Sugar Club Elects President
Frank G. Day, Hershey Co. vice president of Global Commodities, won election as president of the Sugar Club, an international sugar forum headquartered in New York City.
Day, a graduate of the University of Missouri and Georgia State University, joined Hershey in 1988 as a commodity analyst and manager of crop survey operations in West Africa and Brazil.
Prior to joining Hershey, Day was a senior sweetener buyer for Coca-Cola USA and a Trading Manager for Cargill Investor Services.
Day is a member of the ICE Futures Exchange and serves on both the Cocoa and Regulatory Compliance committees. He also serves on USDA'S Agricultural Trade Development Advisory Board.
Other elected officers of the Sugar Club are Vice Presidents Jeff Dobrydney, Jenkins Sugar Group; Sue Kharouba, Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC; and Pedro Figueroa, ED&F Man Sugar; Secretary Rick Pasco, Sweetener Users Association; and Treasurer Robert Vorsanger.
Nelson Irrigation Offers Simple Pivot End Gun Valve Control
Nelson Irrigation announces sale and distribution of the Delta P for Pivot End Gun Valve Control with the SRNV100 Big Gun.
The SRNV100 is an end gun and control valve in one. The nozzle valve improves end gun performance and efficiency by eliminating pressure loss, turbulence, and debris hang-up typical of other end gun control valves. The Delta P can be paired with the SRNV100 to further improve reliability by eliminating the need for a costly solenoid. The Delta P automatically opens and closes the nozzle valve by sensing pressure upstream and downstream of the booster pump.
Visit www.nelsonirrigation.com.
Betaseed Donates $300 to Scottsbluff FFA
John Dillman, Betaseed regional sales manager, presented a check for $300 to the Scottsbluff, Neb., FFA group on Oct. 31.
Betaseed hosted the annual Progressive Agriculture Safety Day in September at which 15 members of the group volunteered their time. More than 140 students from local schools in the Gering, Neb., area took part in hands-on safety demonstrations and educational training activities. The FFA students acted as group leaders and time keepers and were extremely helpful in running the event.
“We really appreciated the FFA students help with this event and hope the day was beneficial for them too,” Dillman said.
The Progressive Agriculture Foundation is dedicated to supporting youth agricultural programs. It’s the largest rural safety and health education program for children in North America. The foundation’s mission is to provide education and training to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities.
Betaseed Inc., headquartered in Shakopee, Minn., is North America’s premier sugarbeet seed company.
Visit www.betaseed.com.
Smart Ag Remote Monitoring Anytime, Anywhere
The McCrometer Connect Wireless Irrigation and Crop Monitoring System and its
new Connect TrendView Mobile App gives growers handy views of what’s going on in their fields.
The app is designed for Android and iOS smart phones and tablets. Critical ag management information, such as weather, ET, soil moisture, water flow/pressure and more, is conveniently and securely displayed by phone in customizable quick-look colorful graphic views to support fast informed decisions.
App data can be viewed in two easy ways; as instruments that display sensor data in panels resembling real sensors and as data graph trends that can be customized to combine readings from multiple sensors with an adjustable date range. This user-friendly app reliably brings field conditions close to hand, making farm management easy from afar.
Visit www.mccrometer.com.
Net Irrigate Combats Copper Theft
Net Irrigate, a manufacturer of Wireless Agricultural Irrigation Monitoring (WAIM) technology, announces WireRat 4.0, an update to its WireRat technology that offers pivot owners new benefits like the ability to self-test the system and increased battery performance.
Since its release in 2011, WireRat technology has become the agriculture industry’s best selling alarm solution for copper theft on center pivot irrigation systems and additional agriculture equipment.
WireRat technology offers growers the ability to better protect the valuable copper wire on their pivot irrigation systems and other equipment by immediately sending alerts to your phone when a span cable is cut. The technology works seamlessly with all brands of center pivots and requires no external power.
New for the WireRat 4.0 is the ability to self-test by simulating span cable cuts without causing any damage to your equipment. Every month the system will auto-test the copper wire, ensuring the alarm is not compromised during the offseason.
WireRat 4.0 also includes increased battery performance, with a battery pack design that can last up to seven years with average pivot usage, representing a 40-percent increase over the previous version.
Visit www.netirrigate.com.
Updated Novo Converter Offers New Features
The Novo 2Wire converter from Underhill is now available with built-in testing and programming features, along with improved diagnostics.
Novo Model W-NOV-2U has the ability to test and program field decoders and 8-station senders. No additional wire harnesses are required. The user plugs in the connectors, slides the switch from “run” to “program,” and can test or program a decoder or sender as needed.
Model W-NOV-2U also has a new diagnostic feature that avoids repeated callbacks by clearing a displayed field fault to confirm it has been resolved.
