GROWMARK’s Great Intern Program

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, FS Green Plan Solution, Growmark, Video

growmark-interns-2Summer is officially underway and for over 60 college students it is the beginning of a great journey as interns for GROWMARK, Inc.

“This is our 54th annual GROWMARK summer internship,” says GROWMARK University Relations Manager Ashley McClintock. “We have 61 interns this summer, representing 16 universities across North America.”

The 12 week internship program encompasses a variety of different areas within the GROWMARK system. “Most of our interns are in agronomy, we have a few in precision farming, seed, dairy, grain or commodities, and then we have a handful in energy and marketing as well,” said Ashley.

Unlike many intern programs, GROWMARK offers paid internships to allow students to not only gain valuable experience and connections, but also help them make a little money in the summer. “We view these as our employees as well and we want to make sure they get rewarded for their hard work,” Ashley explained, adding that the program is really a “mutual 12 week interview to see if these students have a future in the GROWMARK system.” In fact, about 50% of GROWMARK interns go on to become full time employees.

Listen to my interview with Ashley here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/growmark-interns-ashley.mp3″ text=”Ashely McClintock, GROWMARK intern program”]


See the list of all GROWMARK summer interns here.

To find out more about the GROWMARK internship program, watch the video below, created by and featuring 2012 interns.

Monsanto Summer Learning Opportunities

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Education, Events, Monsanto

logoFarmers throughout the country will have many opportunities to attend learning events this summer as the industry pushes for more education on diversified weed management practices (DWMPs) and insight into the seed, trait and herbicide technologies expected to soon become available.

A greater number of in-field, educational events in 2013 reflects the motivation of academics, farmers, manufacturers and retailers to get ahead of the learning curve for using new weed management technologies before the products enter the marketplace.

This summer, Monsanto is planning a robust educational program called the Roundup Ready Learning Xperience, a series of events aimed at transferring knowledge about the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System to seed dealers, retailers and others. Pending regulatory approvals, the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System will introduce Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, which are tolerant to dicamba and glyphosate herbicides. Featuring in-field training demonstrations, the Learning Xperience events will be held at more than 20 locations across major U.S. soybean-growing regions, specifically selected to show how the system will work across many environments.

New Ag Leader Responsive Website

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Ag Leader New Website ScreenshotGrowers using a smartphone, tablet or laptop will now have an optimized experience when visiting agleader.com, thanks to the launch of Ag Leader’s new responsive website.

“Responsive web design is an approach that businesses are implementing to provide users with the best possible viewing experience, no matter what device they are using,” explains Jake Smith, web developer for Ag Leader Technology.

According to the 2012 Media Channel Study sponsored by the Agri Council, 52% of all US farmers and ranchers access digital ag resources weekly; websites and e-newsletters were sited as most common.

Ag Leader’s goal is to provide every grower who visits agleader.com with improved readability and simplified navigation.

Responsive web designs rely on media queries in order to determine the resolution of the device it is being served on. Images are then scaled to fit on the screen correctly.

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.

Tips for Early-Season Scouting

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Apps, Dupont Pioneer, Scouting, seed

pioneerRegular scouting and field evaluation is a wise practice this coming growing season, according to DuPont Pioneer researchers and agronomists. Mild winter temperatures may have aided the survival of overwintering pests and diseases which could impact crop yields if not discovered and controlled.

Scouting fields regularly will help to identify planting issues, such as seedlings that have not emerged or lower-than-expected population counts. Efficacy of seed treatments becomes a challenge if the seed fails to germinate due to cool, wet conditions, or saturated soils dilute the treatment. By the two-leaf stage, you should be able to determine whether there are seedling emergence issues.

To help track field notes and assist with early-season scouting, Pioneer launched the Pioneer Field360 Notes app. The tool streamlines and organizes field-by-field agronomic information for communication between DuPont Pioneer agronomists, sales professionals and growers and is compatible with all tablet and mobile devices.

Mixed Reviews for Committe Farm Bills

Talia GoesZimmPoll

With all the farm bill activity in Congress this past week, our latest ZimmPoll asked “What’s your opinion of committee farm bill?” From the results, most think it’s better than nothing.

Our poll results: 18% said Better Than Nothing and Other, 14% said Hits Nutrition Too Hard and Bad For Everyone, nine percent said Senate Better Than House, Bad For Farmers, Will Help Conservation and Great For Everyone, and nobody said House Better Than Senate. Poll results are all over the charts this week with mixed reviews and disagreement with particular sections of the farm bill.

