Trimble Makes Addition to Farm Works Surface Software

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, agronomy, Trimble

trimbleTrimble has added automatic pipe sizing to its Farm Works™ Surface software. The new feature allows contractors and farmers to improve accuracy and increase efficiency when designing farm drainage systems.

Farm Works Surface is an analysis and design tool that works with the Trimble® WM-Drain® farm drainage solution. This new feature provides recommended drainage pipe sizes for an entire system design, as well as an estimate on cost and material required for the project. With this feature, drainage contractors and farmers can quickly and efficiently produce optimal drainage designs while also reducing project costs. The designs can be imported to in-field drainage equipment for automated installation using the Trimble FmX® integrated display.

Benefits of automatic pipe sizing include:
– Designing an efficient drainage system to remove excess water from the soil in order to enhance crop yield
– Decreasing errors with a simplified design process that eliminates manual calculation
– Achieving cost savings by ensuring the correct size of pipe is installed in the right place in the field

“The addition of automatic pipe sizing to our Farm Works Surface software provides real benefit to contractors and farmers because it sizes the drainage pipe based on input from the entire drainage system and not just a tile line at a time,” said David Fitzpatrick, Water Solutions business area director of Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “This new feature can contribute to increased system efficiency due to optimal pipe sizes, and can also help contractors provide a more accurate quote to their customers, while enabling them to know exactly how much material to purchase.”

Grant Contest to Support The Good Growth Plan

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, sustainability, Syngenta

Screen Shot 2014-05-27 at 8.32.40 PMSyngenta announced a contest for creative ideas that will support one or more of the six measurable commitments of The Good Growth Plan. The Good Growth Plan Grant Contest will award one Grand Prize of $20,000 to help the winner implement the idea. Also, three runners-up will receive $10,000 each for the same purpose. Deadline for submissions is July 14, 2014. For contest details, official rules and to submit an idea, visit www.GoodGrowthPlanGrant.com.

“Last fall, Syngenta launched around the world The Good Growth Plan, agriculture’s most ambitious and comprehensive program to help sustainably address the global food security challenge,” said Jill Wheeler, Syngenta head of sustainable productivity in North America. “As part of this effort, we have been asking others to be involved. Now we are reaching out broadly in North America with this contest to find truly innovative ideas.”

The Good Growth Plan addresses the overall food security challenge with six measurable objectives to boost resource efficiency, rejuvenate ecosystems and strengthen rural communities. One planet. Six commitments.

USDA Heralds “New Era in Conservation”

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Conservation, USDA

usda-conservation Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today joined Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow to “launch a new era in American conservation efforts with an historic focus on public-private partnership.”

Vilsack and Stabenow announced the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) today during a visit to the Saginaw Bay watershed of the Great Lakes agricultural region. “This is an entirely new approach to conservation,” said Vilsack. “We’re giving private companies, local communities, and other non-government partners a way to invest in what are essentially clean water start-up operations. By establishing new public-private partnerships, we can have an impact that’s well beyond what the Federal government could accomplish on its own.”

The critical conservation areas Secretary Vilsack announced today are: the Great Lakes Region, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Mississippi River Basin, Longleaf Pine Range, Columbia River Basin, California Bay Delta, Prairie Grasslands, and the Colorado River Basin.

Also participating in the announcement today were Diane Holdorf, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Kellogg Company, and Sean McMahon, North American Agriculture Program Director at The Nature Conservancy. [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/usda/conservation-projects.mp3″ text=”USDA Conservation Projects”]

New Point of View from FS Sales Lens

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Farmers, Fertilizer, Growmark, Nutrient Management

fs-sales-lensA great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand.

GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand their customer better to be able to service them better,” says Lance Rupert, GROWMARK Agronomy Marketing Manager.

The tool allows crop specialists to create personalized proposals for farmers based on their specific needs. “It is exported to an app on an iPad so when they go see a grower they can walk through it with them face to face,” Lance explained. Connected with that is a scenario calculator which allows the specialist to work with the farmer using different variables to help them determine what is best for their particular situation. “It runs different profit-loss scenarios,” he said. “That’s really important now with crop prices coming down a little.”

Lance says FS Sales Lens also has a scouting app, which allows the specialist to go through a field and check for insects, diseases and weeds. “He can track his movements in a field through GPS, drop a pin or highlight the area where the issue is … take pictures, attach it to a report, and then be able to communicate those issues to the grower,” said Lance.

The FS Sales Lens tool is brand new for this season, after being field tested last year, so growers can expect to see it in use by their FS crop specialists. In addition, Lance says they plan to build on the functionality of it as growers and crop specialists come up with new ways it can be utilized.

Find out more in this interview with Lance Rupert: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/growmark/fs-sales-lens.mp3″ text=”FS Sales Lens interview”]

Webinar to Discuss Sidedressing Nitrogen Corn

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Corn, Dow AgroSciences, Fertilizer, webinar

Dow AgroSciences and Agricen announced that they will co-host a new webinar, “Sidedressing Nitrogen for Maximum Yields,” on Thursday, May 29th and Thursday, June 5th from 8am to 3pm CT.

The webinar will feature Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois, who will discuss the role of sidedress nitrogen applications in addressing corn nutrient needs. It will also feature Chris Berry, Nitrogen Stabilizer Market Developer at Dow AgroSciences, and Brian Cornelious, PhD, Agricen’s Director of Applied Sciences, who will discuss how Instinct® II nitrogen stabilizer and Accomplish® LM can be used as complementary technologies to optimize corn yield and profit potential in a sidedress program.

Growers, crop consultants, agronomists and others interested in agricultural production and plant nutrition should make plans to participate in this webinar opportunity.

