Value of Data: Ag Leader Trip to Texas

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly

Last month, Ag Leader Software Support Specialist Luke James had the opportunity to travel to southern Texas to meet with Cody Bruner, Ag Leader SW Territory Manager, to discuss the value of data with a few key dealers and farmers from the region. Read and watch as James recounts his trip, how precision ag helps growers throughout the region, and the value of data.

Our first stop was in EL Campo with United Ag. While there, I had the opportunity to discuss agriculture in the south central inland Texas region with Jimmy Schulz, Precision Ag Manager at United Ag. Listen as Jimmy describes the region.

Also while at United Ag, Jimmy and I discussed the value of collecting and using precision ag data to make informed management decisions. Listen as Jimmy explains the value of precision ag data and how it can benefit the grower.

Our next stop in Texas was Donna, in the Rio Grande Valley, meeting with Seiver Implement Co. Although growers were busy getting ready to begin combining grain we were able to meet with several farmers to discuss precision agriculture and the value of data.

James McWhorter of Seiver Implement gave us a tour of the farming community around where he grew up. During the tour we came across various crops including grain sorghum (commonly known as milo), cotton, sugar cane and many vegetables. I enjoyed our time in the region visiting with dealers and growers discussing precision ag and the value of data and look forward to visiting again.

To learn more about the SMS Software, click here.

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.

John Deere Mobile Farm Manager App

Chuck ZimmermanApps, Audio, John Deere, technology

Tyler Hogrefe, seen here being interviewed by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News, is a Product Manager for John Deere in their Intelligent Solutions Group. He was a presenter at their FarmSight Tech Summit. I spoke to him about John Deere Mobile Farm Manager.

Tyler says the need for more data is increasing and it is very useful in the office but also in the field. That’s why John Deere will be releasing the Mobile Farm Manager App later this year which will be integrated into the iPad and iPhone platform with future platforms planned. The cost of the app is yet to be determined and there are a number of applications that it will work with also still in the planning stages.

You can listen to my interview with Tyler here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/jd-tech-hogrefe.mp3″ text=”Interview with Tyler Hogrefe”]

John Deere FarmSight Tech Summit Photo Album

Committee, Ag Leaders React to FARRM Bill Passage

John DavisAFBF, Corn, Dairy, Farm Bill, Government, USDA, wheat

It took nearly 15 hours, but members of the House Agriculture Committee were able to pass their version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) Bill. Committee Chair Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) praised the bipartisan legislation:

“This is a balanced, reform-minded, fiscally responsible bill that underscores our commitment to production agriculture and rural America, achieves real savings, and improves program efficiency, said Chairman Frank Lucas.

“The House leadership needs to bring the farm bill to the floor for a vote. We should not jeopardize the health of our rural economies which, by and large, have remained strong the last few years. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a new five year farm bill and they need it before the current farm bill ends,” said Ranking Member Collin Peterson.

But the USDA is not pleased about cuts to the nutrition title of the bill. “Unfortunately, the bill produced by the House Agriculture Committee contains deep cuts in SNAP, including a provision that will deny much-needed food assistance to 3 million Americans, mostly low-income working families with children as well as seniors. The proposed cuts will deny 280,000 children in low-income families access to school meals and reduce farm income across rural America. These cuts wouldn’t just leave Americans hungry – they would stunt economic growth. The bill also makes misguided reductions to critical energy and conservation program efforts,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a statement.
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Will Corn Crops Make it Through the Summer?

Melissa SandfortZimmPoll

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ” How will Obamacare affect you and your business?”

Our poll results: Sixty percent said negatively; thirty percent said positively; five percent said not at all and the remaining five percent didn’t know.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, ” How worried are you about the weather impact on crops this summer?” The worst U.S. drought since Ronald Reagan was president is withering the Midwest’s corn crop. The condition on July 1 was the worst since the drought of 1988. What do you think – will the rest of the summer bring relief or are the crops in trouble?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

Mobile Weather from John Deere

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, John Deere, weather

Mobile weather sounds like it would be a high priority for farmers today. John Deere unveiled their version of it at the FarmSight Tech Summit. I visited with Janae Tapper, Product Manager in the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group about the product.

For private and commercial applicators who need precise weather information in order to make proper product application and other weather-related decisions, John Deere introduces John Deere Mobile Weather.

Mobile Weather uses a third-party weather sensor connected to the Application Controller 1120 to display real-time weather information, including wind speed and direction, Delta T, and temperature and relative humidity on the John Deere GreenStar 2 or GreenStar 3 displays. However, only the GreenStar 3 2630 Display is capable of documenting (recording) weather data, which can be transferred to Apex or other third party farm management software for analysis and record keeping.

According to Janae Tapper, product manager with the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, John Deere Mobile Weather enables operators to make in-cab product application decisions based on location-specific weather data. In addition, operators don’t have to rely on hand-held devices or make multiple stops to manually check and record weather conditions when applying product.

