What’s the Most Important Part of Sustainability?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is corn planting underway in your area?”

I don’t believe I’m overstating when I say we are all seeing a late spring. After an unusually cold winter, it’s not surprising that it lingered longer then welcome. Our poll held true to this with few in the full swing of planting. Most have just started or are waiting for the ground to cooperate.

Our poll results:

  • Full swing – 12%
  • Not yet – 20%
  • Just started -33%
  • Ground not ready – 33%
  • Other – 2%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What is the MOST important part of sustainability?”

Sustainability is the number one buzzword for all industries these days, especially agriculture, but the definition of the word varies. In general, it means the ability of a process or action to continue indefinitely without draining significant resources. Those resources can include everything from soil and water to inputs and labor. What do you think is most important to the long term sustainability of global agriculture?

ZimmPoll

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Registration is now open for the third CattleFax Trends+ Webinar series which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MT, Wednesday, June 11, 2014.
  • The National Cotton Council’s Emerging Leaders Program class for 2014-15 has been selected.
  • The National Corn Growers Association welcomes Dr. Nick Goeser who joins the organization as Manager of Soil Health and Sustainability.
  • The next World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which will be released at 12 noon ET on May 9, will present USDA’s initial assessment of U.S. and world crop supply and demand prospects and U.S. prices for the 2014/15 marketing year.
Zimfo Bytes

Spring Insights Magazine Now Available

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly Al Myers, Ag Leader CEO, says:

Return on investment. On Wall Street, it’s a measure of the amount of money earned on the (hopefully) sound investments made. It’s easy to measure – even on a daily basis – as stock and bond prices are available by the minute.

Return on investment in agriculture isn’t always quite as easy to calculate. What is the return on your investment of a new tractor? A different hybrid? An additional 200 acres of land?

Without more information, these are impossible to calculate.

Ag Leader products are designed for two things: 1) To help provide the data you need to make decisions that maximize your return on investment; and 2) To make it easier to control the things that maximize your investment.

Best of all, while others are using tools and data to learn more about you and your operation for marketing purposes, we’ve taken a different approach. We want any investment you make in precision products to be 100 percent to YOUR benefit … not somebody else’s. So Ag Leader continues to invest in research and development of more great tools that work with the equipment and practices of our customers. We’ve found that’s where we get our best return on investment.

You can view the full issue of the Spring 2014 Insights magazine here.

Those interested in signing up for a free subscription to Insights magazine are encouraged to visit: www.agleader.com/subscription. The Ag Leader team will be on the constant lookout for interesting story angles, profile subjects and precision farming information, so please email your story tips to Info@agleader.com, subject line: Insights Tip.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Next USFRA Food Dialogues in Chicago

Cindy Zimmerman

USFRA Food DialoguesThe U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has announced the date, place and topic for its next Food Dialogues. It will be held at the Chicago Integrity in Food Marketing event at the InterContinental Hotel, June 10, from 9:30-11 a.m. CDT.

USFRA’s research tells us that nearly 60 percent of people feel it’s extremely important for grocery stores and restaurants to provide information about the way the food they sell is grown and raised. The Food Dialogues: Chicago. Integrity in Food Marketing will explore how food professionals – from farmers to food manufacturers, retailers and marketers to foodservice executives – can share information on these complex food-production issues while not confusing, misrepresenting or alarming consumers.

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details.

Ag Groups, Food, USFRA

RoboFlight Offers Affordable Ag UAVs

Cindy Zimmerman

roboflight_500RoboFlight is a global company that deals in data acquisition including UAV platforms as well as full scale aircraft and satellite systems. Beyond the agricultural industry, RoboFlight also works in security, search and rescue, utilities, mining and insurance.

Chuck interviewed Phil Ellerbroek, Global Director of Sales for RoboFlight, and he shared more about the company. RoboFlight acquired Aerial Precision Ag, giving them an upper hand when it comes to agriculture. Aerial Precision Ag was the first company to bring affordable, price-point conscientious UAV’s to the average farmer.

roboflight-ag

“Agriculture is definitely where we are focusing. Response not only within the industry but for our company as a whole has been phenomenal. We feel we continue to lead this area because of a specific advantage we have. Our team members bring a science and understanding of agronomy to our end users.”

Phil explains that pricing will vary depending on a producers needs. Their goal is to customize a plan that best fits each individuals goals for data retrieval.

RoboFlight is working with Farm Bureaus in different states and will also be attending various UAV and agriculture conferences.

Listen to Chuck’s complete interview with Phil here: Interview with Phil Ellerbroek

Audio, data, Farming, Precision Agriculture

Opening Day for Farmland Movie

Cindy Zimmerman

farmland-posterThe long-awaited theatrical debut of the Farmland movie has arrived!

The film is being distributed via D&E Entertainment in more than 60 major markets, starting today, after being privately screened around the country to agricultural audiences and shown at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival and Cleveland International Film Festival.

In case you have not heard about it, Farmland offers viewers a glimpse into “the lives of six young farmers and ranchers across the U.S., chronicling their high-risk/high-reward jobs and their passion for a way of life which has been passed down from generation to generation, yet continues to evolve.” The documentary features an original score composed by Nathan Wang with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The film also includes an original recording of “This Land is Your Land” performed in a first-ever collaboration with platinum rock band Everclear and Grammy® Award-nominated artist Liz Phair.

