First field phenotyping facility opened in North America

Aug 29, 2016

Facility opened by Purdue University

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Purdue University opened the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center, located at the Agronomy Center for Research and Education.

The facility will support field phenotyping – the process of measuring and analyzing observable plant characteristics. It’s the first field phenotyping facility on the continent.

There are similar facilities overseas in Germany and Holland.

With a growing population and increasing pressure on farmers, the facility can help growers meet global food demands.

“It will require truly revolutionary new technologies to feed a world of 9 billion people and to do so in a way friendly to the environment,” said Purdue president Mitch Daniels in a release. “The Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center will play a big part in meeting this most urgent of global challenges.”

Purdue Center
There are 13 threshing and shelling lines at the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center.
Photo: Purdue University/Tom Campbell

The $15 million facility included investments from local ag groups who understand the importance of being ahead of the curve when it comes to feeding the world.

“Indiana soybean farmers know that we need to think outside the box when it comes to new technologies,” said Joe Steinkamp, president of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and a farmer from Evansville. “We are excited to partner with Purdue University to place our farmers on the forefront of research that will develop technology to move agriculture forward.”

Video: Is China Buying US Soybeans + USDA Nov 14th Crop Report could be “Game Changing”

After a week of a U.S./China trade truce, markets/trade is skeptical that we have not seen a signed agreement nor heard much from China or seen any details. There are rumors that China is buying soybean futures & not the physical. Trust in Trump?
12 MMT of U.S. soybean purchases by China by year-end is better than 0 but we all need to give it more time and give it a chance to unfold. China did lower the tariffs on Ag and is buying U.S. wheat and sorghum.
U.S. supreme court could rule against Trumps tariffs, but the Trump administration does have a plan B.
U.S. government shutdown is now the longest in history at 38 days.
But despite a U.S. government shutdown we will be getting a USDA November crop report next Friday and it could be “game changing.” If the USDA provides a bullish surprise with lower U.S. corn and soybean yields and ending stocks that are lower than expected both corn and soybean futures will break out above their ceilings at $4.35/bu and $11.35/bu respectively.
The funds continued their selling in live and feeder cattle futures on continued fears that the Trump administration want to lower U.S. beef prices. The fundamentals have not changed, only market psychology has.
Stocks markets continue to worry about a weak U.S. job market, but you can blame ChatGPT for that. In the future, we will have a more efficient, productive and growing economy with a higher unemployment rate until we have more skilled AI workers.
After 34 new record highs in the S & P 500 and 124 new records in the NASDAQ in 2025 we are back to a correction and investor profit taking as AI valuations may have gotten too stretched near-term ahead of NVDA’s 3rd quarter earnings announcement on Nov. 19th. But this is not an AI bubble.
75% of Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk!
It has rained in South America in the last 7 days, but both the American and European models agree that Central Brazil remains dry in the next 14-days!

Key to cutting costs and emissions could lie in cow burps

Ohio farm kid wins bronze medal in Rio