Precision Ag Bytes 10/31

Carrie Muehling

  • AGTools, Inc. has created and launched a brand-new online tool enabling the agriculture industry to improve decision making, reduce waste, and increase revenue. The tool is the first of its kind in the agriculture industry designed to help farmers by providing hard data in real time to food supply chain stakeholders, helping to improve their bottom line.
  • Alltech Crop Science has attained organic certification for three of its products: Specify®, Turn® and Viable®.
  • Florida farmers and ranchers who suffered damage to working lands and livestock mortality due to Hurricane Michael are encouraged to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information on disaster assistance programs for farmers and ranchers, visit farmers.gov/recover.
  • Verdesian Life Sciences has announced the addition of four new vice presidents to lead growing demand for nutrient use efficiency and sales of Verdesian technology solutions across the United States. Alan Sparkman, Jason Radford, Scott Jungman and Pat Mullahey will fill those roles.
  • Vegalab, Inc. recently finalized a Distribution Agreement with AMVAC Mexico for distribution of all-natural biologically derived pesticides, fertilizers and specialty products across Mexico.
  • GMO Answers has updated one of its most popular graphics on plant breeding. The new graphic provides a definition, a list of the 10 GMO crops on the market today in the U.S., and gives a brief overview of some plant breeding techniques.
  • Arysta LifeScience announces the launch of RAZE™ 0-3-2, an advanced foliar nutrition product that promotes more balanced uptake of essential plant nutrients necessary for optimum crop growth and higher yields.
Zimfo Bytes

Deere Celebrates 75 Years of FFA Sponsorship

Cindy Zimmerman

John Deere commemorated 75 years of partnership with the National FFA Organization at the 91st annual convention and expo last week in Indianapolis.

To celebrate, John Deere provided a $75,000 contribution to the FFA Living to Serve Platform, as well as a time capsule representing that last 75 years of agriculture to be opened 75 years from now. Sam Allen, Deere & Company chairman and CEO, announced the contribution at the 91st National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, where he was a keynote speaker.

“The Living to Serve Platform inspires FFA members to put leadership into action through service activities and prepare them to be responsible leaders in agriculture and many other professions in the future,” said Allen.

Since it first made a $1,000 contribution in 1943, John Deere has provided funds totaling more than $13 million to the National FFA Organization. Deere sponsors a wide range of FFA activities, including a John Deere dealer scholarship program, the farm business management career development competition, and the international leadership seminar for state officers.

Alex Voichoskie with the Rural Radio Network provided interviews from the Deere presentation for FFA Today. Here is her interview with Allen.

FFA 2018 Alex Voichoskie interviews Deere CEO Sam Allen
Audio, FFA, John Deere

ExEx18 Keynote Stresses U.S. Trade Advantages

Cindy Zimmerman

North America is a leader in both trade and increasing food production for the world, trade needs to grow to provide global food security, trade is already complex so we should work to eliminate unnecessary complexities, and we need to think long term when it comes to trade policy.

Those were four key messages that Roger Watchorn, group leader at Cargill Agriculture Supply Chain North America, presented at Export Exchange 2018 in Minneapolis last week.

“North America continues to be a leader in production technologies and a major player in global trade,” said Watchorn. “One in seven people worldwide depend on global trade for their basic food needs. We connect farmers with those who need our products around the world…and we are ready to meet those needs.”

Export Exchange is a biennial educational and trade forum co-sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and Growth Energy offering international buyers the opportunity to meet and build relationships with U.S. suppliers of corn, DDGS, sorghum, barley and other commodities.

Listen to Watchorn'[s presentation here and see more from the Export Exchange on AgNewsWire.

Export Exchange 18 presentation Roger Watchorn, Cargill

Export Exchange 2018 Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Exports, Trade

CrystalBlox New Self-fed Cattle Protein Supplement

Cindy Zimmerman

As cow-calf producers prepare for fall and winter feeding conditions, the makers of CRYSTALYX® have launched a new self-fed protein supplement for beef cattle to help improve forage utilization.

CrystalBlox, developed by Ridley Block Operations which is part of the Alltech feed division, is the first supplement of its kind to be brought to the market in nearly 40 years. With a new hybrid form that combines the economical nutrient delivery and fortification of compressed blocks with the consistent and predictable intake of low moisture block technology, CrystalBlox will fit into a wide variety of feeding situations in which protein delivery is critical.

