Strong Interest in Soil Health Field Days

Kelly MarshallAg Group, Events, NCGA, Soil, sustainability

soilhealthpartnershipSoil Health Partnership is hosting field days to promote soil health in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.  A dozen more of these events are scheduled for Ohio and Nebraska as well, with demonstrations of how practices like cover crops benefits farmers and the environment.

Don Elsbern recently hosted a tour of his farm near Postsville, Iowa.  He shared with growers the management practices he has implemented for soil health.  “Healthy soils help reduce soil erosion and allow us to more efficiently use our water and applied nutrients,” said Elsbernd.

soil health partnershipAnother field day in Indiana gathered a group of more than 100 farmers interested in cover crops.  Organizers estimate more than 1 million acres were represented at the event.  Field managers Hans Kok and Dan Towery say the project’s mission is to catalyze sustainability and productivity by sharing the economic and environmental benefits to soil health.

“We stressed the benefits of cover crops to improve soil health, selecting appropriate cover crops, and establishment and termination timing,” Kok said. “Farmers engaged in a lively discussion, sharing their cover crop experiences with each other.”

Field days were also held Monday (Aug. 17) at two farms, one hosted by David, Joe and Chase Brown in Decatur, Ill., and one by Leon Corzine in Assumption, Ill. The next ones are scheduled for Aug. 25 in Gilman, Iowa and Aug. 26 in Bloomington, Ill.

Although each field day concentrates on similar subject matter, the geography and local soil types guide the discussions. This gives testament to the diverse approach the Partnership takes in defining soil health.

An initiative of the National Corn Growers Association, the SHP works closely with diverse organizations including commodity groups, industry, foundations, federal agencies, universities and well-known environmental groups toward the common goal of improving soil health.

You can see a list of Soil Health Field Days at soilhealthpartnership.org.  Events will be scheduled throughout the summer.

USDA Launches Improved AMS Website

Cindy ZimmermanUSDA, Website

USDAUSDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has launched a redesigned website (www.ams.usda.gov) to make it more user-friendly for stakeholders.

“Whether you are looking for information about our services, want to comment on proposed regulations, or are interested in selling food to USDA, our new website makes it easier to find the right information and tools,” said AMS Administrator Anne L. Alonzo.

AMS reports price and sales data for hundreds of commodities, purchases food for USDA feeding programs, implements and enforces organic standards under the National Organic Program, and offers technical assistance and grant funding to support local and regional food systems.

In addition to new task-related menus, the website features a responsive design that makes it easy to use on mobile devices. Users who previously bookmarked AMS Market News commodity price data or other information on the old website can still use the same links on the redesigned site.

CF Industries, CHS Form Strategic Venture

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Fertilizer

chs-logoCF Industries Holdings, Inc. and CHS Inc. have announced an agreement to enter into a strategic venture.  CHS will purchase a minority equity interest in CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC (CF Nitrogen) for $2.8 billion and be entitled to semi-annual profit distributions from CF Nitrogen.  Under the supply agreement, CHS, a farmer-owned cooperative, will be entitled to purchase annually up to a total of 1.7 million tons of UAN and urea at market prices.

“This venture represents tremendous strategic value to both CF Industries and CHS,” said Tony Will, president and chief executive officer, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. “In the past, we have entered into long-term relationships with industry leaders Mosaic and Orica, and this venture with CHS, an industry leader in agriculture, is the logical next step. This transaction matches us with a reliable partner that will take ratable delivery of product across the year, supported by an attractive valuation.”

iface_cfi_logo“Entering nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing through the purchase of a minority ownership in CF Nitrogen is the single largest investment in CHS history,” said Carl Casale, president and chief executive officer, CHS Inc. “This positions CHS and our owners for long-term dependable fertilizer supply, supply chain efficiency and economic value. In addition, the ability to source product from CF Nitrogen production facilities under our supply agreement benefits our owners and customers through strategically positioned access to essential fertilizer products.”

Once the capacity expansion projects are completed at Donaldsonville and Port Neal, CF will have total production of 18.9 million product tons, not including the new capacity from the business combination with OCI N.V. Of that total 18.9 million tons, CHS will have the right to purchase up to 1.7 million tons, or about 8.9 percent of CF Industries’ total production capacity. CHS, a major CF customer and knowledgeable industry leader, is making a $2.8 billion investment for approximately 8.9 percent of CF’s total system capacity.

