Tuesday March 5 Ag News

Ag Estate Planning Workshop – Wayne – March 12th

    Nebraska Extension in Wayne County is hosting an Estate Planning Workshop for Ag landowners, ranchers and farmers on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Fire Hall in Wayne.  The event is being designed to help anyone thinking about how they should proceed with plans to retire, exit, or transfer the farm or ranch business. 

The program will be free.   Register by contacting the Nebraska Extension in Wayne County office via phone at 402-375-3310, or stop by the office.  Registration is requested to ensure proper handouts for participants.

    Speakers for this workshop will be Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator working in Farm Succession/Transfer and Brandon Dirkschneider, certified financial planner and certified farm/ranch transition coordinator. 

    Workshop topics include the importance of having a plan, proper family communications, proper family negotiations, needed end of life documentation, estate planning options using wills, trusts, and/or other business entities.  A feature of this program will be to provide information about how insurance products can be used with estate planning.

    Reactions from past participants can be summarized into one comment.  Most participants wished that they had attended this workshop years earlier.  Retiring or passing the farm to the next generation is difficult to think about and is an admission of your own impending demise.  However, it is a necessary step and with good planning can be made as painless as possible.

    For more information or assistance about the program, please contact Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension at 402-472-1771 or e-mail avyhnalek2@unl.edu for questions about the program.   For registration questions contact Nebraska Extension in Wayne County at 402-375-3310 or via e-mail at tquinn3@unl.edu.



Ag Estate Planning Workshop – Randolph – March 12th
    The Randolph Public Library and the University of Nebraska Extension is hosting an Estate Planning Workshop for the public including, business owners, Ag landowners, ranchers and farmers on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Library in Randolph.  The event is being designed to help anyone thinking about how they should proceed with plans to retire, exit, or transfer their business, home, or the farm or ranch business.

The program will be free.   Register by contacting Randolph Public library by going to the library or calling 402-337-0046.  Registration is requested to ensure proper handouts for participants.

    Speakers for this workshop will be Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator working in Farm Succession/Transfer and Brandon Dirkschneider, certified financial planner and certified farm/ranch transition coordinator. 

    Workshop topics include the importance of having a plan, proper family communications, proper family negotiations, needed end of life documentation, estate planning options using wills, trusts, and/or other business entities.  A feature of this program will be to provide information about how insurance products can be used with estate planning.

    Reactions from past participants can be summarized into one comment.  Most participants wished that they had attended this workshop years earlier.  Retiring or passing assets to the next generation is difficult to think about and is an admission of your own impending demise.  However, it is a necessary step and with good planning can be made as painless as possible.

    For more information or assistance about the program, please contact Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension at 402-472-1771 or e-mail avyhnalek2@unl.edu for questions about the program.   For registration questions contact the Randolph Public Library at 402-337-0046, or via e-mail Peggy Leiting at: pleiting@hotmail.com.



DON’T LET NITRATES COST CATTLE LIVES
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

               Are you feeding cane, millet, or oat hay, or maybe corn stalk bales, to your cows this winter?  If so, don’t let high nitrate levels kill your cows or cause abortions.

              Nitrates occur naturally in all forages.  At low levels, nitrates either are converted into microbial protein by bacteria in the rumen or they are excreted.  But when nitrate concentrations get too high, they can kill cows and maybe abort calves.

               When stress affects pasture and hay production, nitrates often reach potentially toxic levels.  Some plants are more likely to be high in nitrates than others.  Annual grasses like cane, millet, oats, and even corn often have elevated nitrate levels.  So do certain weeds like pigweed, kochia, and lambsquarter.  If your hay has lots of these weeds or is an annual grass, be alert to the potential for high nitrates.

               That doesn’t mean these feeds always are toxic, nor does it mean that high-nitrate hay can’t be fed safely.  But always test these feeds for nitrates in a lab to determine how to feed them safely.

               Remember, there are many ways to feed high nitrate hay safely.  Diluting with grain or low nitrate forages is most common.  Frequent, small meals that slowly increase the amount of nitrate fed helps cattle adapt to high nitrate hay.  And make sure cattle have plenty of clean, low nitrate water at all times.

               Nitrates cause deaths most often after animals have been prevented from eating naturally for a day or more, like after a snow storm.  Avoid feeding high or even marginally high nitrate hay at this time because cattle will eat an extra large meal when very hungry.  This could create an overload of nitrates to their system, leading to death.

               More details about nitrates in forages are available in a NebGuide at your local extension office or online to help you feed safely.



