CUTC Extends Poster Submission Deadline

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Corn, CUTC, NCGA, technology

The Corn Utilization & Technology Conference (CUTC) just announced that the deadline for posters to be submitted has been extended to Friday, May 18, 2018. There are a number of categories that you can submit a poster to including:

The professional category for both general and mycotoxin posters
General session student posters
Mycotoxin student posters

The Poster session is a great way to showcase your research to your peers and industry stakeholders.

For students who are interested, there is a contest with cash awards in both the general and mycotoxin poster sessions. Judging criteria and submission guidelines can be found here: http://www.corntechconf.org/guidelines.htmlJudging Criteria.

The CUTC runs June 4-6, 2018, at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel, St. Louis, MO. Poster presenters must be registered as conference attendees.

I will be there once again and just in case you don’t know, the conference hashtag is #corntech18. You can register here.

Raven and Farmers Edge Join Forces

AgWired Precision, Farmers Edge, Precision Agriculture, Raven

Raven Industries and Farmers Edge have joined forces in a marketing and collaboration agreement.

The two companies are working together to develop new precision agriculture technologies that will rapidly increase expansion of Farmers Edge digital agronomy and risk management solutions in key markets. The collaboration leverages the use of streaming data transfer between CanPlugs and Raven Slingshot® and field computers.

This collaboration aligns powerful analytics with unparalleled data sets that provide a single point for growers to visualize, analyze and make all farm management decisions. It incorporates Raven’s precision agriculture hardware, high-speed connectivity and variable rate technology with Farmers Edge complete and independent precision digital solutions powered by billions of on-farm data points. This translates to simplified agronomic and input management for growers.

Learn more here

Precision Ag Bytes 5/9

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • Crop Enhancement anticipates commercialization of its non-toxic crop protection technology, CropCoat, following successful field trials with cacao growers in Indonesia. Field testing with coffee growers is also underway in Central and South America, and the program is being expanded to other high-value specialty crops including tree fruit, vegetables, and berries in the United States.
  • PrecisionHawk Inc. has announced the first Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS)-enabled, multi-rotor drone platform. First to market, the drone incorporates industry-leading technology to automatically identify all cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft within a 10km radius, ensuring airspace de-confliction well before potential confrontation. The platform was designed based on the findings and recommendations in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Pathfinder Report, which serves as a blueprint for enterprises to conduct BVLOS drone operations. You can read the full report or an abbreviated version.
  • AgGateway will present a “Quick Connect” session featuring face-to-face meetings between trading partners at its upcoming Mid-Year Meeting in Altoona, Iowa, June 11-14. The Quick Connect Session gives ag retailers, distributors, manufacturers and their software vendors the opportunity to meet and determine next steps in establishing electronic connections. To register, contact AgGateway’s Member Services at Member.Services@AgGateway.org or 866-251-8618.
  • Larson Electronics LLC has released a flood light kit that directly replaces and upgrades existing OEM lights for John Deere 9500 Combines. This LED light kit consists of six 45-watt LED flood lights to replace the existing top front cab lights.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) celebrated the organization’s 63rd Annual Stewardship Week at the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) People’s Garden. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue commemorated the opening day of the department’s farmers market and toured booths set up by local farmers, ranchers and small businesses. NACD set up a tent at the farmers market to educate people of all ages about Stewardship Week.
  • The Soil Health Partnership welcomes two new field managers to the staff, supporting farmers on the ground in the growing soil health effort. Lisa Kubik, and Tricia Verville joined the SHP in April to assist with the growing number of farmers in the program in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture invited public comment on the proposed rule to establish the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard mandated by Congress in 2016. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall spoke in favor of the proposed rule, which he said is based on factual information rather than emotional scare tactics and will give consumers a valuable resource for making informed decisions about food.
  • Resson announced a $14 million Series C up round of financing that welcomed Mahindra & Mahindra as a strategic partner, joining existing strategic partners McCain Foods and Monsanto Growth Ventures as well as existing investors Build Ventures, Rho Canada, BDC Capital, East Valley Ventures and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.
  • The Rice Market & Technology Convention will be in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, June 5-7. Join the largest and most diverse gathering of rice industry professionals in the western hemisphere for the opportunity to network and learn more about the rice industry.

GROWMARK and FS Announce Enduring Farm Award Winners

AgWired Precision, Audio, Award, Growmark, sustainability

GROWMARK and local FS member cooperatives are recognizing 26 sustainable farming operations for the inaugural Enduring Farm awards. These farms were nominated for the award for their implementation of sustainable nutrient management practices such as following the 4R principles for all nutrient applications, monitoring nitrogen levels through soil sampling, and implementing variable rate technology for phosphorous applications. Nutrient management cropping practices were implemented during the 2017 growing season and all Enduring Farms will be provided N-WATCH™ services to measure results of a nutrient management trial conducted on their farm during the 2018 growing season.

