Report: Farmers Use of Cover Crops

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Conservation

footer-logoCover crops are one simple farming technique that can save money, produce better crops, clean rivers and estuaries, and address climate change. Yet, a new report released today from National Wildlife Federation, Counting Cover Crops, finds that less than 2% of cropland in the highly-farmed Mississippi River Basin is planted to cover crops. How can the nation get more cover crops on the ground? A second NWF report released today, Clean Water Grows, provides six examples of water quality groups working with farmers to clean up rivers and streams using cover crops.

Cover crops are non-commodity crops grown to protect soil in fallow fields, which also provide benefits to the public by improving water quality, air quality and wildlife habitat. If adopted on a large scale throughout the Mississippi River Basin (MRB), National Wildlife Federation believes cover crops could greatly improve the health of the Gulf of Mexico by keeping nutrients and sediments on farms and out of waterways. Cover crops could also help solve the worsening problem of toxic algae plaguing lakes, rivers, and streams across the nation.

Yet, the potential of cover crops in the Midwest is still largely untapped. Counting Cover Crops reveals that despite the growing popularity and the many benefits provided by cover crops, only 1.8 million acres (less than 2% of total cropland) in the MRB are planted to cover crops.

New Web Tool for Identifying Insects In Stored Grain

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Insect Control

canadainsectsWith over 50 species of insects recognized as pests of stored grain in Canada, how can you quickly identify a given insect? You can now use the Canadian Grain Commission’s insect keys, available at www.grainscanada.gc.ca.

“Our insect keys are an effective, easy to use tool for insect identification. Once you know the insect you’re dealing with, you can make the appropriate decisions for management,” explains Brent Elliott, Infestation Control and Sanitation Office at the Canadian Grain Commission.

To use the keys, you choose which of a pair of images and descriptions best matches the insect being identified. The process continues until you are able to identify the insect.

The insect keys are some of the first sections of the Canadian Grain Commission’s web site that have been redesigned to follow Government of Canada standards for web design, including new standards on usability and optimizing web sites for mobile devices. A usable and accessible web site ensures Canadians are able to easily find information and services using a variety of devices, including mobile devices.

DEKALB Brand Launches First Tablet App in Canada

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Apps, Monsanto

logo_monsantoDEKALB brand seed has launched a new tablet application, available for download and use on Apple tablet devices. The DEKALB Seed Guide App is the first of its kind in Canada and is an innovative new tool that will provide corn, soybean, and canola farmers with the 2014 seed guide, including full product information.

Once downloaded, farmers will have the ability to access the entire list of products, with respect to the chosen crop, for the 2014 season.

In addition to seeking product information, users of the DEKALB Seed Guide App are able to navigate through hybrid information as well as yield performance, seeding rate calculators and yield estimators. There are also options to explore Genuity traits, and Acceleron seed treatments and inoculants information. Users will also be able to access DEKALB videos through the DEKALB YouTube Channel, and view up to date harvest results.

BASF Innovation Specialists

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, BASF

Grower engagement on both the people and services level is important for BASF Crop Protection to ensure they are doing all they can to help farmers grow smarter, market smarter and live smarter.
basf-kaleb
Among the ways BASF is engaging with growers is through a new position called the Innovation Specialist, like Kaleb Hellwig who is based on the western side of Missouri.

Kaleb says it’s the best job he has ever had in 17 years with BASF. “I travel every day, meet customers, help identify some of the challenges and problems they have, and then put plans together to help them solve that,” said Kaleb, who is based on the western side of Missouri.

I interviewed Kaleb last week during a breakout session at the BASF Global Press Conference in Germany where he was one of the presenters – [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/basf/basf-germany-kaleb.mp3″ text=”Interview with Kaleb Hellwig, BASF Innovation Specialist”]

2013 BASF Germany Photos

Your Pre-Harvest Checklist

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklySeems like just yesterday we discussed the benefits of pre-season planting preparation, and now we find ourselves staring a pre-harvest checklist straight in the eye. But keep in mind that servicing your precision ag equipment prior to harvest is equally as important as in the spring.

