Making Propane Power Pay

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Commodity Classic, Irrigation, PERC, propane

classic15-perc-tomIf you are a farmer at Commodity Classic this week and you might be in the market for propane-powered equipment, you definitely should stop by the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) booth at the trade show and get incentivized.

When I visited with PERC opening day, I met Tom Uhlman of Nebraska who took advantage of the propane incentive program when he was in the market for a new irrigation motor. “We were looking at replacing some 30 year old diesel irrigation motors and our local dealer recommended looking at propane,” he said. “It worked out really well as we got a tremendous amount of money back for the motors we bought.”

Visiting Husker Harvest Days in Nebraska last year, Tom happened to stop by the PERC booth and entered a contest to win a trip to Commodity Classic and won. “This is the first time I’ve ever been,” Tom said. “It’s been very interesting.”

Tom says he has found the propane motors to be quiet, clean, efficient and economical. “The propane price has been real stable the last year and they’re forecasting it to be lower,” he said. “I already bought my propane for next summer’s irrigation at below a dollar a gallon, so it makes good economic sense.”

What really makes good economic sense is to stop by booth 2126 and get up to $6,000 towards equipment purchases through the Propane Farm Incentive Program – that’s $1000 more than the normal incentive, just for Commodity Classic attendees!

Listen to my interview with Tom here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/perc/classic-perc-tom.MP3″ text=”Interview with Tom Uhlman, Nebraska farmer and propane user”]

2015 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Coverage of Commodity Classic is sponsored by
Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by Propane Education and Research Council

Productivity, Environment Focus of International Conference

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, USDA

farmfoundationlogo3There’s a lot of different ideas on how agriculture can be done sustainably. That’s why our friends at Farm Foundation are teaming up with Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) and USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) to hold an international conference on productivity and the environment, March 11-12, 2015, in Washington, D.C.

It has long been recognized that technology-based tools that help increase agricultural productivity may have positive and negative impacts on the environment. Technologies that require more intensive use of fertilizer or chemical inputs, for example, may generate the potential for more pollution of water resources. Yet technological changes that increase crop yields may improve efficiency of nutrient and water use, while saving non-agricultural land from conversion to farmland.

In both developed and developing nations, understanding agricultural productivity becomes more critical as population growth and climate changes put greater stress on water, soil and ocean resources. The March 11-12 conference will examine the latest research work on productivity measurement, tradeoffs between agriculture and environmental outcomes, new sources of data for measuring and valuing environmental services, and public policy options. Identifying research gaps is another goal of the workshop. Review the complete workshop agenda here.

The productivity conference is open to the public. Registration information is available here.

Farm Foundation will also hold a related, free forum titled, “The Nexus of Technology, Agricultural Productivity and the Environment,” at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. on March 11. More information is available here.

Bayer Young Farmer Sustainability Award

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Bayer CropScience, sustainability

Bayer Young Farmer Sustainability AwardLast night Bayer CropScience announced this year’s Young Farmer Sustainability Award Winner, Andrew Fansler.

Andrew Fansler is a rare commodity these days—a first-generation farmer whose farming career was born from a passion for the soil, for growing things, and for the lifestyle and value system which are part of agriculture. Fansler is also the newly-minted winner of the 2015 Young Farmer Sustainablility Award presented by Bayer CropScience, and part of a growing cadre of young, ambitious farmers committed to making sustainable agricultural and business practices a priority as they tackle the challenge of producing ever more food, feed and fiber for a growing world population.

Each year, Bayer recognizes an agricultural producer age 40 or under who demonstrates entrepreneurial initiative and new approaches to farming, sustainability efforts and economic stability. The 36-year-old Fansler, owner of Fansler Farms of Shelbyville, Indiana, received the award today during the 10th annual Ag Issues Forum, a Bayer CropScience-hosted thought-leadership event.
“When I think about sustainability, what comes to mind are the many ways we as agriculture producers must strive to sustain not only profitability, but the factories in which we work – our land,” says Fansler. “Sustainability to me means being both financially sustainable and biologically sustainable. I strive to sustain and better everything I do!”

Listen in to Andrew’s remarks here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/bayer/aif-15-fansler.mp3″ text=”Sustainability Award winner Remarks”]

Photos: 2015 Ag Issues Forum Photo Album

BASF Celebrates 150 Years of Science

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, BASF, Commodity Classic

Since 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of BASF, our friends with BASF Crop Protection are pleased to kick off this anniversary year in the U.S. with the 9th annual media symposium, the Science Behind the Right Chemistry, in conjunction with Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Arizona. Opening the big event was Technical Crop Production Specialist AJ Woodyard and Vice President for US Crop Protection Scott Kay.

