USDA, Microsoft Team to Address Food Resiliency

John DavisGovernment, Software, USDA

usda-logoThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Microsoft are partnering to explore how climate change will impact the United States’ food system with the intent of achieving better food resiliency. This USDA news release says the “Innovation Challenge” is a contest designed to challenge entrants to develop and publish new applications and tools that can analyze multiple sources of information about the nation’s food supply, including key USDA data sets that are now hosted on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform.

“For more than 100 years, USDA has compiled data from economic reports and farm production surveys, and more recently from satellite imagery and remote sensors that can provide information on the health of crops around the country,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Through this partnership with Microsoft, we are now putting that data into the hands of people who can help us derive new insights to address factors that threaten our ability to feed a growing global population. This offers very exciting possibilities, and I look forward to seeing the new tools that contest participants develop.”

For the first time, key USDA datasets are being made available in the cloud where they can be accessed and blended with other data to give novel insights or used in new types of end-user applications. Combining these USDA data with cloud-computing resources allows even very high fidelity and complex models to be processed in a timely manner and enables results to be delivered to remote users on their laptops, tablets or mobile phones.

The challenge offers $60,000 in prizes, including a top prize of $25,000, for applications that make use of the USDA data and provide actionable insights to farmers, agriculture businesses, scientists or consumers. In addition, Microsoft is granting cloud-computing awards to aid university researchers and students who wish to take part in the challenge. The deadline for entries is November 20, 2015, giving challenge participants three months to create their applications. Winners will be announced in December 2015.

More details on the program are available here.

New Holland History on Display

Cindy ZimmermanMachinery, New Holland, Video

New Holland HistoryThe recent New Holland Media Days featured a visit to the New Holland Historical Society Museum. The museum features a permanent exhibit of historical items of the New Holland company, including photos of company founder Abe Zimmerman, and interesting items like this battery box for a New Holland Hit or Miss Engine.

New Holland’s agricultural heritage also is responsible for making the town’s name known around the world for its farm equipment. Abe Zimmerman, a 26-year-old village tradesman in 1895, opened a machine repair shop. Zimmerman’s New Holland Machine Shop introduced a portable feed mill in 1899 and went on to produce other farm equipment innovations aimed at reducing a farmer’s labor. Throughout the 20th century, New Holland Machine Shop was purchased by several companies such as Sperry-Rand and Ford.

New Holland’s Bret Lieberman and Mark Hooper welcomed the media to the museum and one of the volunteer members of the Historical Society was on hand to talk about the exhibit and how it has come together. Here’s a short video clip from our visit you might enjoy.


You can find lots of photos from the event here: New Holland Media Days 2015 Photo Album

AgGateway Enters Phase 3 of SPADE Project

Kelly MarshallAgGateway, Data, InfoAg

diagramapiThe third phase of AgGateway‘s Standardized Precision Ag Data Exchange (SPADE) Project is currently underway.  The project will continue work related to automated data exchange in precision farming– specifically crop scouting, crop nutrition, wireless asset and vehicle data exchange, and automation of commodity data for rail and truck transport.

24 companies, along with experts in precision agriculture are working together to improve efficiency and time savings for growers, give farmers the tools to share data with trading partners and for regulatory compliance, as well as improve the accuracy and tracking of that data.  This phase is scheduled for completion in December of 2016.

“SPADE continues to be one of the most productive and exciting activities in precision agriculture today,” said Project Chair Jeremy Wilson of Crop IMS. “We are already seeing applications in the field from these seminal efforts, with much more to come. As these changes are implemented, growers in the U.S. and around the world will be able to better manage their operations, with huge potential benefits in terms of their ongoing productivity and profitability.”

Project participants to date include Ag Connections, Ag Leader, AGCO, AgIntegrated, Charles Hillyer (Texas A&M), CNH Industrial, Crop IMS, Digi-Star, DTN, F4F Agriculture, Farmobile, Inserto, Heartland Co-op, Land O’Lakes, OAGi, Praxidyn, ProAg, Software Solutions Integrated, SST Software, Syngenta, Topcon, Trimble, XS Inc., and ZedX. The project is still accepting participants.

