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BASF Plant Science awarded for ag biotech excellence

June 30th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

BASF Plant Science LP recently received the 5th annual North Carolina Leadership Award in Industrial Biotechnology. The award honors outstanding corporate achievement in technical endeavors, business leadership, translation of new technologies into commercial markets, support for education and community service.

“We are proud to be recognized for our commitment to innovation in agriculture and to the local community,” said Jonathan Bryant, vice president of BASF Plant Science.  “Receiving this leadership award pushes our passion and commitment even higher to continue to advance agricultural biotechnology for the benefit of farmers, the environment and the community.”

From left to right: Amber Shirley, biotechnology crops development director for the N.C. Biotechnology Center; Jonathan Bryant, vice president of BASF Plant Science LP; and Maria Rapoza, vice president, science and technology development program for the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

“BASF Plant Science is an organization operating not only at the forefront of agricultural productivity and animal feed research and development, but also as a leader in business citizenship,” said Gwyn Riddick, M.B.A., the Biotechnology Center’s vice president of agricultural biotechnology. “It’s an honor to recognize this kind of excellence.”

BASF Plant Science was selected from 13 world-class industrial biotechnology and bioprocessing companies by a multi-organizational selection committee. The leadership award was presented at a special dinner hosted by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

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Posted in BASF Plant Science, Biotechnology | No Comments »

Consider a foliar fungicide for more tonnage and healthier plants

June 24th, 2010 by Courtney Beck

The use of foliar fungicides in corn grain production has gained favor over the past few years.  As grain prices increased, savvy producers realized that the investment in a well-timed fungicide application could pay huge yield dividends at harvest.  Corn silage, another valuable crop especially when chopped for high-performance dairies, can benefit from a foliar fungicide application as well.  The return on fungicide investment for the corn silage producer can be more tons per acre of higher-quality silage.

Corn growers have learned that the yield increases associated with some fungicides stem not only from a decrease in leaf diseases, but also from a general increase in plant health.  By reducing the incidence and severity of fungal leaf disease, the corn plant is better able to convert light energy into starch, protein and sugars.  Healthy plants are also better able to deal with the environmental stresses often encountered during the growing season. In silage, since the entire plant is harvested, the plant health aspect becomes even more valuable.

Foliar fungicides vary in their formulation and mode of action, and only a few products are labeled for applications to corn grown for silage.  Headline® fungicide, manufactured by BASF, is the fungicide most widely used by corn growers in North America.  Data from research plots and field trials have shown very positive responses to Headline applied to corn silage.  A trial in Plainfield, Wisconsin in 2008 showed an average of 1.62 tons/acre (at 70% moisture) increase from a Headline application over an average of 35 hybrids.  This yield increase translated to an average of 2,837 additional pounds of milk per acre using the standard dairy industry tons to milk calculation.  The results from a trial in Unity, Wisconsin were even more impressive.  Averaged over 21 different hybrids, the Headline application resulted in an extra 3.26 tons/acre and an increase of 3,986 pounds of milk per acre.

Silage quality can also be maintained by a timely application of Headline.  Trials grown in Wisconsin, Maryland and New York showed increases in fiber digestibility and corresponding increases in milk per acre when compared to an untreated check.

Another important benefit of a foliar fungicide application is the increase in “stay green” or late season plant health.  This increase in plant health means a wider silage harvest window.  Whether your customers are large operations with hundreds of acres of silage to cut or smaller operations waiting on a custom chopper, cutting silage at the proper moisture is an important step in harvesting quality corn silage.  Keeping the crop healthy and green for a longer period of time can pay huge dividends in the feed bunk.

After starting with the right hybrid, your customers can help maintain the nutrition potential of that silage crop with a timely fungicide application.  A foliar fungicide such as Headline can be a management tool in your customers’ quality silage plan.

This article was written by Mark Schultz, a sales agronomist for BASF Plant Science. He can be reached at mark.schultz@basf.com.

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Posted in Dairy, Research, Silage, Yield, eNewsletter | 2 Comments »

BASF Plant Science Feed Project continues its work

June 21st, 2010 by Courtney Beck

Around the world, agriculture is facing new and unprecedented challenges.

One obvious example is the need to produce healthy, affordable food for a rapidly growing and diversifying global population.

NutriDense is the current trait being licensed to seed partners to provide livestock producers with a higher energy feed to improve animal performance and profitability. At the end of the day, it’s about creating value for animal producers and corn growers.

We’re proud to be a part of the BASF Plant Science family, as it uses creative biotech solutions to lead the way in meeting the world’s demand for more and better food, feed and renewable resources. It is the only major biotech company with a main focus on research and breeding efforts to improve corn for animal feed purposes.

Previously, we talked with Barney Bernstein, director of trait marketing and sales for BASF Plant Science, about the emphasis and importance of the Feed Project. Find that blog post and podcast here.

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BASF presents first Eco-Efficiency Analysis for corn production

June 10th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

How can farmers achieve sustainability? That question is at the center of the 2010 Agricultural Solutions Media Summit, wrapping up today in Chicago.

