Verdeisan Adds Sales Expertise

Joanna Schroeder October 14, 2014

Verdesian Life Sciences has increased its sales staff with the hiring of four sales experts: Bob Bischoff, John Henize, Brad Meckle and Mark Seipel who will join Verdesian as regional sales managers. The new team members will help to drive sales growth and support relationships with key customers in the plant nutrition, seed treatment and inoculants product categories.

“As we continue to grow and attract new talent, we strive to keep the focus on our customers,” said Greg Thompson, chief operating officer for Verdesian. “The plant health and nutrition markets are rapidly expanding. Creating the perfect fit with our staff’s knowledge, product strengths and geographic needs allows us to build valuable relationships and better serve our customers.”

In addition, Randy Kegler is joining Verdesian as a technical sales representative serving as a specialist in the southeast for More Than Manure® (MTM®) Nutrient Manager.

“We are pleased to have Bob, John, Brad, Mark and Randy join our Verdesian sales team,” added Thompson. “They each bring unique perspectives and expertise from their wide-ranging experiences in the agriculture industry. We look forward to the value they will offer our customers.”

Agribusiness, Seed, Verdesian

Alltech Appoints Aidan Connolly CIO

Joanna Schroeder October 14, 2014

Alltech has appointed Vice President Aidan Connolly as chief innovation office (CIO) as part of the company’s global research department. Connolly will work closely with Dr. Karl Dawson, vp and chief scientific officer in developing their innovation pipeline and take products from test scale to commercial scale.

Aidan Connolly has been named Alltech’s Chief Innovation Officer, responsible for the commercialization of Alltech’s research. He will be based at Alltech’s corporate headquarters near Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

In his new role, Connolly will put together a team within the company’s research department that will primarily focus on developing innovative, nutrition-based technologies. Their new product development will capitalize on the insights gained through the company’s considerable investment in nutrigenomics, the science of how diet affects gene expression.

“Giving a rapid and effective response, backed up by cutting-edge scientific research, to the market’s changing needs, has always been one of Alltech’s biggest strengths. It is all about how these technologies are implemented to the market,” said Connolly.

Connolly brings a strong commercial background to Alltech’s research team. He graduated from University College Dublin with a master’s degree in international marketing. He has been with Alltech for nearly 25 years, initially in Ireland, and then in France, Brazil and the U.S. He is also an adjunct professor of marketing at University College Dublin and professor of agribusiness at the China Agricultural University in Bejing.

Dawson said of the appointment, “As Alltech is moving forward to become a $4 billion company in the next 4-5 years, it is crucial that the company’s research and technical teams work hand-in-hand with sales and marketing. With Aidan joining our group, we will be even more strongly placed to support the industry with science-based nutritional solutions.”

Agribusiness, Alltech, International

Crop Health Laboratories Presents Sap Analysis Seminar

Jamie Johansen October 14, 2014

Available for the first time in North America, Plant Sap Analysis is transforming the landscape of American agriculture. With proven success in Europe for over 10 years, this technology reveals nutrient deficiency four to six weeks before standard tissue analysis.

Crop Health Laboratories is hosting a Power Growers Seminar, November 7-8, 2014 in Santa Clara, inviting growers, researchers, and consultants to weigh in on the benefits of this new technology. Feature presenters include Sjoerd Smits and Maikel van de Ven of NovaCropControl, creators of the technology. The expedited technology provides lead time, allowing growers to proactively and quickly adjust fertilization strategies quickly.

Crop Health Laboratories is the exclusive distributor of Plant Sap Analysis in the United States, which represents a significant advance over current industry standards.

“Sap analysis carries the same diagnostic value of a blood sample,” explained Program Director Michelle Gregg. “The test provides a screenshot of nutrient content in the sap prior to metabolism by plant cells. Producers can anticipate crop needs and counter imbalance with fertility inputs before the plant expresses symptoms of deficiency.”

Smits and van de Ven of the Netherlands-based NovaCropControl, will discuss their team’s experience in pioneering the Plant Sap Analysis system and why this approach produces much more valuable results than tissue or soil tests alone. Growers will leave equipped with the science and data management knowledge that ensures success.

The seminar will include presentations from Smits and van de Ven, exclusive Q &A with consultants from Crop Health Laboratories, and evening networking opportunities with users of Plant Sap Analysis. The event will be held at The Biltmore in Santa Clara, CA. Tickets for the event in California are $325 through Oct. 15 and $350 thereafter. Registration is available online at www.crophealthlabs.com, by email info@crophealthlabs or call 800-495-7938.

