John Deere Turns Out Monster Planter
John Deere and Bauer Built Mfg. have built the DB120 corn planter, featuring 48 rows at 30-inch spacings. Depending on field conditions, the unit can plant 90 to 100 acres per hour when operating at 5 to 5.5 mph.
The 120-foot-wide planter relies on global positioning to manage the unit’s field movements, says Rob Rippchen, division manager, marketing, John Deere Seeding.
“If technology such as AutoTrac guidance and RowCommand planter row control was not available, you probably would not see a 120-foot planter,” Rippchen says.
Pioneer Offers Seeding
Rate Calculator
Pioneer’s planting rate calculator offers the ability to customize planting and seed options by factoring in grain and seed prices and yield environment to determine seeding rate for maximum economic yield.
“The calculator uses the data the grower enters — hybrid choice, field agronomics, grain price and price of seed,” says Jeremy Groeteke, Pioneer agronomy research manager. “With a click of a button, five seeding rates are listed with corresponding net incomes per acre for each.”
AutoFarm Adds New Precision Kit
AutoFarm has added a new kit that allows Raven Viper Pro owners to upgrade their system to include FarmPRO DGPS or RTK steering.
This will allow hands-free steering using WAAS or OmniSTAR XP or HP correction, as well as allow sub-inch accurate vehicle placement with trip after trip, season after season repeatability, says John Bressler, AutoFarm senior marketing manager.
Yetter Announces New Fertilizer Coulter
The new 2987 Magnum Fertilizer Coulter from Yetter Manufacturing is designed to allow fertilization at faster application rates with minimal soil disturbance.
The single-disc design has a lower draft requirement than many conventional fertilizer application tools and takes less horsepower to operate, says Derek Allensworth, Yetter marketing manager.
Monsanto Rolls Out Genuity Traits Lineup
Genuity is the brand name for Monsanto’s new lineup of traits that will be used with the company’s newest and future traits.
Trait products in the lineup include Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, Genuity VT Triple PRO corn, Genuity Bollgard II cotton, Genuity Bollgard II with Roundup Ready Flex cotton, Genuity Roundup Ready Flex cotton, Roundup Ready specialty crops, and, pending regulatory approval in 2010, Genuity SmartStax corn.
Farmers Question Obama’s Cap-And-Trade Plan
The Obama administration would like to convince farmers that they can replace their federal crop subsidies with payments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But it doesn’t appear to be an easy sell.
Many farmers already follow no-till practices and may not qualify for payments since the whole point of the cap-and-trade system is to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions.
“As we go to the Hill and start posing these questions to congressional staff, they’re always astounded about how many questions need to be answered,” says Jon Doggett, a lobbyist for the National Corn Growers Association.
New Corn Yields Sugar, Grain, Biomass
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new type of corn plant with the potential to yield three crops and use less nitrogen. Sugar corn can be harvested for the grain, for the sugar inside the stalk and for biomass to produce energy.
“These plants are massive,” says scientist Fred Below. “They have big stalks, and unlike normal corn where stalks become hollow as they supply the grain with nutrients, these corn stalks are all filled up inside with sugar.”
Two Stacks With Viptera Trait Approved
The EPA has approved two Agrisure Viptera traits.
The Agrisure Viptera trait plus the Agrisure 3000GT stack will provide control of lepidopteran corn pests, including European corn borer, corn earworm, Western bean cutworm, black cutworm and fall armyworm, along with control of corn rootworm, and glyphosate and glufosinate herbicide tolerance.
The Agrisure Viptera trait plus the Agrisure GT/CB/LL trait stack will not provide corn rootworm control, but will control all other worm pests along with providing glyphosate and glufosinate herbicide tolerance.
Kixor To Bring Rapid Control
Kixor herbicide will control more than 90 broadleaf weeds, BASF officials say in preparation for its launch this year. It’s labeled for use in 30 crops, including corn, soybeans and sorghum.
“The speed with which Kixor controls weeds is remarkable,” says Rex Liebl, global herbicide marketing for BASF. “In addition to controlling weeds fast, our research shows it provides complete foliar burndown.”
Trilex 6000 Adds 5.8 Bushels
Bayer CropScience says 42 independent research trials from 2006 to 2008 have shown the Trilex 6000 Soybean System provides a yield increase of 5.3 bushels per acre.
Trilex 6000 includes Yield Shield biological fungicide in addition to two fungicides, an insecticide, a proprietary seed coating and a colorant.
Syngenta Aphid Control System Coming
Available in the United States for planting in 2010, the Syngenta aphid management system pairs a native gene for resistance with the early season disease and insect control benefits of seed treatments from Syngenta.
In addition, Syngenta’s foliar-applied insecticide portfolio can be a component of the system if needed, providing additional protection under heavy late-season infestations during critical stages to guard yield, says Steve Knodle, NK soybean marketing manager for Syngenta Seeds.
