AgriVisor’s Insight Program Kicks Off Eighth Year

Carrie Muehling

Farmers will again have the opportunity in 2018 to commit bushels into the Insight managed bushel program through participating elevators across the Midwest.

Participating farmers can choose any or all of four analysts including AgriVisor, who will then price grain out for them during a specific time period. Farmers can commit corn, soybean or wheat bushels to the program. They are notified anytime a transaction takes place. While the program doesn’t guarantee the best price, GROWMARK Manager for Grain Risk Cory Winstead explains it as another way to manage risk.

“The idea of the program is to diversify risk, take some of that marketing pressure off of the farmer and put it in someone else’s hands,” said Winstead.

The deadline to participate in the 2018 pricing period is December 31, 2017. The Insight program is offered by local elevators through Illinois and Iowa, as well as Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Alabama and Ontario, Canada. AgriVisor is a partnership between GROWMARK and Illinois Farm Bureau.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Cory Winstead here: Interview with Cory Winstead, GROWMARK

AgWired Precision, Audio, GROWMARK, Marketing

Plant Breeders Award Grad Scholarships

Jamie Johansen

The National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders (NCCPB) represents member companies in the business of plant improvement. So, a perfect place for them to award their Graduate Student Plant Breeding Award was the recent American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo in Chicago, IL.

NCCPB offered three graduate student currently pursuing a PhD. in plant breeding awards of $2,500 each and an invitation to attend the CSS 2017 meeting with expenses paid.

We were able to sit down with the three recipients to learn more about their research and future plans in the seed industry. Meet Race Higgins, Iowa State University; Mitchell Schumann, Texas A&M Univerisity; and Stacie Shuler, University of Wisconsin.

Listen here: Interview with NCCPB Scholarship Winners

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

Ag Groups, AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Crop Science, Plant Breeding

StollerUSA at #ASTACSS

Jamie Johansen

The 2017 American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo has grown into quite the show over the years and serves as a great place for agribusinesses to communicate their works with their peers and ag media. StollerUSA took advantage of that holding a press conference to discuss their focus.

“We are not growing anymore land so we have to optimize the acreage that we currently have in corn, soybeans, wheat, etc. Utilizing our seed treatment platform and our other products throughout the growing season is when you will see the yield bump, which the grower needs,” said Don Botkin, Division Sales Manager.

Botkin says Stoller is optimistic looking into 2018. During the press conference, they reported a good 2017 in terms of sales globally. “We do have a new product guide that was introduced during the show. We are revamping our website and we are investing dollars into training initiatives,” Botkin said.

Listen to my complete interview with Don and the press conference held at #ASTACSS here: Interview with Don Botkin, StollerUSA StollerUSA Press Conference

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio

Driving Ethanol Home for the Holidays

Cindy Zimmerman

Last year, AAA estimated that nearly 100 million Americans took a holiday road trip and we can expect at least that many on the road this year heading home for the holidays. Growth Energy wants to let all those holiday drivers know that E15 (15% ethanol) can brighten the season even more by helping them save a little green.

In this Driving Ethanol podcast, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor talks about the clean, high-performance fueling option that can save families money.

Listen to the podcast here: Growth Energy Podcast 12-12-17

Subscribe to the Driving Ethanol podcast

Ethanol, Podcasts

Delaro™ Fungicide Ready to Work for Growers in 2018

Cindy Zimmerman

*POST UPDATED with grower interview*

Bayer’s new Delaro™ fungicide for corn and soybeans was put to the test by growers this past season in 500 field trials across 20 states and passed with flying colors by providing broad-spectrum disease control, dual mode of action residual and improved plant health.

“Disease pressure was inconsistent across the country this year, meaning some growers were caught unprepared,” said Thorsten Schwindt, Bayer corn and soybean fungicides product manager. “Growers need a tool that controls the worst yield robbing diseases and helps them get the most out of their corn hybrids and soybean varieties.”

Randy Myers, fungicides portfolio manager, explained that the extended performance growers see from Delaro is a result of both its triazole and strobilurin components working through the entire application interval to provide better performance and manage resistance. “We designed Delaro to be different from what is currently in the marketplace,” said Myers. “We now have residual activity all the way through the spring interval.”

Delaro has received EPA label approval and will be available for the upcoming season. For more information about Delaro observations in their area, growers can talk to their local Bayer representatives and retailers. To learn more, visit www.delaro.us.

Learn more in this interview with Schwindt and Myers: Interview with Thorsten Schwindt and Randy Myers, Bayer

Dan Durick of McClleland, Iowa, a former national NCGA yield contest winner, participated in the Delaro trial this season because he likes to try cutting-edge products and is always looking to outdo his yield from the year before. “Where we applied Delaro versus another product, I feel Delaro did a better job for us,” said Durick, who had 40- to 50-mile-per-hour winds a few weeks before harvest. “Where we sprayed Delaro I feel the plant health was quite a bit better and withstood the winds for us, so we were pretty happy with that.”

Listen to Dan tell his story about using Delaro this season: Interview with Dan Durick, Iowa farmer

Audio, Bayer, Corn, Crop Protection, Fungicide, Soybean

John Deere Announces New Generation 4 Display Applications

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere has announced four new precision applications for the Generation 4 Displays. These are being sold in a bundle activation deal for the John Deere 4600 CommandCenter™ and as bundled subscriptions for 4640 Universal Displays. I visited with John Misher, John Deere, to learn more about each of them.

