Precision Ag Bytes 1/23

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that all Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices nationwide will soon reopen to provide additional administrative services to farmers and ranchers during the lapse in federal funding.
  • The Soil Health Academy recently announced its line-up of school locations, dates and topics, as well as the availability of scholarships for its 2019 schools. Dates, locations and more information are available at soilhealthacademy.org.
  • Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, announced plans for commercial launches of Enlist E3™ soybeans in Brazil, Canada and the United States, beginning in 2019. The Company also announced plans to expand the launch of Qrome® products across the U.S. Corn Belt.
  • Arysta LifeScience recently announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved ZOLERA® FX Fungicide for use in wheat production.
  • Farm Dog Technologies, a precision agriculture platform for pest and disease management, is now providing free access to its digital platform for all Extension Agents. For more information, Extension Agents can reach out to Farm Dog at extension@farmdog.ag.
  • The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recognized three new agricultural innovations pioneered by Case IH, further solidifying Case IH as an industry-leader in agronomic design. The innovations are: Case IH AFS Soil Command™ seedbed sensing technology and agronomic control technology; Precision Disk™ 500 double shoot (DS) air drill with simultaneous single-pass seeding and fertilizing; and Axial-Flow® 250 series combine with new AFS Harvest Command™ combine automation system.
  • A new partnership will bring together TRACKER, part of Bass Pro’s White River Marine Group with Textron, a global leader in innovation and technology.
  • The Soil Health Institute has selected six project scientists and a statistician/database manager to oversee evaluation of soil health indicators at more than 120 long-term agricultural experiment sites across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Soil Health Rooted in Data

AgWired Precision, Audio, Conservation, Cover Crops, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, sustainability

The theme for the 2019 Soil Health Summit was “Rooted in Data, Growing Success” and gathering data about soil health practices has been the focus of the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) since the beginning.

SHP lead scientist Maria Bowman presented some of the latest data they have gathered. “A lot of our farmers are improving their soil organic matter and that’s a key soil health indicator,” said Bowman. “We’ve been finding that our farmers are increasing soil organic matter from about a third to a half percent during their first few years in the program.”

Even more importantly, early in-field research shows no statistically significant yield drag from using cover crops.

Listen to the interview and presentations below to get more details.
SHS19 Interview with Maria Bowman, Soil Health Partnership

Opening General Session – A New Year in Soil Health – Dr. Shefali Mehta, Dr. Maria Bowman
Opening General Session – 1

2019 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Read more from the Summit on the Soil Health Summit blog.

FMC Launches Lucento™ Fungicide for 2019 Season

AgWired Precision, Audio, Corn, FMC, Fungicide, Peanuts, Soybean, wheat

FMC Corporation has officially launched Lucento™ fungicide for the 2019 growing season. The launch was announced after Environmental Protection Agency granted FMC registration for Lucento in corn, soybeans, peanuts, sugarbeets and wheat.

Lucento fungicide encompasses two separate modes of action (flutriafol, FRAC Group 3, and bixafen, FRAC Group 7) to deliver broad-spectrum disease efficacy, fungicide resistance management, plant mobility and long-lasting residual control. Lucento fungicide is the only proven tank-mix of SDHI bixafen and FMC-patented flutriafol active ingredients (AI), offering novel disease control not previously available to U.S. row crop growers.

“Lucento fungicide provides superior control especially under heavy disease pressure, which can be attributed to its good mobility in the plant. A highly systemic fungicide, it harnesses both acropetal and translaminar movement providing uniform leaf distribution and disease protection,” stated Nick Hustedde, technical sales representative for FMC. “Ultimately, this pairing of bixafen and flutriafol delivers excellent prevention in the newer plant growth where the disease could spread.”

Additionally, Lucento fungicide is very active on diseases that have developed resistance to strobilurins, like late leaf spot in peanuts and frogeye leaf spot in soybeans.

“With Lucento fungicide, growers are able to rely less on strobilurins and stem future resistance risk. We’re seeing dual mode of action fungicides consisting of a strobilurin and another AI failing to control disease because the only effective piece in the product is the non-strobilurin component,” said Brent Jacobson, product development manager, fungicides for FMC. “Strobilurin resistance is growing, both in relevance and geography, and growers need new tools to counter this challenge and protect yield potential during the critical grain and pod fill stages.”

