000 U.S. corn acres in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota during the 2018 growing season. Harvest results demonstrated an average yield advantage of 9.1 bushels per acre versus what the farmer would have planted without Seed Advisor recommendations.

In addition to expanding the pre-commercial test of Seed Advisor in 2019 to more farmers in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, Climate is also growing its seed selection and placement research to include Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. Predictive seed research is also underway in soybeans. An official launch of Seed Advisor is targeted for fall 2019 in the U.S., pending harvest results.

AgWired Precision, Bayer, Precision Agriculture

Precision Ag Bytes 1/9

Carrie Muehling

  • Syngenta has joined the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) Crops of the Future Collaborative as an executive committee participant.
  • Legion Bio Chem recently announced the launch of its newest product, EnduraSeed™, adding to the robust EnduraGro™ biologicals product line. Legion’s GroWell™ Solutions include FasGro™ starter fertilizers, ZenaGro™ micronutrients, FortiGro™ foliar nutrients, and EnduraGro microorganisms and bio-stimulants.
  • 2019 U.S. EPA regulations require all applicators of dicamba herbicide products to complete dicamba-specific training even if you took it last year. Register now to complete the training requirement while at the Farm Futures Summit or Boot Camp. Participants completing this training will receive a certificate following the session. Farmers can get free dicamba training January 23 or 24 as part of their Farm Futures Ag finance Boot Camp and Farm Futures Business Summit registrations. The Farm Futures Boot Camp held January 23, and the Summit, held January 24 -25 at the Coralville Marriott Conference Center in Iowa City, Iowa.
  • South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension will host 2019 No-Till event, titled Integrating Livestock, Building Soil January 17, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Wall at the Wall Community Center, Grand Hall (501 Main St.). The event is free. However, pre-registration is requested because a lunch will be served. Certified Crop Advisor credits will be available. To register, contact Ruth Beck, SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist at ruth.beck@sdstate.edu or 605-773-8120.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

Animal Ag Bites 1/8

Carrie Muehling

  • Thanks to new sponsorship from Merck Animal Health, up to six regional Stockmanship & Stewardship events will be coordinated by the producer education team at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association throughout the United States in 2019. Additional funding and support for the program is provided by the beef checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program. More information on upcoming Stockmanship & Stewardship events will be announced at the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in New Orleans, La.
  • Idaho dairy farmers are pioneering a new program to educate and train employees on workplace safety and awareness on the job. Ryan DeWit joined the Idaho Dairymen’s Association in 2017 to develop and implement an on-farm training program dairy farm owners can apply with their employees. The training, which is done in person in Spanish or English, is provided on iPads to provide individual pace and learning. The National FARM Program (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) has partnered with IDA to create a safety manual resource for dairy producers across the country. FARM is a program managed by the National Milk Producers Federation based in Washington, D.C.
  • The top 11 teams of the National FFA Poultry Evaluation Career Development Event are again invited to attend the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2019 International Production & Processing Expo, as a result of the USPOULTRY Foundation’s ongoing initiative to further attract students to the poultry and egg industries. The opportunity for teams of the Poultry Evaluation CDE to attend is made possible in part by endowing Foundation gifts from Prestage Farms and Sanderson Farms. The following Poultry Evaluation CDE teams have been invited to attend IPPE. Their awards were presented by John Starkey, USPOULTRY president, and Ed Scott, director of corporate recruiting for Cal-Maine Foods, and are listed in their order of finish: Katy FFA, Texas; Farmington FFA, Arkansas; Prairie Central FFA, Illinois; Coweta FFA, Oklahoma; Brantley County FFA, Georgia; Caney FFA, Kansas; Assumption FFA, Louisiana; North Clackamas FFA, Oregon; Paris FFA, Missouri; Hillsdale FFA, Ohio; and Manor FFA, Pennsylvania.
  • Aptimmune Biologics announces the addition of two members to the company’s management team to start the New Year. Heather Bessoff, DVM, has joined the company as chief executive officer. Perry Harms, DVM, has been named technical consultant for Aptimmune.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Welcome to the Inaugural BASF APT Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s the first show of 2019 for ZimmComm. BASF is holding an inaugural APT (Agronomic Performance Trials) Summit just prior to the Beltwide Cotton Conferences. To learn what this means and get an overview of the Summit I spoke with Kenny Melton, BASF Western Region Agronomic Manager.

