Precision | Page 279 | News and reviews from the precision agriculture industry

Contract Importance in Precision Ag Data

Jamie JohansenAugust 11, 2015Agribusiness, Audio, Data, InfoAg, technology

Dr. Joan Archer is an attorney for Husch Blackwell and a member of their Food and Agribusiness Business Unit. Her entire practice is focused on precision agriculture and animal health. So it was no surprise her expertise was utilized during the 2015 InfoAg Conference in St. Louis. Joan, alongside her colleagues, spoke on a few emerging legal issues that have an impact on precision ag technology.

“One of the big points of conversation is who owns the data and how do we protect the privacy of that data? There is a lot of discord among folks in the industry because different positions are being taken.”

Joan said she hears many people saying that this problem will simply be decided in the courts. But she would rather her clients act proactively now by taking steps to avoid disputes in the future. Her best advice to clients involves a good contract.

“You need good contract language that spells out consistently through the agriculture chain. From the land owner, to the lessor, to the precision ag company, to the spray company, to the food production company. They all have to be on the same page.”

Consulting with an attorney is your best bet no matter where you fall on the ag supply chain. Hear more tips from Joan on precision ag data issues in my complete interview with her here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-archer.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Joan Archer, Husch Blackwell”]

View and download photos from the event here: 2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

AgGateway – How SPADE Digs into Interoperability

John DavisAugust 11, 2015Ag Group, AgGateway, Audio, InfoAg

When it comes to really digging into the ground, you need a good spade. If you’re digging into interoperability, you need AgGateway’s SPADE – Standardized Precision Ag Data Exchange Project. This summer marks the third year and the third phase for SPADE, building on seeding and harvest operations of the first two phases to bring field operations data interoperability into this third phase.

“We hope to make interoperability between farm management systems more effective and seamless,” Jim Wilson with AgGateway told Chuck during an interview at the recent InfoAg Conference. He said of all the great accomplishments they’ve had with all the phases of SPADE, this latest step to bring competitors together for the good of everyone is probably the most significant. “At the end of the day, everyone recognizes that a rising tide lifts all boats. We all need to agree on fundamental standards and guidelines so everyone is competing in a way that drives value for farmers.”

A spinoff of SPADE is the ADAPT committee, focused on reducing the costs of integrating precision ag data formats from various equipment manufacturers into various business systems. Jim said they wanted to do this in an open source software framework so anyone could make use of the knowledge gained, as well as contributing to the collaboration, whether they are an AgGateway member or not.

Listen to all of Chuck’s interview with Jim here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/aggateway-jim-wilson.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jim Wilson, AgGateway”]

2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

Valent Registers INTEGO SUITE Soybeans

Kelly MarshallAugust 11, 2015Agribusiness, Fungicides, seed, Soybeans

Valent U.S.A. Corporation has announced the registration of its all-in-one formulation of INTEGO™ SUITE Soybeans, a new seed protectant to control multiple species of Pythium and Phytophthora. The new formulation makes the treating process easier by eliminating the need to mix components prior to treatment.

INTEGO SUITE Soybeans contains multiple active ingredients, including ethaboxam, the first seed protection fungicide introduced in over 35 years for Pythium and Phytophthora protection. By utilizing a dual mode of action, INTEGO SUITE Soybeans creates a complete zone of protection around the seedling. This zone of protection shields the plant from a wider spectrum of Pythium species and Phytophthora, as well as more soil-borne diseases and insects than any other seed treatment on the market. And, INTEGO SUITE Soybeans has consistently proven to deliver a yield increase of 1.5 bushels per acre in soybeans above competitive seed treatments, as demonstrated in independent university and research trials.

“Not only will INTEGO SUITE Soybeans streamline the soybean seed treating process, eliminating several time-consuming steps, but the added red colorant will also assure seed is entirely treated and protected,” said Thad Haes, seed protection market manager for Valent. “Providing retailers with the best and easiest soybean seed treatment product on the market was Valent’s goal, and I feel confident we’ve done that with INTEGO SUITE Soybeans.”

“I’m very excited to have INTEGO SUITE,” said Larry Craft of Schlessman Seed Company in Milan, OH. “We’ve been using the same thing for 35 years and we’re happy to finally be able to address the Pythium problem we’re experiencing in Ohio.”

INTEGO SUITE Soybeans will offer a lower use rate of 3.37 fluid ounces/cwt and will be packaged in a 15-gallon drum, which will treat 1,100 units of soybeans.

