Elanco celebrated the opening of their new autogenous poultry vaccine manufacturing facility in Winslow, Maine earlier this summer. The new facility is dedicated to manufacturing customized inactivated vaccines for unique disease challenges.- This month the National Young Farmers Coalition is hosting the Young Farmers Roundtables to provide an oppoturnity for members to express their needs to members of the House Agriculture Committee.
- On Aug. 4, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that its members have approved a three-year extension of the labor contract covering 29 West Coast ports. The contract between ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) now runs through June 30, 2022 reports the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Free Fuel Happy Hours at The Buffalo Chip
The Buffalo Chip Campground now has its own gas dispenser. It’s a high octane blend of E10 which as all bikers need to know is warrantied safe by all manufacturers. In fact, this 93 octane, is highly sought after by the attendees of this year’s Sturgis Rally who are out at The Chip and is usually hard to find. But thanks to the Renewable Fuels Association, working with The Buffalo Chip, there is now a supply at a self service pump on the property.
During this week I will be working with RFA as they hold daily Free Fuel Happy Hours when bikers can just pull up and get a free tank for their next ride. During the week I’ll be visiting with many of our customers to learn what they know about ethanol. While they are filling up they will learn more about ethanol, get the facts and hopefully be able to help spread that word to others.
RFA is a major sponsor here during the Sturgis Rally. One of the locations you’ll see educational information is on the jumbotrons on either side of the Wolfman Jack stage where major bands like Shinedown and Ozzy are playing this week. Last night Shinedown performed to a large crowd which I imagine will be even bigger when Ozzy takes the stage later this week.
I’ll be collecting photos and interviews to share during the week so keep an eye on AgWired for the latest.
CropTrak Continues Steady Success
In an industry where tech start-ups abound, CropTrak is a self-made success story in the precision ag space by simply selling a good product that people want to buy.
The company started in 2009 and has just continued to grow year after year “with a little rinky dink booth at InfoAg” and little to no marketing, as VP of sales Jonathan Sherrill told attendees during a session at the 2017 InfoAg Conference. “Most people don’t know that we are entirely self-funded and have been self-funded since 2009,” said Sherrill.
CropTrak creates software that focuses on improving customer efficiency in data collection, management, reporting, and results while helping produce safer food and Sherrill says they have never offered a “freemium” product to attain over 500 paying customer companies with a software and services renewals rate of 96 percent. “We’ve maintained that for 6-7 years running,” Sherrill said.
Learn more about CropTrak in the video below of Sherrill’s session at InfoAg.
2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Fall Weed Control Ideas From FMC
I’ll bet you want to talk about fall weed control right? Good. Because during the Ag Media Summit I spoke with Tom Becker, FMC, on this topic.
One of the reasons this is important according to Tom is the need to protect new traits that you might be using in a crop like soybeans. There are some very problematic weeds out there that make a good residual product key to helping you protect your investment. Multiple modes of action and multiple application timings are also key to a good fall weed control program.
You can listen to my interview with Tom here to learn more: Interview with Tom Becker, FMC
View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
John Deere Developing Media Relationships
Beverly Flores, John Deere, North American Media Relations and Communications, John Deere Ag and Turf Division says she is attending the Ag Media Summit for Deere (first time) and she is looking forward to making relationships with the ag media representatives attending. When it comes to John Deere products she says they focus on what they’re doing in the precision ag space and their new S700 Combine. You can actually find more about the precision ag space via our coverage at the InfoAg Conference last week.
Getting back to the media, Beverly says she wants to know what they want or need from a company like John Deere and how they want to receive it. But getting to meet journalists personally is very important to her. That’s why the networking here is very important to ag company marketing/communication representatives.
You can listen to my interview with Beverly here: Interview with Beverly Flores, John Deere
View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
AgriEdge Excelsior Farm Management From Syngenta
Syngenta has brought their farmer-customers a farm management program through AgriEdge Excelsior. AgriEdge Excelsior delivers software, on-farm service and innovative products. We met up with Stacey Shaw, AgriEdge Specialist, Syngenta, during the 2017 Ag Media Summit in Utah to hear more about the programs focus on technology, service and risk management.
