ARA Wants Retailers to Dream Big at Conference

Kelly MarshallAg Group, ARA, Events

ara-leeThe Agricultural Retailers Association will be hosting their annual conference and expo in Orlando, Florida- a place known for magic.  The keynote speaker will be conjuring up a little of that enchantment as he presents his message on leadership and world-class customer service.

Lee Cockerell is a retired Disney executive, a man in charge of 73,000 team members who daily created the illusion of magic for millions of park and resort guests.  His common sense message translates to leadership, respect for people, company culture and a vision for the future. “It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic,” Cockerell says.

It’s easier than you think for a small business owner or entrepreneur to create their own magic.  Build a great website, answer your phone, return calls and look professional, he advises.

They keynote address will wrap up a conference focused on many topics that can make your business wishes come true: China’s impact on the U.S. ag sector, economic outlook, recruiting and maintaining employees, PSM compliance, optimizing performance, pricing strategy, and networking opportunities.  Attendees can also look forward to the ARA Invitational Golf Tournament, ARA Dinner and Auction, Disney Animal Kingdom Backstage Safari, Central Florida Ag Tour, Winter Park Boat Tour and Morse Museum and more.

The event runs November 29-December 1.  You can register now online.

Spurlock Takes Lead on Corn Board

Kelly MarshallAg Group, NCGA

spurlockWesley Spurlock took the lead as President of the National Corn Growers Association‘s Corn Board on Saturday. He spoke about his respect for the past while keeping his eye on the future.

“This year is much like the one we just finished,” Spurlock said. “We are looking at a massive corn crop. It is still being harvested but, even with some rain problems in the Midwest, the yields may be there. So, growing demand remains awfully important to finding a use for the crop that we have.”

NCGA will need to meet this challenge and their new action team structure will ensure they are able to do so.

“Our new action teams work well with our strategic plan,” said Spurlock. “We have three new teams focused on demand: the Ethanol Action Team; the Feed, Food and Industrial Action Team; and the Market Access Action Team. These groups on the demand side will all be working hard to find out where we are and where we need to be.

“We have to work every side of this. We need trade. We need to work for the Trans Pacific Partnership. We need to work with our partners in the livestock industry. We need to work with the ethanol industry to keep that market open. And, we need to keep government regulations from becoming more cumbersome.”

Members are also key to success at NCGA.

“Our grassroots are an essential part of our organization. We have to hear from the bottom all the way up. Members can start in their state associations and speak to them. The states can bring that to the national organization.

“We need the grassroots to go straight to their Representatives and Senators. They have to be active on the political side and the regulatory side. When we ask, it is because we do really need all of our members to come out and voice their opinions so that we can all keep the freedom to farm.”

USDA Report Shows Growing Biobased Industry

Kelly Marshallbioproducts, USDA

usda-logoThe USDA has released a report showing the biobased products industry contributed $393 billion and 4.2 million jobs to the American economy in 2014.  That’s a growth of 220,000 jobs and $24 billion over 2013.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has found the biobased economy to be one of the four pillars that support the rural economy of the U.S.

“When USDA released the first-ever Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry last year, we were thrilled to see what a positive impact this sector was having on our economy, and this updated analysis shows that the sector is not just holding strong, but growing,” Vilsack said. “America has an appetite for everyday products-including plastic bottles, textiles, cleanings supplies and more-made from renewable sources, and that demand is fueling millions of jobs, bringing manufacturing back to our rural communities, and reducing our nation’s carbon footprint. As this sector is strengthening, so is the economy in rural America, where this year the unemployment rate dropped below six percent for the first time since 2007. USDA is proud to see such strong returns on our investment into the biobased products industry.”

This report is the second Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry released by USDA, and it analyzes revenue and jobs created by the biobased products industry at the national and state level in 2014. USDA released the first report of this kind last year, which analyzed the same information based on 2013 data. The new report shows that the industry directly supported 1.53 million jobs in 2014, with each job in the industry responsible for generating 1.76 jobs in other sectors. In 2013, the industry was found to contribute $369 billion and four million jobs to the U.S. economy.

Biobased materials also benefit the environment by reducing the use of fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gasses.  They can also be used in place of petroleum-based products, a resource that has been heavily relied upon for many years.  Biobased products currently replace the equivalent of 200,000 cars on the road each year.

The current BioPreferred Program was created by the 2002 Farm Bill and reauthorized and expanded in 2014.

Dow Agrees to Monsanto Use of EXZACT Platform

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Company Announcement, Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto

monsanto1Monsanto Company and Dow AgroSciences have reached an agreement that allows Monsanto to use Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT Precision Technology Platform for research and development of new crop solutions.

EXZACT technology was developed by Dow under an exclusive license with Sangamo BioSciences to facility the creation of new crop varieties and improve traits.

