Showcase Plot Tour with Bayer in North Dakota

Chuck Zimmerman

I did a whole lot of PT on my recovering shoulder out in a field west of Minot, ND. It was a Bayer Showcase Plot Tour and a beautifully sunny day, with lots of wind. Glad I brought my wind screen for the Golden ZimmComm Microphone!

The focus was on cereal crops as well as products for soybeans, canola and corn. To get an overview, I spoke with Pete Neal, Technical Sales Representative for Bayer. In the plots we toured we got to see herbicides at work as well as seed treatments and different varieties of several crops.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Pete Neal, Bayer, Plot Tour Overview

Bayer Showcase Plot Tour – North Dakota Photo Album

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, Soybean

Helio Celebrates Win at Iowa Corn 300

Cindy Zimmerman

Helio Castroneves celebrates Iowa Corn 300 win with Iowa corn growers

The IndyCar spotlight was on Helio Castraneves Sunday as he cruised to his first win in three years at the Iowa Corn 300 and celebrated with his trademark Spider-Man climb up the track fence – giving the #IowaCorn300 hashtag lots of Twitter traction, since it was coincidentally the opening weekend for the new Spider-Man: Homecoming movie.

The race showcases Iowa’s corn farmers, who awarded Helio with the Iowa Corn 300 trophy in victory lane. Iowa Corn Promotion Board President Larry Klever kicked off the race by saying “Drivers, start your Iowa corn ethanol power engines” while Iowa Corn Growers Association President Kurt Hora waved the green flag.

“This event continues to be an excellent platform for promoting and showcasing the true power and performance of ethanol,” said Klever. “Over the past decade, INDYCAR drivers have logged millions of miles racing on E85.”

Hora says the race was a good time to celebrate the Iowa Corn Growers Association 50th anniversary this year. “We thank our Iowa Corn members and their families for helping us celebrate 50 years and another great Iowa Corn 300,” he said.

Iowa corn growers members heard from a number of fans and visitors who stopped by their hospitality tent, including IndyCar driver JR Hildebrand, who finished second in the race, as well Senator Joni Ernst, Reps. Rod Blum, and Dave Loebsack, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.

Corn, Ethanol, Events, Indy Racing

Precision Ag Bytes 7/11

Kelly Marshall

  • Hortau Irrigation Management Systems was recently named a CogX Award finalist in the Best Artificial Intelligence Product in Agriculture category at the recent awards event in London.
  • InfoAg 2017 is coming July 25-27, Union Station, St. Louis, MO and it’s not too late to register.  This year’s keynote speaker will be Steve Sonka, the Emeritus Chaired Professor of Agricultural Strategy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL.
  • PowWow Energy, a Software-as-a-Service provider, has announced a patent application for pump alerts and water records using energy data has been granted. Twenty thousand acres of farm land are already using the service.
AgWired Precision, Zimfo Bytes

Dicamba Concerns Prompt State Actions

Jamie Johansen

*POST UPDATE* 7/14/17 Missouri Department of Agriculture releases Stop Sale, Use or Removal Order for ENGENIA, XTENDIMAX and FEXAPAN herbicides

On the heels of Arkansas, Missouri has issued a pause on sale, use, and removal of all products labeled for agricultural use that contain dicamba. As of today, Monday, July 10th, the Missouri Department of Agriculture has had 145 pesticide drift complaints. The order applies to FeXapan herbicide plus VaporGrip Technology, Engenia Herbicide, and XTENDIMAX with VaporGrip Technology.

Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said, “We want to protect farmers and their livelihoods. At the same time, my commitment to technology and innovation in agriculture is unwavering. That’s why I am asking the makers of these approved post-emergent products, researchers and farmers to work with us to determine how we can allow applications to resume this growing season, under certain agreed upon conditions.”

The Department is waiting for companies to create a special local needs label specific to Missouri. Director Chinn said they are looking at what has been successful in other states and want to give Missouri farmers the tools to be successful. Once that is in hand, it will go into effect immediately.

