Ohio 4R Advocates Featured on Youtube

Taylor TruckeyFertilizer, Nutrient Management, sustainability

fert instituteThe Fertilizer Institute recently featured Bill and Chris Heintz, owners of Heintz Farms near Lakeview, Ohio, and Kevin Doseck, Crop Production Services out of Botkins, Ohio, in a new 4R Field Report, recently released on YouTube.

The Heintzes, along with Doseck, work to implement 4R Nutrient Management practices on their more than 20,000 acres of farmland. “It’s important to maximize production while minimizing environmental impact,” Bill says. “This is just one aspect of management the 4Rs address.”

The Heintzes and Doseck were honored earlier this year as one of only five farming operations to be named 4R Advocates by The Fertilizer Institute and its 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program.


The 4R Nutrient Management key practices are:
– Right source: match fertilizer type to crop needs
– Right rate: match the amount of fertilizer to crop needs
– Right time: make nutrients available when crops need them
– Right place: keep nutrients where crops can use them

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers and trading firms. TFI’s fulltime staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org and follow us on Twitter at @Fertilizer_Inst. Learn more about TFI’s nutrient stewardship initiatives at nutrientstewardship.org and on Twitter at @4rnutrients.

Crop Forecast Projects Rise in Corn Prices

Taylor TruckeyAgribusiness, Corn, NCGA, USDA

NCGA-Logo-3The latest WASDE report was released on Friday from the USDA. Although national average corn yield projections were raised by half a bushel/acre, the overall acres in non-production have effected supply outlooks. With steady demand projections, an overall increase in prices for the 2015/16 corn crop seems likely.

Usage, which held steady, remains on track to set a record in 2015/2016, surpassing use for 2014/2015. With both ending stocks and carryout projections lowered by 30 million or more bushels, the 2015/16 season-average corn price received by farmers is projected five cents higher on both ends to $3.50 to $4.10 per bushel.

“With corn harvest more than a quarter complete across the country, we are beginning to get a clear vision of what the final crop might look like but, as much of the northern Corn Belt has yet to harvest, things could still change,” said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling, a farmer from Newburg, Md. “While the estimate of the crop size will be ample enough to meet all needs, the price paid farmers is moving in a more equitable direction. While farmers work late nights harvesting their fields, they can remain confident that NCGA is working hard to grow demand for their growing crop.”

Read the latest report here.

Global Food Security Focus of 2015 Borlaug Dialogues

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Food, John Deere, World Food

borlaug-101To celebrate the 101st anniversary of the birth Dr. Norman Borlaug, the 2015 Borlaug Dialogue has gathered an outstanding “faculty” of international leaders, experts and scientists for Borlaug 101 a 3-day “course” on The Fundamentals of Global Food Security. The Borlaug Dialogue is being held October 14-16 as part of the World Food Prize taking place this week at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown Hotel.

Referred to as the “premier conference in the world on global agriculture”, the 2015 Borlaug Dialogue will include the perspective of government leaders and policymakers, farmers and agribusiness executives, and scientific, academic and development experts from around the world. Kicking off the Dialogue this year is Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation.

Another big event is the release of the Global Harvest Initiative’s (GHI) 2015 Global Agricultural Productivity Report (GAP Report): Building Sustainable Breadbaskets. The launch event will include a panel of global food experts from industry, agriculture and government. This year’s report provides a focus on how the right policies, investments and partnerships can improve lives and build more sustainable and inclusive breadbaskets. One such way is precision agriculture and innovative technologies and practices that can help conserve resources and mitigate agriculture’s climate impact.

Each year, the GAP report is updated to highlight the process made toward sustainably doubling agricultural output through 2050. The 2015 report also analyzes productivity and water and soil conservation opportunities throughout the world.

We will be bringing you coverage of the Borlaug Dialogues thanks to our generous supporter John Deere.

ResponsibleAg Selects Executive Director

Taylor TruckeyAgribusiness, Company Announcement, Fertilizer

bill quallsThe ResponsibleAg, Inc. Board of Directors announced on Friday the selection of Bill Qualls, CPEA, as the organization’s new Executive Director.

Qualls’ responsibilities will include retailer and auditor recruiting, monitoring an effective quality assurance program, and advising the Board on opportunities to improve the program.

He comes to ResponsibleAg from the Eastman Chemical Company, where he served as Lead Auditor for Global Environmental, Health, and Safety. He has an outstanding track record in managing EHS projects, having developed and delivered Eastman Chemical Company’s 40 manufacturing facility EHS audit program.

“We are thrilled to welcome someone with Bill’s experience and skills as Executive Director,” said J. Billy Pirkle, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “His leadership and results driven focus will help build on existing support and generate stakeholder recognition of ResponsibleAg.”

