AMVAC® Enhances Customer Website

AgWired Precision, AMVAC, NAFB

AMVAC Chemical Corporation has launched a newly enhanced customer website amvac-chemical.com. The website design includes a search function for agricultural and environmental protection products, retailers and field representatives, as well as marketing and sales campaigns and product promotions.

“With more than 50 percent of traffic coming from mobile devices, we wanted a better user experience for our retailers, farmers and other professionals who rely on our products,” said Neil DeStefano, Director, Portfolio and Marketing/eCommunication Management at AMVAC. “The design ensures an equally user-friendly experience on laptops, tablets and mobile devices, while featuring our expanding portfolio of products, delivery systems and services.”

Market pages for agriculture, pest and vector control, turf and application technology provide product information, how to purchase products, news and promotions. Product search functions are specifically tailored to each market, which allows users to find products by region and category or by crop and insect. Product pages also feature access to labels, photos, videos and other instructional materials.

We’ll find out more about the new website and what all else is new from AMVAC this week at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual convention where AMVAC will be participating in Trade Talk.

Latest Agri-Pulse Poll Shows Strong Support for Trump

Agri-Pulse, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Government, politics

It’s probably safe to say that no president in recent history has talked about agriculture as much as President Donald J. Trump, who has managed to mention farmers in nearly every campaign stop he has made in the past week. That “I love farmers” strategy continues to pay off, despite trade policy strategies that have impacted agricultural exports.

A new Agri-Pulse poll finds farmers and ranchers overwhelmingly approve of the job President Trump is doing, but they would like the administration to focus more on exports and ending the trade war with China.

The poll of 600 commercial farmers and ranchers, conducted over the phone by Aimpoint Research last month, found 79 percent either approve or strongly approve of President Trump, compared to 19 percent who disapprove. Broken down by party lines, 92 percent of the GOP farmers approved of the way Trump is handling the nation’s top job, compared to 33 percent of the Democrats and 65 percent of the independents.

Even though conditions on the farm might not be perceived as favorable right now, farmers seem optimistic that things will get better under President Trump. Our respondents gave fairly high marks to the administration’s efforts to renegotiate and rename the North American Free Trade Agreement, to renegotiate trade terms with China and to repeal federal regulations on their farms.

And when it comes to passing a new farm bill, they see the need to get it done before the end of 2018. On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being extremely important, 79 percent rated the importance of farm bill passage with a six or above.

Read more from Agri-Pulse

2019 Soil Health Summit Open to Public

AgWired Precision, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

For the first time, the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is opening up the annual Soil Health Summit in 2019 and encouraging all growers and agronomists to attend. The event will be held January 15-16, 2019 in St. Louis.

The farmer-led soil management project has been involved in a long-term data collection effort to measure the on-farm economic and environmental impact of practices known to improve soil health and sustainability, such as reducing tillage, growing cover crops and practicing advanced nutrient management.

“This is the first year where we have a statistically significant number of farms, more than 80, with year-over-year data to compare,” said Shefali Mehta, SHP executive director. “This Summit will mark the first time we can truly share insights on how the fields are changing over time. We are eager to share this with our partners and attendees.”

In its 5th year, the 2019 event will take place at the Hyatt Regency—St. Louis at the Arch. Registration is open from the Soil Health Summit website with a fee for the two-day event of only $100 for farmers and educators. The cost for other attendees is $250. This registration fee includes the event meals, all sessions, and a reception. A few select exhibitors will also have educational booths.

FMH Offers New Cyber Risk Protection for Farmers

AgWired Precision, Insurance, Precision Agriculture

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMH) has announced the new FMH Cyber Risk Protection suite, which includes two new cyber risk products to provide protection and services in the event an individual, family, or farm is the victim of a computer attack, cyber extortion, online fraud, or a breach of personal information.

“Farmers Mutual Hail has been protecting the livelihoods of America’s farmers for over 125 years,” said Pat Faga, FMH CMO and Executive Vice President of P&C. “We can attribute that longevity to innovation. FMH is continuously creating and offering new products and solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of farmers as technology and farming practices develop. These products reflect that innovation.”

