Precision Pays

The administration is rethinking plans to prevent children from doing many types of farm work.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) this week announced that a proposal which would have barred children from many on-farm tasks will be revised to allow broader exemptions for parents who own or run agricultural operations.

The proposed rules would have prevent children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment on farms and prohibit anyone under 19 from working in grain bins, stockyards and feedlots.

Agricultural organizations had unanimously opposed the concept which strikes at heart of the farm and ranch lifestyle and the Labor Department was inundated with thousands of comments from the countryside. “Your voices were heard,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Bill Donald, who announced the news at the annual Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville. “This goes right to the very fiber of who we are in this country.”

American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman says the decision to re-propose the ‘parental exemption’ in the child labor rule is a positive step, but much more work is needed. “Any final regulation must make sense, not infringe on the traditional rights of family farms and not unnecessarily restrict the ability of young people to work in agriculture,” said Stallman. “Laws and regulations need to be sensible and within reason, not prohibiting teenagers from performing simple everyday farm functions like operating a battery-powered screwdriver.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the decision shows the Labor Department listened to the nation’s farmers. “This announcement and the additional opportunity for comment represent a common-sense approach to strengthen our agricultural economy while keeping farm kids safe,” Vilsack said.

The House Small Business’ Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade held a hearing on the issue Thursday to get additional input from agricultural interests.

The use of fungicides for overall plant health has been a new growth area for agriculture in recent years. As that occurs, farmers and crop consultants continue to find out more about best times to apply and best ways to use them during the season.

“There was a time not that long ago, when to consider applying a fungicide post-emergence to corn or soybeans was almost unheard of,” said GROWMARK Insect/Plant Disease Technical Manager Kevin Black who notes that the strobilurin class of fungicides have been game changers. “Because they not only have activity against fungi but also seem to have some growth regulation effects, we’ve seen some remarkable results in the field.”

Speaking very generally, Black says they have found that about two-thirds of the benefit from fungicides comes from a VT application and about one-third from a V5 application. “The VT or R1 timing of application typically is much more consistent in providing returns,” he said.

Black says university research and on-farm discovery work continues to look at new ways to use fungicides in combination with insecticides and micro-nutrients in tank mixes, but he believes it’s important to be sure there is a solid benefit before doing so. “If we start to get to the point where we’re just mixing up these soups and saying ‘there’s got to be something in there that’s good’ then I have to part company,” said Black.

Listen to my conversation with Kevin Black here: Kevin Black Interview

Over the past year, the National Corn Growers Association has monitored issues surrounding the wireless broadband company LightSquared. While the Federal Communications Commission considers approval of LightSquared’s proposed terrestrial based broadband network, NCGA remains concerned about the effects it would have on precision farming. GPS technology has become an important tool for farmers as they improve their efficiency in seed, fertilizer and fuel usage.

“Strong and speedy Internet access is important to our growers, so NCGA supports the expansion of broadband in rural America,” said Ethan Mathews, manager of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for NCGA said. “However it must not come at the expense of high-precision GPS.”

Although LightSquared states that solutions to the interference problem have been developed by several independent companies, the company has yet to provide access to either the test results or the devices. Further, the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration are continuing their evaluation of theGPS interference issue. NCGA will look to the FCC and NTIA to ensure the issue has been resolved without loss to accuracy and performance.

In addition, NCGA will continue to work closely with John Deere, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the American Soybean Association to ensure the GPS technology remains available to our farmers.

Like all of agriculture, aerial applicators are facing potentially onerous regulations that could ground them if they are allowed to continue.

The biggest issue they are dealing with right now is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which National Agricultural Aviation Association executive director Andrew Moore told me just went into effect on Halloween. “It’s kind of a scary regulation,” said Andrew of the regulation which impacts pesticide application near water. “The problem is that it’s duplicative of everything that already exists to protect the environment in regard to pesticide regulation.”

Moore says the NPDES would require a great deal of paper work on the part of applicators. “FIFRA already regulates the safety of pesticides to water, so this is a completely unnecessary burdensome rule.” In addition, he says they are very considered about lawsuits under the new regulation.

So, NPDES was a big topic at the NAAA convention in Las Vegas last week, where workshops were held and applicators were educated about the current status of the federal rule and where it stands at the state level. Andrew says they are also urging aerial applicators – and really anyone in the agriculture industry – to contact their senators about the issue. “Because we’ve been successful in passing legislation that would exempt pesticide applications over water for FIFRA approved pesticides,” said Moore. The measure has been passed by the House and has gone through the Senate Agriculture Committee. “We believe we have the votes in the Senate but it’s not being brought to the floor for a vote,” he added.

