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

Agri-Pulse Summit Hits Timely Trade Topics

Cindy Zimmerman

Trade was definitely in the spotlight last week as the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit was being held. Speakers included Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Agricultural Trade, and Food Assistance Ray Starling, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Gregg Doud, among many others.

We will be adding more audio from the event on the AgNewsWire virtual newsroom but here are just a few of the headliners who talked about trade in their remarks.

Sen. Pat Roberts comments at Agri-Pulse summit

Sen. Debbie Stabenow comments at Agri-Pulse summit

Ray Starling, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Agri-Pulse summit

Ted McKinney, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs

Gregg Doud, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Agri-Pulse summit

2018 Ag & Food Policy Summit Photo Album

Agri-Pulse, Audio, Trade

FMC Offers Season Long Disease Protection

Cindy Zimmerman

Kyle Bauer, KFRM, visits with FMC’s Matt Wiggins at Commodity Classic

FMC ever-growing portfolio of products offers corn, soybean and wheat farmers season-long protection from the top disease threats.

At Commodity Classic, FMC Technical Service Manager Matt Wiggins was talking about the three primary solutions they offer for diseases such as Northern corn leaf blight, grey leaf spot, frog-eye leaf spot, target spot, and white mold in soybeans, rust and head scab in wheat. “Number one would be just Topguard®, single mode of action triazole for corn, soybeans and wheat,” said Wiggins. From that, they have Topguard EQ that combines a strobilurin fungicide with FMC’s patented flutriafol, and Preemptor® SC.

Wiggins says FMC has other fungicides in the pipeline going forward. Learn more in this interview –
Interview with FMC's Matt Wiggins on fungicides

FMC at 2018 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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, Corn, FMC, Fungicide

New Toy KEENAN MechFibre365 Mixer Wagon

Carrie Muehling

Farm toy enthusiasts can add a new implement to their collections with the KEENAN MechFibre365 Mixer Wagon.

“What we normally see is if the real thing sells in the real world, then we see a similar thing in the toy,” said Natalie Frow, European Brand Manager for Tomy Britains. “So we work together with them, we get the 3D data with them, we work with our engineers in China and we produced prototypes which we then adapted to make it look like the real thing.”

KEENAN invited local school groups to the company’s headquarters in Dublin for factory tours to celebrate the release of the toy, which will be available beginning in April from KEENAN and toy retailers throughout Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom.

Listen to Jamie’s interview with Natalie here: Interview with Natalie Frow, Tomy Britains

Alltech KEENAN Great Green Getaway Photo Album

 

Great Green Getaway Coverage Sponsored by Alltech & KEENANKeenan logo

 

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Audio, KEENAN

Animal Ag Bites 3/26

Carrie Muehling

  • The 2018 World Pork Expo will mark its 30th anniversary by presenting the world’s largest pork-specific trade show with more exhibit space and featuring more U.S. and international companies than ever before. Presented by the National Pork Producers Council, the world’s largest pork-specific trade show takes place Wednesday, June 6, through Friday, June 8, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. Online registration is now open.
  • Directors of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative have elected a new president and vice president. Brody Stapel, who farms at Double Dutch Dairy along Lake Michigan in Cedar Grove, Wis., was elected president at a meeting March 7. His election as president comes after John Pagel, who had been Edge’s president, passed away in late February as the result of a plane crash. The board also elected Todd Doornink as vice president. Doornink, who farms at Jon-De Dairy in Baldwin in northwestern Wisconsin, has been on the board since 2011.
  • Join Dr. Shelby Roberts, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Alltech Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, for a live webinar on Tuesday, March 27 at 2:00 ET, to take a closer look at calf gut health and the importance of nutrition during the first weeks of the calf’s life. Reserve a spot now via this link. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you can register via the link to receive the recording.
  • Award applications for the 12th annual National Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Awards now are being accepted. The 2019 National BQA Awards recognize five winners in the areas of beef, dairy, marketing and education. Find the application and nomination requirements here. Applications are due by June 1, 2018.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Liberty Weed Control Guarantee Returns

Cindy Zimmerman

For the second year, Bayer is offering the Liberty® Weed Control Guarantee on the effective weed control of Liberty herbicide.

Heading into the 2018 season, growers who use Liberty can look forward to clean fields, thanks to the herbicide’s effective weed control and the guarantee. To qualify, growers must talk to their retailer about local requirements and S.T.O.P. Weeds with Liberty application guidelines.

“I have been using Liberty herbicide for two years,” said Mark Tuttle, a grower from Somonauk, Ill. “I’m always impressed by how Liberty controls some of the most challenging weeds like waterhemp and giant ragweed. But, every season is different, and weeds are always one of my greatest concerns. The Liberty Weed Control Guarantee helps make the decision to use Liberty each year easy. It’s a great added benefit.