NCW Beef Ambassador Contest

NCW - Consumer Promotion Education Committee with Nebraska Cattlemen would like to announce the 2019 Nebraska Beef Ambassador Contest will be held June 4th at River’s Edge Convention Center in Columbus beginning at 1:00pm. The competition is targeted towards youth that are passionate about the beef industry.

The Nebraska Beef Ambassador Program provides an opportunity for youth, ages 14 - 24 years old, to become spokespersons and future leaders for the beef industry. The two divisions, senior and collegiate, are judged on three different areas of the industry consisting of a mock consumer promotional event, mock media interview and an issues response. 

Along with a scholarship from the Nebraska Cattlemen Research and Education Foundation the collegiate winner will have the opportunity to go on and compete at the National level.

They are currently looking for contestants for the 2019 contest.   Please share this information and help spread the word about the upcoming Beef Ambassador Contest.

For more information contact Bonita at ncw@necattlemen.org or 402-450-0223 voice/text.



SEQUENCED GENOME OF ANCIENT CROP COULD RAISE YIELDS

Humanity has finally gotten to know one of its oldest, hardiest crops on a genetic level.

An international team has sequenced and mapped the genome of proso millet – a feat essential to raising yields of the drought-resistant crop in the Nebraska Panhandle and semiarid regions where population booms foreshadow food shortages.

Because millets can grow amid infertile soils and yield food with less water than any other grain, several of them have become popular among subsistence farmers in ever-hotter, drier swaths of Africa and Asia. But the relatively low yields of the crops, combined with traits that make them difficult to harvest, have limited their viability as a food, feed or fuel staple.

To inform future breeding and genetic modification efforts, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s James Schnable and his colleagues recently sequenced more than 90 percent of the genetic code in proso millet, a species grown mostly in the American Great Plains, northern China and parts of Europe.

The ability to pinpoint the location, composition and size of the species’ genes should help researchers improve its traits while tailoring it to climates around the world, Schnable said.

“There's potential to grow it on a much larger scale and take a significant bite out of the amount of additional grain we need to meet the demand for feed and food and ethanol,” said Schnable, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture. “If you look at proso millet (yields), we’re where corn was in the 1930s. But we've learned a lot (since then) that … we think we can apply to proso millet.

“It’s sort of like when you've been pushing a really heavy boulder up a hill, and now somebody wants you to push a cardboard box up that hill. You've built all these muscles, and now you can go really, really fast.”

By allowing researchers to more easily link genes with yield- and harvest-relevant traits, the genome should calibrate predictions of which proso millet varieties will perform best in the field, Schnable said. That, in turn, will accelerate the pace at which new varieties can be developed and released to farmers.

“The real bottleneck is evaluating the field,” he said. “Now we can build statistical models and only pick the varieties that are at least predicted to be pretty good before sending them to the field. We can go from a (classical breeding) cycle that’s maybe 10 to 12 years to one that’s maybe six or seven years.”

Widening that bottleneck could also widen profit margins for Nebraska farmers and landowners, said Dipak Santra, associate professor at the university’s Panhandle Research and Extension Center.

“This will have a huge potential impact on the rural economy of the region,” said Santra, the lone public-sector breeder of the species in the Western Hemisphere. “Proso millet’s direct value to (western Nebraska and eastern Colorado) is $45 million per year, but considering its benefits to the dryland production systems, its total value to the region’s economy could be closer to a billion dollars.”

Farmers in the Panhandle already grow proso millet as a cover crop to restore soil nutrients for their cash crops. Developing varieties that mature and dry on more consistent timelines — which would streamline harvesting — ranks as one of a few obtainable short-term improvements that would make proso millet itself a more economically viable crop, Schnable said.

“I think that’s possible in the next five, 10 years,” he said. “You can harvest it and plant it with the same equipment used for wheat. These guys are already growing wheat in this region, so it's really not a major change for them to switch over if they want to grow proso millet either in rotation or on land where there isn't enough water even for wheat.

“And if we get more productivity, that makes the land more valuable. That means more tax revenue going into our local schools and towns and all of that. If you can grow more food on the same land, that's good for everyone.”

CRACKING THE CODE
Sequencing the proso millet genome — which identified more than 55,000 genes whose code instructs the building of proteins — has already revealed some surprises. Among them: The species’ genome originated from the merging of two closely related genomes more than 5 million years ago. By comparison, the genome of bread wheat emerged within just the last 6,000 years.