BASF was founded in 1865 as Badische Anilin und Soda-Fabrik (hence the BASF acronym) in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and since that time has played a key role in turning family farms into the modern operations they are today.

basf-science-15-rheaJoining the Science Behind event via Skype from RTP headquarters was Senior VP Crop Protection Paul Rea. “Conscientious care toward the environment and society are two of the reasons for our long-term success,” said Rea. “Sustainability is a core value that has supported our growth since 1865 into the world’s largest chemical company, and will take us into the next 150 years.”

Between now and 2019, BASF Crop Protection plans to introduce 45 new products to help growers increase yield potential and grow more and better crops. The new products will join the already big BASF portfolio of industry-leading products including Priaxor® fungicide, Xanthion™ In-furrow fungicide, Limus® nitrogen management, Kixor® herbicide technology, and Engenia™ herbicide, which will be BASF’s most advanced formulation of dicamba. Engenia herbicide is expected to receive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration this year.

Listen to Paul Rea via Skype at #ScienceBehind15 here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/basf/basf-science15-rea.mp3″ text=”BASF Senior VP Crop Protection Paul Rea”]

Stay tuned to find out what’s new from this 150 year old company!

2015 BASF Science Behind Photos

Coverage of Commodity Classic is sponsored by
Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by Propane Education and Research Council

20th Commodity Classic Breaks Records

Cindy ZimmermanAg Group, Commodity Classic, Corn

classic15A record number of farmers and exhibitors from all over the country have descended on Phoenix for the 20th Commodity Classic – the annual event for corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers.

The massive trade show at the event is the largest ever with 355 booths – a record by a large margin according to the Commodity Classic officials. Attendance has already broken the record on the first day with 7759 registered so far and more are expected.

“The Commodity Classic Trade Show is always a popular event, and this year is no exception with a sold out event that offers attendees a chance to see the most cutting edge technology while interacting with industry leaders,” said National Corn Growers Association Joint Venture Committee 2015 Co-Chair Bart Schott. “Those searching for new ideas and a better picture of what is now and soon will be available to farmers will find the most extensive, comprehensive offering to date while exhibitors reach a larger audience than ever.”

Commodity Classic runs through Saturday night.

2015 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Coverage of Commodity Classic is sponsored by
Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by Propane Education and Research Council

Iteris’ ClearAg Crop Protection Beta Testing Program

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, Crop Protection, Data

iteris-logoIteris, Inc., a leader in providing intelligent traffic management and weather information solutions, announced the opening of its ClearAg™ Crop Protection application programming interfaces (API) beta testing program.

Chuck spoke with Bob Stern in the Iteris booth during the 2015 Commodity Classic allowing him to share more information about their next step in the evolution in our family of precision ag weather data delivered through APIs. [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/commodity-classic/classic-15-iteris-bob-stern.mp3″ text=”Interview with Bob Stern, Iteris”]

ClearAg Crop Protection APIs will provide leading agriculture retailers, manufacturers and growers access to the latest Iteris product capabilities for field-level analytics and visualization tools. The ClearAg Crop Protection APIs feature new endpoints for advisory services around planting and harvest timing, pest and disease emergence, crop nutrition, crop canopy conditions, and irrigation for integration into precision agriculture applications. Iteris’ ClearAg Mobile application offering is also available through the beta program.

“ClearAg Crop Protection is an exciting next stage of our ClearAg decision support tool set,” said Tom Blair, senior vice president of Iteris’ iPerform division. “Through our ClearAg solution set, agribusinesses will have access to real-time content and agricultural models that can enhance decision-making for all stages of crop production. From planning to planting, growing and harvesting, the latest ClearAg Crop Protection APIs will enable users to have the right information for the right field at the right time, providing the best information available to make the right decisions.”

ClearAg Crop Protection is the latest release in the ClearAg API decision-support and modeling-as-a-service product tool set. It follows the recent product launches of ClearAg Select field-level weather APIs and ClearAg Prime soil condition information, which are also designed to empower third-party precision ag applications with field-level analytics information for data-driven farming.

ClearAg Select and Prime API releases featured the application of historic field-level climatological information in context to current weather and soil conditions, combined with data science and scalable infrastructure. ClearAg Select and Prime also included API endpoints around field-level weather, accessibility index, growing degree days, and crop growth modeling. With the information ClearAg API solutions provide, agribusiness staff from crop consultants to agronomists can make better, faster and more informed decisions around everything from seed selection, to planting, and harvesting, through to commodity-based pricing decisions.

The ClearAg adaptive modeling solution is an intuitive application set that expands the power of agronomic models to solve complex agricultural challenges. Iteris’ patent-pending technology leverages ensemble modeling of weather conditions and agronomic models, multi-sensor, science-based analysis of current and past weather and soil conditions, all curated by a staff of degreed meteorologists. The ClearAg solution set provides real-time information where and when you need it.

To participate in the ClearAg Crop Protection beta program, please contact Iteris at ag@iteris.com.

