Inocucor’s Biological Crop Input is Certified Organic

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, biologicals, environment, Organic

Inocucor Technologies‘ biological crop input, Synergro, has been granted organic certification for use in Canada. The approval means the product is in compliance with Canadian Organic Standards and the USDA’s National Organic Program. It is one of the first microbial crop inputs to be registered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Synergro can be used on high-value produce like strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli. It uses a fermentation process to combine bacteria and yeast into soil and plant optimizers. The product is safe for people and the environment and naturally improves crop yields.

Ag Groups Host Field Day for Government Officials

Kelly MarshallAEM, Ag Group, ASTA, EPA, NCGA, USDA

The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) hosted a field day for officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs. Participants got to observe seed treatments, planting practices, equipment innovations and product demonstrations– all using the most cutting-edge technology available. The demonstrations took place on NCGA Chairman Chip Bowling’s farm in Newburg, Maryland.

“This event should serve as a model for how industry groups can work with environmental stakeholders and federal agencies to build understanding and cooperation on issues that affect agricultural stakeholders,” said AEM Senior Director Nick Tindall.

“As an industry, we are committed to the goal of developing better seed to produce better crops for a better quality of life,” said ASTA President & CEO Andrew W. LaVigne. “Today’s event was a tremendous opportunity to showcase the critical role of innovation and stewardship in every step of bringing quality, safe, and nutritious products to market.”

“We are excited for the opportunity to engage with regulators and to showcase advancements in farming practices that have improved the environmental profile of farming while increasing yields,” said NCGA Chairman Chip Bowling.  “Technology is key to improving the sustainability of farming. It is important that those who regulate this technology understand how these tools are used by farmers on the ground.”

This year’s demo day came about as a result of a spray drift technology demonstration for the EPA in 2016. The organizing groups will release a video with the day’s highlights soon.

USFRA, ZimmComm Launch SMART Farmer Podcast

Kelly MarshallPodcast, SMART Farmer, USFRA, ZimmComm

Consumers can relate to the idea of ‘smart’ items like the smart phone, smart home or smart classroom. That’s why the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance is promoting the idea of the SMART farm— connecting consumers with the technology used to make farms and ranches more sustainable and efficient.

One of the ways they’re sharing this message is through a new partnership with us here at ZimmComm New Media and the AgWired team of websites. Each week you’ll find a SMART Farmer podcast ready for download that covered topics such as environmental sustainability, misconceptions about GMOs, antibiotic use, pesticides, animal welfare, and the continual improvement of the industry.

“USFRA research shows technology in agriculture is perceived positively by consumers and food influencers, with about half who associate it to increased yields and improved efficiency,” said Randy Krotz, USFRA Chief Executive Officer. “Our SMART Farm platform is an opportunity to capitalize on the positive support for technology on today’s farms and ranches showing how it benefits the consumer and our planet.”

You can listen to podcasts here with National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Chairman and USFRA Vice Chairman Chip Bowling, American Sugarbeet Growers Association (ASGA) President and USFRA Board Member Galen Lee and USFRA Face of Farming & Ranching Lauren Schwab, among others, or check them out at the NAMA Agri-Marketing Conference Connection Point Trade Show in Dallas this week. You can subscribe or listen in iTunes as well, and, as always, media is welcome to use any ZimmComm materials or portions of it in their programming.

BASF Acquires Digital Farming Portfolio from ZedX

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, BASF, Data

BASF has announced that they have acquired ZedX Inc., a digital agriculture developer.  ZedX focuses on developing agronomic weather and crop and pest models. BASF plans to uses these resources to help growers take advantage of the power of big data.

“Growers are embracing cutting-edge technology and tools that can help them increase crop yields,” said Scott Kay, Vice President, Crop Protection, BASF North America. “ZedX’s innovative platforms and strong intelligence capabilities will not only enhance our current digital services, but will also provide growers with critical data to successfully manage their operations.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed within four weeks. Products and solutions from ZedX will soon be available to all key markets. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Indigo Presents Innovative Platform for Ag

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, seed

Indigo focuses on using nature to sustainably feed the plant, which is why they’ve collaborated with 25 growers and experts to test a microbial seed treatment on more than 15,000 acres in 2017. The project, named Indigo Partners, will provide data and insights to help Indigo bring new products to market.

“Using bioinformatics and data analytics, we are creating a unique agricultural R&D platform. Together with leading growers around the world, we will test and validate new technologies, generating insights that will bring innovative products to market,” said David Perry, CEO and Director of Indigo. “With Indigo Partners, we seek to discover and launch technologies that improve farmer profitability, and to champion change with new sustainable farming practices.”

Growers testing the microbial seed treatment will also have access to agronomic advice, allowing them to optimizing their crops with tailored recommendations. Over the season, data will be collected to provide the critical information growers are looking for; what value does the new technology bring?