SPADE, which was launched in 2012, has produced essential work for seamless data exchange in seeding operations, field operations data interoperability, harvest operations, U.S. regulatory reporting, and crop protection operations. SPADE3 will specifically focus on seeding operations implementation, field operations data interoperability, harvest operations implementation, crop protection operations implementation, crop nutrition, grain handling, crop scouting and telematics. The wireless asset and vehicle focus will look at connectivity of computer devices on the farm regardless of brand – a common weakness in a farmer’s efforts today to capture and use data related to crop management. The rail and truck segment of the project will focus on ways to transact data used to track harvested grain from the field through the logistics process, and to the grain management system.

Get more information at InfoAg in St. Louis, Mo and AgGateway Annual Conference in San Antonio, Tx, or visit www.AgGateway.org.

Students Gather for Future of Crop Science Institute

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, Dow AgroSciences, Dupont Pioneer, Growmark, Monsanto, Research, Syngenta

AFA1Des Moines, Iowa, recently played host to 62 student delegates meeting for the inaugural Agriculture Future of America (AFA) Crop Science Institute. This news release from the group says this one of four AFA Leader Institutes, which connect passionate, talented college students from 25 universities from 21 different states to various sectors of the agriculture industry.

“Career exploration is an important part of the leader development process for college students,” said Russ Weathers, AFA CEO. “We are excited to give students a better look at the opportunities available. This environment introduces students to careers they may not have heard about before and allows them to make valuable connections with their peers and industry professionals.”

Some of those valuable connections were made Sunday night during an executive panel and dinner. Many more connections will be made throughout the event, particularly during industry tours on July 20. Monday morning, the students will head out bright and early to tour a variety of crop science companies and related service providers. The students will break into five tour groups and each group will visit four different companies. From seed and input companies to cooperatives and marketing agencies, the students will see a wide variety of possibilities within crop and soil sciences.

Student taking part in this institute were selected based on their talent, passion and commitment to the crop science industry. AFA’s partners offered sponsorships to cover the students’ registration costs. DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto Company, Valent U.S.A. Corporation and WinField, A Land O’Lakes, Inc. company provided support to cover students’ participation in this event. Cargill, Inc., Dow AgroSciences, GROMARK, Inc., and Syngenta also supported the program.

WinField to Put People Back in Touch with Farms

John DavisAgribusiness, Education

FairOakssketch1About 98 percent of Americans are not directly connected to where their food comes from, leaving many people with misconceptions about how food is produced. Agribusiness WinField is working to bridge that gap by partnering with Fair Oaks Farms to open the WinField Crop Adventure, an interactive educational exhibit that engages people of all ages. This news release says the exhibit will open in spring 2016.

“It’s important that Land O’Lakes, leveraging the strength of the WinField brand, helps lead the effort to tell the American farming story and encourage people to make the connection to where their food comes from,” said Chris Policinski, president and CEO, Land O’Lakes, Inc. “This will help underscore the importance of sustainable, modern agricultural practices and innovations to our collective future.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, global food production must increase by 70 percent to feed a projected population of 9.1 billion people in 2050. This is a well-known fact within the agriculture industry; however, satisfying this demand is only part of the production challenge: There is little land available to add to existing farmland, and water demand is projected to outstrip supply by 40 percent by 2030. Simply put, the agriculture industry needs to produce more food with fewer resources, and do so with minimal environmental impact.

“There is confusion in the public arena about modern agriculture,” said Mike Vande Logt, executive vice president and chief operating officer, WinField. “We are partnering with Fair Oaks Farms to create an educational experience that will help people better understand farming and food production practices.”

“We are excited to partner with WinField for the newest exhibit at Fair Oaks Farms,” said Julie Basich, chief operating officer, Fair Oaks Farms. “This will be a great opportunity for families and students to be inspired by and learn about the future of agriculture while gaining a deeper understanding of the role agriculture plays in their everyday lives.”

The exhibit will be a highly interactive and technology-driven experience, with videos, touchscreen displays, interactive puzzles and games that demonstrate the science behind farming — from insects in the field to satellites in outer space.

