Archive for August, 2009

AGCO Application Equipment is bringing its dealers and customers a new user-friendly source for all things related to application equipment.

New http://www.applylikeapro.com is a single and convenient resource for application professionals and professional growers reflecting more than 40 plus years of innovation and application industry experience.

“On the heels of our 2010 model RoGator introduction, we’re also introducing www.applylikeapro.com which consolidates information on all brands from AGCO Application Equipment,” says Mark Sharitz, director of marketing. “The site is designed to help retailers and growers shop for the application machine that best meets their needs vs. shopping by brand. It also makes it easier for dealers to find the tools and information they need because dealer-directed information clearly is segmented.”

As a source for all things related to application equipment, the site replaces the individual brand sites for TerraGator, Willmar, NMS, SpraCoupe, and RoGator, yet provides full product more

The new SprayIT online spray tip calculator from Hypro takes spray tip selection to the next level. Visitors to http://www.hypropumps.com now have a quick and easy way to find the right spray tip for their application. <777>

Simply select the type of spraying application (broadcast, banding/directed, totally boomless, or Boom X Tender) and application information, including tip spacing, speed, and application rate, and the SprayIT Calculator does all the rest. A list of spray tips that match the application requirements is returned with more specific information on that tip.<777>

Available in U.S. or metric units, the calculator was designed for use around the world.<777>

The SprayIT Calculator can be accessed by visiting http://www.hypropumps.com, clicking on Tools and SprayIT Calculator, by typing sprayit.hypropumps.com into the address bar on your web browser, or on a web-enabled cell phone (hand-held device).

Channel Bio Corp.’s group of regional seed brands is being elevated into a new, premier Channel brand committed to providing farmers the highest-level customer experience in the industry.

“Through the years, we’ve found that successful farmers desire an adviser who can provide a customer experience that increases their probability of achieving success,” said Jim Zimmer, Channel Bio’s chief executive officer. “As farming becomes more complex and challenging, we believe Channel is uniquely suited to offer this kind of customer relationship.”

“Seedsmanship” is central to Channel’s customer-first philosophy. The term refers to how the brand evaluates, produces and sells its seed products, including the seed professionals who provide sales and service support based on an in-depth understanding of their customers’ farming operations.

With this philosophy in mind, Zimmer said Channel is positioned to offer farmers the industry’s best-performing products and most innovative services. This comes through access to parent company Monsanto’s more

There are many reasons atrazine http://www.atrazine.com/ has remained a weed control staple in agriculture for 50 years — it increases yield and saves money.

“Research has proven the positive effect atrazine has on farm production,” said Chuck Foresman, senior technical brand manager for Syngenta, the primary manufacturer of atrazine. “Farmers simply can’t meet the increasing demand for corn without controlling the grass and broadleaf weeds that compete with crops for moisture, sunlight and nutrients.”

Atrazine is known for economical and effective weed control and the ability to enhance the performance of other products. For example, a study evaluating the impact of atrazine on corn yields http://www.ncwss.org/proceed/2008/abstracts/137.pdf showed that during the 20-year period from 1986 and 2005, the average corn yield was 5.1 percent higher with atrazine than without. In combined data from 236 university corn field trials during that period, atrazine treatments showed an average of 5.7 more

For the first time in the company’s history, Kinze Manufacturing has launched a Multiple Unit Rebate Program that can provide corn and soybean growers with a 2 percent rebate on their purchase of a Kinze planter.

Growers can now receive a rebate of 2 percent of the base machine list price of their planter purchase. This new program runs from June 15, 2009 through May 15, 2010.

There are two ways for growers’ purchases to qualify for the Multiple Unit Rebate Program:

1) Purchase multiple new Kinze planters within the program time period.

2) Within the program time period, purchase a new Kinze planter and one or more of the following:

• New Kinze Harvest Commander grain cart.

• New combine of any brand.

• New tractor of any brand (must be at least 175 horsepower).

Susanne Veatch, the vice-president and chief marketing officer at Kinze Manufacturing, said the company more

John Deere dealers now offer select crop solution products from Raven Industries. These products are:

• Raven AccuFlow — precision NH3 delivery system.