CrystalBlox is designed and formulated to provide supplemental protein to help improve forage utilization by promoting increased forage intake and improved fiber digestibility. In situations where forage crude protein levels are low due to drought or with advanced maturity such as fall and winter forages, CrystalBlox can provide supplemental protein that will help cattle extract more energy and nutrients from forage supplies.

In this edition of the Block Talk Podcast by CRYSTALYX Brand Supplements you can hear Dan Dhuyvetter, director of research and development and director of nutrition services at CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements, discusses how CrystalBlox combines CRYSTALYX and distillers grains to help maintain cow body condition as cattle consume low quality forages.

Listen here:
CRYSTALYX® Block Talk podcast on new block form

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Health, Audio, Feed

Technology Changing Life on the Dairy Farm

Carrie Muehling

Technology is changing the way dairy farmers work, especially when it comes to data. More and more resources are available to collect data on nearly every aspect of a dairy, but with that opportunity comes the challenge of managing that information and using it to make decisions.

“It’s amazing how many new types of data we have on dairy farms,” said Jeff Bewley, Alltech Dairy Specialist. “We have many new technologies to help us monitor variables in the parlor. We have wearable technologies that are kind of like Fit Bits for cows that provide us an opportunity to monitor the behavior of the cow 24 hours per day.”

Bewley said those tools can help dairy producers to better understand and manage the health of their animals. They also help farmers to manage the individual animals instead of just groups or herds of animals. Bewley was at the 2018 World Dairy Expo.

Listen to Jamie’s interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Bewley, Alltech


2018 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Dairy, World Dairy Expo

Animal Ag Bites 10/29

Carrie Muehling

  • Cargill has developed an industry-first robotic cattle driver aimed at improving animal welfare and employee safety. The robots are designed to move cattle from pens to the harvest area, reducing stress to the animals by minimizing their proximity to human activity. Employees operate the robots from a catwalk located above the pens, reducing safety risks by keeping those who work in the cattle yard portion of processing plants at a greater distance from the 1300-pound animals.
  • O’Fallon, IL-based Brookside Agra will feature several of its innovative products at EuroTier 2018, the world’s leading trade fair for animal production.
  • The USPOULTRY Foundation announces the completion of a funded research project at AviServe LLC in Newark, Del., that has revealed a new tool for controlling reovirus. A complete report may be obtained by going to USPOULTRY’s website, www.uspoultry.org.
  • U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is hosting a Poultry Handling and Transportation “Train the Trainer” Workshop for poultry transporters and catch crews. The workshop is limited to 40 people, and the cost is $150 for USPOULTRY members and $300 for non-members. Please submit your application, along with a letter of recommendation from your supervisor, at www.uspoultryhandling.org.
  • With North Carolina still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Florence, Smithfield Foods committed to invest in infrastructure and provide farmer incentives to install manure lagoon covers and digesters on 90 percent of the total hog finishing capacity in North Carolina, Missouri and Utah over the next ten years.
  • Smithfield Foods has initiated a challenge for Virginia Tech students involved in the student group Commodity Investing by Students, known as COINS, that would reward the top-performing analysts with a yearlong supply of Smithfield bacon.
  • The National Pork Producers Council applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its proposed rule exempting livestock farmers from reporting to state and local authorities the routine emissions from their farms.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

President Trump at 91st National FFA Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

The synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh on Saturday delayed President Donald Trump’s arrival at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis and led to a somewhat disjointed address to nearly 70,000 blue jacketed members with their family, advisers and industry supporters.

Trump first made remarks about the tragedy and called on a local rabbi and pastor to pray for the victims of the shooting. He then spoke to the FFA audience for another hour, frequently talking about trade agreements and how much he loves farmers and consistently referring to the organization as the “Future Farmers” – a name that was changed in 1988 to recognize the many career paths that relate to agriculture. The address received lots of attention from the mainstream media that also consistently called FFA the Future Farmers of America in coverage, like this USA Today story.

WARNING – Editorial comments ahead.
Not to criticize the president, since he gets enough of that, but the press should be able to get a simple fact like the name of an organization right. I was disappointed in both the president’s speech and the resulting national coverage because it was a missed opportunity to showcase the diversity of agriculture. National FFA members are shining examples of what is great about America and what is great about American agriculture, so that’s a shame.

If President Trump and the media had stuck around, they would have heard a real “Make America Great” speech from Breanna Holbert of California, the outgoing National FFA President. Her retiring address was not just inspiring, it was awe inspiring. That young lady is going places.

