No Till Products of the Year from BASF

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, BASF, Crop Protection, No Till

Headline AMPNo-till farmers gave top honors to BASF products Headline AMP® fungicide and Sharpen® herbicide at the recent 22nd Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Springfield, Illinois.

This is the eighth consecutive win for Headline AMP fungicide in the top fungicide product category. Headline AMP fungicide is labeled for corn application. On-farm field trials from 2013 show Headline AMP fungicide delivers 11.7 bu/A more than untreated corn.

basf-sharpenA new winner this year in the weed control product category, Sharpen herbicide, drives burndown of tough weeds three-to-five times faster than 2,4-D or glyphosate – an important feature for many no-till growers. Sharpen herbicide is powered by Kixor® herbicide technology, featuring a unique chemistry that provides foliar and soil activity on today’s toughest weeds.

Expect to hear more about these products when we attend the BASF media event this week prior to Commodity Classic in San Anton

Make Plans Now for Summer’s InfoAg 2014!

John DavisAgribusiness, InfoAg

infoaglogo1Mark your calendar and make plans to attend InfoAg 2014 this summer in St. Louis! This premier precision agriculture event for producers, consultants, and the crop production industry will be held July 29-31 at St. Louis’ Union Station Hotel. Organizers are featuring four tracks of concurrent sessions with two tracks repeating to allow attendees to hear more of the presentations while offering a wide variety of topics.

The conference has also teamed up with PrecisionAg to offer an expanded exhibit hall, the PrecisionAg Tech Center.

With 101 booths, the PrecisionAg Tech Centera at InfoAg provides buyers with a wide variety and selection of vendors. The conference understands and supports the role of exhibitors. Dedicated times for exhibits are part of the program. The exhibit hall brings together speakers, exhibitors, and attendees. It is made for networking!

More information and registration is available here.

Get Crop Insurance Help with Ag Leader SMS

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, Data Collection, National Farm Machinery Show

nfms14-agleader2Crop insurance is playing a bigger role than ever in agriculture with passage of the new farm bill and Ag Leader SMS Software is one way to make the record keeping required for crop insurance a little bit easier.

Rural Community Insurance Services (RCIS) recently announced it has partnered with Ag Leader on the use of SMS software to submit field data electronically with RCIS’ Precision Farming service. Ag Leader also has a direct link with the Rain and Hail program software.

“A farmer can actually read in his planting data into SMS and then export it out in a generic format to read right into their crop insurance providers’ software,” said Kaleb Lindquist, Ag Leader software specialist, who adds that the program is very user friendly. “Once you get your farm field set up, create your map, it’s two button clicks and that file is exported.”

Find out more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms14-agleader-kaleb-1.MP3″ text=”Interview with Kaleb Lindquist, Ag Leader”]

Ag Leader had lots of grower interest in the SMS Software at the National Farm Machinery Show, and next they will be at the Commodity Classic trade show.

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

MyAgCentral Offering End-to-End Irrigation Solution

John DavisAgribusiness, Irrigation

myagcentralProducers will now be able to monitor variable rate irrigation (VRI) remotely from their computer, tablet or smartphone. MyAgCentral is now offering the second of its new end-to-end solutions for agriculture, giving growers a simple and affordable way to leverage VRI through the MyAgCentral dashboard.

DN2K [parent company of MyAgCentral] partners with Precision Cropping Technologies (PCT) as a VRI prescription provider, AgSense as a supplier of irrigation telematics solutions, and Prime Meridian as a MyAgCentral service provider, to deliver this fully integrated VRI workflow solution. MyAgCentral’s online service makes it easy for growers and irrigation providers to order VRI agronomic related services and deliver irrigation prescriptions to pivots in the field.

The VRI solution, delivered through the MyAgCentral dashboard, allows agronomic service providers to easily upload the soil electroconductivity and topographical data necessary for processing through PCT’s industry leading VRI software solution. Customized prescriptions optimizing water and power resources for specific fields and crops are delivered seamlessly back to the grower’s MyAgCentral account. Without leaving their MyAgCentral dashboard, growers and service providers can push VRI prescriptions to any AgSense telematic equipped center-pivot. PCT’s VRI prescriptions can also be ordered through MyAgCentral for many other OEM and third party centerpivot telematic systems.

