Precision | Page 155 | News and reviews from the precision agriculture industry

Wipe Out Weeds with Bayer at the #FarmProgressShow

Kelly MarshallSeptember 2, 2016Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer CropScience, Farm Progress Show, Weed control

Jody Wynia’s job as a Marketing Manger for corn at Bayer means he is looking for ways to help growers defeat weeds with confidence. It’s why the company has launched their W.O.W program- Wipe Out Weeds, with seven proven products covering a wide variety of application windows and price points.

Making sure corn growers remain profitable and weed-free in a tough market requires a year-round plan, especially when uncontrolled weeds can result in a 3 bushel/acre per day loss. With corn prices around $4, that’s $84/acre per week; on a 500 acre field the math works out to $42,000 per week.

Wipe Out Weeds ia a comprehensive portfolio that makes decision making simpler. The lineup includes pre- and post- chemistries and best-in-class safeness.

“Through extended research and development, Bayer has been able to fill the pipeline with effective products that are the first of their kind,” says Wynia. “Corvus® and Balance® Flexx, the only herbicide products that use reactivation, DiFlexx® DUO and DiFlexx, which bring new safened dicamba to corn, and Liberty®, the first non-selective herbicide alternative to glyphosate, are just some of the great features that help growers stay successful. These products are proven to Wipe Out Weeds.”

Blance Flexx is also seeing an adjustment in cost. Bayer took a look at their portfolio and made the decisions necessary to offer this much-needed product at a price that works in today’s economy.

You can hear more about the W.O.W program in my interview with Jody: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/FPS16-Bayer-Wynia.mp3″ text=”Jody Wynia, Bayer”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience

Register Now for AgGateway’s Annual Conference

Kelly MarshallSeptember 2, 2016Ag Group, AgGateway, Events

Be part of AgGateway’s Annual Conference. This year’s event will be held on November 7-10 at the Renaissance Orland at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. The theme for this year is “eAgriculture-Using Collaboration and Connectivity to Cultivate Success.”

The conference will be attended by hundred of business and IT professionals from across the ag industry. The conference will cover ongoing activities of the organization and the latest resources in implementing eConnectivty throughout the field. There will be great opportunities for networking as well, as well as educational session, interactive working meetings, and a welcome luncheon for first-time attendees. Plan to attned the awards banquet, innovation showcase and much more.

Key speakers include: Bray Keywell, CEO of Uptake, Todd Janze of Janzen Ag Law and the American Farm Bureau Federation and Robert Blair, farmer and Vice President of Agriculture for Measure.

“The annual conference is the best opportunity of the year to see – and take part in – connectivity activities that are changing the way producers and their trading partners will do business in the years ahead, from making order-to-invoice processes more powerful and cost efficient, to advances in precision agriculture,” said AgGateway President and CEO Wendy Smith. “It’s an ideal forum to bring colleagues and trading partners to learn about the substantial benefits ag companies are gaining through eConnectivity.”

The program is especially geared to ag retailers, distributors, manufacturers of ag inputs (e.g., seed, crop nutrition, crop protection), and software and data service providers, as well as professionals in precision ag, academia, agricultural organizations, students and ag media.

The conference agenda, registration, hotel information and more details are available on the 2016 Annual Conference webpage, found under “Events” at www.AgGateway.org. Also find the meeting on Twitter at #AgGateway (https://twitter.com/hashtag/aggateway).

John Deere is Ready for Spring at FPS

Kelly MarshallSeptember 2, 2016Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Progress Show, John Deere, Planting

It’s harvest time on the farm, which means many growers are reflecting on their planting season. For those looking to make improvements to the 2017 planting experience, John Deere is ready with updates to the MaxEmerge 5e row unit. I got to take a look at the row units at the Farm Progress Show and Product Specialist, Austin Verbeck took me through it.

The MaxEmerge 5e is a 5 meter unit with electric drive options, getting rid of the chains and sprockets and all that mess. Now one electric dive, motor, and unit row controller offer more consistent population control. That’s especially true around curves, where the outer wings and inner wings adjust to maintain the proper population as they circle around.

“So that’s probably one of our biggest enhancement to our Max Emerge 5e is our population consistency,” Verbeck told me, “but we also have some additional features for model year 17. We have our individual row hydraulic down force, so the operator inputs his target margin from the cab and each row will adjust the appropriate down force automatically as it goes through the field.”

