GAS CITY, Ind. — Redline Equipment (formerly known as Archbold Equipment Co.), a full line CASE IH dealer, announces it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Koenig Equipment Indiana.

It includes four locations: Gas City, Huntington, Logansport and Rossville. The deal is set to close in mid-September. Customers can look forward to the expanded availability of inventory. The sales team will have access to sell equipment located on any Redline Equipment lot.

Lisa Reffett, parts director at Redline Equipment and who lives in the area, will lead the transition and integration of these locations.

Redline Equipment currently has seven agricultural store locations in the Tri-State area: Topeka, Ind.; Adrian, Mich.; and five Ohio locations in Archbold, Bellevue, Bowling Green, Ottawa and Sherwood.

 

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) — The namesake company founded in Decatur by A.E. Staley Sr. 105 years ago extracted much more than food products from corn and soybeans: it managed to distill an enduring sense of loyalty from its employees.

More than 100 of those former workers were invited to drop in July 9 to celebrate old times at an open house at the industrial baron’s glorious Arts and Crafts home, now the Staley Museum.

Staley, who died in 1940 at the age of 73, was gone before July 9’s Staley veterans of what is now Tate & Lyle ever knew him. But his memory, and that of his descendants who ran the family firm, lived on in stories passed down through generations about the way family did business and treated those who worked for them.

Staley Museum Director Laura Jahr said when Staley moved into his cathedral-like Art Deco office building on Eldorado Street in 1930, he credited two groups with making his soaring success possible: “He dedicated the building to his customers, and to his employees,” explained Jahr.

She also said the Staley apples never fell far from the tree; the late Grant Staley, the old man’s great-grandson who died in June, was the sponsor of the July 9 open house dedicated to former employees and was a keen supporter of the event.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) is accepting applications for the 2017 Specialty Crop Multi-State Grant Program (SCMP), a competitive grant created to help develop solutions to issues affecting the specialty crop industry across state boundaries.

Funded by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the program was designed to address plant pests, diseases and crop-specific issues; support food safety and research; and increase marketing opportunities for specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.

To ensure collaboration, every project must include at least two out-of-state partners, which can be made up of state agencies, tribal governments, universities, nonprofits and other specialty crop organizations. The partners are encouraged to develop projects that bring together teams to research and cultivate solutions to address the needs of specialty crop growers. To apply for the SCMP grant, visit www.in.gov/isda/2474.htm Proposals are due Sept. 18, by 5 p.m. EDT. For additional grant assistance, contact Ann McCambridge, ISDA’s Grants Program manager, at amccambridge@isda.in.gov or 317-419-0200.

SANFORD, N.C. — Agronomic Technology Corp. has announced the immediate availability of integration between Adapt-N and the John Deere Operations Center, which makes it even easier for farmers and agronomists to get Adapt-N’s nitrogen diagnostics, insights and in-season recommendations, then apply those recommendations in the field using John Deere equipment.

Adapt-N users are now able to use their information in the Operations Center to more efficiently make informed decisions that can drive yield, reduce costs and improve nitrogen use efficiency.

Agronomic Technology Corp also provides N-Insight, the “instant nitrogen diagnostic tool,” and other leading agricultural solutions that incorporate soil, weather,  crop and field management modeling. Adapt-N alsoplugs into leading third-party platforms, including SST Software, EFC Systems, Agrian, and others.

For more information, visit www.Adapt-N.com/deere/or contact grow@adapt-n.com or call 866-208-3276.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Krone North America has been recognized by its dealer network as a top-performing agricultural equipment company, earning a Gold Level Dealer’s Choice Award based on feedback from the agricultural equipment dealer 2017 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey. The survey is administered annually and results are tabulated by the Equipment Dealers Assoc. (EDA).

Krone specializes in building high-quality hay and forage equipment for North American farmer needs. Krone has been growing its business in North America for 43 years and now offers its equipment in more than 400 dealership locations.

The award is based on feedback from EDA member dealers who evaluate their manufacturers in a variety of categories considered important by equipment dealers. Krone dealer feedback pointed out a broad range  of improved year-over-year performance by Krone, including parts quality and availability, communications with management, marketing support, response to dealer needs and overall dealer satisfaction.

DENVER, Colo. — SFI, Inc. in Nemaha, Iowa, has been selected as one of six regional honorees of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP).

