BASF on Importance of Coatings and Inoculants

Cindy Zimmerman December 11, 2014

Coatings and inoculants are where it’s at in the seed industry these days and BASF Ag Products is in the forefront of this important technology for agriculture.

“When we speak of inoculants, we’re talking about rhizobia-based products,” said BASF US Crop Seed Enhancement manager Steve Bergschneider during an interview at the ASTA CSS 2014 and Seed Expo in Chicago. “We have selectively chosen strains that we ferment and build into our inoculation products that allow us to use them in North Dakota, or the Southeast, or Ohio, Nebraska… a variety of conditions that allow them to effectively infect plants and form a high level of nodules for that plant.”

In the BASF coatings portfolio, Bergschneider says their Flo Rite® Plantability Polymers are the biggest. “We have some versions for corn and soybeans,” he said. “Our Flo Rite brand allows the farmer to plant very accurate seed drops – no skips, no doubles – to allow him to have a good planting day when he’s ready to go.”

Find out more in this interview: Interview with Steve Bergschneider, BASF
2014 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo photo album

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Coverage of CSS 2014 and Seed Expo brought to you by BASF Ag Products

ASTA, Audio, BASF, Seed

EPA Approves Bayer CropScience’s ILeVO® for SDS

Leah Guffey December 11, 2014

Bayer CropScience announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved its application for the registration of ILeVO®, the only seed treatment that protects the root system against infections caused by the Sudden Death Syndrome fungus and has activity against dangerous nematodes in the seed zone.

Business to business strategy manager of seed growth, John Carlson says, “This is a big deal not only for Bayer but for soybean growers across the midwest. We are about ready to give them an option that they have been looking for for about forty years.”

Soybean growers across the country are constantly looking for ways to protect their crops from the fungus that causes Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and nematodes, specifically the Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) – two of the top five soybean yield robbing pests. In 2014 environmental conditions were such that growers experienced higher than normal pressure from SDS. Until now, there was no seed treatment available to protect soybean plants against both SDS and nematodes.

You can hear my interview with John Carlson here: Interview with John Carlson, Bayer Crop Science

2014 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo photo album

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Media Training for ASTA Members

Leah Guffey December 11, 2014

American Farm Bureau Federation director of media and advocacy training Johnna Miller conducted a workshop for members of the American Seed Trade Association during CSS 2014 on how to effectively communicate with the media.

Johnna says farmers and ranchers have a great story to tell, but it’s not always easy for them to do. She hopes attendees walk away from the session realizing that doing a good interview and getting the right information out is doable, it just sometimes takes a little work. “If we don’t go out and talk about it, the general public doesn’t know that these great things are happening,” she says. “Sometimes we have to promote our own stories to make sure the word gets out.”

You can hear my interview with Johnna here: Interview with Johnna Miller, AFBF

2014 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo photo album

Coverage of CSS 2014 and Seed Expo brought to you by

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AFBF, ASTA, Audio, Media, Seed

ASTA Chairs Pleased with CSS 2014

Cindy Zimmerman December 11, 2014

The chairman and first vice chair of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) are pleased with this year’s turnout at CSS 2014 and Seed Expo and with the direction of the organization.

ASTA chair John Schoenecker with HM. Clause of California says the program is exceptionally good this year. “Everything from bee health to cover crops, the international treaty for plant genetic resources, improving consistency, and much more,” he said.

Schoenecker is very excited about the new consumer research announced this week and the planned communications outreach. “Our membership and board decided to commit significant resources over the next three years to better understand and help educate the consumer about the impact of seed on their life,” he said. Interview with ASTA chair John Schoenecker, HM. Clause

As the first vice chair, Risa DeMasi of Grassland Oregon will be taking over as ASTA chairman next summer, so implementing the communications outreach to consumers will fall under her leadership. “I’m excited about it,” said Risa. “We have a great story to tell because if you think about it, everything around you comes from a seed.”

Risa is also pleased with the attendance at the CSS-Seed Expo this year and a larger media presence with a new media room sponsored by BASF. Interview with ASTA 1st vice chair Risa DeMasi, Grassland Oregon

2014 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo photo album

Coverage of CSS 2014 and Seed Expo brought to you by

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Wrapping up Ag Retailers Association Convention

Chuck Zimmerman December 11, 2014

Daren Coppock, President/CEO, Agricultural Retailers Association, gave us a preview of last week’s convention and now you can hear his review. I told him I look at these interviews as the bookends for my coverage! Although I might still have a couple more stories to share.

Daren says, “We’re really pleased and the basis for that opinion is the feedback I’ve gotten from members that have been here.” The last number he had heard at the time of our interview was 798 in attendance which is a record for the convention. Daren commented again on how important the networking opportunities are for ARA members and that’s why they build the program to include as much of that time as possible. Daren says the staff has a very busy winter season that includes a January board meeting and more. No rest for the weary I guess.

Listen to my interview with Daren here: Interview with Daren Coppock, ARA President/CEO

2014 ARA Convention & Expo Photo Album

Ag Groups, ARA, Audio

USDA Chief Economist to Retire

Cindy Zimmerman December 11, 2014

The chief economist with USDA is retiring at the end of the year after 30 years of federal service.

“No one has a higher level of credibility on issues impacting the agricultural economy than Dr. Glauber,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement. “Farm country and, truly, the country as a whole have been extraordinarily well served by Joe throughout his 30 years of federal service. I will miss Joe’s expertise and wise counsel, and wish him well as he begins the next phase of his distinguished career.”

From 1992 to 2007, Dr. Glauber served as Deputy Chief Economist at the USDA. In 2007 he was named the Special Doha Agricultural Envoy at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and continues to serve as chief agricultural negotiator in the Doha talks. He was appointed chief economist of USDA in 2008 by former Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer following the retirement of Dr. Keith Collins.