At the summit, BASF announced an extensive new project to further develop its Eco-Efficiency Analysis and incorporate agriculturally relevant factors such as biodiversity, soil health and social impact. The Eco-Efficiency Analysis was developed by BASF to measure the sustainability of products and production processes and is one of BASF’s main tools for implementing its sustainability strategy.

The Eco-Efficiency Analysis enables a comparison of the economic and environmental aspects of products and processes. Importantly, the methodology takes the product’s entire life cycle into account, from raw materials sourcing, to product manufacture, use, and disposal.

In the photo: Markus Heldt, president of BASF Crop Protection, Dr. Peter Eckes, president of BASF Plant Science Company, Nevin McDougall, senior vice president of North America Crop Protection and Dr. Jonathan Bryant, vice president of BASF Plant Science, L.P., at the 2010 BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit.

Here are a few of the points touched on during the announcement:

  • BASF has now completed the first Eco-Efficiency Analysis for corn, a major feedstock crop that is of central importance for farmers and food supply.
  • Markus Heldt, President of BASF’s Crop Protection division, presented the results: “We analyzed corn production both with and without our fungicide Headline®. The most important result was that farmers achieved higher yields with Headline. However, in addition, they were also able to reduce costs, energy use and resources. In other words, corn farmers can earn more with Headline and protect the environment at the same time.”
  • Dr. Peter Eckes, President of BASF Plant Science, agrees that higher yields are a significant factor in improving agricultural sustainability: “That is precisely why we examine the genetic characteristics of crops very closely. We don’t just look at the outwardly visible properties – we also investigate which specific genes are involved in each plant function. By using the best genes, we can maximize harvests and thus support farmers to become more sustainable. This also benefits the environment because no additional arable land is needed to achieve higher yields.”

Visit these links to learn more about the BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit, access the recorded general session and the Eco-Efficiency Analysis online.

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Posted in BASF Plant Science, General | No Comments »

#AgMsBASF Twitter list

June 8th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

Like we mentioned yesterday on the blog, this year’s BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit is using social media to share its panelists and speakers’ thoughts on sustainability and agriculture.

We’ll be following along on Twitter, where @BASFAgro has already started posting information. In addition, it put together a handy Twitter list of media in attendance:

Twitter _ @BASFAgro_BASF 2010 Media Summit

Click on the image above to view the list, and follow along with the list and the event hashtag #AgMsBASF.

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Posted in BASF Plant Science, General, Social Media | No Comments »

BASF Plant Science L.P. and T.A. Seeds Enter into Licensing Agreement for NutriDense Hybrids

May 25th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, May 25, 2010 – BASF Plant Science L.P. today announced the addition of T.A. Seeds as a new NutriDense trait licensee. T.A. Seeds, headquartered in Jersey Shore, Pa., will offer NutriDense Silage traits starting this summer due to strong demand in its market area and the positive performance of NutriDense genetics.

BASF Plant Science breeding efforts have significantly improved NutriDense parent lines, and the hybrids developed from these lines have excellent agronomics, strong yield potential and outstanding nutritional performance.

“We are very excited to add T.A. Seeds to our growing list of NutriDense licensees,” said Barney Bernstein, director of trait marketing and sales for BASF Plant Science. “We have seen very positive results from NutriDense Silage hybrids in the northeast and surrounding areas, and are thrilled that T.A. Seeds can now offer NutriDense to their dairy customers.”

“We are constantly evaluating new hybrids that will increase the profitability of eastern farmers,” said Taylor Doebler, T.A. Seeds seedsman. “Based on our experience, we believe NutriDense Silage hybrids are a good fit for this geography, and we look forward to offering them to our customers.”

NutriDense is a nutritionally enhanced corn that contains a stacked set of output traits designed to improve animal feed performance. Seed companies market the product through licensing agreements with BASF Plant Science.

For dairy producers, NutriDense Silage hybrids can increase silage tonnage while improving income over feed costs through greater feed efficiency.

To learn more about NutriDense, visit www.nutridense.com or follow on Twitter @NutriDense.

About T.A. Seeds

Based in Jersey Shore, Pa., T.A. Seeds is a family-owned and operated company that sticks close to its rich agricultural heritage. Beginning in 1932 with a six-acre farm, T.A. Seeds developed the first Pennsylvania-developed hybrid seed corn, and has continued since then to grow and market its family seed products throughout the east with the utmost care and selection savvy. T.A. Seeds dealers are strategically located throughout the east. For more information on T.A. Seeds, visit www.taseeds.com.

About BASF Plant Science

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. BASF Plant Science – a BASF group company – is one of the world’s leading companies providing innovative plant biotechnology solutions for agriculture. Today, more than 750 employees are helping farmers meet the growing demand for improved agricultural productivity and healthier nutrition for humans and animals. BASF Plant Science has developed an unparalleled gene discovery platform focusing on yield and quality traits in crops such as corn, soybean and rice. Jointly with leading partners in the seed industry BASF Plant Science is commercializing its products. Current projects include higher yielding row crops, nutritionally-enhanced corn for animal feed or higher content of Omega-3’s in oil crops for preventing cardiovascular diseases. To find out more about BASF Plant Science, please visit www.basf.com/plantscience.

