Who better to welcome members of the Agricultural Retailers Association to Florida for their annual conference than William Jameson, the Florida State FFA President and symbol of agriculture’s future? Florida stands tall in the agriculture industry, growing more than 300 types of commodities from fresh produce like grapefruit and sweet corn to beef and field crops. The state also boasts … Read More
#ARA2016 Keynoter Provides Political Insight
Stuart Rothenberg knows the word “nonpartisan” is suspect, but as the Founding Editor of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, that’s what he strives to be. In his recent keynote address to the members of the Agricultural Retailers Association, Rothenberg talked about the recent Presidential election, and how it was big in more ways than one. It was big because … Read More
Farm Equipment Exports Down 14 Percent
The first three quarters of the year show a 14 percent drop in U.S. agriculture equipment exports compared to the same time frame in 2015. That’s a difference of more than $5 billion, says the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). Europe and Central America continued to be the growth leaders with Asia leading the double-digit declines for the other world regions, according … Read More
CommonGround Celebrates Six Years
CommonGround is celebrating its sixth year of connecting urban and suburban women with farm women who wish to tell the story of agriculture. The program, supported with checkoff dollars from the National Corn Growers Association of and the United Soybean Board, began with 15 female farmer volunteers from five states. Now the program boasts nearly 200 farm women from 19 … Read More
Trelleborg Earns SIMA Innovation Gold Medal
Trelleborg has earned top honors at the 2017 SIMA Innovation Awards with a gold medal for their newly developed Variable Inflation Pressure (VIP) system. These soon-to-be-launched tires were developed in conjuncture with AGCO FENDT. It consists of an autonomous wheel that can self-adjust the tire’s pressure based on the load from the combine. This innovation optimizes the tire’s footprint to reduce … Read More
Enthusiasm Growing for Climate Corp’s FieldView
The Climate Corporation‘s FieldView platform has only been on the market for two seasons, but Rick Myroup is pretty enthusiastic about how far the program has come in such a short amount of time. “The adoption has been rapid. It’s really been exciting to see how farmers have gravitated to the system and have really seen the benefits of seeing … Read More
USDA Awards $6.7 Million for Healthy Agroecosystems
Eighteen grants with a total sum of $6.7 million dollars are being granted by the USDA‘s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The grants are to encourage researching the interactions between components of an agroecosystem interact in food production: soil, water and sun to plants, animals and people. “Population growth, along with environmental factors, including the growing threat of climate change, … Read More
Peer Review Study Finds Insecticides Are Low Risk
A new risk assessment published in a peer-reviewed journal has found use of registered neonicotinoid imidacloprid in the United States is of low risk for sensitive aquatic invertebrates, or the wildlife that depend on them for their diet. This product is one of the most commonly used insecticides because it offers effective and safe control of pests. Because aquatic invertebrates … Read More
Senet and Paige Ag to Partner for IoT Solutions
Senet is the first and fastest growing North American provider of public LPWANs for long range-based (LoRa-based) Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Now they’re announcing a partnership with Paige Ag, manufacturer and supplier of wire, cables, cable assemblies and electrical accessories to offer “smart” irrigation to growers. With device connectivity over very long ranges (~15 miles), very long battery power life … Read More
Syngenta Products Mean Potential
Palle Pedersen says a bag of soybeans from Syngenta is really a bag of potential. Over the last few years, growers have been breaking yields and that’s because of innovations and technology, he told me at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk event. Those innovations should mean top yield potential in every bag. “At Syngenta, R&D is … Read More