“Monsanto is pleased to pursue applications of this genome-editing technology for the development of new plant discoveries and solutions for farmers,” said Tom Adams, Ph.D., biotechnology lead for Monsanto. “Zinc finger nucleases are a well-established technology for gene editing and this license, together with our existing and other licensed technology, will allow us to pursue product development while further enabling our growing body of research in this emerging field.”

dow agrosciences1“EXZACT technology is helping to deliver next generation crop improvements into the hands of farmers,” said Daniel R. Kittle, Ph.D., vice president, research and development, Dow AgroSciences. “Broad adoption of EXZACT by industry partners, such as Monsanto, expands access to solutions that will improve grower productivity and profitability.”

Both companies noted that genome-editing technology and the broad array of emerging genome-editing techniques, including the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology in EXZACT, represent key scientific applications that can deliver breakthroughs in agriculture. Monsanto believes that genome-editing technologies will enable plant breeders to deliver better hybrids and varieties more efficiently, as well as offer plant scientists additional resources to provide new improvements in plant biotechnology.

Currently the companies have not released any further information about the agreement.

4R for the Future at Legacy Farmers Coop

Cindy Zimmermanagronomy, Audio, FS System, Growmark

logan-haake-agronomyLogan Haake is the precision ag manager for Legacy Farmers Cooperative in Findlay, Ohio, which means he leads all precision planting, climate, grid sampling, field scouting, variable rate prescriptions, and other precision ag programs for Legacy Agronomy. He was also one of five crop specialists named this year as the first recipients of the new GROWMARK Endure 4R Advocate award.

Haake is a Certified Crop Adviser who has worked at Legacy for 11 years and also farms with his father. “Agriculture is very important to me on both ends and how we can remain proactive moving forward, both agronomically and environmentally,” he says, adding that it is especially important for his area in the Lake Erie basin. “We have to be environmentally sound, or we might lose the opportunity to be able to put the nutrients out to grow crops.”

Haake worked to get all five of Legacy’s agronomy locations 4R certified. “We ran a pilot on one of our locations and that locations was one of the first in northwest Ohio to get that certification,” he said.

Learn more in this interview with Logan: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/growmark-4r-logan.mp3″ text=”Interview with Logan Haake, Legacy Farmers Cooperative”]

Kid-Approved Bell Pepper from Syngenta

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Syngenta, Vegetables

ovg-pepper Syngenta may have just made parents around the globe happy. Their new pepper has a taste that will have kids everywhere eating their vegetables– with a nutrition content that will please parents. The resulting veggie came after two decades of research, but the Overgreen pepper is market-changing.

“My vision for Overgreen peppers is to change the green pepper market – from what people think green peppers should look like right down to how they eat them,” said Rachel Broadbent, product lead for peppers and tomatoes at Syngenta, North America.

Overgreen peppers are the product of a breeding program using traditional techniques. This tedious process has involved selecting peppers with desired traits, breeding them, selecting offspring with the desired traits and repeating these steps until a stable plant emerges. Grower cooperators are essential to this process. J&J Family of Farms has fostered this process alongside Syngenta and is currently expanding the retail market of Overgreen peppers.

Growers can expect several advantages with Overgreen peppers. Once established in the field, the plants produce heavy foliage cover, which protects the fruit from sunburn. Overgreen peppers also stay greener longer, meaning growers have a longer window for harvesting the crop.

“The reason Overgreen peppers stay greener longer than others is that every cell in them has twice the chlorophyll as a normal pepper, and the chlorophyll molecules are twice as big,” said Kevin Cook, global lead of open-field pepper research and development for Syngenta.

Besides pleasing parents and kids, Overgreens also appeal to the health-conscious. The pepper is nutrient-dense, but without the sour aftertaste of a typical bell pepper. Overgreens also contain almost twice the amount of lutein and vitamin A of other bell peppers.

“I’ve been a little insistent in telling people who say they don’t like raw green peppers to try Overgreens,” said Broadbent. “But nine out of 10 times, they end up really enjoying them. That’s how I got my six-year-old daughter to try the peppers, and now she loves them.”

Pod Blasting to Determine Peanut Maturity

Kelly MarshallPeanuts

peanutsIn case you thought you’d seen it all, peanut farmers are using a new precision tool- the pressure washer.

For many years, growers have used a pocketknife or other sharp object to scrape away the outer shell of the peanut to determine the level of maturity. Now, reports Kris Balkcom, a peanut research associate with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the adoption of lightweight pressure washers gives peanut producers a better way.

The process requires different equipment that pod scraping, but using a pressure washer with a PSI of 1300-1600 makes it more efficient and quicker.  “Many of the immature pods are full of water, so it is easy to tear them apart,” Balkcom said. “Using a lightweight pressure washer will prevent the destruction of the pods.”

