Industry Groups Ask Court to Overturn WOTUS

Kelly Marshall

AFBF The American Farm Bureau Federation and many other organizations and businesses have asked a federal court to overrule the EPA and Army Corps of Engineer’s “Waters of the United States”. The submitted brief outlines many allegations in detail and describes a year’s worth of litigation involving the rule’s overreach.

The coalition’s brief explains how EPA flouted important procedural safeguards designed to ensure a fair and thoughtful rulemaking process. EPA tactics included withholding key documents until after the public comment period had closed, ignoring and ridiculing critical public comments and issuing illegal “covert propaganda” in an effort to generate superficial public support for the rule.

“EPA set out to achieve a predetermined outcome and then manipulated the public notice-and-comment process to achieve that outcome,” AFBF General Counsel Ellen Steen said. “It treated the rulemaking process like a game to be won instead of a deliberative process for developing lawful and reasonable regulations.”

The groups also cover how WOTUS violates the limits of the Constitution and the Clean Water Act and explain how the rule relies on vague terms to define “navigable waters.” The brief shows how no fair public notice has been given to describe to the public what features are covered in the rule.

“Regulators can reach any outcome they please, and regulated entities cannot know the outcome until they are already exposed to criminal liability, including crushing fines,” the brief states.

The coalition asks the federal court to strike the rule in its entirety.

AFBF, Ag Groups, EPA, Water

Zimfo Bytes

Lizzy Schultz

Zimfo Bytes

Zimfo Bytes

Developing With Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere Developers ConferenceJohn Deere is holding its annual Develop with Deere conference in Kansas City this year with almost double the number of attendees of last year. Many more dealers have come to learn what the company has planned for the future. The conference includes presentations from 33 application development companies who are working with John Deere in various ways to integrate with the John Deere platform.

I’ll be conducting interviews with John Deere representatives, dealers and developers to share primarily on our Precision.AgWired.com website. So keep an eye on it for new information as I find it.

I’m going to be sharing photos throughout the conference which you can find and share here: Develop with Deere Photo Album

Agribusiness, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

FMC’s Rhyme Tough on Powdery Mildew

Joanna Schroeder

Powdery mildew has been a major challenge for California growers this year. In fact, according to Tim Ksander, technical manager for FMC, it’s one of the worst these growers have ever encountered.

Powdery mildew is an interesting disease, Ksander told AgWired during the recent 2016 CAPCA Conference & Agri-Expo, because the disease infests numerous crops. However, there are different genera and they attack plants in slightly different ways.

FMC's Tim Ksander explains how Rhyme is tough on powdery mildew during the 2016 CAPCA Conference.

FMC’s Tim Ksander explains how Rhyme is tough on powdery mildew during the 2016 CAPCA Conference.

Fortunately there is a solution for growers from FMC called Rhyme™ fungicide, which Ksander said works on virtually all the different genera. One crop in particular that has been hard hit is grapes. “First powdery mildew infects the leaves and eventually it gets into the fruit, and that’s the part we’re trying to protect,” said Ksander. “The advantage of Rhyme fungicide is that it is systemic and can be sprayed right on the leaves. It can also go into the soil and can be taken up by the root system.”

Ksander said that whenever a grower is working with fungicides, he needs to be aware of resistance issues. A component of a good resistance management plan includes the timing of fungicide applications. “The best time to apply a fungicide is preventative because when a disease starts it’s harder to get rid of it. Rhyme fungicide has some curative activity so if there is a little bit of it there it will knock that back and prevent it from sporulating. Preventative treatment is the key to successful disease management,” stressed Ksander.

“To manage resistance what needs to be done with all fungicides is rotation, rotation, rotation. Rotation is the number one key to successful resistance management,” Ksander added. Another key? Mixing up modes of action.

Fungicides should be rotated within the growing season and between seasons. He explained, “If you end the season with a material such as a triozole, you don’t want to start the next season with that because that disease organism has already been subjected to that. Rather you want to start with a different mode of action when you start the season then rotate to another mode of action.”