Study: Strip-Till Outperforms No-Till in Improving Soils

John DavisAgribusiness, Conservation, Tillage

striptill1A technique that’s a hybrid between tilling the soil and practicing no-till outperforms the latter when it comes to improving soil quality. This news release from the American Society of Agronomy says a new five-year study shows the benefits of strip-till, which has only the crop rows where seeds will be planted being tilled.

“Strip-till is in between the two systems where you combine the benefits of each,” said Fabián Fernández of the University of Minnesota. “You have some of the soil conservation benefits derived from left over plant tissue on the soil surface and undisturbed soil structure in the in-between row positions where you don’t till. And then you have the benefits of a better seedbed from tilling the crop rows where you’re going to plant.”

He added that for typical Midwest springs, tilled crop rows would be warmer and a bit dryer earlier so farmers can get in and plant. The farmers also won’t need special equipment to deal with the leftover plant matter, called residue, in the crops rows like they do when they plant in no-till.

The long-term effects of these different methods can have impacts on soil properties, nutrient and water uptake, yield, and ultimately farmers’ profit — but research on them is lacking.

The study showed soil organic matter content was 8.6 percent greater in the strip-till plots when compared to the no-till plots. Furthermore, bulk density was reduced by 4 percent and penetration resistance, the force a root must exert to move in the soil, decreased by 18 percent.

Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act Passes House

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, Audio, GMO, Government

uscapitolThe Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act has passed the U.S. House on a 275-150 vote, another step to ensuring that farmers will be able to use the safe technology, GMOs. The news was welcomed by a variety of politicians and ag groups.

“For the past two years we have worked hard to defend our farmers’ right to use the amazing advances in biotechnology that allow them to increase yields, while reducing water and pesticide use,” stated Rep. [Mike Pompeo (R-KS)]. “These genetically engineered products are not only providing safe food for Kansans, but will feed the next billion people across the world. Through the course of several hearings on GMOs, along with the hundreds of safety studies that have been done over the last 20 years, the argument over the safety of GMOs has now been put to rest.”

House Agriculture Biotechnology subcommittee chair Rodney Davis of Illinois says the bill allows labeling based on science.

“This will allow for an open, transparent public process so that the FDA can establish such standards based on the facts, the science and the input received,” said Davis.

The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food called the vote a victory for consumer choice, science and fact-based food labeling.

“Today’s vote is the result of members of Congress standing up for science, common-sense and the well-being of their constituents,” said CFSAF spokesperson Claire Parker. “We offer a wholehearted thank you to members who voted yes today and advanced this legislation that protects consumer choice, food safety and accurate and informative food labeling.”

The American Soybean Association (ASA) joined the praise for the positive vote for the bill, which establishes a national, voluntary framework for the labeling of foods either containing or not containing genetically engineered ingredients.

“The passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act is a significant victory for the freedom of soybean farmers to make the most of the broad range of advances that biotechnology provides for our industry,” said Wade Cowan, ASA President and a soybean farmer from Brownfield, Texas.

New Cost Share Program Offered for Cover Crops

John DavisAgribusiness, Cover Crops, Soybeans

ctic-logoIowa soybean growers are being offered a new cost share program designed to boost the use of cover crops. The Conservation Technology Information Center says the offer covers up to $25 per acre plus discounts on Soil First brand cover crop seed by La Crosse Seed to Iowa soybean growers willing to establish or expand cover crop acreage and sign onto the Unilever/ADM Sustainable Soy Continuous Improvement Program.

“This cover crop cost-share program is a great opportunity for farmers,” notes Maree Deventer, soy sustainability program coordinator for ADM in Des Moines. “It will help provide financial assistance to farmers to see the benefits and learn first-hand how cover crops work on their farm. Participants will have access to special field days and one-on-one advice from other successful farmers and be able to use the Field to Market Fieldprint® Calculator to compare data from their operations to sustainability indicators from farms around the country.

“They’ll also be at the cutting edge of a new supply chain, through which buyers like Unilever will increasingly be seeking out products from certified sustainably grown soybeans,” Deventer adds.