You can listen to my interview with Janae here or watch her presentation during the summit below: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/jd-tech-tapper.mp3″ text=”Interview with Janae Tapper”]

John Deere FarmSight Tech Summit Photo Album

Ag Leader’s Educator Training

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly

Ag Leader’s 3rd annual Educator’s Training will be held on Aug. 2-3 at Ag Leader Academy. The program is designed for institutions that are teaching precision ag practices to their students either in the classroom or in the field with the purpose of educating institutions on Ag Leader’s various services and products, as well as to provide hands on demonstrations of Ag Leader’s product lineup.

Tyler Anderson, Ag Leader software support specialist, says Ag Leader is helping to cultivate the next generation of precision ag specialists in the job field, whether it’s back home on their own farms, at Ag Leader or as a dealer.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/07/Tyler1.mp3″ text=”Listen to Anderson explain”]

Anderson also says, “Being able to see the various products in action allows educators to better understand precision agriculture and how they can implement that knowledge into their classroom, and it helps students understand where precision ag might fit into their future.”

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/07/Tyler2.mp3″ text=”Listen to Anderson explain”]

Everyone who is currently enrolled in the Educational program can attend the training free of charge and may bring additional attendees for $200 per seat. Any educator who is not currently enrolled can also attend for $200 per seat. Please contact Tyler Anderson or Adam Walters at 515-232-5363 if you are interested in attending or need more information regarding the training.

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.

GROWMARK Testing Crop Sensor Technology in Corn

John DavisAudio, Growmark, Nutrient Management

Midwest cooperative GROWMARK is looking at how well crop sensor technology like Trimble’s GreenSeeker works in Midwestern corn fields. We talked with GROWMARK precision agriculture manager Sid Parks about GreenSeeker, which is a sensor application either mounted on equipment or handheld that senses how green the crop is with the hope of assessing how much additional nitrogen the crop needs.

“Our purpose is to see that the crop has adequate nitrogen,” Parks says. “First you calibrate the sensor across a zone that has adequate nitrogen. You then drive the application equipment across the canopy, and the GreenSeeker measures how green the crop is compared to the N rich strip, The software then tells a controller how much nitrogen might be needed by that crop in that area.”

The technology has been around for about 10 years since being developed primarily for wheat in Oklahoma and similar sensing products have been developed, like Ag Leader’s OptRx™. Parks says since the technology reads the health of the plant to determine levels in the soil, times such as this year’s drought can pose some problems.

“Nitrogen is very mobile. It’s highly influenced by temperature, by moisture, by application method. The thing the sensor can’t do is tell you if nitrogen is actually available in the soil. It’s just telling you how green the crop is,” says Parks. He goes on to say that for example, during times of plant stress from drought conditions, like the ones now hitting the crops in the Midwest, it won’t measure how much nitrogen is in the soil… just how green the crop is.

Parks says they are working with GreenSeeker in some FS GreenPlan Solutions Pursuit of Maximum Yield discovery plots and hope to have more information later this year or at least by the next planting season. He says farmers interested in GreenSeeker should talk to their GROWMARK crop specialist.

Listen to an interview with Sid here:
[wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/gmk-sid-1.mp3″ text=”GROWMARK precision agriculture manager Sid Parks”]

The Pillars of John Deere FarmSight

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, John Deere

When it comes to FarmSight, Jerry Roell has the insight. He’s John Deere’s Director, FarmSight, Intelligent Solutions Group. Jerry says they began developing FarmSight about two years ago looking at three areas. The first of these is machine optimization and trying to figure out how to make machines more efficient, more productive and to monitor machine help. The second area of focus is logistics since farms are growing and their customers are having to manage a growing fleet of machines. The idea is to improve communications including how machines “talk to each other.” The third of focus is decision support to help make it easier for customers to make decisions.

Jerry provides some examples of specific products/services that have been developed as a part of this process including the recently launched MyJohnDeere.com.

You can listen to my interview with Jerry here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/jd-tech-roell.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jerry Roell”]

John Deere FarmSight Tech Summit Photo Album

Precision Ag in the Cloud

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Internet

You are hearing a lot about working in the cloud these days. Why not the agribusiness industry, especially in the precision arena? Onsite, fueled by AgIntegrated, has an answer to the question.

Onsite provides the connections you need to handle 21st century farming. As a consumer of an increasing amount of agricultural information and technologies, you experience the headaches involved in managing separate systems. Onsite combines cloud, desktop, and mobile technologies with the Onsite Relay, a wireless data transfer device, to provide a low barrier to entry, professional toolset to connect your world.

In today’s connected world, linking people through mobile technologies and software is essential to maintain or increase productivity. Onsite accomplishes this for agriculture by bridging the communication gap between agricultural software and the network of individuals that drive agriculture on a daily basis.

By directly connecting into many of the most well respected precision ag software, equipment telematics, and agronomic resource systems in our industry today, Onsite helps you to organize and communicate the valuable information you manage throughout the season.

Some Still Optimistic About a Farm Bill

Melissa SandfortZimmPoll

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ” When do you think Congress will complete a Farm Bill?”

Our poll results: Twenty-two percent were optimistic and said before Sept. 30, 2012; twenty-eight percent were a bit more hesitant but said before the end of this calendar year; and twenty-five percent said both next year and maybe never.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, ” How will Obamacare affect you and your business?” Some of the farm groups are split on the ruling, just as was the Supreme Court. But on a more personal/business level, how will this ruling affect you?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.