• Raven Sidekick — direct-injection system.

• Raven AutoBoom PowerGlide Plus and UltraGlide — automatic boom-height control.

• Raven SmartBoom — automatic boom section control.

• Raven SCS 450 and Raven SCS 660M — automatic rate control consoles.

“With the addition of these Raven products, producers can visit their local John Deere dealer, gain access to a wider selection of precision technologies to meet their needs, and receive the same renowned service and support they’ve come to expect,” says Mark Theuerkauf, factory-marketing manager for John Deere Ag Management Solutions.

Theuerkauf explained how the Raven products will complement current John Deere products and create systems to help producers more efficiently manage their input costs.

“The AccuFlow system is an integral piece in completing more

Bayer CropScience has announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Athenix Corp., a privately-held independent biotechnology company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The acquisition of Athenix and its innovative technology platform will boost Bayer CropScience´s ability to make available novel technology and complete agricultural solutions to growers worldwide. The acquisition is subject to pre-merger notification to the relevant U.S. authorities. The final purchase price is yet to be disclosed.

Athenix has an extensive herbicide tolerance and insect control trait development platform, particularly for corn and soybeans. The acquisition will also bolster Bayer CropScience’s trait platform for its established core crops such as oilseeds, cotton, rice and wheat. The acquisition complements the fast growing BioScience business of Bayer CropScience by significantly extending its research & development (R&D) presence in North America.

Athenix employs some of the world’s leading researchers in the agricultural biotech industry. The workforce of more

Toro has launched an 8-page color informational resource, entitled “What is Drip Irrigation?” in an effort to educate those unfamiliar with the technology used in both agricultural and landscape applications.

This document is posted on both www.toromicroirrigation.com as well as Toro’s newest educational Web site, www.dripirrigation.org.

“Interest in drip irrigation has exploded as farmers and the landscape industry seek innovative ways to use water more efficiently,” says Claude Corcos, senior marketing manager at Toro Micro-Irrigation. “And while water shortages often drive users to drip, it is often the production improvements and cost-saving benefits that become even more valuable than the water savings.”

The manual outlines the many advantages of drip irrigation, including increased yields and quality, and reduced water, fertilizer, energy, labor and chemical costs. Runoff and deep percolation are usually reduced, and improved field accessibility is another advantage. Since water is targeted to the plant more

Commercial and other high-volume hay producers can now take advantage of a new, heavier-duty version of North America’s best-selling 14 X 18 baler: New Holland’s BC5070 Hayliner small square baler.

The new Hayliner produces denser, uniform bales that are more consistent in length so they’re easier to pick up and handle with automatic bale wagons.

New Holland’s new BC5070 Hayliner small square baler offers a heavier-duty design and performance features over the standard BC5070 model. The Hayliner bale case is 12 inches longer and 20 percent thicker than the standard case for better bale shape and greater unit strength and durability. Wheels and tires are larger for better flotation and smoother operation.

A heavy-duty, higher-capacity eight-ball twine box is 35 percent larger than on the standard model to accept bigger twine balls, so more time can be spent baling before replacing twine balls.

Hydraulically controlled side more

Some 41 state education officials and agriculture teachers from 11 states came to the headquarters of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, Aug. 9-13 to attend the first National Agriscience Integration Institute (NAII) designed to promote and enhance opportunities for inquiry-based science in environmental and agricultural education system programs, student attainment of science content standards and national agriculture content standards.

NAII is an extension of the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Academy (NATAA), held annually at the DuPont-owned Chesapeake Farms, Chestertown, Md. The Academy is a professional development program where agriculture teachers learn new inquiry-based teaching techniques to improve science learning. More than 90 teachers from across the United States have attended NATAA in the past seven years. Both NAII and the Academy are DuPont-sponsored programs.

All teacher ambassadors graduating from NATAA are invited to be a part of NAII being held in Johnston, Iowa, on the campus of Pioneer Hi-Bred, “The more