FMH is among the first farm insurance companies to offer protection designed specifically for precision ag equipment and software. The FMH Cyber Risk Protection suite includes two products, both of which can be added to an existing FMH Property & Casualty policy:

– FMH Cyber Risk Protection Home is bundled coverage that protects families from losses such as compromised data on personal computers, mobile devices and other connected home technology, as well as damage to software and operating systems.
– FMH Cyber Risk Protection Farm is comprehensive coverage that protects farm operations from losses such as compromised data on business computers, mobile devices and other connected farm technology, as well as damage to software and operating systems including precision ag technology.

Find out more from Farmers Mutual Hail

Presidion Ag Announces Patent Allowance

AgWired Precision, Nitrogen, Nutrient Management, Precision Agriculture

Florida-based Presidion Ag is pleased to announce the technology behind their Nitrogen Efficiency product Neon Laser(TM) for Anhydrous Ammonia has received “Notice of Allowance” from the United States Patents and Trademark office.

Presidion Ag is the exclusive licensed seller of these technologies in the USA for Eco World Research and Development Group, led by President and CEO, David McKnight.

“Presidion is the right license partner for us in taking these innovations to market in the United States and we are pleased to be able to enter the market quickly after many years of hard work and research on this project,” said McKnight.

“Based on the improved results, this chemistry platform of preserving Cyano groups is key to optimizing Cyanoguanidine performance and is without a doubt the next wave of nitrogen protection and a significant breakthrough to help prevent nitrogen loss,” added Presidion Ag president Ray Perkins. “Other new Anhydrous Ammonia efficiency technologies have high load rates and do not significantly preserve the Cyano group bond, and the traditional technologies have significant challenges such as corrosion and restrictions in handling, and this chemistry does not have those operational issues” said Perkins.

Neon Laser is a non-corrosive, easy to use, highly concentrated Cyanoguanidine product for Anhydrous Ammonia applications. Test results show outstanding results versus both traditional technologies and other recently introduced products.

EPA Extends Dicamba Registration with Label Changes

AgWired Precision, Bayer, EPA, Herbicide, weed management

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it is extending the registration of dicamba for two years for “over-the-top” use (application to growing plants) to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba.

“EPA understands that dicamba is a valuable pest control tool for America’s farmers,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “By extending the registration for another two years with important new label updates that place additional restrictions on the product, we are providing certainty to all stakeholders for the upcoming growing season.”

Label changes include prohibiting over-the-top application of dicamba on soybeans 45 days after planting and cotton 60 days after planting and limiting the number of over-the-top applications in cotton from 4 to 2 (soybeans remain at 2 OTT applications).

Bayer says the continued registration for XtendiMax® Herbicide with VaporGrip® Technology ensures growers will have access to this important weed-control tool for the 2019 season and beyond. “For the 2019 season, we’ll continue to work closely with growers and applicators, along with grower associations, state regulators, universities and others to ensure growers have continued success with XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology,” says Ryan Rubischko, Bayer’s dicamba portfolio lead.

Read more from Bayer.

ZimmCast 601 – FMC in the Field

AgWired Precision, Audio, FMC, Fungicide, Podcasts, ZimmCast

FMC Agricultural Solutions held a field day at its Sparks, GA research station earlier this month, hosted by the FMC technical service team with a plot tour, presentations and certification training.

In particular, the FMC technical service team showcased new Lucento™ fungicide, which is expected to be approved by the end of this year for the 2019 season. You can find a virtual news rooms from the event on AgNewsWire with more interviews and photos: FMC Georgia Field Day

In this week’s program you’ll get to hear from these FMC representatives who did presentations in the field for agricultural retailers.