Ag Leader Technology is helping to give growers a few tips on where to start:
• Create a backup of your spring information
• Verify that you are running the latest version of SMS
• Read in any remaining files from earlier this year
• Export information out of SMS Software to your precision ag display

Luke James, Ag Leader Software Sales Specialist, says taking the appropriate steps to check your equipment before harvest will save you time and money in the long-run. [wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/09/LukePreHarvest1.mp3″ text=”Listen to James explain.”]

James tells us why following this checklist is so important. [wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/09/LukePreHarvest2.mp3″ text=”Listen to James explain.”]

Once you have finished inspecting your yield monitoring components and have properly calibrated your machine you are ready for fall harvest to begin!

Tech Support will begin weekend hours for the 2013 season starting Sept. 7 for any questions you may have. Tech Support can be reached Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. year round at 515-232-5363.

Hours:
Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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.

Nominations Open for 2014 4R Advocate Program

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Fertilizer

4R_NutrientStewardship_largeThe Fertilizer Institute (TFI) recently launched the 2014 4R Advocate Awards Program. They are calling for entires from retailers wishing to highlight the exceptional nutrient stewardship practices of their grower customers. The program is in it’s third year and recognizes farmers who are protecting the environment, boosting profitability and benefiting society through nutrient stewardship practices based on the 4R’s.

Use of the right nutrient source at the right time, at the right rate at the right time and in the right place.

“The farmers honored in the 4R Advocate program know that environmental protection and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive,” said TFI President Chris Jahn. “This award program adds value to the 4R nutrient stewardship initiative by engaging growers and retailers with peers who can share their fertilizer best management practices success stories.”

The five winning growers will win a trip to Commodity Classic where they will see the latest agricultural innovations first-hand, meet other growers and agricultural leaders from across the county and will be honored at a banquet.

2013 4R Advocate winners Rick and Jesse Brunner, of Fifth Generation Farms, recently spoke about the importance of 4Rs in preserving their land for future generations. “The 4R program epitomizes our philosophy to farm management. We strive to improve our overall soil health, to limit our environmental impact, and to increase our profits while continuing the farm legacy we received.”

Entries are due by November 12. For a nomination form and more information on the 2014 4R Advocate Awards Program is available here. Winners will be announced in mid-December. For questions contact the TFI Director of Stewardship Programs, Lara Moody, by telephone at (202) 515-2721 or via e-mail at lmoody@tfi.org.

GROWMARK Celebrates National Co-op Month

John DavisAgribusiness, Growmark

Growmark_logoOur friends at GROWMARK are joining cooperatives throughout the country in celebrating the contributions co-ops make to the social and economic development of rural America during National Co-op Month in October.

CoopMonth20131This year’s theme is “Collaborate, Communicate, Cooperate,” reflecting the benefits that arise from collaboration – the sharing of ideas, resources and capital which helps individuals accomplish more together than they would on their own.

Nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives, like GROWMARK, FS, and grain member cooperatives, account for as many as 300,000 jobs worldwide and a total payroll of more than $8 billion.

Cooperatives operate under a set of guidelines known as the cooperative principles. Doing business with the values of voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, members’ economic participation, autonomy and independence, education, training, and information, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for community sets cooperatives apart and inspires loyalty and commitment from their member owners.

The more than 29,000 cooperatives across America generate 2 million jobs and $652 billion in sales with assets of $3 trillion. The GROWMARK System itself employs more than 7,000 people serving 250,000 customers.

Monsanto Boosts Info Access with Climate Corp. Buy

John DavisAgribusiness, Audio, Monsanto

climatecorpmonsantoAn agreement by Monsanto to acquire The Climate Corporation is expected to boost information access for farmers. Monsanto announced its intent to buy the tech company for approximately $930 million, and the deal will combine The Climate Corporation’s expertise in agriculture analytics and risk-management with Monsanto’s R&D capabilities, giving farmers access to more information about the many factors that affect the success of their crops.

