World Food Prize Honors Pioneers in Biotechnology

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Research

WFPThe 2013 World Food Prize will honor three distinguished scientists – Marc Van Montagu of Belgium, and Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T. Fraley of the United States.

Building upon the scientific discovery of the Double Helix structure of DNA in the 1950s, Van Montagu, Chilton, and Fraley each conducted groundbreaking molecular research on how a plant bacterium could be adapted as a tool to insert genes from another organism into plant cells, which could produce new genetic lines with highly favorable traits.

The revolutionary biotechnology discoveries of these three individuals – each working in separate facilities on two continents – unlocked the key to plant cell transformation using recombinant DNA. Their work led to the development of a host of genetically enhanced crops, which, by 2012, were grown on more than 170 million hectares around the globe by 17.3 million farmers, over 90 percent of whom were small resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

From their work in the laboratory to applying biotechnology innovations in farmers’ fields, the combined achievements of the 2013 World Food Prize Laureates have contributed significantly to increasing the quantity and availability of food.

AGCO Launching RG700

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Equipment, Spraying

AGCOAGCO Application Equipment is introducing the newest addition to its RoGator lineup – the RG700 – a 700-gallon machine built with the same attention to detail and durability as its bigger RoGator brothers.

Launching in fall 2013, the RG700 self-propelled sprayer combines RoGator professional-grade quality and dependability with flexibility to meet spraying requirements well suited for a smaller tank size. Tier 4i-compliant, it is equipped with the latest technology systems, is easy to operate and, like larger RoGator models, features an application-specific cab design that maximizes operator comfort and safety.

The RG700 offers an industry-leading AWD Smart Drive System, even weight distribution and Parallel C-channel flex frame, all of which combine to provide consistent field speed without shifting and excellent traction with all four wheels remaining on the ground. The result is a smoother ride, less wear and tear on the booms, and more precise product application, even under varying field conditions.

Soybean Marketing and Production College

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Education, Soybeans

pic-SPMC-061113The Mid-Summer Classic, known as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, is coming soon, but for soybean producers the best place to see all-stars is at the ASA Soybean Marketing and Production College on July 30 in St. Paul, Minn.

ASA is announcing Dr. Christy Sprague, Associate Professor, Michigan State University; Dr. Aaron Hager, Associate Professor, University of Illinois; and Dr. Jason Norsworthy, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas as its all-star lineup of speakers for its Herbicide and Weed Resistance Management session.

The Herbicide and Weed Resistance Management session at the ASA Soybean Marketing and Production College will use the soybean industry’s “Take Action HRM” approach and will provide attendees with the tools needed to develop a three- to five-year integrated management plan.

Guarantee your participation by registering by Tuesday, July 9, at www.SoyGrowers.com/MarketingProductionCollege.

FarmLogs Introduces Field Rainfall Monitoring

Talia GoesAgribusiness, weather

farmlogsFarmLogs, the leading agricultural tech startup that helps farmers plan, manage and analyze their farms’ operations, announced the addition of Field Rainfall Monitoring to its farm management software. The new feature is accessible from any device with a web browser and gives farmers the ability to view precisely how much rain fell on each field.

“The ability to measure exact rain accumulation at each field is going to save farmers an immense amount of time,” said Jesse Vollmar, CEO and co-founder of FarmLogs. “Driving to the fields to check for rain can be a hassle. With our new Field Rainfall Monitoring feature, there is no longer a need to physically check a field or to monitor rain gauges. We do it automatically.”

The new weather feature accurately and immediately displays field-specific rainfall levels at a glance for the most recent 12 and 24-hour periods, as well as eight years of historical precipitation data. A snapshot view displays the top 3 fields that have received the most rain in the past 12 hours, while detailed charts show users how many inches of rain have accumulated by field for the year, or anytime within the past 8 years. Automatic charts allow users to compare current growing season rainfall levels at each field against previous years and the 5 year average for that field.

Insect Pressure is On

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Growmark, Insect Control

It’s been an interesting year for farmers this year with weather extremes and planting challenges, and bugs are getting in on the act as well.

“We’re running into some interesting things likes true armyworms in wheat and in corn, and seed corn maggots, and all sorts of things,” said GROWMARK Insect/Plant Disease Technical Manager Kevin Black.

Kevin’s number one recommendation for growers is patience. “We’re looking at a number of fields right now that are turning yellow because of too much moisture and some cases where compaction was created earlier because of the rush to try to get crops that were already late in the ground,” he said. “Patience was called for then and patience is still called for.”

Cereal leaf beetle is one pest they have seen in wheat in southern Illinois, which he says is not a real serious threat right now but can be kind of nasty. “The larvae that cause most of the damage have a rather disgusting habit that they cover themselves with their own fecal material to help ward off parasites and predators,” he said.

The best line of defense for growers is scouting. “So many of the issues that we face can be taken care of if we catch them in a timely manner,” Kevin added.

Listen to my conversation with Kevin here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/gmk-kevin-bugs.mp3″ text=”Kevin Black Interview”]

Ag Leader’s Educator Training

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyAg Leader’s 4th annual Educator’s Training will be held on Aug. 6-8 at Ag Leader Academy. The program is designed for institutions that are teaching precision ag practices to their students either in the classroom or in the field with the purpose of educating institutions on Ag Leader’s various services and products, as well as to provide hands on demonstrations of Ag Leader’s product lineup.

