Precision | Page 380 | News and reviews from the precision agriculture industry

Corn Ethanol Project in Brazil Will Feature Precision Ag

Joanna SchroederAugust 29, 2014Audio, bioproducts, Corn, Energy, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show

Alden, Iowa-based Summit Group announced a project to build the first modern corn ethanol plant in Brazil during the 2014 Farm Progress Show. The project will consist of a US$140 million ethanol plant near Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso, a leading agricultural state in west central Brazil and the country’s largest producer of corn and soybeans. The project is being financed by Summit Group who is partnering with Fiagril and will be developed by ethanol technology company ICM and built by agribusiness company Marino Franz.

To learn more about the project I spoke with Eric Peterson, Summit Group president, who said that his organization does large crop production, hog production and cattle production and as part of that they have a private equity group, U.S. Farmland Fund, that is providing the financing for the project.

One of the interesting parts in particular about Mato Grosso is because of improved genetics they’re able to double crop. So they are able to raise the first crop of soybeans and the second crop of corn or cotton so they have increasing corn production in the middle of the continent where it is difficult to get it out. So they are embracing “value-added” agriculture.

Peterson also spoke more specifically about the value-added opportunities the corn ethanol plant will provide the community of Mato Grosso. Peterson explained the area has difficulty getting corn exports out of the region and ethanol into the region. With the new ethanol plant, the corn will be purchased locally and the ethanol and DDGs produced will then stay local – overcoming the export/import barriers of the region. This has made the project and partners very accepted in the community.

Another key to the area is the farmer’s use of precision agriculture. Peterson believes there is a great opportunity to create synergistic relationships between U.S. farmers and Brazilian farmers. “When we go there we are impressed with some of their technology and how they adapt to large scale agriculture and they are quickly adopting precision technologies that we have here in the U.S. and there is no better place for people to assimilate technology than in Brazil and so I think we can learn a lot from each other,” explained Peterson.

He also explained that although the U.S. is ahead in the use of precision ag, Brazilian farmers have had to adopt to large-scale farms much more quickly than U.S. farmers. “So in some ways they are ahead and in some ways we are ahead,” commented Peterson.

The plant is to break ground the next six months and to be operational 16 months from groundbreaking, which will occur before the rainy season in Feb/March and will produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year.

To learn more about the agribusiness and precision ag aspects of the Summit Group’s Brazilian ethanol plant, listen to my interview with Eric Peterson: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps14-summitgroup-peterson.mp3″ text=”Interview with Eric Peterson”]

View the Farm Progress 2014 Flicker photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience

Bayer Fluency Agent Completes 2nd Year Trials

Cindy ZimmermanAugust 29, 2014Audio, Bayer CropScience, Bees, Crop Protection, Farm Progress Show, seed

Bayer CropScience this year engaged equipment manufacturers, seed companies and retailers across the United States to demonstrate the effectiveness of its new Fluency Agent seed lubricant. More than 88 growers with nearly 60,000 acres of corn and soybean acres completed the field study’s survey to provide feedback on the product first field tested last year.

Fluency Agent was developed to reduce the already low-level of potential risk of exposure to pollinators if they come in direct contact with dust during planting. “This year’s testing of Fluency Agent was an unqualified success,” said Kerry Grossweiler, SeedGrowth Equipment and Coatings manager with Bayer CropScience. “The data we have gathered from the second year of field testing in the U.S. are overwhelmingly positive and we are excited for growers to have available to use in 2015.”

Customer feedback reveals that the product performed as expected or better. Bayer will finalize its analysis of the results of the field trials and work with planter equipment manufacturers, seed companies and retailers to have Fluency Agent available for growers in 2015.

I talked with Kerry during Farm Progress Show where he provided more detailed information about Fluency Agent and also talked about the On Demand™ system powered by Bayer SeedGrowth™ – a state of the art, fully automated, completely closed treatment unit. Learn more from Kerry here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps14-bayer-kerry.MP3″ text=”Interview with Kerry Grossweiler, Bayer CropScience”]

2014 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

EPA Official Talks WOTUS at FPS

Cindy ZimmermanAugust 29, 2014Audio, Farm Progress Show, Government, water

Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks held an informal press availability at the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday to mainly talk about the proposed Waters of the United States rule. He stressed the point that has been made by other officials that the rule exempts all normal farming practices that are currently exempt.