The team also made a biochemical discovery that, to date, has been reported in no other plant species. To convert light into sugar via photosynthesis, plant enzymes must first turn inorganic carbon from soil into a photosynthesis-friendly form. In so-called C3 plants — wheat, rice and most other crops — those enzymes sometimes mistakenly grab oxygen rather than carbon dioxide molecules, wasting energy and other resources. The more efficient C4 plants — millet among them — have adapted mechanisms to avoid this mistake.

Researchers previously found that C4 plants collectively employ three different biochemical paths to convert inorganic carbon into a useful form. Until about a decade ago, it was assumed that each species relied on just one of the three, with plant biologists only recently finding evidence of two paths in corn. But the genome of proso millet suggests that it can employ all three.

The fact that this outlier exists in the world’s most drought-resilient crop is probably more than a coincidence, Schnable said, and warrants further investigation that could impart lessons applicable to other crops.

The research team detailed its work in the journal Nature Communications. Schnable authored the study with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Iowa State University; Henan University; the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University; Purdue University; Dryland Genetics LLC; and Data2Bio LLC.

 

AGRICULTURAL SOLAR ELECTRIC INVESTMENT ANALYSIS WEBINAR SERIES
F. John Hay, NE Extension Educator – Energy

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are an increasingly common sight at homes, farms, and businesses across the Midwest.  Declining cost of PV solar installations makes installing a distributed solar electric system enticing for many farmers. Evaluating the financial investment in solar requires careful consideration of system costs, the value of production, and operation and maintenance costs. Unfortunately, some proposals are hard to understand making it difficult to make fully informed investment decisions.

This six part professional development webinar series will provide you with resources and tools to help consult farmers who are considering investing in a solar electric system so they are able to make fully informed investment decisions.  Although the webinars are geared to an agricultural audience, the information that will be shared applies to anyone looking for information on making a wise solar energy investment.

WEBINAR SCHEDULE - NOTE: Times are Eastern.
Part 1: Estimating System Production - Date: May 7, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)
Part 2: Assessing System Cost - Date: May 9, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)
Part 3: Forecasting The Value Of Electricity - Date: May 14, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)
Part 4: Understanding Incentives - Date: May 16, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)
Part 5: Conducting A Financial Analysis - Date: May 21, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)
Part 6: Photovoltaic Solar Example - Date: May 23, 2019 12:30 P.M. -1:30 P.M. (EDT)

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION DETAILS https://osu-cfaes.zoom.us/meeting/register/7710e82d1165e33766858a512be5123a.

CONTACT INFORMATION
F. John Hay:  jhay2@unl.edu
Eric Romich:  romich.2@osu.edu

This Webinar Series is Supported by the North Central Region SARE.



Scientists Overcome Repetitive DNA to Sequence Soybean Cyst

It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle for which all the pieces are identical, but with only one solution.

Iowa State University researchers overcame the quirks of the soybean cyst nematode's DNA to sequence its genome, paving the way for better management practices to combat the No. 1 pest that threatens Iowa soybeans. The research was published recently in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Genomics (https://bit.ly/2H3FQ6e).

Funding for the research was provided by the North Central Soybean Research Program and the National Science Foundation I/UCRC Center for Arthropod Management Technologies and its industry partners.

Parijat Juvale, an assistant scientist in plant pathology and microbiology; Tom Maier, an assistant scientist in plant pathology and microbiology; and Arum Seetharam, an associate scientist in the Office of Biotechnology; are also co-authors of the study. Scientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Calif.; the Worcester Polytechnic Institute; the University of Missouri; the University of Cambridge; and the University of Illinois also contributed to the project.

Soybean cyst nematodes are parasitic roundworms that infect the roots of soybeans and can devastate yields in infected fields. Nematode populations build up in fields and stay for years, meaning infested acres become a perennial management concern for farmers.

Crop breeders have studied genes in soybeans that can boost their resistance to the nematodes, but sequencing the nematode genome fills in important gaps in science's understanding of these pests that had remained stubbornly blank for years, said Thomas Baum, senior author of the study and Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor and chair of plant pathology and microbiology.

"Researchers look at resistance on the soybean side of the equation, but it's been difficult getting comprehensive work done on the biology and virulence of the pest because a workable genome had not been available," Baum said. "Our work is a giant step in enabling novel research."

The genetics of the soybean cyst nematode present challenges that kept scientists from assembling the full genome for years. The research team sequenced the genome first by sequencing smaller portions and then piecing those portions together into the full genome. About a third of the nematode's 29,769 genes are repetitive, meaning many of the genes come in multiple copies, said Rick Masonbrink, an associate scientist in the ISU Office of Biotechnology and lead author of the study. The repetitive DNA greatly complicated the sequencing and assembly process, Masonbrink said.

