Chemigation Looks Back On 30 Years

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Fertilizer, Insect Control, Irrigation

agij_anniv_logoGary Newton remembers the very moment the concept of chemigation came to him.

“In 1969, I was swathing some hay next to one of my sprinklers I had just installed. I looked back and saw the sprinkler covering the entire field with just one pass,” he said. “I thought that had to be better than making multiple passes across the field to apply fertilizer or crop protection products.”

That epiphany eventually led to the official establishment of Agri-Inject, Inc. in 1983. Thirty years later, Agri-Inject continues to define and refine the concept of fluid injection technology—helping growers around the world improve efficiency and effectiveness of crop inputs by applying them through irrigation systems.

Today, Agri-Inject is on the cutting edge of fluid injection technology and accuracy, bringing precision agriculture to pivot irrigation.

The Agri-Inject line-up includes a wide variety of systems for application of insecticides, fertilizer, herbicides and fungicides. There are large capacity systems that can apply soil amendments across an entire field. The new BoundaryRider targets the perimeter of a field to prevent pest infestations. New variable rate Agri-Inject systems are being introduced that are aligned with precision technology rapidly being adopted and enhanced in irrigation and crop management.

New Planter Control Options at Raven

Jamie JohansenAudio, Planting, Raven

ris-13-077-editedAccuracy, scalability and connectivity are all things Raven Industries prides themselves on when it comes to row crops. During the 2013 Raven Innovation Summit the team at Raven was proud to introduce the latest in precision technology with their multi-hybrid planter.

The planter control package includes more then just multi-hybrid technologies. It also brings together OmniRow that is fully integrated with liquid, granular and liquid injection product control, SmartYield, steering solutions for multiple machine types and Sidekick Pro for direct chemical injection.

Doug Prairie is product manager for planter, seeder, and harvest controls. In an interview he gave more insight into what this new precision technology can provide to growers of all types.

“The multi-hybrid project is a project we did in conjunction with South Dakota State University. They wanted to do some research on the ability to switch hybrids of corn and soybeans in real-time while they are planting in the field. So we worked with them and developed patent-pending technology that will do that using a inner plant or twin row type tool bar configuration. With that you can have hybrid A in one set of rows and hybrid B in the second set with a prescription map or manually switching in the field. You can plant a hybrid in low lying areas and another in the higher elevations. Or you can change by soil types.”

Listen to my complete interview with Doug here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/raven/ris-13-prairie.mp3″ text=”Interview with Doug Prairie”]

Check out photos from the event here: Raven Innovation Summit Photo Album

Full Senate Passes Farm Bill

Cindy ZimmermanConservation, Farm Bill, Government

senateBy a vote of 66 to 27, the full Senate passed its version of a 2013 Farm Bill Monday evening that includes a strong conservation commitment.

“The Senate has again passed a deficit-reducing, bipartisan bill that will help our farms, our families, our economy, our environment,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) upon passage of the bill. “This bill saves more than $24 billion, it maintains important investments in conservation and nutrition, renewable energy and rural development.”

The Senate Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 links crop insurance to conservation compliance and saves money by consolidating 23 conservation programs down to 13.

“I am pleased that the Senate was able to come together in a bipartisan manner to pass the 2013 Farm Bill, which is a vital piece of legislation for family farmers and ranchers across the country,” said National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson. “I am happy to see language included that will provide a safety net for family farmers and ranchers, as well as a robust crop insurance program, mandatory energy funding, streamlined conservation programs, additional protections for livestock producers and incentives for locally owned and organic production.”

American Soybean Association (ASA) president, Danny Murphy of Mississippi says the bill will provide certainty for all farmers. “The bill passed this evening represents many of ASA’s priorities and is a critical step toward strengthening the farm safety net, protecting planting flexibility, improving conservation, bolstering exports and feeding our nation’s hungry,” he said in a statement.

The full House is expected to take up its version of a farm bill next week.

NRCS Funding for Additional Acres

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Conservation, USDA

usda-logoUSDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications from landowners interested in the Wetlands Reserve Program, Grassland Reserve Program and the Conservation Stewardship Progarm.

A new round of funding authorizes $255 million to enroll up to 100,000 additional acres into WRP, $47 million to enroll up to 200,000 additional acres into GRP, $175 million in funding for up to 12.6 million additional acres into CSP.

Anyone interested in these voluntary programs should contact their state or local NRCS office. Sign-up dates and deadlines vary by state, and applications are accepted throughout the year.

USDA to Help Communities Rebuild

Talia GoesAgribusiness, USDA

usda-logoAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will send an additional $66.8 million in Emergency Watershed Protection Program funds to help disaster recovery efforts in 15 states.