Current USDA Deputy Chief Economist Dr. Robert Johansson has been named Acting Chief Economist. Johansson has served as USDA’s Deputy Chief Economist since 2012 and holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota. Johansson will assume the duties of Chief Economist beginning January 1, 2015.

USDA

Iteris Announces ClearAg Prime

Chuck Zimmerman December 11, 2014

Intelligence. It’s vitally important to national security and your crop’s security. Iteris has just released ClearAg Prime, which they call “Next Level of Intelligent Agriculture Decision Support.” To learn more about it I visited by phone with Tom Blair, Senior Vice President, Iteris.

He says that ClearAg Prime is the latest in a series of API’s that customers can readily integrate with third part agricultural software applications. It contains climatological and soil data information to augment the previous release of ClearAg Select.

“ClearAg Prime is designed to assist agribusinesses, crop consultants, advisors and agronomists with reliable, actionable, field-level information to optimize crop production, yield and field operations,” noted Abbas Mohaddes, president and CEO of Iteris. “This unique solution leverages our data analytics expertise to provide accurate land surface modeling, and our proprietary methods of big data assimilation delivers industry-leading precision weather information.”

ClearAg Prime allows single-platform customer access to soil condition modeling, field accessibility and climatology norms. This is in addition to 30 years of historical and forecast weather information, growing degree days, hail data, Nowcast and industry leading map visualizations that cover field-specific weather information to an industry-leading 1×1 kilometer resolution. ClearAg Prime’s soil condition modeling also incorporates data involving soil temperature, moisture history and forecast information, for a comprehensive planting intelligence platform.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: Tom Blair, Iteris

Agribusiness, Audio

Closing the PRRS Knowledge Gap

Jamie Johansen December 11, 2014

The amount of research being done with PRRS is great, however the knowledge gap is large. Dr. Andres Perez, professor at the University of Minnesota, talked about PRRS research with goals to close some of our knowledge gaps and summarized results of and future plans for research on PRRS incidence, molecular epidemiology and modeling. All this took place during Boehringer Ingelheim’s session at the North American PRRS Symposium.

“We think realistically the most immediate step is to try and understand the impact of the disease. There are a number of research projects keeping that in mind,” said Dr. Perez. Looking into the future, he said biosecurity was one area of study being explored. “And how we can manage it to decrease the impact of the disease and finally to understand the social competence of the disease and the role the different players play in maintaining and preventing disease transmission.”

In my complete interview with Dr. Perez, learn more about the research being done with PRRS at the University of Minnesota. Interview with Dr. Andres Perez, University of Minnesota

Find all the photos from the event here: 2014 BIVI PRRS Seminar Photo Album

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

AAW Elects National Officers

Jamie Johansen December 11, 2014

American Agri-Women (AAW) kicked off its year-long celebration of its 40th anniversary at its annual convention held recently in College Corner, Ohio. The organization also elected its national officers and recognized outstanding advocates for agriculture.

AAW is the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women representing more than 50 state, commodity and agribusiness affiliates. The 39th annual convention’s theme was “Bridging the Path From Farm to Fork” and was hosted by Ohio Agri-Women.

National officers for 2015 are:
• President Sue McCrum, Mars Hill, Maine
• First Vice President of Resolutions & Vital Issues Doris Mold, St. Paul, Minn., and Cumberland, Wis.
• Vice President of Communications Lynn Woolf, Milton, Kan.
• Vice President of Education Donnell Scott, Manhattan, Kan.
• Secretary Arlene Kovash, Monmouth, Ore.
• Treasurer Peggy Clark, Dayton, Ohio
• Past-President Karen Yost, Billings, Montana

Five women were honored with LEAVEN awards, the organization’s highest honor for members:
• Rosemary Eckardt, Merrill, Wis.
• Ruth Hambleton, Woodlawn, Ill.
• Jane Marshall, Eaton, Ohio
• Kimberly Schmuhl, Coloma, Mich.
• Melody Speer, Uvalde, Texas

Lynn Woolf, Milton, Kan., received the 2014 President’s Award and Lisa Condon, Horicon, Wis., was recognized for her years of service.

Ag Groups

Alliance to Feed the Future’s Communicator of the Year

Jamie Johansen December 11, 2014

The Alliance to Feed the Future has announced that Diana Prichard is the second recipient of its Communicator of the Year Award. The award, given in collaboration this year with the American Meat Institute, recognizes effective and innovative new voices that are enhancing the public dialogue about modern food production through multi-channel communications, including social media.

Prichard, a farmer and mom who owns a small farrow-to-finish hog operation in the heart of Michigan’s farm country, was bestowed the honor on December 10th at the 16th Farm Journal Forum at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Growing up in rural Mid-Michigan, Prichard is now a first-generation hog farmer, as well as a freelance writer, photographer, speaker, and filmmaker.

Prichard says that her interest in communicating about agriculture stems from her own experiences building a farm. “When you’re selling products directly to consumers, you have this constant line of communication open with them about what messages they’re getting about food. From the very earliest days, people were asking us to guide them. I always felt like I had a responsibility to provide answers that were true to the best of my ability. I turned to writing to distill what I was learning in farming simply because it was the most natural for me.”

Prichard adds, “Most people in the farming industry were born farmers and are learning to become communicators. I was born a communicator and am learning to become a farmer. For reasons that often allude even me, I’ve been accepted and welcomed to the farming community as if I were always here. To me, that acceptance, like this award, really speaks to the premium the agriculture industry places on open dialogue.”

Ag Groups

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