Passing of Clayton Yeutter

Cindy Zimmerman March 5, 2017

Clayton Yeutter with Agri-Pulse president Sara Wyant in March 2015

Tributes are pouring out in memory of Clayton Yeutter who passed away March 4 at the age of 86.

Clayton Yeutter served as U.S. Trade Representative under President Ronald Reagan and as agriculture secretary under President George H.W. Bush. He was always a strong advocate for American agriculture and a friend to many of us in the industry who have known him since those days in the late 1980s.

The last time we saw Clayton was almost exactly two years ago in Washington DC at the Agri-Pulse Ag Day event where he talked about the establishment of an international trade and finance institute at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

“We want to endow some chairs in agriculture, business and law,” said Yeutter. “What I want to do to have a lasting legacy beyond my days on this earth is to have students focus on things international.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Clayton from March 2015 here:
Interview with Clayton Yeutter

We also have links to some other audio posts with Yeutter:

November 2012 – NAFB panel with Bob Bergland and John Block

August 2012 – Farm Progress Show press conference

March 2011 – Interview from Bayer media event

Clayton was definitely my favorite agriculture secretary ever and just a great guy. Rest in peace, dear friend.

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Protecting Fungicide Tech with @UnitedSoy

Kelly Marshall March 4, 2017

The United Soybean Board created Take Action as a program to fight against herbicide resistant weeds. The program has been successful, with positive collaborations and progress being made. Now they’re announcing an expansion to include not only resistant weeds, but fungicide resistance in soybeans as well.

“Now really is the time to take action and inform people and educate people about fungicide resistance because it’s one of those things we really need to be out on the front end of, before it becomes a really severe problem. So I’m very grateful that the United Soybean Board, along with all the other partners, are making fungicide resistance part of Take Action,” said Carl Bradley, plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky.

Being in front of the game rather than playing catch up is a much better place to be– especially when it comes to resistance. Checkoff farmer-leader Gregg Fujan offered four steps farmers can use to help preserve current technology and avoid resistance.

1. Scout fields regularly for diseases.
2. Understand disease thresholds.
3. Apply fungicides only when it makes economic sense.
4. Rotate fungicide modes of action.

Carroll Moseley from Syngenta and John Motter, Chair of USB also joined in the panel discussion. Listen to the full press conference here: United Soybean Board Press Conference

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Start, Grow, Finish with @StollerUSA

Kelly Marshall March 4, 2017

Mike Lewallen is a sales and marketing development representative for Stoller USA who attended Commodity Classic to tell growers about the advantages of using hormones to improve yields. Twenty-five years ago Stoller discovered nutrition alone wasn’t enough to bring out the high-end yields they were looking for, so the company began to create formulations that encourage growth at the from the Start of planting, through the Growth stage and then to Finish strong.

“We feel like in any cropping system if you start your plant off growing properly, because that’s where your first loss of yield incurs is at germination, so if we can overcome and start that plant off better, then we’ve got a better chance of making more yield or prevent yield loss in the growth stage of the plant,” Lewallen said as he described their Start, Grow, Finish program.

Listen to my full interview with Lewallen to learn more about how hormones can help a crop: Interview with Mike Lewallen

Perry Galloway is a grower from Arkansas who can testify to the effectiveness of the Stoller products with amazing yields like 108 bushel soybeans in 2015. “I’m fortunate enough to have held several yield titles in corn, soybeans, wheat and grain sorghum, and Stoller was involved in all of those– the Start, Grow, Finish program or at least major parts,” Galloway says.

Galloway says he Starts strong with seed treatments or in-furrow treatments for cell enlargement and perfect plant hormone balance. During the Grow season he adds BioForge to eliminate plant stress and other products to stimulate hormones and fertility, as well as cell division. To Finish strong Galloway applies a sugar mover product to increase test weight on his corn and soybeans. The program is clearly working well, as his records show.

To learn more about Galloway’s Grow, Start, Finish program listen to my full interview with him here: Interview with Perry Galloway

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Finding Out What’s New with FMC at #Classic17

Chuck Zimmerman March 3, 2017

What’s new with FMC? Of course that’s our theme. Thank you to FMC for being a sponsor of our coverage of this year’s Commodity Classic!

Let’s start out my coverage of what’s new with FMC with an interview with Kaustubh Borah. He is seen in the photo being interviewed by Sabrina Hill, AgNet West.

One of the new products coming to the FMC portfolio is the fungicide Bixafen. Here’s some information from their announcement last fall.

FMC Agricultural Solutions has begun the joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency registration process for bixafen, a new pyrazole carboxamide fungicide that belongs to a new generation of succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI). Registration is being sought for corn, soybeans, cereals, canola, peanuts and potatoes in the U.S. and, in some instances, Canada.

Bixafen is highly effective against a wide range of fungal diseases in row crops. Data has been submitted for review of several target diseases including: Northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot in corn; frogeye leaf spot, brown spot and white mold in soybeans; septoria leaf blotch, stripe rust and stem rust in cereals; early blight and white mold in potatoes; white mold in canola; stem rot, leaf spot, leaf rust and Rhizoctonia limb rot in peanuts.

Kaustubh also talks about other products that are in the growing FMC portfolio.

Catch Chuck’s full interview with Kaustubh here:
Interview with Kaustubh Borah, FMC

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Farmers Edge Makes Big #Classic17 Splash

Cindy Zimmerman March 3, 2017

Farmers Edge™, a global leader in decision agriculture, today launched the next generation of its award-winning farm management platform, FarmCommand™.