To learn more listen to my interview with Tim Ksander here: Interview with Tim Ksander, FMC

Be sure to check out all the action by viewing the 42nd Annual CAPCA Photo Album.

Legal: Always read and follow label directions. Shark EW herbicide is only registered for use in California. FMC Fracture, Koverall, Rhyme, Shark and Sovran are trademarks and Investing in farming’s future is a service mark of FMC Corporation or an affiliate. ©2016 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. 16-FMC-0857, 10/16

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC, Fungicide

Meteorologist Explains La Nina at #ExEx16

Cindy Zimmerman

exex16-tapley No matter where on the supply chain you are, members of the agriculture industry are always interested in the weather. Kyle Tamely, a senior ag meteorologist with MDA Weather Services, spoke at the Export Exchange 2016 conference last week on weather trends and the global grain market to international buyers and domestic suppliers of corn, ethanol co-products, sorghum and barley.

La Nina dominated his talk as Tamely explained how the weather phenomenon controls global weather. The Tropical weather patterns of La Nina occur when stronger than average trade winds move warmer water to the Western Pacific Ocean and cooler water moves to Central and Eastern Pacific. This pattern, the exact opposite of El Nino, is technically defined after five 3-month periods of water temperatures altered by 1/2 a degree Celsius. While the current situation may or may not reach the technical definition, Tamely says the affects on global weather will occur anyhow.

For the U.S., La Nina generally means dryer weather in the southwest, but for growers the impact will be minimal, with harvest unaffected overall. North America can expect slightly less than average rain fall now through the winter, however the north faces the possibility of high levels of snow pack through the winter.

South America may also see slightly dryer weather, although Brazil is typically unaffected by La Nina. Argentina is currently seeing good rains headed into the growing season, but too much rain in southern Brazil could affect wheat harvest. Tamely predicts a rise in crop production for South American over last season, due in part to the rebound from Brazil’s recent drought.

While Western Europe is still dry, Eastern Europe’s conditions are favorable for winter crops. A warmer than average winter should help decrease winter kill as well. The Black Sea region was dry until just recently, but rainfall has returned soil conditions to normal and above average winter temperatures there will be good for wheat too.

Australia has seen more precipitation, thanks to La Nina. In some areas the quality of the wheat harvest is being affected by damp conditions and an early frost and cool conditions aren’t helping. The continent will continue to see wet weather as La Nina continues through the end of the year. China has seen wet weather as well, but conditions are improving for harvest. Areas that were too dry are getting a boost from typhoons in the region. South Africa was hit hard by El Nino last year, but rainfall is returning to normal to above normal, relieving pressure after the drought.

While it’s too soon to say, Tamely looks for this weak La Nina too peter out with 2016 rather than gain strength. It is unclear what direction 2017 will take, but the forecast currently suggests water temperatures next year will be close to normal.

You can listen to Kyle Tamely’s talk here to get the details for yourself: Kyle Tamely, MDA Weather Services

2016 Export Exchange Photo Album

Coverage of Export Exchange 2016 made possible by Coverage of Export Exchange 2016 made possible by the Renewable Fuels Association
Audio, Events, Exports, Weather

New Communications Manager for New Holland

Cindy Zimmerman

New Holland is pleased to welcome Modesty Guarente as its new Brand Communications Marketing Manager, effective this week.

cnh-guarenteGuarente brings over fifteen years of communications and marketing experience to the role, which will include responsibility for all brand, product segment and channel marketing communications, as well as the management of creative agencies and vendors associated with New Holland in North America. Most recently, she served as Marketing Communications Manager for the residential division of Armstrong Flooring where she was responsible for increasing brand equity and driving content generation and sales support.

“Modesty is an accomplished marketing manager within the residential flooring industry, it’s an exciting time for her to join our team,” said Chun Woytera, Senior Director of Marketing. “We’re thrilled to have her expertise directing our communications and expect her to elevate the exposure, engagement and momentum of the New Holland brand.”

