Looking Ahead to the 2012 Corn Planting Season
By Ty Vaughn Corn Product Management Lead As winter quickly passes, we recognize that many growers are gearing up for spring planting and may have questions about our recommendations for corn rootworm (CRW) traited hybrids due to recent discussions and headlines about corn rootworm populations. Whether you are one of the few who experienced unexpected [...]
VIDEO BLOG: Strategies to Insure Farmer Productivity with Corn Rootworm Control
We generally look at three components for farmers to succeed with Monsanto products – agronomics, breeding and biotechnology. We work closely with agronomists at the state level across the country and have focal regions for each crop. And we share this information in a variety of ways, including our Technology Use Guide as we provide [...]
The Buzz on Sweet Corn
By John Headrick Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about one of Monsanto’s latest technology innovations, biotech sweet corn, or what we call Seminis Performance Series™ Sweet Corn. It has the potential to create sustainable improvements in sweet corn farming through the better use of resources and less reliance on pesticides. Although this [...]
Corn Rootworm Traits and Performance Questions
Recent headlines have questioned the performance of Monsanto’s corn rootworm-protected technologies in some areas of the U.S. Corn Belt. Importantly, Monsanto’s portfolio of corn-rootworm products continue to demonstrate an outstanding level of performance and grower satisfaction across tens of millions of acres. Field monitoring of these products, which Monsanto has conducted since these products were [...]
Who should speak up for farmers?
As farmers look at the way the world works, its easy to think things need to change. Tennessee farmer Johnny Dodson says farmers need to speak up & be involved.
Farmers Learning from Each Other
I happened to be in one of the fields Johnny Dodson farms near Four Points, Tennessee with soybean farmers from the Midwest who came down south to see the issues on weed resistance that Johnny and his neighbors are facing.
What’s a Farmer to Do When Weed Resistance Threatens the Farm?
In a previous post, we learned a bit about Johnny Dodson and his Halls, Tennessee farm. In that post, things at the farm may have seemed idyllic. As he talked, the birds chirped and all seemed right with the world. But reality is, Johnny is in the epicenter of weed resistance. Having grown 30 crops [...]
On the Farm with Tennessee Farmer Johnny Dodson
This trip was long overdue. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to Halls, Tennessee farmer Johnny Dodson several times before – I vividly remember some Midwestern soybean farmers borrowing a cotton boll to show Johnny he wasn’t the only cotton person in Kansas City for a meeting and other chances to talk with him about [...]
We’re all in this together…
I’m the youngest of seven children. Before I was born in Ireland, my parents and six older siblings lived in Zambia for a number of years and three of them were even born there. They often talk about their time spent in Africa and my brother Ronan’s adamant claims of “Afro-Irishness” still amuse me to this day. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why I have always been intrigued by the African continent and its peoples – my family loved their time in Zambia and their stories and tales about the friends they met and the things they experienced do well to paint a pleasant picture of life there.
Indian Farmers Producing More, Conserving More and Improving Lives with Better Technology
Through innovative technology and a partnership between farmers, Monsanto and an Indian NGO, farmers are growing more, on the same amount of land, using less seed and less water. This is improving farmer’s lives, and the lives of those in the surrounding communities.
Refuge-in-a-Bag: A New Benefit for Farmers
By Holly Butka SmartStax Product Manager Having been raised on a farm in Western Nebraska, I know first hand how hectic it can be during planting season. To maximize profits, farmers want to get the corn planted as quickly as possible. Not having to calculate refuge, clean out planters or fill the planter with two [...]
What Does a Family Farmer Know?
The following blog post was submitted to us by Glen Groth, a family farmer in Ridgeway, Minnesota who has dairy cows and raises corn & soybeans. Glen has become active on social media (@GrothFarms on Twitter) and has seen various conversations that make him want to speak up about the things he knows to be [...]
Talking about Water
We’ve been livetweeting Monsanto’s Water Utilization Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Monsanto and some 250 growers have been meeting to talk about a new biotech trait that more efficiently utilizes water. A couple of time during the meeting yesterday, people following the conversation online asked: why does Monsanto care? One suggested a plot to take over the [...]
“We have to grow a good crop this year”
AgriNews, which covers agriculture in both Illinois and Indiana, had a story Monday about a Community Bank Ag Conference in Mendota, Ill. Normally, I don’t closely follow agricultural banking news, but the headline caught my attention: “Hybrids play major role in meeting world food needs.” One of the speakers at the conference was Steve Freed, [...]
Honors for Two Young Monsanto Employees
Two young Monsanto employees received special recognitions recently. Doug Hubner, general manager of Monsanto’s Hubner Seeds business, has received the 2010 Future Giants of the Industry Award from the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). The award is given annually to recognize leadership, innovation and commitment to the seed industry. Cited for his passion, dedication and [...]
Corn Yield Contest: It’s About Farmers
In late December, the National Corn Growers Association announced the winners in the U.S. national corn yield contest. It’s a closely watched competition, by both farmers and seed companies. Farmers look to see where average yields may be headed, and seed companies look for an opportunity to one-up the competition. DeKalb and Hubner Seed customers [...]
Where’s the sales pitch? It’s in the yield, it’s in the field!
By Katie If you would have asked me 10 years ago what I wanted to be when I grow up, sales probably would have been one of the last things to come to mind. In fact, when I tell people now that I am involved in sales I feel like I need to explain exactly [...]
A Picture of a Reduced Refuge Concept is Worth…
A few weeks back, I wrote a post attempting to explain simply in words the difference between current and future corn products offering a reduced refuge. (“Refuge in the Bag: Will that be one bag or two?”) I reviewed Monsanto’s current Genuity® VT Triple PROTM and Genuity® SmartStax TM products versus Pioneer’s Optimum® AcreMaxTM 1 [...]
New Corn Technologies Are Taking Down Some Major Pests
If you ask many corn farmers, aside from weather, pests are at the top of the list of factors that hurt their yields. Corn Earworm, Fall Armyworm, and Western Bean Cutworm can all impact yields due to destruction of corn kernels. Lucky for these corn farmers, scientists like the ones at Monsanto are working hard [...]
A Quick Lesson in Detasseling
If you’re a farmer or farm kid, you know what detasseling is. If you’re not, this video courtesy of reporter Mike Brooks at WICS in Springfield, Ill., gives you a good background on detasseling and why seed companies like Monsanto do it. Detasseling Corn Alive and Well – Fox 55/27 Springfield, ILL This Twitter search [...]
Video: Planting Drags Out, Moisture Issues at Every Turn
It seems like forever since we had an update on what was happening on Bob Walker’s cotton, corn and soybean farm. Planting that started back in mid-April faced torrential rains in early May. Planting started so long ago and the blog about it was written so long ago, that people have likely forgotten about it. [...]
Refuge in the Bag: Will That Be One Bag or Two?
Seed companies—including Monsanto—have been developing the concept of “refuge in the bag,” or RIB for short, for a number of years now. The goal is to make refuge compliance for insect-protected (B.t.) crops easier and simpler for farmers. Today, for most products, the U.S. EPA requires a corn farmer to set aside a percentage of [...]
The Race Against Mother Nature
By Tyne It’s a race against Mother Nature every spring and fall for farmers across the U.S. This season, some may argue Mother Nature has pulled ahead over the past month. What started out to be a great year for planting with above normal temperatures in many areas across the country, has turned into a [...]
Seeing Double? Must Be Twin-Row Corn!
Driving down a state road, it can be so picturesque to see row after row of a crop in the field. That’s certainly the case right now as young corn, soybean and cotton plants have had a great start with great moisture conditions in so many areas. But driving down roads in some areas may [...]
