Central Stockyards Prepares for Canadian Expansion

Cindy Zimmerman

Central Stockyards, LLC, a livestock marketing service that hosts the weekly Fed Cattle Exchange, has expanded its team and is preparing for the addition of Canadian feedyard and packer participation in its weekly sales.

Brent Difley has been named Business Development Director for Canada. In this role, he will be responsible for working with Canadian feedyards and packers to market fed cattle on the Fed Cattle Exchange. Difley grew up on a ranch in Saskatchewan and has spent his career in the animal health industry, working across all Canadian provinces.

Cassidee Rogers has joined Central Stockyards as Business Operations Coordinator, responsible for coordinating customer relations and daily Fed Cattle Exchange auctions. A cattle feeding industry veteran, Rogers brings a wealth of experience to the Central Stockyards team. Her knowledge and experience in the Northern Plains will help Central Stockyards expand into additional cattle feeding regions.

According to Central Stockyards president and CEO Forrest Roberts the Fed Cattle Exchange had been approached many times by Canadian feedyards looking for a better way to enhance fed cattle price discovery. “We are responding to this interest by modifying the Fed Cattle Exchange platform and setting aside a portion of our weekly auctions for Canadian fed cattle listings.”

The first Canadian cattle will be featured on the Fed Cattle Exchange on June 5, 2024. The Fed Cattle Exchange platform will reflect the terms used in Canadian fed cattle sales, including currency, weight, yield, and quality grade differences.

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Beef, Livestock, Marketing

John Deere Equipment on Display at the National Mall

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere Ag On The MallOnce again John Deere featured an exhibit at the Modern Ag on the Mall event with a variety of equipment and technology. They had experts on hand to talk to the public, agency officials and the media. I spoke with Aaron Wetzel, VP Precision Ag. Aaron says the diversity of people who come to their booth makes it very exciting to show and discuss agriculture in general as well as their equipment. He says they leave with a better understand of what agriculture is all about. Here are some of the items on display.

8R Autonomous Tractor
Farmers never have a shortage of work to do on any given day. Autonomy increases overall farm productivity, enabling more acres to be covered by extending the day or unlocking 24/7 operation without adding help.

S7 900 Combine
Launched in February at Commodity Classic, the new S7 combine helps farmers perform at the maximum to make the most of the season’s efforts.

See & Spray™ Ultimate Sprayer
See & Spray™ Ultimate enables targeted spraying of nonresidual herbicide on weeds among corn, soybean and cotton plants.

GUSS Autonomous Sprayer and Smart Apply®
GUSS autonomous sprayers combine autonomous technology and precision application to complete the orchard and vineyard spray job quickly and efficiently. Smart Apply® is a precision upgrade kit that elevates the performance of virtually any air-blast sprayer, new or used.

Precision Agriculture Technology
The John Deere Operations Center™ is an online farm management system that enables farmers to create optimized work plans, monitor job quality, and analyze and receive insights from data anytime and anywhere.

Connectivity is crucial to a farm’s operation; however, most farms are in rural communities where connectivity challenges persist. The John Deere partnership with SpaceX will provide improved connectivity via satellites. Farmers will be able to work more efficiently and productively, reduce downtime, and coordinate among machines for more efficient use of resources.

Listen in to my interview with Aaron to learn more: AEM Ag on the Mall - Aaron Wetzel, Deere 9:55

2024 Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the Mall

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, John Deere, Precision Agriculture, Tractor

Gearing up for Tech Hub LIVE 2024

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2024 Tech Hub LIVE Conference and Expo, powered by CropLife Media Group®, will be taking place July 29-31, 2024, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.

Tech Hub LIVE has become the leading event for advancing data-driven agriculture, attracting a diverse group of stakeholders, including ag retailers, distributors, consultants, manufacturers, and other key players in the ag supply chain. The event provides a platform for professionals to explore and leverage the latest technological innovations, ensuring practical business advantages on the farm.