Listen to some of both their speeches below.
President Trump at 91st National FFA Convention

National FFA president Breanna Holbert retiring speech
Audio, FFA

Georgia Farmers Still Counting Hurricane Michael Losses

Cindy Zimmerman

Irrigation system in Georgia peanut field damaged by Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael hit Georgia agriculture right at harvest season for many crops, including peanuts, where only half of what was looking to be a pretty good crop had been harvested. The remaining 50 percent is yet to be harvested as crop conditions deteriorate and damaged peanut buying points struggle to regain power to dry and grade the peanuts.

Officials with the Georgia Peanut Commission have been meeting with federal and state officials since the storm hit on October 10 trying to determine the impact on growers and the industry’s infrastructure.

“Hurricane Michael for peanut farmers is still an invisible problem in some locations, because we have peanuts in the ground that haven’t been dug yet and major infrastructure issues with buying points not being able to dry the peanuts or grade them,” says Don Koehler, GPC executive director.

Koehler says crop insurance is of little help to farmers since guarantees are based on old production history and the best thing Congress could do to provide assistance is get back to Washington and pass a new farm bill. “For a farmer trying to move forward now from this, he can’t tell his banker what he’s going to do and he can’t get financing,” without a new farm bill, said Koehler.

Learn more in this interview – Interview with Don Koehler, GA Peanut Commission, on hurricane damage

Audio, Farm Bill, Peanuts

NCBA Advocates for USDA to Oversee Fake Meat

Cindy Zimmerman

Officers of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) reiterated their unwavering support for USDA oversight of lab-grown fake meat during a public meeting this week, hosted jointly by USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

President-Elect Jennifer Houston explained why USDA is well-positioned to apply current food safety processes to lab-grown fake meat products, since two-thirds of the facilities already overseen by USDA are “processing-only” facilities where harvesting of animals does not take place.

“Ensuring lab-grown fake meat products are subject to strong, daily inspection by USDA’s trained professionals is essential,” she said. “The health of consumers is on the line, and USDA is far better suited to ensure the safety of lab-grown products.”

Listen – NCBA President-Elect Jennifer Houston delivers remarks at fake meat hearing

NCBA President Kevin Kester focused his comments on how USDA oversight provides protects consumers against false and misleading marketing claims.

“USDA can be trusted to enforce truthful, transparent labeling of the products under its jurisdiction,” he said. “Beef producers welcome competition, but product labels and marketing must be based on sound science, not the misleading claims of anti-animal agriculture activists.”

AgWired Animal, Audio, Beef, Food, Meat, NCBA

Zimfo Bytes 10/26

Carrie Muehling

  • The potential economic impacts of Mexican and Canadian retaliatory tariffs and the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on U.S. agricultural trade, will be the focus of the Farm Foundation Forum on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. Register HERE for the free, live audiocast made possible by a grant from Farm Credit.
  • Syngenta has announced it will establish a major Global and North America Seeds office in the western suburbs of Chicago.
  • Filament announces the hiring of Allison Luety as a marketing executive. Luety will assist with strategic marketing communications plans and focus on content development.
  • Applications for Class XI of the Peanut Leadership Academy have been extended until Oct. 31, 2018. To download a copy of the upcoming class application, visit www.southernpeanutfarmers.org. Applications must be postmarked by Oct. 31, 2018, for consideration. The first session will begin in December 2018.
  • Charleston|Orwig announces the addition of Taylor Ruffing as an account executive within account services.
  • With harvest already underway in many parts of the country, the National Corn Growers Association reminds farmers that National Corn Yield Contest entrants must report within two weeks of their final yield check or by Nov. 16, whichever comes first. For access to contest information and a detailed list of the entry and harvest rules, click here.
  • Advanta Seeds, a global agriculture company specializing in seeds and agricultural solutions, announces Barry Lubbers as Business Director for North America.
  • Frank Lessiter, who has reported on no-till since 1972, has written ‘From Maverick to Mainstream: A History of No-Till Farming,’ an all-new book including over 416 pages, 650 photos and another 125 visuals. Details on From Maverick to Mainstream: A History of No-Till Farming can be found at No-TillFarmer.com/Maverick.
  • Since its inception in 2005, the Alltech Young Scientist has had participation of over 60,000 students from more than 70 countries and has awarded $1 million in prizes. New for 2019, the AYS competition is open exclusively to university graduate students (master’s degree and Ph.D.) and professor nominations are no longer required. Registration is currently open for the 2019 competition and will close on Jan. 31, 2019.
  • Katharine Girone of Varna, Illinois, is the grand prizewinner of the 2018 Thrive #RootedinAg contest from Syngenta.
Zimfo Bytes