About BASF

BASF – The Chemical Company
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 16,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $13 billion in 2009. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €50 billion in 2009 and had approximately 105,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

NutriDense is a registered trademark of BASF Plant Science L.P.

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Posted in Dairy, News | 1 Comment »

BASF Lego sculptures donated to FFA

May 17th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

If you were at the Commodity Classic back in March, you may remember a bright red barn, stalks of corn, wheat shafts and soybean pods made entirely out of Legos. Our parent company BASF commissioned brick artist Nathan Sawaya to build the structures as part of its booth at the show.

Check out this photo and video:

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It’s pretty neat how thousands of tiny Lego bricks added up to these lifelike sculptures. It reminds me of how NutriDense traits in corn seeds add up to more profitable corn that helps dairy farmers, poultry producers and grain growers make more money.

Recently, the unique sculptures were donated to FFA and will reappear at the organization’s national convention in October. Get the whole scoop in this AgWired article, and read more about NutriDense and how BASF supports us on the NutriDense homepage.

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Posted in BASF Plant Science | 1 Comment »

Follow BASF and NutriDense on Twitter

April 27th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

Did you know?

NutriDense is a part of the BASF family, something we’re very proud of. All BASF activities involving plant biotechnology are incorporated in BASF Plant Science. In feed, BASF Plant Science is improving the nutritional value of corn used for feeding livestock through our NutriDense traits.

Online, you can follow our parent company through its @BASFAgro account, which also shares information about BASF Crop Protection and BASF Plant Science.

BASF_Agro Twitter account

You can also find us on Twitter under the @NutriDense handle, where we tweet about dairy, poultry, swine and grain news, uses of social media in agriculture, general agriculture updates and upcoming events.

Read more about BASF and BASF Plant Science in these previous NutriDense blog posts:

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Posted in BASF Plant Science | No Comments »

Manage fertility to produce high-quality corn silage

April 15th, 2010 by Karlie Justus

High-quality corn silage in the bunker starts with a high-quality corn crop in the field.  The odds of successfully growing a high-quality corn crop are dependent on many factors.  Top producers manage the details they can control and thus, minimize the influence of the details they can’t, such as the environment, on their corn silage production.  One such detail that can be controlled is proper fertility.

Proper fertilization is essential for producing a high-quality corn silage crop.  Since a greater portion of the plant is harvested, the nutrient requirements for silage production are much different than corn grain production.  Under-fertilizing can put a corn silage crop under stress, produce stunted plants and result in lower tonnage and reduced quality.  The stress of poor fertility often leads to increased incidence of foliar and stalk rot diseases, which also have a negative effect on silage quality.  On the other hand, over-fertilizing also has consequences.  Over-application of nutrients, either commercial fertilizer or manure, can lead to off-site nutrient movement by runoff or leaching.  Another more apparent negative is that in the current dairy economy, producers can’t afford to spend money on inputs that don’t provide good return on investment.

A current, accurate soil test is the best place to start a corn silage fertility plan.  Like any journey, knowing where you are starting from is key to reaching your goals.  The three essential nutrients for corn silage growth are nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K).  Nitrogen, the most important of these primary elements, is a mobile nutrient that needs to be supplied to the corn crop annually.  Nitrogen needs for silage are pretty similar to corn grown for grain, ranging from 150 to 200 pounds per acre.  Factors such as yield goals and previous crop are used for determining the optimum nitrogen rate for a grain crop and also hold true for silage.  When determining the rate for a corn silage crop, be sure to take all of these factors into consideration.  When applying manure, remember to start with an accurate analysis and use effective nitrogen rates.

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Posted in Dairy, Silage, eNewsletter | No Comments »

Managing corn silage in bunker silos

April 15th, 2010 by Jerry Weigel

Maximizing dairy production from a feeding standpoint is highly dependent upon producing and storing quality corn silage.  We spend quite a bit of time talking about proper operating procedures in harvesting corn silage — such as optimum harvest maturity and moisture, particle size, and packing management — but often times forget about feed-out and bunker management.

Today let’s chat about managing the face of the bunker, or what we refer to as feed-out rates.  It is well understood that the removal rate or feed-out rate is defined as inches of silage removed from the face (front) of the bunker. It is our feeling that a minimum of 6 inches per day should be removed during the summer and a minimum of 4 inches per day in the winter. A good recommendation when designing new bunkers is to design the bunker to take twice as much per day off the face, thus making a longer (versus wider) bunker that has a smaller face area.

It is also important to remember that as you open the bunker, you should only uncover the amount of silage you need at that time.  Excess plastic should be cut off each day, and at no time should two days worth of silage be exposed.

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