Key Features of Tech Hub LIVE 2024:

  • Women in Ag Tech @Tech Hub LIVE: A pre-conference opportunity to connect and engage with leading women in the ag tech industry
  • Welcome Party: Kick off the event with a Top Gun-themed networking event on the evening of July 29th. Enjoy food, drinks, music, and games while meeting up with your industry friends!
  • Keynote Address: Hear from Ted McKinney, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), who will share insights on the future of agriculture.
  • Roundtable Discussions: Join subject matter experts for facilitated discussions on various topics, including in-field ag tech tools, weed management technology, and AI-driven strategies for agri-food supply chain success.
  • Expo Hall: Explore the latest innovations and technologies from leading ag tech companies and organizations.

Powered by CropLife Media Group®, the nation’s leading voice for the ag retail industry, in collaboration with the Global Ag Tech InitiativeSM and AgriBusiness Global brands, along with our partners Ever.Ag, Greater Des Moines Partnership, and Telus Agriculture, and supporting organizations Agricultural Retailers Association, AgGateway, FIRA 2024, and AgriBusiness Association of Iowa, Tech Hub LIVE is designed to foster collaboration and innovation, providing valuable insights and practical solutions to advance agribusiness.

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Tech Hub LIVE, Technology

Industry Ag News 5/24

Carrie Muehling

  • The Farm Credit Administration earned a top 10 ranking in the 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey. It placed fifth among 30 small federal agencies, which are defined as those having at least 100 but less than 1,000 employees.
  • Registration is open for Agricultural Media Summit, the largest gathering of ag communicators in the U.S. Join us in Kansas City from August 3-6 to build connections, sharpen your skills and advance your career.
  • The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture has been awarded $5 million through the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, as announced by USDA and USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Daniel Whitley during “A Taste of the States: Chicago” at the National Restaurant Association Show. The program aims to diversify market opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products by expanding markets beyond the top regions U.S. food and agricultural products are currently exported to.
  • The 2024 Borlaug Dialogue convenes under the theme “Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy,” echoing Dr. Norman Borlaug’s enduring vision of breaking barriers and transcending boundaries for global food security.
  • Patrick Gottsch, founder of Rural Media Group, Inc., parent company to RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel, The Cowgirl Channel, and Rural Radio 147, passed away May 18, 2024 at the age of 70.
  • National FFA Organization, headquartered in Indianapolis, is proud to announce the incoming cohort of National Teacher Ambassadors for the 2024-2025 school year. There will be 64 National Teacher Ambassadors representing 31 different states, as well as Puerto Rico.
  • Addie Gauck of Greensburg, Indiana, is the recipient of the 2024-25 Soy Scholarship award, sponsored by the American Soybean Association and BASF.
  • The National Cotton Council announces its Emerging Leaders Program participants for 2024-2025.
  • Potatoes USA announces nominations are now open for new board members for the 2025 term. The board is seeking nominees to fill a total of 33 open seats. Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, and a public member.
  • Syngenta Group, the leading global agriculture technology company, and The Nature Conservancy, a world-wide conservation organization with the mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends, renewed their successful collaboration that links conservation goals with economic potential and addresses societal issues like deforestation and land degradation. The two partners have been collaborating since 2009 and entered into a global collaboration in 2018.
  • Zimfo Bytes

    Lindsay Announces Enhancement to FieldNET Advisor

    Chuck Zimmerman

    LindsayOne of the exhibitors at the Modern Ag on the Mall in Washington, DC was Lindsay. I spoke with Gustavo Oberto, President, Global Irrigation. We started with why the company took part in this year’s event and what he hopes they accomplish. From there we focused on the new improvements in irrigation management so farmers can manage their water use. That is the recently announced FieldNET Advisor enhancement.

    “We build solutions by farmers, for farmers,” said Gustavo Oberto, president of irrigation for Lindsay. “That’s why it is so important to us that the team building our products and technologies has first-hand knowledge of how those solutions are working in the field.