GROWMARK’s Chuck Spencer says nominations for Enduring Farms recognition were submitted by each grower’s FS crop specialist based on specific sustainable practices implemented on their farms. “There’s a structured system of point evaluations for implementing specific practices,” says Spencer. “We’re watching this continued build of pride for the recognition that ‘I’m a sustainable production entity.’”

Spencer says because sustainability is so critical for agriculture, GROWMARK implemented the Endure initiative in 2016. “That is very simple to explain – it’s those practices that endure over time,” said Spencer.

Carrie Muehling visited with Chuck Spencer this week at GROWMARK headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois to learn more about this award program and the cooperative’s overall commitment to sustainability initiatives. Spencer is Executive Director for Corporate and Government Relations at GROWMARK. The winners and a full list of specific criteria can be found here: https://www.fssystem.com/Sustainability/Enduring-Farms.

Interview with Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK, on Enduring Farms awards

BVLOS Will Open the Skies

AgNerd, AgWired Precision, Drones, Precision Agriculture, technology, UAV

In case you didn’t know, BVLOS stands for Beyond Visual Line Of Sight. It’s something you can’t do commercially flying a drone right now. However, PrecisionHawk, working with the Federal Aviation Administration, has conducted research on conducting BVLOS and summarized it in a new report. Image from the PrecisionHawk website.

PrecisionHawk Inc., a leading provider of drone technology for the enterprise, today announced the release of its final Pathfinder Report – a blueprint for enterprises to conduct Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations. The fieldwork was performed in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and MITRE under the Pathfinder Program. The report outlines a comprehensive safety case and standards to fly drones BVLOS and has yielded critical information to the FAA regarding drone operations.

“The final report determined that there are three necessary components for BVLOS flight operations: detection, safety, and drone operator training,” stated Dr. Allison Ferguson, director airspace research at PrecisionHawk. “Technology must be integrated to identify cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft, pilots must be aware of existing airspace classes, temporary flight restrictions, and no-fly zones, and pilots must receive BVLOS-specific training to ensure a safety ecosystem around BVLOS drone flight.”

I do not use my drone commercially and right now I’m mostly confident when I can see it but the more I get used to flying, I can see the value in being able to do so with commercial products for agricultural operations that would not be possible without BVLOS. PrecisionHawk is offering consulting, training and has also announced a multi-rotor BVLOS drone platform. You can find out more about these services here.

Precision Ag Bytes 5/2

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture

  • The American Soybean Association applauded the Commerce Committee for moving forward the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018. ASA President and Iowa soybean grower John Heisdorffer issued the following statement: “ASA welcomes the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 and thanks Sens. Wicker and Klobuchar and Representatives Lotta and Loebsack for introducing legislation which understands the unique needs of growers in rural America. We urge swift passage in the U.S. Senate as wireless broadband connections in the field support on-farm operations and in turn rural communities. This legislation is important to rural America and soy growers everywhere.”
  • Smithers-Oasis Company announces its partnership with Agrilyst, leading provider of a software as a service (SaaS) product for greenhouses and vertical farms that allows growers to track crops, labor, inventory and other metrics. Oasis Grower Solutions products will be included in Agrilyst, and offered to growers that subscribe to the software, which helps them manage their crops and provides data-driven insights to make more profitable production decisions.
  • AgGateway and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have forged an agreement to work together on data projects to benefit American farmers in the transition to digital agriculture. The current agreement will consist of a series of efforts over the next 20 months; all results of the collaboration will be made publicly available. Specifically, the collaboration is designed to provide both parties with the opportunity to better serve the American farmer by: 1) Aligning USDA and AgGateway data elements and data standards; and 2) Developing procedures within the USDA that align with the use of precision ag technology and data used by producers and agri-businesses.
  • Tractor maker John Deere and India’s biggest conglomerate, Tata Group, have agreed a groundbreaking initiative to provide machinery to as many as 100,000 smallholder farmers in the troubled Niger Delta region. The deal is the culmination of a seven-year project by Nigerian collective farming business, Alluvial Agriculture, to address the systemic problems that leave most African smallholder farmers in poverty and threaten food security across the developing world. Alluvial’s solution focuses on aggregating smallholders to create a nucleus of minimum efficient scale and the necessary education, mechanization, inputs and market access.
  • Tractor Supply Company‘s ninth annual Spring Paper Clover Campaign recently raised more than $956,000 through customer donations to benefit 4-H youth across the country. As a result, thousands of 4-H youth will have opportunities to learn valuable leadership skills through camps, conferences and leadership events. Since its start, the company’s biannual fundraiser has collectively generated more than $13.9 million in essential funding.