“Recent announcements like the autonomous tractor concept, have distinguished New Holland as the industry leader of innovative agricultural machinery and I’m very excited to join this company. Coming to New Holland is almost like coming full circle for me, I was proud to grow up on a fruit farm with New Holland machinery and I’m now proud to be a part of New Holland’s dedication to delivering inventive solutions to farmers and producers,” said Guarente.

Over her career, Guarente has been a proven leader in driving new business and sales, guiding teams in the development of new creative campaigns, marketing promotions and communications programs. She is a graduate of Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications & Print Journalism.

New Holland

Need to Increase Demand for #Corn

Cindy Zimmerman

The new president of the National Corn Growers Association says growing demand continues to be a big priority for farmers.

exex16-spurlock“The crop is bigger than we’ve seen before, we just keep being able to produce these records,” said Wesley Spurlock, a corn farmer from Texas who just took over as NCGA president at the beginning of October. “Demand is what we’re working on. It’s demand, demand and more demand.”

And increasing demand for U.S. coarse grains and ethanol co-products is what the Renewable Fuels Association and U.S. Grains Council were doing with the Export Exchange 2016 in Detroit last week. “We really appreciate the work they do,” said Sprulock, noting that there were some 200 international buyers and end users from 35 countries at the event. “They’ve got small rooms set up so buyers and sellers can get together … for them to be able to communicate together is amazing.”

“We know we have the ability to produce these crops, so we have to be able to move them,” Spurlock said. “We need these exports healthy.”

Listen to my interview with Wesley here: Interview with Wesley Spurlock, NCGA president

2016 Export Exchange Photo Album

Coverage of Export Exchange 2016 made possible by Coverage of Export Exchange 2016 made possible by the Renewable Fuels Association
Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Exports, International, NCGA, RFA

A Bad Boy ZimmCast

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 528Bad Boy Off Road is part of Textron Specialized Vehicles, based in Augusta, GA. That’s where I met Ben White to pick up an Recoil iS Crew to test drive during this hunting season at the Crystal Pig Hunt Club. As you’ll hear in this week’s program in the background, it is a busy place.

Chuck and PaulMy hunt club partner and brother, Paul Zimmerman, and I spent some days successfully hunting last week sharing time on my old model Bad Boy Buggy and the new machine. With the Recoil we immediately noticed how awesome the suspension is. Ruts in the road? Bumpy ground off road? The Bad Boy Recoil iS Crew don’t care!

I’m already looking forward to my next trip to the Pig for round two since I did not get my buck. I did get meat for the freezer with a couple does. Paul, however, got a nice 9 point buck and Clint Underwood who was hunting with us got his first deer ever.

I’m here to tell you that the battery operated Recoil iS Crew is silent and that means a lot when getting you your stand. I know we have a lot of hunters in the AgWired Community so you might want to look into Bad Boy Off Road. I’ll have a more complete review of the Recoil soon but at the first test period it is getting a thumbs up from me.

You can listen to the program here: ZimmCast with Ben White, Textron Specialized Vehicles

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

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Audio, Hunting, ZimmCast

FMC Rhyme Addresses Disease Concerns

Joanna Schroeder

Powdery mildew has been a stand-out problem in California according to Matt Rackerby, strategic business specialist for FMC. In fact, one grower told him that in 50 years of growing grapes, it’s the worst powdery mildew he’s ever seen. This season proved to be the perfect conditions for the disease to grow and people who didn’t address it early and often, struggled. So what is a good solution? I learned the answer from Rackerby during the 2016 CAPCA Conference & Agri-Expo that took place in Anaheim, California.

FMC's Matt Rackerby discussing Rhyme and Fracture fungicides during the 2016 CAPCA Conference.

FMC’s Matt Rackerby discussing Rhyme and Fracture fungicides during the 2016 CAPCA Conference.