    Here is a list:

    FieldNET Advisor Enhancements
    Growers around the world use FieldNET Advisor every day to monitor irrigation patterns and check soil moisture levels. The additional product benefits now available to growers are:

    1. Easy enrollment for the whole operation and customized recommendations to grower management preferences
    2. Satellite imagery estimates crop water usage providing up-to-date data that automatically tracks how conditions change through the growing season; wind, hail, disease, and other factors are all accounted for
    3. Manage the whole farm at a glance, including crop canopy development, crop water use, weather, and irrigation recommendations
    4. More easily review data and execute irrigation decisions on a mobile device
    5. Simplified, whole-farm pricing with only one subscription to manage
    6. Connect your on-farm Pessl weather station to FieldNET and incorporate local weather data into your irrigation recommendations

    You can listen to my interview with Gustavo Oberto here: AEM Ag on the Mall - Gustavo Oberto, Lindsay 5:59

    2024 Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the Mall

    Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Irrigation

    NAFB Names Gardner Hatch as Executive Director

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The new executive director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) is a name well-known in the agricultural marketing world – Gardner Hatch.

    Hatch brings 30-plus years of experience in public relations, agriculture marketing, and strategic communications to the role, having worked with some of the ag industry’s leading companies. Most recently, he was strategic marketing lead at Woodruff, an integrated marketing company specializing in agriculture. He also has held public relations and management positions at other ag marketing firms, including Bader Rutter, G&S Business Communications, and Fleishman Hillard.

    Hatch holds a bachelor’s of journalism from the University of Missouri. Additionally, Hatch recently completed a two-year term as an Allied Industry Council representative on the NAFB board of directors.

    Hatch will officially start on June 4. He replaces Tom Brand, who resigned at the end of 2023 after serving in the role since 2011.

    Gardner was one of our Golden Mic award winners presented at the recent NAMA conference, which was pretty appropriate!

    NAFB, NAMA

    Netafim On The Mall

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Netafim TeamThis is the Netafim team that exhibited at the National Ag On The Mall event. I interviewed two of them, Aubrey Bettencourt, Global Director of Government Relations and External Affairs and Mike Bloomfield, Commercial Lead for Forage Crops, to get their thoughts on this event and what they hope to accomplish.

    Aubrey says the event provides them with a lot of exposure including, “amazing technology that has multiple applications” and “education to key stakeholders.” Mike talks about his work in the Colorado River Basin which includes helping alfalfa farmers use less water and increase yields.

    You can listen to them in our interview: AEM Ag on the Mall - Aubrey Betttencourt and Mike Bloomfield, Netafim 4:33

    2024 Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the Mall

    Agribusiness, Audio, Irrigation

    Precision Ag News 5/22

    Carrie Muehling

  • Join the Nebraska Water Center in Lincoln on October 9 and 10, 2024, for our annual Nebraska Water Conference. The conference will highlight successful collaborations and innovations in Nebraska water and discuss future opportunities in water research and management.
  • Seven scaleup companies from Australia and Canada have successfully completed the Cultivo Virtual Academy, speeding their planning for U.S. market entry. The six-week virtual program is hosted and coordinated by America’s Cultivation Corridor, providing participants a unique experience featuring mentorship, interaction with Iowa’s agricultural leaders and an online curriculum that included regulatory and financing systems, and customer perspectives. The Iowa Economic Development Authority was the presenting sponsor of the program.
  • In a significant move to revolutionize greenhouse management, Sollum Technologies is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with Damatex. This collaboration combines the greenhouse lighting control features of Sollum’s proprietary SUN as a Service cloud platform with Damatex’s advanced climate control systems.
  • In honor of Military Appreciation month, Kubota Tractor Corporation and the Farmer Veteran Coalition announced the selection of the 2024 “Geared to Give” farmer veteran recipients of new Kubota equipment. This year’s five awardees, which include both veterans and currently serving members of the Armed Forces, were honored during a special ceremony on the dirt at the 2024 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday’s commemoration of Armed Forces Day.
  • The 2024 Borlaug Dialogue convenes under the theme “Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy,” echoing Dr. Norman Borlaug’s enduring vision of breaking barriers and transcending boundaries for global food security.
  • Greeneye Technology, the pioneer of AI precision spraying that is proven to reduce chemical use in farming by an average of 88 percent, has announced the opening of its first dedicated dealership. The company is partnering with Nebraska-based Boeck Seed Services to provide sales, installation and service to farmers in Nebraska and adjoining states, in the first of a planned nationwide network of dealerships to support the company’s ambitious expansion plans in the U.S.
  • Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest grassroots farm organization, encourages young farmer entrepreneurs between 18-35 years old with an ag-related business to enter the Grow Your Future Award for a chance to win $10,000. This competition is focused on Farm Bureau members with unique business ventures that tap into niche production, agritourism and other specialty services.
  • Innovative drone company Modovolo will join forces with Dropcopter and M3 Agriculture Technologies to offer pollen distribution technology and sterile insect technique (SIT) capability to the Modovolo Lift.
  • A new farm manager has been named to supervise the Michigan State University Plant Pathology and Entomology Research Centers. Jared Andrews will direct operations and lead administrative duties at the two MSU AgBioResearch on-campus research centers, both located on the south side of campus.
  • The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed to advance a petition by Corteva Agribusiness to place anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of the herbicide 2,4-D shipped from China and India. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) said the decision will impact farmers. Six of the nation’s major commodity groups, including NCGA, sent a letter to the U.S. International Trade Commission in April encouraging it to vote against advancing a petition.
  • AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