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Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Is agriculture doing a bad job of marketing?” Marketing seems to be the key to a successful industry. The public often gets a bad taste for agriculture after “issues” hit the media. Do we cover our tracks and market the good along with the benefits to agriculture, not to mention the must haves of it? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

Evaluating Early Growth Provides Insight to Growers

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Education, seed

Legends SeedLegends Seed Genetic Researcher and Agronomist, Mike Knight, reports that growers can glean valuable information by evaluating their plants within days of emergence. Early stage development sets the tone for the rest of the plant’s development. Evaluating plants is key for growers to know if the plant is developing to it’s full potential. By evaluating plants throughout the growing season growers can gauge plant development and seed performance; verify planting depth and detect, as well as, remedy nutrient deficiency

When evaluating newly emerged plants growers should begin by looking at a portion of the field to determine the actual emergence population. Like many aspects of plant evaluation, this helps growers determine if the seed is performing as it should. Measuring the mesocotyl, which is the distance from the seed to the soil’s surface, allows growers to determine actual planting depth and if their planter was correctly calibrated.

While initial plant evaluation can provide growers with useful information to use when planning 2014 management practices and selecting seed; it’s important to evaluate plants throughout the entire growing season. In some cases growers can actually increase yields through plant evaluation. For example, when looking at leaf coloration to determine if the plant is taking up the proper nutrients; if they catch a nutrient deficiency early enough in the plant’s development, there is the opportunity to side dress before yields are negatively impacted.

Auxins Could Help Crops Beat Heat and High Salinity

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Research, technology

Auxin-300x200The plant hormones called auxins are well-known for stimulating development of roots and other structures, and now University of Florida scientists have shown that auxins help plants cope with environmental stresses.

“Our findings show there’s a possibility of manipulating plant stress tolerance with auxins,” Rathinasabapathi said. “It may be possible to administer auxins to crops at critical stages of growth or possibly engineer new varieties that respond to auxins more efficiently.”

The study compared wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana plants with mutant specimens that weren’t able to transport auxins through their tissues effectively. When subjected to oxidative stress, salt and high temperatures, the wild-type plants fared better than the mutants.

Next, the team will investigate whether auxins could improve stress tolerance in rice plants. Rice is one of the world’s most widely consumed staple crops and is subject to heat and drought damage.

A New Guide of Fungicides

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Education, Guidance, Resources

wise-fungicideguideLOA new publication designed to help farmers make fungicide-related decisions is now available through Purdue Extension.

The guide, Fungicides for Field Crops, was edited by specialists from five universities and printed by the American Phytopathological Society. The full-color publication includes photos and covers all aspects of fungicide use, including different modes of action, how to use them in various crops and ways for farmers to test efficacy through their own on-farm trials.

Fungicides for Field Crops is $19 and can be ordered through Purdue Extension’s The Education Store at http://www.the-education-store.com by searching for ID-455.

Syngenta Takes Crop Research to a New Level

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Precision Labs, Syngenta

Syngenta has unveiled its new crop research facility at the company’s RTP Innovation Center, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The $72 million, Green Globes Certified, Syngenta New Research LabAdvanced Crop Lab allows company researchers to simulate any agricultural climate and precisely measure plant inputs. This technology will help farmers grow more food with fewer resources. During a grand opening ceremony, During the grand opening, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, growers and many others toured the new plant research facility.

“Our new Advanced Crop Lab allows us to bring together components of all research where we can create environments for multiple crops from multiple regions — simultaneously,” said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, head of biotechnology for Syngenta. “Individual controls of temperature, light and carbon dioxide levels, as well as humidity control in many growth chambers, provide tailored environments that allow our talented researchers to work on specific grower challenges. In addition to innovative facilities, being in RTP, we have access to some of the greatest scientific minds to help farmers grow more from less.”

The research facility houses 30 climate-controlled growth environments in all-glass greenhouses. Syngenta can simulate conditions from Iowa in one room and from Africa Young Corn at Syngenta Research Labnext door. This flexibility will allow company researchers to focus on developing agricultural traits that optimize crop yields, use resources efficiently and resist various stresses that farmers face every day across the globe.

“Syngenta invests more than $1.25 billion annually to directly focus on solving challenges for farmers. As we consider global food security, the research conducted in our new crop lab will be essential to meet that demand,” said Vern Hawkins, Syngenta North America region director.

Design elements of the new facility include insulated glass walls that provide a virtually shadowless indoor environment, a liquid “fertigation” system to feed and water the plants and an automated roof-washing system.

AgFanatics Planting Progress Podcasts

Cindy ZimmermanFS Green Plan Solution, Growmark, Planting

agfanatics-2Planting progress is on the minds of the AgFanatics.

In episode #31, the AgFanatics talk with MaxYield Cooperative’s, Karl Setzer, to get his take on the markets and what he’s been witnessing in the northwest part of Iowa. Karl also shares his thoughts on corn planting progress in his area.

Episode #32 features guest host Graham Utter discussing how his own planting progress is coming along, as well as corn and soybean price projection possibilities for the next few years.

The AgriVisor AgFanatics podcast is updated twice weekly and can be found on Itunes or right from the front page at www.agrivisor.com.