Raven Rakes in Awards for Precision Technology

Jamie Johansen

nfms-14-tim-heinsTim Heins heads up the product management team for Raven and Chuck caught up with him at the trade show during the National Farm Machinery Show.

“At the ASABE Award Show, in conjunction with the farm show, we won four AE50 Awards. We won them for SmarTrax™ MD, OmniRow® Multi-Hybrid Planter Control System and our Viper 4 Field Computer.”

As an independent precision ag provider, Raven was the only company that won that many awards. Tim shared how exciting it is to be winning awards along side big names in the farm equipment industry.

Raven’s OmniRow® Multi-Hybrid Planter technology also was awarded the FinOvation Award presented by Farm Industry News for a collaboration with South Dakota State University and Pioneer Seeds.

“We have been doing variable rate technology for years now and when you talk about that it’s hard for producers to really understand variable rate. What do I need to do? How and when do I do it? When you talk about changing hybrids it’s something that is more intuitive and they understand their fields. To growers and producers, multi-hybrid more than variable rate, they get.”

You can listen to the interview with Tim here: Interview with Tim Heins

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Machinery, Farm Shows, NFMS, Video

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  • DuPont, the University of Missouri and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service have announced an innovative new collaboration to pool soil mapping resources, predictive technologies and expertise to help growers more sustainably improve crop yields through better nitrogen application management and other field input planning.
  • Since the first commercial sale of Posilac on Feb. 4, 1994, it has helped deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits, in addition to helping today’s dairy producers meet a growing demand for milk.
  • The National Chicken Council has launched a new website, www.ChickenRoost.com, which features information on issues such as animal welfare, food safety, environmental stewardship, antibiotic use and the modern partnership between farmers and chicken companies.
  • FMC Corporation has named Michael Seyfert as director of Government Affairs for FMC Agricultural Solutions.
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FMC’s Anthem Singing Contest Supports Youth in Ag

Jamie Johansen

nfms-14-14FMC is investing in farming’s future with their new Anthem® and Anthem® ATZ herbicides and $25,000 in college scholarships as prizes in their third annual Anthem Singing Contest. Chuck spoke with Paul Redhage with FMC about this once in a life-time opportunity for students across the county.

“It’s our third year and has grown each year. The first year we had about 160 students and over 200 the second year that entered. We have done some pre-recording to get ready for year three in two different ways. We showed up here in the fall for the National FFA Convention. We acquired a sound booth and we had over 400 FFA students enter the contest. We brought that same booth here to the National Farm Machinery Show.”

The contest doesn’t officially start until March 1st. Students across the county can enter by simply recording themselves singing the National Anthem using their smart phones or digital cameras. Then they can upload it to FMCcrop.com/contest. Voting takes place this summer online to determine finalists. FMC will bring the four finalist and their families to Nashville to record in the House of Blues recording studio. Then, the grand prize winner is selected through another online voting poll.

“FMC comes up with a lot of new products. So we are investing in farmings future with new products that we offer to farmers. We looked at what are the other kinds of ways we can invest in farmings future and the youth in agriculture is one of those definite ways. The contest was basically born with that in mind.”

Chuck also got a chance to talk with one of those students who took advantage of the pre-recording opportunity at the farm show, Nathan Chambers, from West Virginia. Nathan has been playing the guitar and singing for about four years now and involved in music since he was very little.

“I was walking around and somebody from my school gave me a pamphlet and told be to go sing. I am a junior in high school and if I can sing I plan on joining the army.”

You can listen to the interview with Paul here: Interview with Paul Redhage

You can listen to the interview with Nathan here: Interview with Nathan Chambers

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Shows, FMC, Herbicide, NFMS

Bloggers Bite Back at Chipotle

Cindy Zimmerman

We really have tried to ignore the ignorant Chipotle “TV series” aimed at making farmers and ranchers out to be bad guys, since they simply thrive on the displeasure they cause the traditional agriculture industry. But it is nice to see the on-line ag community biting back.

chip-farmedCorn Commentary bloggess Cathryn Wojcicki has done a couple of posts about how CommonGround volunteers have been answering the call to explain why they are farmed but not dangerous.

Iowa farmer Steph Essick disputed Chipotle’s claim that the series is intended to make people “more curious about their food and where it comes from.”

From the Banks of Squaw Creek, Katie Olthoff’s wrote about how much it hurts when a company like Chipotle tells lies about her family’s “baby” – their turkey farm – and posted a video.

Iowa State University student and farm girl Nicole Patterson made a list of six things Chipotle doesn’t want you to know about farming, and Maryland farmer and registered dietitian Jennie Schmidt posted myths and facts.

Keep biting back, folks and really hit them where it hurts – at the cash register. Chipotle has proven itself to be one of the most anti-American agriculture food chains in the country today – serving up plates of lies and deceit to the unsuspecting public. Don’t eat there and tell your friends to pass them up as well – and tell them the truth about agriculture.

Food, Wackos

New Website for FS System

Cindy Zimmerman

fsThe FS System of GROWMARK has launched a new website to help better promote the brand that has been in existence for nearly 50 years.

The history of the FS System dates back to the formation of the Illinois Farm Supply Company in the early 1920s and was developed as a consolidated brand for agricultural and energy-related products in 1955.

Krista Wolf, GROWMARK Manager for Brand Strategy & Marketing Communications says the new website – www.FSSystem.com – is part of an overall campaign for the FS Brand. “We’ve used campaigns to promote the FS brand throughout all trade territories of the FS companies,” which includes the Midwest and northeastern United States and in Ontario, Canada.

