In this edition of the Hick Chick Chat I’m looking at precision agriculture from a different perspective; the animal. While Chuck was at the 30th Annual Alltech Symposium in Louisville, KY a couple of weeks ago he did an interesting interview with Dr. Karl Dawson, Chief Scientific Officer at Alltech on precision animal agriculture. Something I’ve heard about recently is … Read More
Hick Chick Chat about Illinois Ethanol Bill
The Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Renewable Fuels are supporting legislation that would allow consumers more choice at the fuel pump. Consumer Fuel Choice for Illinois (SB 52/HB 165) would eliminate the 20% Illinois state sales tax incentive for E-10 and establish a 10% Illinois state sales tax incentive for E-15, which models the successful program originally created by … Read More
USDA Heralds “New Era in Conservation”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today joined Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow to “launch a new era in American conservation efforts with an historic focus on public-private partnership.” Vilsack and Stabenow announced the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) today during a visit to the Saginaw Bay watershed of the Great Lakes agricultural region. “This is an entirely new approach to … Read More
New Point of View from FS Sales Lens
A great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand. GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand … Read More
Deadliest Catch Hick Chick Chat
During the Farm Progress Show last year I had a chance to catch up with Deadliest Catch’s Edgar Hansen off the Northwestern. We discussed a bit about how fishing is a little like farming. It’s completely weather dependent, equipment failures in the mix and while they may not be planting they sure are cultivating their crop every year. Farmers are … Read More
Hick Chick Chat on Sustainable Farming
At the recent Walmart Sustainable Products Expo, Monsanto made two significant commitments to help address critical challenges in the areas of water and nutrient efficiency. In making the announcement, Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant asked a farmer leader to join him and talk about what these commitments mean for the agriculture community. Leon Corzine is an Assumption, Illinois farmer and past National … Read More
NRCS Chief Reviews Conservation Programs
The chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) reviewed the conservation programs included in the new farm bill with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting in Washington DC this week. “We are very excited to finally have a new farm bill and Congress has provided a very significant investment in natural resources conservation,” said NRCS Chief … Read More
White House Releases Climate Change Report
The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency discussed the new White House climate change report out yesterday with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting in Washington DC this week. “It’s a really good document in terms of focusing on the United States,” she said. “In particular, it looks at the agriculture sector. It talks about the droughts … Read More
Grow it, Kill it, Melt it with Conserv FS
The GROWMARK FS System is well known in the Midwest agricultural world for grain, energy and agronomy services, but maybe not so well known is its turf products and services. “If you want to grow it, kill it, or melt it, the turf division would be who you would talk to,” says Jim Coens, Turf Department Manager for Conserv FS … Read More
2012 Ag Census Reveals Conservation Trends
The 2012 Census of Agriculture released today by the USDA reveals there are now 3.28 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States. Those numbers are all lower than 2007 when the census reported 3.18 million farmers, 2.2 million farms and 922 million acres. Highlights of the new census include: – 474,028 … Read More