Andrew Severin, a co-author of the study and manager of the ISU Genome Informatics Facility, likened it to a jigsaw puzzle of a blue sky in which all the pieces are identical in shape and color. It's difficult to figure out how all those repetitive pieces fit together, Severin said. But a method known as long-read sequencing technology made it possible to assemble a high-quality genome.

Now, the fully assembled genome could lead to the development of better pest management strategies, Baum said. Having a fully assembled genome on hand will make it possible for scientists to compare different nematode populations at the gene level.

When the nematodes infect a soybean plant, they battle with the soybean's natural defenses. The genome can help plant breeders understand how the nematodes manage to override the soybean's defenses.

"This helps us to understand the basic pathology of the worm," Baum said. "Now we can see both sides of the arms race, both the offense and defense."

Further enhancing the utility of the genome, the ISU team has made their research available in an open online database for other scientists to access (https://scnbase.org/).



Iowa Learning Farms Webinar Looks at Impact Cattle Have on Planet

The role of livestock in sustainable agriculture is the topic of the Iowa Learning Farms webinar, Wednesday, March 20 at 12 p.m.

The webinar will focus on ruminant nutrition and feeding practices, and how ruminant production can be linked with crop diversity, soil health, climate and sustainable agriculture. Mark Rasmussen, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of production practices and current economics.

“The role of livestock in sustainable agriculture is misunderstood,” said Rasmussen, whose expertise extends to many areas of agriculture, agricultural microbiology, animal health and nutrition. He hopes webinar viewers will gain a better understanding of the many benefits of forage-based agriculture.

To watch, go to www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/webinars and click the link to join the webinar shortly before 12 p.m., March 20 to download the Zoom software and log in option. The webinar will be recorded and archived on the ILF website for watching at any time at https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/webinars.



E15 Rulemaking Moves Forward

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Monday sent a draft rule to allow for year-round sales of E15 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. This is the next step in the regulatory process and meeting expectations that this rulemaking be completed when the summer driving season begins June 1. 

“NCGA is pleased to see the process move forward and will be providing input during this important phase,” said National Corn Growers Association President Lynn Chrisp. “A timely rule is important for the summer driving season but it’s also important that the rule is done right.”

NCGA will be providing OMB with input to help ensure a strong, clear rule for E15. Following the review and interagency approval, EPA will issue a proposed rule for public comment.



Virtual Reality Beef Ranch Tours Expand to Global Audiences

In an effort to share more about beef farming and ranching with audiences across the globe, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. is making its virtual ranch tours available in Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.

The project, made possible by the U.S. Meat Export Federation and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, contractors to the Beef Checkoff, and Iowa Beef Industry Council, will offer a variety of new audiences an opportunity to virtually experience the U.S. beef industry and production practices.

"International customers are very interested in the story behind U.S. beef, but most live in large cities and have never seen the clean open spaces where cattle are raised,” said Dan Halstrom, USMEF president of CEO. “These videos allow international audiences to feel like they are right in the middle of daily life on a family ranch or farm, and a key component of that story is the tremendous care that goes into raising the animals. From genetics to grazing and feeding practices to environmental stewardship, these families make the investments necessary to raise the finest beef in the world.”

“As we expand our global reach and share where U.S. beef comes from with international consumers, this is an opportunity to provide an in-depth look at beef production using modern technology,” said Chris Freland, Executive Director of Iowa Beef Industry Council. “We have a goal at Iowa Beef Industry Council to create a video for international use, and featuring an Iowa family seemed like a natural partnership opportunity to share that story.”

The three translated 360-degree videos virtually transport the viewer to a ranch to learn more about how cattle are raised, including the ways beef farmers and ranchers care for the environment and their animals. The tours feature:
-    Triple U Ranch – On the diversified Triple U Ranch, the Utesch family runs a cow-calf operation, a small feedyard and grows corn. The ranch was started in the 1940s and has been in the Utesch family and had cattle on it ever since.
-    Easterday Ranches – The tour of Easterday Ranches takes the viewer to a state of the art feedyard in Washington with more than 70,000 head of cattle and thousands of acres of onions, potatoes, corn and wheat.  
-    Brackett Ranch – A peek into the Brackett family's life at Brackett Ranch on the Oregon and Idaho border shows unparalleled beauty. The Bracketts and their four kids raise cows and calves.

