Bayer Expects Registration for New Nematicide

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Insecticide

velum-one-banner-logoBayer is wrapping up the registration process for California registration of Velum One, a nematicide with fungicidal activity.  The product is anticipated for use on almonds, tomatoes, strawberries, brassicas and cucurbits by the 2017 growing season.  It will help growers manage a wide spectrum of nematodes.

“During trials, early season application has been shown to protect root heath and get plants off to a great start,” said Joel Lipsitch, product manager for Bayer. “With Velum One, we will not only protect crops early in the season, but more importantly, we will give growers confidence that they’re using the right tools for the best return on their investment.”

Velum One contains a unique blend of active ingredients that work together to combat nematodes and damaging diseases. It moves from roots to leaves, not only suppressing nematodes below ground but also throughout the plant to suppress key diseases and help maximize yield potential.

“Field trials have shown that Velum One significantly increases yields and has an even greater impact when used with the insecticide/nematicide Movento and full disease management products like Luna,” added Lipsitch.

almond-on-vineThe product is applied through drip/micro chemigation and offers significant enhancement to existing nematode programs.  Velum One can immobilize nematodes within one to two hours after contact and is effective on early season diseases like powdery mildew.

“Once registered, Velum One will bring excellent protection to California crops in the coming year,” said Lipsitch. “We’re thrilled to bring growers a great option for nematode management to help maximize yield.”

Velum One is not currently registered for sale or use in California.

Pioneer Brand Planish High Oleic Soybeans Expanding

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Dupont Pioneer, Soybeans

plenishDuPont Pioneer and Perdue AgriBusiness are making plans to more than double the acreage of Pioneer brand Planish high oleic soybeans.  Beginning 2017 the soybeans will be grown in Maryland, Delaware, southeast Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

Mid-Atlantic growers will have the opportunity to recieve a grain premium with a high oleic contract.  Participating growers will be able to deliver the soybeans to designated Perdue facilities or participating elevators for processing.

“Food manufacturers, the food service industry and industrial users are demanding more Plenish high oleic soybean oil every year,” said John Ade, Perdue AgriBusiness senior vice president. “Thanks to the expanding market for this improved soybean oil, we are able to more than double contracted acre production acres for 2017.”

Growers contracting for Planish high oleic soybeans for 2017 will receive a 60 cent incentive for producing and sorting the beans, or a 50 cent premium for harvest delivery.

“Since we started working with Perdue in 2013, grower interest in Pioneer brand Plenish high oleic soybeans has been exceptional,” said Cynthia Ericson, DuPont Pioneer commercial unit lead. “The varieties we offer for contracting provide the defensive characteristics and high yield potential area growers need to significantly improve income per acre.”

The development and commercialization of Plenish high oleic soybeans illustrates how biotechnology can provide direct benefits to the food industry, consumers and growers.

With 0g transfat per serving and 20 percent less saturated fat than commodity soybean oil, Plenish high oleic soybean oil provides a sustainable, U.S.-grown, soy-based, transfat alternative for food companies and foodservice operators. The improved fatty acid profile provides the highest oxidative stability level of any commercially produced soybean oil. Additionally, this enhanced stability means longer fry life in restaurant applications and less polymerized oil buildup on equipment, which reduces cleaning costs.

Advantages of the oil also include a longer shelf life for packaged foods without sacrificing flavor.  It also eliminates the need for artificial preservatives, leading to a cleaner ingredient label.

Traits for high oleic soybeans have been approved by nearly all key U.S. export markets and remaining markets have approvals pending.

FMC Registering New Fungicide Ingredient

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, FMC, Fungicides

fmc-logoFMC Agricultural Solutions has begun the registration process with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency for a new parasol carboxamide fungicide.  Bixafen is a new generation of succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHI) that FMC hopes to register for use on corn, soybeans, canola, peanuts and potatoes.

Bixafen is highly effective against a wide range of fungal diseases in row crops. Data has been submitted for review of several target diseases including: Northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot in corn; frogeye leaf spot, brown spot and white mold in soybeans; septoria leaf blotch, stripe rust and stem rust in cereals; early blight and white mold in potatoes; white mold in canola; stem rot, leaf spot, leaf rust and Rhizoctonia limb rot in peanuts.

