The United Soybean Board and Goodyear are continuing a partnership with a new tire featuring U.S. soy – which the company says may offer consumers more tread life and another opportunity to go green. USB New Uses Program Chair Russ Carpenter says this new tire highlights soy’s versatility in the marketplace. Goodyear is committed to caring for the environment and communities – according to Jean-Claude Kihn – Goodyear’s Chief Technical Officer – and the use of soy oil proves to be another way to accomplish this goal. Tests by the company show soy lowers petrochemical amounts from manufacturing the tires as well as increasing the tire’s efficiency by reducing energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Goodyear believes soy oil’s increased performance could yield up to 10-percent longer tread life. The company expects the new tires to be available to consumers as early as 2015 if testing runs smoothly.

Expectations for Tropical Storm Isaac to cause more damage to crops already affected by the drought has caused the price of soybeans to reach a record high. Those for September delivery have reached nearly 17-dollars and 70-cents per bushel and November delivery reached around 17-dollars and 63-cents per bushel. The storm has moved into the Delta and in some areas of Arkansas, Illinois and Indiana – flooding some soybean fields. While some areas had fairly good soybean crops – those crops now face more problems with the storm hitting soybeans in the final phase of growth – which don’t need a lot of moisture or the wind that could flatten the plants. Nearly 40-percent of the U.S. soybean crop is in poor to very poor condition and global supplies are low – though demand is strong.

Free agTools designed to help farmers get more yield potential from technology were unveiled in Boone, Iowa at the Farm Progress Show Wednesday. The tools include a suite of mobile applications that deliver commodities, weather radar maps, exclusive agronomic information, industry news, grain elevator pricing and more to farmers’ tablets and smartphones. DEKALB Brand Manager Rick Myroup says the Asgrow, DEKALB and Deltapine brands are committed to innovation inside and outside of the seed bag and have launched this exciting lineup of agTools to provide customized information to meet their customer’s specific needs, when they need it.

The agTool agSeedSelect lets farmers create, store, e-mail and print a seed guide tailored to their specific geography and crops. It also allows farmers and dealers to create a record of those products specific for the operation and features videos of agronomists providing detailed information about top Asgrow soybean, DEKALB corn and Deltapine cotton products. agIndex is a dashboard app that provides commodity updates, exclusive agronomic information, weather with radar maps and industry news. Farmers can set weather, commodity and insect alerts based on their location and crop portfolio. With agExchange – farmers can plan their grain marketing and determine the best time and place to sell their inventory. Farmers can plan mileage costs into their ROI and maintain transaction records in one convenient place. Weed Manager PLUS delivers accurate, region-specific weed management recommendations, a tank-mixing tool, videos outlining best management practices and a measurement conversion calculator.

Farmers attending the Farm Progress Show can actually get the apps downloaded to their devices, speak to the experts or get hands-on experience at the agCentral display in Asgrow and DEKALB tent number 852. They are also available at agToolCenter dot com (http://agToolCenter.com), the Apple App store or the Google Play store.

More information is available at www dot asgrowanddekalb dot com (www.asgrowanddekalb.com). Farmers can also contact their local Asgrow and DEKALB dealer.

Using the past season as a guide for planning for the coming year isn’t the best policy for growers who want to get the most from each acre. That’s according to a DuPont Pioneer crop production expert who says it’s best to plan for next year by looking at the long-term weather trends. Brent Wilson – DuPont Pioneer Technical Services Manager – notes weather changes from year to year and we can’t predict what will happen the next growing season. So rather than using this year’s drought as a guide – for example – he says growers should look at several seasons and rely on that information to make decisions.

Because 2012 was not a typical year in most regions – Wilson suggests relying on years prior to 2012 for seed product selection and placement. He says making product selections based on one year of experience alone may not be a sound strategy. Wilson also advises speaking with a seed professional – and doing so early in the season to reserve the desired products.

As for fertilizer applications for 2013 – Wilson says most growers planned for a larger crop than they realized and should use grain removal as a guide for phosphorous and potassium application. Because of the drought – he says there may be opportunities to take nitrogen credits going into next year. Waiting to apply nitrogen in the spring – according to Wilson – may allow better decisions on how much nitrogen may be available for the following crop.

Wilson offered these suggestions at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa.