Hick Chick Chat with Kip Cullers

Leah GuffeyAudio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Hick Chick Chat, International, John Deere

11326519286_c9a07ae0bf_oKip Cullers is a rock star of soybean growers from Southwest Missouri. He’s been out and about in many different events and he called Cindy a little before Commodity Classic and was very excited about his most recent trip to South Africa. He said that some of the speaking events that they were attending were expecting 200 people and 400 or more would show up after traveling some distance to hear what Kip and Dupont Pioneer, BASF, and John Deere folks had to say.

classic14-kip2He has yet to hand over the pictures of the trip but we did catch him on stage with Case IH talking about his trip. Kip says he’s really surprised that they have such a Asian Soybean Rust issue in South Africa. He says they are using the same products there we use here, it just may be under a different name. Many of the products are similar from equipment to fungicides and and it’s very interesting to see how growers from around the world continue to work together to increase productivity and become more self sufficient. Admittedly, Kip is not a big fan of the lamb they served there or the corn mush, but he feels it’s important to travel to other parts of the world and work together for the good of agriculture.

You can catch listen to Cindy’s interview with Kip here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/podcast/hickchickchat-14-kip-cullers.mp3″ text=”Hick Chick Chat with Kip Cullers, Missouri Farmer”]

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More Powerful & Accurate Steering for Farmers

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Farmers, technology

4570_085Leica Geosystems announced the Leica SteerDirect ES Plus, the enhanced successor to the Leica SteerDirect ES. The electric steering system gives farmers a brand independent steering solution to improve accuracy by diminishing skips and overlaps, saving fuel, fertilizer, chemicals, and reducing operator fatigue.

The Leica SteerDirect ES Plus is a flexible solution that enables assisted steering on most tractor, sprayer and harvester models. Once installed the electro-mechanical drive unit latches on and off effortlessly enabling quick and simple transfer across multiple vehicles via the innovative switch kit. Installation does not require removal or replacement of the steering wheel which further simplifies the user experience.

The new electric steering system features several improvements: It has a built-in encoder for more accurate steering and an upgraded, more powerful electric motor that provides superior steering performance. The steering system comes with simplified cabling and a separate engage switch to allow convenient and flexible operator handling. Compatible with the Leica mojo3D guidance system and the Leica mojoXact Plus, the Leica SteerDirect ES Plus supplies customers with a universal installation kit as well as a large number of vehicle specific installation kits.

The SteerDirect ES Plus will be released in March alongside an extended list of supported vehicles. Customers using the Leica SteerDirect ES can upgrade to the ES Plus trouble-free with existing installation kits.

More information about Leica Geosystems Agriculture products is available from all authorized Leica Geosystems distribution partners and at www.AgGuidance.com.

AgriImage Announces Ag-Scout Extreme

Chuck ZimmermanAerial Imagery, Agribusiness, Audio, Scouting

AgriImageCrop scouting is getting more fun because of companies like AgriImage. I first learned about this company before this year’s National Farm Machinery Show. Finally, I caught up with company Vice President, Sean Pinkerton, to talk about their products.

The newest addition to their line-up is the Ag-Scout Extreme.

AgScout ExtremeIt features a carbon fiber airframe that makes it lightweight and very durable. The Ag-Scout Extreme has larger motors and propellers for an increased payload capacity and high wind stability. The package includes everything needed to get in the air. Our Ag-Scout Extreme revolutionizes precision agriculture. It will make scouting your crops easier than ever saving you time and money.

Sean says this is now their most popular model using NDVI imagery to help create more precise spraying and fertilizer prescriptions. The unit virtually unaffected by wind. He suggests keeping it below 400 feet and to be courteous of neighbors and their property. He also mentioned not flying it near an airport. That’s good advice!

You can listen to my interview with Sean here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/precision/agriimage-pinkerton.mp3″ text=”Interview with Sean Pinkerton”]

Dr. Borlaug Statue Unveiling on Ag Day

Leah GuffeyAg Day, Audio, Government, World Food

borlaug-statueNational Agriculture Day celebrations in Washington DC this year just happen to fall on March 25, the centennial anniversary date of the Father of the Green Revolution. As a fitting tribute, the State of Iowa will install a bronze statue of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug in the U.S. Capitol on that very day.

“The unveiling with be a historic event and celebration of Dr. Borlaug’s legacy,” Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said. “His agricultural innovations saved an estimated billion people around the world from hunger and starvation.”