Here are some interviews about Lucento for more information:

Leaf Spot is FMC Disease of the Year
Interview with Nick Hustedde, FMC

FMC Updates from 2018 Ag Media Summit
Interview with Brent Jacobson, FMC, on Lucento fungicide

FMC Georgia Field Day Spotlights Lucento for Peanuts
Interview with Bruce Stripling, FMC

Triazole Chemistry Sets Lucento Apart –
Interview with Matt Wiggins, FMC Technical Service Manager

New Cotton Varieties on the Horizon

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, Cotton

Cotton growers are looking forward to some new varieties coming in the near future, including the transition to a brand new chemistry not currently used in cotton.

“It’s huge, because it brings forward a new tool for them to use in their program right now that they don’t currently have,” said Dr. Fred Moore, BASF Principal Trait Development Manager for Cotton.

Moore was speaking of the addition of the trait with HPPD tolerance. He said growers participating in the Agronomic Performance Trials (APT) program are important partners in terms of testing new varieties and understanding expectations at the farm level. He presented at the BASF APT Summit, held just prior to the 2019 Beltwide Cotton Conferences.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Dr. Fred Moore here: Interview with Dr. Fred Moore, BASF

Listen to Dr. Moore’s presentation here: Presentation by Dr. Fred Moore, BASF

2019 BASF APT Summit Photo Album

New Platform for Food and Agriculture Innovation

AgWired Precision, ASTA, BIO, Biotech, Food, Gene Editing, technology

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) have announced the launch of Innovature, a new platform for dialogue around innovation in food and agriculture, with an initial focus on gene editing.

ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne says they are aiming to engage key influencers in a dialogue around shared values. “Our goal is to cultivate broad-based partnerships in order to fully realize the potential of evolving innovation in plant and animal breeding for the benefit of our health, our planet, and our food,” said LaVigne.

“There is too much at stake as a society today not to have an open and transparent conversation about how gene editing in plants, animals and microbes can help address growing global challenges, such as climate change, sustainability and hunger,” said BIO CEO Jim Greenwood.

Currently, the platform is focused on gene editing, but plans are to incorporate additional innovations in food and agriculture as they develop.

Soil Health Summit Awards Honor Best in Soil Health

AgWired Precision, Audio, Conservation, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

Five dedicated leaders in soil health received “Seeds of Change” awards at the 2019 Soil Health Partnership Summit this week in St. Louis. The awards highlight those participants in the program who have gone above and beyond to promote soil health throughout the year.

The five award recipients are (pictured left to right)
Exceptional Educators: John (and Joan) Maxwell, Donahue, Iowa
Ace Agronomist: Bryce Kujawa, Mount Vernon, Illinois
Champion Communicator: Deb Gangwish, Springview, Nebraska
Super Sprout: Brian Ryberg, Buffalo Lake, Minnesota
Data Dominator: Brian Martin, Centralia, Missouri (not pictured)

The Maxwells received the educators award because they take the initiative to tell the story of what’s happening on their farm to anyone and everyone, from local kindergarten students to visitors from Brazil. They love to share how a successful dairy and crop farm can sustainability feed the growing population while caring for the land. John is a strong advocate for the Soil Health Partnership and has been featured in print and television news.

In this interview, John talks about their passion for sustainability and soil health on the farm –
SHS19 Interview with award winner John Maxwell, Iowa

Day One Photo Album
Day Two Photo Album

5th Soil Health Summit Biggest Yet

AgWired Precision, Audio, Conservation, NCGA, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

The 2019 Soil Health Summit kicked off Tuesday in St. Louis with a record number of attendees. This is the 5th Summit and the program has grown tremendously in a very short time.

Soil Health Partnership Executive Director Shefali Mehta says this year’s program is the most diverse in terms of presentations and breakout sessions and the attendees, partners and speakers are also more diverse than in previous years. This is the first year that the event has been opened up to all interested parties, where it has previously been limited to partners in the program.

The number of farmer partners in the Soil Health Partnership program has grown from 16 to well over a hundred. This surprising growth has fueled a need for more organizational resources and interest from companies like McDonalds.