Based on two years of feedback from its global network of growers, the new fully-integrated platform provides growers with easy access to crop, weather, equipment, soil, and other agronomic data all in one place. This announcement comes as Farmers Edge also introduces Corn Manager™ to growers at this year’s Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. Corn Manager – the first corn management system that combines effective nitrogen management, high-frequency satellite imagery, and accurate crop staging into one easy-to-use tool – will also be available as an optional feature within FarmCommand.

We had the opportunity to learn more about this exciting new announcement and get a demo – watch the video below and listen to the interview here:
Interview with Jay Kinnaird, Farmers Edge, and farmer Trevor Scherman

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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House Ag Committee Chair Speaks to #Classic17

Kelly Marshall March 3, 2017

Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Mike Conaway spoke to attendees of Commodity Classic in San Antonio, taking the traditional time slot of the as yet unconfirmed Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue. His remarks focused on the next farm bill.

“I am committed – driven, quite frankly – to get the farm bill done on time,” Conaway emphasized.

Having the rules of play locked down for the next five years is critical to growers and the creditors and bankers who help them do their job, so Conaway promised not to become bogged down by the process. He also reached out to farmers to work together and stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes time to get the new bill passed.

Listen to his remarks at the general session here:Mike Conaway, Commodity Classic General Session

Hear his question and answer session with the press here: Mike Conaway, Press Conference

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LibertyLink Finds Partners in FFA and AHA

Kelly Marshall March 3, 2017

LibertyLink may not immediately make you think of the American Heart Association (AHA), but Bayer wants to change that.

“So our goal is to build awareness around heart disease– one of the major killers in the rural market,” explains Jody Wynia, soybean and cotton manager for Bayer. “It’s 39 percent more prevalent in rural communitites than it is in the urban market. So we wanted to do some outreach programs to help build that awareness and help address a healthy lifestyle moving forward.”

Bayer selected their LibertyLink product for their AHA partnership because of it’s rapid growth. They saw a 70 percent increase in sales last year and expect another 50 percent increase this year. For each of the bags that fly off shelves in 2017, Bayer will donate 5 cents to the AHA’s Healthy for Good movement for a total donation of $500,000. They’ll also be raising awareness through educational activities in rural areas.

LibertyLink has another partner as well. The FFA has built a grassroots effort to spread the word about the benefits of using Liberty to address weed resistance through the RealYield Sweepstakes. State FFAs competed for their share of $50,000 Bayer designated to be split by the percentage of their involvement in the sweepstakes. Iowa FFA Foundation members worked hard and were rewarded well with a generous check of over $14,000 at Commodity Classic.

Learn more about Bayer’s partnership with the American Heart Association and the FFA in the full interview here: Interview with Jody Wynia, Bayer

Hear my interview with Joshua Remington, Executive Director of Iowa FFA Foundation and Erica Baier, Iowa State FFA officer here:Interview with Iowa State FFA

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Host Organizations Address #Classic17

Kelly Marshall March 3, 2017

National Sorghum Checkoff Program opened Commodity Classic with a big announcement– their partnership with DuPont Pioneer has yielded results.

“Today I’m pleased to share with you that, as a result of that partnership, we’ve made a discovery that is the first step, the first hurdle cleared in accelerating the sorghum breeding process,” said Cleve Franks, sorghum research scientist at DuPont Pioneer. “We’ve discovered two sorghum haploid inducers, which could ultimately lead to double haploids in sorghum. From a breeding perspective this could be a game changing discovery.”

Revolutionary could also describe the effects a double haploid could have on breeding. Currently it takes about 5 years to develop a commercial hybrid; the new system could bring that down to 1 year.

Listen to the National Sorghum Checkoff Program’s press conference here to learn more: National Sorghum Checkoff Program

Several members of the National Association of Wheat Growers addressed their top political priorities as well; issues like the upcoming Farm Bill, exports and trade with North American and Asia, and a national safety net in the form of crop insurance.

It’s a hard time for farmers across the country, says Vice President, Jimmie Musick. It’s very important that legislatures understand how critical these topics are to our country.

Listen to the full press release for the National Association of Wheat Growers here: National Association of Wheat Growers

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John Deere – Making Good Farms Even Better

Jamie Johansen March 3, 2017

John Deere’s passion for making good farms even better is evident with their commitment to Commodity Classic and the farmers from across the country who take in the event each year.

“Commodity Classic is one of the greatest trade show to be at because we have such great growers that attend. Corn growers, soybean growers, wheat and sorghum come and learn more about how they can take technology, whether it’s equipment technology or seed technology, to make things better on their farms. The conversations are really at that next level. Not just about features and benefits but about why someone might want to engage in our offerings,” said Deanna Kovar, Director, Production & Precision Ag Marketing at John Deere.

Listen to Deanna and I’s complete converstation here: Interview with Deanna Kovar, John Deere

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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High-Yield Strategies from @StollerUSA at #Classic17

Kelly Marshall March 3, 2017

Attendees of this year’s Commodity Classic are here in San Antonio, Texas to learn, and who better to learn from than Stoller‘s panel of top yielding farmers. The Stoller “Break Through Yield Barriers” session not only asked panelists to share about their operations, it also invited the packed crowd to participate by texting answers to poll questions during the discussion.

Dan Arkels of Peru, Illinois, Casey Hook from Lake City, Arkansas, Zack Rendel of Miami, Oklahoma, and Perry Galloway hailing from Gregory, Arkansas got down into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to be a high yielding producer, covering management strategies from crop protection to planters, as well as what it takes to be a good farm wife– tractor included.

The top-notch panel was moderated by ag reporter Ken Root and grower Steven Albrecht, a combination that was well worth the price of admission. You can hear the whole thing right here though, without so much as a plastic name badge: Stoller Break through Yield Barriers Session

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