Perdue Officially Confirmed as Secretary of Ag

Kelly MarshallAudio, Government, USDA

The U.S. Senate has formally confirmed the nomination of George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III to serve as the 31st Secretary of Agriculture with a final vote of 87 to 11.

Perdue is an agribusinessman, veterinarian, state legislator, and former governor of Georgia.  He grew up working on his family farm in central Georgia, making him the fourth agriculture secretary who has worked as a farmer.  His USDA biography credits the family farm for shaping Sonny Perdue into the person he is today. “He has lived and breathed the exhilaration of a great crop and the despair and devastation of a drought. He learned by experience what his father told him as a child, “If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.””

Comments of senators supporting Perdue’s confirmation on the floor Monday.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/mcconnell-perdue-4-24.mp3″ text=”McConnell/Perdue”]

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) – [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/perdue-roberts.mp3″ text=”Roberts/Perdue”]

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/perdue-stabenow.mp3″ text=”Stabenow/Perdue”]

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) – [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/perdue-tester.mp3″ text=”Tester/Perdue”]

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) – [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/perdue-isakson.mp3″ text=”Isakson/Perdue”]

Monsanto Completes $50 Million Plant Expansion

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Monsanto, Traits

Michael Gould, Iowa Department of economic development authority; Diana Broderson, Muscatine Mayor; Greg Mandsager, Muscatine city administrator; Shawn Schrader Muscatine plant manager; Lisa Safarian, Monsanto North American Lead Kim Reynolds, Iowa LT. Gov

The ribbon has been cut on Monsanto‘s $50 million dollar expansion in Muscatine, Iowa. The state-of-the-art facility expands the company’s formulations and packaging capacity for their dicamba-tolerant trait technology. The original plant has been around since 1961, producing products like Warrant, Degree, Harness, Roundup WeatherMax, and ExendiMax.

“Iowa is fortunate to have innovative companies like Monsanto that are making significant investments to create jobs in our communities while also providing farmers new tools to help increase productivity and reduce their environmental impact, said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. “The Muscatine plant expansion will help ensure farmers continue to have a variety of tools as they work to increase yields and improve profitability.”

“For more than 55 years we have been a proud part of this community and today is a celebration of the success and importance of modern agriculture in the great state of Iowa,” said Shawn Schrader, Monsanto Muscatine plant manager. “The work taking place at this site will play an important role in helping farmers produce better harvests and meet the global demand for food – putting Muscatine at the heart of one of the largest agricultural weed management in history.”

Wisconsin Corn and Soybean SMART Farmer

Kelly MarshallPodcast, SMART Farmer

Nancy Kavazanjian is the second chairperson for the U.S. Farmers and Rancher Alliance and this week’s feature for the SMART Farmer Podcast.

Nancy farms with her husband Charlie Hammer in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on land that has been in his family for 150 years. She grew up on Long Island, made a career as an agricultural journalist, has served as chairperson of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance and currently serves on the board representing the United Soybean Board.

In this podcast, Nancy talks about the smart technology of GPS and GMOs on the farm: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/smartfarmer/smart-farmer-podcast-4-24-17.mp3″ text=”SMART Farmer Podcast with Nancy Kavazanjian”]

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Farm Market iD Upgrades Software

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Data, Software

Farm Market iD’s FarmFocus software has been a leader in grower data for nearly 10 years. Users can now expect even more from the product with the introduction of several new features and capabilities, most notably the Grower Profile. The online database covers 2 million farmers and 300 million acres of crops with user friendly interfaces for mapping, charts, graphs, search, and export. The additional Grower Profile will offer field-level detail for the past 8 years, link the location of farms on a map, allow the users to view their individual records, groups or matched customers, view records by state, country, or profiles, and create comments and notes.

“We are very excited about the new FarmFocus with Grower Profile launch,”says CEO, Steve Rao. “This is a product release that has been carefully developed in consultation with our leading ag clients. It was designed to highlight sales and marketing opportunities from the vast amount of FMiD data to make it obvious and actionable. It provides agri-marketing teams, business intelligence groups and sales organizations the power to find farms and farmers, analyze their entire operation and have the current contact information for the farmers, all with a few simple key strokes.”

Watch a video about the new product on their website.

Submit #RootedinAg Contest Entries Now

Kelly MarshallContest, Syngenta

If you’re thankful for your agriculture roots take time and celebrate the person who inspired you the most by entering the Syngenta #RootinAg challenge. Fill out the form, describing in 200 words or less the parent, grandparent, teacher or friend who inspired you and upload a photo or video that supports your entry before June 30, 2017.

Five finalists will receive a mini touch-screen tablet and the grand prize winner will take home a $500 gift card you can share with the person who inspired you most. The grand prize winner will also have the opportunity to pay it forward with a $1,000 donation to a local charity or civic organization. A panel of judges will chose the five finalists; online voting will help determine the grand prize winner.