Syngenta Survey Confirms Ag Loves Digital Tech

Jamie Johansen

Syngenta_BiotechA majority of growers and other agricultural professionals turn to online sources first for general information about their industry, and over half of them use mobile or handheld devices 10 or more times per workday. These are some of the key findings in a recent Syngenta survey, in which more than 300 readers of Thrive, the company’s production-focused magazine and website, responded to questions about their online habits and appetites.

Anthony Transou, Internet marketing manager at Syngenta, is not surprised that, like other industries, U.S. agriculture is embracing digital communications—from social media campaigns and blogs to precision farming and recordkeeping.

“Digital platforms give users a way to share and learn from others in the agricultural industry, whether they are around the corner in their communities or across the globe,” he said. “One of our key concentrations is to create optimized content that can spread across channels and be consumed anywhere, so there is a seamless experience from desktop to mobile users.”

Transou’s team has made several recent adjustments and additions to the Syngenta digital platform. For example, new websites like Tools to Grow More Soybeans and the Quilt Xcel®Fungicide Stress Management Training Module help growers locate information about specific issues or products more easily. Another recent online development is the Know More, Grow More agronomy blog, which features tips and local news updates from Syngenta agronomic service representatives. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels are also convenient ways for growers to interact with Syngenta via questions, comments, contests and general discussions.Read More

Agribusiness, Syngenta, Technology

Book Review – Three Green Rats: An Eco Tale

Joanna Schroeder

Three Green Rats An Eco Tale book coverTru dat rat. Ok, so if you don’t have kids or hang out with kids, you may not have any idea what I just said. But the three green rat brothers of Tintown’s Broken Bottle Lane encourage us to walk softly and reduce, reuse and recycle in the children’s tale, “Three Green Rats: An Eco Tale“. Written by Linda Mason Hunter and illustrated by Suzanne Summersgill this rat tale is both fun and educational and the perfect book to review on Earth Day (April 22, 2014).

This wonderfully illustrated and highly clever book takes place in Tintown where the protagonist, Uppity Ethel Misrington, the richest rat in town, wants to build a big box store to sell stuff. Her itty, bitty niece Maybelline Burlingame Helena Stu discovers the green pastures and projects of the green brothers (Oliver, Wilbur and Tom, each with unique green skills) and becomes hooked on nature and green health. As a result, she starts to grow. When catastrophe strikes sickly Ethel, with the help of Maybelline and the green brothers, the day is saved and Ethel becomes a convert to living with less stuff and the city follows suit.

With the town saved, and the brothers heroes, shy brother Tom sums up the direction the town needs to take. “Look around, citizens. You are knee-deep in your own trash, held captive by technology, and so caught up in the rat race you don’t have time to think.”

“We are ruining our corner of Mother Earth, creating a place where no living being can thrive. We’ve cut down our tress, poisoned our air, and dumped sewage in our rivers and streams. Three Green Rats An Eco Tale book imageIt’s time to step back and ask ourselves, ‘Is this what we really want for our children?’ We must learn to live simply. We must walk softly upon Mother Earth and stop talking more than we need to survive.”

I luv it people! L-O-V-E it.

I highly recommend this book. Take some advice from the three green rats this Earth Day and learn to walk softly. This is a must read book for both children and adults to get you on the forward thinking path about how to reduce your impact and live more simply. In celebration of Earth Day, win an e-copy of Three Green Rats: An Eco tale. Email me your contact information with the subject line: Three Green Rats and the winner will be announced next week in the energy.agwired.com newsletter.

Environment

Lilly to Acquire Novartis Animal Health

Cindy Zimmerman

A $5.4 billion deal announced today will create world’s second-largest animal health company.

elanco-lillyEli Lilly and Company intends to acquire Novartis Animal Health in an all-cash transaction “to strengthen and diversify Lilly’s own animal health business, Elanco.”

The transaction will result in Elanco becoming the second-largest animal health company in the world in terms of global revenue, will solidify its number two ranking in the U.S., and improve its position in Europe and the rest of the world. “This deal creates a global animal health leader able to deliver even more innovation and value to our customers,” said Jeff Simmons, senior vice president of Eli Lilly and Company and president of Elanco Animal Health. “Combining these two great companies will enable us to provide more diversified brands, reach more market segments, expand our global footprint, and strengthen our pipeline, capabilities and expertise.”