Versatile and easy to install, Novo is compatible with all major controllers. Hunter, Rain Bird, Irritrol, Toro, and other popular brands, can be converted to total two-wire or applied in a “hybrid” application using both two-wire and multi-wire systems.
The converter is a practical solution for irrigation installers who plan to utilize two-wire technology in new or retrofit installations. Novo installs alongside a host controller and handles up to 32 two-wire stations as a standard feature. It can manage up to 63 stations by using 8-station senders, if the host controller has the station output capability.
Visit www.underhill.us.
McCrometer Announces New President
McCrometer, a leading provider of flow measurement and wireless solutions, announced the promotion of Melissa Aquino to the role of president.
Aquino’s appointment is part of an executive transition that includes former President Kerry McCall moving into the role of chief flow technology executive.
McCall served as president of McCrometer for 28 years, growing the business more than 10-fold over that time. This growth was driven by combining new flow technology innovations with a powerful and unique McCrometer culture.
In his new role, McCall will be responsible for the continued expansion of McCrometer’s flow technology capabilities and evaluating new business opportunities.
“It’s an exciting time to lead McCrometer as president,” Aquino said. “Working for Kerry and McCrometer has been an honor, and I am fortunate to have him remain on the team. McCrometer’s history and growth has always been based on a deep understanding of customer needs and continued innovation. With our talented team and a continued focus on these core areas, I am very optimistic about our future.”
Aquino brings more than 14 years of experience, seven of which are with McCrometer. She most recently served as vice president, marketing and human resources director.
Visit www.mccrometer.com.
Betaseed Announces Scholarship Winners
Betaseed officials announced its fifth-annual scholarship winners for 2014 in the Michigan sugar growing area.
Six $500 scholarships were awarded in schools within each of the Michigan sugar grower districts. To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be related to a member of the Michigan Sugar Company and be enrolled full time in an institute, college or university this fall.
Winners in each district are:
* East District: Aaron Christy and Heather Gentner
* Central District: Holley Tait and Nicholas Goretski
* West District: Lindsay Hoard and Amber Brown
Betaseed Inc. is headquartered in Shakopee, Minn.
Betaseed Hires ETS Quality Manager
Betaseed announces the addition of Jay Sandman to the breeding and product management group in Shakopee, Minn.
Sandman will report directly to Jay Miller, director of breeding and product management. In his new role as excellence through stewardship quality manager for North America, Sandman will concentrate on preparing for upcoming audits in the process of ETS certification. He has worked in the field of plant science for more than 20 years. He was most recently employed as a biotechnologist at Alforex Seeds.
Sandman’s family will be relocating to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
Visit www.betaseed.com.
Brillion Introduces 3630 Series Pulvi-Mulchers
Landoll Corporation introduces the new Brillion Farm Equipment 3630 Series Pulvi-Mulchers.
“The new 36-foot, 6-inch model in the 3630 Series is 20 percent wider than our current 30-foot WL Pulvi-Mulcher and is the widest and heaviest Pulvi-Mulcher ever produced in Brillion’s 100 plus year history of building rugged farm equipment,” said Mike Irish, brand manager for Landoll’s Brillion Farm Equipment line. “The new 30-foot model is 80 percent heavier than previous 30-foot models providing more clod crushing power.”
A minimum of 24 inches between shank rows and three rows of heavy-duty S-Tine shanks featuring 25 inches of under frame clearance result in improved trash flow. To ensure a smooth finish, a leveling bar is located in front of the rear roller to help level ridges left by the shanks.
Large 8-inch roller axles with 2 3/16-inch bearings eliminate the traditional center bearing, improve reliability and reduce downtime. Heavy-duty 8-bolt hubs coupled with the maintenance free lift system will provide years of trouble-free service.
Visit www.landoll.com.
Root Demand Irrigation Offers Revolutionary Approach
Root Demand Irrigation (RDI) has launched a revolutionary, subsurface irrigation method to help growers improve underperforming acres using less water, energy and time.
Based on the natural processes of plant growth, this new method provides plant-driven irrigation from the ground up.
The RDI solution was co-developed by Valmont Irrigation and DuPont after years of extensive research on the natural process of root exudation, a means in which the plant roots send “signals” to release water from the RDI tube. Water is delivered at low pressures to plant roots via a proprietary RDI tube.
At the centerpiece of RDI is a series of subsurface distribution tubes, porous along their entire length (unlike other types of subsurface irrigation) and positioned below the root zone. Manufactured by Valmont Irrigation in the United States, the RDI tube is fully compatible with fertigation and chemigation. More importantly, RDI eliminates filtration concerns as the filter is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and filtration maintenance is handled with ease.
RDI offers a new solution to growers who use less efficient and labor-intensive flood irrigation. Side-by-side comparisons show that RDI delivers the same or slightly higher yields, while using 40 percent less water than adjacent flood-irrigated acres.
Visit www.rootdemandirrigation.com and www.ValleyIrrigation.com.