Farm Works Expands Software Offerings

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Software, Spraying, Trimble, Variable rate

Farm Works Information Management, a division of Trimble, just announced three new products to expand its capabilities for growers and agribusinesses.

Farm Works Mobile streamlines data management in the field by bundling record keeping, scouting, soil sampling, and variable rate application into one low cost solution. Field records include application dates, hybrid locations, field and weather conditions, scale tickets, and notes. In addition, users can take advantage of GPS to record soil sampling positions (by grid or zone) and easily navigate to any spot using a 3D display. Farm Works Mobile connects to existing controllers to perform variable rate application using single or multiple products. The software will also connect to most sensors for recording “as-applied” data which can be downloaded in the Farm Works office suite or other third party desktop software.

The Farm Works Mobile software will operate on any field computer with Windows Mobile, XP, Vista, or 7. When using field computers with built in digital cameras for scouting, such as the Trimble® Juno™ or Nomad™ handhelds, images of weeds or pests can be captured while geo referencing their location in one step.

Farm Works Mobile retails for $500.

Farm Works View, an addition to the Farm Works office suite, is a free software program designed to read and write data from popular farming devices. Display and print yield maps, coverage maps, guidance paths, and more. View can easily be upgraded to other Farm Works software solutions for additional functionality in mapping, field records, accounting, herd management, analysis, and water management.

Farm Works 2011 is the latest version of Farm Works office suite. Some of the highlights include:

  • Automatic display of roads and streets for any location in the world
  • Automated seed variety layer that includes the ability to track split planting information
  • Full support of formula-based variable rate prescription maps

Contact Farm Works at 1-800-225-2848 for more information.

New RTK Network Started By Farmers

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Farmers, GPS, Guidance

There’s a new cell phone modem-based RTK Network being built by farmers for farmers, starting in Illinois.

Recently established by a group of agriculture industry partners, MyWay RTK LLC is introducing the first independent, open-technology RTK (Real Time Kinematic) network engineered for the specific guidance needs of growers using precision farming technologies in their operations. The network is designed to allow users to access the high-accuracy RTK GPS signal without the requirement of using proprietary precision farming hardware or software.

Unlike other traditional RTK systems, MyWay RTK operates using cellular/Internet access allowing users to access the signal up to 25 miles from a base station. The signal eliminates the need to be located within line of sight of the base station as well as other issues related to weather conditions that can affect networks using different technologies. The technology provides a strong signal that can be used for operations that require sub-inch accuracy.

MyWay RTK’s open architecture is designed to work with any equipment that uses industry-standard “GPS” protocols. This is especially beneficial to operators using multiple brands of equipment from different manufacturers or those who work with other service providers or custom operators.

“MyWay RTK was developed by a group of farmers, for farmers. We
saw the need to grow an RTK network that empowers farmers and their service providers who want to build out this RTK system at multiple levels,” explained Don Bierman, manager for MyWay RTK.

“The very reason this service exists is to provide open-access to RTK for all brands of equipment and hardware, as well as provide a dedicated service team that understands agriculture and the needs of growers using precision technology today…and in the future.”

All sales of RTK access will be made through an online ordering system, which can be found at www.mywayrtk.com. Through the use of this online presence, each value-added reseller of MyWay RTK will have the ability to customize their interaction with their farmer customer, enhancing those aspects of their relationships with their customers that make them unique in their marketplace.

MyWay RTK is planning to expand the network and is currently seeking partners to own and deploy the GPS base stations as well as resellers to offer service and support to their local growers.

To learn more about the service or to view current coverage maps, please visit www.mywayrtk.com or contact 866.963.5785.

On-Farm Research Using Yield Monitors

Kurt LawtonEducation, Harvesting, Research

Watching those yield numbers register as data on a map as you go round by round during harvest will help aid decision making this winter. To this end, John Fulton, Extension Specialists, Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, wrote a good piece on how to use such data on the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s Precision Ag Blog.

While yield monitors or maps can provide beneficial data to make informed farm management decisions, one must ensure they are properly implementing yield monitors so the correct decisions are made. Yield monitors are excellent tools to conduct field-scale research and spatially document yield differences across fields. Yield maps can identify issues within fields where low yields exist, support the implementation of site-specific management, and make comparisons between varieties, seed treatments, and new management practices.  However, data needs to be collected over whole fields or several fields in order to obtain a sufficient amount of yield data to make the right decision(s) for your farm.