Unilever’s senior manager, external affairs and sustainability, Stefani Millie Grant, notes that her company aims to source certified sustainably produced soybeans from 1 million acres by the end of 2017. The Unilever/ADM program enables farmers to document their performance on key sustainability criteria and continually improve their operations.

“Many farmers are already farming sustainably,” Grant says. “Using the Field to Market Fieldprint® Calculator and enrolling in the Unilever/ADM Sustainable Soy Continuous Improvement Program allows them to document it. It’s a powerful story to tell to buyers like us, and to the consumers who feed our products to their families.”

Cost-share funding is capped at 160 acres per applicant except in cases of special requests that will be considered individually.

More information is available by contacting Maree Deventer at ADM at (515) 263-3266 or maree.deventer@adm.com, or Sarah Carlson at Practical Farmers of Iowa at (515) 232-5661 or sarah@practicalfarmers.org, or through La Crosse Seed dealers.

Granular Raises $18.7 Mil in Latest Round of Financing

John DavisAgribusiness, computers, Financing, Software

granular1Farm management software and analytics tools developer Granular has raised $18.7 million in the latest round of financing for the company. The California-based company says this will help them in their latest drive to expand.

“We are excited to work with this top group of new and returning investors to become the leading provider of software and analytics to the global agricultural industry,” said Sid Gorham, Granular’s co-founder and CEO. “We are well on our way toward the first step of getting the best 500 producers in North America on the Granular platform and this funding will accelerate our progress.”

Introduced 18 months ago, Granular is expanding its team of software and data science experts in San Francisco, along with a group of farming industry experts deployed near its customers nationwide. The funding will go primarily toward expanding this team to provide more localized support, in addition to extending the product into the specialty crop and livestock segments. The round of funding brings the total capital raised by the company to $25.2M.

“Farming is one of the world’s largest and most important industries, but has been underserved by information technology companies,” said Christopher Olin, Principal at Tao Capital Partners. “We are thrilled to back the Granular team as they use data science to help farms become more efficient businesses and respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future.”

Granular’s farm management software brings together financial, operational and agronomic information in real-time to give growers an accurate view of their operation throughout the entire growing season.

Organic Alfalfa Seed Coating to Protect Against Disease

John DavisAgribusiness, Organic, USDA

alfalfaScientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have found that a natural seed coating that protects alfalfa against some soilborne diseases. This article from the agency says the coating offers an organic alternative to the fungicidal treatment mefenoxam, which is ineffective against the pathogen causing Aphanomyces root rot (ARR), common to Midwestern soils.

Demand for organic alfalfa for organic dairy operations also is increasing, and alfalfa treated with a fungicide can’t be labeled as organic. Many organic dairy farmers would like to expand but may face a roadblock due to a lack of available organic feed, according to Deborah Samac, a plant pathologist in the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Plant Science Research Unit in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Samac wanted to see if coating alfalfa seeds with a naturally occurring mineral would protect them from soil diseases, including ARR. The mineral, zeolite, comes from degraded volcanic rock, has antifungal activity, and qualifies as an organic soil treatment. Samac also wanted to assess zeolite’s effects on the health of plant roots and beneficial soil microbes.

She and her colleagues grew plants with three different seed treatments and inoculated them with the types of pathogens that attack alfalfa roots. The seed treatments included a control with no fungicide, mefenoxam-treated seeds, and commercially available zeolite-coated seeds designed for organic alfalfa production. The plants were removed after 21 days and rated for disease symptoms on a 1-to-5 scale. They also repeated the process in soils collected from 12 Minnesota alfalfa fields to assess the treatment’s effectiveness in soil naturally infested with pathogens.

The results showed that the mineral coating was as effective as mefenoxam in protecting seeds from most soil pathogens, but unlike mefenoxam, zeolite protected the seeds from ARR. It also did not inhibit production of healthy roots or beneficial microbes in the soil. The coated seeds need to be evaluated further, but the findings show they could prove useful in both conventional and organic alfalfa operations, Samac says.

More about the research is in the July 2015 issue of AgResearch magazine.