Mehta discusses this year’s event in this interview – Interview with Shefali Mehta, Soil Health Partnership

2019 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

As in previous years, all content from the Summit is being aggregated onto the Soil Health Summit blog site, so check there to catch all the action.

Eco Agro Resources Files Suit Over Contract Violations

AgWired Precision, Nitrogen, Nutrient Management, Precision Agriculture

Eco Agro Resources LLC has filed a lawsuit against Hocking International Laboratories LLC alleging contract violations and asking for damages in an amount of at least $2.5 million dollars.

In the complaint filed to commence the lawsuit, Eco Agro Resources, LLC claimed it granted a sublicense to Hocking International LLC allowing Hocking to sell certain products in the United States market only.

Eco Agro Resources, LLC alleges that Hocking exceeded the scope of that sublicense by selling outside of the U.S. and by refusing to adhere to the clear labeling requirements provided for in the license, further inducing infringement by third parties.

Eco Agro Resources LLC also claims that Hocking sold products in territories that were specifically not allowed under the contract. The case has not yet been given a trial date.

Precision Ag Bytes 1/16

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • Ceres Imaging has announced the release of results of a new rice imagery study showing successful prediction of rice nitrogen uptake at panicle initiation. The study validates the possibility of generating nitrogen topdressing recommendations directly from remotely-sensed data with reduced or no physical sampling.
  • John Deere was presented with six AE50 Awards for outstanding innovations that improve production agriculture. Each year the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recognizes 50 of the most innovative product-engineering designs in the food and agriculture industry, with its AE50 Awards, as chosen by international engineering experts.
  • Pollination Network, a mobile app that helps local farmers and growers find bees and beekeepers, launched this week in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The app helps beekeepers to find jobs with nearby growers, and it allows growers to post public listings and hire beekeepers within the app.
  • EFC Systems, Inc. announced the 3rd generation planning functionality with the AgSolver engine is now available as part of the enterprise FieldAlytics platform for Field Data Management.
  • Alltech Crop Science, the agronomic division of Alltech, announced the winner of The Grain Escape sweepstakes: Mr. Ray Tucker. The contest, which ran through December 9, 2018, was open to any grower in the United States who farmed at least 10 acres of land and was at least 18 years of age. The winner was chosen in a random drawing on December 14.
  • Birko launches its Elite 360® Precision Application Technology at the International Production and Processing Expo, held Feb. 12-14, 2019, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
  • HELM Agro US, Inc. has added Zone Elite to the company’s ‘ZONE’ herbicide family for U.S. soybean growers.
  • Speakers, panels and exhibitors at the 2019 Salinas Valley Ag Technology Summit on March 26-27 will highlight how industry players can leverage innovation for increased productivity and strategic advantage in an era of rapid change. With a theme of “Tomorrow’s Technology You Can Use Today,” the summit at Hartnell College in Salinas will focus on how to incorporate emerging technologies in all aspects of fresh produce growing, processing, sales, marketing and distribution.
  • Valent U.S.A. LLC announced the launch of Fierce® MTZ Herbicide – a stand-alone liquid formulation that combines the company’s leading herbicide, Fierce Herbicide, with the added benefit of metribuzin. The company has received U.S. EPA approval, and first sales are expected in the 2019 growing season.

GROWMARK Announces 2019 Essay Contest Winners

AgWired Precision, FS System, Growmark

GROWMARK has named state winners of the 2019 essay contest for FFA members. The theme of the contest was “What does the future of agriculture look like to you, and what skills will you need to play a part in it?”

The winners are John Schubbe of Peotone, Illinois; Tyler Tessman of Audubon, Iowa; Taylor Case of Russellville, Missouri; Cori Lee of Marysville, Ohio; and Marie Hamlin of Roberts, Wisconsin. Each state’s contest winner receives a $500 award from GROWMARK at their state FFA convention. The winner’s FFA chapter also receives a $300 award in honor of their accomplishment.

This is the 26th year for the program, sponsored by the GROWMARK System and FS member cooperatives, in conjunction with state FFA leaders, to help young people develop their writing skills, learn about current issues in agriculture, and understand the unique role of cooperatives.