Major Seed Companies after the Mergers

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, seed, Syngenta

The past two years have seen major changes in the agricultural seed industry and some of the traditional companies have different names and different players. That’s why the “Majors after the Mergers” panel was a big hit at the ASTA 2018 CSS and Seed Expo this week.

Dan Basse, Ag Resource, moderated the panel which consisted of Jim Collins, Corteva; Scott Kay, BASF; Jeff Rowe, Syngenta; and Lisa Safarian, Bayer.

It was a long and very interesting panel, so we split up the audio into opening remarks and panel discussion.

Opening remarks ASTA Majors after the Mergers panel

Opening remarks ASTA Majors after the Mergers panel

2018 ASTA CSS & Seed Expo

AGCO Presents 13th Operator of the Year at ARA2018

AGCO, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio, Award, Equipment

AGCO Corporation presented its 13th Annual Operator of the Year award to Jerry Born of Fairmount, North Dakota at the 2018 Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) Conference & Expo last week in Boca Raton, Fla. The award recognizes the value of the hard work professional applicators do caring for crops and customers across the country, as well as their involvement in their communities.

Along with the title, Born was presented with the grand prize, a new Harley-Davidson® motorcycle. “I’m still shocked. When they told me I was a finalist I thought no way this is real and then to be selected as the winner, I couldn’t believe it,” said Born. “Being an applicator allows me to be out in the country every day and see different terrain. It’s always something new.”

Professional applicators spend long hours in the field every season, using technologically advanced application machinery like a RoGator® or a TerraGator®, to accurately and efficiently apply fertilizer and crop protection products on millions of farm acres, helping farmers achieve their best possible yield.

Listen to the presentation here: ARA18 AGCO Operator of the Year

2018 ARA Conference & Expo Photo Album

ARA Installs New Chairman

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio

Troy Johnson of Wilbur-Ellis was installed as new chairman of the Agricultural Retailers Association during the closing session of the 2018 ARA Conference and Expo in Boca Raton, Florida this week.

Johnson succeeds John Oster of Morral Companies in the position. Pictured here left to right are Oster, Johnson, and ARA CEO Daren Coppock.

Johnson shared with attendees his commitment to the association for the coming year, outlining goals that include continuing to strengthen and broaden the membership and keeping the association’s mission front and center in all activities. “I could not be more proud of what ARA accomplishes each year on behalf of its membership,” said Johnson. “Protecting ag retailers’ freedom to operate is what ARA is all about. I am committed to ensuring that everything we do is representative of the entire agricultural retail industry.”

Listen to or download an interview with Johnson here: Interview with new ARA chairman Troy Johnson, Wilbur-Ellis

2018 ARA Conference & Expo Photo Album

BASF Offers New Trait System in Credenz Varieties

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, LibertyLink, NAFB

A new herbicide trait system in soybeans from BASF will offer flexibility and yield advantages to growers in 2019.

LibertyLink GT27 will be available in 13 different Credenz soybean varieties, said Marc Hoobler, BASF Soybean Agronomy Lead.

“Yield is probably the most important thing that growers look for,” said Hoobler. “We’re seeing a yield advantage from two to four bushels over existing trait systems. So we’re very pleased with the elite genetics that are coming out of the program and that we’re able to offer growers throughout the Midwest. The second thing is just the flexibliy that the herbicide tolerance within the system provides. So, for the first time ever growers can choose whether they want to use Liberty herbicide or glyphosate post-emerge.”

Hoobler said BASF is looking to add a third product to the trait package called Elite 27, which will offer tolerance to the HPPD class of chemistries. That product is not yet registered for use in soybeans. Hoobler was at the 2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Marc here: NAFB18 Interview with Marc Hoobler, BASF

2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention Photo Album

USDA Under Secretary Northey at #ARA2018

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio, Farm Bill, trade, USDA

Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service Bill Northey discussed trade and a 2018 farm bill, among other topics, during a visit to the 2018 Agricultural Retailers Association convention this week in Boca Raton, Florida.

“I’m very hopeful,” said Northey about getting a farm bill by the end of the year, especially after word Thursday from House and Senate agriculture committee leadership that they have reached an agreement on a bill.

On the trade front, Northey talked about the second round of trade mitigation payments approved by the president to offset export disruptions caused by retaliatory tariffs, and whether changes will be made in the payment structure used for the first round. “We’re within a very few weeks of being able to make an announcement,” said Northey, who said they are looking at potential changes. “It’s imperfect, but what’s important is that the president and secretary said we are going to try and soften the blow as best we can.”

USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service Bill Northey –
USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey comments at #ARA2018

USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey interview at #ARA2018

2018 ARA Conference & Expo Photo Album

ARA Lifetime Award Goes to Yargus

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, ARC, Audio

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) presented Larry Yargus with its highest individual honor this year, the Jack Eberspacher Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1992, Yargus acquired Layco, the company his father Lloyd Allen Yargus founded, and led the company’s transition to Yargus Manufacturing, Inc. “Not only has Larry led his family business to major success, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, but he has played a pivotal role in helping to guide ARA to be the strong organization it is today,” said ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock.

