John Deere Introduces SeedStar™ Mobile

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, John Deere, National Farm Machinery Show, Planting, technology, Video

nfms14-jd-seedstarIn conjunction with the launch of the ExactEmerge™ planters and MaxEmerge™ 5 row units at the National Farm Machinery Show this week, John Deere also introduced SeedStar Mobile to help producers better visualize, document, and access their planting data in real time.

The new John Deere SeedStar Mobile solution uses an iPad to provide critical planting information producers need to better monitor and document their planter performance in the field.

Mike Brandert, senior product manager at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, tells us all about it in this interview – and below his colleague Diana Reed shows us what it looks like.
[wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/nfms14-john-deere-seedstar.mp3″ text=”Interview with Mike Brandert, John Deere”]


John Deere 2014 NFMS Photo Album

Sponsored by John Deere

MapShots’ Customers Show the Love

John DavisAgribusiness, Audio, MapShots

mapshots-14-vulgamoresIn honor of Valentine’s Day, it seems appropriate to talk about some folks who are truly showing the love for a precision ag software provider. That certainly has been the case as we’ve listened to many of the folks at the MapShots Customer Conference in Atlanta, Ga., who had nothing but great things to say about MapShots and its AgStudio software. That certainly was the case for brothers Brian and Myles Vulgamore, who farm and have a cattle operation around Scott City in West Central Kansas. They said they’ve been MapShots fans for more than a decade, not only using the old EasySuite software on their own farms, but also selling it to their Pioneer seed customers.

“We’re long-time MapShots customers,” said Brian, who went on to say how important MapShots has been as they’ve expanded operations over the last 10 years. And he’s really excited about the new AgStudio program. “AgStudio is the next generation of EasySuite, and in this last year, they’ve got a lot of the business features turned on with AgStudio. And that’s where the magic really happens.”

Both brothers were impressed with how MapShots brings together all of these production inputs from a variety of integrating companies and how well MapShots works with all of them. Another feature they really like in AgStudio is the ability to store data on the cloud.

“Anybody that’s willing to work and has a cloud-based system can eventually bring it in. It’s important that industry works together so it’s all out there, able to be accessed,” said Myles.

They concluded saying that the folks at MapShots understand farmers and what they want better than any other software company, making it a total solution.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Brian and Myles here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/mapshots/mapshots-14-customers-brian-myles-vulgamore.mp3″ text=”Interview with Brian and Myles Vulgamore”]

You can find Chuck’s photos from the event online here: 2014 MapShots Customer Conference Photo Album

Media Staying Busy at NFMS

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Events, FMC, Media Room, National Farm Machinery Show

nfms14-agwiredThanks to FMC Corporation, members of the agricultural media – like your ZimmComm team pictured here – have a nice place to work and rest at the 2014 National Farm Machinery Show.

FMC took on the job of making the media comfortable about five years ago, according Strategic Communications Manager Paul Redhage. “There really wasn’t a good place for (the media) to work on their interviews or get together, rest for a moment,” he said. “We’ve been doing it about 5 or 6 years now and we’re just delighted.”

FMC’s sponsorship includes high-speed internet access – an absolute must for today’s media – as well as workspace, snacks and beverages. In this interview, Paul talks about why taking care of the media at events like this is important to them, and some of what FMC is talking about the NFMS. [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms-14-fmc-redhage-media-room.mp3″ text=”Interview with Paul Redhage, FMC”]

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

Managing Varying Soil Types

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyGrowers in many states have spent the winter months in drought conditions, and there’s non way to tell what Mother Nature has in store for the spring planting season. If we get rains like 2013, what if there was a way to improve your changes for a better harvest despite too much soil moisture? Well, there is a way to do just that: Ag Leader’s new Hydraulic Down Force System.

Ag Leader’s Brett Buehler explains that one of the big issues growers face during planting is that the seed is planted at the proper depth. When the seed is not optimally planted, it can negatively impact yield. While there are technologies on the market to help address this, Buehler said that many of them have limitations that the Hydraulic Down Force System overcomes.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/02/BuehlerDownForceAudio.mp3″ text=”Listen to Buehler explain”]

The technology, says Buehler, is excellent for the grower who has varying soil types his field.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

MapShots Integrates Irrigation into Precision Ag

John DavisAgribusiness, Audio, Irrigation, MapShots

mapshots-14-andrew-willisDuring the recent MapShots Customer Conference in Atlanta, Ga., one of MapShots’ partners said sometimes it feels like irrigation gets left out of the equation for precision agriculture. But that’s why Andrew Willis with AgSense, a company specializing in remote management of pivots, is so glad they have partnered up with MapShots and the company’s AgStudio software.

“In the past, irrigation has been kind of neglected and left out of the precision ag world, and MapShots has been one that realized there’s some potential there and has really worked with us,” he told Chuck. Andrew added they are particularly happy with how MapShots is able to work with their main pivot product, Field Commander. Plus MapShots is able to give them information in their soil moisture and crop measuring products. “Anything you want to get from the field to a web server, we have a product to fit that application,” adding they are still developing all the particulars, but for now, the best way to get that information into AgStudio is by using AgSense’s WagNet, or Wireless Agriculture Network.

He said a customer conference like this one gives them a chance to hear some questions and consider some problems that might never have struck them before.

