Category Archives: FMC

Soy Booster Plot Program Announced

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w2012pressreleaseheaderThe American Soybean Association announces a new partnership with FMC Corporation and NACHURS — the 2013 Soy Booster Plot Program. ASA is seeking 125 growers across the soybean-growing region to enroll by the March 2 deadline and conduct a Soy Booster field trial on their farm during the 2013 production season.

ASA, FMC and NACHURS will work with the participating growers to conduct field trials utilizing FMC’s Capture LFR (Liquid Fertilizer Ready) insecticide and NACHURS HKW6 liquid starter fertilizer on soybeans. These trials will give individual soybean farmers the opportunity to observe and measure for themselves how the application of Capture LFR insecticide with HKW6 starter fertilizer will enhance profitable production on their farm.

Growers will need to devote 20 acres treated with Capture LFR and NACHURS HKW6 liquid starter fertilizer and 20 acres untreated. Products for treatment will be provided free of charge and participants must be able to apply the starter fertilizer and liquid insecticide in-furrow to all row units as they seed soybeans. Growers who complete the Soy Booster plot program will receive a free 7” Kindle Fire HD, 16 GB with WiFi.

Deere Harvest ID Cotton at Beltwide

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bwcc13-deereWe told you about John Deere’s Harvest Identification, Cotton when it was first introduced last year at Beltwide Cotton Conferences.

This year we got an update from Janae (formally Althouse) Tapper on this precision harvest technology and grower adoption of it.

“John Deere harvest identification is really important to the cotton growers so they can understand how many modules are being built with in a field. We are really looking at continuing to reduce labor requirements that are needed in cotton production especially around 7760. We understand that with the introduction of that machine we are building four modules for every one traditional module. So, it increases labor to go out and tag each of those individual modules.”

“In our technology division we saw a use to utilize the RF ID reading technology that we have in the round module wrap to enable them to reduce that manuel labor going out and tagging the modules. We are automatically reading those RF ID tags in the modules and sending that information to the display in the cab of the machine.”

Janae shared that cotton producers are continuing to be on board with the adoption of precision agriculture. And since the launch of time & money saving technology, John Deere’s growers are sending in very positive feedback.

Listen to an interview with Janae here: Janae Tapper interview

2013 Beltwide Cotton photo album

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Helping Rice Growers Manage Tough Weeds

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During the 2012 Rice Outlook Conference, BASF Crop Protection and FMC Corporation announced that Command herbicide is now recommended for use in the Clearfield Production System for rice. Command herbicide adds value to growers by controlling tough grasses in rice production, which can rob growers of yield.

Weed management in rice has become more challenging as weed species are developing resistance to existing herbicides.

Command herbicide provides Clearfield growers with a different mode of action to control difficult grasses, such as barnyardgrass, that threaten profits and return on investment.

Barnyardgrass is a competitive weed in Southern rice that poses a major threat to Clearfield growers, especially with the rise in resistant strains. Experts agree that a comprehensive weed management system that includes early weed control and the use of multiple herbicide modes of action are vital to managing resistance concerns.

FMC Signs Agreements with GAT Microencapsulation AG

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FMC Corporation announced that its Agricultural Products Group has signed a perpetual, global licensing agreement, along with distribution and services agreements with GAT Microencapsulation AG covering a range of advanced crop protection products and proprietary formulation technologies.

Under the agreement, FMC will access GAT Microencapsulation AG’s complete library of intellectual property, which includes a portfolio of registered products, proprietary formulation technologies, and new products in development. FMC will be the main distributor of GAT Microencapsulation AG’s current product portfolio in virtually all global markets. GAT Microencapsulation AG will supply the products to be sold, as well as new materials for products FMC commercializes in the future. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Meet Bob Haselwood – Precision Pays Profile

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Time for another Precision Pays Profile where we spotlight a farmer who is taking advantage of the technologies in precision agriculture. Meet Bob Haselwood, a crop from Kansas and treasurer for the United Soybean Board. I met Bob at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk.

