Clariant Agrocer™ Now Granulated

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Clariant once again brightened up the trade show floor at the CSS 2017 and Seed Expo last week in Chicago and announced the latest development in their dedicated range of colorants for the agricultural industry.

Clariant’s Agrocer seed colorants are now available in pre-dispersed granulated pigments with a very small particle size making them easy to disperse in cold water. “These are actually dried granules and are dust-free,” said Mark Self, market segment manager for Clariant. “They require minimal effort – just basically a stir-in.”

Self says Clariant has learned quite a bit from exhibiting at the seed expo for the last three years, and actually developed the new granulated product based on customer feedback at the show. “We get to meet a lot of seed companies and major producers of seed so we get to learn more of their needs and what they are looking for,” he said.

The new pre-dispersed granules flow like liquid, can be metered and are suitable for applications where a dust-free dry stir in process is needed. Agrocer Green 007 Gran. and Agrocer Yellow 001 Gran. are currently available in the granulated form. More colors will be added in the coming months.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Mark Self, Clariant

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

Digital Ag and Big Data

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Data, Precision Agriculture, seed

As our digital world expands in agriculture, big data keeps getting bigger and making a bigger difference in how farmers make decisions.

Digital Agriculture: Big Data was a session this week at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS 2017 & Seed Expo. University of Wisconsin agronomy professor Shawn Conley moderated the session which included presentations from:

Paul Schrimpf
Meister Media Worldwide

John Fulton, associate professor
The Ohio State University

Ariel Zajdband, head of product
Mavrx

Jeremy Wilson, farmer
Crop IMS LLC

Listen to the session here: ASTA CSS Digital Ag, Big Data session

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

John Deere Connect Support Tool Receives Award

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The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) recently honored John Deere Connected Support – Expert Alerts with its AE50 Award for 2018. Expert Alerts helps producers to minimize downtime during their busiest seasons by predicting service needs and reducing diagnostic time using JDLink machine connectivity and data analytics. Customers and dealers can reduce service costs and experience fewer service interruptions when they use this technology.

“Expert Alerts provides remote machine monitoring and notification to John Deere dealers, which enables them to contact customers about an impending or potential issue, and often gives dealers solutions to resolve the issue,” said Jeremy Goebel, aftermarket product development manager for John Deere. “John Deere Connected Support tools enable dealers to proactively support customers, which results in customers experiencing less downtime, or sometimes avoid downtime altogether, leading to increased productivity and profitability.”

The AE50 award highlights the year’s most innovative designs in product engineering in the food and agriculture industry, as chosen by a panel of international engineering experts.

FarmLead Launches GrainCents Advisory Service

AgWired Precision, Grains, Markets

A new subscription service from FarmLead has been launched that can provides specific recommendations to farmers on when to sell, hold and/or hedge in various market conditions to improve balance sheets, operations, and grain marketing schedules.

The new service called GrainCents also educates farmers by providing expert insights on global market conditions and how they impact farm operations for specific crops.

GrainCents offers a cost-effective solution to make sense of what is really moving the markets for 12 crops grown in North America, including corn, soybeans, three wheat varieties, and canola. “Too often I hear about ‘just-in-time’ grain marketing; hoping and wishing for better prices,” FarmLead President & CEO Brennan Turner said. “We think that knowing the market you’re in, and the main factors influencing it, can generate a successful grain marketing plan.”

GrainCents is built on Turner’s accurate track record of 93% right calls of when to sell, hold or hedge grain over the past two years. The cost for the annual GrainCents subscription ranges from $250 to $450 per crop, and discounted packages for multiple crops are available.

For more information, visit: https://farmlead.com/graincents.

DuPont & Sumitomo’s Global Seed-Applied Tech Agreement

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DuPont and Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited announced a global agreement to collaborate on the development, registration and commercialization of seed-applied technologies for use in key crops around the world.

DuPont and Sumitomo Chemical formed this collaboration out of a shared objective to accelerate development and commercialization of novel seed-applied technologies to improve early plant growth and yields. The global agreement leverages the strengths of both companies, combining the conventional chemical and biological pipeline from Sumitomo Chemical, with the advanced seed technology and development and commercialization capability of DuPont Crop Protection, a business unit of DowDuPont Agriculture Division.

Collaborations between DuPont and Sumitomo Chemical’s regional affiliate, Valent U.S.A. LLC., will focus on the North American region with potential expansion opportunities to multiple crop markets globally.

During the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo a press conference was held where Meg Brodman, Valent; Trey Soud, marketing director, row crops, Valent; and Mick Messman, director, DuPont Seed Applied Technologies spoke on the announcement.

