2015 PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, InfoAg

PrecisionAg AwardThe 2015 PrecisionAg Magazine Awards of Excellence were presented today by Paul Schrimpf, Executive Editor. First up on stage was Dave Scheiderer, founder, Integrated Ag Services. He has been named the Crop Adviser/Entrepreneur Award Winner.

I have captured each winner’s introduction by Paul along with their comments for you. Listen to Dave here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-precisionag-award-1.mp3″ text=”Dave Scheiderer, Integrated Ag Services”]

PrecisionAg AwardThe next award presented was for Farmer of the Year. Receiving the award was Rod Weimer, a farm manager at Fagerber Farms in Colorado.

Fagerberg Farms grows, packs and ships Colorado onions. He has fully embraced precision agriculture in an effort to save water and fertilizer.

Listen to Rod here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-precisionag-award-2.mp3″ text=”Rod Weimer, Fagerberg Farms”]

PrecisionAg AwardThe Legacy Award winner is Randy Taylor, Oklahoma State University. Randy could not be present but send a video for his presentation. I do not have audio of that for you but you can listen to Paul introduce him.

Dr. Randy Taylor is professor and extension engineer, machinery systems 70/30 extension/research; Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University.

Listen to the introduction for here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-precisionag-award-3.mp3″ text=”Randy Taylor, Oklahoma State Introduction”]

PrecisionAg AwardThe winner of the Agriculture Research/Educator of the Year Award is Raj Khosla, Colorado State University. Khosla is distinguished Monfort professor of precision agriculture and an assistant dean of international programs in the CSU College of Agriculture Sciences

Listen to Raj here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/infoag-15-precisionag-award-4.mp3″ text=”Raj Khosla, Colorado State University”]

2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by John Deere   Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by Growmark

JCB Offers Master Technician Program

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Equipment, Machinery, Training

JCB-logoA new ‘Master Technician’ program from JCB is set to roll out to dealerships in North America.  The global company offers equipment such as backhoe loaders, Loadall telescopic handlers, excavators, wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks. The  program is designed to continue to build the skills of JCB Service Technicians, as well as provide recognition for those at the top of their class.

Dealerships may nominate service personnel and nominees must then pass an entry exam.  To earn the designation of Master Technician a participant must then pass a series of training programs and challenges at 100%, complete distance learning classes, prove competence in JCB systems efficient testing and other service-based tests.

Rick Papalia, Senior Vice President of Corporate Operations for Northland JCB states, “We feel it is very important for any technician to understand all training opportunities that are available, and how they can continue to learn and grow with the company and advance their career. Not only does it provide an opportunity to expand their understanding of the product, but it helps them to keep up with rapidly changing technology, some of which can be quite advanced. The Master Tech Program training structure will also result in the highest levels of service people possible. Most importantly, it will give our service technicians a means to recognize their accomplishments.”

All those who successfully complete the Master Technician Program earn the special Master Technician designation. They then compete annually in a competition where the best performing Master Technician in each of JCB’s 12 regions earns a special “Master Technician Ring” to acknowledge their expertise.

The 12 Regional Master Technician competition winners will compete annually in a National Master Technician contest where the champion will win an all-expense paid trip to JCB’s global headquarters in the United Kingdom.

“Service technicians are often the unsung heroes of a dealership, yet they are vital to its success and support of the JCB brand, that’s why we are proud to introduce this prestigious program to honor those technicians who represent the best of the best in our North American dealer network,” says Chris Giorgianni, JCB Vice President of Product Support and Government & Defense.

2015 InfoAg Conference

Chuck ZimmermanInfoAg

InfoAg Conference RegistrationIt’s time for the biggest conference on precision agriculture. InfoAg is celebrating 20 years and the crowd will be another record. In fact, we’re at start time for the opening session and still have a long line getting registered!

I’ll be here tag teaming with Jamie Johansen this week. We’ll have lots of interviews and photos for you. The Golden ZimmComm Microphone will be getting a work out. I’ve got two panels to moderate and look forward to keeping my speakers on time. Follow along on the conference Twitter hashtag, #InfoAg15.

You can find conference photos here: 2015 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

I’d like to start off thanking our sponsors this year which include John Deere and GROWMARK.