Agribusiness, Agronomy, Crop Science

Analysis of Soil Samples Using LIBS

Joanna Schroeder October 14, 2014

Science is fun. Let me explain. During the Vedesian Life Sciences Los Alamos Media Tour we learned about a cool soil sampling technology coined Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LBIS). In an attempt to not use to much technical jargon, LBIS is a focused pulse laser beam that generates a microplasma (think spec or dot). From here, the emission from the plasma wavelength uses a computer to determine the elemental breakdown of the soil sample. In other words, tells you what is in the soil (i.e. carbon, nitrogen, etc.).

It is sometimes difficult to get others, including farmers, excited about science. That’s why Verdisian brought reporters to Los Alamos National Lab to learn about the science behind some of the greatest ag technologies ever discovered.

I learned about the LBIS technology from James Barefield with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The lab develops technology for the U.S. military and then looks for ways to modify the technology for other uses such as agriculture. This is why Verdesian and LANL have such a long-term, strong relationship. Verdesian’s core technology, Take-Off was first developed by LANL.

This system lives in a backpack and connects to a computer. So lets say you are worried about carbon levels in your soil. A farmer can point the laser on different areas of soil in his/her field and the soil breakdown shows up on the computer instantaneously. The farmer can then use this data to help determine his/her carbon plan. And once you’ve activated the plan, recheck the soil samples to see if the plan is working.

Here is a quick video of how LBIS works.

So let’s recap. The LBIS can be used to analyze carbon soil in samples. The preliminary data on carbon indicates similar trends when using high and low resolution LBIS systems. If there are variations in carbon between plots this can be analyzed. From here additional analysis will be needed to obtain quantitative answers but the technology provides a quick start to understanding the carbon in your fields.

View the 2014 Verdesian Los Alamos Media Tour photo album.

Agribusiness, Agronomy, Precision Agriculture, Verdesian, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes October 14, 2014

DuPont Pioneer and Cargill announced that they will work with farmers near Cargill’s facility in Sidney, Ohio, to grow Pioneer brand soybeans with the Plenish high oleic trait in 2015.
Behind the theme of “Building Better No-Till Practices,” the 2015 National No-Tillage Conference (NNTC) from Jan. 14-17 lands on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the fifth time in the conference’s 23-year history.
Don’t forget to register for the Livestock Publication Council Fall Regional Workshop October 23rd, 2014 in Fort Collins Colorado.
Farm Journal Media launched a significant upgrade of its award winning website, AgWeb.com.

Zimfo Bytes

Join the Farming Conversation on BeckAgConnects

Jamie Johansen October 14, 2014

In agriculture, we see a lot of pushback from consumers who are more and more removed from the farm. If you’ve not put yourself out there as an agricultural advocate, it might seem intimidating. What do you say about growth hormones or GMOs or pesticides? How do you get started?

To address this challenge, USFRA and Beck Ag collaborated to create an online forum for folks in agriculture to share their experiences, ideas and challenges in a secure community without noise and chatter from non-ag audiences. BeckAgConnects is an online community strictly for those who work in the agricultural industry. Almost 16,000 farmers, ranchers, retailers, consultants and other ag professionals currently participate in this unique environment to share information and ideas.

BeckAgConnects will launch the I AM FARMLAND Forum in October, corresponding to the digital release of “FARMLAND,” the film. The forum will feature one-on-one interviews and Q&A discussions with the farmers and ranchers featured in the film. In addition, you can pick up tips and ideas for how to share agriculture’s story with consumers and ways to encourage those not directly involved in agriculture to view the film.

We encourage you to join the conversation and help spread the message about “FARMLAND”, the film, which accurately depicts life as an American farmer and rancher. Stick around to learn about advocating for agriculture and share your own experiences. And because it’s on BeckAgConnects, rest assured that your discussions are among others who care about ag as much as you do.

Ag Groups, Media, USFRA

AEM Confident Despite Farm Equipment Sales Drop

Cindy Zimmerman October 14, 2014

Farm equipment sales are down significantly this year, but the head of the Association of Equipment Manufacturer‘s Ag Sector remains optimistic about the industry.

“We’re in the business of feeding and harvesting food and you need equipment to do that,” says Charlie O’Brien, AEM Senior Vice President and Ag Sector Lead. “Even though the numbers for this year are down, we’re still going to have a very good year – probably one of the top ten years we’ve had.”

According to AEM, sales of 4 wheel drive farm tractors and combines are down 15 and 17 percent respectively so far this year. But O’Brien says some categories are increasing. “Smaller horse power tractors, under 40 horsepower, are up 8.7 percent and horsepower at 40-100 are up seven percent,” said O’Brien, noting that the dairy sector is purchasing equipment with the higher price of milk.