“We are hoping we can have a new label in place this week. That is our goal. We truly want to make sure the farmers who are counting on this technology have it available to them and the companies want that same thing,” Chinn added.

Listen to my complete interview Director Chinn here: Interview with Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Audio, Crop Protection, Soybean

ZimmCast with NCGA Communications

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 552In this week’s episode of the ZimmCast I talk with Mary Hagan, Vice President of Communications, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).

Although Mary didn’t imagine a career working in agricultural communications she has become a farm lover after the opportunity to work for NCGA came about. Mary’s background has suited her well to work on some of the challenges facing corn growers as you will hear her discuss in the program.

A topic that came up which is very near and dear to my heart right involves the word, measurement. This important concept should be pretty easy when you consider how many statistics are created by the digital data involved in today’s communications channels. However, making sense of it, especially to measure return on investment, success, or even to figure out what your audience is thinking and what is really important to them is a big challenge. Mary talks about some ways NCGA is dealing with this issue.

I also like a few anecdotes Mary brings up about the work of some of the state affiliate organizations to NCGA. They are doing very valuable work on their own and Mary sees trying to foster good internal communications with them as a very important element of the work she does.

I hope you enjoy the program and thank you for listening!

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast with Mary Hagan, NCGA

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

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Marketing, NCGA, ZimmCast

High Octane 10% Ethanol at the Buffalo Chip

Cindy Zimmerman

Buffalo Chip Campground fueling station in Sturgis, SD

Motorcycle riders – and all motorists – traveling around Sturgis, S.D., can now fuel up 24 hours a day with 93 octane, 10% ethanol thanks to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), which has donated a permanent fueling station to the Buffalo Chip Campground.

RFA VP of Industry Relations Robert White says they have partnered with the Buffalo Chip since 2009 to help educate motorcyclists about ethanol during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but this new fueling station will keep that going year round. “Motorcycle owners are typically looking for high octane, and ethanol helps provide that,” said White. “The Buffalo Chip is the only location in the area that offers 93 octane. The 93 is achieved by adding 10% ethanol to standard 91 octane premium, and thanks to the cost savings of ethanol, 93 octane is actually cheaper than 91 octane.”

RFA’s partnership with the Buffalo Chip has been fostered by the strong support of owner Rod Woodruff. “We are excited about this new addition and the ability to offer fuel to the public thanks to the Renewable Fuels Association,” said Woodruff. “It will be one more service we can provide while helping set the record straight on ethanol.”

RFA has been offering 10% ethanol for motorcyclists at the campground with Free Fuel Happy Hours during the Sturgis rally, so White says the new fueling station will make that effort a lot easier this year. “We’ll be doing it at an actual gas station, so it will be a unique experience, but we are very excited to see how many motorcycles we can get through in those three hours each day,” said White. The 77th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will be held August 4-13. Watch the video below to see more.

White talks about about the partnership in this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast: Ethanol Report on Sturgis E10 Station

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Audio, Ethanol, RFA

AEM Names Curt Blades as Senior VP AG Services

Cindy Zimmerman

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has named Curt Blades as senior vice president, AG services, replacing Charlie O’Brien, who announced his retirement from AEM earlier this year.

Beginning August 1, Blades will be responsible for strategic direction of agriculture programs and services for the AEM membership, and will serve as primary liaison with ag-specific industry organizations, customer groups and government agencies, both in North America and worldwide.
He replaces Charlie O’Brien, who announced his retirement from AEM earlier this year.

“We are very pleased to welcome Curt to the AEM team and look forward to the expertise and enthusiasm he brings,” said AEM President Dennis Slater.

Blades has been working for Meredith Corporation since 2002, most recently as Group Business Development Director, and he has been very active in the National Agri-Marketing Association, Agribusinesss Education Foundation and Agriculture Council of America. We’ve known Curt since he was an intern at Brownfield Network while studying at the University of Missouri to get his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He also holds a master’s degree in agribusiness from Kansas State and grew up on a 5,000-acre farm in northeast Missouri.