The transaction is expected to close February 1, 2016, or earlier by mutual consent, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions.

A conference call will be held 9:00 am ET on Wednesday, August 12, 2015.  For information about accessing the call, click here.

Tractor Trends See Growth in Smaller Horsepower

Kelly MarshallAEM, Agribusiness, Machinery, Tractor

AEMCorpLogoThe month of April saw a rise in sales of 40-100-horsepower tractors and July continued the trend with 10 and 8 year highs for the period.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers report that production ag machinery has been in a downward trend, with over 100 horsepower 2WD tractors, 4WD tractors, and combines showing negative numbers for the month.

Adding to those woes, main ag commodity prices declined after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report showing higher forecasts for corn and soybean production due to better than expected yields. Lower commodity prices mean lower farm incomes and fewer machinery purchases, said AEM Market Intelligence Director Benjamin Duyck.

On top of that, China last week devalued its currency by 3.5 percent by Wednesday, compounding issues for U.S. manufacturers as their export position will continue to deteriorate. Duyck said devaluation of the Yuan also has an effect on demand for commodities, as they become more expensive to the Chinese, causing imports of U.S. milk, soybeans, and cotton to decline.

A complete video report is available on the AEM website.

GROWMARK Names New Grain Director

Cindy ZimmermanGrain, Growmark

growmark-rasmusGROWMARK, Inc. has announced the appointment of Bob Rasmus as the Executive Director, Grain, which became effective in June.

Rasmus, who received his bachelor of science degree in agriculture from Illinois State University, will be responsible for providing grain operations leadership, risk management analysis, and marketing direction to member cooperatives. He will also oversee the operations of MID-CO COMMODITIES, INC., AgriVisor LLC, Facility Planning, Grain Member Services, and Retail Grain Units.

Rasmus began his career with the GROWMARK System in 2011 as grain systems marketing manager and in 2014 he began his most recent role as Facility Planning Division manager. Before that, he worked for the USDA Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service in 1984. In 1985 he joined Honegger’s Company, Inc., in operations and merchandising. In 1989 he joined Archer Daniels Midland holding positions in merchandising, business manager of Oilseed Processing Division, and product manager of sales manager Specialty Food Ingredients. In 2005 he joined Loders Croklaan, Wormerveer The Netherlands as sales manager, Lipid Nutrition Division, and in 2008 he joined the GSI Group, Inc. as vice president strategic accounts management.

Progressive Farmer, FarmLink Deliver Data Tool

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Data, FarmLink, Markets, technology, weather

FarmLink_logoArriving for the 2016 planting season, growers will soon be able to subscribe to an online tool through DTN/The Progressive Farmer and FarmLink.

The two companies have announced an agreement to develop a new dashboard product to help farmers evaluate productivity.  Combining DTN/The Progressive Farmer’s local weather stations and cash market information from FarmLink allows for a new product that will give farmers personalized information.

DTN Progressive FarmerIn the past, farmers only had access to prior yield data and current market information to use for decision making. The new overall dashboard will include a forward looking view of yield potential, local market value, weather effects on crop conditions and the impact on profitability.

“As we’ve collected and analyzed yield, soil, weather, and other relevant data sets during the last five years, we’ve developed the most robust, actionable agriculture indices in history. As data and farm analytics become a key driver of a farmer’s business management tools, collaborations like this will help transform agriculture by increasing the profitability and sustainability of farm operations,” said Dave Gebhardt, Chief Strategy Officer for FarmLink. “We share DTN/The Progressive Farmer’scommitment to providing real-time, actionable information to farmers, which is exactly what this partnership will do.”

“By leveraging the power of FarmLink’s unique field database, benchmark, and advanced analytics, DTN/The Progressive Farmer continues to bring industry leading tools to help farmers access and understand information that can affect their overall profitability,” said Matt Bradford, Vice President-Agriculture for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. “Through this partnership between DTN/The Progressive Farmer and FarmLink, farmers will have access to deeper insights to inform grain marketing, agronomic, and farm management decisions.”

“Never before have farmers and their trusted advisors been able to access this level of market, agronomy and farm management information, every day – all in one place,” said Bradford.

“We believe data science and technology will transform agriculture, and the collaboration between DTN/The Progressive Farmer and FarmLink is a key part of achieving that mission,” said Gebhardt.