“A lot of forward thinkers here. You feel like you’re hitting everything, and then someone throws out a curveball, and [we say], ‘We didn’t even think of that!'”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Andrew here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/mapshots/mapshots-14-agsense-andrew-willis.mp3″ text=”Interview with Andrew Willis with AgSense”]

You can find Chuck’s photos from the event online here: 2014 MapShots Customer Conference Photo Album

Most Like Crop Insurance in New Farm Bill

Talia GoesZimmPoll

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s best in the new farm bill?” More than a third of our respondents agree that crop insurance tops the charts, along with nothing. We see a bit of an oxymoron there!

Our poll results:

  • Crop insurance – 31.25%
  • None – 31.25%
  • Conservation – 9.38%
  • Rural Development – 9.38%
  • Energy – 6.25%
  • Specialty Crops – 6.25%
  • Forestry – 3.13%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “ How does farm economy compare to general U.S.?”

USDA is predicting lower net farm income this year after big gains in 2013 and overall the U.S. economy still appears to be sluggish. But as the farm show season is in full swing and farmers are looking ahead to spring planting, optimism is in the air. How do you think the farm economy looks compared to the general U.S. economy overall? Let us know.

SatShot, MapShots Integrate for Better Imagery

John DavisAerial Imagery, Agribusiness, Audio, MapShots

mapshots-14-lanny-faleideAs we’ve talked about this week, integration was a key theme of the recent MapShots Customer Conference in Atlanta, Ga., as the company brought in customers and the other precision agriculture providers used in its AgStudio software. Lanny Faleide, President/CEO of SatShot, a satellite and aerial imagery company, said MapShots uses the sophisticated images and the agricultural know-how that SatShots adds to those pictures.

“We take an ag perspective, understand the agronomy, reasons why an image will work in the precision ag market and for crop insurance diagnostics as well, and we’re able to put that agricultural flair to it,” he said. Lanny added MapShots is an integrator of their product. “A few years ago, we took the tact of wanting to do one thing really well: distributing the data. We integrate with these farm softwares, and they do the more intense precision ag techniques, and we provide that data automatically [that has that agricultural flair].”

Lanny also talked about how SatShot provides the information in the image, such the biomass or quality of the vegetation. Then, using the MapShots AgStudio software, a producer is able to come up with a prescription and plug that into their hardware out in the field to make sure the right amount of seed, fertilizer, and/or pesticides and herbicides are applied at the right place at the right time. In the future, he said SatShot will scale up its automatic notification system when new imagery is available, as well as working with new satellite companies that will take the imagery technology to the next level

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Lanny here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/mapshots/mapshots-14-satshots-lanny-faleide.mp3″ text=”Interview with Lanny Faleide, President/CEO of SatShot”]

You can find Chuck’s photos from the event online here: 2014 MapShots Customer Conference Photo Album

Ag Leader Helping Farmers Prepare for Planting

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, Planting, technology

With the winter we have had this year, everyone is looking forward to spring – especially farmers who are anxious to get that next crop in the ground this time of year.

nfms14-agleader-russThat’s why this is the perfect time of year for the National Farm Machinery Show and Ag Leader Technology is happy to be talking with the thousands of farmers attending the show about their spring planting needs.

“Probably the biggest thing we’ve got is our Hydraulic Down Force – that’s been very, very popular,” said Russ Morman, Ag Leader Inside Sales Representative. “We’ve had a line of guys around that from nine o’clock in the morning to six o’clock at night.”

The second biggest draw at the NFMS is AgFiniti – Ag Leader’s cloud-based data management platform – and Russ says keeping data private is a big concern for farmers. “Who owns the data? Well, to Ag Leader the grower owns their data,” Russ says. “In fact, with the AgFiniti data cloud, we absolutely guarantee that the farmer has his own exclusivity of his data. We do not use it for any marketing or any research – the farmer has 100% ownership of his data.”

Because NFMS is such a huge show with 850 exhibits and 27 acres of show floor space, Ag Leader has booths on each end. You can find them at booth #416 or #914.

Listen to my interview with Russ here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/nfms/nfms14-agleader-russ.mp3″ text=”Interview with Russ Morman, Ag Leader”]

2014 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

Geovantage Has Birds-Eye View of MapShots Info

John DavisAerial Application, Aerial Imagery, Agribusiness, Audio, MapShots

Another one of the integrating partners with MapShots’ AgStudio software that showed and explained their product at the MapShots Customer Conference in Atlanta, Ga., was aerial imagery specialists Geovantage.

mapshots-14-nick-morrow“[We] offer an aerial imagery solution for agriculture in a rapid response format, providing you with what you want, where you want it, and when you want it,” explained Nick Morrow, Geovantage company operations manager, adding that MapShots’ customers can now receive high-resolution images of their field through AgStudio, which is why he’s at the MapShots conference.

He went on to say he wanted to present use cases so producers can see the potential of the information gathered by Geovantage and shared through AgStudio. Nick also said he expects the partnership with MapShots to grow both companies.

“The integration with the third party applications is what’s really going to change things. Now you actually use the data in the application,” he said, adding that Mapshots’ integration with Geovantage was something that came by popular demand. “Many of our customers use MapShots. They’ve been asking us for years to get the imagery in there faster, and now we should have a very seamless, push-button order.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Nick here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/mapshots/mapshots-14-geovantage-nick-morrow.mp3″ text=”Interview with Nick Morrow, Geovantage”]

You can find Chuck’s photos from the event online here: 2014 MapShots Customer Conference Photo Album