“These new applications are machine-specific bundled activations with the 4600 CommandCenter and provide late-model John Deere machine owners with outstanding technology value,” said Misher, precision agriculture product marketing manager with John Deere.

The four applications are:
AutoTrac Turn Automation
AutoTrac Implement Guidance
AutoTrac Vision for Tractors
In-Field Data Sharing

Learn more in this interview: Interview with John Misher, John Deere

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Clariant Agrocer™ Now Granulated

Cindy Zimmerman

Clariant once again brightened up the trade show floor at the CSS 2017 and Seed Expo last week in Chicago and announced the latest development in their dedicated range of colorants for the agricultural industry.

Clariant’s Agrocer seed colorants are now available in pre-dispersed granulated pigments with a very small particle size making them easy to disperse in cold water. “These are actually dried granules and are dust-free,” said Mark Self, market segment manager for Clariant. “They require minimal effort – just basically a stir-in.”

Self says Clariant has learned quite a bit from exhibiting at the seed expo for the last three years, and actually developed the new granulated product based on customer feedback at the show. “We get to meet a lot of seed companies and major producers of seed so we get to learn more of their needs and what they are looking for,” he said.

The new pre-dispersed granules flow like liquid, can be metered and are suitable for applications where a dust-free dry stir in process is needed. Agrocer Green 007 Gran. and Agrocer Yellow 001 Gran. are currently available in the granulated form. More colors will be added in the coming months.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Mark Self, Clariant

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Clariant, Seed

ZimmCast from #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman

This ZimmCast comes to you from the ASTA CSS 2017 and Seed Expo in Chicago which I attended last week for the sixth year in a row, and Jamie got to experience for the first time.

Founded in 1883, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is one of the oldest trade organizations in the United States. The CSS stands for corn, sorghum and soybeans. The conference, which is held annually in Chicago, began as the Corn & Sorghum Conference in 1945. The Soybean Seed Research Conference was added in 1970 and the Seed Expo trade show started six years later. All wrapped into one, the event brings about 2500 seed industry professionals together every year to usher in the holiday season by unwrapping the latest seed research, policy, and technology.

Jamie and I sat down with Greg Lammert of Rhea+Kaiser, who was at the event representing their client Bayer, and we talked about the conference, the industry and communicating the story of agriculture. Also included are interviews with ASTA chair Tracy Tally of Justin Seed Co. and Julie Borlaug, Inari Agriculture who spoke at the meeting. Enjoy!

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 568 from the ASTA CSS 2017 & Seed Expo

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

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

The ZimmCast

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The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
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Agencies, ASTA, Audio, Seed, ZimmCast

Animal Ag Bites 12/11

Carrie Muehling

  • Merck Animal Health hosted leading animal welfare experts together with subject matter experts from agriculture, food processing/packing and retail in a first of its kind symposium “Advancing Animal Welfare Together” in September in Dallas, Texas. The gathering explored ways to work together to address practices essential to animal welfare today, and advancements possible in the future.
  • The November Dairy Market Report from the National Milk Producers Federation reports recent signs that overall supply has been gradually heading back toward balance with demand in U.S. domestic dairy markets. These include year-over-year growth in milk production well below 2 percent, slower growth in cheese production, further reduction in cheese stocks and continued growth in cheese exports.
  • Pig farmers and food production companies alike are wrapping up a successful 2017 that continues to show steady consumer demand for pork. The summer grilling season ended strongly, and signs point to a solid year-end opportunity for ham. The National Pork Board shares Nielsen Perishables Group data showing overall retail spending on pork by U.S. consumers was up by more than 3 percent in dollar sales during the month of October.
  • The American Hereford Association (AHA) released the first updated expected progeny differences (EPDs) and corresponding accuracies using the Biometric Open Language Tools (BOLT) genetic evaluation software Dec. 4. The new genetic evaluation also includes two new traits, Sustained Cow Fertility (SCF) and Dry Matter Intake (DMI), and updated profit ($) indexes. EPDs will be released once a week, an increase in frequency from the previous 10 times a year.
  • Dr. Max Hawkins, nutritionist with the Alltech Mycotoxin Management team, will present data collected across the U.S. as part of the 2017 Alltech U.S. Harvest Analysis. The presentation will outline the mycotoxin risk levels found in both forages and grains, focusing on ruminants. Register for the Dec. 14 webinar here.

     

AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

2017 Deer Hunt – John Deere Gator – Episode 2

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello and welcome to episode number two of a series of videos and posts I’m doing, along with other members of our Crystal Pig Hunt Club (CPHC), throughout the Georgia deer hunting season. We’re well into this year’s season and have been out on the property several times. I’m making plans for at least one more trip this year, keeping my finger crossed.

Here’s Paul’s son, Joe, who once again got his deer on his first trip out. He got to ride in the John Deere Gator XUV825i we’ve been test driving and likes it. In the video below you can hear him talk to Paul about hunting with a Gator while they are heading out to their stands on a sunny afternoon.

You can see photos of the Gator in the wild here: 2017 Deer Hunt – John Deere Gator Photo Album


Hunting, John Deere, Video