Since 2013 the Cotton LEADS program has partnered with more than 300 companies and is now announcing the addition of several new business. Among others, HanesBrands, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Kohl’s®; and Life Is Good® have joined the partnership. The Cotton LEADS™ program was launched to illustrate, at a national level, the responsible production practices of cotton growers in Australia and the United … Read More
Crop Analytics Plan wins MIT $100K
The ‘Granddaddy’ of all business plan competitions, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, has selected a crop analytics business plan as the winner. The Robert P. Goldberg $100,000 grand prize winner was awarded to Raptor Maps – a startup drone technology business with the goal of feeding a growing world population. The team, consisting of three PhD candidates from MIT, beat … Read More
Granular Announces Integration of As-Applied Data
Granular, a leading agriculture software and analytics company, has announced another major extension to its analytics platform. Granular has added the ability to import and integrate as-applied files to help producers analyze and manage field level profitability. The news release, in full detail, can be found here. Granular’s latest round of enhancements focuses on the analysis of as-applied files and … Read More
GROWMARK Announces Ag Interns
GROWMARK Inc. is announcing the names of participants of their Exploring Agriculture Intern program. The 20 selected students come from two year community and/or technical colleges. The purpose of the program is to bridge the gap between the programs of these colleges and the GROWMARK system retail companies. “We are striving to provide students with hands-on agronomic experiences, allowing them … Read More
Bayer Opens New Breeding Facility
Bayer CropScience has celebrated the grand opening of its new $17 million, state-of-the-art, Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station. Bayer hopes the research and development activities of this center will deliver breakthrough wheat and soybean varieties. The center will be focusing on parent discovery and hybrid wheat breeding, with plans to research new wheat varieties designed to help growers face … Read More
Biological Nematicide Market Growing
A new report says biological nematicides are the quickest growing control method over the last six years. This news release from consulting and research firm Kline says its Nematicide Market: Global Market Analysis and Opportunities report shows the market has grown nearly 20 percent, with most of the growth in field crops and biological products occurring in the United States. … Read More
Farmers to Vote for New Cooperative
The Boards of Directors for North Central Farmers Elevator (NCFE) and Wheat Growers (WG) have come together in an agreement to unify the two cooperatives. In June the members of these groups will vote to ratify the decision to become member-owned, locally governed CentraGro Cooperative. “The vote on the Unification Agreement taken by our Board members reflects the overall support … Read More
Bacteria Helps Honey Bee Larvae Thrive
A new bacterium is giving honey bee larvae a better chance of surviving. This U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) news release says agency scientists identified the new bacterium. Molecular biologist Vanessa Corby-Harris and microbial ecologist Kirk E. Anderson at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, have named the new species Parasaccharibacter apium. The bee research center is … Read More
Syngenta Rejects Monsanto Bid
The board of directors for Syngenta last week rejected a bid to by the company from Monsanto. The proposal for $481 per share with approximately 45 percent in cash was considered by the Syngenta board to be undervalued. “Syngenta is the world leader in Crop Protection, the number three in Seeds and the first company to introduce integrated solutions for … Read More
Company Receives Exemption to Fly Commercial UAVs
A Tuscan-based company, FVP CATALOG, has received a rare exemption from the FAA to fly UAVs for commercial purposes. The Section 333 exemption was granted to only 247 people in the country. FVP CATALOG owner Bruce Pogosaew spent six months in the complicated process and received it in part because of his willingness to venture into agriculture inspections if farmers begin … Read More