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by
Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by John Deere   Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by Growmark

AGCO, Trimble Collaborate to Connect Ag Data Platforms

John DavisAgribusiness, Data, Trimble

trimblelogoPrecision agriculture company Trimble and ag equipment maker and distributor AGCO have teamed up to connect agriculture data platforms. This news release from Trimble says the partnership will deliver wireless connectivity between AGCO’s VarioDoc and AgCommand® systems and the Trimble® Connected Farm™ solution.

“The inclusion of AGCO’s AgCommand information into Connected Farm aligns well with Trimble’s continued focus on providing a complete solution for growers to manage a mixed fleet of vehicles and implements,” said Joe Denniston, vice president of Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “AGCO customers now have access to one central location in Connected Farm for monitoring their farm operations including fleet data, rainfall and weather information, commodity quotes, and irrigation monitoring to enable improved decision making from the office to the field.”

“This collaboration gives our customers easier access to their operational data for enhanced productivity, mobility and decision making,” said Eric Hansotia, senior vice president, Global Harvesting, Crop Care, Advanced Technology Solutions and Dealer Tech Support at AGCO. “Strategic development with platforms like Connected Farm gives growers a single location from which to monitor their entire operation.”

The collaboration between Trimble and AGCO allows customers to access their AGCO machine data, via AGCO’s telemetry product, AgCommand as well as their agronomic data through AGCO’s VarioDoc task file management platform, from within the Connected Farm dashboard. This deeper integration of AGCO and Trimble technologies delivers a more streamlined approach to total farm management, simplifying the grower’s ability to access and act on live machine and task data within a single, Web browser-based user interface.

This integration is the first to use AGCO machine data via the AgCommand API (Application Programming Interface), which becomes available worldwide later this year.

Save the Date: ClearAg Webinar

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, Iteris, webinar

clearagMark your calendar for Tuesday, August 11th.  At 5:00 PM CT Iteris will be hosting a webinar series on the ClearAG system which provides field-level weather, soil and crop information. The series is titled, “The Science Behind ClearAg,” and is available by submitting your name and e-mail.

The last webinar, “The Science Behind ClearAg: Land Surface Modeling for Precision Farming” is available here.

Virtual Reality at New Holland Engineering

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, New Holland, technology

nh-media-15-152-virtual-realityMembers of ag media got a behind the scenes look at New Holland engineering and product development while attending their recent media event. Dave DeChristopher, simulation manager for New Holland Agriculture, spoke to the group about virtual reality and they even got to wear 3-D glasses. This image is from his 3-D presentation.

“Virtual reality is a small piece of the overall way we use simulation in all of our products. The idea being that if we can use simulation to do some of the thing we use to do physically, we can often times do it faster with more optimization.”

Dave said he has been at New Holland for 20 years and when he first started the simulation of structural durability was just catching on. But it didn’t take long to have all the design teams on board. Later other technologies were implemented.

“One of the things using the software allows you to do is exaggerate what is happening. You can drive things harder than you could ever do in the field. Then really look at it and understand what is happening so you can design around it. Design it for how it is actually functioning.”

Listen to Chuck’s complete interview with Dave to learn more about the precision technology New Holland utilizes here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/nh-virtual-reality-dechristopher.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dave DeChristopher, New Holland”]

Check out photos from the event here: New Holland Media Days 2015 Photo Album

New Decision Making Solutions from GEOSYS

Kelly MarshallAerial Imagery, Agribusiness, agronomy, Satellite

geosys_logoCroptical Monitoring Application and GEOSYS Bridge APE are being added to the GEOSYS lineup to help agronomists bolster precision ag offerings.  The two new programs give critical field insights with three times the number of high resolution in-season satellite maps included in standard contract for ag tech solutions.

Croptical™ Monitoring Application uses daily satellite imagery to benchmark a field’s health and compare it to others in the area with the same crop type and similar planting date. This allows agronomists and their customers to better manage their time and resources by focusing on fields that have the highest potential for a response to additional management practices. Agronomists are also able to look more closely into the data for a particular field and view the high-resolution imaging that is available. In addition, Croptical™ Monitoring Application provides access to daily regional weather forecasts and historical weather data.

“Daily satellite imagery allows us to keep a finger on the pulse of crop health throughout the growing season,” said Matthieu Hyrien, global sales and marketing lead, GEOSYS. “This is valuable for correcting potential issues or taking advantage of favorable conditions while there is still time during the growing season to positively impact yield.”