Lower commodity prices are the main reason for the drop off in sales this year, but O’Brien says farmers are still carrying strong balance sheets from previous years and there is always a need for increased productivity and efficiency. “We continue to need the technology that our equipment offers,” he said.

O’Brien adds that they are also optimistic that the Section 179 deduction and bonus depreciation will be reinstated providing farmers the incentive to purchase new equipment.

Listen to O’Brien discuss more reasons not to panic about lower farm equipment sales this year: Interview with Charlie O'Brien, Association of Equipment Manufacturers

AEM, Audio, Equipment, Uncategorized

Using CAFOweb on Your Dairy Operation

Joanna Schroeder October 13, 2014

Dairy farmers in New Mexico are using a great new tool called CAFOweb. The online data management tool allows dairy farmers to better manage nitrogen. As Tara Vander Dussen and Jay Lazarus explained, nitrogen from manure solids and/or effluent can leach into the ground water is not applied at agronomic rates. In other words, said Lazarus, most dairies were not meeting ground water specs. Because of this dairymen requested a web-based predictive tool to manage their nutrients in real time and thus was born CAFOweb.

I learned about this tool and saw it in action during Verdesian Life Science’s Los Alamos Media Tour. While the tool was in development it was beta-tested at eight dairies across New Mexico and Nevada. When the diary farms were combined, the test represented 25,000 cows and 2,600 acres of land application fields. Today CAFOweb is a proven nitrogen tracking tool and the only commercially available web-based nitrogen tracking tool.

Vander Dussen explained that the tool was developed with record-keeping requirements in mind and the software is designed to implement CNMPs and the plan and track nitrogen and nutrient applications rates and timing. She said there are various reports available such as a greenwater application report, greenwater forecasting report and soils report. To generate information, a consult or dairy inputs sampling data and monitoring data. The two combined allow a dairyman to track data trend via the reports as well as predict when applications should take place.

While the tool is only available in four states: New Mexico, Nevada, California and Washington, Vander Dussen said that they plan on rolling it out nationwide. In the meantime, they are working with Los Alamos National Lab on the technical specs to expand capabilities and add modules.

View the 2014 Verdesian Los Alamos Media Tour photo album.

Agribusiness, Apps, Dairy, Verdesian

Farm to School & Cooperative Efforts

Jamie Johansen October 13, 2014

In celebration of the United Nations’ 2014 International Year of Family Farming, this month National Farmers Union (NFU) is highlighting the importance of family farmers and local communities, as well as some of the tools available to help family farmers increase their economic footprint and clout. A great deal of emphasis is placed this month on cooperatives and farm to school efforts, as October is also both Farm to School Month and Cooperative Month.

“Family farmers are the engines that drive rural America, pumping millions of dollars into local communities as they purchase the inputs they need for their farms,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.

Johnson noted that as a result, farm output continues to rise, with market values of crops, livestock and agriculture products reaching record highs in 2012. According to the recent Census of Agriculture, 87 percent of U.S. farms are owned by families or individuals, and in 2012, there were 2.1 million farms in the U.S, with an average farm size of 418 acres. But according to that same census, those numbers of farms are falling, down more than four percent from 2007, while the average farm size has continued to grow.

“Clearly, NFU has a role to play in ensuring that family farmers remain competitive and productive in the ever-changing and increasingly competitive environment they operate in.” Johnson explained that one of the best tools available to family farmers to pool their resources and multiply both their buying and selling powers is through their involvement in farm cooperatives.

Ag Groups, Education, Farming

Talking Advanced Biofuels in Minneapolis

Chuck Zimmerman October 13, 2014

Hello from Minneapolis and the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo. This is the first of two stops for me this week before heading back to ZimmComm World Headquarters.

The first panel of the conference is moderated by Tim Portz, VP of Content, BBI International. This panel, talking about “Assessing the Health of Federal Biofuels Policy and Its Long Term Prognosis,” includes Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board, Mike McAdams, Advanced Biofuels Association and Matt Carr, Algae Biomass Organization. I’ll have more from their comments later on DomesticFuel.com.

I spoke with Tim to get a preview of what we’ll be doing here. He says it is an interesting time for the industry with some great successes happening in the advanced biofuels category. However, the industry is still struggling with the on-going uncertainty with the RFS. He is interested to hear from industry members who will be participating on panels and talking about this topic.

You can listen to my interview with Tim to learn more about what’s going on at this year’s conference: Interview with Tim Portz

2014 National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo Photo Album

Coverage of The Advanced Biofuels Conference and Expo is sponsored by

Audio, Biofuels, Energy

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