Each state is represented by two statues of notable citizens in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol Building. The statue of Borlaug will replace the statue of U.S. Senator James Harlan installed in 1910, which will be relocated to Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The second statue representing Iowa is of Governor Samuel Kirkwood, which was installed in 1913.

More information about the statue project is available at www.iowaborlaugstatue.org, including information about related events and activities. People are also encouraged to watch a webcast of the statue unveiling ceremony, which will take place on March 25 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, at www.speaker.gov/live and since Chuck and Cindy will be there at the Capitol for National Ag Day, we should have coverage of the event featured here on AgWired as well.

The statue was unveiled at the World Food Prize in October, where we had the chance to see it up close and personal, and Cindy interviewed World Food Prize president Ambassador Kenneth Quinn about it. Listen to or download his comments about the statue here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/world-food/wfp-13-borlaugstatue-quinn.mp3″ text=”WFP President Kenneth Quinn talks about Borlaug statue”]

Wheat Growers Named Most Valuable Dealership

Jamie JohansenAg Group, wheat

WheatGrowers_5001_showLessiter Publications and Precision Farming Dealer has named Wheat Growers its 2014 Most Valuable Dealership.

“This award wasn’t earned in one year,” Brent Wiesenburger, Precision Ag Manager with Wheat Growers, says. “It was earned over the last ten years, thanks to the vision of our cooperative and the talent and dedication of our employee team.”

In an article for Precision Farming Dealer, announcing the award, Jack Zemlicka, Technology Editor, notes that for nearly 20 years, Wheat Growers, “…has succeeded in connecting customers to technology solutions and continues to progressively grow the business. During the last three years alone, Wheat Growers has doubled its overall precision farming revenue from $5.1 million in 2011 to $10.9 million in 2013, with nearly 70 percent of profits generated through service offerings, including its cornerstone Management Zone-Based technology (MZB) program.”

Wheat Growers’ Precision Ag Services include MZB, geo-referenced soil sampling, yield monitors, planting and application systems, mapping software and map printing services, lightbars and AutoSteer Systems. Wheat Growers’ Precision Ag Specialists work with member-owners to recommend the right technology, equipment and field data for their needs and production expectations.

Wheat Growers is a grain and agronomy cooperative in the heart of South and North Dakota. Owned by the members it serves, Wheat Growers exists to provide, with integrity, customers with reliable markets, services and quality products through a safety-oriented, profitable and innovative organization.

17 Inappropriate Uses For An Electric Fence

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Fencing, Humor

electric-fence-2The Zareba Systems customer service line has taken some interesting calls over the years. Been asked some very…unique questions and told some rather interesting stories.

See, we’ve always thought electric fences were a pretty straightforward product. You want to keep some animals in a certain area? Sure, we can do that! Oh, you need to keep pests and predators away from your garden or livestock? Yep, we can handle that too!

And yet, every once in a while, we get a question or hear a story that makes even us raise our eyebrows. And then we realize that perhaps electric fences aren’t quite as straightforward as we thought.

So our brains start buzzing, funny ideas start flying around, a few quick sketches make the rounds..and before we know it, we’ve created a seemingly endless comic strip dedicated to electric fences.

Check out some VERY inappropriate uses for electric fences below from those at Zareba Systems. I think you’ll get a chuckle out of it.

Do not use your electric fence…
1. As a way to ensure proper space between couple at middle school dances.

2. As hurdles for your track and field team.

3. As a replacement for the ropes at the WWF match.

4. As line barriers at Black Friday sales to keep those rowdy shoppers in line.

5. As a precautionary tactic to safeguard against teenyboppers at a One Direction concert.

6. As a tightrope at the circus.

7. As a way to protect your teenager from overzealous suitors.

Click here to see the full list.

Have any of your own to add??

Florida Dairy Farmers Release New iPad App

Jamie JohansenAg Group, Apps, Dairy, Education

image003Kids, adults and educators alike can now learn about dairy farming in an exciting way through the Florida Dairy Farmers new iPad app, SunnyBell’s Florida Dairy Farm Adventure. The free app that can be downloaded from iTunes, is a fun, interactive romp through a Florida dairy farm.

SunnyBell – a little calf who longs to be an important part of the dairy farm, teaches kids about nutritious milk and where it comes from. The story is interactive and immersive, while kids learn about how a dairy farm works. The app also includes sing-along “moo”sicals, word-search puzzles, coloring pages and quizzes.

SunnyBell’s Florida Dairy Farm Adventure app is not only great for kids of all ages, but is also an exceptional educational tool for parents and educators, and uses games and songs to improve cognitive abilities in kids.