By keeping the pod intact producers have a more accurate maturity reading to plan harvest.  “Producers need to be able to scrape off the outer layer of the hull to see the color,” Balkcom notes. “The color of the inner hull helps to determine the level of maturity.”

Technique is important to the process as well. After pouring pods into baskets made of expansion metal with grated sides and a subfloor midway up the cylinder, growers use a turbo nozzle to blast the pods. The screen-like sides of the container and subfloor allow the water to run out of the peanuts, taking the outer hulls with it and leaving pods behind, ready to be placed on a profile board for analyizing. This video from the Extension office demonstrates the procedure.

“The distance between the wand and the pods is important,” Balkcom said. “Keeping a good distance will prevent the pressure washer from destroying the peanuts.”

“Peanuts are indeterminate, so the plants flower from 40 days of age to harvest,” he adds. “There will be a mixture of all ages of peanuts in the basket. Pod blasting will help to determine the most optimum time for harvest, the best average grade and the most weight to market.”

DuPont Pioneer Commits $175,000 to Education

Kelly MarshallAg Group, Dupont Pioneer, Education

dupontpioneerTeachers who are implementing Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) are now eligible for grants, thanks to DuPont Pioneer and the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).   The promised $175,000 will assist teachers with funding for training, equipment, materials and end-of-course online assessments

CASE is a multi-year approach to teaching students about agriculture through hands-on, inquiry focused learning activities.  The program allows teachers to elevate the learning experience and better prepares students for success in careers focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.  CASE is managed by the National Association of Agriculture Educators.

“CASE trains agriculture teachers to deliver high-level science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) principles to their students,” said Dan Jansen, CASE project director. “Teachers often have minimal resources to equip themselves and their classrooms to provide this rigorous, STEM-focused instruction. These grants from DuPont Pioneer are exactly what they need to fully implement the unique model of interactive, inquiry-based learning that we know is so effective.”

“Students learn teamwork, communication skills and hands-on science through the CASE curriculum, all of which provides the foundation for a career in science,” said Robin Habeger, academic outreach manager, DuPont Pioneer. “Supporting agricultural science teachers through continuing education and classroom equipment is one way we are striving to assure food security for the projected 2050 population of 9 billion people.”

The donation is part of the DuPont Pioneer Global Giving Program, a system created to improve food security though science, education and innovation.

House Passes Water Resources & Development Act

Kelly MarshallAg Group, Government

uscapitolThe U.S. House of Representatives passed the Water Resources and Development Act of 2016 (WRDA 2016) by a vote of 399-25. The two year, reauthorization bill provides infrastructure programs and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund; programs that allow American farmers to remain commutative in a global market.  The bill will clear the backlog of projects for the Army Corps of Engineers, providing more than $10 billion in funding.

The National Corn Growers Association and the American Soybean Association have both supported the bill.

The WRDA passed by the House is a modest measure that builds on the comprehensive WRDA enacted in 2014, and demonstrates the commitment and ability of Congress to return to the routine of reauthorizing WRDA every two years.

Notably, the bill passed by the full House does not include a provision that was in the version passed by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to make the HMTF mandatory funding beginning in 2027, rather than fully subject to annual appropriations. Law established in the 2014 WRDA does provide a schedule for increasing the amount of HMTF funds that must be appropriated annually through 2025.This funding schedule ramps funding up to 100 percent of HMTF revenues by 2025 and, so far, the Appropriations Committees have met the obligations.

The Senate passed their version of the bill on Sept. 15, so the next step is a Conference Committee, expected during the lame duck session after the election.  Leaders are optimistic the bill will be sent to the President by the end of the 2016.

Experiments Show Spray Drift Damages Grapes

Kelly MarshallAg Group, Spraying, Weed control

weed science society The Weed Technology journal recently published results showing that herbicide spray drift from 2,4-D and dicamba can severely damage wine grapes near agronomic crops.

With the increased use of these products on glyphosate-resistant broadleaf weeds like Palmar amaranth and horseweed, grape growers are becoming more and more concerned about crop loss from drift. Researchers from Ohio State University ran test to determine if these concerns were justified. The greenhouse experiment simulated the impact of 2,4-D, dicamba and glyphosate spray drift on five important wine grape cultivators. Plants were evacuated at one week, 42 days, and 357 days after exposure.

Results shows significant damage to test plants exposed to 2,4-D and dicamba, with and without glyphosate.

“We determined that spray drift from 2,4-D and dicamba can severely injure each of the five grape varieties in our study, with those injuries increasing with greater exposure,” says Mohsen Mohseni-Moghadam of Ohio State University, lead researcher for the study. “Simulated drift from glyphosate alone, though, produced only slight vine injury.”

Full text of the article “Response of Wine Grape (Vitis spp.) Cultivars to Simulated Drift Rates of 2,4-D and Dicamba, and with/without Glyphosate” is now available in Weed Technology Vol. 30, Issue 3, July-September, 2016.