PrecisionAg Institute at InfoAg Conference

Chuck ZimmermanAgNerd, Audio, InfoAg, Video

Paul SchrimpfDuring the 20th InfoAg Conference I talked with Paul Schrimpf, PrecisionAg Institute, about how much the technology has changed during the time span of the show.

PrecisionAg is a diversified, independent media enterprise serving the global community using precision agriculture techniques – adjusting production inputs and practices based on in-field variability, typically through use of geographic positioning systems (GPS) and other technologies.

You can listen to my interview with Paul here or watch it below. Please feel free to share. [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-precisionag-institute.mp3″ text=”Paul Schrimpf – PrecisionAg Institute”]


2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by John Deere   Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by Growmark

USDA Invests in Western Lake Erie Basin Water Quality

Cindy ZimmermanConservation, Nutrient Management, USDA, water

nrcsUSDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will invest an additional $5 million to help Ohio, Michigan and Indiana improve water quality in the western Lake Erie basin. These investments will enable the region’s farmers to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the watershed, one of the sources of disruptive algae blooms.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the targeted funding will allow for solutions to be expanded and delivered more quickly. “A problem as complex as this one will demand wide attention, from agriculture to municipalities, and we will continue to work with the Western Lake Erie Basin Partnership and other partners across the region to find common ground to address water quality issues in the basin,” said Vilsack.

The funding will allow NRCS to help farmers apply selected conservation practices shown to help water quality, such as planting cover crops, adding gypsum to soil, implementing conservation tillage or no-till systems on crop fields, installing agricultural drainage water management systems, and implementing nutrient management plans. On average, farmers and ranchers contribute half the cost of implementing conservation practices.

Read more here.

FMC Authority and Aim for Fall Application

Cindy ZimmermanAg Media Summit, Audio, FMC, Herbicides, Weed control

ams15-fmc-wheelerIt’s still summer but not too early to start thinking about fall herbicide applications.

David Wheeler with FMC Corporation says with all the resistant weed pressure around the country a fall burndown is more important than ever. “Primarily we use a fall burndown application in soybeans or corn to prevent the early season growth of winter annual weeds that can interfere with the planting operation,” he said during an interview at the recent Ag Media Summit. “We have some winter annuals like mare’s tail that have presented a big challenge to us in that they have become resistant to certain types of herbicides, specifically glyphosate, and if we don’t manage them early when they’re small we have a much more difficult time in the spring.”

Wheeler says FMC products Aim® and Authority® work well for fall burndown applications. He explains more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/ams15-fmc-wheeler-3.mp3″ text=”Interview with FMC’s David Wheeler on fall herbicide application”]

2015 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by
Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by FMC   Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by New Holland   Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by the National Biodiesel Board

PrecisionHawk Hires CEO, CFO to Expand

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Data

precisionhawkThe first half of 2015 has brought unprecedented growth for PrecisionHawk Inc., a data acquisition and analysis company.  As a result the company has hired two new leadership positions on their management team.  Bob Young will be filling the role of Chief Executive Officer and William Beyer will serve as the Chief Financial Officer.

William R. Beyer brings more than two decades of blue-chip professional experience to PrecisionHawk.  Beyer served as COO and CFO of Raydiance Inc. as well as CFO of multiple emerging technology companies including Bitfone Corp. and Advanced Fibre Communications.

As an internationally recognized technologist and business leader, Bob Young brings more than 20 years of software development, management, and marketing experience to PrecisionHawk. Young began his career building computer finance businesses before co-founding an open-source software company.  Young also founded and served as CEO of Lulu.com.

Young is also Chairman of the PrecisionHawk’s board of directors. Co-founders Christopher Dean and Dr. Ernest Earon will continue in leadership roles with Dean as President and Dr. Earon as Chief Technology Officer. The new executive appointments are effective immediately.

 PrecisionHawk is focusing on strategic hires that will scale the company as a world leader.

“Ernest and I are committed to building a great company, and as an internationally recognized technologist and business leader, we realize that Bob has done this before,” said Christopher Dean. “Our long and trusted relationship with Bob combined with his unique experience in scaling a leading global business makes this a great opportunity for us and for PrecisionHawk.”

“PrecisionHawk owes its success to a dedicated and professional team with an amazing ability to think creatively and without bounds. Bob and Bill bring a drive, ambition and perspective that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible,” said Ernest Earon. “We are very fortunate to add their expertise as we continue this growth and global expansion.”