Bayer Fluency Agency Advanced for Sustainability

Cindy Zimmerman

Bayer Fluency Agent Advanced, which was introduced in 2017, helped more farmers plant more sustainably this year than ever before.

Bayer developed Fluency Agent Advanced to replace standard seed lubricants made of talc, graphite or a talc-graphite blend for corn and soybean seeds. In addition to improving planter performance, Fluency Agent Advanced helps reduce the amount of total dust released in treated seed dust during planting, reducing the potential risk of exposure to foraging honey bees and other pollinators if they come in direct contact with the dust.

“The whole idea is stewardship – to make sure we keep the active ingredient where it needs to be,” said Bill Striegel, Bayer Seed Growth Product Development Manager, during a Farm Progress Show interview. “Besides the dust-reducing benefit, it provides easier clean-up, good simulation so we’re not seeing skips and doubles.”

Find out more in this interview – FPS18 Bayer interview with Bill Striegel, Fluency Agent Advanced

Bayer at the 2018 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Content Creation at the Farm Progress Show brought to you by Farm Progress Show content creation courtesy of John DeereCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience
AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show, Planting, Seed

Animal Ag Bites 9/17

Carrie Muehling

CODE FOR ANIMAL AG BITES

  • The National Dairy Council New Product Competition seeks the next innovative dairy product from college students across the United States and Canada. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 14. For more information, visit USDairy.com/NewProductCompetition or contact Rohit Kapoor at NDC (rohit.kapoor@dairy.org).
  • A team of 18 interns will gain first-hand experience and be able to interact with leaders of every segment of the cattle and beef industry at the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in New Orleans. Students must be able to work Jan. 27-Feb. 1, 2019. The deadline to apply is Oct. 10, 2018. For more information, contact Grace Webb at gwebb@beef.org.
  • The American Feed Industry Association announced Kirk Bowman as its 2018 Liquid Feed Hall of Fame inductee.
  • The American Feed Industry Association has opened registration for its online feed manufacturing course, conducted in partnership with Kansas State University, Oct. 29-Nov. 30.
  • Dairy Farmers of America products and brands recently earned 18 awards at the 2018 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product contest, including a sweep of the Mozzarella category. For the full 2018 Dairy Product Contest results visit, wdpa.net/championship-contest
  • The Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board will invest about $40.5 million into programs of beef promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications during fiscal 2019, subject to USDA approval.
  • The recent discovery in an Egyptian tomb of a 3,000-year-old cheese contaminated with Brucella melitensis provided historic evidence of a disease still endemic across much of the developing world. It is a challenge that the US $30m Brucellosis Vaccine Prize competition is seeking to address. The competition remains open to new applications from animal health innovators across industry and academia via the competition website www.brucellosisvaccine.org. Full details and competition rules are also available on the website.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites, Beef, Dairy

Doggett Named NCGA CEO

Cindy Zimmerman

Congratulations to Jon Doggett, who has been chosen as the new chief executive officer for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the fifth CEO in the organization’s 61-year history.

Doggett has served in the capacity of NCGA interim CEO since August 1st and as NCGA executive vice president since late 2014. Prior to that, he served as vice president of public policy, and has continuously managed the organization’s 11-person Washington, DC office and led its public policy efforts since joining NCGA in July of 2002.

“The Corn Board is thrilled to have Jon Doggett at the helm to lead the charge for Corn Growers and guide the organization forward,” said NCGA President Kevin Skunes. “We have a lot of serious issues impacting America’s corn farmers and rural communities right now. As such, Jon’s experience and leadership in the broader American agricultural industry, as well as the epicenter of national and international policy in Washington D.C., are invaluable to our organization.”

Doggett brings more than 30 years of agricultural policy and leadership experience to the position. Before joining NCGA, Doggett served 11 years at the American Farm Bureau Federation, where he was lead lobbyist on public policy issues, including ethanol, climate change, land use, conservation, and endangered species.

“As the premier association in the U.S. for nearly 40,000 corn farmer members and 49 affiliated state growers’ associations and checkoff organizations, we have a lot of work ahead of us,” notes Doggett. “I am ready now to be front and center in the trenches, side-by-side with our state and national staff, farmer leaders, dues-paying members and checkoff investors, to listen and ensure we are doing everything we can and are driving the same direction to advance our mission. Corn Growers mission is creating and increasing opportunities for corn growers, through enhancing corn demand and promoting our way of life and tools and technologies of growing corn, all in our noble quest and vision to sustainably feed and fuel a growing world.”

Jon attended the University of Montana majoring in journalism and finance. He is a certified Sea Kayak Instructor. Jon and his wife, Nancy, have two adult children and two precious grandchildren.

Doggett was recently on a panel at the American Coalition for Ethanol annual meeting. Listen to an interview from that event where Doggett talks about the trade situation, as well as his thoughts on Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and what it will take to please oil refiners so E15 can be approved year round –
Interview with Jon Doggett, NCGA

Audio, Corn, NCGA

BASF Enlightens Customers at Field Day

Carrie Muehling

BASF representatives explained the company’s strategy going forward for customers attending a recent field day in St. Joseph, Louisiana.

