NextSwath End-of-Row Turn Technology by Trimble

Taylor Truckeytechnology, Trimble

TMX_2050_Display_Front_NextSwath As producers across the country begin to put this year’s crops in the ground, Trimble has launched their NextSwath End-of-Row Turn Technology that will improve efficiencies throughout the growing season. When approaching the end of a crop row, NextSwath automatically executes a turn pattern that precisely aligns the implement to begin working while minimizing skips and overlaps. This will reduce operating & fuel costs, compaction zones on field edges, crop damage, and time in the field for growers while improving their productivity. Also, as Trimble products work on a variety of different machinery, growers are able to use NextSwath technology on a broad range of vehicle brands and implement types.

“Trimble understands that enabling a grower to be more efficient can make all the difference,” said Pierre-Andre Rebeyrat, marketing director for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “With NextSwath, Trimble provides growers with a tool to improve both the accuracy and consistency of their end-of-row turns and the technology works with a diverse range of equipment brands. NextSwath complements an already large family of Trimble solutions designed to improve the productivity of today’s farming operations.”

To purchase the technology, contact a Trimble reseller at: http://dealerlocator.trimble.com.

View the full News Release here: Trimble News Release

ARA Supports Food Labeling Act

Cindy ZimmermanARA, Audio, biotechnology, GMO, Government

cfsafHundreds of organizations representing various sectors of the food and agriculture industry signed on to a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives asking them to support the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.

The groups representing the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food urged members of Congress to consider co-sponsoring the bill introduced last month by Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) that would “ensure people across our nation continue to have access to consistent science-based standards for food labeling.”

coppock-araAmong the 373 organizations signing the letter is the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) and president Darren Coppock says they are also working to get a companion bill introduced in the Senate. “I’m encouraged that there’s bipartisan support for the issue and that it’s moving forward in the House,” said Coppock during an interview at NAFB Washington Watch this week. “What the Pompeo-Butterfield bill has put together is a good compromise that satisfies the needs of those asking those questions (about GMOs).”

During the interview, Coppock also addressed another piece of legislation important to ag retailers which would provide an important fix to the Clean Water Act NPDES permitting rule. “That extra layer of regulation provides no benefit to the environment or society, it’s just an additional cost and burden for applicators,” he said. ARA has been working on getting the fix for the past four years and they are hopeful it will pass this year. “I think the chips are better lined up this time to get action on both sides of the Hill,” Coppock added.

Listen to the interview with Coppock conducting by Agri-Pulse reporter Spencer Chase: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ara/ww15-ara.mp3″ text=”Interview with Darren Coppock, ARA president and CEO”]

USDA Extends ACEP Interim Rule Comment Period

John DavisAgribusiness, USDA

usda-logoThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to comment on the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program’s (ACEP) interim rule until May 28, 2015.

“We extended the comment period for the ACEP rule to give our partners, landowners and the public additional time to comment on a rule that will be used to implement USDA’s premier conservation easement program on private agricultural lands,” [Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Jason] Weller said.

ACEP is designed to help landowners protect working agricultural lands and wetlands. The 2014 Farm Bill consolidated three previous conservation easement programs into ACEP to make it easier for diverse agricultural landowners to fully benefit from conservation initiatives.

ACEP is a voluntary program created in the 2014 Farm bill to protect and restore critical wetlands on private and tribal lands through the wetland reserve easement component. ACEP also encourages farmers, ranchers and non-industrial private forest landowners to keep their private and tribal land in agricultural use through the agricultural land easement component. ACEP also conserves grasslands, including rangeland, pastureland and shrubland.

You can read the official notice of the proposed ACEP interim rule here.

ResponsibleAg Certifies First Facilities

Cindy ZimmermanARA, Fertilizer

responsible-ag-squareThe Hillsboro, Tennessee location of Crop Production Services (CPS) has the distinction of receiving the first ResponsibleAg facility certification.

“This marks an exciting milestone for ResponsibleAg,” said Alicia Duke, Health and Safety Director with J.R. Simplot Company and Chair of the ResponsibleAg Technical Committee. “Safety is a top priority for retailers, and having an organization like Crop Production Services move so quickly to adopt and implement ResponsibleAg demonstrates the company’s commitment to its employees and the community.”

“In our division and at Crop Production Services our top priority is to constantly be looking for ways to improve the safety and security associated with our employees, products and services we offer throughout the country,” said CPS Division Manager Bill Speir. “It is an honor to be the first location in the country to be certified by ResponsibleAg.”

ResponsibleAg is an industry-led fertilizer safety and stewardship initiative which assists retailers and wholesalers achieve and maintain federal regulatory compliance. Facility registration began in December. Since then, more than 1,350 fertilizer facilities have registered. Several assessments have been conducted, but the Hillsboro CPS facility was the first to successfully complete the assessment and resolve any required corrective action. A second CPS location in Ethridge, Tenn., was also certified.

Read more here.

Farm Bureau: Ag Could Really Soar with Drones

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, drone, Farm Bureau, UAS, UAV

afbfFarm Bureau says agricultural drones could really help farmers and ranchers soar to success. This news release says the group submitted comments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that focused on performance-based standards for the FAA’s rule on the “Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.”

“Drones are the next evolution in American agriculture,” said Dale Moore, AFBF executive director of public policy. “Used properly they let us grow more food on available land using less water and fewer pesticides. High-tech cameras and other airborne sensors give us important tools with which to reduce erosion and keep agricultural runoff to the absolute minimum. This is important not just for farmers but for anyone else who cares deeply about the environment. These tools won’t do anyone any good if they’re grounded by restrictions that make them too cumbersome to use.”

Farmers need performance-based standards for drone use that promote innovation while keeping safety a top priority, the Farm Bureau wrote.