“We are always striving to provide growers with high quality information that can improve production,” said Chris Berry, Nitrogen Stabilizer Market Developer, Dow AgroSciences. “This webinar gives them access to Dr. Fred Below, one of the top experts on the nutrient needs of corn, along with the latest data on two complementary technologies—Accomplish LM and Instinct II—that can be used with sidedress applications to ensure that growers minimize nitrogen loss and maximize nitrogen availability and uptake.”

“Growers want a good return on their sidedress nitrogen investment,” said Brian Cornelious, PhD, Director of Applied Sciences, Agricen. “The yield data we keep seeing shows that using Accomplish LM and Instinct II together is an excellent way to maximize that investment.”

Register online.

AgSense Field Commander Gives Copper Theft Protection

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Equipment, Irrigation

Screen Shot 2014-05-23 at 8.05.28 AMThe U.S. Department of Energy recently reported a rise in copper theft, which cost victims over $1 billion in 2013. In response to this growing threat, AgSense has introduced improved theft monitoring on all its 2014 Field Commander products. This allows producers to monitor and control pivot systems while also providing theft protection all from one unit.

“Because pivots are typically in remote locations, they have become a big target for copper thieves,” said Steve Sveum, AgSense Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “It can take thieves less than 20 minutes to gather thousands of feet of copper wire, which can cost the producer over $10,000. These producers work hard for their money and we’re committed to protecting their investment.”

The Field Commander has always included theft-monitoring capabilities as long as the pivot was powered. New models, however, provide protection when the unit is not powered, such as during power outages and the off-season. Theft protection is available on all 2014 Field Commander units and is included with any subscription level.

How secure is my data?

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyThere has been a lot of buzz recently over precision ag data and its recent integration into the world of cloud computing. This buzz has sparked quite a debate over who really owns this data. Does the grower own this data, or is this data available for others? This debate seems to be gaining as much traction as the classic argument; “which tractor is better; green, red, blue, purple or yellow?”

If you’ve been following along in this AgFiniti blog series (if not, you can catch up here…) you know that AgFiniti offers a number of powerful file sharing tools that make your data management simple, easy and convenient. Even though you have the option to share files with your trusted advisors, you’re the only one that can allow them access to your valuable data. No one can access your files without your permission.

First, Kaleb Lindquist, Ag Leader software sales specialist, gives us an overview of this nebulous “cloud” where data is stored.

[wpaudio url=”http://agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/KalebCloud1.mp3″ text=”Listen to Lindquist explain”]

Lindquist says that while the tractor debate will probably never be solved; even though we all know there is one clear answer…Ag Leader has made an early stand on its position in the data ownership debate. The grower owns their data, period. There is no gray area, there is no fine print, the grower owns their data. He explains in more detail what AgFiniti is and how growers have complete control over their data.

[wpaudio url=”http://agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/KalebCloud2.mp3″ text=”Listen to Lindquist explain”]

If you’re still skeptical about your data being stored in the cloud, Ag Leader recommends visiting www.agfiniti.com and creating an AgFiniti account. It’s easy and it’s free. Once your account is created, you can read our Terms of Use agreement, where it states in black and white that you own your data. Ag Leader is in the business of making you more profitable, not to benefit from your hard earned and valuable data.

To learn more about what AgFiniti has to offer, visit www.agleader.com, or give us a call at 515-232-5363, we’d be happy to talk!

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

What Features of MyNewHolland.com Do You Like

Jamie JohansenZimmPoll

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is the best way to market to millennials? “

I think we all could have guessed that marketing online to millennials is used most often. Digital forms of media are easily in our grasp with smartphones, tablets and computers. However, I was surprised that radio beat TV.

Our poll results:

  • Online – 52%
  • Print – 7%
  • Television – 11%
  • Radio – 16%
  • Other – 14%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What features of MyNewHolland.com do you like?”

On April 22 New Holland North America launched MyNewHolland.com, an online destination for all things New Holland and open to all farmers. Current features include the ability to create an inventory of your equipment, a section on Precision Land Management, a Configurator tool to let you design your own configuration of new equipment you’d like to order, a topical discussion on ethanol which you are invited to read and comment on and more. More features will be rolled out in the future as the community grows. As the sponsor of our weekly ZimmPoll we’d like to get your feedback for New Holland on their newest announcement.

Iowa Farmers Participate in Nutrient Reduction Strategy

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Farmers, Nutrient Management

Iowa farmers are increasingly familiar with the state’s nutrient reduction strategy and nearly three of four plan to implement practices included in the strategy this year according to a survey by Agri-Pulse and Iowa Soybean Association.

More than 88% of farmers participating in the survey were familiar with the strategy while 76% said they plan to implement practices recommend in the strategy on their farm this year.

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, developed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University, seeks to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous loads to Iowa’s waters and the Gulf of Mexico from point and non-point sources by at least 45%.

Eighty-five active soybean farmers participated in this informal Internet survey. It is conducted six times annually to gain insight into farmer opinions on timely issues and topics including legislative and regulatory issues, crop conditions, planting and harvesting progress, yield estimates and other timely issues impacting farmer profitability. See the results of the Inaugural Agri-Pulse Farm Opinion Poll, conducted in February.

Getting the Dirt on Soil

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Soil

Fig-2-Lead-Sample-MapThe U.S. Geological Survey has released a set of maps depicting the distribution of selected chemical elements and minerals in soils across the country.

Understanding the composition of soil is important for a variety of reasons. Specialists in agriculture and food safety find soil data useful because soil is the source of most biologically active trace elements that reach humans through the food chain. Public health specialists need to understand soil pathways for human exposure to potentially toxic elements.

Regulators and resource managers use soil data to identify contamination, assess the risks to ecosystems and human health from contamination, and to set remediation goals. The maps and data sets serve as a starting point for future research in a variety of fields.

Find the complete release here.