Billy Bob Brown is Texas through and through. He’s proud of that, and especially proud of helping to build the national sorghum checkoff. In the course of a year-and-a-half, Brown says the checkoff board members went from a pen, a blank sheet of paper and a start-up fund kept in a USDA lock box, to a staff, an office, a bank account, legal representation and projects that should improve sorghum production and should bolster the market for it. Brown is one of 13 members the checkoff’s board of directors.
Soybean Federation supports checkoff
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The U.S. Soybean Federation was borne out of the controversy that lingers between the United Soybean Board and the American Soybean Association. It’s small and it’s barely a year old, but Federation President Warren Stemme says its first item of business was to set policy that makes clear Federation members’ support for the checkoff, which all growers pay to fund research and development. Federation members, many who are also members of the ASA, had a brief meeting during Commodity Classic.
Missouri corn growers rally behind livestock producers
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Gary Marshall feels uncomfortably close to attacks on animal agriculture. The Missouri Corn Growers CEO sympathizes with Ohio livestock producers, but winces at the current effort’s by animal rights activists to pass legislation in his state restricting dog breeding operations. He’s sure that if voters pass such a bill, it’s only a matter of time before activists will go after Missouri animal agriculture. He’s ready to rally behind animal agriculture to protect a facet of production on which corn growers are so dependent.
It takes feed raising partners to produce meat
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A bunch of grain goes into producing the meat used both domestically and as an export. That’s what brought U.S. Meat Export Federation Chairman Elect Keith Miller to the Commodity Classic. “If we didn’t have the grain, we couldn’t produce the meat to ship overseas,” says Miller, explaining the importance of the partnership between feed producers and their biggest customer, the livestock producer.
Headline AMP controls foliar corn diseases
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Fungicide use has increased over the last half decade. BASF Midwest Tech Service Manager Gary Schmitz says Headline fungicide improves plant health as well as boosting yield and the harvestability of corn. Schmitz says BASF is now introducing Headline AMP, which, he says, is everything Headline is plus it contains a new active ingredient that controls most of the foliar diseases that infect corn.
All growers need to be better activists
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Nebraska Corn Board Executive Director Don Hutchins thinks farmers of all stripes need to have a fire in their belly for activism in agriculture. As it does most farmers, the attacks on food producers get under Don’s skin and he thinks it’s high time the farmer’s story is told and told right. Don cites highly acclaimed movies that position agriculture as a destructive force, “and that’s just not the way it is.” He says the U.S. food production system is the envy of the world. In his words, “there is no country that’s better fed.”
Council goes for fourth record export year
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Where foreign sales are concerned, soybeans seem to be flying off the shelf. That’s not to say it happens by itself. U.S. Soybean Export Council Communications Director Brent Babb talks of people the world over who are working to be sure foreign buyers choose U.S. grown soybeans. It seems to work. Babb says U.S. growers have three record years of exports and the current marketing year appears to be on track to be the fourth.
USB says producers will meet world demand
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
U.S. soybean producers will have no problem meeting the growing worldwide demand, according to USB officials at Commodity Classic. Brownfield covered the USB news conference Friday morning.
All tools needed for sustainability
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Syngenta’s Sustainability Value Chain Manager Terry Stone says with the world food demand increasing, producers need all the tools they can to sustain that growth. Not only food, but growing fiber and fuel needs as well need to be produced on fewer acres. Syngenta’s new products that focus on sustainability include one for water optimization in corn to maintain yields.
Technology maximizes yield, preserves resources
March 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Tracy Mader says farmers are the original stewards of sustainability. Mader, Syngenta’s head of product marketing, says the company is utilizing technology to maximize yield per acre, thereby stretching natural resources and the productivity of U.S. farmland. He’s excited about water optimization technology, which he says is to be introduced on a limited basis for the 2011 planting season. It’ll help corn plants recover 20 to 25 percent of yield lost to heat and drought stress.
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