EPA Team Experiences Spray Drift Equipment in Action

Joanna SchroederAEM, ARA, Equipment, Spraying, Video

What better way to learn about new tools and emerging technology than to see it in action? Nothing according to dozens of U.S. EPA staff who recently had the opportunity to visit a working research farm in Queenstown, Maryland. During the event, EPA team members watched, learned and participated in demonstrations of the latest sprayers and pieces of equipment. Organized by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), the goal of the event was to demonstrate the voluntary steps and emerging technologies that the equipment manufacturing industry has developed to reduce spray drift for the benefit of growers and also to reduce environmental impact.

Several major manufacturers participated in the event and showcased their equipment including John Deere, AGCO, Case IH, GVM and TeeJet.


The EPA drafts the rules governing manufacturers and spray drift and many of those responsible were onsite for the demonstrations. AEM is reporting that the event was not only unique, but very successful in showcasing spray drift reduction technology – multiple EPA employees commented to AEM team members about how useful the event was in learning about the steps the industry has already taken to address the issue.

“This demonstration offered AEM members a terrific opportunity to demonstrate the many steps manufacturers voluntarily take to reduce spray drift, both for the sake of their customers and the environment,” said Nick Tindall, AEM senior director for government and industry relations. “We believe this demo day will help AEM members establish a foundation for a better working relationship with the EPA on matters of importance for equipment manufacturers.”

Ag Industry Calls on House to Pass GMO Label Law

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, biotechnology, Food, GMO

CFSAFWith the Senate passing its version of the GMO Disclosure Bill late last week, this week more than 1,100 ag and food industry organizations, representing the entire food chain – from farm to fork – are calling on the House for quick action on passing its version of the GMO labeling law. The collective sent a letter to House leadership calling on them to pass an agricultural biotech solution.

The letter, addressed to Speaker Ryan, Minority Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Minority Whip Hoyer, calls for expedited consideration and the scheduling of floor time this week to ensure this bipartisan proposal receives passage before Congress adjourns for the summer recess.

“The issue of biotech disclosure is one of the most significant issues that the agriculture and food industry has faced in recent years. The U.S. agriculture and food industry creates over 17 million jobs, representing nearly 1 in 10 jobs,” the letter states. “This very system—which produces the most abundant, the highest quality, and the most affordable food in the world—will be threatened with large economic costs without a national uniform solution on this issue…. We strongly support S. 764 and ask that you schedule floor time and provide expedited consideration of this important and timely legislation. We pledge to work with Members on both sides of the aisle to ensure quick passage of this bipartisan proposal.”

The letter stresses that the urgently needed legislation would prevent a costly patchwork of state labeling laws, the first which went into effect in Vermont on July 1, 2016, that directly impact American family farmers, small businesses and consumers, while providing shoppers access to more product information than ever before. Unless the House acts this week, says the collective organizations, consumers, farmers and businesses in other states could feel the consequences of lost sales in Vermont, which ultimately could lead to lost jobs.

Agri-Women, Caterpillar Announce Farm Safety Partnership

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Education, Equipment, Farm Safety

American Agri-Women (AAW) and Caterpillar have announced a new partnership focused on educating AAW members and others in the ag industry about farm safety. The program will specifically focus on how to safely operate and manage the equipment they use in their day-to-day farm and ranch operations.

Caterpillar Logo (1)“We are honored to establish this new partnership with American Agri-Women. At Caterpillar, we believe diversity and inclusion are critical components to our talent strategy and our overall business performance,” said Jada Hoerr, Americas dealer marketing development manager. “Knowing 30% of all farm operators are women, Caterpillar sees the importance of further engaging with our female customers in agriculture. We look forward to also engaging Cat dealers at the local level with the state and affiliate organizations.”

As part of the partnership, AAW and Caterpillar will also develop opportunities for the Cat dealer network to engage with AAW’s network of more than 50 state and affiliate organizations, representing nearly 40,000 farm, ranch and agri-business women. Together, the groups say, the safety and affiliate engagement programs will help the partnership grow on the national, regional and local level.

AAW logo 2016“Everyone at American Agri-Women is looking forward to this new partnership and we are pleased to recognized Caterpillar as a Legacy Partner,” said Doris Mold, AAW President, who owns and operates a dairy farm in Wisconsin with her family and is a farm management consultant and educator. “Caterpillar and agriculture have a shared history and our new partnership will provide resources for our members to improve safety, productivity and efficiency to maintain profit margins within their operations.”

In addition to providing reliable, fuel-efficient equipment that is more economical for farmers, ranchers and rural business people to own and operate, Caterpillar says it is committed to the safety of operators and to ongoing innovation in design and engineering. Along with providing unparalleled parts availability, Cat Dealer service helps ensure the long-term reliability of equipment.