ResponsibleAg is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 2014 to promote the safe storage and handling of fertilizers and to educate persons in the fertilizer distribution chain with respect to safety standards and governmental regulations. Utilizing third-party audits, ResponsibleAg will educate fertilizer storage and handling facilities to achieve and maintain compliance with federal environmental, health, safety and security laws and regulations. ResponsibleAg works closely with the Asmark Institute and maintains a training center and office in Owensboro, Ky.

Precision Ag Bytes

Kelly MarshallCompany Announcement, Precision Ag Bytes

precision-bytes

  • DuPont has announced that Chair and CEO, Ellen Kullman, will retire from the company effective October 16.  Edward Breen, member of the DuPont Board of Directors, will act as Interim Chair and CEO of DuPont at that time.  The search has begun to find a permanent replacement.
  • Brookside Agra has expanded its new Agronomy Division.  The new unit will be headed up by Agronomy Technician Karen Nehrkorn of DuBois, Illinois.
  • Crop Vitality, a business unit of Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc., recently opened a new liquid plant nutrient manufacturing facility in Hanford.  The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
  • Lystek’s award-winning, biosolids and organics processing technology has received registration from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for its LysteGro product.  The new product is a true, organically-based, quality controlled biofertilizer.

USDA Gives $3 Mil in Critical Ag Production Research Grants

John DavisResearch, University, USDA

usda-logoThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is giving $3 million in grants to address critical issues affecting agriculturally-important plants and animals. This news release from the agency’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) says the science developed from these grants will provide timely assistance and have an immediate impact for the agriculture community. The awards were made under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE) program.

“It is essential to promote partnerships between researchers, extension experts, and producers to ensure the success of American agriculture,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. “The CARE program is centered on the swift identification of problems, creation of solutions, and prevention of interruptions or issues that impact farmers’ ability to provide a safe and abundant food supply for our nation.”

Fiscal year 2014 is the first year NIFA has made awards under the CARE program. Examples of what these grants will focus on include a project from the University of Georgia that is researching disease management practices for blueberries, particularly addressing the currently unknown life cycle time of the damaging Exobasidium leaf and fruit spot disease. An Extension project from Montana State University will be working directly with cattle producers to adopt sagebrush grazing techniques for their cattle that create a sustainable environment for the greater sage-grouse.

The AFRI Foundational Program addresses six priority areas to continue building a foundation of knowledge in fundamental and applied food and agricultural sciences critical for solving current and future societal challenges.

The list of schools and grant amounts is available here.

New Cuba Ag Exports Act Opens Trade Options

John DavisRice

crawford1A new piece of legislation will open up trade possibilities for U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba. H.R. 3687, the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act, was introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Mike Conaway, along with Representatives Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Ted Poe (R-TX). It repeals financing restrictions, allowing U.S. banks to offer credit in Cuba in connection with exports of U.S. agricultural goods; eliminates restrictions on key federal funding used in agricultural export promotions for Cuba; and enables investment in Cuban agribusinesses not affiliated with the Cuban government. According to this news release from USA Rice, the measure could be of most benefit to American rice farmers.

This action follows closely on the heels of a trip to Cuba by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and a group of nearly 40 Arkansans including representatives of Riceland Foods. Governor Hutchinson returned to Arkansas motivated to ask for changes, saying, “Congress needs to equalize the field of operations for our businesses by allowing them to negotiate cash, credit, whatever they feel comfortable with and the level of risk they wish to take. Right now, we can’t even negotiate a credit sale, and that’s not customary in the market.”

“I’m excited to see my Congressman [Representative Crawford] introduce a bill that would positively affect so many parts of the U.S. rice industry,” said Arkansas rice farmer and USA Rice Chairman, Dow Brantley. “Our Congressional District alone grows nearly half of the U.S.’s rice – so we would certainly stand to benefit from open trade with the Cubans – as would rice producers throughout the mid-South.”

Brantley continued, “USA Rice has been working to remove the trade barriers for a long time, and after 55 years that the trade embargo has been in place, it’s time for things to change. It’s my hope that the rest of Congress will join the sponsors in supporting this legislation, which has the potential to seriously strengthen the agricultural economy.”

Keith Gray, a Texas-based rice miller with Riviana Foods, said, “We have been looking for opportunities to sell rice to Cuba for some time and it’s always been held up because of the financing issue. This bill would be a game-changer and I think it’s the best option put forward so far to open up the Cuban market for our rice.”

USA Rice endorsed the legislation and continues to seek congressional support for all legislation that works towards normalized trade relations with Cuba.

Farmers Need RFS Certainty to Remain Profitable

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Audio, Cotton, Energy, Ethanol, NCGA, NFU

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce final rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) this November after months of delay and push back from the agriculture and biofuels industries. As it currently stands, the volume levels set for 2015 and 2016 are lower than the law mandates. As a result, a new white paper finds that American farmers and ranchers ares set to see lower net incomes, a decline of up to 26 percent, is the current rules stay in place. The white paper was released by National Farmers Union (NFU) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), using recent USDA data. The paper argues, that farmers are in limbo due to the uncertainty and will see lower profits.

ncga-smaller “That devastating forecast is worse than originally projected, and it represents the lowest farm income levels in nearly a decade, and it could get worse,” says the paper.

