Zimfo Bytes 12/15

Carrie Muehling

    • American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall has been appointed to the White House’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Members of the ACTPN advise the president on the potential effects of proposed and current trade agreements. The ACTPN, which is administered by the U.S. Trade Representative, is the main trade advisory committee that provides policy information and advice to the president.

    • John Heisdorffer of Keota, Iowa, will serve as the 2018 president of the American Soybean Association, following a vote of the ASA board this morning in St. Louis. Heisdorffer raises soybeans, corn and hogs with his wife, Deanna and son Chris. Heisdorffer replaces Illinois’ Ron Moore as president, and Moore will move to the role of ASA Chairman. Former Chairman Richard Wilkins of Delaware rotates off the nine-member ASA Governing Committee.

    • Cotton Incorporated has inducted the 2017 class of the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame. The program, now in its fourth year, recognizes U.S. cotton industry leaders that have made significant contributions to the Program or to the cotton industry in general. The three honorees for the 2017 Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame include: the late Dr. Harold L. “Hal” Lewis (Arkansas); the late Lawson “Sykes” Martin (Alabama); and Dr. William M. “Bill” Lyle (Texas).

    • Amy Jones, Senior Engineer in the Construction and Forestry Division of John Deere, has earned the SAE International/AEM Outstanding Young Engineer Award.

    • The Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) will again offer member companies the opportunity to host an outstanding student intern in summer 2018 as part of the ARC Internship Program. Organizations wishing to apply to host the 2018 intern must apply by Friday, Dec. 29, to be considered. Host applications can be found on the ARC website, at www.agrelationscouncil.com.

    • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been rated by employees as among the top ten best places to work in the federal government, moving up two notches to come in at seventh place in the 2017 rankings.  That is an improvement over 2016’s rankings, when USDA came in tied for ninth place.

    • Robert M. Thompson, a partner with the Kansas City office of the Bryan Cave law firm, was elected chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City at the group’s annual meeting held December 7. Greg Krissek, CEO of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Corn Commission, was elected vice chairman of the Council.

    • Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, will become a sponsor of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), the only global agricultural journalists’ association. The Caterpillar sponsorship funds two new initiatives: the IFAJ Caterpillar AgTech Reporting Award, and the Caterpillar Development Bursary.
Zimfo Bytes

Chromatin Growing Sorghum Improvements

Cindy Zimmerman

The first S in the CSS 2017 and Seed Expo is for Sorghum, which was one of the first two crops that started the annual conference back in 1945 as the Corn & Sorghum Conference.

Sorghum has come a very long way since then and improvements being made in the crop could make a major difference in developing countries, according to Charles Miller, Vice President of Business Development and International Sales for Chromatin. “We’re looking at the crop in a way that has never been done before,” he said, noting that there are actually six different races of sorghum with very diverse traits. “So we can take that diversity, isolate it, and build products that are very specific for end uses.”

Sorghum in this country has been diversifying more, according to Mike Battin, Chromatin VP for national sales. “We’ve seen a real interest in demand in higher value sorghum when it comes to the food sector,” said Battin. “It’s always been traditionally a feed stock but we are seeing a lot of demand now for human consumption.”

Chromatin is a “sorghum only” company and their flagship brand is Sorghum Partners. Learn more in this interview from CSS: Interview with Charles Miller and Mike Battin, Chromatin

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA, Audio, Seed, sorghum

New Bayer Seed Treatment Offers Promising Yield Benefit

Carrie Muehling

Bayer is helping growers bring more value without increasing inputs with Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0. The seed treatment is designed to bring a healthier soil environment around the plant root, yielding an additional average 3.8 bushels per acre.

“With Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0, you don’t have to change what you’re doing today – especially in the cost effective environment that we’re in today – and still bring more value to the farmer’s bottom line,” said Jennifer Riggs, Seed Growth Product Development Manager with Bayer.

Riggs said Poncho/VOTiVO 2.0 helps bring more dollars to rural economies while decreasing the environmental footprint necessary to add more bushels, according to a three-year study by AgInfomatics, LLC.

Learn more in this interview from last week’s CSS 2017 and Seed Expo: Interview with Jennifer Riggs, Bayer

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA, Audio, Bayer, Seed

House Ag Committee Launches Farm Bill Website

Cindy Zimmerman

The House Agriculture Committee is ready to get to work on the 2018 Farm Bill, so Chairman Mike Conaway (TX-11) today announced the launch of a new online farm bill resource designed to provide updates and information.