Pneumatic closing wheels have also gotten a lot of attention, partly, Verbeck believes, because they can be retro-fitted to an older machine. With the economic conditions affecting farmers the ability to update an older machine is valuable. These closing wheels are fitted with airbags that can be adjusted from inside the tractor’s cab. They offer more settings for greater variability and provide more consistent closing. They’ll also notify you right away if something goes amiss, rather than finding out at the end of the row– or later!– that something sprang loose.

Verbeck says the most important thing he wants growers to know is that John Deere is focused. With 4 key areas, accurate population, accurate spacing, maintaining uniform depth, and hitting the proper planting window a John Deere planter is designed to ultimately get you that even emergence.

Learn about all their solutions to get the most bushels to the bins in this interview with Austin: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/FPS16-JohnDeere-Verbeck.mp3″ text=”Interview with Austin Verbeck, John Deere”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Camso Engineers Tracks Just for Agriculture

Kelly MarshallSeptember 1, 2016Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Progress Show

When you pick out a new piece of equipment you might think of a lot of things, but maybe how the tracks were made isn’t one of them. Eric Blondeau with Camso is saying maybe it should be. Camso designs tracks for many of the top equipment companies and his team takes their job very seriously.

Growers need tracks that are durable and dependable, but they don’t want to sacrifice the quality of their soil either. Camso has built a track, and a reputation, on providing both. They start with a unique process to build the tracks. None of the competition is doing anything even remotely similar.

“We always compare ourselves to what is out there, and when we do compare ourselves we see 30 to 40 percent cost per hour reduction for farmers. So really, they’re going to end up with a lot more money in their pockets in the end. How we do that? It’s through our unique process that involves making sure all the components we put in the tracks are going to stay exactly where they are supposed to.”

This year they’ve bested their toughest competitors. The new Roading track lasts 20 percent long on roads than the previous generation of Camso tracks. That’s a pretty significant increase. “The best just got better,” Camso representatives told me.

But it wouldn’t be the best without their careful attention to the impact in the field. Camso has their own team of agronomists testing for what you really want to know; will this make a difference? They study the effect of ground pressure, then the design team works carefully within those limits when they create the tracks. They even have a program, Profit from the Ground Up (PGU) that looks at the advantages of tracked systems. They estimate a track system can pay for itself in the first year.

Since every vehicle in the field makes a difference, Camso is also rolling out a new addition, the Camso Conversion Track System (CTS) for tractors. The CTS features increased mobility and flotation for better performance in soft ground conditions as well as reducing ground compaction and pressure by more than 65 percent. It represents the simplest conversion track system on the market.

Of course, Blondeau notes, its easy to make a claim, which is why the team at Farm Progress was inviting growers to bury a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Fill the bucket with water, then record the time it takes to soak into the soil. By repeating this experiment in an area of the field driven over with regular tires, untouched ground, and tracks you can get an idea of how water and nutrients are reaching the roots.

To learn more about Camso, listen to my interview with Blondeau here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/FPS16-Blondeau-_Camso.mp3″ text=”Interview: Eric Blondeau, Camso”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Purdue Opens First Field Phenotyping Facility

Kelly MarshallSeptember 1, 2016biotechnology, Education, technology

A ceremony was held earlier this week to celebrate the grand opening of a 25,000 square-foot Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center. The new facility is located at Purdue’s Agronomy Center for Research and Education and includes state-of-the-art technology for research in phenotyping. The new center is part of an education initiative known as ‘Purdue Moves,’ which began in 2013. It is the first phenotyping facility in North America.

“It will require truly revolutionary new technologies to feed a world of 9 billion people and to do so in a way friendly to the environment,” said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. “The Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center will play a big part in meeting this most urgent of global challenges.”

“This facility, the only one of its kind at an American university, brings together multidisciplinary teams of faculty and students to develop innovative technologies in plant agriculture,” said Jay Akridge, the Glenn W Sample Dean of Agriculture. “Scientists, engineers and aviation specialists are collaborating to apply their expertise to the most pressing problems in plant sciences and our food production system.”

Karen Plaut, senior associate dean and director of research in Purdue’s College of Agriculture, said, “Advances in plant genomics have surged over the last decade, enabling scientists to quickly and cheaply sequence the genetic code of key crops. However, technology that captures how these genes are observably expressed in plants, their phenotype, has lagged behind. This center will close this gap to enhance crop yield, nutritional attributes and protect the environment.”

The $15 million center is supported with a combined $4 million investment from the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council. AgReliant Genetics, Ag Alumni Seed and ALMACO are also key partners in the project.

“Indiana soybean farmers know that we need to think outside the box when it comes to new technologies, said Joe Steinkamp, president of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and a farmer from Evansville. We are excited to partner with Purdue University to place our farmers on the forefront of research that will develop technology to move agriculture forward.”