Listen here: Dupont/Sumitomo Press Conference

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA Announces Student Video Awards

Cindy ZimmermanASTA, Audio, seed

ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne; Katelyn Fritz; and Susan Chapman, Tri-Societies

The first-place winner of the first “Better Seed, Better Life” student video contest was awarded this week during the CSS 2017 & Seed Expo in Chicago.

Sponsored by the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB), and the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America (Tri-Societies), the contest asked graduate and undergraduate students focusing on plant-science disciplines to submit videos bringing plant breeding innovation to life.

The winning video was produced by Katelyn Fritz of Iowa State University. As a junior double majoring in Agronomy and Global Resource Systems with focus areas of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology as well as Central America, Katelyn is on an eight-month internship in Guatemala with a small NGO named Semilla Nueva that works to sustainably overcome chronic malnutrition in Guatemala through biofortified corn.

Learn more about her enthusiasm about life and seed in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/astacss17-video-fritz.mp3″ text=”Interview with Katelyn Fritz, ASTA Better Seed Better Life video winner”]

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

ASTA CSS 2017 Attendance Strong

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The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is ushering in the holiday season in its traditional way – with the annual CSS & Seed Expo in Chicago.

ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says turnout at the annual event that includes the industry’s biggest trade show is still very strong despite ongoing mergers and acquisitions. “We’ll probably have close to 2700 this year and a good international representation,” said LaVigne.

Because international trade is so important to the seed industry, ASTA is urging its members to members to take part in today’s social media campaign in favor of NAFTA. “Mexico and Canada are huge markets for U.S. grain farmers and our customers,” said LaVigne, so it is important for the industry to make its voice heard loud and clear at the White House.

NAFTA Grassroots Day today encourages farmers and others in the industry to share their stories about the importance of NAFTA using #Farmers4NAFTA and #JustGrowIt and tagging @WhiteHouse

LaVigne has more information in this interview: Interview with ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne

2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album

Precision Ag Bytes 12/6

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  • Verdesian Life Sciences, the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America will provide a soil health management systems webinar on Wednesday, December 13, 2017 from 2–3 p.m. Central, 3–4 p.m. Eastern. Registration is through the ASA’s Online Learning Platform. Participants will also receive a recording of the on-demand webinar. For details or to register visit agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/533.
  • Following a highly successful first year, Alltech will select another cohort from across the world to participate in The Pearse Lyons Accelerator, a unique global accelerator backed by Irish entrepreneur Dr. Pearse Lyons. Last year’s startups collectively added $50 million in new qualified sales leads across 28 international markets by the end of the accelerator. Last month, seven of the 10 startups were featured by CB Insights* in “Agtech: 100+ Technology Companies Changing The Farm,” illustrating the quality of the startups involved.
  • General Mills continues to invest in soil health practices on U.S. agricultural farmland with its latest contribution of $735,000 to the National Wheat Foundation who together with the Soil Health Partnership, will advance widespread adoption and implementation. The funds, equally distributed over the next three years, will be used to conduct soil health research on wheat farms and education outreach to more than 125,000 wheat farmers across the Northern and Southern Plains.

GROWMARK’s Wells Joins ARA Executive Committee

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GROWMARK Crop Nutrients Division Manager Rod Wells is the newest member of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) executive committee. Wells has been involved in ARA for a number of years and believes it is an important place to participate.

“It’s all about being engaged in the process. It’s about advocating for the industry,” said Wells. “It’s critical that we make our voices heard and that we’re all active, and people listen. They want to hear that grassroots voice coming to them.”

Wells said in addition to policy work, ARA provides important educational and networking opportunities, as well providing for the exchange of ideas on topics like regulations and crop insurance.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Rod Wells here: Rod Wells, GROWMARK

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

Missouri Farm Bureau Listening Session on #FarmBill18

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The Missouri Farm Bureau held their annual meeting earlier this week and a highlight for many was the discussion on the 2018 Farm Bill. In a packed house, a Focus on the Farm Bill Seminar took place with Capitol Hill decision makers and thought-leaders in Missouri agriculture.

Panelists:
– Ranking Member House Ag Committee, Congressman Collin Peterson
– Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler
– Chairman Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Chris Giancarlo
– Former Congressman Kenny Hulshof
– Retired Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation, Dr. Bob Young,
– Senior Advisor, USDA Secretary, Brian Klippenstein

Remarks from Collin Peterson, Congressman

Remarks from Chris Giancarlo, CFTC

Remarks from Vicky Hartzler, Congresswoman

Remarks from Kenny Hulshof, Former Congressman

Remarks from Brian Klippenstein, USDA

Remarks from Dr. Bob Young, Retired AFBF

Q&A and Closing Remarks