Kenny says the breeding group for BASF will hand off varieties for the field trials that make up this program. He says that from there the varieties are further developed and support is provided to the farms taking part in the program. The APT trials are all conducted using the farm’s equipment and systems. Data is collected throughout the season and shared with the farmer. In fact, here at the APT Summit the 2018 trial data is being shared with farmers who will have an opportunity to interact with each other and the BASF field representatives from regions throughout cotton belt.

You can listen to my interview with Kenny here: Interview with Kenny Melton, BASF

I will be conducting more interviews with the attendees here at the Summit and will share when time allows. BASF is also announcing new cotton varieties for 2019 and I’ll have that information too.

Photos from the BASF APT Summit and Beltwide are online here: 2019 BASF APT Summit Photo Album

Audio, BASF, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

Zimfo Bytes 1/4

Carrie Muehling

  • The American Farm Bureau Federation is accepting online applications through Jan. 7, 2019, for five paid summer internships. The dates of AFBF’s internships are between mid-May and mid-August, depending on schedules, and will last 8 to 10 weeks. Visit https://www.fb.org/about/careers/category/internship for information on how to apply. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 7, 2019.
  • MGEX, a Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization, concludes 2018 with a total of 2,335,284 contracts traded, which is the second highest calendar year volume in history.
  • The National Corn Growers Association Nominating Committee reminds interested members that it is accepting applications for the 2020 Corn Board through January 11. Click here for the application, which provides complete information on requirements, responsibilities and deadlines.
Zimfo Bytes

Ethanol Report for the New Year

Cindy Zimmerman

Will 2019 be a happy new year for the ethanol industry?

In this first Ethanol Report podcast for 2019, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Geoff Cooper comments on some of the challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2019, including getting year-round E15 approved before summer, and dealing with the continuing consequences of the small refinery waivers.

RFA’s annual National Ethanol Conference is coming up next month in Orlando and Cooper urges everyone in the industry to attend.

Listen here – Ethanol Report for the New Year

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Audio, Ethanol, RFA

DigestData Launched for Bio-based Start-ups

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has joined with Biofuels Digest to create and launch DigestData, an online database to help facilitate networking and the transfer of information between interested parties working in the bio-based industry. NCGA’s sponsorship provides DigestData users with free access to search research and pilot scale facilities along with facility details such as certifications, available equipment, and primary contact information.

“The goal was to bring more visibility to these facilities and projects in the United States,” said Feed, Food and Industrial Action Team Chair Dan Wesely. “We want companies to recognize the number of facilities that are located right here in the Midwest, close to the untapped potential that corn can provide as a feedstock. DigestData provides a service that NCGA believes will help facilitate networking and communication across the bio-based materials industry.”

DigestData includes a messaging platform, allowing outreach to occur directly between interested parties within the online platform. The database will continue to evolve as new facilities and projects are added, or existing entries are updated in real-time at the request of their respective owners. There’s also a search by keyword function to help users quickly find information of interest.

AgWired Precision, Corn, NCGA

Secretary Sonny to Address 100th AFBF Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be joining more than 6,000 farmers and ranchers in New Orleans later this month to speak at the 100th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show. Secretary Perdue will address Farm Bureau members during the closing general session, scheduled to take place Monday, January 14 at 11:15 a.m.

“We are honored that Secretary Perdue will join us as a keynote speaker,” said fellow Georgian and AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “We are excited to kick off Farm Bureau’s 100th year hearing from such a strong advocate for agriculture in the administration. He truly understands how trade, regulations and labor shortages affect a farmer’s bottom line and ability to stay in business from one season to the next.” Perdue spoke at the convention last year to introduce his boss, President Donald Trump, who is not expected to attend this year.

The organization’s centennial annual convention will run January 11-16 and Online registration is still available.

AFBF, USDA