An Enchanted Evening on the Water

I know many of you have been looking forward to hearing about our evening at the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest recognition banquet. To begin, I must tell you that it was absolutely enchanting! When Monsanto puts on an event to recognize their sales men and women and their successful farmers they put their ALL into it. Tyne and I began our evening pinning corsages on all the wives of the National and State Corn Growers Yield Contest winners (we tried our best not to draw blood). We boarded the Star Ship, and were greeted by the most hospitable crew you could possibly imagine. The decorations, recognition stage, food, and fireworks were all immaculate. Best of all however, were the people. We met farmers as well as Dekalb and Asgrow dealers from the states of Nebraska to New York. The farmers and their families were in good spirits, and almost everyone I spoke to said their favorite part about the evening was meeting all the wonderful people. I had the privilege of interviewing one such man from Milner, North Dakota.

Tom Mund along with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law made the long journey to Tampa to receive recognition for second place in the State for the irrigated crop division. Tom and his son grow irrigated corn (Dekalb), soybeans, navy beans, and wheat. The past couple of days, I have heard farmers rave about their seed dealers and Tom was certainly no exception. He said, "We have a wonderful female dealer that knows her stuff better than a lot of men. She comes around and looks at our test plots and advises us about new varieties -- that's very valuable to us because they often become our chosen variety in the future." While visiting with Tom, I asked about the value of a high quality seed. Despite a lack of rain, Tom said, "we had a fantastic crop for the amount of moisture we had." He also called the genetics in today's varieties "just unbelievable." Tom's dad watched over the combining this year and could not believe that the farm was rolling in 180 bushel dry land corn after going without rain for such a long period of time. Tom's award winning story is a true testimony to the value of Monsanto genetics. In addition to a successful crop, Tom's farm goes back four generations. Tom himself has been farming since 1969, and has been farming with his son for the past ten years. Tom's favorite portion of the evening was "the conversation with farmers and Monsanto representatives as well as getting ideas from fellow corn growers." Tom encourages young farmers to get involved anywhere they can represent agriculture and be educated on how to represent it well. He stated, "Go to the National meetings and listen to the fantastic speakers -- my experience in various organizations has exposed me to a tremendous amount of very intelligent people. And they always say if you're going to be a leader and be successful, follow a good leader."


The evening ended with a bang, literally. Colorful fireworks lit up the sky just before we headed back to shore. Celebrating with successful corn growers from around the United States was a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

Yield Gard VT

Good morning everyone! I was up bright and early this morning for Monsanto's press conferences, but I am still going strong. The second press conference today covered Monsanto's latest YieldGard technology -- YieldGard VT. YieldGard VT is the brand for VecTran (Vector Transformation) technology that provides Monsanto with a better opportunity to place genes on the chromosomes for which optimal performance of the stacked traits is achieved. VecTran technology is a more natural insertion process that results in “hotter” stacked-trait hybrids with a highly active and more consistent barrier of insect protection. A limited YieldGard VT launch is planned on over 1 million acres for 2007, with plans for significant expansion for the 2008 growing season. The first YieldGard VT product launched is YieldGard Triple, which contains the second generation of the YieldGard Rootworm trait, the YieldGard Corn Borer trait and Roundup Ready 2 technology. Following the press conference I had my first radio call in with Josh St. Peters from Radio ILFB (Illinois Farm Bureau). Josh and I discussed what YieldGard VT is and what it will do for the farmers. The broadcast will be on the Radio Farm Bureau website (audio link - broadcast may take a while to load and my portion of RFD Today is at the end), and can also be heard on WHOW Clinton AM1520 between 9 and 11 this morning. Stay online for more postings about the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest banquet last night, as well as updates about the latest technology in our industry, and the exciting happenings of the Commodity Classic 2007.

A Few Notes for my Readers

I apologize for not having the time to post a story on the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest recognition banquet tonight, but I will get to it the first opportunity I have tomorrow. I also wanted to let everyone know that if you posted a question under comments, you may click on the comments link under the story you inquired about to see my response. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to keep up on the events here at the 2007 Commodity Classic, and I will look forward to posting more blogs tomorrow!

Check out the picture of me and Tyne enjoying our evening on the yacht!

My First Interview!

