GROWMARK Shows Good Stewardship on CTIC

John DavisAg Group, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Growmark

ctic-13-dan-maggartThe Conservation Technology Information Center tour just completed with a theme of “Community 4 Conservation” this year. Dan Maggart with GROWMARK (pictured to the right, talking to bus load on the tour about what GROWMARK offers in way of agronomic services) explained why his company sees itself as such a good fit as a sponsor for the tour and its theme.

“GROWMARK has a retail arm, where we go directly to the farm gate and make nutrient recommendations to growers, so we’re privileged to be able to use all sorts of tools as far as nutrients, fertilizers, so we just want to maintain that privilege that we’ve had for years and be good stewards of the land, but also the water bodies and the folks downstream,” Dan said.

He said the structure of the CTIC tour in Livingston County, Ill., is a good template that GROWMARK can apply in conservation practices across its core area across the Midwest, but also to their customers that reach to the East Coast and into Canada, as well as nationwide in the U.S. Dan added they make sure their sales force that come to those farms and make recommendations for best business and conservation practices are thoroughly trained to make the best recommendations possible.

“This group has historically done a tremendous job doing that. In fact, there’s 20 years of what we would call on-site training, we have special schools for young crop specialists, and regular updates throughout the year to re-educate and get that message across to our distribution and our retail outlets,” Dan said.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Dan here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/ctic/ctic-13-dan-maggart.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dan Maggart, GROWMARK”]

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

EPA Says Best Problem Solving Will Occur Locally

Chuck ZimmermanAg Group, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Government

Denise Keehner & Jason WellerDuring the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour I got this photo of EPA’s Denise Keehner, Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds and Acting Chief Jason Weller, USDA-NRCS. They were attending the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour and met after luncheon remarks by Denise.

I spoke with Denise after her remarks and on the subject of inter-agency cooperation she says it is the best she’s ever seen it. She says it feels real good to get outside the beltway and she’s “so impressed with what’s going on in these communities with these farmers, the producers who are implementing conservation practices that are really problem solving and taking some risks in the process.” She says she has learned so much on the tour and that statement validates one of the reasons CTIC holds these tours and invites such a wide variety of attendees that includes governmental regulators.

I asked her about concerns farmers have about regulations coming out of Washington, DC from agencies like EPA. She says, “I think EPA really does recognize, particularly with the nutrient related issue, the non-point source issue, that the best problem solving is going to occur locally and in collaboration and cooperation with state agencies.”

You can listen to my interview with Denise here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/ctic/ctic-13-keehner-int.mp3″ text=”Interview with Denise Keehner”]

You can also listen to Denise’s remarks here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/ctic/ctic-13-keehner.mp3″ text=”Remarks from Denise Keehner”]

2013 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album

Use the InfoAg Conference App To Make Your Own Schedule

Chuck ZimmermanApps, InfoAg

InfoAg Conference AppIn the lead up to the 2013 InfoAg Conference you might want to get the app so you’re ready. You can get the app for iOS right here or for Android right here. If you’re attending InfoAg I’d like you to have it before attending my session on Wednesday afternoon!

The conference will be held July 16-18 in Springfield, Illinois at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. This is all about precision agriculture for farmers, consultants and anyone in the crop production industry. We’re expecting the largest exhibit hall ever with 101 booths and 68 vendors. There will be 77 other presenters besides me so there’s a lot to learn at the event.

With the app you can build a personal conference program, view the full program and see other program options.

Making Sense of Precision Ag’s Alphabet Soup

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyPrecision farming tools are designed to simplify things for growers, and yet the terminology used in precision farming isn’t always so simple. But have no fear. The following definitions will guide you through the mysterious twists and terms found in the world of GPS (Psst … that stands for Global Positioning System).

GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System is a navigation system with global coverage. GNSS is a method of improving the navigation system’s attributes, such as accuracy, reliability and availability through the integration of external information into the calculation. GNSS 1 consists of GPS, GLONASS, WAAS, SBAS and EGNOS.

GPS: The Global Positioning System is a U.S.-owned utility that provides position, navigation and timing. There are three segments – space, control and user. The space segment consists of the satellites in space, the control segment consists of the people who manage and maintain the space segment and the user segment are those of us who use GPS. GPS is what allows us to map fields and auto-steer equipment.

GLONASS: Global Navigation Satellite System is the Russian-owned utility equivalent to GPS. This system can be used in the U.S. if your receiver is set up to receive GLONASS signal.

WAAS: Wide Area Augmentation System is a supplement to GPS created with the goal of improving accuracy, integrity and availability of GPS correction in the U.S.

