Market Report Predicts Bright Future for UAVs

Kelly MarshallAgribusiness, drone, UAV

Lucintel has published a new market report that shows a bright future for the UAV industry.  The data shows many opportunities in civil and military applications, with the global industry expected to expand at a CAGR rate of 7.1 percent by 2020.  The growth is forecast to come from a demand in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance missions and missions preformed without … Read More

Food Companies Launch SmartLabel™ Initiative

Cindy Zimmermanbiotechnology, Food, GMO

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has launched the SmartLabel™ technology initiative that will enable consumers to have easy and instant access to detailed information about thousands of products, with more than 30 major companies already committed to using it. Consumers will be able to find this detailed product information in several ways: by scanning a QR code on the package, … Read More

AgWizard Simplifies Farm Financial Decisions

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Financing

AgriFinance Advisors, Inc. announces the launch of AgWizard – an Online Financial Advisor for farmers. The #1 frustration farmers experience in managing their business is the complexity in knowing when to market their grain. With today’s extremely volatile commodity prices and razor thin margins, farming without a marketing plan in place becomes even more challenging. Now, a farmer who logs … Read More

Plant Sap Analysis Sampling

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Audio, Crop Health Labs, Fruit, Vegetables

The Power Growers Seminar by Crop Health Laboratories attracted fruit and vegetable growers from the East and West Coasts and everywhere in between. The conference covered anything pertaining to plant sap analysis, but the session on proper sampling, handling and labeling techniques answered many frequently asked questions. Maikel van de Ven is a consultant for NovaCropControl/HortiNova and was there to … Read More

AFBF Videos on Big-Data Share Risks & Rewards for Farmers

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Data, Farm Bureau, technology

The American Farm Bureau Federation released a series of short educational videos to help farmers and ranchers understand the rewards and risks of data-analysis technologies sweeping the agricultural landscape. “Modern data technology offers great benefits for America’s farmers and ranchers, but these new advantages don’t come without some risks,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. From collecting weather data to analyzing … Read More

Details on SatShot Iteris Partnership

Cindy ZimmermanAerial Imagery, Audio, InfoAg, weather

While we were at the InfoAg Conference last week, Iteris and SatShot announced a new partnership to help farmers manage their crops even better. I got more details on the news from SatShot president Lanny Faleide. “Iteris has whole suite of weather products, and we are bringing the weather information along with the digital vegetation signature from the [satellite] imagery, … Read More

SMS Training and Resources

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

One goal of the Ag Leader SMS Software team is to provide training opportunities and resources that are effective regardless of the users SMS knowledge and fit into their busy schedules. This is why they have put all of their resources in a simple, single location for growers to get to: sms.agleader.com (or go to agleader.com and click Support). At … Read More

SMS Winter Training Dates are Announced!

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Harvest is upon us and hopefully that means you are seeing the hard work that you’ve put in all season starting to pay off! As you watch the bushels on your yield monitor, do you question the factors that make some areas of the field more productive? Are you thinking about ways you can maximize profitability across all areas of … Read More

GPS Used to Track Pollination Patterns of Bees

John DavisGPS, Research

Miniature wireless sensors attached to bumblebees could soon give researchers real-time data on their pollination patterns. This story from Oregon State University says researchers at the school are planning to build sensors that will track how the bees pollinate fruits and vegetables, including blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, tomatoes and dozens of other staples. Given recent losses of European honeybees to diseases, … Read More

New Blog Looks to Tackle Year 2050 Ag Challenges

John DavisAgribusiness, Audio, NAFB

How do you feed the expected world population of 9 billion people by the year 2050? Our friends at Farm Foundation are taking on that challenging question, hopefully with some good answers through their new blog, AgChallenge2050.org. “It’s an opportunity for more people to be involved in the conversation,” said Mary Thompson, Farm Foundation’s Vice President, Communications, adding there are … Read More