In cooperation with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds President John Latham recently hosted tours for a Chinese delegation consisting of 17 seed company managers and government officials plus their interpretator.

“The purpose was for Chinese leaders to see there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the U.S. seed industry.  The U.S. model is a great example of how family-owned businesses and multinational companies all play an important role in the seed industry,” says Lisa Nichols, ASTA’s director of international programs.  “China is currently in the process of revising its seed law.  It’s our hope that the information gained from their U.S. visit will help change China’s policies, practices, and regulations to best support a modern seed industry.”

This U.S. visit is just one example of how the ASTA has been working over the past five years with China’s key seed industry and government stakeholders.  Last summer Bernice Slutsky, ASTA’s vice president of science and international affairs, traveled to Beijing where she met with individuals and agencies involved in the seed industry.

“Our goal is to be an advocate for policies that will enable our members to successfully conduct business in major markets, including China,” said Slutsky.  “Policies surrounding intellectual property rights, variety registration and technology transfer are of utmost importance.  In the longer term, we would like to see China update its system from the 1978 International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) standards to comply with the UPOV revisions of 1991, which is a more robust system.”

Working together and forming agreements is about making sure companies are protected and about facilitating the movement of seed on a global level, added Slutsky. “It was an honor to host such a distinguished group of seedsmen from China,” says John Latham.  “The U.S. and China are very dependent on each other in this world economy. We need to continue to find better ways to work together to feed a growing world population. This visit was a step in that process.”

Watching tractors and grain carts move through the field alongside combines is a common sight during harvest time in the Midwest, but a new project from Kinze Mfg. could make the grain cart operator “optional” once tractors are programmed to run themselves.

The Kinze Autonomy Project uses autonomous agricultural equipment to complete many tasks on the farm with minimal direct human input.

“It’s our goal to help reduce grower fatigue and help them make the most of their harvest,” says Susanne Kinzenbaw Veatch, vice president and chief marketing officer at Kinze, in a company news release.

Kinze has also designed an autonomous planter that doesn’t require an operator in the tractor cab.  A field map, including field boundaries and any predesigned non-field areas like waterways, is loaded into the global positioning system.  Once the farmer takes the tractor to that field, the system generates the most efficient planting method.

“As growers ourselves, we know how crucial it is to be productive during the short planting and harvest windows,” adds Kinzenbaw Veatch.  “With this technology, producers can set the equipment to run all night if necessary.”

“70 is the new 50.” Although I turned 70 years old this year, I’m not talking about my age.  Rather I’m talking about the new expectations of our customers.

So many Latham customers are getting whole-field yields in the 70s and 80s now that 70 bushels per acre (bu/A) has become what a 50-bushel was 30 years ago.  Latham soybean genetics, stacked with the Genuity^® Roundup^® Ready 2 Yield trait, is giving us yields that we’ve never before seen.  The precise insertion of the RR technology without yield drag, combined with Latham genetics, is a winning combination.  Our soybean lines are bred to fight common diseases – and yield robbers in our area – like Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC), as well as Phytophthora Root and Brown Stem Rot.

During the 45 years I’ve spent developing soybeans varieties, I’ve never seen anything like this!  We’ve all seen test plots go over 70 and 80 bushels before, but this year we are seeing whole fields average over 80 bushels for the first time.  At Dows, Iowa, an 80-acre field of Latham L2084R2 went 77.8 bu/A over the scale.  At Lancaster, Wisconsin, an 84-acre field of Latham L2084R2 made 79 bu/A, and in Hawkeye, Iowa, an entire field of Latham 2183R2 broke the 80 bushel barrier!

I hope none of you believe 50 or even 60 bu/A is good enough.  We hear from many farmers, who are planting our competitors’ products, say they’re excited about yields in the high 50s.  Recently, I spoke with a Pioneer customer who said, “This year I got 59 bushels from my Y series soybeans.  Those are some of the best yields I’ve ever had.”

