Big news this week in the world of precision agriculture. Ag Leader Technology not only launched new products, it announced a new alliance with AutoFarm. This new collaboration brings together popular and successful precision farming products from Ag Leader with the latest embedded and integrated steering solutions from AutoFarm. Yesterday, I caught up with company founder and President Al Myers … Read More
GPS Accuracy: How Accurate Is Accurate?
If you’re familiar with yield mapping, automatic boom section control or other tasks that require a GPS signal, you may not truly understand how it works…or you may not care as long as it works, right! Let me simplify things. Basically, 11,000 miles from earth is a constellation of satellites (between 24 and 32 at any given time) strategically placed and … Read More
Talk Precision Farming With Your Seed Dealer
First off, I order 12 consecutive days of sunshine across the US so we can keep those yield monitors spinning to map data—to help close out a very odd summer and fall. Thinking of brighter days ahead, be sure to make mental/written notes as harvest progresses, because hybrid/variety selection time is upon us. To that end, I talked this week … Read More
Harvest Data That Keeps On Giving
Whether you’re a novice at collecting harvest data or an old pro who could wallpaper his office with yield maps and more—you understand that more data layers beyond yield are necessary to add management decision value. I talked to Bruce West this week, who helps growers adopt just about every precision farming solution imaginable through his independent company West Enterprises … Read More
Precision Soil Sampling Made Easier
With the advent of quality mobile and desktop software, as well as rugged mobile devices with GPS capabilities, precision soil sampling has greatly improved. I talked this week to George Ropp, a retired county extension agent turned soil fertility consultant in northwest Ohio, who has a lot of experience with such technology. His use spans way back to the early … Read More
Data Analysis Using Precision Farming Software
As harvest begins cranking up across the Midwest, growers are headed to the field with a combine and yield monitor that’s primed and ready to capture another year of valuable data. And this process often sets their minds to thinking about how they’ll use this data during the winter months ahead. Napoleon, Ohio grower Todd Hesterman consults with other farmers … Read More
Precision Farming: How To Grow Your Technology
As an Iowa farm kid who grew up loving technology (I just chose to write about it and let my brother run it on the family farm), one of my passions is talking to farmers about their technology adoption—so I can learn and write stories that help others. And over the past 28 years of covering the incredible advances we’ve … Read More
Farmer Uses Insight To Start Precision Farming
Young farmers often have a drive for efficiency, and technology. North Plate, Neb., grower Nathan Kramer is no different. He knows the tools of precision agriculture can get him there. But data holds the key. “If you don’t know where you’re at, it’s hard to tell where you’re going,” Nathan says, with regard to their lack of baseline yield data. … Read More
Use Yield Monitor to Map ACRE Program Yields?
If you signed up for the ACRE program, you know that payments will be issued when two conditions are met for a commodity. Condition one: when actual state revenue falls below the state ACRE guarantee. Condition two: when the actual farm revenue falls below the farm ACRE guarantee. So, can you use your yield monitor to provide annual acreage and … Read More
Yield Monitors: Extreme Value In Precision Farming
The yield monitor is a valuable instrument during harvest, giving you instantaneous yield numbers as you make each pass in the field. But is your system giving you added value? Top farmers are using this precision agriculture tool to record results from specifically designed split-planter tests to make buying decisions on hybrids, varieties, traits, insecticides, fungicides, fertility levels, tillage techniques … Read More