Author: Brian

Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc. (Seminis), known for its innovation in the seed industry, invites growers to a new experiential event with its Felda Idea Exchange (iX) on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, in Labelle, Florida. The event will take a holistic approach to growers’ operations by sharing with them industry-leading insights, solutions and networking opportunities that extend well beyond their seed offerings/products.

“Seed choice is critical, but growers have to consider many other factors when managing their operations,” says Javier Delgado, Regional Market Development Representative, Seminis. “At Seminis, we focus on offering growers a comprehensive variety of resources and solutions to fit their diverse needs, from choosing the right seed to shipping options to locating a retail store. The Felda iX event brings industry experts together and allows growers access to experts with unique insights to help ensure their future success.”

Seminis Seed Innovations

“Today farming is multidimensional and complex, so one solution doesn’t fit all,” said Kevin Walsh, Global Technology Development Lead for Recommendations and Support, Seminis. “Seminis iX is an innovative concept for events, as it connects industry experts to growers in order to facilitate the sharing of information and provide revolutionary solutions to growers.”

To learn more about the Seminis Felda iX event or other upcoming Seminis events, growers can contact their local Seminis representative. For more information about Seminis or to locate a representative or dealer near you, visit the Seminis website.

On October 20^th, Sakata Seed America staff, friends and family joined the annual American Heart Association Central Coast Heart & Stroke Walk in Monterey, CA. More than 275 Central Coast residents and visitors gathered for the annual Heart Walk to raise life-saving funds and awareness for heart disease and stroke. The event included 19 teams, including Team Sakata, and raised over $44,000! Team Sakata raised $3,772 for the walk, earning the titles of Top Team, Top Company and Top Walker (Jamie Kitz). Funds raised from the Heart Walk will benefit research, advocacy, outreach and education.

In addition, on the morning of October 3rd the Sakata staff stepped out at their own regional offices for a company-wide Heart Walk staged at seven of their campuses throughout the United States, including major locations in Yuma, AZ, Morgan Hill, CA, Salinas, CA, Woodland, CA, Ft. Myers, FL, Mt. Vernon, WA, and Burlington, WA.

Overall, roughly 110 Sakata employees participated in the two walks and raised over $4,900 for the cause.

For more information on the Heart & Stroke Walk visit www.centralcoastheartwalk.org

IPNI Photo Contest Returns

Grab your camera and head to the field. Your photo could be selected as the winner in one of four categories.

• 4R Nutrient Stewardship – the best use of crop nutrients with in-the-field examples of 4R Nutrient Stewardship.
• Primary Nutrient Deficiencies – including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
• Secondary Nutrient Deficiencies – including sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg).
• Micronutrient Deficiencies – including boron (B), copper (Cu), chloride (Cl-), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn).

Photos and supporting information can be submitted until: Thursday, December 6, 2018 @ 11pm EST.

Learn more here.

In less than one week, Tour de Fresh, presented by The California Giant Foundation, will commence and riders will embark on the four-day excursion in an effort to support Salad Bars to Schools and place at least 50 salad bars in schools around the country. While the four-day ride provides entertainment to a multitude of cycling enthusiasts, the heart of the ride lies in bringing more access to fresh fruits and vegetables to the next generation.

The Tour de Fresh is now in its fifth year of providing a vehicle for generous individuals to get involved in bringing salad bars to schools.

“One of the reasons I am passionate about this cause is because of the kids in my life and how thankful I am for their good health every day. When my kids were little, I donated to charities that benefited kids on their behalf all the time,” said Cindy Jewell, United Fresh chairwoman and vice president of marketing for California Giant Berry Farms. “Working in the fresh produce industry, we have a unique opportunity to give back to a cause that we all care about dearly – and we each have kids in our lives that we would love to see impacted by this event. Whether it’s our own kids, relatives, or even kids in the neighborhood, if each of us made a donation on behalf of one or more kids we care about it would have a huge impact on this event and the cause.”

