InfoAg Featured Exhibitor – Iteris ClearAg

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As a global leader in applied informatics for transportation and agriculture, Iteris ClearAg is in the “e-intelligence business,” according to Joel Lipsitch, vice president of sales for the company’s Agriculture and Weather Analytics.

“That means we bring data and analytics of weather and soil to help our customers understand how to manage those variables and optimize their business around those variables,” says Lipsitch. “By managing the environment better and understanding it better we can help with product development, product positioning, risk management, logistics…key parts of their businesses.”

As a B2B company, Iteris ClearAg works with some of the biggest names in agribusiness, including BASF, Syngenta, and Bayer who use their solutions to make farmlands more sustainable, healthy and productive.

Learn more in this interview from last week’s InfoAg Conference. 2019 InfoAg Conference – Interview with Joel Lipsitch, Iteris/ClearAg

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Companies Partner to Expand Corn Hybrid Choices

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Feed, seed

Benson Hill Biosystems has entered into a partnership with Brownseed Genetics, a Wisconsin-based seed breeder of new corn hybrids that are higher in both oil content and essential amino acids.

The new Brownseed hybrids, developed through conventional breeding methods, yield about 9 percent corn oil – nearly triple the normal production – and are rich in the amino acids lysine and methionine, offering added value for growers, livestock, and ethanol and biodiesel producers.

“Brownseed’s focus on varieties with both quality and productivity benefits can generate greater profitability for growers, livestock producers, and the ethanol industry,” said Matt Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill. “Together, through this partnership, we will broaden the Brownseed portfolio so these hybrids can be grown across the Corn Belt.”

“For a small, family-owned company like ours to have access to the powerful technologies that Benson Hill offers would have been unthinkable only a few years ago,” said Charles Brown, CEO, Brownseed Genetics. “These advanced capabilities in predictive breeding and gene editing would have been available only to very large players in the seed industry, I’m pleased that Benson Hill is working with partners like us, across the food chain, regardless of size.”

Benson Hill’s CropOS™ enables researchers to predict, select and secure desirable traits quickly to bring crop and ingredient improvements to market faster.

Precision Ag Bytes 7/31

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • There is still time to enter the 55th installment of the National Corn Yield Contest but entries must be in by Wednesday, July 31, 2019. You can find both entry forms and harvest rules on the Corn Yield Contest website.
  • Case IH is introducing the new Flex Hoe™ 900 air drill, which is agronomically designed to help producers efficiently seed small grains, no matter the ground conditions.
  • Daniel Royer has joined the AgTech Insight consulting team.
  • UAV-IQ announced that it is offering aerial biocontrol, a new integrated pest management (IPM) service that uses drones to release beneficial biological control agents bred by Koppert Biological Systems.
  • Seven innovative startups have been selected to participate in the AgLaunch Bootcamp hosted this week in partnership with Arkansas State University, and Arkansas Department of Agriculture at the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro.
  • Syngenta announced it has received import approval for the Agrisure Duracade® trait (event 5307) from the European Commission.
  • ADAMA US announced a new service offering for its customers. ADAMA Eagle Eye™ powered by Agremo offers an advanced analysis of aerial data and imagery that helps growers protect yields more efficiently through user-friendly maps, statistics and other practical tools.

InfoAg Featured Exhibitor – Farm Market iD

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In agriculture, like any business, the most up-to-date information provides the best competitive edge.

That’s why Farm Market iD is applying their decades of data science to provide current in-season crop data, as well as reliable predictions for next year. “Basically what we are doing is using in-season, weekly imagery, and classifying what we see in the ground as the crop emerges,” said company CEO Steve Rao during an interview at the InfoAg Conference last week in St. Louis.

Rao says that information is especially important this year with all the prevented plant acres. Clients can use this data in strategy, marketing and sales to make high-level strategic decisions, as well as on-the-ground tactical decisions.

Learn more in this interview:

Farm Market iD CEO Steve Rao, In-season Crop Analytics

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

CannaFarm Con for Growing Industry

AgWired Precision, Audio, Cannabis, hemp

Cannabis farming is a growing industry in this country and people want to know more about it, and that is why CannaFarm Con is being held August 1-2 in San Diego.

Cannabis can be either hemp or marijuana with industrial hemp and production for CBD being the fastest growing segments of the industry. Celeste Miranda set about organizing an event for farmers after speaking last year at World Ag Expo and being overwhelmed by the interest.

Miranda talks about the event in this interview.

Interview with Celeste Miranda, CannaFarm Con organizer

Witnesses at Hemp Hearing Provide New Industry Update

AgWired Precision, Audio, Cannabis, hemp

Two panels provided an update on “Hemp Production and the 2018 Farm Bill” during a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday.

The first panel consisted of representatives from USDA, EPA and FDA who gave reports on how their respective agencies are working on implementation. USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach, EPA Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dunn, and FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs Dr. Amy Abernethy each presented testimony on the progress and challenges in implementing the law. Ibach reported that USDA has been working diligently to establish the program and issue regulations in time for the 2020 crop year.

Listen to their opening comments here:
Senate Ag Committee hearing on Hemp Production panel 1

The second panel included Kentucky hemp farmer Brian Furnish, National Hemp Association executive director Erica Stark, and Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman Darrell G. Seki, Sr. who all talked about the opportunities presented by the production of hemp and the need for clear regulations moving forward.

I thank you for making this wonderful crop legal,” said Furnish. “But now what the hemp growers need and want is for this new and valuable crop to be just that, a crop, with the same opportunities to grow and fill the marketplace with new and valued products.”

Listen to their opening comments here:
Senate Ag Committee hearing on Hemp Production panel 2

USDA Officials Provide Details of Support Package for Farmers

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, NCGA, NPPC, USDA

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and other agency officials today announced further details of the $16 billion package “aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals.”