Learn more about Curt and his new gig in this interview: Interview with Curt Blades

AEM, Agribusiness, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, NAMA, Publication

Precision Bytes 7/7

Kelly Marshall

  • Agri-Inject has announced the newest of their fluid injection check valves, the Mister Mist’r.  The new versatile and durable designs brings consistent product injection to a wide variety of applications.
  • Benson Hill Biosystems will be working with GDM Seeds to improve and enhance their soybean research program globally.  GDM will be using Benson Hill’s cognitive platform, Crop OS, to achieve accelerated breeding processes.
  • Bayer has donated $50,000 on behalf of canola farmers through the 2017 More for Everyone project. The money will help rebuilt a school destroyed by fire, provide AED to a community miles from a hospital, purchase equipment for a fire department and other needs important to local canola growers.
  • Soy Checkoff dollars are being used to provide cutting-edge software to growers of high oleic soybeans.  Agrible is proud to provide the data and analysis tools to help high oleic growers in Ohio and Indian become more sustainable and are looking for participants for the program.
AgWired Precision, Zimfo Bytes

Adapt-N Brings Value to Farmers a Million Times a Day

Cindy Zimmerman

Agronomic Technology Corp – a leader in agricultural field modeling for soil, water, crops, and fertilizer – has just surpassed over one million daily nitrogen recommendations and is nearing one billion cumulative platform recommendations. The company provides Adapt-N and N-Insight and is adding additional crop, nutrient, soil, and yield solutions to its platform.

“We’ve gained traction because the value to farmers is real. We have the most advanced and proven nitrogen management solutions that are independently shown to increase crop yield and input efficiency for an average profit increase of $30/acre,” says Steve Sibulkin, CEO of Agronomic Technology Corp.

ATC CEO Steve Sibulkin (left) discusses optimizing yields at 2017 Forbes AgTech Summit

The company took part recently in Forbes’ AgTech Summit in Salinas, CA and impressed Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research Executive Director Ken Zuckerberg, who spoke at the summit. “There are many agricultural data companies claiming to ‘add value’ but lacking a credible way to prove the ROI,” said Zuckerberg. “Agronomic is one of a handful of exceptional agricultural technology companies always focused on provable value to farmers and partners.”

Leading ag retailers, crop consultants, and technology companies have partnered with Adapt-N to deliver advanced nitrogen management solutions to growers. The company has also completed integrations with key software solutions, including SST Software, Agrian, EFC Systems, and the John Deere Operations Center. Sibulkin expects many more to come on board as well, including through the use of Agronomic Technology Corp’s own API. “”We’re now leveraging our low-cost-provider position with approaches that give farmers and their advisors even more control, more value, and lower prices,” Sibulkin says.

Learn more about how Adapt-N works in this video:


Agronomy, AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Video

New Award Honors Two Montana Farm Broadcasters

Cindy Zimmerman

Taylor Brown (L) received award from Sen. Steve Daines (R) along with Sen. Burns’ widow Phyllis Burns

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) recently honored the late Conrad Burns, U.S. Senator and farm broadcaster, with the first-ever Conrad Burns Ag Technology Award – appropriately presented to Taylor Brown, owner of the Northern Ag Network which was founded by Burns in 1975.

Sen. Daines presented the award last month at the Montana Ag Summit on June 1 Before about 700 attendees. “Senator Conrad Burns was an advocate for technology to bring connectivity to Montana,” said Daines. “This award recognizes Montanans who have sought to advance agriculture through technology.”

Daines noted that the Northern Ag Network uses the latest technology to deliver agricultural programming to 60 radio and 10 TV stations in Montana, Wyoming, and the western Dakotas along with their popular digital platform, NorthernAg.Net, that includes a weekly electronic newsletter and various social media.

NAFB