“The big picture of the AgriEdge Excelsior program is centered around helping farmers make better decisions in the field. We look at costs of inputs and if it’s profitable for them to run a piece of ground. We also help with planting and better record keeping. We help growers get better at what they do,” Shaw said.
The Land.db software utilized is cloud-based and helps growers digitally organize their data across devices. Shaw said it was developed by growers for growers, making it user-friendly and enabling all growers to collect and analyze data.
Listen to my complete conversation with Stacey as he takes us through the farm management programs entire package. Interview with Stacey Shaw, Syngenta
View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Mix Tank App Updates from Precision Labs
Precision Laboratories has released an extensive upgrade to its Mix Tank app, available immediately for download on iTunes and Google Play. During the recent Ag Media Summit, we caught up with Jim Reiss, senior vice president of product development at Precision Labs. The latest refresh is designed to better assist agricultural growers and professional applicators with resources and record keeping that will help prevent mix tank problems and make crop applications more efficient.
“We’ve incorporated user feedback into these updates to enhance the user experience and value of our Mix Tank app,” said Reiss. “The result is a tool that provides additional features to help the applicator track important information while making the most appropriate and effective tank mixing decisions.”
The app allows users to backup and restore data as well as share information across devices. Users can access Mix Tank’s spray log to record nozzle types and weather is now free. Print from any device and get access to data sheets and additional information on Precision’s specialty chemistry products.
“We developed Mix Tank as a tool to save applicators time, money and resources,” said Reiss. “Mix Tank has proven to be a great tool for our industry, and we’re excited to offer these additional enhancements to make tank mixing more safe and efficient.”
Listen to my complete interview with Jim here: Interview with Jim Reiss, Precision Laboratories
View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Zimfo Bytes
College students with a passion for agriculture should register to be part of the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2017 College Aggies Online, a competition held each fall to encourage participants to share the story of agriculture.- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the fiscal year 2017 will include adjustments to the raw sugar market to increase the Overall Allotment Quality of domestic sugar, reassign the beet sugar marketing allotments among processors, reassign a surplus cane sugar marketing allotment, and increase U.S. raw sugar tariff-rate quota.
- MGEX has announced multiple broken records for the month of July. Total volume for the month was the second best recorded in the history of the Exchange.
- Rhea + Kaiser has promoted and added several staff members. Jack Vos moves to Vice President, Creative Director and Chris Oakland is now an Account Manager, AMP. Sara McClendon has joined R + K as an Account Manager, Public Relations and Sarah Sikorsky takes the position of Digital Media Coordinator.
- This August the National Young Farmers Coalition is hosting the Young Farmers Roundtables to give young farmers the opportunity to communicate with members of the House Agriculture Committee. For further information please contact shelly@youngfarmers.org.
AEM Honors Next-Generation Ag Engineers
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) honored the latest winners of its agricultural engineering student achievement awards during the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers’ (ASABE) recent annual meeting.
ASABE engineering student branches receiving “AEM Trophy Awards” in 2017:
• First Place: Oklahoma State University
• Second Place: University of Wisconsin-Madison
AEM initiated the awards in the 1930s as part of its commitment to excellence in agricultural engineering education and to spotlight equipment manufacturing.
Keynote for NAMA Fall Conference
More and more details are coming out about this year’s National Agri-Marketing Association Fall Conference. Here’s an announcement on one of the keynote speakers.
Brian Carter is one of the fantastic keynote speakers that NAMA has lined up for Fall Conference this year. He will be presenting the first Keynote Session as well as the Pre-Conference Workshop on September 20.
Get a first look at his presentations in this promo video. We hope to see you all in Milwaukee!
Mark your calendars and register today to go Full Throttle with NAMA. Find out even more on the Fall Conference website. We hope to see you in Milwaukee!