FMC acquired exclusive rights to bixafen from Bayer CropScience to develop and distribute the novel product for row crops in the United States and Canada. FMC has greatly expanded its fungicide offerings in recent years for row crops and specialty crops, including tree, fruit and vine crops.

“Bixafen will further that growth with plans to build a suite of products around this chemistry,” said Amy O’ Shea, vice president and business director, U.S. and Canada, FMC Agricultural Solutions. “We have simultaneously begun registration for several premixes.”

This is the first of several new proprietary crop protection active ingredients FMC is working to complete registration for within the next three years.  “FMC is investing in synthetic and biological products to address growers’ dynamic crop protection challenges,” said O’Shea. “As pest challenges evolve, it’s incredibly important to bring new active ingredients to market. Growers need new tools to manage resistance and to control yield-robbing diseases, weeds and pests.”

USDA Finalizes Conservation Easement Program Rule

Cindy ZimmermanConservation, Government, USDA

nrcsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a final rule on the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which was created in the 2014 Farm Bill to consolidate provisions in three previous conservation easement programs.

The rule changes are designed to “make the program more flexible and responsive to the unique needs of farmers and ranchers in each region of the U.S.”, according to USDA. The final rule was published after considering public comments on the interim rule published in February 2015. USDA received nearly 1070 comments from 102 respondents on the interim final rule and evaluated the comments in the development of the final rule.

Significantly, the final rule clarifies certain program requirements for certified and non-certified entities, which will help streamline participation in the Agricultural Land Easement component of ACEP. The final rule also incorporates more fully the protection of grazing uses and related conservation values as one of the program purposes.

USDA reports that demand for ACEP funds continues to be high, with 70 percent of applications for the wetland component and 30 percent for the agricultural easement component, and an average of 25 percent of applicants are funded.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers ACEP, a voluntary program created in the 2014 Farm bill to protect and restore critical wetlands on private and tribal lands through the wetland reserve easement component (ACEP-WRE). ACEP also encourages farmers, ranchers and non-industrial private forest landowners to keep their private and tribal land in agricultural use through the agricultural land easement component (ACEP-ALE).

AutoTrac™ Vision in Sight for 2017

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Guidance, John Deere, Spraying

autotrac-visionNew John Deere AutoTrac™ products available for 2017 provide a new line of vision when making postemergence sprayer applications.

AutoTrac Vision uses a front-mounted camera to see early-season corn, soybeans and cotton at least 4 to 6 inches high. An industry exclusive from John Deere.. “The camera actually sees the row and steers the sprayer down the row in early season application,” explained product manager Sara Flohr at the recent John Deere Product Reveal.

sara-flohrFlohr says Vision can be used all the way until canopy, at which point a grower can switch to AutoTrac RowSense™ “which are two paddles mounted to the front tires of the sprayer that feel their way down the row,” said Flohr. It uses a row sensor similar to that used on combines to detect crop rows and steer the sprayer to the center of the row for later season post applications. “Both systems allow the operator to spray at faster speeds with little manual steering and cover more acres per day with less damage to crops.”

Both systems are available as field installed kits on currently operating machines or from the factory on new John Deere R4023, R4030, R4038 and R4045 Sprayers.

Learn more in this interview with Sara: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/deere-flohr.mp3″ text=”Interview with Sara Flohr, John Deere”]

John Deere 2016 Product Reveal Photo Album

Celebrating More than 90 Years of Dry Bean Production

Kelly MarshallAg Group

american-doorstop-projectThe Nebraska Dry Bean Commission (NDBC) is the latest partner sponsor of the American Doorstop Project, a project that collects stories that were instrumental in shaping America’s agricultural roots.  The Commission hopes to put a spotlight on the importance of Nebraska’s dry bean industry.