“We have three different positions – the business rep, the innovation specialist and the seed advisor,” said Jerry Ford, regional seed lead for the South Delta region. “Our goal here was to make sure that our customer, the dealer, understands how we’re going to market, who calls on who, and just make them comfortable with the process.”

Ford said there is still some confusion about what exactly BASF gained through the Bayer acquisition, and this event gave the company an opportunity to introduce people, facilities and products.

“We just want our customers to understand that BASF is serious about the seed business. We got into the seed business to succeed. We’ve got a tremendous amount of knowledge and a tremendous amount of very qualified people that came to us from Bayer, and we’re excited to put all of this together and come to market with a real strong package of seed and herbicide technology,” said Ford.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jerry here: Interview with Jerry Ford, BASF

BASF Field Day – Louisiana Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF

Deere-Granular Develops Profit Maps Farm Management Tool

Cindy Zimmerman

The John Deere-Granular product development and marketing collaboration has introduced Profit Maps, a free tool to help farmers view average cost, revenue and profit map layers at the sub-field level now available in the John Deere Operations Center.

Brad Silva, product manager with John Deere, adds, “Technology advancements have helped farmers to turn variability across their fields into opportunities to improve their profitability. Profit Maps helps farmers see the financial impact of those decisions so that they can fine-tune their management practices.”

Profit Maps is the first release of a multi-phased approach from the Deere and Granular collaboration. Farmers in the U.S. can opt-in to Profit Maps by clicking the Granular Profit Maps icon on the tools menu in the Operations Center. From there, they can view average cost, revenue and profit maps in the Operations Center’s Field Analyzer tool.

For more information on the new Profit Maps and other business management tools available through John Deere and Granular, contact your local John Deere dealer or visit granular.ag/granular-profit-maps and myjohndeere.com.

AgWired Precision, John Deere, Technology

Zimfo Bytes 9/14

Carrie Muehling

  • American Agri-Women have named Allie Poole, Central City, Kentucky, the 2018 winner of their Daughters of American Agriculture Scholarship, High School Graduate. She is currently enrolled in the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn, Alabama.
  • National Farmers Union’s Beginning Farmer Institute convened this week in Washington, D.C., for the first of three learning sessions that will take place during the next year. Nineteen beginning farmers, representing demographical, geographical and production diversity in agriculture, traveled to the nation’s capital for the two-day session.
  • Indiana Soybean Alliance hosted an event for soybean farmers from across Indiana on Sunday, September 9th. The event, held at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, showcased a new use of soybeans — the newly added sports fields in the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legend Experience. The SYNLawn turf backing used in the sports fields were all created with soybean oil as a key component, a sustainable — and Indiana-grown — alternative to petroleum oil.
  • Todd Doehring heads up the new leadership team of the Farm Financial Standards Council elected at the Council’s annual meeting held recently in Champaign, IL. He will serve a one-year term as president.
  • The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has released three new books and two new videos to complement its updated My American Farm game, My Little Ag Me. These supporting resources focus on the many careers available in agriculture.
  • The 2018 Grow by FarmHer fall tour team announces its return to Iowa and Nebraska with a new stop in South Dakota. Events will take place in Brookings, SD on Tuesday, November 13; Lincoln, NE on Wednesday, November 14 and Ankeny, IA on Thursday, November 15. The Grow by FarmHer events are designed to inspire, encourage and educate young women, ages 16 to 22, to pursue their passion for agriculture through their future careers.
  • Over 80 of the nation’s leading trade associations representing thousands of businesses and workers today announced the formation of Americans for Free Trade, a multi-industry coalition aimed at opposing tariffs and highlighting the benefits of international trade to the U.S. economy. This new coalition will immediately join Farmers for Free Trade, the coalition backed by the nation’s largest ag commodity groups, in a multi-million dollar national campaign called Tariffs Hurt the Heartland.
  • Amidst an historic decline in net farm income and added disruptions in agricultural trade and biofuel markets, 350 family farmers and ranchers traveled to the nation’s capital as part of the National Farmers Union Fly-In this week to meet face-to-face with top Trump administration officials and members of Congress as they decide on a number of legislative and regulatory priorities for family farmers and their communities.
  • U.S. Sugar, in a partnership with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, announced a significant step forward in research efforts fighting diseases impacting food crops, including citrus greening. Early-stage research has demonstrated promise in rapidly-culturing and propagating fastidious pathogens and microbes including those that cause citrus greening, a disease that has devastated the Florida citrus industry, and enabling testing a broad range of antimicrobial solutions.
  • Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. announced three new Textron Off Road side-by-sides as part of its continuing Model Year 2019 vehicle introductions. Joining the Havoc X are the Havoc and Havoc Backcountry Edition, and the Wildcat XX receives more horsepower and sees the additio n of the Wildcat XX LTD to the line.
  • The American Soybean Association wants to give a scholarship to a high school senior interested in pursuing agriculture. The Soy Scholarship is a $5,000 one-time award presented to a high school senior who plans to pursue agriculture as an area of study at any accredited college or university in the 2019-20 academic year. The scholarship is managed by ASA and made possible through a grant by BASF Corporation. High school seniors may apply online Sept. 10-Nov. 19, 2018.
ASA, Trade, Zimfo Bytes

BASF Continues Strong Genetics with New Varieties

Carrie Muehling

Events like the recent BASF Field Day in St. Joseph, Louisiana, are helping the company’s customers to better understand what BASF looks like moving forward. The program also gave a great deal of information about new cotton and soybean varieties that will soon be available.

