GROWMARK Opens New Tank and Truck Center

AgWired Precision, Audio, FS System, Growmark

Bolt cutters instead of scissors cutting through a chain instead of ribbon marked the grand opening of GROWMARK’s new Tank and Truck Center in Morton, Illinois last month.

The bolt cutters were a last minute change when weather forced the celebration inside. Tank and Truck Center Sales and Operations Manager Mike Davis says they were supposed to use a blow torch to cut the chain. “It wasn’t quite as dramatic an effect as we wanted but it symbolized what we do – we manufacture stuff and we can make changes on the fly,” said Davis.

The buildings at the Morton location had been vacant for some time and it was a perfect match when GROWMARK’s Tank and Truck Center near Tremont was in the market for a bigger home. “It’s around 30,000 square feet of office and shop space,” said Davis. “Since the building was empty we could go through and make it what we wanted.”

The Morton center is one of six that GROWMARK maintains, with three more in Illinois and two in Iowa, and Davis says they have plans to open more in the future. The facilities serve the general public as well as GROWMARK System members.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with GROWMARK Tank and Truck manager Mike Davis

Survey Spurs Farm Groups to Action on Opioid Crisis

AFBF, AgWired Precision, Audio, NFU

Two of the nation’s largest farm groups plan to work together in response to staggering numbers released in a recent survey on opioid abuse in rural America.

The Morning Consult survey shows farmers and ranchers are more affected than the rest of their rural neighbors, with 74 percent confirming they’ve been directly impacted by opioid abuse. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and National Farmers Union together sponsored the survey, and those groups will collaborate on how to fight opioid addiction on America’s farms and ranches.

“This is a new challenge,” said Will Rodger, director of policy communications for AFBF. “It’s not the boll weevil, it’s not the Dust Bowl, but it’s something just as tough and something just as potentially fatal, and we need to start getting moving on this.”

Rodger said the groups don’t have a specific plan in place just yet, but the process will begin with conversations.

“You can’t beat this problem unless you address it. The worst thing we can do is to judge people for mistakes that they or others may have made. The best thing we can do is to get them the help that they so desperately need,” said Rodger.

Listen to the full interview here: Interview with Will Rodger, AFBF

New Ag Retailers Chair Has Game Plan

Cindy ZimmermanARA, Audio

New ARA chair John Oster; outgoing chair Tim McArdle, CEO Daren Coppock

The new chairman of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) says 2017 was a championship year for the organization and he hopes to sustain that excellence moving forward.

John Oster with Morral Companies in Ohio says one area where ARA will be very active in the coming year is in development of the new farm bill. “Although we are a small percentage of the total outlay for the farm bill, what we do is extremely important,” he said in an interview after the passing of the ARA gavel to him from Tim McArdle.

Oster says they want to work closely with new administration officials such as Sonny Perdue and Scott Pruitt on regulations impacting the industry, and do an even better job of telling agriculture’s winning story.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Oster here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/ara17-oster.mp3″ text=”Interview with new ARA chair John Oster, Morral Companies”]

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

Agriculture Secretary Addresses Ag Retailers

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio, USDA

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue topped off the ARA Conference and Expo on Thursday in Phoenix, covering a broad range of topics in his comments including tax reform, de-regulation, trade, food security, infrastructure, school lunches and the farm bill.

Perdue, who noted his past experience in the fertilizer business and with ARA’s predecessor organization, the National Fertilizer Solutions Association, talked extensively about the tax reform bill currently under debate in the Senate. He encouraged those in the business of agriculture to contact their representatives in Washington, D.C., to communicate their corporate and individual interests.

“Farming is a great lifestyle, but you don’t get to do it very long as a lifestlye if you don’t make money at it,” he said. “You need to speak through your associations, but you also need to speak independently. Talk to your members of Congress and let them know what’s on your mind. Weigh in on what you like about (the tax reform bill), what you don’t like about it.”

Perdue also stressed the need for development of rural broadband to maximize technological innovations within agriculture. Precision agriculture depends on broadband everywhere, he said.

Watch the video.

Listen to or download his entire remarks and press gaggle –
Secretary Perdue at ARA2017

Secretary Perdue press gaggle

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

AMVAC® to Market and Sell ReTurn™ XL

AgWired Precision, AMVAC, Crop Protection, Insecticides

AMVAC® Chemical Corporation has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Rotam North America to market and sell ReTurn™ XL 42% insecticide/nematicide, a broad-spectrum oxymyl-based crop protection product which recently received federal registration to manage nematodes and control various sucking and chewing insects in potato, cotton, tobacco and peanut crops.

“AMVAC has been selected because of their long and successful history of crop protection sales, marketing and stewardship in specialty crops. It’s the right partnership to bring this product to key crop segments,” said Rotam North America Vice President of Global Marketing and Business Communications Tom Chavez.

AMVAC Vice President of Business Development and Marketing Peter Eilers said they are excited about the agreement. “We are well-aligned to market this product to specialty crop segments, and we will be working directly with distributors and retailers to ensure that the product gets into the hands of the grower in 2018,” said Eilers.

ReTurn XL includes two-way foliar and soil systemic activity for above and below ground protection, making it an excellent pest management option for growers. It allows for optimal control of key pests so that cotton, potato and peanut plants get off to their best start, helping to maximize the grower’s yield and return on investment.

