The G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture is coming to an end. Interestingly, USDA held a concluding press conference to discuss results prior to the end of the conference. USDA Chief Scientist Dr. Catherine Woteki outlined the federal government’s new Food, Agriculture and Rural data community, which offers a catalog of over 300 data sets as well as … Read More
Preview of Open Data for Agriculture Conference
USDA just held a preview press conference for next week’s G-8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture. On the phone with the press were USDA Chief Scientist Dr. Catherine Woteki and Dr. Simon Liu, Director of the National Agricultural Library. There are plans to do live streaming during the conference and people are encouraged to tweet about the conference … Read More
Happy iPad mini Winner
Here’s our happy iPad mini winner, Nick Leibold. Thanks to his wife, Kendra, for taking the photo. She says Nick will put it to good use on the farm. Since Nick is standing in front of a John Deere tractor I wonder if he’ll have to get one of their new custom mobile device mounts for the cab! I’m sure … Read More
Backup Today and Don’t Become an April Fool
Happy Easter which is falling on World Backup Day. Have you taken the pledge to back up your data? The World Backup Day Pledge I solemnly swear to backup my important documents and precious memories on March 31st. I will also tell my friends and family about World Backup Day – friends don’t let friends go without a backup. It … Read More
The ROI of Smart Machine Technology
Dr. Terry Kastens is an Emeritus Professor from Kansas State University. He’s back to farming now and spoke during a Learning Center Session at Commodity Classic sponsored by John Deere. The session topic was “Better Data, Better Decisions: the ROI of Smart Machine Technology. One of the first points Dr. Karstens makes is that every new technology requires an investment. … Read More
Dupont PrecisionPac Herbicide Solutions
During Commodity Classic this year Dupont Crop Protection surveyed grower attendees and found that more than half of U.S. corn, soybean and wheat growers have changed their herbicide tank-mix strategies within the last three years. Changes include using new, different or more herbicides in the same spray tank. Nearly 67 percent of growers surveyed said they or a farm employee … Read More
A Recorder to Take to the Field
I’m not sure how many of you want or need to have an audio recorder handy when you’re out in the field but . . . Maybe you’ll want to take some notes so you don’t forget something when you’re field scouting, planting or harvesting. If so, here’s an app for your iOS or Android device you might consider using. … Read More
See Your Machine in the Field
“Machine & Agronomic Data Management: Maximizing Your Productivity” is the title of a Commodity Classic WIN session sponsored by John Deere. One of the presenters was Kathy Michael, Senior Product Manager, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. The way that John Deere is helping farmers maximize their machine and agronomic data is with JD Link, their telematic platform, which is based … Read More
Balance GT Press Conference
We published the announcement of the new Balance Gt soybean varieties that will available in 2015 just prior to the recent Commodity Classic in Kissimmee, FL. After that announcement MS Technologies and Bayer CropScience held a press conference for ag media to discuss the product launch and new name. On the stage are Lauren August, MS Technologies Brand Manager, and … Read More
Dupont Pioneer Introduces Field360 Services
Dupont Pioneer held a news conference at the recent Commodity Classic to introduce a new set of services. The focus of the press conference was the new Pioneer Field360 services. These new services are meant to help farmers increase productivity and profitability by providing more control of field-by-field data without having to become a technical expert. The Pioneer Field360 Services … Read More