Caution is extended for those using yield monitors to harvest variety trials or plot-scale studies. While this data can provide useful information and support plot-scale work,yield monitors are not a replacement for weigh wagons which should be used to obtain and compute yields for making comparisons in plots. Variety trials and plot studies are generally too small (100, 300 or even up to 900-ft long) in order for yield monitors to accurately measure the accumulated yield over 1 or 2 passes.  The potential errors of yield monitors in these small areas are too high.  Therefore, a measured +/- 5 bushel difference might not really exist between treatments being compared.  While proper calibration is always recommended for yield monitors and the calibration process indicates only a few percent error, the error in yield data generated will be higher for plot size studies and can actually be in the range of 10% to 20%.  For field-scale yield data, these errors will be “averaged” out and the mean yield for a treatment (e.g. variety) can be accurate (1% to 5% error depending upon operating conditions).

As an example, lets say a yield monitor has an actual error of 5%.  If yields are running around 150 bu/ac for the plots, then a 7.5 bu/ac error exists,  Therefore, greater than a 7.5 bu/ac difference must be measured before a variance can be concluded between treatments.  Further, if the actual error is 10% or 20%, then a 15 and 30 bu/ac difference, respectively must exist before any substantial conclusions can be drawn saying one treatment is better than the other.  In any of these cases, one cannot say that one treatment is better than the other if only a 3 or 5 bu/ac difference was measured; a weigh wagon would be required to indicate whether such a few bushel difference.

Remember, while yield monitors can provide useful information for small-scale studies, they are not a replacement for weigh wagons.  Solely relying on yield monitors for providing the necessary performance data at this scale, can lead to incorrectly analyzed yield differences and ultimately the wrong conclusion or management decisions being made. Yield monitors are excellent tools to support management decisions but must be used properly.

Do it Yourself Troubleshooting Before and During Harvest

Kurt LawtonAg Leader, Displays, Education, Equipment, Harvesting, Insights Weekly, Software

Insights WeeklyAs the heart of the Corn Belt is cranking up harvest, I’m guessing combine prep is done. But if not, perhaps some quick troubleshooting tips to keep your harvest data flowing into your monitor may help.

I talked today with Nick Ohrtman, Technical Support Supervisor for Ag Leader Technology, and he mentioned some of common tech support topics they hear this time of year. And some of these issues can be resolved with some simple troubleshooting.

First, check your firmware. Hopefully you’ve got the latest firmware versions installed in all your components—from your display to the connected modules and the GPS unit. It’s important because different versions contain unique features, which help technicians troubleshoot. “Almost every tech support call we get we end up having to check the firmware,” he says.

Is the light green? Most modules and GPS units have an LED light showing its current status. Green means power is on and it is communicating with attached modules. If yellow, the power is working but it’s not talking with other devices. And a red light means the module is in program mode. “Take note of the color by module, which will help the technician troubleshoot your issues.”

Disappearing maps. Another common call during harvest deals with coverage maps that do not show up on the display. Different scenarios can cause this to happen. “The most common is when the operator loads a field on the run screen while at home with the combine head lowered to the ground,” Ohrtman says. “The monitor then logs that point as harvested and it is actually miles away. As the operator drives to the field the onscreen map will zoom out to keep the point that was logged at home. It also keeps the combine’s current position on the map screen. By the time the operator arrives at the field the map is zoomed out so far the field is no longer visible on the display. The short-term fix is to press the ‘clear bounds’ button that re-centers the map over your current position. The long-term solution is to create field boundaries for all of your fields.”

Moisture sensor haywire. If the moisture sensor on the combine clean grain elevator is not giving you readings or is providing the same exact reading, check the proximity sensor in the elevator mount unit. If not adjusted right you won’t get a full clean grain sample to monitor because the cleanout auger isn’t running properly. Simply remove the electrical cover, find the small screw that adjusts the sensor, turn it clockwise until the cleanout auger runs continuously, then turn it back counterclockwise three full turns.

Chewed or loose cables. One other common malady is forgetting to visually check all the cables leading from the display all the way back. Rodent damage is more common that you think.

Visit these links for more information.

Troubleshooting Tips – http://www.agleader.com/2010/04/23/troubleshooting-tips/

Q & A from Hardware Training – http://www.agleader.com/2010/07/22/more-q-a-from-hardware-training/

Planter Section Control Technology

Kurt LawtonEducation, Planting

I don’t know about you, but extended windshield time–be it going back and forth in fields, hauling grain, or traveling to a farm show–is a good time to ponder what’s next in your business.

To this end, one of the hottest precision farming tools of the year is planter section control, due to quick payback thanks to seed savings. To help you ponder more, check out this good publication compiled in 2010, “Automatic Section Control Technology for Planters,” produced by the Alabama Cooperative Extension system.