S.T.O.P Weeds with Liberty application guidelines

Start clean and stay clean – Start clean with a burndown herbicide prior to planting and stay clean by controlling escapes
Target weeds under three inches tall – Small weeds are easier to control and Liberty should be applied on less than 3 inch weeds.
Optimize coverage – Use appropriate rates, a minimum of 15 gallons of water and medium to coarse droplet size.
Pair with residuals – Apply labeled rates of pre-residual herbicide with two effective modes of action.

Local Bayer representatives can provide requirements for specific regions.

Listen to Mark Tuttle at Commodity Classic talk about why he uses Liberty: Interview with Mark Tuttle, Illinois Grower

Learn more about Liberty from Jody Wynia and David Tanner: Interview with Jody Wynia & David Tanner, Bayer

Photos, video, and audio interviews from Bayer at Commodity Classic Bayer sponsor logo
AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Commodity Classic, weed management

Ethanol and Pork on China’s Draft Retaliation List

Cindy Zimmerman

Following action by President Trump yesterday to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports, China is making its list of what U.S. products will be the target of retaliation. The list reportedly includes agricultural products such as U.S. pork, modified ethanol, wine, fruits and nuts, and soybeans are expected to be as well.

“We sell a lot of pork to China, so higher tariffs on our exports going there will harm our producers and undermine the rural economy,” said National Pork Producers Council President Jim Heimerl of Ohio. “No one wins in these tit-for-tat trade disputes, least of all the farmers and the consumers.”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says they expected ethanol would be on the list. “China’s response was entirely predictable, given recent actions by our administration to implement new tariffs. It is my fervent hope that the White House now fully understands the impact these actions will have on America’s ethanol industry and farmers, and we urge the administration to redouble its efforts to expand demand for ethanol here at home.”

China was the third-largest market for U.S. ethanol exports in 2016, accounting for almost 20% of total exports, but Dinneen says the country imposed a 30% tariff on U.S. ethanol last year, bringing sales down to almost nothing until recently when they have started to tick back up despite the tariff. “But a 15% additional tariff, on top of the 30 percent that’s already there will clearly prohibit any sales to that country,” Dinneen says.

Audio file – RFA CEO Bob Dinneen reacts to potential China retaliation tariffs

AgWired Animal, Audio, Ethanol, Exports, Pork, RFA, Soybean

Reaction to Presidential Trade Tariff Actions

Cindy Zimmerman

Exports are literally the life blood of U.S. agriculture, so it is not surprising that reaction to President Trump’s trade tariff actions this week from agricultural groups has been largely negative and fearful that it will lead to retaliation.

U.S. Grains Council (USGC) President and CEO Tom Sleight says they are dismayed by the tariffs against China announced yesterday by the Trump Administration. “For every action there’s an opposite and equal reaction,” said Sleight. “Agriculture is usually at the front of the line when it comes to retaliatory action.”

Thanks to Tony St. James, All Ag Radio Network, for these comments from Sleight:
USGC CEO Tom Sleight comments on China tariffs

“We know that China is a bad actor, there’s no doubt about that, but we have to be very thoughtful when it comes to trade policy,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) in an interview yesterday. “Just by knee-jerk reaction with any sort of tariffs could create problems for our agricultural industry.”
Sen. Ernst comments on China tariffs

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, commented on the potential harm tariffs could cause for farmers and ranchers during the Agri-Pulse policy summit on Wednesday. “Agriculture producers are understandably concerned about trade and the effects of recent actions taken by the administration,” said Roberts. “China is one of the United States’ top agriculture markets and damage to that market in any form will likely result in a significant harm to the U.S. agricultural economy.”

Sen. Pat Roberts comments at Agri-Pulse summit

More audio to come – stay tuned!

Audio, Exports, Trade

Meeting Demand for Soy in Southeast Asia

Carrie Muehling

The Southeast Asian region represents a large part of the world’s soy consumption, and a significant market for U.S. soy products. While dietary needs and preferences are changing in that region, U.S. soy is still an important part of meeting the region’s demand.

“Southeast Asia is a very traditional soy food consumption region,” said Boon Yee Yeong, Senior Technical Consultant for Human Utilization in Southeast Asia for the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). “A quarter of the world’s soy food is actually consumed in Southeast Asia. Over the past 25 years, definitely we are moving away from a lot of the old traditional soy food into the new modern trait. I think it can be seen through a lot of the new innovation in terms of soy products, and even the traditional soy food is actually taking a new life. They are much more attractive to the younger generation. And, of course, people are recognizing the functional benefit of eating soy, so definitely there is a movement of the producers and manufacturers to capture this new identity of soy.”

Education programs coordinated by USSEC have been instrumental in promoting U.S. soy to the region, which imports American soy products for use in every sector, from traditional to new foods and from high value ingredients to generic products.

Listen to Jamie’s interview here: Interview with Boon Yee Yeong, USSEC SE Asia

USSEC SE Asia Buyers Conference Photo Album

Audio, Soybean, USSEC