John Deere Offers Multiple Ways to Connect

John DavisAugust 11, 2015Agribusiness, Apps, Audio, Data, InfoAg, John Deere

These days, the most valuable thing on farms might not be the crops, but the data about those crops. During the recent InfoAg Conference, Chuck caught up with Scott Brotherton with John Deere, who said it all starts with getting data into the John Deere Operations Center to help producers make better decisions.

“It could be as easy as a USB stick or even more complex with JDLink Connect,” he said. “Depending on a person’s ability to manage data, mobile data transfer could be a good place to start.”

Scott said this simple tool can help farmers get better interoperability, especially if they have a mixed fleet of equipment, old and new. Mobile data transfer uses a device that simply connects to the display and creates a wi-fi network, allowing producers to connect to their smartphones, transferring data back and forth. “It’s really about making the job easier and being more efficient.”

Another important feature is the security JDLink Connect brings, making sure the right information is shared with the right people.

“They get to choose and pick who they share the information with,” Scott said.

Listen to all of Chuck’s interview with Scott here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/jd-scott-brotherton.mp3″ text=”Interview with Scott Brotherton, John Deere”]

2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

Crop Report Shows Most Corn Silking & in Great Shape

John DavisAugust 11, 2015Ag Day, Agribusiness, Corn, NCGA, USDA

The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop report shows that almost all of the nation’s corn is in the silk stage, and most of it is in pretty good shape. The National Corn Growers Association says 96 percent of corn acres having achieved the silking stage as of August 9 and 51 percent of corn acres is in the doughing stage. Meanwhile, the overall corn crop condition held strong with 70 percent of acres now rated in good or excellent condition.

After trailing the five-year average of acres having achieved the doughing stage trailing the five-year average for weeks, the acres having reached the doughing stage moved one point ahead of that number by August 9. In this first estimate of the acres in the dented stage, the progress trailed the five-year average by six points.

Crop condition estimates remained approximately the same with one point added to the percentage of the crop rated excellent this week. At this point last year, 73 percent of corn acres were in good or excellent condition.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says the weekend’s rains really helped some areas but hurt other places.

“Crops remain in very good condition across much of the state. The rains that crossed the state this weekend were welcome in many areas. Unfortunately, some areas, especially in southern Iowa, have suffered as a result of too much moisture,” Northey said.

Agrian: A Crop Compliance Company

Jamie JohansenAugust 10, 2015Agribusiness, Crop Protection, InfoAg, Nutrient Management

Co-founder and CEO of Agrian, Nishan Majarian, and his team was out in full force during the recent InfoAg Conference in St. Louis, MO.

“We started out as a specialty crops compliance company ensuring that crop protection nutrient applications on hundreds of specialty crops are safe and in compliance with the label and the law.”

Over the past 12 years they have grown and over hundred million treated acres are compliance checked against there current system. Nish said they have recently expanded to unify work flow for many of their ag chem retail and grower partners allowing for their entire season can be documented in one system.

“You start with scouting in our mobile devices then you move to lab sampling where you can go out and pull samples, document those samples with our mobile devices. Then you can move that sample and the sample ID to the lab. That lab data flows back in and then you can make recommendations for nutrients for crop protection materials based on real data from your labs.”

Listen to my complete interview with Nish to learn how you can add your acres to the millions they serve. [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-agrian-nish.mp3″ text=”Interview with Nishan Majarian, Agrian”]

View and download photos from the event here: 2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

McGregor Releases INSIGHT Precision Ag Program

Kelly MarshallAugust 10, 2015Agribusiness, Fertilizer, Soil

McGregor Company‘s new variable rate application program, INSIGHT, is scheduled for release this fall. The program is designed to help growers manage crop variability in their fields.

The new program uses a method developed by and field tested by the REACCH project a (Regional Approaches to Climate Change) a collaborative venture with regional universities and USDA. The program features high resolution satellite imagery so producers can track how efficiently applied nutrients are being utilized in their fields. This gives the producer the ability to optimize nutrients being applied to a specific area of the field so they can maximize yields while minimizing environmental impact.

“The launch of McGregor INSIGHT will enable our CCA’s to provide personalized solutions for customers who want to implement a variable rate, site specific, fertilizer application strategy on their customer’s farms.” Said Fred Morscheck – general manager of marketing and logistics

The program will be fitted to each grower’s needs and is backed by 30 years of soil research. Currently McGregor INSIGHT is the only available program created for the Inland Northwest.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Dean Walker, Director of Precision Services at 509-397-5950 or email at dean.walker@mcgregor.com.

