This year’s winner of the American Soybean Association scholarship has a passion for precision. Ben Bellar, a high school senior from Howard, Kansas, was named the 2010-2011 Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship recipient during the 2010 Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California. The scholarship package, made possible through a grant by BASF, included a one-time $5,000 education award, a trip to … Read More
Precision Ag Learning Center is a Classic Hit
The first-ever PrecisionAg Learning Center at Commodity Classic was a big hit with growers at the trade show. According to the PrecisionAg.com there was a steady stream of attendees asking questions, sitting in on presentations, and chatting with growers who use precision technology. Among the presenters were Idaho grower Robert Blair and Iowa grower Dennis Friest, Craig Smith from Kansas … Read More
Deere At Classic
At Commodity Classic in Anaheim, CA, Jared Hayes, John Deere, was showing attendees what the company is offering to growers in the area of precision ag. With spring almost here and planting just around the corner I asked him what’s new from the company. Jared says one of the big things with planting which is becoming more important every year … Read More
UK Leaders Tout Benefits of Precision Ag
GM crops and precision farming benefits are being pushed back onto the national agenda in the UK, with the focus to help beat climate change, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. Former cabinet minister Chris Smith, now chair of the Environment Agency, addressed farmers at the annual conference of National Farmers’ Union, saying that “climate change will create … Read More
Indiana Farmers Want Row Shut-Offs
Indiana Prairie Farmer magazine wrote a recent story quoting a Franklin, Ind., precision farming consultant Greg Kneubuhler who says the next hot tool farmers want to invest in is row shut-offs for planters. He says a savings of 5 percent can be achieved, which can deliver a payback in two years. And in some cases, with irregular-shaped fields, payback can … Read More
Farmers Getting Ready for Spring Planting
Spring is just around the corner – the time when a farmer’s fancy turns to thoughts of planting. Growers stopping by the Ag Leader Technology booth at the Commodity Classic trade show last week definitely had spring on their minds. General sales manager Mike Olson says they talked a lot about what growers need to know to get precision farming … Read More
New Holland Puts Your Farm on the Map
Precision is the name of the game when it comes to farming these days. It’s getting hard to find a farmer anymore who doesn’t use auto steer at the very least – and the options to save resources, time and money just keep growing. At the New Holland exhibit at Commodity Classic, I talked to Matt Ahrens about some of … Read More
EZ Sync and EZ Surface Software from Trimble
Trimble debuted a couple of new innovations at the recent National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, which they were also showcasing at the Commodity Classic last week. EZ-Sync™ is a wireless data transfer capability that provides enhanced information management for growers and agribusinesses, and the EZ Surface Software provides surface drainage analysis and design for farmers and drainage contractors. Brian … Read More
New TeeJet ISOBUS Sprayer Control
TeeJet now offer two new solutions for ISOBUS sprayer control for owners of factory-installed virtual terminals, or for operators who require a complete system including a virtual terminal. The TeeJet ISOBUS Sprayer System uses a John Deere, CASE IH or AGCO virtual terminal. The kit includes the IC18 ISOBUS Sprayer Electronic Control Unit (ECU), BoomPilot automatic boom section control module, a switch … Read More
The Value of Software Training
Friday, I wrote about how Ag Leader listened to customers of their SMS Advanced software and built a Certified Training program to give participants deeper knowledge that helps their own business. This weekend I spoke with Justin McCuiston, who helps customers of the farmer-owned cooperative Farm Service Inc., in northeast Arkansas with variable-rate fertilizer programs, yield mapping and other precision … Read More