Get to Know GMOs Month

Cindy Zimmermanbiotechnology

gmo-answersIf you wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness this month, you might pair it with green for Get to Know GMOs Month.

This month GMO Answers is inviting the public to “Get to Know GMOs”— to ask their toughest questions and join the conversation.

“With the coming of October, we welcome a new fall season, a new harvest and a new opportunity to connect with consumers about their food – from farm to table,” Cathleen Enright, Council for Biotechnology Information executive director and GMO Answers spokesperson, said. “At GMO Answers, we invite you to ask us any questions you might have about GMOs — from how they are created to who is growing them to what ends up on your table.”

More than a year ago, GMO Answers created a central online resource for information on GMOs and how our food is grown, called GMOAnswers.com. Since then, more than 650 questions have been asked and answered by more than 100 independent experts.

“Keep asking and we’ll keep answering; and this October we hope you’ll take the time to ‘Get to Know GMOs’,” Enright said.

Science, Education Core Missions for Verdesian

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Audio, Events, Fertilizer

Verdesian has a mission as part of being a science-based company. And part of that mission is education – education of both journalists and farmers. To learn more about why this is so important, I spoke with Michael Berry, senior marketing manager with Verdesian, who hosted about half a dozen ag media at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Michael Berry VerdesianAs Berry succinctly explained, “Science is what we’re about.” The company holds more than 270 patents. “Our relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory is key to one of our biggest technologies that we’re getting ready to take to the row crop market,” continued Berry. “So giving access to the back-end of it is extremely important.”

Berry said technology is what Verdesian is all about is filling technology gaps for growers. “So having everyone throughout the chain understand that process and the technology behind the product is extremely important.”

He said that relationships are one ingredient to success and their relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory has been fruitful. It enables them to work together to identify potential, future technologies, some of which will eventually help growers.

To learn more about Verdesian’s commitment to science, technology and education and their relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory listen to my interview with Michael Berry: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/Verdesian/Verdesian-berry-14.mp3″ text=”Interview with Michael Berry, Verdesian”]

View the 2014 Verdesian Los Alamos Media Tour photo album.

AgroLiquid 4R Certification Reimbursement Program

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Fertilizer

Agro_liquidMid-Michigan liquid fertilizer company Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers is implementing a new Retail Partner 4R Certification Reimbursement Program designed to aid AgroLiquid Retail Partners in the Western Lake Erie Basin, which includes parts of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, in becoming certified in nutrient stewardship via the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program. AgroLiquid will reimburse qualifying Retail Partners for part of their Audit Fees associated with the program which is aimed at reducing runoff and leaching associated with the application of agricultural fertilizers. This initiative further demonstrates the company’s strong commitment to the principles of Responsible Nutrient Management; both CEO Troy Bancroft and Senior Marketing Manager Lonny Smith also serve as founding board members for the Responsible Nutrient Management Foundation.

“We hope that this sets the standard for the fertilizer industry, especially in sensitive watershed regions,” said Kurt Fisher, AgroLiquid Sales Account Manager in Michigan and Ohio. “We’d like to see the program move forward and we’re excited to be able to help our Retail Partners become some of the first ag professionals certified.”

The voluntary three year program is designed to recognize Nutrient Service Providers who have adopted the principles and practices of 4R Nutrient Stewardship and translates the well-known 4Rs of nutrient application — right source, right rate, right time and right place — into an audit-able set of criteria. The program is open to Nutrient Service Providers working in the Western Lake Erie Basin, including agricultural retailers, agricultural service providers and certified professionals.

Current AgroLiquid Retail Partners interested in the reimbursement program can contact their Sales Account Manager for additional information; those interested in exploring the opportunity of becoming an AgroLiquid Retail Partner and pursuing reimbursement for the certification can contact Fisher at (989) 513 3565 or kurt.fisher@agroliquid.com.

Weed Scientists Uproot Common ‘Superweed’ Myths

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Weed control

wssaToday the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) issued a new fact sheet to uproot common misconceptions about “superweeds”– a catchall term used by many to describe weeds resistant to herbicides. The paper explores the truth behind two widespread fallacies.

• Fallacy 1: Superweeds are a product of rampant gene transfer from genetically modified field crops. The truth:

WSSA scientists say gene transfer from some crops to certain weed species can happen, but it has not been a factor in the development of herbicide resistance across large acreages. The true culprit, they say, is overreliance on a single class of herbicides, resulting in selection for weeds that can survive the products in that class.