Monsanto & DuPont Sign Dicamba Supply Agreement

Joanna SchroederHerbicides, Soybeans, Weed control

DuPont-Monsanto logosMonsanto Company and DuPont have announced a multi-year dicamba supply agreement for the U.S. and Canada. DuPont will sell its new herbicide as DuPont™ FeXapan™ herbicide plus VaporGrip™ Technology.

“This agreement represents continued commitment to the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System,” said Mike Frank, Monsanto vice president, chief commercial officer. “Low-volatility dicamba formulations with VaporGrip™ Technology are designed to give soybean farmers additional tools to control glyphosate-resistant and tough-to-control broadleaf weeds.”

According to Monsanto, Since 1967, dicamba has helped farmers manage broadleaf weeds, which are a key pest in agricultural operations around the world that limit crop access to nutrients, sunlight and water. Various dicamba formulations have been developed over time to help reduce potential volatilization while delivering improved weed control and greater application flexibility. Dicamba, says Monsanto, has a decades-long history of effective use in the U.S. and 25 other countries in corn, wheat, fallow and pasture land; on conservation tillage acres; and for residential lawn care.

Tim Glenn, president, DuPont Crop Protection said of the supply agreement, “For several years, DuPont has been testing a solutions-based approach to optimizing weed control using this novel soybean trait and dicamba formulation technology. We are seeing excellent results in improved control of weed populations, including those resistant to a number of herbicide modes of action. This advance will help farmers manage weed competition while improving crop safety as they work to increase production to meet global food demand.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Manito Transit Joins @EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership

Joanna Schroederclimate, Energy, environment, Growmark, sustainability

Manito Transit logoManito Transit has become a partner in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership program. A subsidiary of GROWMARK, Manito Transit transports fuels, fertilizers, crop protection products and more via tank trucks throughout the Midwest. The SMARTWAY registrants work with the EPA and adopt tools and approaches to track and reduce emissions and fuel use.

“This partnership reinforces our commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental leadership,” said Steve Kubsch, GROWMARK director of transportation operations. “It will help us continue to seek efficient ways that enhance competitiveness and reduce cost. It will also help benefit the environment and strengthen our nation’s energy security and economy.”

Manito Transit is one of around 3,000 SmartWay Transport Partners that include shipper, logistics companies, truck rail, barge, and multimodal carriers. The company will contribute to the Partnership’s savings of 170.3 million barrels of oil, $24.9 billion in fuel costs, 72.8 MMT of carbon dioxide (CO2), 1,458,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 59,000 tons of particulate matter. This is equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over six million homes. The program was launched in 2004 jointly by the EPA and Charter Partners represented by industry stakeholders, environmental groups, American Trucking Associations, and Business for Social Responsibility.

Your Thoughts on the Senate #GMO Disclosure Bill?

Joanna SchroederGMO, ZimmPoll

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What cookout cuisine do you bring to the table?”

We’re well into grilling season and hot off an Independence Day weekend. Burgers and pasta salad were high on the list. In the Other category we got answers like my favorite – steak!

Here are the poll results:

  • Pasta Salad – 25%
  • Cheese Burgers – 25%
  • Other – 18.75%
  • Baked Beans – 12.5%
  • Hot dogs – 6.25%
  • Pork spare ribs – 6.25%
  • Potato salad – 6.25%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What do you think about Senate’s GMO Disclosure Bill?”

The Senate has passed on a bipartisan National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard that would preempt individual state laws to require labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. Now it goes to the House. What do you think about it?

.@JohnDeere Releases New Operations Center Software

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Data Collection, Farm Management, John Deere, technology

Before we know it the fall harvest will be here and as growers hit the fields to reap the bounty, John Deere has released new software for its Operations Center to assist growers. The John Deere Operations Center provides tools and features that enable growers easy access to farm information that better helps them to manage operations. Included in the release are new features such as Variety Locator, which automatically Screen Shot 2016-07-07 at 11.25.00 PMdetects the crop variety being harvested as well as Harvest ID, Cotton Maps, which makes it easy to identify locations and track cotton quality back to where it was grown. Other features include new Tillage Maps and Speed Maps, which offer insights into which variables affect yield and help to round out operational data layers for performance analysis.

“This latest release is a big step forward for our precision ag solutions,” said Ryan Borcherding, product manager, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. “These new features, coupled with the existing abilities to share data and collaborate with trusted partners, give the farmer more reasons than ever to manage their farm data online.”

While not an exhaustive list, here is some additional information on several of the Operations Center’s new tools and features:

  • Variety Locator – Allows usage of Variety Locator information (documented when planting) to enable the John Deere in-cab display in the combine to automatically detect and document the crop variety being harvested.
  • Tillage and Speed Maps – Assists in the evaluation of the performance of tillage operations with documentation maps on target depth (GreenStar™ 3 2630 Display only). Enhances insight into which variables affect yield with speed maps for seeding and tillage operations.
  • John Deere Harvest ID, Cotton Maps – Improves traceability of where each cotton module is harvested and leads to better correlation between input decisions and cotton quality.
  • Draw Field Boundaries and Freeform Zones – Released in April, the Operations Center now allows new fields to be added by manually drawing boundaries, which can be sent to the in-cab display as an operational boundary. Also added to the Prescription Creator by Agrian® is the ability to create freeform zones when building prescriptions based off of soil or harvest maps.