“If you did not need a permit from the (Army) Corps (of Engineers) or the EPA before this rule becomes final, you will not need a permit from these agencies after it becomes final,” said Brooks. He admits that the so-called “interpretive rule” part of the proposal needs some work. “From the get-go that was not well explained and has not been well understood. I’m fairly sure that the agencies will take another look at that.”

Brooks knew nothing about the maps released by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Wednesday which reportedly appear to detail the extent of EPA’s “Waters of the United States” proposal, but he said the final rule will be dependent on the results of an independent scientific review. “We know we need to have the science firm before we make the law to follow the science,” he said. [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps14-epa.MP3″ text=”EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks”]

2014 Farm Progress Show photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Updates to MyJohnDeere.com

Chuck ZimmermanAugust 28, 2014Agribusiness, Apps, John Deere, Video

The MyJohnDeere platform continues to grow according to Chris Batdorf. During the John Deere 2015 Products Launch we talked about new features like the Operations Center.

John Deere introduces the MyJohnDeere Operations Center with intuitive, easy-to-use tools for customers to manage their machinery and develop agronomic insights. Data can be uploaded securely using backup tools or, right from the field using JDLink™, and the platform is open, allowing seamless sharing to trusted advisors.

“The MyJohnDeere Operations Center provides customers with tools to improve machine uptime, logistics management, and agronomic analysis in a secure, accessible way,” says Chris Batdorf, product marketing manager, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. “The customer is in control of the data and can share with dealers, crop consultants, and anyone in their network of trusted advisors; securely, from any Internet-enabled device.”

Innovative tools such as Field Analyzer and Difference Maps help customers gain insight into their operations for improved decision-making to increase yields, optimize costs, and manage risk.

Learn more about what’s new with MyJohnDeere from Chris in the video that I took with ZimmGlass:

2014 Farm Progress photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

New L Series Square Balers From John Deere

Chuck ZimmermanAugust 28, 2014Agribusiness, Equipment, Hay, John Deere, water

John Deere has just introduced new large square balers for the commercial hay equipment user. The models include the L330 and the L340 Square Balers. These large balers are designed to maximize performance, increase uptime, and lower the overall cost of operation for commercial hay equipment owners and operators.

“We’ve been working for years to develop a large square baler that will meet the tough demands of our commercial hay customers,” says Jeremy Unruh, product line manager, John Deere Ottumwa Works. “And now we’re very pleased to launch the new L Series Square Balers with High-Capacity Rotor™ to offer more efficiency, capacity, and performance to commercial hay producers in the U.S. and Canada.”

The balers are designed with two working widths, 83-inch for the L330 and 90-inch for the L340. These high-capacity balers feature a heavy-duty drivetrain with a 45 stroke-per-minute gear box to transfer power to other components. The 330 Baler produces a 3- by 3-ft. square bale and the 340 Baler produces a 3- by 4-ft. square bale.

Watch Jeremy tell us all about the new models and then see more in the field from the recent product launch.

2014 Farm Progress photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Farm Progress Show Final Day Cancellation

Chuck ZimmermanAugust 28, 2014Farm Progress Show

Well the show started to go on today. However, the weather finally deteriorated and the Farm Progress Show has just announced final day cancellation since lightning has entered the area. I got my notice via Twitter. The first two days were great and the ZimmComm Team got everything done that absolutely had to be done. We wish we could have had this last day to spend some time with a few more companies. We have lots of stories to continue telling you though.

I want to say a big thank you to all our sponsors both here on Precision.AgWired.com and also on AgWired.com. We couldn’t do it without you!

2014 Farm Progress photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Iowa Governor Visits Farm Progress Show

Cindy ZimmermanAugust 27, 2014Audio, Corn, Equipment, Ethanol, Farm Progress Show, Government, John Deere

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad paid a visit to the 2014 Farm Progress Show Tuesday and met with some of the show’s international visitors.

“I do a lot of international travel to promote what we produce in Iowa,” said Branstad. “We are the leading corn producing state, leading soybean producing state, leading pork producing state, leading egg producing state, we also lead in ethanol and biodiesel, we’re big in wind energy, and this is a great place to showcase all the new technology.”