As an intern at the Classic, I have had so many new experiences in such a short period of time, and I am loving it! This morning, I had the opportunity to interview two very admirable people involved in agricultural communications. While eating breakfast with my fellow intern, Tyne Morgan, I happened to meet John Walter the creator and editor of agriculture online. John's website is the online portion of Successful Farming. While visiting with John, I learned that over one hundred years ago Successful Farming began the Meredith Corporation (now the second largest publisher in the United States). The Meredith Corporation owns many forms of media, including magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Fitness, Successful Farming, and many more. John really emphasized the value of a family business and the importance of maintaining "agriculture roots," just as the Meredith Corporation has over the years. Even though my first interview was short, John said before he left, "Usually I am the one interviewing people, this was nice." I had a great time visiting with John, and learned the value of the strongly rooted companies we have in our industry. I even discovered that Mel Meredith, the great-granddaughter of E.T. Meredith who began Meredith Corporation, is the proud owner of the yacht sitting in the harbor outside our hotel! Tyne and I are extremely privileged to be invited to the National Corn Growers Association banquet on that particular yacht this evening. We are really looking forward to meeting several successful farming families from around the United States tonight. Check back later this evening for a post about our experiences and the wonderful families we encountered.

Taking over Tampa

My adventure to the 2007 Commodity Classic has finally begun! I have made the journey from the freezing cold, flat ground of central Illinois to the warm, green, palm tree covered city of Tampa. My travels went well, with the exception of getting struck by lightning shortly after taking off from Bloomington (that gave me a bit of a scare).

Now that I have arrived, I can finally answer the question that some of my readers, as well as myself have been asking. What is the Commodity Classic? According to a veteran of the Classic, Mr. Willie Vogt, the Corporate Editorial Director for Farm Progress Companies (the largest Ag publication in the United States), "The Commodity Classic is a unique meeting of leaders, including ASA, NCGA, and NAWG. The Classic is an opportunity for these leaders to interface with leading farmers who are big in their states, understand the issues, and are trying their darnedest to keep this industry viable."

The Trade Show opens at 3pm, and I am looking forward to visiting the various booths, and meeting several of the key players in our industry. Willie Vogt promotes the value of trade shows in educating farmers about modern technology in our industry. Mr Vogt says, "Don't come and look for the yard sticks, visit the show. There is the hardware of the business: Ag Co, Deere, New Holland, Case; and there is the software of the business: Mosanto, Syngynta, Bayer, Pioneer; and you need to understand both sides of the business and what the changes are." With almost 5000 Agricultural professionals and exceptional farmers from around the United States, the Commodity Classic has taken Tampa by storm, and I am thrilled to be in the middle of it! As I continue to meet new people and experience more of the show and this beautiful city I will keep you posted. If any of my readers have questions about the Classic, feel free to make a comment and I will do my best to bring the show to you.

Agriculture at Home

The countdown to the 2007 Commodity Classic has begun! I have only two days left before I board the plane to Tampa, and I am so excited. I cannot wait to meet everyone from Monsanto, and learn about the newest innovations in the agriculture industry. Before I head off to the Classic, I thought all of my readers might be interested to know a little bit about my Ag background. I grew up surrounded by production agriculture. My family manages a large, modern pork farm that has recently established a connection to Monsanto. Toward the end of January my dad, Patrick Bane, along with a small army of friends and employees began the weary, three day task of transporting 1500 gilts to the newly fumigated and renovated Bane Family Pork Farm. The partnership between my dad and four of his brothers had recently made the decision to modernize our operation by shipping the existing herd and importing a new variety of genetically superior Monsanto gilts. To provide more information to all you readers, I interviewed my dad's twin brother, Dr. Phillip Bane. Dr. Bane, who is also our herd veterinarian says, “The new herd sits higher on the genetic pyramid; therefore, we can produce breeding stock as opposed to market stock, adding value to our production as a whole.” Dr. Bane also discussed the health benefits associated with the new herd. “The Monsanto gilts, which come from Canada, are free of common diseases found in the United States such as PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome), Mycoplasma, and Circo Virus.” Bane Family Pork Farm is a strong supporter of Monsanto’s new venture into animal genetics. We have already seen improved temperament in the new herd and have faith in their strong milking ability, durability, and longevity. Dr. Philip Bane represented the partnership in saying, “Monsanto is an evolving powerhouse with a bright future in animal genetics, and we are thrilled to be a part of that." Over Thanksgiving break and Christmas break, I worked with my dad, uncles, and our employees to start records for the new herd. Our family is truly excited to venture into this new area of livestock production, and I am incredibly proud to be a part of it! I hope to share my family's story and learn more about other agriculture practices on my trip to Tampa.