ARA Presents Distinguished Service and Lifetime Awards

AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio

The Agricultural Retailers Association recognized the 40-year career of William “Tip” O’Neill with the Jack Eberspacher Lifetime Achievement Award, and presented the Distinguished Service Award to long-time board member Steve Nielsen during the ARA Conference and Expo in Phoenix this week.

Nielsen, most recently general counsel and corporate secretary for United Suppliers, joined the ARA board of directors in 2011. He has been an active board member during his tenure. In 2012, he participated in the Leadership at its Best program, and later served as chair of the Public Policy Committee. He frequently advocates on behalf of the industry in Washington, D.C.

O’Neill has been with International Raw Materials since its founding in 1979. Based in Philadelphia, IRM is an international marketing company specializing in the wholesale distribution of fertilizers and industrial chemicals. For many years, he served on the ARA Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and has been a steadfast supporter of the fertilizer industry’s advocacy and education efforts.

Listen to remarks from both honorees:
ARA Distinguished Service, Steve Nielsen

ARA Lifetime Achievement, Tip O’Neill

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

Asmus Farm Supply Named ARA Retailer of the Year

AgWired Precision, ARA, Audio

The Agricultural Retailers Association this week presented Asmus Farm Supply of Rake, Iowa with the 2017 Retailer of the Year at the ARA conference and expo in Phoenix.

The operation is lead by second-generation owners Harlan and Amy Asmus, who accepted the award along with their sons Garrett and Holden and daughter-in-law, Billie. Mark Helt, National Sales Manager for Monsanto, and ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock (far right), presented the award.

“Asmus farm supply started in the 1950s by my late father Harvey,” said Harlan. “Our customer relationships go deep-decades and three generations.”

“The family business goes beyond the ownership of the business. Everyone who works for and with Asmus Farm Supply is really part of that family,” said Amy.

AFS has five locations serving farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Read more about the Asmus’ from ARA, and listen to Harlan and Amy’s comments here: 2017 ARA Retailer of the Year

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

ARA Explores Lessons Learned From Dicamba

AgWired Precision, ARA, Crop Protection, Herbicide, weeds

Two respected weed scientists presented their views on the lessons learned from this year’s introduction of new dicamba formulations for control of resistant weeds at a pre-conference workshop for the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) this week.

Dr. Ford Baldwin, Practical Weed Consultants, was extension weed scientist at the University of Arkansas for 28 years. Dr. Stanley Culpepper is a professor and Extension Agronomist in the Crop and Soil Science Department at the University of Georgia. Each had very different experiences with dicamba products in their states this year and shared their stories with ag retailers with the goal of applying the lessons learned to next year.

Arkansas led the nation in dicamba complaints in 2017 with over 1000, while Georgia had none. Listen to their presentations below.

Dicamba Lessons Learned, Ford Baldwin, Arkansas

Dicamba Lessons Learned, Stanley Culpepper, UGA

2017 ARA Conference and Expo Photo Album

Precision Ag Bytes 11/29

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • Join seed industry leaders from across the world for the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) 57th Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference, January 27 – 30 in San Diego. The annual Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference brings nearly 1,000 registrants from over 30 countries for education, policy discussions, and a Trading Room featuring the latest in seed-industry innovations. The conference will be held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.
  • Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group announces the launch of the United States business division. As China’s largest manufacturer of fertilizers made from seaweed, Seawin Biotech Group is the industry leader in China, with a 17-year history of providing high quality products. Producing nearly 100 seaweed-derived fertilizer and bio-stimulant products serving the plant nutrient needs of Chinese agriculture, the company has significant production resources; two seaweed harvesting and processing vessels with a total displacement of 10,000 tons, three world-class production platforms and a nationwide distribution network covering the entire Chinese domestic market.
  • Italpollina, a world leader in the production of organic fertilizers, biostimulants of natural origin
    and beneficial microbials, announces that they will build a U.S. science and technology park
    around the sustainability and innovation principles of agriculture. Located in Anderson, Indiana, the park will begin construction in early 2018 near the new Purdue Polytechnic Anderson facility, a direct extension of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute of Purdue University.

  • The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska has released its 2017 Annual Report highlighting projects, initiatives, impacts and achievements to advance the institute’s mission to create a more water and food secure world.

Valagro Showcases Innovation at Biostimulants Congress

AgWired Precision, Audio, Biostimulants, Events

One of the gold sponsors at the 3rd Biostimulants World Congress in Miami this week is industry pioneer Valagro.

“Valegro started in business in 1980…so for the past 30 and more years, we have been developing biostimulants,” said Mario Mastrangelo, Valagro USA country manager. The company is headquartered in Atessa, Italy with a product distribution network covering more than 80 countries. “Our main geography in the USA is California, Florida, and the Midwest.” Valagro is using virtual reality at the Congress to showcase the company’s strong commitment to research and development with a virtual tour through their facilities.

This is the first time the Congress has been hosted in the United States, which Mastrangelo says is significant because the use of biostimulants is growing significantly here. “We are seeing an increase in the adoption rate and U.S. farmers have started asking about biostimulants,” he added. “The North America market is projected to become the biggest market for biostimulants in the near future.”

Learn more about Valagro and the biostimulants congress in this interview. Interview with Mario Mastrangelo, Valgro USA

The 3rd Biostimulants World Congress is being held through November 30th, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Miami with more than 1,200 delegates from around the world expected to participate.