Democrat Senators Offer Farm Bill Energy Package

Cindy Zimmerman

Senator Al Franken (D-MN), together with Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) have introduced the Agricultural Energy Programs Reauthorization Act of 2017, to reauthorize Title IX programs and funding through 2023.

“Each and every day, our nation’s farmers have our backs,” said Sen. Franken, a member of the Senate Energy Committee. “I believe we need to have theirs as well. My measure will support rural jobs, play a critical role in cutting energy costs, and help farmers and producers invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.”

According to the Agriculture Energy Coalition, the legislation would make renewable chemicals facilities fully eligible to participate in the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program; expand the BioPreferred program and the REAP program; and add new mandatory funding to “create economic and energy opportunities for rural America.”

Biodiesel, Biofuels, Ethanol, Farm Bill

John Deere 5R Series Utility Tractor – Power & Versatility

Jamie Johansen

Offering tractors from 90 to 125 engine hp, the John Deere 5R series tractors were on display at the 2017 Farm Progress Show. Attendees saw first-hand the advanced technology to the utility tractor provides, meeting many farming demands. John Doyle, product marketing manager, took us through key product specs and the ideal customer of this new product offering.

“The 5R is the highest horsepower tractor we have made out of the Augusta, GA factory, with up to 125 engine horsepower. One of the key aspects of utility tractors is maneuverability. Our 5R tractors have best in class turning radius which is key for customers turning in tight spaces,” Doyle said.

The 5R series comes in four models, all with an easy-to-use transmission, AutoClutch and the list goes on and on. Doyle said this series is perfect for the livestock producer and anyone focused on forage production. Listen to my complete interview with John here: Interview with John Doyle, John Deere

View John Deere photos here: John Deere at #FPS17 Photo Album

View all our photos from FPS here: 2017 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience
Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Equipment, Farm Progress Show, Forage, Hay, John Deere, Livestock

Arkansas Urged to Consider Impact of Dicamba Ban

Cindy Zimmerman

Soybean leaf cupping seen from suspected dicamba drift (ZimmComm file photo)

The Arkansas State Plant Board is considering recommendations for dicamba use in the 2018 growing season that Monsanto calls “unwarranted” and BASF considers to be a “rush to judgement.”

On August 24, the state’s Dicamba Task Force voted to recommend a cutoff date of April 15 next year for the use of all dicamba products, including Monsanto’s XtendiMax and BASF’s Engenia, meaning farmers could basically only use the product as a burn down, not post emerge.

“By just focusing on the burn-down, growers aren’t going to get the full advantage of an Engenia-like product,” said BASF Midwest Technical Service Manager Gary Schmitz during an interview at Farm Progress Show. “Weeds like Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, kochia, they’re really going to need that post-emerge application to manage that.”

BASF Vice President for U.S. Crop Scott Kay says farmers who used in Engenia this season were pleased with the results and the company is committed to fully investigating and understanding the off-target reports and damage this year. “It’s probably the best weed control farmers have seen in probably a decade,” said Kay. “We’re on the farm with over 400 people and talking with farmers and walking with them and we’re still looking at some results.”

Listen to interviews with Schmitz and Kay below:
Interview with Gary Schmitz, BASF
Interview with Scott Kay, BASF

Monsanto, which sells both the dicamba-tolerant soybean seed and the herbicide itself, last week filed a petition with the Arkansas State Plant Board to “halt an unwarranted and misinformed ban on dicamba, a critical tool for growers—and to ensure that growers in Arkansas have access to a vital new weed-control tool next year.”

BASF and Monsanto are both working with agriculture departments in the states where issues with dicamba drift were reported. Arkansas has been a hot spot for dicamba issues with nearly 1000 complaints filed, over 75% of the cases reported in more than a dozen states.

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, Soybean, weed management

GROWMARK Eyes Priorities for New Farm Bill

Carrie Muehling

GROWMARK Executive Director for Corporate and Government Relations Chuck Spencer heard some clear messages at a farm bill listening session during the 2017 Farm Progress Show in Decatur.

Spencer says agricultural producers in the Midwest have strong opinions about the need for crop insurance and how to improve current options. Farmers shared the desire for a strong safety net, hoping for improvements, but not fundamental changes, to price loss revenue coverage. Conservation practices continue to be another priority with a focus on soil health, water quality, and nutrient management.

Spencer shared other priorities with regard to tax reform, transportation and infrastructure as discussion ahead of the next farm bill continues.

“We all understand the critical value of our road, river, rail and runway systems. And that’s what needs to make us worldwide competitive, because we have technology advancements, growing advancements on the farm, and we’re more efficient acre by acre which helps sustainability,” says Spencer. “Now we need to make sure we get it to the markets as efficiently as possible going down that path. That’s new 1200-foot locks, that’s better bridges and roadways and it’s better transportation systems for the rail, as well.”

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Chuck Spencer at the 2017 Farm Progress Show: Interview with Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK

View all photos from FPS here: 2017 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience
Agribusiness, Farm Bill, Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK

SMART Farmer Robb Fraley

Cindy Zimmerman

Robb Fraley isn’t our typical SMART Farmer, but after growing up on a small Illinois farm, his work has helped farmers around the world produce food more sustainably with science and technology that has helped increase yields by decreasing threats to crops. That technology is genetic modification of plants, creating GMO crops that are resistance to insects and disease, able to tolerate extreme variations in climate, and even provide human health benefits.

As executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto Company, Fraley has made a commitment to broader open dialogue to address consumer concerns innovations in agriculture, including biotechnology, and one way Monsanto has done that is to help the efforts of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). “Working together as an industry we need to share more background and more information on food innovation and GMO safety with the millions of people out there who have legitimate questions,” Fraley said.

