Rep. @RodneyDavis at #FarmProgressShow

Cindy Zimmerman

fps-davisFarm Progress Show is in the Congressional district of Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and he stopped by Wednesday to visit.

“I’m blessed enough to represent Decatur and host this event every two years,” said Davis. “You got billions of dollars of equipment sitting out here. It really shows what agribusiness and agriculture means, not only to Illinois and Iowa, but the entire Midwest and our entire national economy.”

Congress is on break now, giving Rep. Davis a chance to catch up with his constituents – and let his facial hair grow out! We talked about some of the important issues for agriculture that the House has already acted on but the Senate has yet to. That includes GMO labeling, WOTUS and COOL.

Listen to my interview with this outstanding friend of agriculture in Congress – Interview with Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL)

2015 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Audio, Farm Progress Show, GMO

“Club Blue” Speakers Discuss Market Outlook

Lizzy Schultz

fps-15-goldNew Holland invited several speakers to give presentations at their “Club Blue” event for customers and dealers at the Farm Progress Show, one of them being Mark Gold of Top Third Ag Marketing. He spoke to customers on his market outlook and on current risks in the market.

Gold is optimistic about the market, but emphasized how important it is for farmers to look at marketing more carefully.

“The message I have today is that there is still some risk here. With everything that’s happening in China, in the crude oil market, we could see lower prices yet, but we’ll see,” he said in an interview with AgWired before the event.

Despite how low commodity prices still are, Gold has a positive outlook on the market looking into the future, and sees the market’s current state as a wonderful opportunity for investors.

“This is a great time in my opinion to get into agriculture, to expand. Today you’ve got an opportunity to buy land a little cheaper, cash rents are coming down. I want to sell things when they are a lot more expensive. And I think that’s coming down the road, it may be a while, but hopefully in the next six months we’ll see this thing turn around.”

He explained that risk management is farmers’ key to smooth maneuvering through the cycles of the market: “When you’ve got good prices, don’t try to only manage that year, but maybe the next two or three years because the markets are cyclical, so what goes up will go down, and what goes down will come up. The market doesn’t care what the cost of production is, the economics and the supply and demand still rule these markets.”

Gold’s final message for farmers? Quit trying to outguess the markets.

“Quit listening to any of the marketing gurus, including myself, who make predictions about where markets are going. What you want to do is look at the price, put in a floor, protect it if it goes down, be able to sell grain if it goes up, and quit listening to all the nonsense that’s out there.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Gold here:
Interview with Mark Gold, Top Third Ag Marketing

2015 Farm Progress Show Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Agribusiness, Farm Progress Show, Marketing, New Holland

New Holland in the Farm Progress Field

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland CombineFarm Progress Show field demos are underway this year. Some might say, “Finally!” That’s because they have been canceled the last couple years.

Here’s a New Holland CR combine in the field followed by a tractor pulling one of their new large round balers. Lizzy gets credit for this picture.

Jamie shot video of the combine for your viewing pleasure.


2015 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Agribusiness, Equipment, Farm Progress Show, New Holland, Video

Fortix Offers Growers Fungicide Flexibility

Joanna Schroeder

fungicide_fortix_logoWith moderate temperatures and lots of rainfall, corn and soybean growers have had an environment fairly conducive to pathogen presence of diseases including gray leaf spot and southern corn rust said Nick Hustedde, FMC Technical Service Representative prior to the kick-off of the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois this week. He cautioned there are also wind-borne spores on their way in and as a result, growers are seeing some late season infections. Hustedde explained that when a grower plants early and there are cool, wet conditions, the environment becomes conducive for sudden death syndrome and growers began to see some symptoms show up in the past week.

arystaHustedde said fungicide applications are fairly crop specific. He explained that in the case of corn, for example, a grower can see late diseases that can infect early. In these cases, it’s important to have a fungicide option that has a flexible application window. That’s where In Fortix, which is a joint venture between FMC and Arysta LifeScience, comes in. Fortix allows for either ground or aerial application giving it the flexibility for the grower to apply based on what type of pathogen a grower is fighting.