“This opportunity gives us the chance to invest corn checkoff dollars in a project that will benefit farmers now and in the future,” praised David Gottbrath, Indiana Corn Marketing Council president and a farmer from Pekin. “We believe that not only the research but also the students who will be trained here will play a vital role in helping farmers remain efficient and sustainable.”

#Agriculture is Big R&D Investment for Bayer

Cindy ZimmermanSeptember 1, 2016Audio, Bayer CropScience, Farm Progress Show

The farm economy may have its ups and downs, but the investment that Bayer’s Crop Science division makes in research and development for agriculture to feed a growing population has never been stronger.

“We have an R&D strategy that basically involves using cutting edge science to help growers with their productivity, but to do it in a way that is sustainable for agriculture, the environment, and for society in general,” said Dr. Adrian Percy, Global Head of R&D for Bayer, during the company’s media luncheon at Farm Progress Show.

Percy says Bayer’s approach to R&D is long term. “We have to take care of today, obviously, but we’re actually looking way out,” he said. “A lot of our innovations may take 10 or 20 years sometimes to get to market so we’re already looking to 2030 and beyond.”

Bayer invests about a billion dollars a year in R&D for agriculture, with around 5,000 people dedicated to R&D. “Approximately, every 100 dollars a grower would spend on our products we’re reinvesting ten dollars of that into R&D,” said Percy. “To actually bring a new crop protection chemistry to the marketplace can cost well over $200 million these days.”

Learn more about Bayer’s investment in R&D in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps16-bayer-percy.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Adrian Percy, Bayer”]

Listen to Dr. Percy’s media luncheon remarks here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps16-bayer-percy1.mp3″ text=”Dr. Adrian Percy, Bayer Global Head of R&D”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Deere Rolls Out High Capacity Nutrient Applicator at FPS

Kelly MarshallSeptember 1, 2016Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farm Progress Show, Fertilizer, John Deere

The Farm Progress Show is full of interesting sights and exhibits, and one of the best things is seeing something brand new from a company. John Deere didn’t disappoint, rolling out their first entry in a dry fertilizer spreader. I spoke with Jason Beuligmann, Product Manger at John Deere, about this new F4365 High Capacity Nutrient Applicator and why John Deere is filling out their portfolio with an applicator.

The process to bring a project like this to life took John Deere 2-3 years, start to finish. They began by talking with members of the business, really trying to get to know what the customer wanted, needed, and how price point would influence the return on investment. “We really focused on the customer. We really focused, not only on the ag retail market in general but equipment mangers and their concerns, the operators and their concerns, to bring a machine that really differentiates us from the other competitors in the market. More acres per day and more productivity and revenue for them,” Beuligmann explained to me.

What customers really want to know, though, is what will this offer me? Beuligmann says there are two main areas of focus. The first was operator comfort. For many businesses drivers are in the seat most of the year. A comfortable cab helps them feel good when they get back in the machine again the next morning, and when they feel good they do a good job. Performance was the other main area of concern when John Deere designed the F4365. Good performance, flexibility in the field, 30 mph running speed and 46 mph highway speed were features customers said they had to have.

Learn more about the new High Capacity Nutrient Applicator in my interview with Beuligmann here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/FPS16-John_Deere-Beuligmann.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jason Beuligmann, John Deere”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Pioneer, CHS Announce Contract for High Oleic Soybeans

Kelly MarshallSeptember 1, 2016Agribusiness, Dupont Pioneer, Farm Progress Show, Soybeans

Growers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa now have the option to contract for Pioneer brand Plenish high oleic soybeans in 2017. Soybeans will be processed at the CHS Fairmont, Minnesota plant. The expansion of high oleic soybeans production offers greater access for growers looking for value-added markets.

“CHS is focused on helping its farmer-owners grow, and this regional collaboration with Pioneer creates higher margin soybean markets,” said Dave Mack, CHS director, Processing and Food Ingredients, oils and proteins. “It also benefits CHS food ingredients customers by meeting consumer demand for healthy, versatile vegetable oils.”

For those choosing to contract with CHS to grow Pioneer brand soybeans with the Plenish trait may be eligible for a grain premium. Program details, such as delivery details, are available from CHS Minnesota soybean merchandisers and local Pioneer sales professionals.

“Plenish® high oleic soybeans have been developed for this specific growing area and have outstanding yield and agronomic performance in the field,” said Jamie Williamson, DuPont Pioneer commercial unit lead. “We’re pleased to be working with CHS to bring these higher-value soybeans to market in Minnesota and Iowa.”