“I’m committed to completing a farm bill on time. We’ve spent the past three years preparing—holding 113 hearings and six listening sessions around the country,” said Rep. Conawy. “We’re working on getting the policy right and will use this site as a resource as we advance the next farm bill.”

The landing page to the site includes “This is the Farm Bill,” the first in a series of videos. Watch it here:


Farm Bill, Video

USDA Boosts Corn for Ethanol Forecast

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol is driving up demand for corn in the December supply demand estimate from USDA.

The forecast for 2017-18 increases the amount of corn used to produce ethanol by 50 million bushels to 5.525 billion, based on less sorghum going to ethanol production. Corn ending stocks are lowered in turn by 50 million bushels but the impact on the season-average farm price range barely increased at $2.85 to $3.55 per bushel.

“While growth in the ethanol market is essential, our farm families also need growth in the livestock and export markets to improve market conditions,” said National Corn Growers Association Chairman Wesley Spurlock, a farmer from Texas. “Whether it be promoting the trade agreements farmers need in Washington or building demand for higher blends of ethanol across the world, NCGA strives to help farmers grow markets for their growing crop.”

The 2017/18 corn crop is still estimated at a record 14.78 bushels with a record yield forecast of 175.4 bushels per acre. Ethanol production is also setting records this year. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production just hit a new weekly production level of 1.108 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 46.54 million gallons daily. The four-week average for ethanol production increased to a record 1.076 million b/d for an annualized rate of 16.50 billion gallons—about 6% higher than a year ago.

Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA, USDA

Precision Ag Bytes 12/13

Carrie Muehling

  • Valley Irrigation announced that the Valley ICON series of smart panels has been named New Product of the Year by Agri Marketing Magazine. The four smart panels in the series provide center pivot irrigation operators equipment with an intuitive, customizable graphical user interface they can utilize at the pivot point or from a tablet or smartphone. The panels are compatible with most center pivot brands, are easy to upgrade and have plenty of memory.
  • This year marked the 175th anniversary for Case IH. The history of Case IH goes back to 1842 when Jerome Increase Case founded Racine Threshing Machine Works to produce a revolutionary machine to speed up the separation of grain after harvest. This legacy combines with that of other historic agriculture equipment manufacturers to make the company Case IH is today. The iconic equipment used on farms throughout the world includes Farmall, Maxxum, Magnum and Steiger series tractors; Early Riser planters, Patriot series sprayers and Axial-Flow combines.
  • Case IH has announced seamless data transfer capabilities between its Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) Connect farm management system and six new major service providers, including popular farm management system AgDNA. Users of AFS Connect will have the ability to share their agronomic data from their management portal directly to and from these third-party service providers.
  • ​Spensa​ ​Technologies​ ​Inc.,​ ​a​ ​precision​ ​agriculture​ ​technology​ ​company,​ ​announced​ ​its​ ​partnership​ ​with​ ​TerrAvion,​ ​Inc.,​ ​a​ ​California-based​ ​startup​ ​which​ ​provides​ ​aerial​ ​imagery​ ​for agriculture. As​ ​customers​ ​of​ ​Spensa​ ​work​ ​with​ ​farmers​ ​to​ ​scout​ ​fields,​ ​they​ ​can​ ​subscribe​ ​to​ ​receive​ ​up-to-date​ ​aerial imagery​ ​of​ ​all​ ​of​ ​the​ ​fields​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​synthetic​ ​maps​ ​and​ ​analyses​ ​throughout​ ​the​ ​growing​ ​season​ ​using TerrAvion’s​ ​image​ ​delivery​ ​platform,​ ​OverView.
  • TerrAvion,​ ​the​ ​market​ ​leader​ ​in​ ​aerial​ ​imagery​ ​for​ ​agriculture,​ ​announced a partnership​ ​and​ ​full​ ​integration​ ​with​ ​agX,​ ​the​ ​precision​ ​agriculture​ ​industry’s​ ​solution​ ​to​ ​data standardization​ ​and​ ​seamless​ ​exchange​ ​of​ ​data​ ​between​ ​software​ ​applications.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

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