Listen to my interview with Andrew Moore here: NAAA executive director Andrew Moore

2011 NAAA Convention Photo Album

Seed treatment can be classified as a precision application for growers because it allows crop protection to be used more precisely right at planting within the seed itself.

Seed treatments have actually been around for decades and it’s reached the point that virtually all of the corn seed planted today is treated with some type of crop protection technology. However, GROWMARK product manager Dave Gentry says that while use of soybean seed treatment is growing, it is not yet as pervasive as corn. “Seed treatments on soybeans have not been quite as accepted until the last 4-5 years,” he said.

Gentry identifies four key reasons for a dramatic increase in the popularity of soybean seed treatments recently. “One is the improved active ingredients,” he said. “They are very effective at a much lower use rate.” The second reason is pushing the planting envelope. “As we’ve become more aggressive in our planting, soybeans are going into soils that are cooler and wetter, there’s more stresses early in the season and so seed treatments can reduce the impact of some of those stresses.”

Gentry says another reason is the value of the seed itself, which makes it worth investing in the treatment to protect it. And finally, the range of products to treat the seeds with has expanded, with additional offerings such as growth stimulants, inoculants, microbials and nematicides.

He notes that about 60% of soybean acres are currently being planted with treated seed, although percentages vary between regions with the east coast and the deep south lower and the eastern corn belt closer to 85%. As for the future, Gentry expects to see most soybean seed treated with products in the pipeline to control Sudden Death Syndrome and soybean cyst nematode. “I think the percentage of treatment will continue to grow and, like corn, start to approach 100%,” he says.

The big difference he sees between corn and soybean seed treatments is that soybeans are moving more to the local dealer level, “allowing them to respond to local situations and local disease and insect pressures.”

Listen to Dave’s thoughts on soybean seed treatment here: Dave Gentry Interview

Find out more about seed treatment options in your specific area at FSSeed.com.

There are Android and iPhone apps for just about everything.  My friend, Jason Webster runs the Practical Farm Research for Beck‘s Hybrids in Downs, Ill.  In addition he farms, too.  Jason fully admits he doesn’t always practice what he used to preach about scouting fields during the growing season.  Because of that – he’s gone to a more sophisticated form of scouting.  One that he utilizes and with full conviction can explain to farmers why they should make the leap to incorporate that technology into their farming operations, too. 

In this month’s Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, Jason explains the future of finding problems in our fields. 

You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here. The Precision Pays Podcast is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology.

Kreg Freeman of Colquitt, Georgia is a double winner for his 2010 peanut crop that yielded a whopping 6626 pounds per acre.

Kreg, pictured here with University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist John Beasley accepting his award as the statewide winner in the Georgia Achievement Club this year for the 100-300 acre category, credits a good part of his increase in profitability and yields to precision technology, as much as 500 pounds per acre. “We use GPS and auto steer tractors,” he told me. “What I got paid for the auto steer part of the tractor in one year.”

Kreg was also named as the Farm Press Publications Peanut Profitability Award winner for the Southeast during last week’s 2011 Southern Peanut Growers Conference. That award is based not only on yield, but production efficiency, honoring those growers who produce the highest yields at the lowest cost per acre.

Listen to my interview with Kreg from the SPGC here: Kreg Freeman Interview

As work toward a new Farm Bill officially begins some are calling for a “whole-system redesign” of U.S. agriculture.

A recent report from the National Research Council Committee on Twenty-First Century Systems Agriculture has proposed a new direction for farm policy that would “incorporate innovative agricultural systems such as organic farming, grass-fed and other alternative livestock production systems, mixed crop and livestock systems, and perennial grains…. it would require significant changes in market structures, policy incentives and public funding for agricultural science.”

Increasing use of precision farming techniques is one of the recommendations made by the team, which included agricultural academics as well as farmers, suggesting “both incremental and transformative changes. Incremental changes include adopting two-year crop rotations and employing precision agriculture practices using geospatial technologies that track field variation, classically bred or genetically engineered crops and reduced- or no-tillage practices.”

The Senate agriculture committee started hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill last week. While USDA is not planning to propose a version of the Farm Bill as it has in the past, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recognized the obvious fact that agriculture policy will be affected by budget cuts. “I have no doubts that the next Farm Bill will be smaller than the one agreed to in 2008. In acknowledging that reality, I hope that this Committee will give serious thought to your priorities for American agriculture – your priorities for USDA – and to the values of the American people,” he told the committee.

Today, the first field hearing is being held in the home state of chairwoman Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, featuring agricultural representatives of all sectors, from corn and soybeans to cherries and apples.