Growers can apply Fortix proactively before symptoms of disease show up. In some cases, however, a grower may see a major epidemic and they may be a little more reactive. Regardless of the strategy used, Hustedde said Fortix is a one and done application and a grower can expect an average yield increase of 7 to 14 bushels per acre for corn and 4+ bushels per acre for soybeans versus untreated acres.

To learn more about application strategies and the role of Fortix, listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with Nick Hustedde: Interview with Nick Hustedde, FMC

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Audio, Corn, Farm Progress Show, FMC, Fungicide, Soybean

Smile, you’re on camera!

Melissa Sandfort

cam5I’ve mentioned before all the different creatures that venture into our yard, or in the pasture behind our house. The amazement never ceases when the children see five deer from the back deck, or watch them walk up the freshly mowed path from the trees to our house. The two little ones get a kick out of saying, “Whoa, turkey!” as we drive to town, and most times, it’s because I have to stop on the lake road to let the turkeys cross.

cam6My nephew, Jackson, is big into hunting and fishing. I’ve warned him though, if he’s going to shoot a gun by our house at 6 a.m. to please let me know so I don’t think we’re under attack. He has trail cams set up all through the pasture and down by the old camping grounds. You never know what may wander up to inspect the camera!

I thought it would be fun to share a few of those captured moments.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

HiSoy Golden Sweepstakes Winner

Cindy Zimmerman

fps-gmk-winnerMatt Davis and his son Adam who farm near Mendota, Illinois are going home from the Farm Progress Show this week with a Meridian Seed Tender, courtesy of GROWMARK and Grainco FS in honor of the 50th anniversary of HiSoy soybeans.

“It’s fantastic, I didn’t actually believe it at first,” said Davis when he was awarded his prize at the show Wednesday. “It will fit in great with the operation I’ve got.”

GROWMARK seed division mgr Mark Thornsbrough, winner Matt Davis and son Adam; John Walsh and Mike Fredrichson of Grainco FS

GROWMARK seed division mgr Mark Thornsbrough, winner Matt Davis and son Adam; John Walsh and Mike Fredrickson of Grainco FS

GROWMARK Seed Division Manager Mark Thornsbrough said they came up with the sweepstakes to celebrate the golden anniversary of HiSoy.

“HiSoy was the first and the oldest continuous brand in the United States and we’re very proud of our brand,” said Thornsbrough. “We launched (the sweepstakes) about a year ago and wanted to finish it up here at the Farm Progress Show.”

Thornsbrough says one thing that makes HiSoy so special is the leadership behind the brand. “We’ve had four product managers and they’ve all continued to make the brand a leading brand in the industry,” he said. “The most important part from a farmer’s standpoint as a cooperative, it is the farmers’ brand – the farmers own this brand and we want to make sure that we give them the best opportunity for high yields and the ability to maximize their income per acre.”

The GROWMARK Seed Division plans to award three seed tenders to three participants in the HiSOY Golden Anniversary Sweepstakes – randomly selecting a winner from each sales region – Northern, Southern, and Western. Davis was the Northern region winner.

Learn more in this interview: GROWMARK HiSoy Sweepstakes Winner

2015 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Audio, Farm Progress Show, FS System, GROWMARK, Seed, Soybean

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Raycom Sports in partnership with KIOTI Tractor has launched the ACC QB Challenge Presented by KIOTI Tractor.
  • The Georgia Cotton Commission, Georgia Peanut Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Cotton and Peanut Teams, will co-sponsor a joint research field day on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Tifton, Georgia.
  • Rex Martin, head of external relations at Syngenta, is moving to Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), where he’ll serve as senior vice president for owner relations.
  • DuPont Pioneer and the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) announced that for the third year in a row, Pioneer will award $300,000 through grants totaling up to $5,000 to fund training and classroom resources that will help implement advanced agriculture curiculums.
Zimfo Bytes

Become a Bayer CropScience #AgVocate

Cindy Zimmerman

fps-bayer-agvocateAt the 2015 Farm Progress Show this week, Bayer CropScience launched #AgVocate, an initiative designed to inform, encourage and enable voices within American agriculture to engage in the public dialogue about agriculture, food production and the importance of innovation to tackle the massive challenges facing our world today.