Nebraska’s dry bean producers consistently rank #1 and #2 in the United States for Great Northern and Pinto beans production, respectively. For nearly a century, the state’s North Platte Valley and High Plains Panhandle dry bean producers have planted, harvested and marketed some of the highest-quality dry edible beans in the world, says Courtney Schuler, chairwoman of the NDBC. The commission’s role is to advance Nebraska’s dry bean industry through research, promotion and education.

“A new focus for NDBC is to increase our promotional activities, so partnering with the American Doorstop Project on a book about Nebraska’s Agriculture History is great way to promote our industry and demonstrate how important Nebraska’s agriculture is to our state’s economy,” Schuler says. “Every generation, fewer individuals are directly related to agriculture, and it’s critical for us to continue to tell our story.”

“A History of Nebraska Agriculture: 150 Years of Working the Land,” is the working title for the book.  It will be part of a series of books expected next spring to celebrate Nebraska’s 150th Sesquicentennial.  It also coincides with the 2016 International Year of the Pulses campaign.

“Although current USDA crop reports estimate 2016 production numbers to be down from 2015, dry beans will continue to be a significant rotational crop in our region for irrigation management, soil fertility, pest management and market volatility,” Schuler notes. “And our producer’s dry beans will be sought out by customers worldwide because of their consistent superior quality.”

You can learn more about the American Doorstep Project at www.AmericanDoorstopProject.com.

ERS Releases Precision Agriculture Adoption Report

Kelly Marshalltechnology, USDA

screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-8-12-53-am The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) has released a report, Farm Profits and Adoption of Precision Agriculture.

The report covers current trends in precision agriculture (PA), production practices and farm characteristics associated with adoption. The report also looks at corn data from 2010 to determine if PA practices lead to increased profitability.

The report looked at three types of Precision Agriculture: GPS-based mapping systems (including yield monitors and soil/yield mapping), guidance or auto-steer systems, and variable-rate technology (VRT) for applying inputs.

The type of technology and the size of the farm were two of the greatest variables for adoption rate. Yield monitors that produce the data for GPS-based mapping are used on about half of corn and soybean farms. Auto-steer or guidance systems are being utilized on about one third of U.S. farms, and GPS-based yield mapping is reported on about a quarter of farms. Somewhere between 16 to 26 percent of farms are using soil mapping with GPS coordinates and variable-rate technology.

The number of corn and soybean acres are higher than the share of farms, leading researchers to understand that larger farms are more likely to use PA technology. The report also concludes that hired labor costs are higher larger farms utilizing PA, likely the result of farmers using specialists to help implement the systems.

A few other factors that influenced adoption were yield goals, unpaid labor costs, and machinery stock. Farmers already close to their yield goals were unlikely to try PA technology, while those with lower yields where likely attempting to raise yields on less productive ground. A high fixed overhead for machinery and labor costs decreased a growers flexibility for implementing precision practices.

Regardless of the size of the farm or the type of technology, all PA practices showed a positive impact on net return.

  • GPS mapping shows the largest estimated impact among PA technologies, with an increase in operating profit of almost 3 percent on corn farms. The impact of mapping on net returns is almost 2 percent.
  • Guidance systems raise operating profit on corn farms by an estimated 2.5 percent and net returns by 1.5 percent.
  • Variable-rate technology (VRT) raises both operating profit and net returns on corn farms by an estimated 1.1 percent.

You can view the full report or summary online.

FMC Helps #CAPCA16 Fight Fear

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, CAPCA, EPA, FMC, Food, Pesticides, Regulation

dsc_0827How will the agriculture industry grow an increasing amount of safe, healthy food in an environment of more stringent regulations coupled with less water? This question was answered by John Kasper, commercial business unit director for FMC Corporation, during the opening session of the 42nd annual California Association of Pest Control Advisers. The sold-out event focused on feeding a nation and fighting the fear and one fear growing among consumers is the fear of pesticides, just one concern that has fed the fire of changing regulations.