Alltech is looking for videos that tell the story of how game changing innovations are helping farmers feed the world.

The Kentucky-based animal health and nutrition company has announced the first ever “Farming Film Festival,” offering a $2,000 grand prize. Following the theme of the Alltech 27th Annual International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, The Game Changers, video submissions should focus on an idea or technology that helps farmers meet the tough challenges in their career.

“Emerging new media such as YouTube and other social media outlets have been game changers for many in the agriculture industry,” said Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech. “Sharing these game changing stories with others ignites a new wave of hope and innovation, and that’s what we hope to do with the Farming Film Festival.”

The rules are pretty simple. The video may be up to 2 minutes in length (including credits), it must tell the story of a farmer’s game changer and it must include footage of the farmer on the farm. That’s all there is to it. First prize is $2000, second is $500 and third is $250. First and Second Place Winners will be chosen by an independent panel of science and agriculture journalists. Third Place Winner will be the finalist with the largest number of online votes.

Participants in the Farming Film Festival may enter by uploading their video to YouTube and emailing the link to contest@alltech.com. Winners will be chosen by a panel of science and agriculture journalists based on creativity, quality of video, story interest and number of views and will be awarded up to $2,000 cash. The deadline for submission is May 13.

For official rules and how to participate, visit www.alltech.com/farmingfilmfestival.

Monsanto is facing a legal challenge from organic farmers over genetically modified seed.

The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit this week on behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations, against Monsanto Company as a preemptive measure “to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed, something Monsanto has done to others in the past.”

“This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto’s transgenic seed should land on their property,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director and Lecturer of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.”

Monsanto calls the organization’s allegations “false, misleading and deceptive.”

The plaintiffs’ approach is a publicity stunt designed to confuse the facts about American agriculture. These efforts seek to reduce private and public investment in the development of new higher-yielding seed technologies. This attack comes at a time when the world needs every agricultural tool available to meet the needs of a growing population, expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050. While we respect the opinion of organic farmers as it relates to the products they choose to grow, we don’t believe that American agriculture faces an all-or-nothing approach. Rather we believe that farmers should have the ability to choose the best agricultural tools to farm their own land and serve their own end-market customers. We are confident that these multiple approaches can coexist side-by-side and sustainably meet the world’s food needs over next 40 years.

Planting season is almost upon us now, which means a new year for farmers to discover how they can increase yields and profitability.

GROWMARK FS Green Plan Solutions helps farmers do just that. I recently spoke with Jim Spradlin, vice president of agronomy for FS Green Plan, about how they help their farmers.

“The FS system works very hard to differentiate ourselves by providing good, strong agronomic advice to our growers,” Jim told me during the “Pursuit of Maximum Yield” conference earlier this year. FS Green Plan Solutions also offers On-Farm Discovery, a scientific-method based trial program, helping farmers answer their questions on their farm with their data. The Pursuit of Maximum Yield is an On-Farm Discovery program specifically geared toward increasing yield per acre in light of a booming world population and rapidly increasing demand.

“We had some 200 On-Farm Discovery plots out last year, over 100 of them were Pursuit of Maximum Yield specific,” Jim said. “We’re doing trials on other things so that we’re extracting good information and accurate results so we can present back some of the findings from the trials.”

Jim notes that because every field, every operation and every farmer is different, everyone needs to develop their own “recipe” based on what they learn works best for them.

Listen to my interview with Jim here: Jim Spradlin Interview

FS Green Plan Solutions, an integrated, solutions-based approach designed to help producers enhance farm profitability by providing complete agronomic recommendations from a trusted team of FS specialists.

The 2011 Commodity Classic is one for the record books.

Attendance at the annual meeting of corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers shattered previous records. Total attendance was more than 4826, breaking the previous record at Nashville three years ago by almost 300. Total number of growers was over 1600, compared to the previous record of 1513 in 2009 in Grapevine. The number of media was down a bit, but still a pretty substantial 126. Next year, Classic is back in Nashville, maybe to set yet another record!

In a show of unity, the leadership of the National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the American Soybean Association and the National Sorghum Producers issued a joint statement on the federal deficit and debt reduction following the conclusion of the Classic business sessions.

“We note that agriculture made a down payment in cutting spending when the Department of Agriculture directed $4 billion in savings under the Standard Reinsurance Agreement for federal crop insurance toward deficit reduction. We believe any further reduction in discretionary spending should recognize and reflect this contribution. We would also note that agriculture-related programs represent less than one-half of one percent of the federal budget.