“The Climate Corporation is focused on unlocking new value for the farm through data science,” said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer for Monsanto. “Everyone benefits when farmers are able to produce more with fewer resources. The Climate Corporation team brings leading expertise that will continue to greatly benefit farmers and their bottom-line, and we want to expand upon this tremendous work and broaden their reach to more crops and more world areas. We look forward to working closely with our distribution partners and others in the agricultural industry to bring this suite of information resources to the farm.”

The Climate Corporation was founded in 2006 by a highly successful team of software engineers and data scientists formerly with Google and other leading Silicon Valley technology companies. Since that time, the company has built the agriculture industry’s most advanced technology platform combining hyper-local weather monitoring, agronomic data modeling, and high-resolution weather simulations to deliver a complete suite of full-season monitoring, analytics and risk-management products.

“Farmers around the world are challenged to make key decisions for their farms in the face of increasingly volatile weather, as well as a proliferation of information sources,” said David Friedberg, chief executive officer for The Climate Corporation. “Our team understands that the ability to turn data into actionable insight and farm management recommendations is vitally important for agriculture around the world and can greatly benefit farmers, regardless of farm size or their preferred farming methods. Monsanto shares this important vision for our business and we look forward to creating even greater experiences for our farmer customers.”

The deal is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of Monsanto’s 2014 fiscal year.

Listen to the Monsanto press call making the announcement here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/monsanto/monsanto-climate-presser-10-2-13.mp3″ text=”Listen to or Download Monsanto Call”]

Port of Baton Rouge Gets Upgrade with Elevator

John DavisAgribusiness

batonrougeport1 Upgrades to Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana include a new a state of the art grain and oilseed export elevator. This news release from Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC says the $150 million in upgrades will let the facility handle up to 5 million metric tons of grains and oilseeds annually during the first phase of its operation, eventually rising to 6 million metric tons.

“Port Allen will be our flagship export facility on the Mississippi River and a major part of our North American export program, bringing local products to world markets” said Mikael Mörn, CEO of Louis Dreyfus Commodities for North America, speaking at the inauguration ceremony. “We will start moving product immediately through the terminal, and are positioning ourselves to sustain and expand our leading presence within the grains and oilseeds export landscape in the US.”

More improvements are expected over the next few years to add highly efficient storage and inbound logistics capabilities to optimize export operations.

Conservation Programs & More Shutdown with Gov’t

John DavisAgribusiness, Farm Bill, Soybeans

us-capitolA shutdown of the U.S. government has also meant a shutdown of some vital services provided by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. As we mentioned in an earlier post, not the least of the USDA programs coming to a halt are the ones dealing with conservation issues, and that is mostly due to the fact that when the government shut down on Oct. 1, the extension of the farm bill did as well.

The fact that the 2008 Farm Bill extension expired and the new farm bill still is to even make it to committee, resulting in the stopping of important conservation measures, worries farmers like American Soybean Association President Danny Murphy, a soybean, corn and wheat farmer from Canton, Miss.

ASA LOGO ® 120ppi x 63ppi.jpg“There’ll be no more CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) sign-up, no Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) money, no conservation payment or activities of any kind,” he cites as just some of the concerns of farmers. Plus, there will be the expiration of market development funds, something he says are particularly important to soybean farmers.

“Soybeans are the nation’s most valuable agricultural export. Our overseas market development arms, the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH), work with foreign buyers and carry out trade servicing and demand building activities,” Murphy says.

He concludes saying that the shortsightedness of Congress in failing to pass a new farm bill is more than just a political embarrassment; it will cost the industry global market share almost immediately.

“It’s time for our elected officials to remember who they represent and get to work passing a farm bill that works for American farmers.”