The 360-degree videos debuted in English last year at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. They are available on the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. website BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. 



U.S. Dairy Industry Applauds USTR for Enforcement Action Against India

The U.S. dairy industry commended the Administration’s decision to terminate the preferential trade status granted to India for its failure to provide “equitable and reasonable access to its market” and comply with other provisions of the statute, as required. By holding India accountable for its unjustified trade barriers, the industry says USTR is setting an important precedent on enforcement.

India has denied market access to U.S. dairy products since 2003, despite receiving preferential access to the U.S. market under a special duty-free trade arrangement called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Over those years India has cited a variety of shifting reasons as the basis for its illicit trade barriers, including unscientific restrictions on U.S. livestock feeding practices.

“For 16 years India has enjoyed unilateral access to U.S. markets while flaunting their obligation to provide fair market access mandated under the GSP program, and harming American dairy farmers in the process,” said Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) president and CEO. “The Administration has sent a clear message: abide by free and fair trade practices or face the consequences.”

“The U.S. dairy industry strongly welcomes this enforcement action by USTR and hopes that it sets the precedent that unfair trade practices will not be tolerated, and compliance enforcement measures will be utilized when warranted,” said Tom Vilsack, chairman and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

The U.S. dairy industry has worked alongside the U.S. government for years with the goal of coming to a mutually beneficial resolution with the Indian government. However, India has failed to engage in good-faith negotiations to restore market access for U.S. dairy exports. USDEC and NMPF submitted comments to the USTR in September 2017 urging the USTR to utilize congressional-mandated compliance requirements to modify India’s GSP status.



 CHS adds crop protection distribution with acquisition of West Central

CHS Inc., the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, agronomy, grains and foods company, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of West Central Distribution, LLC, a full-service wholesale distributor of agronomy products headquartered in Willmar, Minnesota.

"Completing the acquisition of West Central demonstrates our commitment to provide more of the products, services and technologies cooperatives, retailers and our farmer-owners need to compete," said Gary Halvorson, senior vice president, CHS Agronomy. "Ownership of West Central expands our agronomy platform, positions CHS as a leading supply partner to cooperatives and retailers serving growers throughout the United States and adds value for CHS owners."

West Central offers crop protection, nutrients and other specialized agronomy products to cooperatives and independent retailers. With 30 locations, West Central expands the distribution assets, capabilities, and expertise of CHS Agronomy, which currently offers a globally-integrated wholesale crop nutrient supply chain and an array of retail seed, crop protection, fertilizer and agronomic technologies and services.

"Joining CHS builds on our shared values and history of collaboration," said Mike Fiebelkorn, West Central president. "With the combined strengths of both organizations, we can better meet the needs of CHS and West Central customers."

CHS has owned 25 percent of West Central since January 2015. With the completion of the transaction, West Central's more than 200 employees become CHS employees.



Industry leaders will tackle questions about sustainability in beef industry supply chain at Summit

The Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2019 Stakeholders Summit themed, A Seat At The Table, will be held May 8-9 at the InterContinental at the Plaza Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. Discounted registration rates are available through April 1. To view the agenda and register, visit http://summit.animalagalliance.org.

The cattle industry involves many segments. Cow-calf producers raise calves that are then sold, often at a livestock auction market. From there the cattle are often backgrounded prior to being sold again to a feedyard. How do all the stops along this chain work together on industry-focused animal welfare and sustainability efforts? How are Beef Quality Assurance and the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef efforts perceived by packers and retailers looking to add accountability in their supply chain? Can we make some of these topics “pre-competitive” or will brands insist on their own programs to differentiate?

Summit will feature a panel titled, “From Birth to Burger: Industry-Led Beef Supply Chain Animal Welfare & Sustainability Efforts,” to tackle these questions and more. Panelists include Kristen Parman, vice president of membership services at Livestock Marketing Association, Debbie Lyons-Blythe, rancher at Blythe Angus and Justin Nelson, vice president of procurement at Tyson Foods.

    Kristen Parman is a native of Buffalo, Missouri, where she was raised in the livestock and livestock marketing industry. Growing up on a commercial cow-calf operation in southwest Missouri, working with the family livestock trucking company and the local livestock auction market has given her a well-rounded view of the livestock industry and the importance of seeing an issue or service from the perspective of all sizes of operations. A 2001 graduate of Missouri State University, she spent time with LMA as an intern in the membership services department before earning her bachelor’s degree in agricultural business.

