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 July/August 2006 McCormick International USA, Inc., Norcross, GA, announces the hiring of Ray Spinks as VP of Sls for their McCormick and Landini tractor brands in the United States. Spinks was most recently Mktg and Product Development Dir with worldwide responsibilities for McCormick products. Since joining International Harvester in 1978, Spinks has had increasing responsibilities through mergers and acquisitions, including product support, technical publications, and product development. When ARGO purchased McCormick in 2001, Spinks was hired as Sls Dir with the task of developing worldwide distribution. Deere & Company has acquired Roberts Irrigation Products — a manufacturer of high performance plastic micro and drip irrigation products for the agricultural, nursery, and greenhouse markets. The acquisition of Roberts Irrigation provides Deere a foundation to grow its new business initiative in precision water systems. "Among Deere & Company's strategic growth opportunities, the water industry is one that makes very good sense," said Mike McGrady, Pres of John Deere's Precision Water Systems. The Government of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has signed a project agreement with First UAN Trinidad Limited (FUTL) for development of a proposed nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing facility in that country. FUTL is a joint venture formed by ANSA McAL; CF Industries; and Terra Industries to develop, own, and operate the complex. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) announces that for the first time in the contract's history, CBOT Corn options reached a record high open interest of one million contracts, closing at 1,015,594 contracts on June 18. Year-over-year contract volume through May 31, 2006, in CBOT Corn options has increased 45 percent over the same time last year. The CBOT Corn futures contract has also increase 47 percent during the same period. Syngenta announces an agreement with International Seed Holdings L.P. to acquire Emergent Genetics Vegetable A/S (EGV) based in Odense, Denmark. EGV is an established vegetable seed company specializing in breeding and marketing of selected vegetables crops. For the fiscal year ending September 2005, EGV reported sales of $17 million. "This acquisition further strengthens our global germplasm pool and supports our leadership position in vegetable seeds," said Andre Goig, Global Head of Vegetables Seeds for Syngenta. Western Peterbilt, Seattle, WA, the largest operator of heavy-duty truck dealerships in the pacific northwest, has named Frank Anglin Pres/CEO and a director of the company. Anglin was with Case IH, where he was VP North American Agricultural Business, overseeing all activities of Case IH's agricultural business in the United States and Canada, including its dealer network. The Beck family, Atlanta, IN, is providing the lead gift to build a new $3.5 million training and research facility at Purdue University's Agronomy Center for Research and Education. "Purdue has played a big part in training the Beck family ever since my father attended agriculture short courses there in 1929 and 1930," said Sonny Beck, president of Beck's Hybrids, the seed company his father and grandfather founded in 1937. "As we look to the future, we envision the Beck Agricultural Center being used to educate people with all levels of interest in agriculture, from kindergarten through high school and college, and adults in the farming community. In addition, it will accommodate agriculture and industry meetings." Chevron forms a biofuels business unit to advance technology and pursue commercial opportunities related to the production and distribution of ethanol and biodiesel in the United Sates Chevron currently blends about 300 million gallons of ethanol per year for use in gasoline blends. "Biofuels are a growing component of the world's energy base and will be an active part of Chevron's efforts to help diversify the world's energy supplies," says VP and Chief Technology Officer Donald Paul. BASF announces a new insecticide that will offer growers a new tool for control of insects in potatoes, vegetables and a range of other crops. Pending registration, this new insecticide will be marketed in the United States under the product name Alverde. "The results from field studies indicate high efficacy against target pests, which will make Alverde stand out among the crowd," said BASF insecticides Prod Mgr Richard Warriner. Alverde brings a new class of chemistry to the U.S. insecticide market, and therefore is well-suited for use in IPM and IRM programs. It is expected to gain U.S. regulatory approval by the end of 2006. BASF plans to launch the product during 2007. United Agri Products launches a new nutritional prescription service called NutriScription. Its customized software system is able to accept soil and tissue data electronically. As soil and tissue samples are pulled, they will be analyzed by NutriScription certified labs and then sent to a secure UAP database. Over 450 regionalized recommendations on over 140 crops/turf varieties have already been captured into the database, which will generate an agronomically sound recommendation based on the lab analysis. To further support its alignment with Dow AgroSciences, Mycogen Seeds introduces a new logo. The logo represents the incorporation of the Mycogen Seeds brand into Dow AgroSciences total solution offering of seeds, traits and ag chem products. "One of the primary drivers for this decision is our business strategy to align with the ag chem business, making our product portfolio one of the most diverse and balanced in the industry," says Doug Vail, Sls & Mktg Leader, Mycogen Seeds. Rain Bird Corp., Glendora, CA, has launched the Rain Bird Virtual Museum. Available at www.rainbird. com/museum, the interactive museum environment allows visitors to embark on an journey through the many developments and innovations Rain Bird has brought to the irrigation industry over the past seven decades, including a detailed look at the original horizontal action impact drive sprinkler invented in 1933. For its annual scholarship program, Reinke Manufacturing, Inc., Deshler, NE, has awarded $6,000 in scholarships to Nebraska-area high school and college students who are continuing their post-high school educations. This marks the second year of both the Reinke Manufacturing Community Scholarship Program and the Reinke Manufacturing Employee/Student Scholarship Program. Dow AgroSciences announces Damon Palmer has taken over marketing responsibilities for N-Serve nitrogen stabilizer. For the past year, Palmer has been the Mktg Specialist for the company's soil-applied lineup of Keystone, Keystone LA, Surpass, FulTime and TopNotch herbicides for corn. He also has managed Hornet WDG herbicide, a pre- and postemergence broadleaf herbicide. GTA400 Precision Farming PC software, new from AGCO Global Technologies, will make it easier for farmers to work with field data, and to plan and carry out single or variable rate application of crop inputs. The new product is the fourth in a suite of user friendly software for PC products recently introduced by AGCO to simplify gathering, transferring and analyzing data from tractor and combine mounted GTA consoles, Fieldstar terminals and other sources. GTA400 takes a brand neutral approach to creating "planned jobs" such as variable rate application of seed, fertilizer and crop protection products. "AGCO is committed to developing software that makes it easy for farmers to use and exchange data across an industry-wide spectrum of equipment," says Wade Stewart, Mktg Operations Mgr, AGCO Global Technologies. Tweet |
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