Ryan Osborn, Southeast Region Business Manager, FMC
David Wheeler, Technical Service Manager, FMC
Matthew Wiggins, Technical Services Manager, FMC
Craig Heim, Senior Technical Service Manager, FMC
Jake Franklin, FMC Research Station Manger
Del Brandenberg Retail Marketing Manager, FMC

And to make the lawyers happy, here is the disclaimer:
Lucento fungicide is not registered for sale or use in the United States. No offer for sale, sale or use of this product is permitted prior to issuance of the required EPA and state registrations.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 601 – FMC in the Field

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Precision Ag Bytes 10/24

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes, Precision Agriculture

  • During the month of October, as part of its Sakata Gives Corporate Giving Program, Sakata Seed America participated in two walks to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the American Heart Association. Overall, roughly 110 Sakata employees participated in the two walks and raised over $4,900 for the cause.
  • Thousands of 4-H youth from across the country will experience valuable hands-on learning opportunities as a result of Tractor Supply’s Paper Clover Campaign. The biannual fundraiser, held in partnership with National 4-H Council, collectively raised $1,999,661 in 2018 through donations made with purchases in store and online.
  • HELM Agro US, Inc. announced that the California Department of Pesticide Regulations has approved Helmstar Plus SC fungicide for use on selected crops in that state.
  • Rice farmers in the South can better manage for increased profitability by taking advantage of 0% APR financing on Horizon Ag Clearfield and Provisia rice seed and BASF crop protection products under a new program utilizing the Multi-Use Account offered through John Deere Financial.
  • The Illinois Farm Bureau was honored for its ongoing sustainability and nutrient loss reduction efforts as a winner of the 2018 Sustainability Award. The award, which recognizes private and public Illinois organizations and businesses who have implemented outstanding and innovating sustainable techniques or technologies, is given by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

Meet Cargill’s Cowboy Robot

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Animal Agriculture, livestock, Video

Cargill has developed the first ever robotic cattle driver to improve both animal welfare and employee safety.

The robots are designed to move cattle from pens to the harvest area, reducing stress to the animals by minimizing their proximity to human activity. Employees operate the robots from a catwalk located above the pens, reducing safety risks by keeping those who work in the cattle yard portion of processing plants at a safer distance.

Using waving automated arms, blowers and audio recordings to move cattle in a desired direction, the robots can operate in rain, snow or mud, with no delay in daily operations. Testing was conducted at Cargill’s Wyalusing, Penn., and Schuyler, Neb., beef processing facilities to determine a design and operational attributes of the robot that would effectively improve animal welfare and employee safety before being implemented at the company’s U.S. and Canadian beef plants.

The robotic cattle drivers are currently being implemented at Cargill Protein beef plants in the U.S. and Canada and are manufactured by the New Jersey-based company Flock Free, which is primarily a company focused on bird control for various industries.

Learn more about the Cowboy Robot from Cargill and watch it at work in this video –

BASF Donates to Hurricane Florence Relief

AgWired Precision, BASF

BASF is helping support Hurricane Florence disaster relief efforts in North Carolina.

BASF has donated more than $150,000 in funds and supplies to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and the American Red Cross-Greater Carolinas, including equipment such as generators and extension cords. The donations were made on behalf of BASF employees at its Research Triangle Park and Charlotte locations.

The Food Bank donation of $50,000 will provide an additional 250,000 meals, water, and non-food essentials to partner agencies who are currently distributing needed resources to the thousands affected by the hurricane. “The Food Bank of Central & Eastern Carolina is one of our valued community partners in the Raleigh-Durham region and this donation helps families that are going through extreme food insecurity as a result of the hurricane,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President, BASF Agricultural Solutions located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

The American Red Cross is providing a range of relief services to those impacted by the hurricane in Charlotte and surrounding communities, including meals, snacks, overnight shelter, and mental health and health transportation. “Many BASF families live and work in the greater Charlotte area. We believe it is our responsibility to support the community, and areas surrounding our site, in their recovery from the impacts of Florence,” said Gerry Podesta, Senior Vice President, BASF Dispersions & Resins located in Charlotte, North Carolina.