FMC has a new product to specifically address this disease, Rhyme fungicide, and Rackerby said under heavy pressure, things looked good for growers who used the product. Rhyme is a FRAC 3 fungicide. It’s not a new class, but rather a new chemistry. “So what makes it a standout product in that class is that translocates very, very well. So well in fact, we’re expecting a label soon that allows chemigation. If you put it through a drip system the plant will suck it up,” Rackerby explained.

There is also a special label in Texas where Rhyme is helping to control a root rot that they don’t have in California. It’s controlling the root rot and it’s being taken up by the vines providing powdery mildew control as well.

“If you haven’t used a FRAC 3 fungicide for awhile because you think you wore it out, it’s time to come back to it now, but come back to the best one on the market and Rhyme fungicide is a good performer, said Rackerby. He added that its performance makes it a great tool for use in resistance management strategies. Besides rotating and tank mixing, he said other options are to find totally new fungicide classes to integrate into their programs such as Fracture fungicide, a new mode of action fungicide that helps control mid-season disease issues such as powdery mildew and botrytis.

I asked him what are the challenges going into the 2017 crop. He said that the biggest challenge is water. The growers have been getting less and less water each year, said Rackerby so they are having to learn new ways to conserve resources, but more water allocation for the state’s ag industry is needed.

To learn more, listen to my interview with Matt Rackerby here: Interview with Matt Rackerby, FMC on Rhyme and Fracture

I couldn’t resist asking Rackerby about an oldie but goodie FMC product, Shark® EW, herbicide. Rackerby said that while most PCA’s and growers know about the product, FMC is continually add to the label by adding crops and making the label more useful. Speaking of new uses, Rackerby said growers can now use Shark EW on alfalfa when they burn down during the dormant period. They can either add it to other products or they can use it alone. In the summer a grower can use it in between cuttings.

Learn more about Shark here: FMC's Matt Rackerby on Shark EW

Be sure to check out even more action by viewing the 42nd Annual CAPCA Photo Album.

Legal: Always read and follow label directions. Shark EW herbicide is only registered for use in California. FMC Fracture, Koverall, Rhyme, Shark and Sovran are trademarks and Investing in farming’s future is a service mark of FMC Corporation or an affiliate. ©2016 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved. 16-FMC-0857, 10/16

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC, Fungicide, Herbicide

New Holland Acquires Kongskilde Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

screen-shot-2016-10-31-at-9-21-44-amNew Holland Agriculture will expand its wide offering with new implement product lines as a result of CNH Industrial’s agreement to acquire the agricultural Grass and Soil business of Kongskilde Industries, part of the Danish Group Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab.

This business develops, manufactures and sells solutions for agricultural applications in the Tillage and Hay & Forage segments under various brands, including Kongskilde, Överum and JF. Kongskilde will continue to operate through its current sales organization and its dealer network ensuring continuity in its customers’ support.

This acquisition will create a major extension and enhancement of New Holland’s offering with the addition of a key product portfolio. New Holland has a long history of leadership in the hay tools which dates back to 1940, when it made a major breakthrough in hay harvesting with the introduction of the first self-tying automatic pick-up baler to the American farmers. Throughout the years it has been motivated by its forward-thinking commitment to respond to its customers’ requirements and has developed a complete product offering of hay equipment for cutting, tedding, raking, baling and stacking. Today New Holland is a Global leading brand and an industry-leader in North America in the haytools and agricultural equipment markets.

“The acquisition of the tillage and hay and forage activities of Kongskilde adds a key product range that will further broaden New Holland Agriculture’s product offering within the agricultural machinery sector. In the meantime the Kongskilde dealer and importer network will remain the reference point for their customers. This agreement will provide growth opportunities and create a strong platform to develop the Kongskilde business and its brands and we will also gradually integrate their products in the New Holland portfolio”, said Carlo Lambro, Brand President of New Holland Agriculture.

“We are proud to welcome the well-established products and brands of Kongskilde, Överum and JF into the CNH Industrial Group. It is our intention to build upon these proud heritages and significantly increase their market access as part of our worldwide distribution network,” commented Richard Tobin, CEO of CNH Industrial.

Agribusiness, Equipment, Forage, Hay, New Holland