John Deere has acquired a South American company that should help Deere make more headways into the sugarcane industry. The company announced it bought Auteq Telematica, an onboard software and computer company located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and an outfit Deere previously work with to create a joint venture in 2009 to provide integrated, innovative technologies and solutions for sugarcane … Read More
Sumitomo Acquires DuPont Asana Insecticide
Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. is acquiring the DuPont™ Asana® Insecticide business in the United States. The company announced Asana® will be distributed through Valent U.S.A. Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical in the United States. Asana® Insecticide, active ingredient esfenvalerate, is a proven control tool for a wide range of insect pests in major field crops, vegetables, … Read More
2015 International Year of Soils
The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) at the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils. In celebration, the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is coordinating a series of activities throughout 2015 to educate the public about the importance of this precious natural resource. “When GSP recognized the urgent need to … Read More
Int’l Visitors See & Make Connections at Develop with Deere
One place U.S. farmers are definitely ahead of their European counterparts is in the area of precision agriculture, in particular, connecting data from different platforms. Chuck caught up with Malte Isermeyer and Thomas Dedenk with KWS out of Germany at the recent 2014 Develop with Deere conference in Kansas City, who told him many farmers in Europe try to get … Read More
Old, New Tech Policies Spur Ag Innovations
A report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) says a mix of old and new technologies policies are spurring agricultural innovations. This news release from the group says its FutureFood 2050 publishing initiative explores the expanding array of agricultural innovations that will help feed the world’s projected 9 billion-plus people in 2050, making researchers and policy makers look far … Read More
Interviews Highlight Initiatives to Feed 9 Billion by 2050
It will take some great ideas to get the agricultural community able to produce enough food to feed an expected world population of 9 billion by 2050. And sharing those ideas is the idea behind the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) FutureFood 2050 set of interviews. Agriculture thought leaders like animal scientist Temple Grandin and BrightFarms’ founder Paul Lightfoot are … Read More
Global Yield Gap Unveiled at Water for Food Conference
Finding of the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas were unveiled this week at the sixth annual Water for Food Global Conference. The outcome of a six-year international collaborative research effort led by the Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the Atlas is the first transparent, interactive and map-based … Read More
New AgGateway Global Network Seeks Expansion
Members and leaders of the AgGateway organization have launched an affiliate non-profit organization, AgGateway Global Network (AGN), that seeks to promote and establish global collaboration and coordinated use of global agricultural eBusiness standards, guidelines and implementation processes. The new organization will be led by Rod Conner, who is leaving his post as President and CEO of AgGateway at the end … Read More
ASTA Urges Congress to Ratify Plant Treaty
You may have never heard about the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture but the multi-lateral agreement is considered crucial in the fight against global hunger and poverty. “The treaty is an international regime where countries decided that we needed to do something about conserving and sustainably using plant genetic resources for food and agriculture,” said … Read More
Wheat Breeder Honored by World Food Prize
The selection of wheat breeder Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram as the 2014 World Food Prize Laureate was announced last week during a ceremony at the State Department where Secretary Kerry gave keynote remarks. “This is the time for a second green revolution,” Kerry said. “That’s why Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is being honored with the World Food Prize. We are grateful for … Read More