Meet The 2016 ARA Retailer of the Year

Lizzy Schultz December 12, 2016

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) presented this year’s Ag Retailer of the Year Award during the the ARA Conference & Expo to Gar Tootelian, of central California. The award, sponsored by Monsanto, ARA, and AgProfessional magazine, is highly esteemed by the industry and honors the very best among ag retailers.

Gar Tootelian was represented at the ceremony by president Greg Musson and managing partner Karen Musson. The company was founded by Karen’s parents and is still owned and operated by Karen, her sister, and their daughters

“We’re really honored to see my parents company going into its third generation,” said Karen in an interview during the ARA Foundation Dinner at this year’s conference. “We’re not the biggest or oldest ag retailer in the country, but we’ve been around for 67 years and we’ve seen a lot of changes in that length of time, and we’ve also seen a lot of growth in that industry.”

Gar Tootelian was recognized not only for the investments the company has made in its growers, but for the investments it has made in the surrounding community. The Mussons have shown continuous involvement in local charities and support groups and have worked to promote agricultural careers to local high school and college students.

“It’s really important that students today, and parents and families as well, realize that farming touches them and is integral to their lives, and that we do have their very best interests at heart,” she said

Learn more in Chuck’s full interview with Karen here:
Interview with Karen Musson, Gar Tootelian

View and download photos from the event here: 2016 ARA Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the ARA Conference and Expo is sponsored by

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FMC & ARA Hosting Safety Planning Workshop

Lizzy Schultz December 12, 2016

FMC Corporation has shown tremendous continued support for the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) through the company’s sponsorship of the ARA Conference & Expo. In the new year, FMC will also sponsor a workshop with ARA that will focus on preparing, responding, and sustaining a crisis plan.

This new workshop stems from a crisis communications workshop that FMC has held for the past five years with ARA. The communications workshop has been well-received by participants, with many expressing interest in a workshop that discusses ways to build safety plans for their retail outlets.

“A lot of retailers do have existing safety plans in place, so this course would serve as an excellent refresher course to teach retailers how to work with local law enforcement and fire departments ahead of time so that they aren’t caught flat-footed when an emergency does arise,” said Rick Kesler, Business Services Manager at FMC Corporation, in an interview during the 2016 ARA Conference & Expo.

The intimate workshop will be held February 27 – March 1, 2017 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, capping attendance at a maximum of 16 participants. Interested participants can register online for the event here.

Learn more in Chuck’s full interview with Rick:
Interview with Rick Kesler, FMC

View and download photos from the event here: 2016 ARA Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the ARA Conference and Expo is sponsored by

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Keep Waiting for Apple AirPods

Chuck Zimmerman December 12, 2016

I’ve been asked about Apple AirPods too many times to ignore. So here are my thoughts.

Bottom line is: there are no AirPods right now. I would forget about them and move on. Here’s why.

There is no good alternative.

That’s it. I’ve done my research for you. But you probably think there has to be something. Not really. Some of you may not actually know anything about this or care but for those who do here are some things to ponder.

1. Since Apple took the ear bud jack out of the iPhone 7 you can only connect to it via a little adapter cable they include or bluetooth. They thought they would have AirPods ready but really missed the boat on that. So, now you have a device that you have to choose between connecting a power cord or ear buds/headset. You can’t do both at the same time.

2. There are adapter cables available that will let you connect power and ear buds but they don’t provide full functionality on your device like call answering, skipping songs, etc. And they are fugly. But consider this. If you are listening to music on your device do you usually have it plugged into power at the same time? I don’t. This single jack controversy just isn’t a big deal in my opinion.

3. Don’t spend your money on other bluetooth ear buds yet. The technology is not ready for prime time. They are even more expensive than AirPods are supposed to be too.

4. If you have an iPhone 7 and want quality ear buds or a headset but don’t have them I think you’re better off getting an existing relatively affordable product while you wait and see if true bluetooth ear buds show up.

5. I’ve looked at the Bragi Dash ($299.00 and mixed reviews) and a number of other options. I don’t want a thing wrapped around the back of my head, over the ear cups or wires if I’m going to spend a lot of money. I’ll keep using my Bose QC buds for now thank you very much Apple.

Now if you know of something I don’t please feel free to comment or let me know. Tx.

Post Update:

Here’s an option brought to my attention. Skybuds

Update #2:

Apple AirPods are now on sale.