Simmons joined Lilly’s chairman, president and chief executive officer John Lechleiter in making the official announcement this morning. Listen to their press availability here:
Lilly CEO John Lechleiter and Elanco president Jeff Simmons announce Novartis deal

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Elanco

Great Green Gadgets

Cindy Zimmerman

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than with some new gadgets?

Got an email this morning from an industrious PR person touting a book called “Fool’s Return” by Lynda Chervil, “a thought leader and green technology advocate.”

Chervil, who studies the science behind green technology, says environmental awareness has ramped up production of affordable goods that can shrink individuals’ carbon footprints. She shares four devices she says would make a nice gift for Mother Earth on her day.

water-clockAmong her suggestions is the Bedol Water Alarm Clock. “Imagine a water-powered alarm clock that’s loud enough to scare you out of bed! Bedol’s water clocks run strictly on tap water – no batteries, no nothing else.”

There’s also the HybridLight Solar Flashlight that never needs batteries, can be charged from any light source, and they always work. And the Pama Eco Navigator Satellite Navigation system that helps save gasoline by providing you with the most energy-efficient routes to your destinations, and feedback on your car’s performance.

Last but not least, the iGo Green Power Smart Wall that helps “cut the suck” of the power “vampires” that use electricity whether we’re using them or not – everything from coffee pots to laptops.

Go on – give your Mother Earth a hug today and get a green gadget!

Environment, Gadgets, Sustainability

Introducing MyNewHolland.com

Chuck Zimmerman

MyNewHolland.comThere’s a new online community open to all farmers and of course customers of New Holland. Today is the launch of MyNewHolland.com. This virtual community is set up to provide a meeting place to share information, contribute to farming related discussions and access premium contents and services. It is very simple to create your account by visiting MyNewHolland.com. Then you’ll have access to the features currently active.

A list of features includes:

  • My New Holland: a new online community for all
  • The Spotlight: discussions on a variety of topical subjects in the farming world
  • The first Spotlight: ethanol and renewable energy
  • Valuable information resources: instructional videos, white papers and more
  • Premium content: owners of New Holland equipment and Precision Land Management products gain access to useful materials that will help them get the most from their machines
  • Easy registration and log in through social networks

The Spotlight discussion is a key feature of MyNewHolland.com. Each discussion will feature a guest farmer or industry expert who supports a farming-related topic. All My New Holland members are invited to contribute their comments, opinions, material or images, driving the conversation forward. Each discussion will be open for a number of weeks; subsequently a white paper will be produced and made available for downloading.

Ron Clauson MyNewHolland.comThe first Spotlight discussion topic is “Ethanol: Renewable Energy for America – Profit for American Farmers.” Our guest is Indiana farmer Ron Clauson. His farm has produced corn for ethanol production for the last eight years and he’s passionate about it.

“One hundred percent of the corn and soybeans we produce go into ethanol and biodiesel,” Clauson says. “It makes me proud to be able to say we market our crops to produce fuel that reduces dependence on imports.”

There are several questions being posed in this first Spotlight discussion for you to respond to and your feedback is highly appreciated.

  • Are you producing a crop for ethanol production? If so, what type and why?
  • How would a change in the Renewable Fuel Standard impact your community and you personally?
  • What do you think about the misleading claims against ethanol by critics and what can farmers do about it?

I am very proud to be assisting our long time sponsor in the daily management of MyNewHolland.com in this startup phase. To get some more perspective on it I spoke with New Holland Director of Marketing for North America, Mark Hooper, while visiting headquarters in Pennsylvania recently. He says there are many more features planned for MyNewHolland.com as the community grows and develops.

You can listen to Mark talk about MyNewHolland.com here: Interview with Mark Hooper, New Holland

So there you have it. The website is live and available for you to create your personal login and let New Holland know what you think, especially about the first Spotlight discussion. See you there.

Agribusiness, Audio, Farming, New Holland, Social Networking

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a Veterinary Biologics License for Titanium 5 + PH-M, a new vaccine that protects cattle against the viruses and bacteria most associated with bovine respiratory disease.
  • Sakata Seed America, Inc. and Alf Christianson Seed Co. announce this week that the two companies will merge, effective immediately.
  • Aerial Precision Ag, Phoenix, AZ, announced that it has been acquired by RoboFlight Systems Inc., Greenwood Village, CO, a geo-referenced aerial data company that processes, analyzes, and manages multi-spectral aerial imagery data.
  • The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) is now accepting nominations for the Agricultural Retailer of the Year Award.
Zimfo Bytes

Queen Bee of Bayer Bee Care Center

Cindy Zimmerman

bayer-bee-14-beckyDr. Becky Langer is the manager and queen bee of the Bayer CropScience North American Bee Care Center that just opened last week in North Carolina.