EGNOS: European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service is the European version of WAAS.
SBAS: Satellite Based Augmentation System is a system that supports wide-area or regional supplementation through the use of additional satellites broadcast messages.

Base Station: The base station is a receiver and transmitter that is stationary. It receives GPS information, corrects and then transmits the corrected information to the rover.

Rover: We refer to the moving equipment as the rover. For example a tractor with receiver would be referred to as the rover.

Read More

House Passes ‘Partisan’ Farm Bill

Joanna SchroederAgribusiness, Farm Bill, Government

Agricultural groups are discouraged with the passage today of the U.S. House of Representatives’ H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (FARRM). The bill slid through with a tight margin of 216 to 208 after more than six hours of debate today and did not include food stamp authorization or nutrition programs, which the House says it will address as separate issues.

Rep ScottHowever, during the debates, several legislators noted that the point of the farm bill is to feed Americans and this bill in fact does not achieve this goal. “What we have here is not a farm bill,” said Rep. David Scott, (D-GA). “You tell me how in the world we can have a farm bill and separate food and nutrition out from it. The American people don’t get that. When you think of farms and you think of agriculture, you mean to tell me it ain’t about food?”

Bob Stallman, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation reacted with the statement that the organization looks forward to moving ahead with fundamental farm policy legislation. “While we don’t yet know what the next steps will be, we will be working with both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress to ensure passage of a new five-year farm bill.”

Stallman added, “While we were hopeful the farm bill would not be split, nor permanent law repealed, we will now focus our efforts on working with lawmakers to deliver a farm bill to the president’s desk for his signature by September.”

Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) stood in opposition to the bill – one that he began debates on in 2010. He noted that one reason was the move to split the nutrition and food stamps program from the bill. “It jeopardizes changes of the bill ever becoming law, and I think repealing permanent law all but ensures we’ll never write a farm bill again in this House.”

Collin is not alone in his opposition and pointed out that last week, 532 diverse organizations came out in opposition to the split. Read More

AgGateway Launches SPADE2

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Data Collection, Harvesting, Planting, Software, technology, yields

AgGateway_LogoAgGateway’s Precision Ag Council is building on its successful work to date on the Standardized Precision Ag Data Exchange (SPADE) Project by launching SPADE2. While the first phase focused on seeding, the second phase will cover crop protection and harvest operations. SPADE2 will also build infrastructure to source the machine and product reference data needed to share crop plans, recommendations, work orders and work records across the industry. These advances will help drive the use of precision ag equipment for a number of basic field operations, enabling growers and agri-businesses to achieve tremendous technological advances, enhanced yield and improved net revenue performance.

The SPADE project will have global impact. The project’s proposed extensions will modify the ISO11783 standards used in agricultural machinery. SPADE is working to allow seamless interoperability and data exchange between hardware systems and software applications that collect field data across farming operations. This ability to share data will simplify mixed-fleet field operations, regulatory compliance, crop insurance reporting, traceability, sustainability assessment and field or crop-scale revenue management. It will also make it easier for growers to share data with their trusted advisors, suppliers and other value partners, and will lower the cost of entry for growers and ag retailers who want to use precision ag technology.

Syngenta Provides Integrated Crop Solutions

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Corn, Irrigation, Syngenta

syngentaSyngenta and Lindsay Corporation formally announced a collaborative agreement to provide corn farmers with a more efficient way to grow and manage irrigated corn acres. This collaboration will provide farmers with access to a proven combination of best-in-class products, technology, expertise, analysis, automation and service. The two companies have been working in recent years to develop projects and will deliver an entire agronomic system in one easy solution.

If the past two seasons are any indication—with both drought then excess rain—water will remain unpredictable. During the next 15 years, nearly 40 percent of the global population will be experiencing severe water limitations, and a typical U.S. corn grower will face water issues in two to three out of every five years. One of the major issues on irrigated acres is making the best use of available water, and the Syngenta and Lindsay initiative brings together a comprehensive approach that allows water to be most efficiently used in irrigated programs.

“Syngenta realizes that it’s time to rethink water. Water is the lifeblood of agriculture and one of the most critical elements in growing a corn crop,” said David Morgan, North America regional director for Syngenta. “Although weather and water are variable, corn growers can mitigate risk and achieve higher yield potential in water-stressed situations through a combination of technologies, products and services. We are pleased to be working with Lindsay, a leading provider of irrigation technology and water management systems, to deliver a complete platform custom-designed to help farmers grow more corn with less water.”

Barry Ruffalo, President, Irrigation at Lindsay Corporation said the collaborative agreement will enable Lindsay and Syngenta to integrate industry-leading offerings to provide farmers with unprecedented control over their irrigated corn acres.