In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. The Market Facilitation Program (MFP), Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP), and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.

Secretary Perdue was joined by Under Secretary Bill Northey; Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps; and USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson to explain the details of the package, which will help producers of a wide variety of commodities impacted by trade disruptions.

USDA provides new trade aid details

Agricultural organizations reacted positively to the announcement. “While we are grateful for the continuing support for American agriculture from President Trump and Secretary Perdue, America’s farmers ultimately want trade more than aid. It is critically important to restore agricultural markets and mutually beneficial relationships with our trading partners around the world,” said American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall.

Under the plan, eligible U.S. pork producers will receive $11 per head based on inventory between April 1-May 15, 2019 and USDA will make pork purchases of $208 million to support its programs for the food insecure. National Pork Producers Council President David Herring says they “are grateful to the Trump administration for providing partial relief as hog farmers have incurred significant losses due to trade disputes that have lingered for more than a year.”

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Lynn Chrisp says farmers definitely need aid at this time. “It’s no secret that farmers are facing difficult decisions amid wet spring weather, trade disputes and tariffs, and demand destruction in the ethanol market. While NCGA’s focus remains markets, we welcome USDA’s quick rollout of MFP 2.0 and the Department’s creative efforts to reorient MFP to better reflect market impacts and support American farmers. We look forward to learning more about how MFP will work for corn farmers.”

InfoAg Featured Exhibitor – EFC Systems

AgWired Precision, Audio, Data, Info Ag, Precision Agriculture

For over 30 years, EFC Systems has delivered innovative software solutions throughout the entire agribusiness supply chain, and the company was on-hand at the InfoAg Conference this year to share their latest tips on “Improving Your Farmgate Conversations” and “Data Interoperability.”

Jeremy Wilson just joined EFC Systems as Senior Vice President, Field Data Solutions, in February of this year. He is responsible for the FieldAlytics and AgSolver solutions.

In this interview, he talks about what what’s new with EFC Systems and how they are helping improve agribusiness efficiency.
2019 InfoAg Conference – Interview with Jeremy Wilson, EFC Systems

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Precision Ag Bytes 7/24

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  • At AgTech Nexus USA, NewLeaf Symbiotics and Joyn Bio announced a long-term partnership valued at up to $75M to bring innovation and sustainability to modern agriculture with a new class of microbes that benefit crop health and protection.
  • New Leader Manufacturing unveiled the NL5000 G5 Crop Nutrient Applicator for the Dot Autonomous Robotic farming system at the Ag In Motion show.
  • Geosys announces the availability of maps from its Croptical® farm monitoring tool through the John Deere Operations Center. By integrating the satellite data from the Croptical tool with the Ag production data on Operations Center, users will be able to quickly detect changes in the field – often before visible signs appear.
  • Raven Industries has expanded its logistics and control offering to help ag retailers find more efficiency, and profitability, in their custom application operations. Featuring the integrated suite of AgSync™, Slingshot® and the Viper® 4+ software and hardware; Raven’s Connected Workflow™ allows users to seamlessly and wirelessly connect their office to the field and back again.
  • At AgTech Nexus USA, NewLeaf Symbiotics and Joyn Bio announced a long-term partnership valued at up to $75M to bring innovation and sustainability to modern agriculture with a new class of microbes that benefit crop health and protection.
  • The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium announced that BASF has joined the organization as a sponsoring partner.
  • Case IH is introducing the new Flex Hoe™ 900 air drill, which is agronomically designed to help producers efficiently seed small grains, no matter the ground conditions. New for 2020, this model expands the Flex Hoe series of hoe air drills with a durable seeding solution that provides operators the flexibility to make quick adjustments across changing terrains.
  • Nufarm Americas Inc. announced that Trunemco, its new seed-applied nematode management technology, is now approved in 28 states. More states are pending and updates on new state registrations can be viewed at nufarm.com/uscrop/trunemco.
  • Time is running out and seats are filling up quickly for the Conservation in Action Tour hosted by the Conservation Technology Information Center, which will be held in central Iowa August 20 and 21. Registration for the event closes at midnight on July 26. Online registration is available at https://www.ctic.org/cia_tour/registration.
  • Agricultural Retailers Association President and CEO Daren Coppock says they are pleased to see EPA render a science-based decision on the crop protection product chlorpyrifos. “Chlorpyrifos is a very important tool for controlling insects, resulting in producing healthy and attractive produce for consumers. Thousands of studies support responsible use of this product and vouch for its safety when used according to label directions, and EPA’s periodic registration reviews ensure that this product and others will regularly be reviewed with the best-available science.” Click here to read more from EPA on this topic.

PrecisionAg Presents Excellence Awards

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The recipients of this year’s PrecisionAg® Awards of Excellence were honored at the 2019 InfoAg Conference in St. Louis on Tuesday. The awards recognize outstanding individuals who have demonstrated exceptional work in the use and adoption of precision agriculture technologies and practices.

The 2019 award winners are:
Crop Adviser/Entrepreneur Award – Brittany Ullrich, Winfield United.
Educator/Researcher Award – Wesley Porter, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Farmer Award – Brent Rendel, Miami, OK
Legacy Award – Brett Whelan, University of Sydney, Australia
Special Legacy Award – Dave Junge, Junge Control (posthumously)

Whelan accepted the award by video, while Junge’s wife Mary, Vice President/CFO of Junge Control, accepted on behalf of the innovator behind the mixing and blending systems developed by Junge Control who passed away from pancreatic cancer in May of this year.

2019 InfoAg Conference – PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence Presentation

2019 InfoAg Conference – PrecisionAg Award winners panel discussion

2019 InfoAg Conference Photo Album