“The SunnyBell app shares the experience of life on a Florida dairy farm while reinforcing the message of where our milk comes from. Children are easily engaged, via educational songs and games that boast interactive animation, while learning about the importance of dairy foods in the diet,” says Alyssa Greenstein, registered dietitian with Florida Dairy Farmers. “As a registered dietitian and mother of three, I especially enjoy the fact that the SunnyBell app helps kids and adults separate nutrition from fads and misinformation.”

To download the free app, visit www.floridamilk.com and check out our new Kids Corner where you can learn, play and grow with SunnyBell.

Bayer CropScience CEO on What the World Needs

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Bayer CropScience, sustainability

Once upon a time, all the world needed was love, sweet love – but life is a little more complicated these days.

bayer-aif14-blomeThe theme of the ninth annual Bayer CropScience Ag Issues forum was “What the World Needs” and topics included water security, communications, innovation, pollinators and sustainable farmers. At the end of the two-day event, Bayer CropScience president and CEO Jim Blome said the bottom line is that everyone has a role in feeding a growing world population.

Blome was particularly pleased to present the fourth Bayer CropScience Young Farmer Sustainability Award to Bryan Boll of Minnesota. “We thought we needed to elevate young farmers, the people who are doing things right and have a great story to tell,” said Blome. “These guys are running big businesses with an eye on the future and they’re not afraid of technology. We want to identify them, elevate them and then celebrate them.”

One of the most important segments of the forum focused on bees, which Bayer CropScience believes are critical to agriculture and the world. “Pollinator and bee health are really important to us,” said Blome, who explained that they take the fluctuations in pollinator populations so seriously they have dedicated significant resources to an overall Bee Care Program. That includes a new North American Bee Care Center to advance honey bee research, education and collaboration, which is scheduled to open next month.

“We all eat and one out of every three bites of food that we take comes from a bee,” said Blome. [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/bayer/bayer-aif14-blome.mp3″ text=”Interview with Bayer CropScience CEO Jim Blome”]

bayer-issues-button2014 Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum Photos

Meet Hortau Precision Irrigation

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Commodity Classic, Irrigation, social media

classic14-hortauHortau Simplified Irrigation was one of the more than 300 companies exhibiting at the recent record-setting Commodity Classic, and one of quite a few first timers.

They stood out from the crowd for us at Classic when @Hortau sent a tweet to @Agriblogger asking him to come by and do an interview. Dropping by the booth at the end of the first day of the show, I met and interviewed CEO Jocelyn Boudreau and Regional Sales Manager Doug Larson.

Jocelyn told me the company was started in 2002, “with the idea of optimizing water usage on farm, taking a plant-centric approach to use water to grow a healthier crop, boost yields and give water the same level of attention and precision as we do with fertilizers and plant genetics.”

Doug says they were very pleased with their first year at Classic. “This is really our audience,” he said. “We work the high plains region of the country, so most of our growers are corn or soybean growers.”

Find out more about Hortau here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/commodity-classic/classic14-hortau.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jocelyn Boudreau and Doug Larson, Hortau Irrigation”]
2014 Commodity Classic Photos
Coverage is sponsored by John Deere

New Holland Ground Speed/Headland Management

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, New Holland, Tractor, Video

Vic ConstableThe next lesson I got with Operation Blue Force from New Holland put me back into the cab. This time it was all about Ground Speed Management and Headland Management.

Our classroom teacher was Vic Constable. After the lesson I got into a T9 4-wheel drive tractor with track units pulling a massive field “Optimizer” to put that lesson in action. My driver, Ryan, showed how to set up Ground Speed Management as well as Custom Headland Management. After recording his instructions it was my turn to sit in the seat and drive. I did pretty good and learned a few extra lessons that just need to stay in California. 🙂

The 16-speed full powershift transmission with Ground Speed Management (GSM) features both field and road operation settings. GSM Field™ automatically downshifts the tractor and adjusts engine rpm to maintain the best performance, then upshifts and changes engine rpm as load decreases. GSM Road™ selects the proper gears and engine rpm based on speed lever input and load conditions. Even without GSM, get clutch-free, push-button shifting and fingertip control of direction changes.

You can listen to Vic’s lesson here or watch it below: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/new-holland/nh-blue-force-14-constable.mp3″ text=”Vic Constable Lesson”]

If you’d like to see these features in action check out my ZimmGlass video below:

New Holland Operation Blue Force Photo Album