Tyler Anderson, Ag Leader software support specialist, says Ag Leader is helping to cultivate the next generation of precision ag specialists in the job field, whether it’s back home on their own farms, at Ag Leader or as a precision farming dealer.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/06/Tyler1.mp3″ text=”Listen to Anderson explain”]

Anderson also says, “These ‘educating the educator’ sessions help students understand where precision ag might fit into their future.” Here’s what people can look forward to.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/06/Tyler2.mp3″ text=”Listen to Anderson explain”]

Please contact Tyler Anderson or Adam Walters at 515-232-5363 or education@agleader.com if you are interested in attending, need more information regarding the training, or are interested in learning about Ag Leader’s Educational Solutions program.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Bowling Elected as NCGA Vice President

Talia GoesAgribusiness, NCGA

BowlingThe National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board has elected Chip Bowling of Maryland to become the organization’s first vice president for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

“I am honored that my colleagues on the board have placed their trust in my ability and dedication to moving our association’s mission forward and creating greater opportunities for corn growers across the country,” said Bowling. “At the same time, I realize that farmers face many challenges right now as threats to the Renewable Fuel Standard abound and we continue operating without a new, five-year farm bill. I look forward to working with our grower leadership over the coming years to find innovative, impactful ways to deal with the situations at hand and those which will certainly arise in the future.”

A farmer for more than three decades, Bowling is a third-generation farmer who operates a 1,400-acre grain farm growing corn, soybean, wheat, barley and grain sorghum only an hour’s drive outside of Washington, D.C.

A graduate of NCGA’s first Advanced Leadership Academy class, Bowling currently serves as board liaison to the Ethanol Committee and represents NCGA on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Committee. He has also served on NCGA’s CornPAC Committee and Mycotoxin Task Force.

On Oct. 1, Johnson, of Iowa, becomes chairwoman and the current first vice president, Martin Barbre of Illinois, becomes NCGA president. In October 2014, Barbre becomes chairman and Bowling becomes president.

New Application Controls in the Making at Raven

Jamie JohansenRaven, Spraying, technology

ris-13-032_editedStaying on the cutting edge of precision agricultural technology isn’t an easy thing to master, but the team at Raven Industries has done just that. During the 2013 Raven Inovation Summit in Sioux Falls, South Dakota numerous products were unveiled. Three of them fall into the category of application controls.

I asked Gary Esselink, product manager in application controls for Raven, to give more insight into these three new additions.

One of them includes the tank fill monitor. Gary said, “We have a flow meter running at the outlet filling the tank up. And we calculate those gallons as they go in it. We then display them either on the field computer or on an outside monitor.”

Another new product in application controls is the automatic pump flush system. “What happens is a lot of the chemicals we run in the direct injector pumps change their characteristics. What we’ve done is provide a little flush tank with a 3-way valve. When you push a button on the field computer the valve turns and takes the flushing agent, runs it through the pump at a pre-designed amount and then shuts itself off.”

The last but certainly not least addition is the ISO virtual terminal. “ISO means it’s interactive with other systems. Raven products can interact with other field computer of our competitors if they are also ISO compatible.”

Listen to my complete interview with Gary here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/raven/ris-13-esselink.mp3″ text=”Interview with Gary Esselink”]

Check out photos from the event here: Raven Innovation Summit Photo Album

What Do You Think of The Senate Immigration Bill

Talia GoesZimmPoll

Before we get to our new Zimmpoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “How good was your first cutting of hay?” Many of you felt your hay crop was better than last year. Hopefully this is a good sign for this season.

Our poll results: Thirty-five percent said Better Than Last Year, twenty-five percent said Same as Last Year, twenty-five percent said Worse Than Last Year, and fifteen percent said Other. The “Other” responses claimed it is too wet to cut hay. All this moisture is a cure for the drought but seems to have delayed hay season in parts of the country.

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What is your opinion of Senate immigration bill?” With a Senate vote of 82-15 to allow further debate on legalizing the nation’s 11 million unauthorized immigrants, update the hiring process and make legalization a breeze. President Obama claims it is “the best chance we’ve had in years”. How do you feel? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

Genscape Ups Tech Reach with LandViewer Buy

John DavisAgribusiness, Data Collection, Ethanol, technology

Genscape LogoMore information certainly helps any operation, especially operations dependent on precision technology (and who these days doesn’t need more precise information?). Provider of energy information for commodity and financial markets Genscape has bought LandViewer to expand its technology footprint in the agriculture and biofuels industries. Genscape says, using NASA satellite data to get daily updates of corn vegetation progress, the LandViewer platform gives corn traders and buyers land use and crop progress information on a sub-regional level so they know where to source grain and how to set the best prices.

“The LandViewer platform opens a lot of doors for Genscape customers to make informed grain management decisions ahead of market movements. When you know the supply of corn you can set better prices, hedge investment risk and stay ahead of the competition,” says Robert Barton, Managing Director of Agriculture and Biofuels at Genscape.

To complement the LandViewer acquisition and to provide additional value to ethanol customers Genscape has also launched a unique QAP specifically for the ethanol industry. The new program offers a way for ethanol plants to create QAP-B RINs desired by Obligated Parties with a minimal impact on plant operations. Using their proven technology, the company can offer a cost-effective method to directly manage RIN generation compliance while eliminating the hassle of onsite auditing.

Also designed for traders, LandViewer uses a combination of historical data, national yield regressions and fundamental crop data to deliver highly accurate projections of crop yields on a national level to inform trading and investment strategies.

The LandViewer technology was developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago Energy Resources Center.