Gadgets

Review of #ASTACSS from President LaVigne

Kelly Marshall December 12, 2016

President and CEO of ASTA, Andy LaVigne, breathed a big sigh of relief at the success of this year’s conference. After planning and scheduling the largest seed conference of it’s kind in the world, all you can do is hope people show up– and show up they did. “We had to bring in tables and chairs,” LaVigne told Cindy Zimmerman.

The conference boasted the sessions and events that have made it so popular while adding new aspects. The addition of a living room setting in Columbus Hall turned out nicely, with screens to watch events, spaces for collaborating, and a chance to catch up over great food.

A new video campaign was also launched at this year’s event, featuring seed breeder and mother, Jessie Alt, showing her life as a mom and backyard gardener to help the general public relate to the job of plant breeder. Plant breeding is foreign to most people, LaVigne says, but they do such an amazing job of improving seed characteristics every year.

For those less in the know than plant breeders, the conference also held the opportunity to learn about the newest gene editing technique. Technology and innovation have made it possible to maximize characteristics already in plants to make them stronger or more resistant to problems in a much faster way, making sure farmers and, ultimately, consumers, have the nutritious, sustainable food they want.

Cindy’s interview covered politics for 2017, Trump’s EPA pick, and trade, in addition to some exciting tidbits about the upcoming Flower and Vegetable Seed Conference. Listen here to learn more about it: Interview with Andy LaVigne, ASTA

ASTA CSS 2016 Photo Album

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BASF’s Future #Seed Giant at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 12, 2016

Justin Clark is a Technical Marketing Manager for BASF Ag Products who was named Future Giant of the Seed Industry by Seed World this year. At the ASTA CSS and Seed Expo, we talked with Clark about BASF’s recent agreement with FMC for in-furrow seed protection.

“We think it’s a unique technology that addresses a grower need,” said Clark. “As growers start to plant earlier they really need that extra layer of protection to combat those early season seedling diseases that are out there.”

Clark started working with BASF four years ago with the company’s acquisition of Becker Underwood, which moved BASF strongly into the seed treatment industry with products such as the Flo Rite Plantability Seed Coating that he talked about at the 2014 ASTA CSS event. “There’s a lot of concern out there about keeping active ingredients on the seed and our Flo-Rit Plantability polymer technology really addresses that,” he said, noting that it also helps a grower realize optimum seed spacing.

Learn more about BASF seed solutions in this interview: Interview with Justin Clark, BASF

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Chromatin Talks #Sorghum at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 12, 2016

One of the S’s in ASTA CSS stands for sorghum and one of the sponsors for the American Seed Trade Association 71st Corn & Sorghum Seed Research Conference 46th Soybean Seed Research Conference and Seed Expo is a company that’s all about sorghum.

“Chromatin is a sorghum-focused company – we only work in sorghum,” said Charles Miller, Chromatin vice president of international sales and business development. “We are vertically integrated from seed research through sales and distribution.”

Chromatin’s corporate headquarters are located in Chicago, where the ASTA CSS is held every December, and the company is currently selling in 43 different countries around the world with lots of upside potential. “We’re seeing a need for crops that can adapt to harsher climates and sorghum is one of the best adapting crops in the world,” said Miller, which makes it an important crop in areas of the world such as Africa as the population grows to demand more meat and more starch.

For the more developed countries, Miller says sorghum is also great for gluten-free diets. “It’s been added to gluten-free beers, it’s been added to gluten-free cereals, so as that trend develops … we’re going to see sorghum grow there,” Miller said. Chromatin recently signed an exclusive license agreement for unique sorghum genetic stocks developed by Agrigenetics Inc., an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences.

In this interview, Miller also talks about why Chromatin is such as strong supporter of ASTA: Interview with Charles Miller, Chromatin

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AgCompass Helps You Navigate Your Software

Cindy Zimmerman December 12, 2016

The technology has been around for years now but there is still some confusion when it comes to cloud computing or hosted software solutions and who can benefit from it most.

Ken Wedig, who was retired from John Deere after 30 years, partnered with Everett Chambers in 2003 to create AgCompass, one of the pioneers in the technology which supports businesses by hosting their software on a remote server so they can access their data from multiple locations.

“A farmer may have a farm in Wisconsin, another one in Illinois, another one in Iowa, with people distributed throughout, and once they are on the server they can all access the same set of data and keep it updated and simultaneously maintained,” explains Wedig, who holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and lives in Iowa. Basically, AgCompass can help if you have to share data, but require secure access to your windows-based software and value data independence.