During a press conference to launch the paper, NCGA President Chip Bowling of Maryland said, “There are factors other than the RFS. (But) it has changed the basis, the price received for our corn, it has changed the way we’re buying equipment … most of that is due to the uncertainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

nfu_logo2EPA is expected to release the final rule at the end of November and NFU president Roger Johnson says they have heard nothing to indicate they will change that time line. “They agreed to that in the court order,” said Johnson. “It’s hard to say what to expect from them.”

Johnson stressed that the so-called blend wall should not be included in any determination for volume requirements under the RFS. “When the RFS was put in place it was never intended that it would stop at ten percent,” he said. “It was always the intent that it would go way beyond ten percent.”

Bowling says corn growers have responded to the demand for more corn to produce ethanol and another record crop is expected this year. “We’re still expecting yields of 162 bushels per acre at minimum,” said Bowling. “We have carry over that’s growing and without a strong Renewable Fuel Standard demand for corn is going to decrease.”

Listen to the announcement from NCGA and NFU here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/rfs-ncga-nfu.mp3″ text=”Press call on RFS/farm income white paper”]

Court Ruling Suspends WOTUS

Cindy ZimmermanAFBF, EPA, Government, NCGA

gavelA new ruling issued today by a federal appeals court places a nationwide stay on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule, better known as Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS).

The court agreed with petitioners that the treatment in the rule of tributaries, “adjacent waters,” and waters having a “significant nexus” to navigable waters is at odds with a previous Supreme Court ruling and that “it is far from clear that the new Rule’s distance limitations are harmonious with the instruction.”

In addition, the ruling called EPA’s rulemaking process “facially suspect” because it did not include any proposed distance limitations in its use of terms like “adjacent waters” and significant nexus.”

Agricultural organizations are supporting the ruling.“The American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased the Sixth Circuit recognizes that this rule has serious flaws and cannot go forward until the courts have had an opportunity to understand its effect on farmers, ranchers and landowners of all kinds,” said AFBF president Bob Stallman in a statement. “The judges expressed deep concerns over the basic legality of this rule. We’re not in the least surprised: This is the worst EPA order we have seen since the agency was established more than 40 years ago. The court clearly understood our arguments.”

However, Stallman and others note that Congress should pay heed to the court ruling and ditch the rule permanently so it can be re-crafted. “We are confident that the courts will eventually strike down EPA’s WOTUS rule altogether,” said National Corn Growers Association president Chip Bowling. “But court battles take months, if not years – and come at a considerable cost. There has to be a better way for us to work together on a rule that is successful and lawful. That’s why we are asking the Senate to step up and pass S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. This law would stop WOTUS and give the EPA, the Army Corps, farmers, and other stakeholders the chance to work together on a better rule that we can all support.”

Bill co-sponsor Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) says she will continue to fight to see the rule scrapped. “The Sixth Circuit’s nationwide ‘stay’ is a critical step toward eliminating this rule altogether,” said Fischer. “I will continue to hold the EPA accountable and support legislation that ensures the citizens of Nebraska, not bureaucrats in Washington, remain in control of our state’s water resources.”

NipsIt SUITE Offers Solution to Disease and Pests

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Insect Control, Insecticide, seed, wheat

Valent USAWhen choosing which seed protectant to use Northern Plains wheat growers consider two questions.  What will keep my seed safe from seedling diseases and insects and what is easiest to use on my farm?

Valent U.S.A. Corporation hopes to help answer these questions with a new video explaining the NipsIt SUITE Cereals program.

Acting as both a contact and super-systemic protectant, NipsIt SUITE Cereals provides “inside out” protection against diseases such as Rhizoctonia, Pythiumand Fusarium. The additional NipsIt INSIDE® Insecticide also controls wireworms, aphids and other insects better than any other product on the market by combining three powerful active ingredients in one formulation.

“NipsIt SUITE Cereals is a premium solution for growers who want to maximize production by providing outstanding insect and disease control,” said Tom Harris, seed protection market manager for Valent U.S.A. Corporation. “NipsItSUITE is easy to use in all temperature conditions, which is a huge benefit to growers in the north whose temperatures may fluctuate 30 degrees on any given day of planting.”

Recent independent research trials conducted near Scobey, Montana, indicate that using NipsIt SUITE Cereals increased yield by more than two bushels per acre compared to its closest competitor due to its excellent control of soil borne diseases and wireworm. These trials also indicated stronger plant stand.

“We’ve been using NipsIt, and that’s been working really well,” said Doug Opland, grower from Des Lacs, North Dakota. “In the mornings, it’s 20 to 26 degrees, and it doesn’t seem to matter. In the mornings, it works just as well as in the afternoon when it’s 60.”

You can watch this video to see what retailers and growers have to say about NipsIt.