“It gives us vast knowledge of upcoming crops as far as varieties go for the future,” said Greg Sadler, Region 2 Director with GreenPoint AG.

Sadler said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to further explore these new products.

“[There are] a lot of new varieties that I wasn’t familiar with,” said Sadler. “All of them look like they’ve got a really good yield potential for cotton and soybeans. I think there’s a lot of good genetics with BASF’s organization in cotton and beans.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Greg here: Interview with Greg Sadler, GreenPoint Ag

BASF Field Day – Louisiana Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, Cotton, Soybean

ZimmCast 597 – The Next Generation on the Farm

Chuck Zimmerman

This week the ZimmCast, sponsored by GROWMARK, will focus on the next generation on the farm.

The last in the series of three Bayer Grower Panels during the Farm Progress Show focused on “Preparing for the next generation of ag – on and off the farm.”

Moderated by Pam Fretwell, the panelists included Bob Arndt, Wisconsin farmer; Jill Bramble, National 4-H Council; Greg Nickrent, Senior Relationship Manager with BMO Harris; Serena Woodard, 4-H; and Jeff Waller, Wisconsin farmer. Each panelist had a unique perspective on preparation for the next generation, from succession planning to education. I interviewed most of them and that is what you will hear in this 597th edition of the ZimmCast.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 597 - Next Gen on the Farm

Watch the full panel discussion below:


The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
Bayer, Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK, ZimmCast

USDA Expands Crop Forecast from Last Month

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2018 corn, soybean, and cotton crops are all forecast to be two percent larger than USDA predicted in August, in the latest crop production report issued Wednesday.

Corn production is now forecast at 14.8 billion bushels, up 2 percent from August and up 2 percent from last year. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to average 181.3 bushels per acre, up 2.9 bushels from the August forecast and up 4.7 bushels from 2017. If realized, this will be
the highest yield on record for the United States.

Soybean production is forecast at a record 4.69 billion bushels, up 2 percent from August and up 7 percent from last year. Based on September 1 conditions, yields are expected to average a record high 52.8 bushels per acre, up 1.2 bushels from last month and up 3.7 bushels from last year.

All cotton production is forecast at 19.7 million 480-pound bales, up 2 percent from August but down 6 percent from last year. Yield is expected to average 895 pounds per harvested acre, down 16 pounds from last month and down 10 pounds from last year.

The new World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates also calls for larger production, increased domestic use, greater exports, and higher ending stocks for corn.

Feed and residual use and export demand projections were raised by 50 million bushels, with ethanol demand estimates raised by 25 million bushels. “As the increase to production projections more than offset these demand increases, the average farm price was decreased by 10 cents, with the new price range projected as $3.00 to $4.00 per bushel,” noted the National Corn Growers Association.

“Corn was the biggest surprise in this report,” said Brian Basting of Advance Trading, Inc., in his analysis during the MGEX Crop Conference call, adding that the “trade was actually looking for a decrease” in corn yield compared to August.

Listen to some of Basting’s analysis here: MGEX crop call comments from Brian Basting, Advance Trading

Audio, Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA

BASF Showcases Cotton, Soybean Varieties

Carrie Muehling

BASF showcased successful cotton and soybean varieties during a recent field day in Louisiana.

Regional agronomist Kyle Fontenot shared strengths of Stoneville 5471 GLTP, which includes the Twin Link Plus trait package and had some of the highest yields in 2017. It will be a key variety moving forward, boasting a good fiber package and solid disease package. Complementing that variety are Stoneville 5122 GLT and Stoneville 5818 GLT, which also fit well into the Mid-South growing environment.

On the soybean side, Credenz 4540 LL and Credenz 4918 LL are highlights in the portfolio, as 4540 brings yield potential, a good disease package, and holds up well even during challenging harvest seasons. 4918 is a great complement to that, especially on irrigated, lighter ground. Other varieties to watch include Credenz 4222 LL and Credenz 4308 LL. Both show good yield potential and have the right plant type and a good disease package.

“From a portfolio standpoint we have a lot of options there to bring growers the diversity they need on the farm,” said Fontenot, who works in the South Delta region.

Fontenot said growers can be looking for new soybean varieties, including Credenz GT27 with glyphosate, Liberty and HPPD tolerance.


Listen to Chuck’s Hot Topics interview here: Hot Topics Interview with Kyle Fontenot, BASF

Listen to Chuck’s in-depth interview with Kyle here: Full Interview with Kyle Fontenot, BASF

2018 BASF Field Day – Louisiana Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, Cotton, Soybean, Video