“Our approach will include helping growers identify the most critical limiting variables and putting a program in place to better measure, analyze, track and predict their impact in real time,” Ruffalo said. “Integrating the Growsmart soil and weather sensors into the FieldNET monitoring and control platform creates a simple plug-and-play solution that is easy to use, yet very powerful. We look forward to working with Syngenta to help farmers save time, manage their irrigated acres more efficiently and improve their return on investment potential.”

Lucero Joins Eco Agro Resources

Talia GoesAgribusiness, environment, Nutrient Management

ecoagroEco Agro Resources is proud to announce the appointment of Luciano Lucero as the regional manager of South America.

Luciano’s hiring is consistent with Eco Agro Resources’ overall strategy to support local markets and to provide greater value to customers. Luciano’s ability to introduce the South American market to innovative urease inhibitor N-Yield and to the developing product line is consistent with Eco Agro’s focus and commitment to servicing local markets.

Ray Perkins President of Sales says, “Having an Eco Agro Resources representative in the South American market will enhance our ability to provide the customer service South American customers deserve. Luciano’s market expertise and experience within the agriculture market coupled with our innovative urease inhibitor N-Yield will provide South American customers access to our innovative techniques and potential significant product yield increases.”

In support of the South American’s Agriculture market, EAR also proudly announces the July 1 launch of our website in Portuguese with a Spanish version to follow shortly.

New John Deere Mower Runs on E85

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Equipment, Ethanol, John Deere

John Deere has introduced a brand new riding mower that can run on up to 85% percent ethanol blended fuel.

jd-flexfuel-mowerThe mower is a new Flex Fuel model of John Deere’s popular line of ZTrak mowers. The new, industry exclusive, Z925M Flex Fuel gives landscape contractors and customers with large acreage to mow a new alternative fuel option for their fleets.

“As we see E85 blends take off there is going to be a need in the market for this type of machine,” said Steve Wilhelmi, John Deere tactical marketing manager. “In addition, it just helps our alternative fuels platform” which includes electronic fuel-injected engines and biodiesel kits for diesel machines. Just another way to support the farmers who grow the crops that produce those biofuels.

The new Flex Fuel model is part of the M Series of ZTrak commercial mowers, designed for customers seeking productivity and efficiency. With a 24.6 hp* electronic fuel injected engine, the Z925M Flex Fuel can run on any blend of ethanol-mixed fuel, up to E85, and it has a top speed of 10 mph. Offered in 54- and 60-inch widths, it comes equipped with a 7-Iron™ deck, for maximum durability.

Enhancing operator comfort, the new model offers the option of an isolation seat or a fully-adjustable, suspension seat. For easy cleanup on the jobsite, an optional, integrated material collection system provides a Dump-From-Seat option for enhanced ease of use. Finally, the Z925M Flex Fuel comes with a class-leading 3-year/1200 hour warranty.

Like the rest of the ZTrak lineup, the new Z925M Flex Fuel is an eligible purchase within the GreenFleetTM Loyalty Rewards program. The industry-exclusive loyalty program from John Deere is designed to help customers manage their equipment more easily and cost-effectively.

Find out more in this interview with Steve: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/john-deere/jd-wilhelmi-e85-mower.mp3″ text=”Interview with Steve Wilhelmi, John Deere”]

Connecting Farmers, Advisors and Precision Data

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Data Collection, Internet

mycentralagFarmers looking to better leverage field data and expertise from their local advisor partners now have access to a new tool. Newly launched MyAgCentral is designed to bridge the gap between farmers and their trusted local advisors, allowing both to more easily exchange data and develop plans using a single online dashboard. The dashboard lets the farmer pull data from different sources so they can see their whole operation using one login and one tool.

The cloud-based system allows both the farmer and advisors to securely access and share field data, reports, recommendations, plans, maps, etc from any location using any web-enabled device. It is also the first independent system developed to specifically enhance the relationships between farmers, agri-retailers and local advisors.

MyAgCentral is a three-tiered system providing an increasing number of tools for ag retailers and their grower clients.
MyAgCentral ADVISE enhances and simplifies the delivery of precision ag services from the ag retailer to the farmer, providing information in a simple online dashboard.
MyAgCentral EXCHANGE connects ag retailers, farmers and precision farming technologies, allowing the farmer and his trusted partner to create a team of advisors, all with access to the information they need to help the grower make better decisions.
MyAgCentral PRODUCE provides enhanced monitoring and control of a farm operation, including irrigation, grain monitoring, telematics and GPS hardware. Growers have access to a virtual farm view with real time monitoring of equipment and fields as well as local markets, weather and news.