The new site is easy to navigate and includes links to the various FS companies. “While all of those entities had their own websites, we didn’t have a system presence for the FS brand,” said Krista, who added that it also helps make the FS brand more search engine friendly. There are also links on the site to all of the FS brand segments, including agronomy, seed and energy – and links to all of the FS social media pages.

Find out more in this interview with Krista: Interview with Krista Wolf, GROWMARK

Agribusiness, Audio, GROWMARK

New Holland Smart Tier 4B Tractor

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Genesis T8At the recent Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY Chuck spoke with New Holland’s Gary Wojcik, Segment Marketing Manager for large horsepower tractors. He shared some insights into their Tier 4B Solutions series launch later this year.

“What we are looking at here is the highest horsepower row-crop tractor we offer,” Gary said. “This is our latest Tier 4B Solution. This is the final of the Tier 4 and this product has won an AE50 award for the Tier 4B Solution. In comparison to other company’s we have a distinct advantage in the fact that we stick with the solution we had before, which was an after treatment. We are the only company that can do that.”

Gary goes on to explain how this transition benefits their customers ability to move from tractor to tractor seamlessly. Fluid efficiencies between Tier 4A & B are better then before as well. Both of these are part of the ECOBlue™ Hi-eSCR technology, which maintains efficiency and productivity for products over 120hp.

Gary said that he thinks the education level has hit most of their customers. They understand that Tier 4 is here and what New Holland’s message is. Later this year you will be able to see more about New Holland’s Genesis T8 Series tractors and this summer customers you can look forward to seeing what New Holland has in store for 2015 and future years to come.

You can listen to the interview with Gary here: Interview with Gary Wojcik

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Shows, NFMS, Tractor, Video

Social Media in the War Room

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 429Social media part of a war room discussion? Yep. It was at the 2014 National Ethanol Conference. Participating in a panel titled, “Communications and Social Media War Room” was Christina Martin, Executive Vice President, Renewable Fuels Association. We chatted about her panel at the conclusion of the conference.

Christina MartinChristina says that the purpose of the session was “to capture the momentum that a lot of our companies built during the EPA comment period. They reached out as they never have before to their employees, to their investors and local communities and general supporters.” Many ventured into social media for the first time and she says they want to keep that momentum going regardless of where the EPA decision on the RFS ends up.

You can listen to this week’s program here. Social Media with Christina Martin

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, RFA, Social Media, Social Networking, ZimmCast

Two No-Till Products of the Year from BASF

Cindy Zimmerman

Headline AMPNo-till farmers gave top honors to BASF products Headline AMP® fungicide and Sharpen® herbicide at the recent 22nd Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Springfield, Illinois.

This is the eighth consecutive win for Headline AMP fungicide in the top fungicide product category. Headline AMP fungicide is labeled for corn application. On-farm field trials from 2013 show Headline AMP fungicide delivers 11.7 bu/A more than untreated corn.

basf-sharpenA new winner this year in the weed control product category, Sharpen herbicide, drives burndown of tough weeds three-to-five times faster than 2,4-D or glyphosate – an important feature for many no-till growers. Sharpen herbicide is powered by Kixor® herbicide technology, featuring a unique chemistry that provides foliar and soil activity on today’s toughest weeds.

Expect to hear more about these products when we attend the BASF media event this week prior to Commodity Classic in San Antonio!

Agribusiness, BASF, Crop Protection, weed management

Climate Corporation Offers Climate Information

Anna Leigh Peek

Have you ever wanted to be able to see what is happening every day weather-wise on each of your fields? The Climate Corporation was at the National Farm Machinery Show telling farmers about a free tool they have to offer that can do just that. You may recall that Monsanto acquired The Climate Corporation in October and NFMS is one of the first shows since that time where they have been out talking to farmers about their products.

Jeff HamlinThe Climate Corporation monitors 30 million fields in the US Corn Belt. According to Jeff Hamlin growers can sign up for free Climate Basic at www.Climate.com. With this account farmers can locate each of their fields and then will be able to see what growth stage the plants are at, how much rain the field has received, and soil moisture in each of the locations entered. The information can be seen from your computer, phone or tablet.

Farmers can also invest in Climate Pro which is a more advanced system which includes satellite imagery of your crops, nitrogen recommendations, and planting recommendations. These programs can be incorporated with precision planting software or just included in your Climate Basic account.

Listen to my interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Hamlin, The Climate Corporation

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture

 

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Technology, Weather

Locally Grown Harvest Restaurant

Chuck Zimmerman

Harvest LouisvilleThere’s a “locally grown” restaurant in Louisville, KY. It’s Harvest and it is good. During the National Farm Machinery Show the ZimmComm team ate supper there one night and met one of the owners. They source much of the food they serve from local farmers and you can read about them on the wall.

We are exceptionally proud of our reputation for being one of the most celebrated restaurants in Louisville Kentucky, situated in the vibrant Downtown NuLu arts district of East Market Street, just 5 minutes from downtown .

Our mission is to serve outstanding, regionally inspired, seasonal “farm-to-table” cuisine. 80% of our ingredients are sourced locally from within a 100-mile radius and many of our foods are baked, cured, smoked and preserved in-house.

Ivor Chodkowski and partners Jim McArthur, and brothers Peter and Patrick Kuhl gathered not just an extraordinarily talented team but also a group of passionate and community-minded investors to grown their downtown Louisville restaurant.

So, if you’re looking for something that’s locally grown and owned in Louisville, check this one out.

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album


Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture
Food, National Farm Machinery Show