“To get the most out of the Operations Center, we highly recommend using JDLink™ Connect, which seamlessly connects the machine online and takes the burden of data collection and transmission off of the farmer,” added Borcherding. “It also rounds out agronomic data with machine data to give the full picture of what is happening on the farm. Our goal is to ensure that the job in the field happens exactly as planned and is documented with minimal effort, so growers spend less time managing data and more time doing what they love — farming.”

SOYL Releases New Field Scouting App

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Apps, Planting, Scouting

UK-based SOYL has released a new field scouting app iSOYscout, designed to make recording, monitoring and review of in-field problems and variation easier for growers. The free Apple-placform app enables growers to log features and problems in their fields, while they are in the fields, with no need for a cellular or wifi connection. However, SOYL says a 50GBP in-app purchase is required to download your features and patches into DropBox or OneDrive in shape file format.

screen640x640“Our existing iSOYL variable-rate app transformed the variable rate application experience for growers and iSOYLscout is now set to take crop scouting to another level of simplicity. It will enable growers and their agronomists to achieve greater attention to detail, all delivered through the usual slick SOYL interface,” explained SOYL’s Commercial Director, Simon Parrington.

“The app can be used in any number of situations to log and record information around the farm,” continued Parrington. “For example, growers could open the app and note patches of weeds so that they could refer back to the information later when making spraying plans, or log the location of natural features such as trees or ponds which will help when creating crop protection application plans perhaps months or even years later.”

Parrington said that as well as areas of interest, any other information which the grower thinks useful can be recorded at a specific point on the land. Users can add and edit a list of points pertinent to their farm. Information can be noted via GPS or manually, and free text edits of any length and photographs can be added as well. Once uploaded, the data can be shared and the files can be viewed in most precision farming software platforms.

FMC Fungicides Grow Forward Initiative Launched

Joanna SchroederCrop Protection, FMC, Fungicides

Grow Forward with FMC FungicidesFMC has launched a new fungicides website coined Grow Forward with FMC Fungicides, to showcase fungicides in key corn and soybean regions by plot. In an effort to demonstrate to growers fungicide product benefits, the new website offers plot-specific information and updates throughout the growing season.

“We went from having very few fungicides to having a robust portfolio across many crops and geographies following our integration with Cheminova,” said Flavio Centola, FMC soybean segment manager. “Topguard® fungicide and Preemptor™ SC fungicide are excellent products for soybeans and corn, but they are relatively new to the market so we wanted to demonstrate the benefits they provide to as many growers as possible.”

According to Centola, fungicide plots have been established in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. The plots feature an early foliar application of Topguard fungicide or Preemptor SC fungicide. In addition to posting ongoing updates, FMC will also live-stream events to provide in-season video reports from the field on the Grow Forward website.

“The Grow Forward with FMC Fungicides plot initiative provides a great opportunity to gather performance data and increase confidence in FMC fungicide products,” added Centola. “The website gives retailers and growers access to the latest plot information and seasonal disease pressures anytime and anywhere.”

Cover Crops Council Hires Program Manager

Joanna Schroederagronomy, Conservation, Cover Crops, Soil, water

Anna MorrowAnna Morrow, a Purdue Extension educator, has joined the Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) as program manager. In her new role, that began on July 1, 2016 as as staff member in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, Morrow will assist MCCC in meeting its goals of facilitating widespread adoption of cover crops across the Midwest for purposes of soil health, water quality and crop productivity. She will be working out of Extenson’s Shelby County office and work from the University’s West Lafayette campus as needed.

“We are excited to have an experienced county Extension educator join our team as our first program manager,” said Eileen Kladivko, professor of agronomy and a founding member of the MCCC. “Anna brings experience in working with producers on a variety of challenges in Midwestern row crop and animal agriculture, and we look forward to working with her to move cover crop adoption and the MCCC into the future.”

Kladivko said the council has continued to grow since its beginning in 2006, as has the interest and use of cover crops across the Midwest.

“We needed a full-time program manager to help improve our current outreach tools and develop new ones, provide timely information on cover crops to our website, be a point of contact for the council, and generally improve our capacity to be the go-to source of information about cover crops in the Midwest,” Kladivko added.

Morrow grew up on a small Indiana farm of livestock and crops in Shelby County near Saint Paul, and she still helps on it. She earned a B.S. in biochemistry and an M.S. in agronomy at Purdue, through which she researched soil and pasture management on a Costa Rican dairy farm. She had been Franklin County’s agriculture and natural resources educator for Purdue Extension since 2012.