“That’s a shame” I replied. “Your neighbor down the road is getting 75 bushels from Latham beans with Genuity Roudup Ready 2 Yield trait. 70 is the new 50.”

­­­­­­­­­­­­Keep in mind that Pioneer’s Y series soybeans contain the old Roundup Ready 1 technology.  What is that old technology costing you?

In celebration of National 4-H Week and National Pork Month, Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds on Oct. 6 is helping sponsor a pork lunch fundraiser for the Franklin County 4-H Scholarship Endowment.  We’ll be selling “brown bag lunches” in the parking lot of Fareway in Hampton, Iowa, from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.  We’re providing two options for the Brown Bag Lunch:  Option 1 is 2 pork burgers for $5; Option 2 includes 1 pork burger, a bag of chips and a bottle of water for $5.

Lunches will be ready to “grab and go” for farmers who are busy and need lunch taken out to the field or for any local resident who would like to support 4-H with a quick and easy lunch.  Special thanks to the Franklin County Pork Producers, who are taking time out from harvest to grill Thursday’s lunch.  Special thanks also to Fareway for helping make this fund-raising event possible.

We hope to see you at Fareway in Hampton on Thursday!  The weather looks like it will be perfect for grilling and enjoying a tailgate lunch.

Guest blog by
April Hemmes, Hampton, Iowa

When asked to join the 2011 Iowa /Uganda Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange, I jumped at the opportunity.  I’ve been raising row crops and beef cattle in Franklin County since I graduated from Iowa State, and so I understand first-hand some of the challenges women face as farm operators.

I was eager to learn about the challenges facing Ugandan farmers in general – and women farmers in particular – and this trip has been quite eye-opening to say the least.  There are so many differences between our two countries and our two cultures.  For starters, the entire country of Uganda is slightly larger than the state of Iowa.  But Uganda has a population of 34 million people as compared to Iowa with just 3 million!  When we tell the Ugandans there are more hogs than people in Iowa, they laugh.

The average farm size is 4 acres in Uganda, but we met one very successful woman who has 250 acres.  This is a lot of work considering it is all done by hand.  I have yet to see one tractor or even an ox plow.

This lack of equipment creates some challenges for farmers to get their product to market.  For example, Tuesday we visited the Kamuli Mill.  Farmers bring their white corn here where it is either sold directly to the mill or ground.

There are also middlemen involved because many farmers don’t have a way to transport grain to the mill. In order to afford hired transportation, a farmer must have large enough quantities of grain.  A farmer could receive better prices if the grain gets transported to a larger market.  That’s why I’m working on a project to help farmers market collectively for better prices.

It’s hard to believe that I only have four more days here!  The farmers we have met in Uganda have been so appreciative of our help.  They’re especially appreciative of everyone who is making this exchange possible.  The 2011 Iowa /Uganda Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange and development project is coordinated by the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Global Program, in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at ISU, and VEDCO, a non-profit organization based in Uganda.  The project is funded by the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) through Weidemann Associates.

With football (and thus tailgate) season right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about ice cold beverages and game day fare. It’s also time to pull the tailgate coolers out of hibernation. Most fall football days, heading to the game party means packing the cooler to the brim with snacks and drinks, dumping in some ice and heaving the heavy thing into the trunk.  Then you hope your final tailgate destination doesn’t require a long walk with cooler in tow!

That’s the old way to tailgate. One lucky participant in Latham’s Third Annual Freedom of Independence Ride will get to experience the new way to tailgate this football season.  One lucky rider will win the Cruzin Cooler, valued at $500.  This cooler doesn’t require heavy lifting. You simply pack it up, hop on, and ride! Designed to help individuals keep beverages cool without the hassle involved with a regular cooler, the Cruzin Cooler holds a case of your favorite frosty beverages.  Plus, it can travel at speeds up to 17 miles per hour!

Check out the cooler in action by viewing the video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw7Qf9IUPaQ[/youtube]

Want to join the ride and enter to win the Cruzin Cooler? There’s still time to register. Click here to find out how you can join us!