Kasper led off his presentation, entitled, “Producing High Quality Food in an Increasingly Regulated Environment,” with acknowledging that growers’ jobs have become harder. He said that growers have needs and the industry must figure out how to develop tools and technologies to meet these needs. One potential area is that of biologics including biopesticides and biostimulants. Kasper said that today this is a fragmented and diverse market but he believes it may be the next frontier. It’s estimated to grow to a $10 billion industry by 2030.

FMC has entered this biological arena and Kasper said two years ago they created a partnership with Christian Hansen. Today they have built a European Innovation Center in Denmark, their partner’s headquarters, that will focus on biological research. Kasper anticipates they will see their first group of products born out of this collaboration within the next 3-5 years.

To learn more about pesticides and regulations, listen to my interview with John Kasper here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/CAPCA16-kasper-fmc-interview.mp3″ text=”John Kasper, FMC”]

dsc_0848

Back to the regulation frontier, Kasper said that the EPA is currently reviewing pyrethroids and he counseled that it is very important that the industry submit comments relating to how important they are to farmers. “We must show value of these products,” added Kasper. “We can not take proven products for granted.”

Kasper ended his presentation on a positive note calling for the industry to engage in change. “We have a tremendous opportunity to be open to change and see productivity increases.”

Listen to Kasper’s full presentation here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/CAPCA16-kasper-fmc-presentation.mp3″ text=”John Kasper, FMC, CAPCA Conference”]

Be sure to check out even more action by viewing the 42nd Annual CAPCA Photo Album.

American Ethanol Sweepstakes Winners Take Talladega

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Ethanol, NCGA

American Ethanol SweepstakesNASCAR will be in Alabama this weekend, and the winners of the American Ethanol sweepstakes will be there too. Earlier this year, American Ethanol hosted two sweepstakes competition in honor of 10 million miles of racing on ethanol blended fuel. One lucky NASCAR fan and one industry professional have been drawn at random to be part of this weekend’s fun.

Joey Lomenzo of Long Valley, New Jersey is the winner of the “We’ve Got the Power” fan sweepstakes.   Lorenzo, an avid NASCAR fan, has supported American Ethanol with his posts about blended fuels on social media.

The “Engine Insiders Talk Shop” engine industry professional sweepstakes winner is Allen Huggins.  Huggins is a recent graduate of the NASCAR Universal Technical Institute and is excited about beginning his career as an engine technician.  Thanks to the sweepstakes, he’ll be able to experience the classroom of life at Talladega.

American Ethanol is a partnership of the National Corn Growers Association and Growth Energy.  They encourage everyone to try the same clean fuel benefits NASCAR drivers enjoy by finding an E15 or higher fuel retailer in your area.

Members of USFRA Challenge Dannon

Kelly Marshallbiotechnology, sustainability, USFRA

USFRAMember organizations of the U.S. Farmers and Rancher Alliance (USFRA) sent a letter to Dannon in response to their recent pledge to eliminate biotechnology in feed for dairy cows that supply milk for their yogurt.

Members of the USFRA urged Dannon and other food companies to review their goals for sustainability and understand those goals cannot be achieved without the use of safe and proven biotechnology.  Dannon is one of many food manufactures and retailers to eliminate GMOs from their supply chain, with claims that it will improve the sustainability of their products.

The letter explains how Dannon’s actions are  “the exact opposite of the sustainable agriculture that [Dannon] claim[s] to be seeking. [Dannon’s] pledge would force farmers to abandon safe, sustainable farming practices that have enhanced farm productivity over the last 20 years while greatly reducing the carbon footprint of American agriculture.”

“Just as every one of our farmers believes strongly in sustainable biotechnology, we also believe in the competition of a free market,” said American Soybean Association President Richard Wilkins. “But Dannon isn’t competing in good faith; Dannon is making false marketing claims to boost the sale of its products. We can’t afford to stand by and allow this technology to be further denigrated by untruthful claims like Dannon’s.”

Taking away a farmer’s ability to use less pesticides, herbicides, fossils fuels and water and prevent soil erosion turns back the clock on agriculture.  Numerous studies over a period of more than 20 years have proven the safety of GMOs and the benefits to the environment and 109 Nobel laureates recently added their support to the technology.