Coverage of Commodity Classic is sponsored by
Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by Propane Education and Research Council

BASF Survey Says Farmers Concerned About Risk

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, BASF, Crop Protection

basf-science15-kayNo doubt farming is a risky business or everyone would do it, but this year more than ever farmers are concerned about managing financial risk and worried about potential commodity price fluctuations.

According to a survey of over 200 farmers, BASF Crop Protection found that farmers are very or extremely concerned about managing financial risk in the coming season, and a full 90% say they are concerned about commodity price fluctuation. In addition, BASF Vice President for US Crop Protection Scott Kay said they found farmers would feel better if they had someone to share that risk. “60% of them said they would like to partner with a chemical manufacturer to help me make better decisions moving forward,” said Kay. In addition, 55% said risk sharing with a crop protection company would “give them peace of mind.”

Kay invites farmers to visit with BASF during Commodity Classic this week to find out how they can work together. [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/basf/basf-science15-scott.MP3″ text=”Interview with Scott Kay, BASF”]

Stay tuned to find out what’s new from this 150 year old company!

2015 BASF Science Behind Photos

Astronaut Addresses Bayer CropScience #AIF2015

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Bayer CropScience

bayer-aif15-jemisonAmong her many accomplishments Dr. Mae Carol Jemison is a dancer, a doctor, an actress, an astronaut and a strong advocate for “Making Science Make Sense.” She’s done more in her life so far than most of us even think about doing!

Jemison talked to the Bayer CropScience 10th annual Ag Issues Forum on Tuesday about why scientific literacy is critical to the future of farming, but also offered a great motivational message, especially for young women.

“I was raised by parents who recognized the importance of imagination and moving forward,” she said. “I always assumed that I would go into space. It wasn’t a dream. It was a reality.”

Jemison stressed the importance of making science interesting to kids. “We’ve always used the sky to plant, grow and innovate. Science matters,” said Jemison. “Science literacy applies to almost everything we do.”

[wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/bayer/bayer-aif15-jemison-remarks.mp3″ text=”Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, #AIF2015 remarks”] [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/bayer/bayer-aif15-jemison.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, Making Science Make Sense”]

2015 Ag Issues Forum Photo Album

Farmers Heading to Phoenix for #Classic15

Cindy ZimmermanAg Group, Commodity Classic, Corn, NCGA, Sorghum, Soybeans, wheat

commclassic2015Corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers from all over the country are heading to Phoenix this week for the 20th annual Commodity Classic convention and trade show.

“Commodity Classic gives us the opportunity not just to celebrate great work, meet with friends and learn about new products and services, it allows growers to get together in one place to shape policy for our organization,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Chip Bowling. “This year, all eyes and ears will be focused on the importance of building profitable demand for our farmers when corn production is high and corn prices are low.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will make his sixth visit to Commodity Classic to address farmers during the event’s General Session on Friday.

Established in 1996, Commodity Classic is America’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused convention and trade show, produced by the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers. Starting in 2016, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers joins as the newest affiliate of Commodity Classic.

We’ll be bringing it all to you right here on Precision.AgWired, thanks to our wonderful sponsors!

Coverage of Commodity Classic is sponsored by
Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere Coverage of Commodity Classic sponsored by Propane Education and Research Council

10th Annual Bayer CropScience Forum #AIF2015

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, Bayer CropScience

Jim Blome Bayer CropScienceThe 10th Annual Ag Issues Forum (AIF), conducted by Bayer CropScience, is underway in advance of this year’s Commodity Classic in Phoenix. First speaker was Jim Blome, President/CEO, Bayer CropScience LP, who talked a little bit about his farm background and challenged attendees to get local though leaders out on a farm to help them better understand where their food comes from.

“If someone sits down to a meal, they’re part of the food system,” said Blome. “Conversations about agriculture have been happening without key contributors from our industry for far too long. Events like Ag Issues Forum foster the kinds of conversations so needed between those who work across agriculture and the people who consume the food they help produce. We can learn a lot from each other.”

Presenters and topics at the two-day event include Michael Rogers, futurist and author; former U.S. Rep. Thomas Latham; Jason Brown, former NFL player-turned-farmer; Bill Hohenstein, director of the Climate Change Program Office, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Robert Colangelo, founder of Green Sense, a large-scale vertical farm; Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, a nonprofit dedicated to building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters; and Mae C. Jemison, M.D., the first African-American female astronaut and science literacy advocate for Bayer’s award-winning Making Science Make Sense® program.

Listen to Jim’s remarks, discussion with AIF host Frank Sesno, and answering questions from ag media: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/bayer/aif-15-blome-remarks.mp3″ text=”Jim Blome, Bayer CropScience, Remarks”]

2015 Ag Issues Forum Photo Album