According to the United Fresh Start program, salad bars are an effective school-based strategy to increase students’ fruit and vegetable consumption and empowers them to make a choice to try new things. Creating more access to fresh fruits and vegetables to schools through salad bars is setting the tone for a healthier future – both physically and mentally – as it been proven that when students have the personal choice to choose, the child’s habits are shaped far beyond the lunch line.

“We have absolutely loved being an official sponsor of Tour de Fresh for the past five years. This is an event where some of the top companies in the produce industry come together, in a beautiful part of our country, to ride for a cause that’s so near and dear to all of us,” said Hilary Long, marketing director at Tsamma Juice. “The money raised from each rider provides a salad bar to a school who’s been on a waiting list and will be so grateful. If you stop to think about the long term impact of Tour de Fresh, we’re providing fresh fruits and vegetables to thousands of students for years to come. That is something for us to all be very proud of…and we have a lot of fun doing it!”

Since 2014, Tour de Fresh has collectively raised more than $600,000 to provide 184 salad bars to schools across the U.S. To date, the 2018 Tour de Fresh has raised $93,836 and looks to raise another $82,000 to place nearly 50 salad bars to schools.

Tour de Fresh would not be possible without support from its sponsors – Americold, And Now U Know, Atlas Produce, California Giant Berry Farms, CHEP, Church Brothers Farms, Coosemans Worldwide, Crunch Pak,  C&S Wholesale Grocers, Del Monte, DMA Solutions, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, EBX Logistics, Emerson, Fight Like a Girl Foundation, Fruit Growers Supply, Good Foods, iTrade Network, JAZZ Apple, Lipman Produce, Mann Packing, Markon, Mission Produce, Ocean Mist Farms, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Oppenheimer, Pajaro Valley, ProAct, Produce Marketing Association, Renaissance Food Group, Robinson Fresh,Sakata Seed, Sunkist, Tanimura & Antle, Taylor Farms, Tsamma, TQL, United Fresh, Valley Produce, and Western Precooling.

Donate today at www.tourdefresh.com or contact the Tour de Fresh team directly for more information on how to get involved at tdf@calgiant.com.

Sakata Seed America pledges a contribution of $50,000 over the next two years to the Seed Your Future organization. Sakata joins a coalition of more than 150 partners to support the Seed Your Future non-profit, including horticulture companies, gardening organizations, nonprofit organizations and universities, as a Roots of the Future level supporter.

“The Seed Your Future cause is an exciting movement for the future of the horticulture industry in creating a favorable perception of viable and diverse horticulture careers available.  With a large portion of horticulture’s jobs unfilled, inspiring and raising awareness with youth, parents and teachers to green collar career opportunities will help feed our industry’s future,” states Jamie Kitz, Key Account Manager for Sakata and Seed Your Future Advisory Council Member.

In addition to a monetary pledge, Sakata has contributed to Seed Your Future’s first initiative, BLOOM!, via seed donations from the company’s vegetable and ornamental sectors. The BLOOM! initiative allows schools to easily integrate plants into their curriculum through books, activities and other learning materials focused around horticulture.

Susan Yoder, Executive Director of Seed Your Future is happy to have Sakata on board. “We are honored to have Sakata expand their support of the Seed Your Future movement. Not only are they putting their philanthropic dollars behind this critical issue, they also volunteer their time and donate their products to promote horticulture and inspire more people to pursue green collar careers.”

Sakata supports the movement in an array of other outlets, such as education via the company’s social media reach, tradeshow booth and display support at events such as California Spring Trials and Cultivate and Sakata personnel support; Sakata team members serve on both the Advisory Council for the program, as well as the Research Development and Marketing Committee.

John Deere is announcing several updates for model year 2019 to its large 9R, 9RT, and 9RX Tractors that include a mix of the latest technology and performance-enhancing features.​

For the first time, John Deere is offering a 120-inch (3.05 m) track spacing option on 9470RX, 9520RX, 9570RX and 9620RX Series Four Track Ag Tractors equipped with 30- and 36-inch (76.2 cm and 91.4 cm) tracks. “The extra wide stance of this machine is ideal for customers wanting to control traffic patterns and enhanced stability on hilly terrain,” says Tiffany Turner, product marketing manager, large tractors for John Deere. “A wider stance also makes it easier to perform daily maintenance and service plus it offers hassle-free material cleanout.”