“It’s a dream to be able to share it with everyone,” said Becky on the big day last Tuesday. She explains that the center will serve as both a research and educational facility. “We’ll bring different groups in here and they’re able to get hands-on experience with the displays,” she said, noting they are able to adapt the information level to groups from school children to scientists in order to really “open the dialogue and the education among everyone who is interested in the honey bee.”

“I think people are really thirsty for knowledge and education of bees,” she said. “They’re critical to us, whether it’s your own backyard and little garden, whether it’s a farmer or a broad acre grower that has a lot of crops that need to be pollinated … they’re of interest to everyone,” Becky says. Interview with Dr. Becky Langer, Bayer Bee Care Center


Bayer CropScience Bee Care Center Grand Opening Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, pollinators

What do you do with your Easter eggs?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Has spring sprung for you yet?”

It looks like many across the nation are still shoveling snow. Good thing Easter weekend looks warmer for most. Here in Missouri the Dogwoods are in full bloom and the grass is getting greener by the day.

Our poll results:

  • Still snow on the ground – 27%
  • Still too cold – 24%
  • Seeing positive signs – 18%
  • Late spring for sure – 15%
  • Same as normal – 3%
  • Too wet – 9%
  • Too dry – 3%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What’s your favorite use for Easter eggs?”

The incredible edible egg is in the spotlight this time of the year, but what do you do with all those hard boiled, multi-colored eggs on Monday? Eat them, toss them or watch them rot?

ZimmPoll

Farmland in the Big Apple

Leah Guffey

Director James Moll (3rd from left) and film editor Tim Calandrello pose with farmers David Loberg, Leighton Cooley, Sutton Morgan, Ryan Veldhuizen and Brad Bellah attend the Private New York Premiere of "Farmland" during the Tribeca Film Festival (Getty Images)

Director James Moll (3rd from left) and film editor Tim Calandrello pose with farmers David Loberg, Leighton Cooley, Sutton Morgan, Ryan Veldhuizen and Brad Bellah attend the Private New York Premiere of “Farmland” during the Tribeca Film Festival (Getty Images)

Farmland the movie was screened last night at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), which has been actively involved in promoting the film across the country, reports that the premiere of Farmland in the Big Apple was a huge success with two packed theaters screening the film.

In an age where most Americans have not stepped foot on a farm or ranch or even talked to those who grow and raise the food we eat, Farmland takes an intimate look at the lives of six young farmers and ranchers, all of whom are now responsible for running their farm operation. Before the showing, director James Moll and the six farmers and ranchers involved in the film took a moment to host a press conference with ag media.

The featured farmers are:
Brad Bellah – 6th generation cattle rancher in Texas
Leighton Cooley – 4th generation poultry farmer in Georgia
David Loberg – 5th generation corn and bean farmer from Nebraska
Sutton Morgan – 4th generation vegetable grower in California
Ryan Veldhuizen – 5th generation hog farmer
Margaret Schlass – CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) grower in Pennsylvania

Ways you can support the film are by going to farmlandfilm.com and with hashtag #farmlandfilm. There’s a list of showings by state and you can also expect to see Farmland on your own television via OnDemand in the future.

You can listen to the press conference here: Farmland the movie New York press conference

Audio, Farming, USFRA

Summer Precision Ag Training

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyDid you know Ag Leader offers a variety of SMS training sessions to help answer your questions about the software? That’s right, whether you’re more comfortable listening in on a webinar from your home computer, or attending an in-person, hands-on classroom training session, Ag Leader has a variety of courses to fit your needs.

Jessica Ahrens, software training specialist, says the software is always changing and customers need to stay up-to-date on the new features in order to best utilize them for their operations.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Ahrens says Ag Leader provides a wide variety of training for customers. Find out what’s available to you.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Ahrens says the training enables customers to troubleshoot and answer questions on their own instead of spending time on the phone with software support specialists, even though they are always available as a resource.

Listen to Ahrens explain

Be sure and sign up today for your training!

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