JOHNSTON, Iowa — John Deere Risk Protection, Inc. (JDRP) has honored Larry Kummer of the Ag One Agency, Inc. of Waterloo, Ind., with its 2007 JDRP Agency Growth Award.

Ag One was one of only 30 agencies to receive this prestigious award for growing its crop insurance business and for outstanding performance this past year. During an awards banquet held recently in Omaha, Neb., Dennis Daggett, JDRP director of sales and marketing, and Don Preusser, JDRP president, presented Kummer with a special plaque commemorating this honor. Mandy Culler, another crop insurance agent with Ag One, also attended this year’s meeting.

The banquet was part of a three-day National Agent Meeting, which drew John Deere crop insurance agents from across the country.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn more about crop insurance products and services offered through JDRP. Agents also attended a variety of educational sessions on a range of topics, from crop insurance mapping and precision guidance technologies, to marketing strategies.

To meet the growing needs of producers seeking crop insurance solutions, JDRP has chosen agencies through which Westfield crop insurance products issued by Westfield Insurance Company are offered. Ag One was one of the agencies selected to sell Westfield crop insurance, which is now offered by JDRP in 40 states.

Monsanto expansion plans include Nebraska seed plant OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Seed company Monsanto Co. will build a new processing plant and upgrade another in Nebraska, doubling its biotech seed corn production in the Cornhusker state.

The $155 million expansion includes plans to add 55 full-time jobs and about 2,000 part-time jobs, the company said. The new plant will be built in York County between Utica and Waco, about 40 miles west of Lincoln. The facility and upgrades to the company’s Kearney facility are expected to be finished by the end of 2009, spokesman Darren Wallis said.

Monsanto has seen its overseas sales hindered over the last decade as countries resist biotech crops, derided as “franken foods” by critics who have blocked their export from the United States. But Monsanto said last month it is paving the way to increase acres planted with its biotech seeds to 270 million, compared with 95 million acres today.

The overall number of acres planted in biotech seeds has increased in recent years, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization trade group. Global biotech crop acreage increased 13 percent between 2005 and 2006, growing from 222 million acres to 252 million acres, according to the group.

Magellan opens new biodiesel blending facility

URBANDALE, Iowa — The Iowa Soybean Assoc. and the Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) congratulated Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. on the opening of a new biodiesel blending facility in Clear Lake, Iowa. The company officially opened the new facility Oct. 8 during ceremonies that included speakers U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Magellan CEO Don Wellendorf, IBB Executive Director Randy Olson and others.

Magellan owns and operates the nation’s longest pipeline for refined petroleum products. The company, headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., has an 8,500-mile pipeline system that crosses 13 states and extends from the Gulf Coast throughout the middle portion of the United States.

“We are celebrating the opening of our 10th biodiesel distribution system inside one of our petroleum distribution terminals,” Wellendorf said. “However, this is our first biodiesel blending system in Iowa. We view renewable fuel distribution as a growth opportunity for our company and we are a trailblazer in this area.

Our investment in biodiesel blending infrastructure at our Clear Lake facility is underpinned by customer demand and the renewable fuel policies passed by Congress and in Iowa and Minnesota.”

The new facility has the capability to blend B2 (two percent biodiesel and 98 percent diesel), B5, B10 and B20. The new system has an 84,000-gallon tank with insulation and heating of all affected pipelines, including truck offloading lines and lines supplying the loading rack.

Magellan is in the process of constructing 145,000 barrels of biodiesel storage at its terminal in New Haven, Conn. Magellan is also exploring transportation opportunities for biodiesel blends, and is planning to transport a low-level biodiesel blend in its pipeline from Houston to Dallas, Texas, later this year.