“We’re asking people to pledge their time and their will into this campaign, and really try to understand the issues and the science behind the technologies we create,” says Bayer CropScience VP of Marketing David Hollinrake. “With their pledge, we’re also offering up materials to help them engage in dialogue with people who may not have as much information about how food is grown.”

Visitors to the Bayer tent at FPS can pledge join their hands to #AgVocate and learn new facts and techniques to help them #AgVocate throughout the year. “Our goal is to engage as many people as possible, and there’s 150,000 people who will be through these facilities over the next three days,” said Hollinrake. “If we can do our little part by asking them to be an #AgVocate and pledge their time then I think we can have a meaningful impact on shaping consumer sentiment in a positive way.”

So, if you’re at the FPS this week, stop by the Bayer tent – if not, you can learn more here.

Listen to my interview with David here: Interview with David Hollinrake, Bayer CropScience

2015 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Audio, Bayer, Farm Progress Show

Feed the Hungry with @FSServices at #FPS15

Cindy Zimmerman

fps-gmk-exhibitGROWMARK and the FS System are the folks who make the Farm Progress Show grow and go – so you definitely should stop by and visit them on the corner of Central and Eleventh before the show ends on Thursday afternoon.

“We are the official fuel and agronomic sponsor of the field demonstrations here,” says Rachel Moore with the GROWMARK Marketing and Communications division, pictured here on the right with Bev Long, manager of that division.

Inside the exhibit, there are lots of interactive games related to the FS member companies, including grain systems, agronomy, and energy with the diesel fuel branded as Dieselex Gold. “We’re doing a Dieselex Gold challenge where people can sign up for that in our booth,” said Moore.

fps-gmk-gameNew to the exhibit this year is a way for visitors to not only have fun, but also make a difference in the local community by helping to feed those in need. “Farming Forever is a way we wanted to pair up with two food banks – Midwest Food Bank and Feeding America,” said Long. “For every person that plays Farming Forever, the GROWMARK Foundation on behalf of FS Member Companies will give a dollar. We’re looking for 10,000 people to come in and play, so that’s $5,000 to each of those organizations.”

Find out more in this interview with Rachel and Bev – and better yet, stop by and play the game so they can meet their goal! Interview with Rachel Moore and Bev Long, GROWMARK

2015 Farm Progress Show Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Audio, Farm Progress Show, Food, FS System, GROWMARK

CNH Global Brand Manager Visits #FarmProgressShow

Lizzy Schultz

fps-15-lambroNew Holland was extremely fortunate to welcome their Italy-based Global Brand Manager, Carlo Lambro, to their booth at this year’s Farm Progress Show.

Lambro came to see the show, the booths, and observe his brand, but none of those items were his top priority this week: “The brand was born in the US, in 1895 in New Holland, Pennsylvania, and we are proud of the position we hold here. I came this week above all to see the customers,” Lambro said in an interview with AgWired.

Lambro also came to see the leaders of the North American branch of the company, and to observe how the team is working after the recent appointment of Bret Lieberman as the new Vice President of New Holland North America.

“It’s important that we provide the team with the right leadership. It is the team that is doing the job, it is not only one man,” explained Lambro, “The current mood of the staff is good. We are working well together as a team. At the end of the day, New Holland is a big family.”

Of Lieberman, Lambro had a glowing description: “We are combining not only his expertise and his long history of success in the company, but Bret is also originally from New Holland, PA. He knows the culture, he knows the people, and it is really bringing added value to the team.”

Listen to Chuck’s Interview with Lambro here:
Interview with Carlo Lambro, New Holland

2015 Farm Progress Show Album

Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by
Coverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New HollandCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by FMCCoverage of the 2015 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Growmark
Agribusiness, Farm Progress Show, International, New Holland, Tractor, Uncategorized