Branstad had some harsh words for the Environmental Protection Agency, which just last week sent a final version of the 2014 volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard to the White House for review, blaming uncertainty created by the proposed rule for the recent layoffs at Deere and Company. “The result is the price of corn has dropped so much that farmers are not buying equipment,” he said. “What the EPA has done is not only damaging farm income, but it’s costing us jobs in farm machinery and manufacturing.”

Deere announced more than 100 people will be laid off indefinitely from its plant in Ankeny and 460 people will be laid off at its tractor factory in Waterloo.

Listen to my interview with the Governor here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps14-branstad.mp3″ text=”Interview with Iowa Governor Terry Branstad”]

2014 Farm Progress photo album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Commodity Prices & Farm Equipment Sales

Jamie JohansenAugust 27, 2014ZimmPoll

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s the most important skill set for ag communications?”

The tried and true skill of writing still tops the charts when it comes to agriculture communications even though the industry has changed so much over recent years. But the importance of a well-rounded graduate is always the end goal. Not surprisingly, people skills comes in as a heavy second. All skills needed in any career and in any industry.

Here are the poll results:

Writing/editing – 29%
Graphic design – 0%
Photography – 0%
Social media/blogging – 0%
Verbal communications – 8%
People skills – 21%
All of the above – 29%
Other – 13%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, How do you think commodity prices are impacting farm equipment sales?

We are in the heat of the 2014 Farm Progress Show so we thought we would talk farm equipment. Are you staying optimistic saying good crops will equal good sales? Or are you guessing the downward trend will continue?

Bayer’s Investment in the Future of Ag

Jamie JohansenAugust 27, 2014Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer CropScience, Education, Farm Progress Show

Inci Dannenbreg is responsible for the US Commercial Operations group for Bayer CropScience and shared their commitment to the next generation of agriculture during their media event held at the 2014 Farm Progress Show. Their investment in this has led them to continually seek opportunities to educate and innovate, not only today’s youth, but also recruit employees who understand and respect the industry.

“Bayer CropScience is very involved in innovation, science and technology. In order to keep that going in the future we need talent. It is very important to Bayer that we find young talent in the marketplace and try to bring them in to agriculture. Also to spur young minds at that elementary school age to have an interest in science as they progress through their school career.”

One way Bayer is doing this is through their Making Science Make Sense program. This program brings Bayer folks into classrooms where they work with kids doing hands-on science experiments. Making Science Make Sense is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year. With that in mind, their goal is to get into more schools and continue to teach the value agriculture brings to the world.

Keeping on the theme of education and youth, Inci shared about their sponsorship of the upcoming 2015 Youth Ag Summit to beheld in Australia. The top 100 candidates will get to come together to learn about and discuss current issues in agriculture.

Here is my complete interview with Inci:[wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-14-dannenberg.mp3″ text=”Interview with Inci Dannenbreg, Bayer CropScience”]

2014 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

Updates On Corn, Water Quality from Bill Northey

Joanna SchroederAugust 27, 2014Audio, Farm Progress Show, sustainability, water, Water Management

During the Farm Progress Show this week, I caught up with Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey. I asked him what the corn crop was looking like in Iowa in particular, as Boone, Iowa is the host of this year’s Farm Progress.

Northey said that for the most part, Iowa is going to have a great corn crop as well as bean crop- especially with the August rain. He said that there are some pockets that had too much rain and hail in June (this affected his farm) but overall, the corn crop is going to offset some of the below average acres and Iowa should see a record crop.

Another key issue that Northey has been working on with Iowa farmers is a water quality initiative. Just this week the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Pork Producers Association launched the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA) to increase farmer awareness of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and their adoption of science-based practices proven to demonstrate environmental benefits.

Northey said they he has been involved with multi-state hypoxy work group (aka Dead Zone) to reduce chemicals in the ground water supply. The work group realized it would be up to individual states to implement strategies so Iowa released the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The state has made significant funds available for water quality practices ($20M in 2013 / $10M in 2014) that farmers can voluntarily adopt.

This is where the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance comes in – they will engage farmers on how to implement water strategies as part of the nutrient plan.

Learn more about the corn crop and Iowa water quality strategies by listening to my interview with Bill Northey: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps14-bill-northey.mp3″ text=”Interview with Bill Northey”]

View the Farm Progress 2014 Flicker photo album.

Coverage of the 2014 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by

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