On the heels of Arkansas, Missouri has issued a pause on sale, use, and removal of all products labeled for agricultural use that contain dicamba. As of today, Monday, July 10th, the Missouri Department of Agriculture has had 145 pesticide drift complaints. Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said, “We want to protect farmers and their livelihoods. At the same … Read More
ASTA Preparing Farm Bill Input
Virginia Houston The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) has an interest in several titles of the farm bill, so the organization is making preparations for the 2018 legislation. The research title is extremely important to the industry, and trade promotions are absolutely critical, Jane DeMarchi, VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs and Virginia Houston, Associate Director for Domestic and Government … Read More
Clariant Colors the Seed Industry Bright
If you haven’t heard of Clariant, it’s pretty remarkable to discover all the ways this manufacturer of chemicals might be involved in your daily life. With manufacturing plants around the globe, Clariant’s color division is providing pigments to industries like plastics, oil, even airline de-icing. They were at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota last … Read More
ASTA Honors Dr. Stephen Smith
Dr. Stephen Smith was honored last week at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Smith was made a Lifetime Honorary Member during the Gala Banquet in recognition of his leadership, vision, and service to the seed industry. “Dr. Smith has been an ardent supporter of ASTA’s activities on the domestic and international levels for … Read More
Seeds in Space Benefit Ag on Earth
There’s a good bet that the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting of 30 years ago looked remarkably different than the event that took place last week in Minneapolis, MN. And it’s a good bet that the science and technology making an impact on the industry in another 30 years may not have even been thought of yet, but … Read More
ASTA Elects New Leadership
The American Seed Trade Association has been a continuously growing family for the past 134 years, and the family of new chairman Tracy Tally has been a constant at the ASTA annual meeting for many of those years. Tally is president of Justin Seed Company in Justin, Texas, a company founded by his father in 1956. Besides running Justin Seed … Read More
Learning Innovation from the Seed at #ASTAannual
Stan Abramson of Arent Fox LLP, Law Firm spoke with members of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) about promoting agriculture innovations in Washington D.C. We can learn a lot about innovation from the seeds themselves. “Plants and seeds are natural innovators. They constantly reinvent themselves,” he told the audience. “A lot of innovation is just figuring out how nature … Read More
Enogen Presents American Ethanol Race in Iowa
Coming up tomorrow at the Iowa Speedway, Enogen presents the NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 for the fifth year. Ron Wulfkuhle is excited to be attended the race for the first time as head of Enogen at Syngenta. “We’ll have about 1200 corn farmers attending as our guests and also we’ll be working with the FFA,” said Wulfuhle. … Read More
Herrmann Concludes Year as ASTA Chair
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting marks the end of Mark Herrmann’s service as Chair of the organization. For the past year he has lead the group in some major changes and successes, including the passing of a federal GMO bill. “The GMO transparency bill being a federal bill, as opposed to the patchwork that was being done … Read More
Panel Offers Food Company Perspectives
The Opening Session of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) annual meeting featured three speakers offering “Perspectives from Today’s Major Food Companies.” John Wiebold from General Mills, Jenny Verner from Cargill, Inc., and Autumn Price representing Land O’Lakes each addressed the audience before participating in a panel discussion and taking questions from the audience. Each spoke of the challenges of … Read More