The award, announced during the 2017 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting July 13, recognizes the operation’s outstanding stewardship and conservation efforts. This year’s regional winners will compete for the national award, which will be announced during the Annual Cattle Industry Convention in Phoenix in February 2018.

Established in 1991 by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. to recognize outstanding land stewards in the cattle industry, ESAP is generously sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation.

Operated by the Smith family, which consists of Lynn and Joy, and son Seth and his wife, Etta, SFI, Inc. is in the heart of the Upper Raccoon River watershed, where Lynn Smith’s family settled in 1886. Lynn began farming at SFI, Inc. in 1971 with Seth following in his footsteps in 2001. Today, the farm consists of 1,900 acres of row crops, 510 acres of pasture, a 500 head feeder-to-finish hog barn, 210 cow-calf pairs and a 2,200 head feedlot.

Lynn has been using conservation tillage on the farm since 1977, and SFI, Inc. operates on a “closed loop” of enterprises that support each other. The Smiths converted erodible land to pasture and rotationally graze to optimize efficiency. SFI, Inc. has cover crops that also provide fall and spring grazing worth $40-$60 per acre. The farm is able to greatly reduce nitrate losses thanks to the use of in-season nitrogen applications, cover crops and composted feedlot manure.

The family planted 4,000 feet of windbreaks around the feedlot to protect the cattle, provide a habitat for wildlife and improve the aesthetics. SFI, Inc. also has monoslope feedlot barns that keep rain off the cattle and manure to reduce runoff.

 

Cornstalks provide bedding for the feedlot, and, when composted with manure, provide SFI, Inc. with most of their fertilizer.

Water from the feedlot lagoon is recycled via an irrigation pivot onto row crops and serves as fertilizer as well, and a wash bay with a pit captures nutrients from trucks and equipment for recycling.

This year’s five other regional winners include: Blue Lake Farm, LLC, operated by Rusty and Jessie Thomson, Sharon, S.C.; Sterling Cattle Co., Jimmy and Theresa Sterling, Coahoma, Texas; Flying Diamond Ranch, Scott and Jean Johnson, Kit Carson, Colo.; Jim O’Haco Cattle Company, Jim and Jeanni O’Haco, Winslow, Ariz.; and Munson Angus Farms, LLC, Chuck and Deanna Munson, Junction City, Kan.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. and Agrium, Inc. announced once their anticipated merger transaction closes, the new Canadian company will be named Nutrien.

The new company will be the global leader in reliable, low-cost crop nutrient production, combined with the largest agricultural retail-distribution network in the world. The regulatory review and approval process for the merger transaction continues and the parties expect closure of the transaction to take place in the third quarter of 2017.

PotashCorp is the world’s largest crop nutrient company, based in Saskatoon, and plays an integral role in global food production. PotashCorp is the largest producer, by capacity, of potash and one of the largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate. While agriculture is its primary market, the company also produces products for animal nutrition and industrial uses.

 

International Buyer Program TUCKER, Ga. — The International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) has been selected to participate in the 2018 U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) International Buyer Program, and the Expo has participated in the International Buyer Program since 2007.

The program brings trade delegations together from around the world and helps match international attendees with American suppliers. The program also provides export counseling, market analysis and more. The 2018 IPPE has already surpassed 515,000 square feet of exhibit space and has secured more than 1,115 exhibitors. Comprised of the three integrated trade shows – International Feed Expo, International Meat Expo and International Poultry Expo – IPPE will be held Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2018, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced the launch of the Taobao Global U.S. Merchants Network, which will offer new and innovative ways for U.S. small businesses to reach the more than 500 million consumers on Alibaba’s platforms.

The Merchants Network will provide a centralized matchmaking platform for U.S. small businesses to connect with U.S.-based merchants on Taobao Global, allowing them to reach the millions of consumers on Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace, China’s largest mobile commerce destination.

Consumers use Taobao as a  commerce-oriented social and community platform where, in addition to shopping, they can discover products, consume content and engage with each other as well as with brands and retailers, through interactive media and mobile live-streaming. For U.S. small businesses, partnering with Taobao Global merchants presents a simple, low-risk and low-cost solution to open new sales channels, enter the China market and build brand presence.

Alibaba recently hosted its inaugural Gateway ’17 conference in Detroit, Mich., with more than 3,000 business owners and entrepreneurs from 48 states across the country coming together to explore opportunities to market and sell to millions of Chinese consumers.