4 ( C4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22,” 19^6 Dekalb Develops Seeds Of Future DEKALB, 111. Three factors have many ag industry watchers predicting this year could be pivotal for America’s farmers. A new farm bill has freed up more acreage for planting. Com and soybean prices are currently at record highs, while inventories have plummeted to an all time low. Finally, after years of costly government and private research, farmers will soon get access to bioengineered transgenic seeds with built-in resistance to a variety of insects and herbicides. Together these three dynamics have many farmers cautiously optimistic about what the future may bring. Perhaps the biggest develop ment growers are watching care fully is the explosion of new patents being announced by seed companies such as Dekalb Gene tics Corporation. Dekalb is play ing an industry leading role in introducing hybrids with insect and herbicide resistance. Among these new insect resistant com hybrids are ones with built-in resistance to the European Com Borer, which costs farmers an esti- New Dealer Facility losophy that calls for us to meet the needs of a wide group of people. We are always looking to see if we are adequately staffed because when people call on the phone or when they come into the parts department or showroom, they don’t want to wait. ' Earlier this year Landis Bros. Inc., had their yearly “John Deere Day” in January for farmers and an April lawn and garden open house with the John Deere Nascar. Now they want to invite the whole com munity. In addition to the Sunday Keystone . concrete! products 477 East Farmersville Rd. New Holland, PA 17557 (" WAFnt stA X (717)355-2361 . - * * , ~ , jiJ*«r***>*i Commodity Buildings & Bunker Silos mated $1.2 billion in losses annually. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring soil bacterium used to control insect pests. In 1990, Dekalb scientists were the first to successfully insert a Bt gene, which is especially effective in preventing com borer feeding, into a viable com plant Since then, several companies, including Dekalb, have been developing commercial com borer resistant hybrids with the Bt gene. Meanwhile, the near-record com borer populations of 1995 only WAUNAKEE, Wis. Germa nia Dairy Automation, Inc., Wau nakee, and S.A.E. Afikim, Israel, announced the signing of a letter of intent establishing an exclusive distributorship area. The agreement allows Germa nia dealers to market the Afikim product line throughout the United States and Canada. ‘The Afikim product line repie- (Continued from Page C 2) schedule, the celebration is open to the public today from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and all next week through Saturday, June 29, with grand opening specials of 20 percent off many instore items. This special discount applies to both the Leba non location on Evergreen Road and the new location at 2710 ML Joy Road. “We depend on our customers for our future, and we want to offer products of good value at good price. This is our way to say thank you to the community,” Noll said. Germania Becomes Distributor served to heighten com growers’ anticipation of the release of these hybrids. University research indi cates that yield losses to com bor er feeding can exceed 20 percent during peak population years. According to Bruce Bickner, Dekalb chairman and chief execu tive officer, the company’s patent announcement is very significant, because “It establishes Dekalb as a key biotech player with long range capability to deliver even more new-generation genetic pro ducts to our customers.’’ sents the third leg of our product strategy, including the Germania and RoKa product lines,” said Rolf Reisgies, Germania Dairy Automation president. “This strategy is to offer a complete par lor program to our netwoik of over 85 dealers. This, in turn, allows them to better meet our custom ers’ needs.” Germania Dairy Automation manufactures and distributes auto matic milking parlors in the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Europe. Germania specializes in parlors for very large operations, those milking from 1,000 to 15,000 cows. S.A.E. Afikim is a world leader in the field of electronic milk meters and computerized dairy management systems. {Classified ads! I PAY Oft! .a Concrete Slatted Free Stall Barn j| ii - Slatted Heifer Barn Product Moves To Next Round In EU GREENSBORO, N.C. Ciba Seeds, a division of Ciba-Geigy Corporation, received notification that its dossier supporting market placement of Maximizer™ hybrid com in the European Union (EU) has been forwarded to the Council of Ministers for the third phase of the EU approval process. Although the majority of votes given in the second phase were in favor of approval, the qualified majority that would have brought automatic approval could not be reached; several countries repre senting one-third of the total votes abstained. Maximizer, which received full approval in the US in 1995, is commonly referred to as Bt com; it has built-in control of the Euro pean com borer, an insect pest which causes mote than $1 billion in crop losses per year. The EU Ag Equipment Companies Merge FORT ATKINSON, Wis. J- Star Industries, Inc. of Fort Atkin son, Wisconsin and Roto-Mix, Inc. of Dodge City, Kan. have announced a merger of the two companies. According to John Neill, presi dent of J-Star, and Ben Neier, president of Roto-Mix, the merger evolved from independent studies conducted by each company, tracking the current and future paths of the livestock feed mixer Council of Minister’s decision on Maximizer should be known well before harvest Around 75 percent of US com is consumed domestically and EU countries purchase only a small percentage of US export com, according to USDA figures. Regardless, Ciba Seeds is confi dent that outstanding issues can be resolved prior to the 1996 harvest season. “We know that our date pack age supports the approval of Max imizer com,” said Fred Fuller, president Ciba Seeds. “We have already met some of the world’s toughest safety and environmental standards.” Maximizer was the first to receive approval from the US EPA, FDA and USDA to market and sell transgenic hybrid seed com. industry. According to Neill, “When talks began several months ago, it became apparent that each of us could benefit by joining forces. J- Star needed established retail dis tribution west of the Missouri Riv er and Roto-Mix needed a way to expand into the eastern half of the U.S.” Roto-Mix will operate as a separate division of J-Star and remain headquartered in Dodge City, Kan., with operations at their 35,000 square foot Dodge City plant and 52,000 square foot Hoi sington, Kan. facility.
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