Insect Control in Cotton with Prevathon

Jamie Johansen

One of the new products creating buzz from FMC Corporation is Prevathon, which offers insect control in BT cotton. We were able to stop by the FMC booth at the 2018 Mid-South Farm & Gin Show to learn why cotton growers will want to take advantage of Prevathon this growing season.

“Reseach has shown that at least one application of Prevathon as an overspray reduces the amount of damage from those pests and also increases the yield for cotton growers,” said Don Johnson, FMC. “Prevathon gives you up to 21 days of residual control on that cotton plant. With it, you are also getting straight Rynaxypyr. You don’t have a pyrethroid in that combination that will flare mites and aphids in the cotton. And it’s easy on the beneficial insects out there.”

Prevathon insect control delivers crop protection to pests that have developed resistance to products with other modes of action. Listen to my complete interview with Don to learn more: Interview with Don Johnson, FMC Corporation

View and download photos from the event here: 2018 Farm & Gin Show Photo Album

Coverage of the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is sponsored by FMC
Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Cotton, Farm & Gin Show, FMC

USDA Has No Plans to Regulate Gene Edited Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA has no plans to regulate “plants that could otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding techniques as long as they are not plant pests or developed using plant pests,” according to an announcement yesterday from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

This includes a set of new techniques that are increasingly being used by plant breeders to produce new plant varieties that are indistinguishable from those developed through traditional breeding methods. The newest of these methods, such as genome editing, expand traditional plant breeding tools because they can introduce new plant traits more quickly and precisely, potentially saving years or even decades in bringing needed new varieties to farmers.

Gene editing was among the topics discussed during a panel last week at the Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit. The panel included American Seed Trade Association CEO Andy LaVigne; Mary Kay Thatcher, Federal Lead for Syngenta; U.S. Grains Council CEO Tom Sleight; and Margaret Zeigler, Executive Director, Global Harvest Initiative.

Listen to the discussion here: Agri-Pulse Trade, Technology, and US Productivity Panel

2018 Ag & Food Policy Summit Photo Album

Agri-Pulse, ASTA, Audio, Plant Breeding, USDA

John Deere Connected Support Helps Dealers Help Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

John Deere Connected Support™ Expert Alerts was honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) with the AE50 Award for 2018 as one of the most innovative designs in product engineering in the food and agriculture industry. But for John Deere dealers, what it means is helping their customers reduce downtime and save money, and that gives farmers who buy John Deere equipment piece of mind.

“What’s really cool is that we have embedded technology on our machines,” said Deere Product Marketing Manager Scott Brotherton during an interview at Commodity Classic. “In the event that something should happen in the field, this technology will alert the dealership and make them aware of the problem.”

Expert Alerts utilizes JDLink™ machine connectivity and data analytics to predict service needs, reduce diagnostic time and minimize downtime. This results in higher levels of machine availability, improved machine performance and lower cost of operation. “Customers are starting to see the value first hand because the dealers are so much more responsive,” said Brotherton.

Learn more about Deere Connected Dealer Support in this interview: Interview with Scott Brotherton, John Deere

John Deere at 2018 Commodity Classic

Commodity Classic coverage made possible by
Commodity Classic coverage made possible by FMCCommodity Classic coverage made possible by John Deere
AgWired Precision, Audio, Commodity Classic, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Precision Ag Bytes 3/28

Cindy Zimmerman

  • A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service finds that despite higher winter loss rates, the number of U.S. honey bee colonies has remained stable or risen between 1996 and 2016. The report, “Effects and Responses to Changes in Honey Bee Health” provides an overview of the pollination services market and examines empirical data on pollinated crop production, pollination service fees, and annual numbers of honey bee colonies.
  • Farm supply retailer Southern States Cooperative has added industry veterans Jay Quickel and Joe Paoli to head-up their farm supply and sales divisions. Quickel will serve as executive vice president of the co-op’s farm supply division and Paoli comes on board as the executive vice president of sales.
  • Understory, the weather network, edge computing, and machine learning company, has announced an international expansion and strategic collaboration with Monsanto. Monsanto’s use of Understory’s weather network is providing on-the-ground insights into localized weather in Argentina to drive growers’ decisions and optimize high value operations.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is currently accepting nominations for the 2018 AEM Hall of Fame. The Hall recognizes and celebrates industry leaders, innovators and pioneers who have contributed to the growth and overall quality of the off-road equipment industry.
  • Nichino America introduces Gatten®, a new fungicide for powdery mildew control in grapes and other crops. Nichino and OAT Agrio Co., Ltd., the discoverer and manufacturer of Gatten, have reached an agreement for Nichino America to market and sell Gatten in the United States and Canada.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

The Global Promotion of Irish Food & Drink

Jamie Johansen

While traveling Ireland with Alltech and KEENAN we stopped by Bord Bia Irish Food Board to learn more about the role they play in promoting Irish food and drink worldwide.

One of the prize projects they have developed is Origin Green, a program centered around food sustainability. The unique national concept brings in industry, the state and stakeholders within the industry to all work together. Mary Morrissey, Bord Bia Sr. Manager Food & Beverage Division, said, “It starts at the farm level. The next stage up is the manufacturing level and recently we’ve added the final end of the leg, retailers and foodservice operators.”

Just like farming and ranching in the U.S., Ireland is faced with the need to prove sustainability. This program is doing just that. “On the farm, it is about setting a standard and auditing farmers at either the beef or dairy assurance scheme and then moving on to the manufacturing and further up the supply chain.

Origin Green’s 280+ verified members now account for over 90% of Ireland’s total food and drink exports, a fourth consecutive year of growth. And their over 500 participating companies’ account for 95% of total food and drink exports, highlighting the ongoing and sustained commitment of Irish food and drink manufacturers towards sustainability and Origin Green.