Farm Bureau did say that the new technology is not without risk. Farmers and ranchers need to be able to manage these tools safely and should be assured that their farm data is secure and cannot be used unfairly against them.

New Corn Herbicide Approved by EPA

Cindy ZimmermanCorn, Herbicides, Syngenta

acuronSyngenta has announced that Acuron™ corn herbicide has received registration from the federal EPA.

Newly approved Acuron has been shown to control 70-plus weeds, including broadleaf and grass weeds like Palmer amaranth, marestail, giant ragweed, kochia, morningglory and waterhemp. These weeds have become particularly hard for growers to manage.

“Current herbicides are losing effectiveness, and it’s not unusual for us to see growers spending as much as $60 per acre or more on herbicides for corn,” says Gordon Vail, Ph.D., technical product lead for Syngenta. “The best strategy in this scenario is to use a high-performing pre-emerge herbicide like Acuron that will stop weeds before they start, and we’re excited we can now offer it to growers.”

Syngenta notes that state registrations for Acuron are still pending, and supplies for 2015 will be limited.

Corn Growers Provide UAV Comments

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, Aviation, Corn, NCGA, UAS, UAV

NCGA-Logo-3The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is asking the government to give flight to some unmanned aerial vehicles. The group submitted comments to both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration about proposed rules regarding the commercial usage and privacy best practices of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

In the letter to DOT, NCGA notes that unmanned aerial systems have widespread potential applications for farmers, and will ultimately reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make farming operations more sustainable. For example, when scouting fields, an unmanned aerial system could provide real-time snapshots, taken from better vantage points that allow farmers to better spot and treat irregularities – all at a fraction of the cost and time it would take to do so on foot.

The letter also notes that UAS technology would “increase chances of early detection of irregularities, [and] farmers are able to treat specific areas of fields rather than mass application of inputs. This has many benefits, for both farmers and consumers: significantly lower operating costs; fewer inputs, such as pesticides and fertilizer; higher yields; and a reduced environmental impact.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to issue a final rule regarding UAS later this year.

GROWMARK Crop Update

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Corn, Growmark, wheat

2015-corn-plantAnother 10% of the nation’s corn crop was planted last week, bringing the total now a couple of points ahead of last year but still behind the five year average.

According to the latest progress report from USDA, farmers now have 19% of the corn crop in the ground and two percent has emerged, most of it in non-Corn Belt states.

laatsch-growmarkI had an opportunity last week to visit with GROWMARK Insect and Plant Disease Technical Manager Tim Laatsch to talk about how conditions are looking this season around Illinois.

“It’s sort of a tale of two cities,” said Laatsch. “The southern third of Illinois has been extremely wet with almost no field activity occurring. Those conditions gradually improve as you go northward.”

Laatsch says corn planting in Illinois jumped from near zero to 15% the week ending April 19, and farmers more than doubled that last week. One percent of the corn is emerged in Illinois and Laatsch says some of that early emerged corn was greeted with freezing temps last week. “The bigger problem is corn that has not yet emerged, it’s subject to any number of problems when soil conditions are wet and now turned cool,” he said.

Laatsch has spent the past few weeks scouting wheat fields in Illinois where just two percent of the crop is headed, compared to 16% for the five year average. “What we’re seeing is conditions setting up favorably for disease development in the wheat crop,” he said. “If conditions remain somewhat wet and humid and temperatures start warming up, we could see some moderate to severe foliar disease pressure develop.” Meanwhile, he is seeing little insect pressure in wheat at this point.

Tim has more observations in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/growmark/growmark-tim-laatsch.mp3″ text=”Interview with Tim Laatsch, GROWMARK”]

Chicken Litter – A Hot Commodity

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Audio, Fertilizer

cms-15-141-editedJenny Rhodes, Extension Educator for University of Maryland in Queen Anne’s County and local poultry farmer, was asked to attend the 2015 Chicken Media Summit to talk about chicken manure. For her first 10 years in extension, Jenny wrote nutrient management plans. These plans are state mandated and any farmer meeting it’s requirements must have one for their operation.

“In the plan, we estimate the amount of manure on their farm and then work in a prescription approach. We test the soil, we test the manure, we know what nutrients the crop is going to take in and we write the farmer a prescription for that.”

Jenny sat on the myths and facts panel during the event and busted the myth that chicken litter is a waste product and farms are major sources of pollution. In fact, we heard from a local farmer that he wanted to buy chicken manure and couldn’t even find it. The hot commodity is an excellent source of fertilizer for all crops and these nutrient management plans aid farmers in knowing the exact amounts needed for an individual field.

“We are family farmers and we all want the same thing. We all want clean water and safe food.”

Learn more about nutrient management plans in my complete interview with Jenny here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/cms/cms-15-rhodes.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jenny Rhodes, University of Maryland Extension”]

Find photos from the event here: 2015 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Ethanol Tops Alternative Fuels ZimmPoll

Jamie JohansenZimmPoll

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is your favorite alternative fuel (to gasoline)?”

A hands down winner in this week’s poll on alternative fuels was ethanol. Which is not a surprise. However, many may be surprised to see the clear runner-up was solar. We had many chime in for the other category. A few of those included: algae diesel, biohydrogen and biobutanol.

Here are the poll results:

  • Biodiesel – 10%
  • Ethanol – 42%
  • Propane – 9%
  • Natural gas – 7%
  • Wind – 6%
  • Solar – 17%
  • Other – 9%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, How will high path avian flu impact industry?

The states impacted by high path avian flu are on the rise. The most recent outbreak in Iowa on a chicken egg farm has led us all to wonder the short and long term repercussions it will have on the industry, exports and prices for the consumer. In this week’s ZimmPoll we want to know if you think this flu strain will transform the industry or will it bounce back quickly?