“This end-to-end VRI management solution connects all the dots and brings together the people needed to support growers through the entire VRI process,” said Susan Lambert, CEO of DN2K. “Growers can now take full advantage of VRI, optimizing inputs and increasing yields whether they’re in their office or mobile.”

Partner companies in this venture say this will give farmers better access to the right prescriptions in irrigation operations.

Vertical Tillage Options Gaining Traction

Cindy ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio, Case IH, Equipment, National Farm Machinery Show, Tillage

nfms14-case-nixVertical tillage is gaining more traction in farming operations, and Case IH was showcasing its True-Tandem™ 330 Turbo at the recent National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. Marketing manager for the company’s tillage line of products Tim Nix told me that this new tiller is good for conservation measures, especially important in light of what was passed in the new Farm Bill and its provisions that encourage vertical tillage.

“Basically, vertical tillage is slicing into the soil in a vertical manner, as opposed to a horizontal plane that you might get with a field cultivator sweep,” not creating a plane of soil or compaction smear layer that could inhibit early root growth he explained, adding vertical tillers run faster, allowing farmers to get more done.

Tim said this line of tillage tools works well in this new vertical tillage environment in fall and spring.

“In the fall, we’re trying to get the residue sliced and sized and down into the soil profile, so it will start to break down over the winter, and the nutrients can be released and available to the plant in the spring,” as well as slicing up root balls in corn really well, he said. When spring rolls around (and trust me, despite the seemingly endless winter, spring will return), the True-Tandem™ 330 Turbo helps prepare an excellent seed bed, with the soil being fluffed and residue being smoothed out. “It’s just a tool we’ve found that farmers love to run in both the fall and the spring.”

Listen to more of my interview with Tim here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms14-case-2.MP3″ text=”Interview with Tim Nix, Case IH”]

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Case IH Talks “Photo Copy” Plants at NFMS

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Case IH, National Farm Machinery Show, Planting

nfms14-case-hoegIt’s been a pretty tough winter in farm country this year, but as they say, hope springs eternal … or maybe in this case, we sure hope spring breaks this eternal winter! To be ready for the season ahead, producers need to make sure they have the right equipment in place, in particular their planters.

“If you don’t start right, nothing else works properly,” Bill Hoeg, Case IH Planter Marketing Manager in North America told Cindy during the recent National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. He showed off his company’s new line of Case IH Early Riser® 5 series planters, which allow farmers to move beyond picket fence stands to photocopy plants so that they can realize higher yields. “Photo copy plants allow the user to grow profitability from 9 to 22 percent, from a yield impact.”

Bill said the key is this new line of planters helps farmers better control compaction, depth uniformity, moisture and soil density. He offered visitors to the show to compare for themselves, touching and seeing the difference in a mockup between Case IH’s performance against their competitors in those key areas on yield. He also pointed out that with grain prices waning again, it will be more important than ever to make sure yields stay high.

“Inputs’ costs haven’t really come down, so the yield going up is going to be a real big benefit to our user.”

You can hear more of Cindy’s interview with Bill here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms14-case-1.MP3″ text=”Interview with Bill Hoeg, Case IH”]

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Ag Interest in UAVs Really Taking Off

Cindy ZimmermanAerial Application, Aerial Imagery, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, UAV

nfms14-uavUnmanned Aerial Vehicles – call them UAVs or drones or just remote-controlled airplanes – have been around for decades, but using them for agricultural practices is just really starting to take off.

A good crowd showed up for a session on UAVs sponsored by Farm Industry magazine at the recent National Farm Machinery Show where University of Kentucky (UK) mechanical engineer Dr. Suzanne Smith was one of the presenters. The UK recently announced the formation of an Unmanned Systems Research Consortium (USRC) to advance unmanned aerial, ground and underwater systems, and to explore commercial applications for the technology in Kentucky.

nfms14-uav-uk“It’s faculty members from across the university,” says Smith. “From ag, ag engineering, forestry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science – all working together to advance technologies – and we’re working with companies.”