BrightFarms Brings Local Food Nation-Wide

Kelly MarshallAugust 10, 2015Agribusiness, Energy, Local

BrightFarms has broken ground on a new Chicagoland Greenhouse in Rochelle, IL. The start-up company is changing the face of local produce with the first ever nation brand. Working together with Roundy’s Supermarkets, and the greenhouses will supply the grocery chain with produce, hopefully in 2016.

A model for the future of local, low-impact farming, the BrightFarms Chicagoland Greenhouse will be the most productive farm in the Chicagoland market, the most sustainable source of year-round baby greens and tomatoes in all of Illinois, and among the most productive salad greens farms, per square foot, in the world. It will create permanent green collar jobs, significantly reduce food miles, and improve the environmental impact of the food supply chain.

A cutting-edge, scalable solution to Americans’ increasing demand for local and sustainable food, The BrightFarms Chicagoland greenhouse will be 160,000 square-feet and grow over 1,000,000 pounds of the freshest and most flavorful salad greens, herbs and tomatoes per year. The greenhouse will use 80 percent less water, 90 percent less land and 95 percent less shipping fuel than conventional produce companies and significantly less energy to grow its products than the items it replaces on supermarket shelves. All produce will be pesticide-free.

“Consumer demand for local is growing exponentially — and for good reason: long distance produce hurts the environment and compromises freshness, quality and taste,” said BrightFarms Chief BrightFarmer (CEO), Paul Lightfoot. “This greenhouse farm will allow Roundy’s to provide its customers with year-round produce that is not only garden-fresh, but that conserves land and water, eliminates agricultural runoff and reduces greenhouse gas emission.”

“We’re thrilled that our stores will be able to deliver consumers the freshest, most local greens, herbs and tomatoes possible,” said Bob Mariano, CEO and chairman of Roundy’s. “BrightFarms is a model for the future of food and we look forward to exemplifying, together with them, what that future should look like.”

FMC Talks with #AgMedia About Solstice

Cindy ZimmermanAugust 10, 2015Ag Media Summit, Audio, FMC, Herbicides

Growers have been seeing some great results with FMC’s Solstice™ postemergence herbicide in this second year on the market.

“Corn growers are pretty familiar with the HPPD inhibitor chemistry that’s in Solstice,” said FMC North America corn segment manager Matt Hancock during interviews at the recent Ag Media Summit. “But what we did was take that one step further and by adding Cadet® to that chemistry we pick up a lot of speed.”

That also broadens the spectrum of weeds that Solstice can control and Hancock says it works really well with Anthem® in corn “to be able to really keep it and add some time on to the end of that residual control.”

And it fits in well with the Overlap™ System that FMC promotes. “Overlapping the residuals is key and that’s where Anthem followed by Solstice is really market leading performance,” said Hancock.

Matt explains more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/ams-15-fmc-hancock-2.mp3″ text=”Interview with Matt Hancock, FMC, on Solstice”]

2015 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

NCGA: Pesticide Bill Underscores Need for WOTUS Change

John DavisAugust 10, 2015Ag Group, environment, NCGA, Pesticides

Passage by a committee of a Senate bill to ease some pesticide permit restrictions underscores the need for making some changes to the government’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. The National Corn Growers Association is calling on Congress to pass legislation to withdraw the controversial WOTUS rule.

“This bill will cut some regulatory red tape out of the pesticide permitting process,” said Chip Bowling, NCGA President and a farmer from Maryland. “Anything we can do to cut Washington red tape will help farmers. This bill also underscores the problems with the EPA’s new Waters of the U.S. rule. The rule significantly expands the reach and power of the federal government over our farming operations. Every farm and ranch in America now has a WOTUS – and that means more paperwork, more permits, and more hassle, without actually water quality benefits. The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers must work with farmers to rewrite WOTUS.”

Historically, water quality concerns related to pesticide applications were addressed within the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, rather than a Clean Water Act permitting program. However, in 2009 a federal court ruled that pesticide users are required to apply for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit under the Clean Water Act if the chemical is sprayed over, near, or into a body of water. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, all pesticides are reviewed and regulated for use with strict instructions on the EPA approved product label. A thorough review and accounting of impacts to water quality and aquatic species is included in every EPA review. Requiring water permits for pesticide applications is redundant and provides no additional environmental benefit.

The Sensible Environmental Protection Act of 2015 (S. 1500), sponsored by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), would clarify that federal law does not require this redundant permit for already regulated pesticide applications.

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