To find out where Farmland will be in your neck of the woods, check out the website.

Ag Groups, USFRA

CUTC Highlights Native American Spirit

Cindy Zimmerman

ncgaKristin Meadors with the Kentucky Distillers Association will deliver the keynote address at the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Utilization and Technology Conference, June 2 in Louisville, Kentucky.

“The bourbon industry’s iconic utilization of corn makes it a perfect platform in which to kick-off three days of lively discussions among the corn industry’s leading researchers, processors and business representatives,” said NCGA Research and Business Development Action Team Chair Tom Mueller. “We are excited to have Kristin Meadors discuss her industry’s impact on our economy and why this corn-based spirit continues its popularity at home and abroad.”

Meadors is the Kentucky Distillers Association’s first-ever Director of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs. She is responsible for coordinating the association’s governmental and regulatory affairs initiatives at all levels of government, working with federal officials on trade issues and expanding global opportunities for Kentucky’s signature bourbon industry.

In 1964, Congress declared bourbon America’s only native spirit. It must be made with a minimum of 51 percent corn, aged in charred new oak barrels and stored at no more than 125 proof. This year, CUTC will be held June 2 – 6 at the Marriott Louisville Downtown Hotel. The conference’s agenda focuses on wet and dry milling technologies and new uses. Visit www.corntechconf.org for more information and to register online.

Ag Groups, Corn, Events, NCGA, Research

REPREVE Launches New Biomass Crop System

Cindy Zimmerman

A North Carolina-based biomass company has launched a brand new system for the production of high-yielding energy crops that can be used for renewable, bio-based products.

repreveREPREVE® RENEWABLES LLC is collaborating with farmers and landowners across the country to use the innovative biomass crop system grow giant miscanthus grass on marginal and underutilized land.

REPREVE developed a comprehensive solution to the challenge of planting rhizome-propagated crops like miscanthus on a commercial scale, according to Jeff Wheeler, chief executive officer. “We’re really excited to be launching this year our new ACCU YIELD™ system,” said Wheeler, explaining that they had to develop specialized equipment to extract and process the rhizomes for planting, and then develop a precision planter to accurately and efficiently plant the crop for the highest yields.

ACCUDROP planter in fieldThe system is comprised of three elements: the ACCU LIFTER™ machine lifts rhizomes from a field in such a manner that reduces damage to the rhizomes thus increasing viability; the ACCU PROCESSOR™ unit sizes and cleans rhizomes for improved germination and quality and the ACCU DROP® planter provides optimal row spacing at varying planting densities to ensure a uniform, consistent and rapid stand establishment.

Farmers and landowners in Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin are among the first to adopt this inventive approach to diversified land management. “These early adopters of commercial-scale biomass are trailblazers,” Wheeler says. “We provide turnkey solutions to farmers and landowners whereby we plant and harvest the crop. Plus we provide the market for the harvested crop each year.” The crop is marketed to end users for a variety of renewable products, from biofuels to animal bedding.

Learn more in this interview with Wheeler: Interview with Jeff Wheeler, REPREVE Renewables

Audio, Biofuels, Equipment, Ethanol, Farming

BASF: Knowing the Enemy is Key in Weed War

Cindy Zimmerman

weed-warThe first defense in the war against weeds is knowing the enemy, according to BASF Crop Protection.

A recent BASF survey found that 76 percent of growers have made changes to their weed management programs to address weed resistance and proper weed identification is fundamental to any effective control program.

“The first step in weed control is to know your enemy,” said Kevin Bradley, Ph.D., Associate Professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri. “If you don’t know what you’re going after, you’re probably going to be behind from the very beginning.”

BASFOften, the same weed species will show up in a field year after year, so it is important to know where problem weeds live.

“It’s about characterizing which part of your farm needs certain attention,” said Greg Armel, Technical Market Manager, BASF. “There’s an adage – every year you don’t control weeds, there will be seven more years of fighting that weed. The less you know about what you’re dealing with, the more that weed has a chance to get a foothold in your ground and prevent you from controlling it in an effective manner.”

Newly acquired land, or any major land management changes, requires special attention when scouting and identifying weeds.

Read more from BASF.

Agribusiness, BASF, Farming, weed management

Wake Up Sleepy Head!

Melissa Sandfort

Do you ever have those days when you just wish you could pull the covers up over your head and stay in bed for a few more hours? I certainly do, and so does my son. He’s a bear in the morning – there is no “right side of the bed”, it’s almost always the wrong side. I’m hoping that hanging curtains over his window will entice him to stay put a bit longer to sleep off the crabbiness!

Thank goodness though, he hasn’t hit the stage where he has faked an illness to avoid going to school. And most times if no one else is awake, he’ll just crawl in the chair with a blanket and take a little snooze until someone else stirs.

My grandfather was the oldest of six children and I’m sure his parents heard many excuses as to why to not get out of bed, or do chores, or go to school. But one of his brothers, Charles, found a creative way to avoid waking up.

Listen to Grandpa explain

If that would’ve been me hiding in the closet, I would’ve realized that I needed to use the bathroom, then my brain would’ve started going through the list of things I needed to accomplish that day and I might as well have just stayed up.

Until we walk again …

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