“We are using precision agriculture. We started about 2001. The first step we thought we would do was get a yield monitor and work from there. Over in our county the conservation district had some programs to encourage people to use precision based fertilizer. We went in thinking we were going to ease into it using only yield monitors for records. But quickly moved to grid sampling and variable rate application of phosphate in about a years time.”

Bob’s farm was part of the hard hit areas in terms of the drought. He shared how his crop yields were almost cut in half and how they are making it through these tough times.

“We’ve got a corn/soybean operation. We were in an area that was hit pretty hard by the drought. Corn yields were pretty low. Soybeans were lucky catching some late August rains. Soybeans were about 3/4 of a crop and corn 1/4 of a crop.”

Bob said they jumped into the use of new technologies to save money, but he admits he has also saved lots of time and his body has thanked him. He enjoys coming in of an evening without all the aches and pains he was once use to.

Listen to my interview with Bob here: Bob Haselwood

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

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FMC Talks New Product Lines

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FMC Corporation shared new product lines during the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talks. Chuck talked with Bentley Curry, FMC Representative, about herbicides and harvest aids farmers can take advantage of in the fields.

“This year we had the Authority line of products in combination with Authority XL, Authority MTZ. Probably the product that was best fitted for the Mid South was Authority MTZ. It has a great point when you get resistant management where we got pigweed, water hemp and lambs quarter that has become glyphosate resistant. It is a super fit for that because it gives residual that you can go down at pre planting and at planting with the product and take care of those small seeded resistant type weeds.”

“On the cotton side we are really excited about a new product for the defoliation department called Display. I had the opportunity to look at sizable acreage of it this year. It had just received its label for 2012. We had the opportunity to see it after some rain events had come in. The cotton was getting pretty close to harvest and the cotton had greened back up, had all this second growth and typically that stuff is really hard to get off the cotton plant. But Display is a new PPO type compound that disrupts the cellular action in the leaf and gives you really fast dry down of that juvenal growth. It take that stuff off the plant, shuts the plant down from growing and gets it ready for harvest.”

Listen to my complete interview with Bentley here: Bentley Curry - FMC Corporation

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

USDA to Conduct Census of Agriculture

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The USDA wants to get a better idea of what’s happening on America’s farms. That’s why the 2012 Census of Agriculture forms will be hitting producers’ mailboxes very soon.

“The Census of Agriculture will be dropped in the mail December 14th, so farmers should expect it in their mailboxes by the end of the year,” says Renee Picanso, Director of the USDA’s Census and Survey Division, asking that those surveyed return their census by Feb. 4, 2013. During an interview at Trade Talk at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention, she added that they’ll be asking some new questions this year, including some on agriforestry and renewable energy. Also new this year will be the opportunity to fill out the survey over the internet, something they believe will help response rates. “I hope so, because it leads you through the questions, and if you go on the internet, it will skip through the questions [not relevant to your operation].”

Picanso stresses that it’s very important for producers to respond because the survey helps USDA determine policy, as well as how it helps rural communities and agribusinesses. Results should be released in February 2014.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Renee here: Renee Picanso, USDA Census and Survey Division

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

USDA Asks for Survey Responses to be More Precise

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Ag producers know the importance of being precise in their information, and the USDA is no different, especially this year when growing conditions varied so much nationwide. To get that good, precise information, the USDA will be sending out its end-of-year surveys soon. Cindy caught up with Bob Bass, the Director of National Operations for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) during Trade Talk at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention, and he said the country’s farms and ranches have seen a wide range of conditions this year.

“It’s very important that we get a handle on the final production, and that includes the actual harvested acres and final yield,” as well at what stocks are in storage out there, Bass said. About 73,000 scientifically selected farms and ranches will be surveyed, representing the 2.2 million operations nationwide. “That’s why it is so important that we get an accurate and timely response from everyone of those selected samples.”

Bass added that NASS will be changing when they release some of their reports, with the monthly crop reports moving from 8:30 a.m. EST to Noon EST after the first of the year. “That’s at the request of data users across the country and the world… it’s a global economy now.” Livestock reports will remain at 3 p.m. EST.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Bob here: Interview with Bob Bass, NASS

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

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Meet Randy Spronk – Precision Pays Profile

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It is time for another spotlight in our series of post about farmers utilizing precision agriculture on their farm. Today’s Precision Pays Profile is on Randy Spronk, a Minnesota pork producer and crop farmer. I met up with him while attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk in Kansas City last week. Randy shared his passion for agriculture and how he has embraced new technologies over the years.

