Farmers: Environmentalists That Are Making a Difference
February 11, 2010
I spend time each day looking through online farm publications. I have a list that I follow, ranging from news aggregators to the web versions of farm magazines, and I’m usually looking for so-called “hard news.”
Recently, I was looking at Indiana Prairie Farmer, and I almost passed this headline by: Five Farm Families Receive Conservation Awards. But I clicked on the link, and found a story about five farm families being honored by the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The names were listed, and then I wondered, were any of them our customers? And if so, what kind of story might they tell?
There Isn’t an Off-season in Farming
February 8, 2010
After washing his combine after harvest, Nebraska farmer Leland Uden takes time to pose for a picture with his daughter. Cleaning the combine is just one of the many chores Uden and many other farmers have to knock out during the fall and winter months.
During the cold days of February, Nebraska farmer Leland Uden sometimes recalls a joke he’s heard from his non-farming friends:
“I wish I could be a school teacher in the summer and a farmer in the winter.”
Uden’s winter to-do list proves at least the farmer part of that joke isn’t true. A farmer’s job doesn’t stop at harvest. Here’s what Uden has been up to since his crop was harvested in November:
CEO Hugh Grant addresses an audience at Monsanto's recent shareholder meeting.
It’s not the first annual shareholder meeting I’ve ever been to and it won’t be the last. This one was a little bit different for me – it was the first one I’d been to since joining Monsanto.
My previous experiences with annual shareholder meetings at a previous job were fairly formulaic. There are specific things that are required and a specific process through which that needs to be done. Votes to be tallied and input to be received. They were dry and I was hoping this one would be better.
I asked my colleague who was organizing the meeting if she needed any volunteer help. Knowing all the cool jobs were likely taken, I braced myself for something like running between buildings. Somehow other people’s schedules had changed and I got the chance to help host some of our farmer customers, including two brothers I’ve known for years! Score!
The Difference Two Weeks Can Make
January 28, 2010
In comments submitted to the Department of Justice and the USDA, Pioneer Hi-Bred calls rival seed company Monsanto’s dominance in the corn and soybean trait markets “an overwhelming monopoly.”
– Brownfield Ag Network, Jan. 12, 2010
DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman told analysts that President Paul Schickler and his Pioneer team “delivered on their commitment to improved profits and market share.”
“We expect the same results this year,” Kullman said.
The $13 billion U.S. seed industry is embroiled in what Kullman described Tuesday as “an incredibly competitive period.”
Schickler on Tuesday exulted in the company’s market share gains of 2 percentage points in corn seed sales and 3 points in soybeans.
–Des Moines Register, Jan. 26, 2010
Mike Williams: Managing a Hundred Details, Often All at Once
January 27, 2010
Mike Williams in another Monsanto employee who works to support customers like Dave Morris. Dave is a farmer/dealer in southeastern Minnesota, and his operations are supported by a network of Monsanto people.
Mike sits in an office building in suburban St. Louis, about 350 miles from the Morris farm. But what he does, often daily, is critical.
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