Turner says customers requiring a John Deere 9RX equipped with a 3-point hitch must select the 87-inch (2.21 m) track spacing option with the 30-inch (76.2 cm) tracks as the wider 120-inch (3.05 m) track spacing is not compatible with a 3-point hitch.

Deere is also offering the option of a factory- or field-installed Hydraulic Intelligent Power Management (IPM™) system to boost tractor performance when operating implements requiring continuous hydraulic power.

“Hydraulic IPM is specifically designed for air seeding operators using large drills and air carts on their farms,” Turner says.  “Hydraulic IPM provides an extra 25 horsepower in gears 5 thru 18 and adds 50 more horsepower in gears 1 thru 4, enabling the tractor to pull heavy loads through tough conditions.”

A dual-pump specific selective control valve has eight total SCVs – three, with three-quarter-inch (1.9 cm) SCVs; and five, with half-inch (1.3 cm) SCVs. The larger couplers allow for an extra 7 gallons (26.5 L) per minute hydraulic oil flow to reduce restrictions to high demand fan motors on large air carts. Increased hydraulic capacity also makes it quicker to raise and lower the frames on large air drills for improved efficiency in the field.

Hydraulic IPM is compatible with model year 2015 John Deere 9620R Ag Tractors and 2016 9620RX Ag Tractors. It requires a 115-gallon (435 L) per minute dual hydraulic pump and is not compatible with a 3-point hitch.

A factory-installed Generation 4 CommandCenter™ 18-1 Software update is also included as base equipment for model year 2019 on John Deere 9R, 9RT and 9RX Tractors.

A CommandCenter AutoTrac™ activation comes with the MY 2019 update and provides a non-transferrable, machine-specific AutoTrac functionality on the integrated Gen 4 Command Center. The previously available Command Center Premium Activation will be discontinued and replaced with the 4600 CommandCenter Premium Activation 3.0 or 4600 CommandCenter Automation 1.0.

“AutoTrac guidance is included in base equipment on these tractors. AutoTrac has been shown to reduce operator fatigue, save fuel by reducing overlap, and help you work more acres in less time,” Turner explains.

For details about the 9R Family of Tractors model year 2019 updates, contact your local John Deere dealer or visit johndeere.com/ag.

Leading supplier of flexible packaging solutions, Fox Packaging is proud to announce the launch of its Display-Ready Packaging eBook. With this downloadable resource, produce brands and retailers will gain knowledge on reaching millennial shoppers, trends in flexible packaging, and the results that display-ready packaging can generate.

Despite the rise in online grocery shopping, there is an opportunity for fresh produce brands to create engaging and enticing experiences at the store front for consumers pinched for time, looking for convenient healthy choices. Fox Packaging is providing solutions to produce suppliers looking to remain relevant at retail and stay up to date on the latest food trends.

“With our knowledge from serving the fresh produce industry in the packaging space for nearly 50 years, we saw the need to share what we’ve learned from creating display-ready packaging,” said Aaron Fox, president of Fox Solutions. “We hope to nurture our existing customers and inspire new customers to think about their packaging as a differentiator and challenge them to think outside the box.”

Putting together a successful display-ready packaging program requires planning, collaboration, and attention to detail. To accommodate this process, Fox Packaging offers a check list for people to get started on implementing the best practices regarding display-ready packaging.

For more information about Fox Packaging, please visit www.foxbag.com or visit Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Every year, April 4th is celebrated as International Carrot Day.

So get out your favorite orange vegetable and do a dance, sing to it, or just eat it.

Enjoy the holiday!!

Offering “anything irrigation,” Agri-Lines Irrigation Inc. opened their new store in Nampa, Idaho, on March 14th. The store will provide parts, sales and service for pivots, wheel lines, drip, pumping systems and pipe. In addition, Agri-Lines offers electrical service and custom fab work.

Headquartered in Parma, Idaho, the company is a dealer and specialist for both Lindsay Zimmatic pivots and Netafim drip systems.

Visit www.agri-lines.com.