    Debbie Lyons-Blythe is a cattle rancher in the Flint Hills of Kansas. She and her husband Duane Blythe run a registered Angus cowherd, as well as a crossbred herd. In addition, they raise 350 heifers that they sell as bred heifers across the nation. Blythe Family Farms is a founding member of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and Lyons-Blythe serves as the secretary treasurer for the group.

    Justin Nelson began his career with then IBP - now Tyson Foods - in 2002. He was hired as a supervisor trainee in the Lexington Nebraska beef plant. For the next 5 years he would learn the ins and outs of the Packing house. Not only did he learn product specs across the floor, ground beef, trim and the multi vacs but he learned how to manage people, and produce a product that IBP/ Tyson is proud to provide for our customers. In 2008 an opportunity in Cattle Procurement opened up for Nelson and his true passion and experience in the industry would shine. Nelson has built his career with Tyson Foods and currently is the Vice President of Cattle Procurement for the company.

Be sure to check the Summit website for the most up-to-date Summit information. You can also follow the hashtags #AAA19 for periodic updates about the event.



 Power to Do More Contest Now Accepting Entries, Offers $10,000 Grand Prize

Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, encourages corn farmers to again show the world photos of their powerful inspirations as part of the 2019 Power to Do More contest.

The contest, sponsored by the corn herbicides portfolio of Corteva Agriscience, honors farmers and their commitment to their communities. Corn farmers can enter the contest by visiting PowerToDoMore.com by April 28, 2019, for a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000 for a local nonprofit of choice or two second place prizes of $5,000 for their selected nonprofits.

“Farmers are often the bedrock of small communities throughout the U.S. Many invest their time and effort working with local organizations,” said Lyndsie Kaehler, U.S. Corn Herbicides Product Manager, Corteva Agriscience. “The Power to Do More contest recognizes farmers not only for what they produce in their fields, but also for their exceptional commitment to the communities in which they farm. It’s been inspiring to hear the stories of past contest entrants and we are excited to meet more powerful farmers through this year’s contest.”

The 2018 Power to Do More contest winners — the Schroeders from Iowa, the Krauses from Minnesota and the Gutterys from Kansas — supported local FFA chapters and a county community foundation. Their stories are featured in three short videos that show their dedication to farming.

Photo entries may include fields, family, friends, pets, equipment — whatever means the most to the entrant. Up to 10 finalists will be selected for community voting. The finalists with the most votes by July 8 will win. Follow along on social media at #PowerOverWeeds.

Corteva Agriscience is proud to support farmers with a lineup of corn herbicides dedicated to delivering the power to do more every season: With Resicore®, SureStart® II, DuPont™ Realm® Q, DuPont™ Cinch® ATZ and Keystone® NXT herbicides, farmers can effectively control and spend less time worrying about unwanted, yield-robbing weeds.



Syngenta #RootedinAg contest now accepting entries

has announced that the application period for the sixth annual #RootedinAg contest is now open. By sharing their inspirational stories, applicants can enter for a chance to become one of three finalists, who will each receive a mini touch-screen tablet. Of those finalists, Syngenta will award $500 to one grand prizewinner and publish his or her story in Thrive magazine, which will include an exclusive photo shoot. Syngenta will also make a $1,000 donation in the winner’s name to a local charity or civic organization.

“For decades, the men and women of agriculture have welcomed Syngenta into their communities and helped us nourish our roots in an industry that we all love,” said Wendell Calhoun, communications manager at Syngenta. “The #RootedinAg contest gives us a chance to celebrate the journeys of people who are moving agriculture forward and share their uplifting stories with others.”

Some of the inspirations behind previous #RootedinAg winners include a grandfather’s wisdom, a father’s unconditional support, and a whole family’s commitment to their land and community.  Interested candidates can describe their inspiration in this year’s competition by:
-    Visiting the Thrive website to review eligibility, the official rules and filling out the easy-to-use #RootedinAg entry form
-    Describing in about 200 words who inspired them to be #RootedinAg
-    Uploading a photograph or video that visually supports their written entry

The deadline to enter is May 30, 2019. Shortly after this date, a panel of judges will choose three finalists on or about June 7, 2019, based on the quality of their essays. Syngenta will then post their entries on the Thrive website and ask visitors to help choose the grand prizewinner by voting for their favorite. These votes, along with the judges’ scores, will determine the winner. Online voting ends Aug. 30, 2019, with Syngenta announcing the grand prizewinner in September.

To apply, learn more or see previous contest winners, go to www.SyngentaThrive.com. Join the conversation online – connect with us at Syngenta-us.com/social.