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 trans-fat 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.

For food manufacturers, the oil’s stability extends the shelf life for packaged food products without sacrificing flavor and eliminates the need for artificial preservatives, creating the opportunity for a cleaner ingredient label.

The Pioneer Plenish trait was developed using Accelerated Yield Technology (AYT) 4.0. Five years of field testing shows similar yields to elite commercial soybean varieties. They have been approved in all major export markets, with approvals pending in some remaining markets.

I caught up with Brian Buckallew, Senior Production Systems Manger with DuPont Pioneer, at the Farm Progress Show to talk about (and sample food cooked in!) Plenish high oleic soybean oil. Listen to that interview here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/FPS16-Pioneer-Buckallew.mp3″ text=”Interview with Brian Buckallew, DuPont Pioneer”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

#Corn Growers at #FarmProgressShow

Cindy ZimmermanSeptember 1, 2016Audio, Corn, Farm Progress Show, NCGA

Officers of the National Corn Growers Association spent time with media, farmers, industry partners and academics during the 2016 Farm Progress Show this week to share the organization’s key priorities and messages.

The clear intent of our effort is to communicate the economic challenges farmers are facing and leverage NCGA’s position as a thought leader to raise awareness and drive solutions,” said Wesley Spurlock, NCGA’s incoming president. “We are working on everything from developing new fuel infrastructure for greater consumer access to ethanol, to trade issues, to combating regulatory barriers, and virtually all of our issues come back to the same thing…demand. The quickest and best way to address the looming economic crisis is increasing demand and grinding corn.”

We talked with both Spurlock and NCGA incoming First Vice President Kevin Skunes about these issues and others in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps16-ncga.mp3″ text=”Interview with NCGA Officers Wesley Spurlock and Kevin Skunes”]

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Midwest Row Crop Collaborative Launches

Joanna SchroederSeptember 1, 2016Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, environment, Farm Progress Show, NCGA, Nutrient Management, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

Jill Kolling, Senior Director of Sustainability for Cargill announced the new Midwest Row Crop Collaborative during the <a href=

Jill Kolling, Senior Director of Sustainability for Cargill announced the new Midwest Row Crop Collaborative during the 2016 Farm Progress Show.

The Midwest Row Crop Collaborative was announced during the 2016 Farm Progress Show this week to add more support to on-farm conservation programs and practices. First out of the gate, the Collaborative will raise $4 million dollars over five years to support the Soil Health Partnership (SHP), a National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) initiative. The Collaborative was created to support, enhance and accelerate the use of environmentally preferable agricultural practices, includes environmental, food and ag companies.

Founding members of the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative include: Cargill, the Environmental Defense Fund, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Monsanto, PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy, Walmart and the World Wildlife Fund. The overarching goal is to help achieve a 45 percent nutrient loss reduction by 2035 across the Upper Mississippi River Basin, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus.

“Through healthy soil, farmers can play a major role protecting water quality and the environment—while also optimizing their crop yields and economic returns,” said Nick Goeser, director of the SHP. “We’re honored to welcome the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative to our program. Their support will amplify our research and communications efforts in helping farmers find practices that work best for them.”

Speaking is Nick Goeser, Soil Health Partnership. Behind him from left to right: Roger Zylstra, Iowa farmer, Larry Clemens, The Nature Conservancy, X Walmart and Jill Kolling, Cargill.

Speaking is Nick Goeser, Soil Health Partnership. Behind him from left to right: Roger Zylstra, Iowa farmer, Larry Clemens, The Nature Conservancy, Ryan Irsilk, Walmart and Jill Kolling, Cargill.

To date, more than 65 farm sites are already enrolled in the SHP and the new Collaborative will help SHP achieve the goal of enrolling at least 100 farms over the next two years. According to SHP’s Director, Nick Goeser, this additional support re-iterates their program as a leader in field-scale and measuring of management practices that improve soil health that include:

Growing cover crops to prevent erosion and nutrient losses,
Implementing conservation tillage like no-till or strip-till, and
Using advanced, science-based nutrient management techniques to reduce nutrient loss.

Roger Zylstra, a farmer from Lynnvill, Iowa who participates in the SHP program, added, “As a farmer, I am committed to soil health because I know we have to constantly improve how we care for our land and how we farm it. This funding commitment is significant to me because now we have more support from the large food and ag companies as well as environmental groups pushing for change. They’re showing us we don’t have to do it alone.”

[wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps-16-soilhealth-presser.mp3″ text=” Midwest Row Crop Collaborative Presser”]

2016 Farm Progress Show Photos

Coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

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