She and other panelists entertained lots of questions from the audience at the NFMS which indicated a great deal of interest from farmers in using more advanced UAV technology. “It’s very exciting right now,” she said. “In the end it’s really time-saving and efficiency, and that’s what everybody is really looking for.”

Find out more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms14-uav-uk.mp3″ text=”Interview with Suzanne Smith, University of Kentucky”]

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

Classic is Next Show for John Deere ExactEmerge

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Commodity Classic, Equipment, Events, John Deere, National Farm Machinery Show, Planting

nfms14-exactemergeIf you missed the new John Deere ExactEmerge Planter at the 2014 National Farm Machinery Show, you’ll have another chance to see this baby at the Commodity Classic in San Antonio next week.

nfms14-jd-kelbyAt NFMS, I talked with John Deere Seeding Group product specialist Kelby Krueger who worked on the ExactEmerge project from start to finish. He says the new row units are a perfect fit for producers who want to plant more acres in less time due to narrow planting windows, or to increase the size of their operations without adding equipment. “It’s hard for planters to get wider, so we had to make it more productive,” Kelby said. “This planter here with 24 rows, at ten miles an hour, will be doing something close to 75-80 acres an hour.”

If you haven’t seen the unveiling of the new planter at NFMS, click here.

Listen to Kelby explain more about ExactEmerge and see it for yourself at Commodity Classic in San Antonio: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/nfms14-jd-kelby.mp3″ text=”Interview with Kelby Krueger, John Deere”]
John Deere Planter at NFMS photos

Sponsored by John Deere

Mass Changes for Solum Inc.

Jamie JohansenAgribusiness, Monsanto, Software

Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 8.59.58 AMSolum Inc. recently has changed it’s name to Granular Inc. and launched a new cloud business software and analytics offering for farmers. The new platform is now beta testing on several farms in the Midwest. Monsanto Company has also acquired Solum’s soil science business, which will be operated by it’s subsidiary The Climate Corporation.

The proceeds from the acquisition, along with a new $4.2 million round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, and Khosla Ventures, are being invested into Granular to develop business software for the $3 trillion agriculture vertical. The funds will be used to expand Granular’s engineering team in San Francisco and sales and customer support teams across the United States.

“We were fortunate to develop two great business lines at Solum: an advanced soil science business based in Iowa and a cloud software and analytics business here in San Francisco,” said Sid Gorham, CEO of Granular. “The Climate Corporation is the right partner to bring our soil science innovations to their full commercial potential. For our part, we’re excited about building out Granular as a cloud software provider to help large farming businesses become more efficient, profitable and sustainable.”

Large farmers are managing highly complex businesses using general business software on an office computer. With Granular, they will run their entire business on cloud and mobile applications that are purpose-built for agriculture.

“There have been significant technology advances in farm equipment and agronomic science, but nobody has developed enterprise-wide business software for our industry,” said Kip Tom, who runs large farms in Indiana and Argentina and is chairman of Granular’s Industry Advisory Board. “The time is now for a software platform that integrates business planning and performance analytics across our entire organization.”

Granular gives producers the end-to-end visibility and control they need to improve efficiency and make smarter business decisions. Capturing critical production and financial data from each cropping cycle and using advanced analytics to suggest opportunities for financial, operational and agronomic optimization.

Water Management … An Ongoing Issue

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly Today with input costs and costs of fertilizer and seed being as high as they are when you don’t get the crop planted and a good emerged crop with a good stand to it, you don’t get the max benefits out of the crop that you can. Too much water is a big proponent of this as well as not enough water and this is where water management comes in.

One of the solutions is adding tile to fields. Ag Leader has some precision ag technology, such as the Intellislope tile plow control system, that can raise the success rate of water management. Ag Leader also has software, such as the SMS Advanced Water Management module, that can help develop a tile plan and then analyze the data at any given moment or over time once the plan has been executed.

Every farm is different and tile systems can be put in during the fall or spring. Listen to ZimmComm’s full interview with Luke Bunkers about water management here.

[wpaudio url=”http://agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/iowapower-bunkers-14.mp3″ text=”Listen to Bunkers explain”]

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