“Resistance to pesticides is not new or unique to weeds,” says Brad Hanson, Ph.D., a member of WSSA and Cooperative Extension weed specialist at the University of California at Davis. “Overuse of any compound class, whether antibiotic, antimicrobial, insecticide, fungicide or herbicide, has the potential to lead to reduced effectiveness. Although weeds resistant to herbicides were first reported more than a half century ago, integrated weed management strategies that included more tillage, more hand weeding and multiple herbicides kept them in check to a large degree. Today, however, it has become common in some cropping systems for farmers to repeatedly use a single class of herbicides to the exclusion of other weed control methods, and this has led to the growing problem with herbicide-resistant weeds.”

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Farm Journal Launching My Farm Radio

Cindy ZimmermanApps

MyFarmRadio.comIf you use your smartphone to listen to music through such applications as Pandora and I Heart Radio, getting farm news the same way is just around the corner.

Farm Journal Broadcast announces the upcoming launch of “My Farm Radio,” a 24/7 digital mobile radio channel focused on providing a mix of best-in-class news, weather and markets along with entertaining and informative conversation for America’s farmers and ranchers. The “My Farm Radio” app officially launches November 3, 2014, and will allow listeners to pick and choose what they want to hear—and when they want to hear it. The app will feature both a “live stream” experience and programs “on-demand”.

“All the latest research indicates that for a growing number of farmers and ranchers, mobile devices are rapidly becoming the go-to choice for news and information,” says Brian Conrady, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Farm Journal Radio. “While this totally new offering will be a first for agriculture, we expect our audience – and clients – will quickly associate “My Farm Radio” as the Pandora – type app for agriculture.”

“My Farm Radio” will launch with current Farm Journal Media radio programming, including “AgriTalk,” “Market Rally” and “American Countryside.” In addition, the company will be approaching potential programmers to make their shows or reports available on the app—or even own their own channel—on the “My Farm Radio” platform. Listeners will be able to download both iOS and Android operating system apps from their mobile devices or on-line.

Digi-Star’s Rich History of Weight Sensors

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, Award, technology, World Dairy Expo

wde-14-47-editedDigi-Star took home a 2014 Innovation Award at the World Dairy Expo for their moisture tracker. They also hosted a media event during the show and that is where I met up with Mac Moore, president and CEO of Digi-Star, who spoke with me about the honor and what the company has in store for producers across the country.

“Digi-Star has a long rich history going back about 30 years in using weight sensors to record any important constituency or ingredients used in cattle feed. At the most basic level we simply measure something, but then we take it to the next level and through processors and software we take that information and make it useful for the farmer. More recently we are looking at different types of sensors and recording devices to expand our range of products across a wider range of verticals while embracing technology.”

wde-14-59-editedThe media presentation took attendees through Digi-Star tools that help manage variables for farmers. These included their TMR Tracker 5.0, TST 76000, Cab Control Suite with wifi, Weigh Log and NIR Solutions. They stressed their commitment to providing reliable and rugged equipment that is simple to use.

“We think of it in terms of precision agriculture, but I think a better way to think about is decision agriculture. I think the real challenge in this industry is to figure out which technologies are we going to deploy to really help farmers make the best decisions. Not just offer them an overwhelming range of options.”

Listen to my complete interview with Mac here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/wdexpo/wde-14-digistar-moore.mp3″ text=”Interview with Mac Moore, Digi-Star”]

Find all photos from the event here: 2014 World Dairy Expo Photo Album.

Coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by
Coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by New Holland

From Lab to Field – Verdesian’s Technological Journey

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Audio, Fertilizer

I recently had the opportunity to learn about Verdesian’s philosophy of how they take technologies and customize them to agriculture. I should take a step back and mention that Verdesian has a strong relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the process of taking their defense research and “spinning it off” for agricultural applications.

Nigel Grech VerdesianAs Nigel Grech, executive vice president of Science & Technology, explains science is critical to their company and for agriculture but many journalists and growers alike aren’t familiar with the science. This is a barrier, he said, because when you understand the basic science of a technology, then you understand the benefits of the technology.

So how does this LANL-Verdesian partnership work? Grech said there are four keys to successfully going from the lab to the farmer’s field:

  1. Understanding the technology
  2. Construction of intellectual property
  3. Integration into what farms do
  4. Education

“We need to make sure we have early access so we can structure the language properly. Oftentimes researchers don’t understand applications on the farm,” explained Rech when discussing the construction of intellectual property. Companies get into trouble when the language isn’t structured correctly. He also noted that today farmers have to do more with less; they need more product with less volume and this can be tricky.

When asked why education is so important Grech said, “A lot of good inventions go sideways because companies don’t do a good job of educating people about their product. Farmers need to know what it does, how to use it and what the benefits are.”