Established in 2001, the ARA Lifetime Achievement Award was renamed in 2010 after the late Jack Eberspacher, who served as ARA President and CEO from 2001 until his death in 2009. The award is designed to recognize career-spanning achievements in and contributions to the agricultural retail industry.

Listen to Yargus’ remarks here –
Remarks from Larry Yargus, 2018 ARA Lifetime Achievement award

2018 ARA Conference & Expo Photo Album

Expanding the Seed Treatment Approach

AgWired Precision, Audio, Bayer, NAFB

Bayer’s Acceleron Seed Applied Solutions Group wants to take farmers beyond the traditional approach to using seed treatments, which usually includes only fungicide and insecticide products.

“Within Acceleron, we think we can really elevate from that two-part approach to a more holistic, more complete four-part approach,” said AJ Hohmann, U.S. Marketing Manager for the Acceleron group. “Obviously, we’ve got fungicides and we’ve got insecticides, but we also have a really large offering of biologicals underneath our Acceleron BioAg umbrella, as well as elevating nematicides.”

Bayer will launch Nemastrike Technology in 2019, offering 75-day control. That means killing two or possibly three life cycles of nematodes. It also controls a wide variety of nematodes that goes far beyond Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN). The technology will be available not only for soybeans, but also for corn and cotton. It is approved commercially for growers to use in 2019. Hohmann was at the 2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City.

We’ll learn more about Bayer Seed Applied Solutions at the upcoming ASTA 2018 CSS and Seed Expo.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with AJ here: NAFB18 Interview with AJ Hohmann, Bayer

2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention Photo Album

Precision Ag Bytes 11/28

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • Airbus and the leading tractor manufacturer John Deere, have received a Silver Medal during the 2019 SIMA Innovation Award ceremony for Live NBalance, a service merging satellite and tractor data in order to monitor intra-field nitrogen balance even more precisely during the growing season. The companies have joined forces to develop and test this new service in 2019.
  • Joe Tevis, President of VIS Consulting, received AgGateway‘s Ron Storms Leadership Award, the organization’s top honor. The award recognizes repeated, outstanding efforts by an AgGateway volunteer member in promoting collaboration among AgGateway teams and advancing initiatives in digital agriculture.
  • The report, “The Evolution of the Crop Protection Industry Since 1960”, written by market analysts Phillips McDougall, charts how technological advancements have helped the crop protection industry meet increasingly rigorous regulatory requirements, meet societal expectations for ever-safer products, while also helping farmers meet the growing global demand for food. Howard Minigh, President of CropLife International, which represents the plant science industry and commissioned the report, said the data in the report showed progress based on a laser-focus on improvements.
  • The Coalition for Responsible Gene Editing in Agriculture has created communication resources to help those researching, developing and using the technology support an informed dialogue on gene editing in food and agriculture.
  • Save the date for the Conservation Technology Information Center‘s Conservation in Action Tour in Central Iowa on August 20-21, 2019.

BASF Introduces New Insecticide

AgWired Precision, Audio, BASF, NAFB

Growers fighting soybean aphids will welcome the newest insecticide from BASF, recently registered and available for use in 2019. It’s the first time in many years a new mode of action is available to fight soybean aphids and similar pests.

“The unique thing about Inscalis – or the brand name in soybeans will be Sefina – is that it’s a brand new mode of action,” said Duane Rathmann, BASF Technical Service Representative. “That means that mode of action will be able to control the resistant aphids that the old chemistries are missing.”

Rathmann said the new formulation quickly controls aphids by stopping them from feeding on the plant within hours of application. Monitoring and scouting is still important as aphids can be very active one year and almost absent the next. Heavy aphid pressure can reduce soybean yields by 10-20 percent if left unchecked.

Rathmann pointed out that Inscalis is also narrow in its spectrum, which means it will not harm natural predators or pollinators that might also be in the field. It is not a restricted use insecticide because of its very specific profile just for piercing and sucking insects. Rathmann was at the 2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Duane here: NAFB18 Interview with Duane Rathmann, BASF

2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention Photo Album

Deere Helps Farmers Manage Data

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, NAFB

The newest equipment from John Deere comes to farmers with some technology components that are now standard, making it easier for growers to collect, analyze and use available data.

“Out of the box, so to speak, they can really engage with precision ag with guidance and with documentation,” said John Mishler, product specialist with John Deere. “It really comes back to data driven decisions. Every pass through the field we use auto track to make the best pass that we can, reducing cost by minimizing overlap, reducing skips, making sure that we’re doing the kind of work that we need to do, but also along the line collecting that data.”

Mishler said farmers can then share that data with a crop consultant or ag retailer or anyone who helps them make decisions for their farm. He encouraged farmers considering expanding technology within their operations to go to a local dealership and ask questions or request a demonstration. Mishler participated in Trade Talk at the 2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with John here: NAFB18 Interview with John Mishler, John Deere

2018 National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention Photo Album