    Syngenta Fungicides Can Help Manage Mycotoxins

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Syngenta’s Tyler Harp at 2024 Commodity Classic

    With ear rots becoming more common and stealing more corn yield, Syngenta has some recommendations for managing mycotoxins and maximizing silage return on investment.

    Two mycotoxin-causing threats are Fusarium ear rot and Gibberella ear rot and both caused significant yield losses in 2023, an estimated 46.9 million bushels and 49.4 million bushels, respectively. The mycotoxins caused by each disease, Fumonison and Deoxynivalenol (DON), respectively can also result in additional losses at the grain elevator if levels are high.

    “These diseases infiltrate the crop and diminish its overall integrity, limiting its potential for successful silage use post-harvest due to excess mycotoxin levels,” Tyler Harp, Ph.D., Syngenta technical product lead said. “We are seeing more reports of ear and stalk rots, which could correspondingly increase the amount of mycotoxin levels in silage. Most farmers rely on cultural practices such as hybrid selection and crop rotation to manage mycotoxins, but a fungicide can also be a solution.”

    Miravis® Neo fungicide is one of the only fungicides in the U.S. labelled to successfully manage Fusarium ear rot and lower mycotoxin levels associated with the disease. This results in benefits to corn production. “In trials, we’ve seen lower mycotoxins and increased silage tons,” Harp said.

    Harp says Miravis® Neo is one of Syngenta’s Cleaner & Greener fungicides. “Cleaner means strong, long lasting, potent disease control and greener is really referring to those plant health benefits,” said Harp.

    Harp talked about Miravis® Neo during the 2024 Commodity Classic.
    Classic24 Tyler Harp, Syngenta fungicides 3:33

    Audio, Commodity Classic, Corn, Fungicide, Syngenta

    Truterra Pays $21 Million to Farmers for Carbon Sequestration

    Cindy Zimmerman

    In the first three years of its carbon program, Land O’Lakes subsidiary Truterra has paid farmers more than $21 million for the sequestration and reduction of over 1.1 million metric tons of carbon.

    Along with these results, the Truterra® carbon program has seen significant growth in total acres enrolled. In 2023, total acres increased by 99% vs. 2022. In 2022, total acres enrolled increased by 151% vs. 2021. All of these results help position Truterra as a valuable source for connecting food and ag companies with farmers to drive sustainable practices on farms.

    “Our carbon program is gaining momentum as a leader among farmers and retailers. Our differentiated approach matches agronomics with economics to help farmers make sustainable practice changes,” said Truterra President Jamie Leifker. “What’s more, these carbon assets could help organizations with sustainability goals who choose to make agriculture part of their toolkit of solutions. Truterra will continue to focus on creating new markets for farmers and retailers, while helping them make the best agronomic, economic and sustainable decisions for their operations.”

    In addition, the number of farmers participating in the Truterra® carbon program grew by 58% last year compared to 2022.

    Learn more from Truterra

    carbon, Farming, Sustainability