Deere Announces New Sprayer and Hagie Updates

AgWired Precision, John Deere

John Deere‘s new R4044 Sprayer offers a lightweight, 1,200-gal. capacity option for customers wanting to reduce crop and soil impact.

“Oftentimes, application windows are very narrow, so having a sprayer that can quickly handle the jobs with less crop damage or impact on the soil is a big advantage,” explained Doug Felter, product marketing manager for John Deere application equipment. “The addition of the R4044 to the 4-Series family fills that need perfectly.”

The company is also announcing changes to model year 2019 Hagie sprayers, now powering the largest Hagie STS Sprayers by 6.8L PowerTech John Deere diesel engines. A redesign of the engine compartment and hood on the STS10 and STS12 accommodates the new engines, while incorporating a new tool box and air intake scoop.

“Commonality of engines across all John Deere and Hagie Sprayer platforms makes sense from a customer service perspective, making it easier and convenient for customers to get their sprayers serviced by their local John Deere dealers, no matter which brand they own,” Felter said.

For more information on the changes and updates to Hagie Sprayers for model year 2019, as well as other sprayer innovations from John Deere and Hagie, contact your local John Deere dealer or visit JohnDeere.com/ag.

Deere Introduces New Chisel Plow & Nutrient Applicator

AgWired Precision, Equipment, John Deere

John Deere introduces two new products aimed at increasing precision and productivity for primary tillage and nutrient application.

The 2430 Chisel Plow and 2430C Nutrient Applicator share common new features that differentiate them from the 2410 models they replace, including the TruSet™ precision depth control system, radial tires and rear hitch.

For both the chisel plow and nutrient applicator, TruSet provides the documentation and prescription functionality producers demand when coupled with other John Deere precision ag technologies like Generation 4 Displays and the John Deere Operations Center. The TruSet Side-to-Side option is available for individual section depth control for 3- and 5-frame models of the 2430 Chisel Plow and the 2430C Nutrient Applicator, depending on configuration.

Learn more about these new products from John Deere or contact your local John Deere dealer.

New Free App Can Help Manage Federal Dicamba Regulations

AgWired Precision, Apps, Precision Agriculture

Cropstream, a new communication network built for agriculture, has released a free crop registry app that allows growers to easily share their crop trait information with other farmers, agronomists and applicators right from their computer browser. A mobile app allows users to view nearby crop technology traits to help manage the federal dicamba requirement of consulting a sensitive crop registry before spraying.

“Cropstream lets growers quickly and easily share information about their crops. In less than one minute, growers can mark their field on a map and post information about the seed traits in their crops,” states Cropstream president Tim Aughenbaugh. “Cropstream’s database of over 10,000 seed varieties make posting traits as simple as selecting the brand and hybrid/variety planted and confirming the trait. It protects your information by sharing only the trait, not the seed variety itself, and allows you to turn sharing on and off whenever desired.”

Cropstream is a free cloud-based service designed to facilitate better communications between growers, seed dealers, ag retailers and manufacturers. Cropstream displays posted crop traits on a map from either a browser or a smart phone, making it perfect for crop registry purposes.

Just visit cropstream.com to mark your fields and post your crop traits, then download the app in the Apple store to view fields on the go. An Android app will be available soon.

Foundation Grants $5 million for Irrigation Innovation

AgWired Precision, Irrigation, Water for Food

The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), a nonprofit organization established by the 2014 Farm Bill, has awarded a $5 million grant to launch the Irrigation Innovation Consortium.

The purpose of the consortium is to “accelerate the development and adoption of water and energy efficient irrigation technologies and practices through public-private partnerships.” The $5 million FFAR grant was matched by the ten founding members participants for a total initial investment of $10 million to support research and collaboration costs over five years.

The initial founding members of the Consortium are:

California State University, Fresno
Colorado State University
Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska (DWFI)
Irrigation Association (IA)
Jain Irrigation
Kansas State Research and Extension, Kansas State University
Lindsay Corporation
Northern Water
Rubicon Water
Texas A&M AgriLife Research

Plans for the consortium began in April 2017 at a FFAR-hosted convening event held at the Daugherty Water for Food Institute Global Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska. “We are excited to be a leading partner on this important endeavor,” said Peter McCornick, executive director of DWFI. “Our institute’s experience in water management practices and remote sensing technology, as well as connections to 100 faculty fellows within the University of Nebraska system, will play a vital role in the project.”

Initial research priorities include water and energy efficiency, remote sensing and big data applications for improving water management, irrigation technology acceleration and technology transfer.