“Looking forward, we believe any meaningful approach to deficit and debt reduction in the FY2012 budget must encompass all entitlement programs and all discretionary spending. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to develop a budget that successfully addresses the need for federal deficit and debt reduction balanced with the need of ensuring a successful agricultural economy.”

Special thanks to John Deere for helping to sponsor our coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic!

2011 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic

Achieving maximum yields is the goal when you are pursuing them and that is what the farmers who participate in the GROWMARK FS Green Plan Solutions program are accomplishing.

At the recent “Pursuit of Maximum Yields” (POMY) seminar in East Peoria, I talked with Justin Green of Arthur, Illinois who participated with his father and brother in the program last season. “We kinda threw every thing at the corn crop that we could, trying to see what the yield potential of the corn crop is and what pieces add to the yield,” he said. “We had a fantastic corn yield and that plot actually won the Illinois Corn Growers yield contest.”

When I asked Justin what maximizing yields means to him, he said, “Maximizing yields means enhancing our management practices, doing the same thing that we’ve always done is not going to meet the yield goal of 300 bushels per acre, so we’re going to have to change things.” He added that he would recommend the FS Green Plan POMY program for any grower. “Absolutely, so that they can determine what their yield potential is and what they need to do to take their farm to the next level.”

Listen to my interview with Justin here: Justin Green Interview

FS Green Plan Solutions, an integrated, solutions-based approach designed to help producers enhance farm profitability by providing complete agronomic recommendations from a trusted team of FS specialists.

Monsanto has started a program this year in the Midwest to deliver IntelliScanSM field guides and IntelliSeedSM custom planting recommendations to farmers. It’s the first phase of a program called Monsanto Prescriptive Ag Solutions, according to a company press release.

“Today, farmers are looking for advances in seed technologies and precision planting practices that will enable them to produce more, conserve more and remain profitable,” said Julie LaBonte, Monsanto Prescriptive Ag Business Manager. “These tools are Monsanto’s next steps toward providing increased confidence in seed choice, placement and plant population for field-specific recommendations.”

Farmers in the pilot program are also receiving IntelliSeed custom planting recommendations that enhance the crop management decisions for the current year, as well as provide insight for future crop decisions.

Find out more here.

It’s one thing for growers or livestock producers and processors to work together, or vertically integrate. But what can happen when the World Wildlife Fund, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Cargill, Intervet/Schering-Plough and beef producer groups get together? A recent story in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) discusses the issue and the possible eco-food results.

It is a subtle, yet vital, shift in the way food producers, manufacturers, retailers and groups outside the traditional food fence, such as WWF, are addressing a new paradigm in feeding the world’s rapidly increasing population: how food is produced, not just how much.

In practice the two issues are inseparable. The difference is that while feeding a projected 9 billion people by 2050 from less farmland has long concerned governments, and global aid and food bodies, doing so in a way that satisfies escalating environmental and animal welfare scrutiny, state and national regulations and changing consumer attitudes is considerably more complex.

Behind the farm gate it means that practices in the largest and most advanced agricultural nations, including Australia, will be in the spotlight as the new food production ground rules take shape.

Enter WWF as the unexpected and uninvited powerbroker in this high-stakes scenario. The world’s largest independent conservation organisation is targeting 100 key companies that globally trade commodities including beef, sugar, cotton, palm oil, soybeans and coffee to participate in ”round table” forums about how extra food can be produced with fewer, but more precise, inputs.

WWF’s Australian program leader for water, Nick Heath, says three times more food and fibre will be needed in the next 40 years than is produced now. ”The answer lies in precision agriculture – more crop per drop.”

And Rob Cairns, the organisation’s Australian program manager for sustainable agriculture, who has a background in the cotton and sugar industries, assures the food chain that WWF is ”just one player” in the quest for a lower food environmental footprint, ”not the policeman”.

”It’s about sustaining food production without impacting on eco-systems,” he says. ”At the moment, it’s confusing for consumers. By default, organics have been seen as the answer. But organics can’t clothe and feed the world, so we have to work with those who can make a difference. And it has to involve a number of commodities.”

Beef is at the top of that list.

In this regard, the Australian cattle industry may be ahead of the game. Meat & Livestock Australia is developing a voluntary environmental module that will enable beef producers to demonstrate the ”environmental responsible nature” of their production systems.

But it remains unclear whether farmers’ ability to merely demonstrate environmental responsibility, rather than prove it, will be enough.

To this end, a group of cattle producers in Gippsland, Victoria, is marketing beef sourced from properties with independently audited environmental management systems that comply with the international ISO 14001 standard. Their ”enviromeat beef”, sourced from 15 suppliers, is thought to be the first labelled food product backed by an environmental management system in Australia.

Read on to learn more…