“I am in a unique situation, I have two separate fiscal entities. Spronk Brothers is the livestock side. We have a swine farrow-to-finish operation where we have our own feed mill. Ranger Farms is the cropping side. It is a separate limited liability partnership where we farm about 3,000 acres,. planting every spring.”

“I guess I’d call myself an early adopter. I actually was an early integrator of using technology for driving. We have multiple units of RTK for tractors, combines and sprayers. In the last couple of days I have gone back to my yield maps and elevation maps for drainage.”

“On the swine side, our fertilizer comes from livestock manure. We actually use the precision farming on all of our rigs. The RTK satellite and the auto track steering with flow meters.”

Randy is also President-Elect for the National Pork Producers Council, where he will help defend producers rights and freedom to operate.

Listen to my interview with Randy here: Randy Spronk - Minnesota Farmer

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

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Meet Dan Hughes – Precision Pays Profile

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It is time for another Precision Pays Profile. Again, NAFB Trade Talk made it possible for me to meet Dan Hughes, a farmer from western Nebraska.

Dan operates an 11,000 acre farm with 20% irrigated and 80% in dry land. He manages a diverse selection in the field including: hard red winter wheat, hard white winter wheat, corn, soybeans, dry edible beans, sunflowers and millet. Dan and his family jumped in to the world of precision agriculture about 10 years ago, with their first investment being in a no-till drill. He shared how nice it was to end a day in the field without being completely worn out. I heard that commonality from many farmers I interviewed.

“It is a very exciting time, the technology that has come to agriculture in the last 10 years is just phenomenal. That’s part of the reason my kids have come back to the farm. They just recently graduated college and they are excited. For me that is a wonderful thing to see. Agriculture is being penalized for GMO crops. It is not fair for agriculture to be penalized for taking advantage of technology. The whole world has embraced cell phones and that type of technology, but why would you deny agriculture that same opportunity.”

Off the farm Dan is still involved in the agriculture industry and especially the U.S. wheat industry. He serves as Vice Chairman for U.S. Wheat Associates, an organization that assists buyers, influences trade policy and gives a voice to producers.

Listen to my interview with Dan here: Dan Hughes - Nebraska Crop Farmer

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Corn Growers Now Have an Anthem Option

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After years of planning, research and development, FMC finally received EPA registration on a new herbicide, Anthem. You can learn more about it from Roger Webster, FMC. Roger was available to members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting this week in Kansas City, MO.

Anthem is a “preplant, preemergence and early postemergence herbicide for corn. Anthem provides growers with an excellent weed management tool for broad-spectrum weed control and resistance management along with a low-use rate.” Growers now have a new tool that gives them application flexibility during the spring season

Listen to my interview with Roger here: Interview with Roger Webster

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

ZimmComm Team on Location

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Here’s the ZimmComm team (Jamie, Cindy and me) collecting all our photos and interviews from the Trade Talk session at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. We’ve got lots. Photos are being updated in the photo album right now. Interviews will be showing up for days and days!

Precision ag is a subject that’s becoming more and more a part of any company’s discussion and products. So expect some interesting interviews here as we get them edited.

Thank you to Hugh Whaley, Photographer, USFRA, for taking our photo.

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Farm Broadcasters Meeting in Kansas City

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Hundreds of agricultural broadcasters from around the country are gathering in Kansas City this week for the 69th annual meeting of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB).

The premier event of the convention is Trade Talk, coming up on Thursday, when all of those broadcasters will be heading into the exhibit hall with microphones and cameras in hand to interview representatives from over 100 companies, agencies and organizations related to agriculture.

FMC is one of the sponsors of Trade Talk, as well as being the sponsor of our NAFB coverage here on Precision Pays where we will be bringing you interviews related to precision farming and technology from the show.

We will be continually updating our NAFB convention photo album throughout the week, so stay tuned!