AgCompass can host nearly any windows-based software and specializes in hosting accounting software such as FBS Systems, Red Wing and Quickbooks, as well as mill software from Vertical, trucking software such as ProMiles and more. “If its a multi-user product, doing that on a local desktop is very difficult, but when we put it on our server, if you’ve got 15 users all 15 can log in and use it,” Wedig said. Click here to learn more about how it works.

As self-described “technophiles with deep roots in agriculture,” Wedig says the AgCompass team is dedicated to personal service. “We’re a small company but what we do well is the support of applications and access to data from anywhere.” He encourages any company, ag or otherwise, to contact AgCompass for a free 30-day demo.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Ken Wedig, AgCompass

Click here for more information and to get the free guide – 5 Easy Steps to Electronic File Organization

Agribusiness, Audio, data, software

The Shark Farmer Podcasts From #AgChat

Chuck Zimmerman December 9, 2016

Shark farming in Illinois. I didn’t find much about that on Google. Google knows everything of course.

But I did meet the Shark Farmer, Rob Sharkey, this week at the 2016 Cultivate & Connect Conference in KC, MO. Rob actually produces a regular podcast on Tuesday’s called Sharkfarmer Podcast. It’s not only a play on his name but he started it during Shark Week. I love the name.

The Shark Farmer grows row crops and has done so for decades now. I found/met him on social media got to meet him IRL at the AgChat Foundation event. My presentation was on podcasting at the same time he was doing a breakout so I thought our chance to talk and learn from each other would make a great ZimmCast.

I’m still on the way home to ZimmComm World Headquarters but really wanted you to have a chance to hear this talented and creative young man who is passionate about farming and using this tool to help agvocate on behalf of his industry.

Learn more about the Shark Farmer in this week’s program here: ZimmCast with Rob Sharkey, Shark Farmer

Subscribe to the Sharkfarmer Podcast here. Follow him on Twitter here.

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

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ASTA Chair Optimistic for 2017 at #ASTACSS

Cindy Zimmerman December 9, 2016

AgReliant Genetics president and CEO Mark Herrmann took over as chairman of the American Seed Trade Association this past summer at the annual meeting and we had the chance to sit down and talk about priorities for the organization in 2017 during the ASTA CSS & Seed Expo this week.

“Unnecessary regulation in the seed business can either completely stall development in seed or make it extremely costly,” said Herrmann. “So we do need a well-understood, consistent, reliable regulatory process.” And there are hopes that the incoming Trump administration will have a more science-based approach to regulation.

Herrmann also commented on consolidation in the seed industry with so many of the major players involved in mergers and acquisitions this year. “You could get concerned because it sounds like bigger may be a problem,” he said. “But if (consolidation) can bring products to market that it otherwise couldn’t, if it can increase efficiency for sustainability, it’s a positive thing.”

Listen to our interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Herrmann, ASTA Chairman

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Beck’s & Benson Hill Partner for Corn Genetics

Kelly Marshall December 9, 2016

Benson Hill CEO Matt Crisp (left) in a round table meeting at ASTA CSS

Beck’s Hybrids is one of the largest retail seed companies in North America, and now thanks to a partnership with agriculture technology company Benson Hill Biosystems, they’ll be able to accelerate their corn breeding program in the future. Using Benson Hill’s CropOS cognitive platform, Beck’s will gain yet another tool to enhance the ability to offer farmers improved traits. The new system will bring improvement to emergence, stand ability, plant health, maturity and yield.

Benson Hill’s platform combines biological knowledge and genomic data with high-throughput computing—an intersection of disciplines known as cloud biology—to predict biological outcomes and provide critical decision support in advancing breeding programs. CropOS levels the playing field for organizations that desire to use whole-genome information and machine learning to accelerate genetic gains. Researchers can speed up generations of experimentation and pinpoint desired traits for improved plant performance. CropOS’s machine learning intelligently evolves with every experiment or data set, allowing companies to develop higher performing genetics and create more choice in the marketplace.

“To meet global challenges in agriculture and provide farmers with additional choices, we need more innovation in crop genomics. In the face of additional consolidation, we need to empower a broader agriculture community of innovators,” said Matthew Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill. “Beck’s mission to provide farmers with the choices they need to succeed aligns with Benson Hill’s drive to build an innovative and sustainable future for farmers, communities and our planet.”

We talked with Crisp at the ASTA CSS this week to learn more about Benson Hill, CropOS, and the significance of this new partnership. Listen to our conversation here: Interview with Matt Crisp, Benson Hill Biosystems

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Agribusiness, ASTA, Audio, Biotech

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