One example of a successful pathway from LANL to the field is the company’s Take-Off product. Grech explained it is formulated in such as way it can be used with multiple applications and this makes the product unique. I learned that there will be a new generation of Take-Off announced in the next couple of weeks so watch out for this.

To learn more about the partnership as well as about Take-Off listen to my interview with Nigel Grech: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/Verdesian/Verdesian-grech-14.mp3″ text=”Interview with Nigel Grech, Verdesian”]

View the 2014 Verdesian Los Alamos Media Tour photo album.

Step-Change Improvement for Predictive Farm Management

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Crop Protection, Dupont Pioneer, Farm Management, USDA

Screen Shot 2014-10-06 at 12.34.41 PMIn February, the University of Missouri, the USDA-ARS, and DuPont Pioneer announced an innovative collaboration to pool soil mapping resources, predictive technologies and expertise. The collaboration offers growers a step-change in sustainable crop production through better recommendations for nitrogen application management and other field input planning, which can help deliver improved crop yields.

A team at the University of Missouri and USDA-ARS used yield data from more than 400 corn fields in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Indiana to compare county soil maps with Environmental Response Unit (ERU) maps developed in collaboration with DuPont Pioneer. ERUs are high-resolution soil mapping units that can then be used to develop a variety of management zones for individual fields or larger tracts of land.

“The study found that ERU maps provided better representation of corn yield environments than soil maps did in 80 percent of the fields,” said Brent Myers, Ph.D., an agronomist with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. “This indicates that Environmental Response Units provide growers with a better base on which to develop management programs, including nitrogen/fertility, water and seed.”

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CASE IH Connects with Canadian Farm Writers

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Case IH, CFWF, Equipment

case-cfwf-14Beautiful Prince Edward Island (PEI) was the spot for the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation 2014 Annual Conference and CASE IH was a Russet sponsor of the event. The sponsor categories were aptly named this year in honor of PEI’s largest agricultural industry – potatoes – and Russet is the top.

Two shiny red CASE IH tractors decorated the lawn of the conference hotel – “We’re a sponsor=we bring tractors!” tweeted Dan Danford with CASE IH.

cfwfOur Canadian contact, Trudy Kelly Forsythe, talked to Dan at the opening reception of the conference on Thursday about why CASE IH is so supportive of the CFWF. “It’s one of the few opportunities we have to connect with our Canadian editors and that’s a very important audience to us,” said Dan. “We wanted to be more pro-active in nurturing our relationship with the Canadian media and making sure they know we’re available to help them.”

Dan says CASE IH has a good presence in the Canadian farm equipment market so he thinks being a part of CFWF is a “win-win situation.”

Listen to Trudy’s interview with Dan here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/cfwf/cfwf-14-case-dan.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dan Danford, CASE IH”]


2014 Canadian Farm Writers Federation conference photo album

Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2014 Conference sponsored by
Coverage of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation 2014 Conference sponsored by Case IH

Iowa Grower Wins Syngenta Drive to Thrive Contest

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Company Announcement, Contest, Syngenta

syngentaSyngenta announced that Jim Cuddeback, a corn and soybean grower from Washington, Iowa, is the grand prizewinner of its Drive to Thrive contest. This competition challenged growers and other agricultural industry professionals across America to describe what makes their farms or agribusinesses thrive.

In Cuddeback’s winning essay, he named his family, which includes his wife of 44 years, two sons and five grandchildren, as the driving force behind his farm’s success. His genuine passion for agriculture is another motivator for him. “I entered the Drive to Thrive contest because I enjoy educating people about the role agriculture plays in our economy and the role farmers play in preserving our land and heritage,” he says. “It is a privilege to be honored with this award.”

Cuddeback notes that as he looks toward retirement and passing along the family farm to his oldest son, his primary goal is to leave the land in better condition than when he inherited it. After farming sustainably for 40 years, he is well on his way to accomplishing this goal. Since 1975, he has no-tilled most of his 540 acres of cropland. He also uses fall cover crops on his farm’s more erodible acres, has planted more than 20,000 trees on his properties, and has 250 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program. Because of his exemplary commitment to healthy soils and improved water quality, Cuddeback received an Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2014. Additionally, he is a member of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, the Farm Bureau and the Southeast Iowa Research Farm.

And Syngenta is proud to recognize Cuddeback as its first Drive to Thrive grand prizewinner. Earlier this year, the company posted the 10 best entries, as determined by a panel of judges, onto its Thrive website and invited visitors to vote for their favorite. Based on online voting and the quality of his essay, Cuddeback was named the winner. In addition to a touchscreen tablet, which all 10 deserving finalists received, Syngenta has awarded him with a $500 gas card and plans on featuring him in Thrive magazine.