Listen to my complete interview with Mary to learn more about Origin Green and how they are marketing Ireland’s brands internationally: Interview with Mary Morrissey, Bord Bia

Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway Photo Album

 

Great Green Getaway Coverage Sponsored by Alltech & KEENANKeenan logo

 

Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, Alltech, Beef, Dairy, International, Sustainability

ZimmCast 578 from Ag Week in DC

Cindy Zimmerman

Last week was a busy one in Washington, DC with National Ag Day Activities, the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit and American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual Fly-in. It was a week of crazy weather, including six inches of snow the second day of spring, but all events went as planned and were all very successful and well attended.

This podcast includes National Ag Day comments from Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, interviews with American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), and comments from the newly appointed chief ag negotiator for USTR, Gregg Doud. You can find lots more audio and photos from all of last week’s events on AgNewsWire where there is a virtual newsroom for each one. All of the content is in the public domain and free to use.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 578 - Ag Week in DC

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here. Use this url in iTunes or your favorite news reader program/app.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
ACE, Ag Day, Agri-Pulse, Audio, Ethanol, Trade, USDA, ZimmCast

Scholar Farms Offers Masterclass for Drones

Chuck Zimmerman

If you’ve got a drone and are looking for some lessons then you need to talk to Dr. Greg Crutsinger, Founder, Scholar Farms. You can listen to my conversation with him about his newly announced Phytomappers Pro Masterclass below.

This course explains how to integrate drones into commercial workflows for agriculture, forestry, environmental consultancies, scientific research and other plant-related industries.

“Navigating the drone industry can be a daunting process with so many options for hardware, sensors, and software. Then, it can then be quite challenging to understand what all those data mean for different kinds of plants and across the growing season,” says Greg. “Phytomappers Pro was built to provide a solid foundation for plant professionals to get up to speed quickly and integrate drone effectively into their everyday workflow”.

Phytomappers Pro is designed for drone service providers, commercial agriculture team members, land managers, and academics (students, faculty, and researchers) that want to get the best results from using drones for mapping in the field.
 

The course is available for $397 from www.ScholarFarms.com. Additionally, there is a free lesson available, “A Quick Start Guide to Plants and Drones” which gives an industry overview.

You can listen to my interview with Greg here: Interview with Greg Crutsinger, Scholar Farms

AgWired Precision, Audio

Soil Health Partnership Grows and Changes

Cindy Zimmerman

As the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) heads into its fourth year of long-term data collection on working farms, the National Corn Growers Association initiative (NCGA) continues to grow and change.

Nick Goeser, who has served as the project’s director since its launch in 2014, has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Production and Sustainability for the National Corn Growers Association, and while he will still be involved to some degree, SHP will be seeking a new director.

“The Soil Health Partnership is a project I have poured my heart and soul into for the last four years,” Goeser said. “My hope is that this change will bring additional opportunity and support to the partnership.” Goeser will serve as a member of the SHP Steering Committee and remain engaged with the Science Advisory Council.

In other SHP staff changes, former Eastern Iowa Field Manager Elyssa McFarland has accepted a promotion to a new position as Key Relationships Director to identify key contacts at new and existing stakeholder organizations to establish and foster relationships.

Jack Cornell has been promoted to Field Team Director from his former position of Operations Manager to oversee the SHP Field Team and work to add new levels of support in areas like farmer relationship management, data collection and management, special collaborative projects and network expansion efforts.

Former Program Coordinator Anne Dietz has been promoted to SHP Project Manager and will take a more active role in overseeing management of essential projects across SHP such as assistance in grant management, website development, and technology integration efforts.

In addition to a new director, the organization plans to hire a Business Development Director, a Lead Scientist and additional field managers as expansion continues. Several positions are posted on the Soil Health Partnership careers page.

AgWired Precision, NCGA, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

Walker Retires from Case IH

Cindy Zimmerman

Case IH Vice President in North America Jim Walker has retired from the company after more than 11 years, and Scott Harris, current vice president of CASE Construction, will transition to Case IH and lead the brand as vice president for the North American region. The company made the announcement Monday.

“Jim’s leadership has made a significant impact on the Case IH brand, and we thank him for his contribution,” said Andreas Klauser, Case IH president. “We are excited for Scott Harris to join the Case IH brand and drive success for the brand as we look toward the future.”

Harris has demonstrated strong leadership in many positions at CASE Construction and displayed passion for the high-efficiency farming equipment producers rely on every day. His varied roles have prepared him to lead Case IH, focusing on both the needs of producers and its dealer network.

AgWired Precision, Case IH, Equipment

Easter Eggs Are Up in Farm Bureau Survey

Cindy Zimmerman

Your Easter basket is just a little pricier this year, according to the lastest American Farm Bureau Federation Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey.

Higher retail prices for several foods including eggs, orange juice, meat products, bagged salad, shredded cheddar and vegetable oil contributed to the overall increase of two percent compared to last year. The informal survey showed the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $51.05, up $1.02 from a year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, nine increased and seven decreased in average price.

AFBF director of market intelligence John Newton says eggs are 37 percent higher than a year ago. “U.S. egg exports were up nearly 50 percent in 2017 while egg production remained flat,” which led to the strong rise in retail egg prices, he said, noting that bird flu outbreak in South Korea contributed to the increase in U.S. export volumes.

Orange juice prices are up 24 cents or 7.5 percent this year, thanks to Hurricane Irma which contributed to Florida citrus growers harvesting the smallest crop in 70 years.

Several foods showed modest retail price decreases from a year ago: whole milk, white bread, chicken breasts, toasted oat cereal, apples, potatoes and flour.

Click for the details from AFBF.

AFBF, AgWired Animal, Food