It talks about benefits, the required components, installation tips, pre-season checks and a list of companies that offer the technology. Perhaps this technology may make a good Christmas present to improve your farm operation!

New John Deere 8R Tractors Are Precision Amplified

Joanna SchroederAudio, Displays, Farm Progress Show, GPS, Guidance, John Deere

John Deere has released the next generation of it’s 8R Tractors. These new tractors integrate the “smart-tractor” concept into the row-crop tractors, and by “smart” I mean the tractor provides growers all the latest and greatest precision ag technologies right at their fingertips.

I caught up with Cody Dicken during the Farm Progress Show to take a look at the new 8R Tractor and learn more about its new features, especially the amplified Command Center.

“First and foremost, customers will notice new styles and new lights on the front grill. But quickly when they step into it, they’ll notice that the power levels have increased by about a 10-15 percent power increase depending on the model,” explained Dicken.

The 8360R and the 8360RT get up to almost 300 btu horsepower and Dicken continued, “From what we can see, these are the most powerful row crop tractors anywhere in the industry.”

One advantage of the new 8R Tractors is that farmers can easily integrate new GPS technologies into their operations.

“Last year when we came out with the 2010 8R we introduced the Command Center on the seat. This year, we’ve taken the Command Center to the next level,” said Dicken. “We now have an option to enable the tractor with a touch steer display and the GreenStar applications are now available.”

With the Command Center, growers can also operate AutoTrack and SwatchControl Pro, which makes it easier for growers to be able to use the technology.

Another cool feature of the tractor is that a grower can customize it to meet his needs from horsepower – to precision power. And this tractor will benefit small to medium operations just as effectively as it will large to extra large operations. Not ready for all the bells and whistles yet? Don’t worry. You can add precision technologies as your operation grows.

To learn more, visit your local John Deere dealer. They can give you personal demonstrations on how all their new precision technologies can make your farm operation more profitable.

You can also learn more by listening to my interview with Cody Dicken. [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-10-dicken.mp3″ text=”Cody Dicken Discusses the Command Center”]

Check out our Farm Progress Photo Album.

Leica Geosystems Making Progress

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, Farm Progress Show, Leica Geosystems

During the Farm Progress Show one of the many precision ag companies exhibiting was Leica Geosystems. Here’s their team posing for a photo opp during my visit. I spoke with Harlan Little, North American Business Manager, on the far right, to learn what’s new with Leica.

Harlan says they’ve got a lot of interest in their touch screen units, the mojoMINI and mojo3D. He says farmers who stopped by loved getting their hands on them. Precision ag was in more evidence at this year’s Farm Progress Show than I can remember and one of the reasons is increased adoption in the industry. Harlan and I chat about what’s happening in the whole precision area.

You can listen to my interview with Harlan here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-10-little.mp3″ text=”Interview With Harlan Little”]

Farm Progress Photo Album

USDA Studies Show Value of Agrotain Plus & SuperU

Joanna SchroederAudio, Corn, Farm Progress Show

Nitrogen is a very important element in corn development and this year it seemed to be in short supply in many wet areas of the Midwest. When growers have to apply nitrogen, once such product they use is Agrotain Plus, a nitrogen stabilizer which controls nitrogen loss by blocking the enzyme urease. Agrotain Plus can be added in liquid nitrogen (UAN) or it can be used in manure and stops leeching, denitrification, and volatility of UAN.

SuperU is a finished grade urea and when Agrotain makes the SuperU, they add the nitrogen stabilizer to chemically stabilize urea for its use in the field.

To learn more about Agrotain Plus and SuperU, I spoke with Martin Case. He told me, “We’ve seen a lot of nitrogen deficiency in the crops this year where we’ve run the nitrogen out early down low and the corn turned yellow early down low. Then we had a lot of excess water that drove the nitrogen out of the root zones, so the corn has suffered and died early.”

Case recommended that grower start thinking about their programs for next year and anticipate any problems that were seen this year and what they may expect next year for weather. Then, he said, apply either Agrotain Plus to your UAN or buy SuperU and apply it based on your agronomist’s recommendation on the best way to get the most return.

Case said the products work and he mentioned that they have been studied independently by the USDA (studies are now in their third year) and USDA is seeing a dramatic economic value, meaning more corn yield which equates to more profit for the farmers. In addition, they are seeing a reduction in the loss of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere.

You can learn more about Agrotain and SuperU, by listening to my interview with Martin Case here. [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-10-case.mp3″ text=”USDA Confirms Agrotain and SuperU’s Value”]

Farm Progress Photo Album