GEOSYS Bridge™ API is easily integrated into existing precision ag solutions to generate and display maps and agronomic data that are delivered directly to a company’s existing ag technology platform.  The program offers two types of high resolution imagery maps: in-season and archive. In-season imagery maps provide current information on crop conditions and variability of crop health within the field at a time when crop decision-makers can respond.  Archive imagery maps allow customers to evaluate the variability and performance of fields over many years and use that information as the basis for the current season’s crop plan. 

“Agriculture companies need high-quality, scalable data they can plug into their platforms to help their customers make the best decisions,” said Hyrien. “Bridge offers companies access to an industry-leading database of both in-season and archived satellite imagery maps to help their customers implement practical and actionable insights that drive ROI.”

Soils Curriculum For Classrooms Around the Globe

Kelly MarshallConservation, Education, Soil

logo-national-association-of-conservation-districts-colorThe United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) have developed a series of educational materials intended to teach children the importance of healthy soil.  Created as part of the 2015 International Year of Soils, the curriculum is for children ages 5 to 14 and focuses on healthy soil for our food, environment, livelihoods and well-being.  The material includes word games, puzzles, drawing activities, and other interactive lessons.

“The ‘DIG IT – Secrets of Soil’ project — developed by NACD in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Soil Science Society of America — has been highly successful in reaching U.S. students to help them gain an appreciation for soil and the food and other products that come from it,” said NACD President Lee McDaniel. “We are proud to partner with FAO to expand the reach of these quality educational resources across the globe.”

Originally produced in English to complement the exhibit on soils at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the materials have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Arabic and Russian, and the content has been slightly adapted to suit the needs of different FAO member countries. All of the booklets are available for download on the FAO International Year of Soils website.

Soybean Farmers Get Second Chance with Clover

John DavisCover Crops, Soybeans

FIXatioNWet conditions and flooding this spring in parts of the Midwest made for some difficult conditions for soybean planting, even to the point where many farmers were never able to get their crop in the ground. Grassland Oregon, a company specializing in science-based cover crop, turf, and forage seeds, says cover crop mixes can help producers take advantage of Risk Management Association (RMA) and National Resources Conservation Services’ (NRCS) Prevented Planting insurance program.

Flooding can cause nitrogen leaching or volatilization (microbe conversion) in the soil. One option to combat unfavorable conditions would be to plant FIXatioN balansa clover, a product from Grassland Oregon. FIXatioN will not only grow in water-logged soils, it is a Bio-Massive™ and hardy cover crop that fixes up to 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre. FIXatioN’s roots break up compacted soils, fix nitrogen and prepare the soil for the next year’s crop.

FIXatioN is a cost effective option for including in a mix when compared to other cover crop options. It can be seeded at a rate of 3-5 pounds per acre in a mix whereas cereal rye requires up to 50 pounds, triticale requires up to 80 pounds, and crimson clover requires up to 15 pounds. To get the most out of their Prevented Planting cover crop mix, farmers will quickly see a return on their investment from FIXatioN’s nitrogen fixing capabilities and low seeding rate.

FIXatioN balansa clover (Trifolium michelianum) is a cool season annual legume that can fix up to 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre while suppressing weeds. It grows up to 8 feet long with more than 30 blossoms per stem and is well suited for wildlife forage, attracts pollinators and breaks up soil compactions.

Peanut Research Future Includes Georgia Tech

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Peanuts, Research, UAV, University

spgc-15-brittonGeorgia Tech is new to the peanut research world but Doug Britton who manages the Agricultural Research Program at the university believes they are bringing a new perspective and expertise to the table.

“Georgia Tech has a great engineering and science faculty,” said Britton. “A lot of things that we develop are in manufacturing or other aspects of engineering and bringing some of those ideas, processes and approaches might be useful when we look at some of the agricultural spaces.”

That includes research into new technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and sensor platforms that can provides meaningful data for farmers. Britton talked about the potential for both of those during a panel discussion at the 2015 Southern Peanut Growers Conference on Research – The Future is Now.

Listen to my interview with Doug here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/spgc-15-britton.mp3″ text=”Interview with Doug Britton, Georgia Tech”]

2015 Southern Peanut Growers Conference Photo Album