Listen to our SMART farmer conversation with Robb Fraley – SMART Farmer Podcast with Robb Fraley, Monsanto

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

AgWired Precision, Audio, GMO, USFRA

John Deere Acquires Blue River Technology

Chuck Zimmerman

Farming just keeps getting smarter thanks to new technology like that being developed by Blue River Technology. It certainly caught the attention of John Deere which just announced acquisition of Blue River. To learn more about what Blue River Technology does and what this means to John Deere and its customers I spoke by phone with Willy Pell, Director of New Technology, Blue River Technology and Deanna Kovar, Director, Production & Precision Ag Marketing at John Deere.

Blue River has designed and integrated computer vision and machine learning technology that will enable growers to reduce the use of herbicides by spraying only where weeds are present, optimizing the use of inputs in farming – a key objective of precision agriculture. I didn’t really know what the term “machine learning” meant for farming until this interview. One of the results is the ability to enable thousands of instantaneous, customized, precise decisions to be made at the plant level.

You can read the announcement release here.

You can listen to my interview to learn more: Interview with John Deere and Blue River Technology

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Technology

Animal Ag Bites 9/11

Kelly Marshall

  • Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 10 requests for export assistance from member cooperatives that have contracts to sell 793,664 pounds cheese to Asia. Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share and expands the demand for U.S. dairy.
  • The National Pork Board is pleased to announce this year’s four finalists for 2017 America’s Pig Farmer of the Year.  You can vote once a day per email at AmericasPigFarmer.com.
  • The International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) is in their sixth year hosting the Young Leaders “30 under 30” program.   The goal is to engage the next generation of professionals who work in the production and processing of poultry and meat or in production of animal or poultry feed.
  • Member of the National Pork Producers Council are headed to Washington D.C. this week. More than 125 pork producers will lobby congressional lawmakers on issues affecting the industry, as well as asking the Trump administration to purse bilateral trade agreements.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Bayer Showcases Cotton and Peanuts

Cindy Zimmerman

The peanut and cotton crops are looking especially good right now in Georgia and with harvest still about two weeks away farmers are hopeful Hurricane Irma will spare them.

“Harvest season is always critical and you can have a great year and it all be ruined by one hurricane,” said Keith Rucker, Bayer Southeast region technical service rep, during a showcase plot tour last week near Moultrie, Georgia.

The plot tour showcased Bayer solutions for peanut and cotton farmers in the southeast, including Propulse® which is a fungicide/nematicide, and Proline® fungicide with a new registration as a foliar fungicide for cotton to fight target spot.

Bayer regional agronomy manager Scott Asher talked about two new Stoneville cotton varieties introduced this year for the Southeast.

ST 5020GLT, a medium maturity variety with TwinLink, to provide season-long resistance to a broad spectrum of worms; and GlyTol and LibertyLink to control herbicide-resistant and tough weeds with the unique mode of action provided by Liberty® herbicide; and ST 5517GLTP, a later medium maturity variety with the industry-leading three-gene Bt technology of TwinLink Plus.

“The most interest in these two varieties would be around bacterial blight resistance,” said Asher, who says cases of blight increased this year in a broader area.

Learn more about Bayer’s cotton and peanut portfolio:
Interview with Keith Rucker, Bayer

Learn more about new Stoneville cotton varieties:
Interview with Scott Asher, Bayer

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Cotton, Peanuts

Soil Health Partnership Simulates Rain at FPS17

Carrie Muehling

The weather was perfect at the 2017 Farm Progress Show but it was raining in the Soil Health Partnership exhibit.

The highlight of the exhibit was a rainfall simulator, demonstrating the effects of rainfall on different types of management practices. The eye catching display provided an opportunity for the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership to promote different aspects of soil management and how those relate to water infiltration and soil health.

“This rainfall simulator shows how much better a healthy soil will take in water. It will reduce erosion, it will have less nutrient runoff,” says Jim Isermann, Soil Health Partnership Illinois field manager. “We try to tie that back to the more conventional farmers who are here today in that discussion about soil health and ultimately improving their bottom line over time, recognizing that it’s a slow process and it’s a long term commitment to soil health.”

Farmers who work with the Soil Health Partnership are doing long term studies on ground to see what kind of effect practices such as cover crops can have on both environmental side and bottom line economically.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jim Isermann at the 2017 Farm Progress Show: Interview with Jim Isermann, Soil Health Partnership

View all photos from FPS here: 2017 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience
AgWired Precision, Audio, Conservation, Farm Progress Show, Soil Health Partnership

Achieve Your Personal Best Yields with Bayer’s Delaro™

Jamie Johansen

Bayer understands the need for chemistry that covers a broad range of environmental conditions. They also know the best way to do that is with a product that has two modes of action focused on advanced formulas with unique movement the entire growing season.

We spoke with Bayer’s Dr. Randy Myers during the 2017 Farm Progress Show who provided us with key grower benefits of their new product, Delaro.

“We’ve brought this new fungicide to the marketplace because we are trying to meet grower needs currently unmet. There are a number of fungicide choices out there and virtually all of them have similarities. We have to figure out what growers are needing, what the shortage is. Disease activity is increasing as we reduce tillage and have infections from one year to the next,” Myers said.

For both corn and soybeans, Delaro provides unbeatable broad-spectrum disease control, best-in-class dual mode of action residual and improved plant health.

Listen to my complete interview with Randy as he shares scouting tips and where you can go to learn more about fungicides that will help growers improve their bottom line.

Interview with Randy Myers, Bayer

View Bayer photos here: Bayer CropScience at #FPS17 Photo Album

View all photos from FPS here: 2017 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John DeereCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by GrowmarkCoverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience
Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Corn, Crop Science, Farm Progress Show, Fungicide, Soybean