NRCS’s Emergency Watershed Program has successfully helped many communities recover from previous natural disasters across the country by providing on-site technical and financial assistance. This money will help implement all requested recovery projects that were in presidentially declared disaster areas. Examples of conditions qualifying for assistance include: debris-clogged stream channels, undermined and unstable stream banks, jeopardized water control structures and public infrastructures, and wind-borne debris removal.

The largest portion of the funds will go to Colorado, which will receive more than $19 million for recovery from one of the worst fire seasons in the state’s history. In 2012, more than 200,000 acres burned, taking more than 600 homes and other structures with them.

In addition to this recovery funding, NRCS is responding to the recent Oklahoma tornados and has already allocated about $500,000 in emergency funding to begin work on sites that pose significant hazards.

NRCS already allocated $5.6 million in recovery money to Hurricane Sandy states and will have up to $165.4 million more this summer for floodplain easements. EWP can provide funding for purchasing floodplain easements in areas consistently prone to flooding. Permanently protecting floodplains can restore natural flood buffers, conserve fish and wildlife habitat and improve water quality, while safeguarding lives and property from floods, drought and erosion.

IRON Solutions Redesigns Popular IRONSearch.com

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Equipment, Internet

300x250_HOUSE-AD-01IRON Solutions launched its enhanced and redesigned IRONSearch.com site, with streamlined features that allow buyers and sellers of agricultural and industrial equipment to connect and close deals faster than ever before.

The design of the new IRONSearch.com increases the visibility of equipment for sale, enabling buyers to perform highly targeted searches and assuring that dealers get more views for their equipment offerings. Because it gives buyers more options for contacting sellers, it means more leads for dealers – leads that are closer to a purchasing decision.

The redesigned site is even more tightly integrated with the respected IRON Official Guides and real-time appraisal tools, so it ensures competitive and fair prices for both dealers and equipment buyers. The new site also offers easier page-to-page navigation, with streamlined buy and sell pages. It now requires fewer steps to shop for equipment or post equipment for sale.

Pioneer Field360 Select Software

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Dupont Pioneer, Software

field360DuPont Pioneer is bringing the next generation of powerful Web-based field management tools to growers with the introduction of Pioneer Field360 Select software. This new subscription service combines field-by-field data with real-time agronomic and weather information to help growers make informed management decisions.

With a subscription to Pioneer Field360 Select software, growers can transform farm data into timely and actionable information. Multiple digital tools for monitoring and predicting field progress and growth stage, plus interactive field maps come together in the Pioneer Field360 Select software offering.

Pioneer Field360 Select software can provide growers substantial information about a field without the grower ever setting foot on the ground. This program is backed by soil, weather and precipitation data spanning many decades. It is also supported by Pioneer Agronomy Sciences data trials to determine growth stages of Pioneer brand corn hybrids.

What’s New in Data Management at Raven?

Jamie JohansenAudio, Dealers, Raven, Wireless

ris-13-039_editedData management was one of the buzz words during the recent Raven Innovation Summit. Raven Industries hosted dealers and growers from around the world as they made public their latest and greatest precision ag technologies. When is comes to data management Slingshot has revolutionized the cab.

When you bring together Slingshot and Raven hardware you can view and support the Raven display live, utilize high accuracy RTK, manage equipment and data from ravenslingshot.com and integrate Slingshot with Raven’s partner’s solutions or even develop your own.

During the trade show I took the opportunity to talk with Paul Welbig, general manager for Slingshot Operations for Raven Industries, about what the new developments in data management mean to growers everywhere.

“We are excited to announce several different things as it relates to Slingshot and like you said we really pioneered the high-speed internet connectivity to the cab. It really starts with a real robust wireless platform and information backbone that will bottle this data and then share it with other providers out there. We have been real busy enhancing that, making it much more robust and easily distributed for everyone who needs to use it. We rolled out a couple of new things. One is Slingshot 2.0 portal. It’s a brand new system users can log in to and manage their data. We have provided a brand new field hub that is a modem in the cab that will provide high-speed internet and now it also has wifi.”

Listen to my complete interview with Paul here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/raven/ris-13-paul-welbig.mp3″ text=”Interview with Paul Welbig”]

Check out photos from the event here: Raven Innovation Summit Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com Profile – Jerome Tschetter

Jamie JohansenAudio, GPS, Profiles, Raven

ris-13-103_edited-1Jerome Tshetter was one of the panelists during the Raven Innovation Summit Producer Panel. The event held earlier this week brought dealers, growers and agriculture media from across the globe together to hear all about the new products Raven Industries has on the market.

Jerome Tschetter is a corn and soybean grower from Bridgewater, South Dakota and not only shared his insight into precision agriculture to me in an interview, but also contributed his years of farming expertise to the insightful producer panel.

A yield mapping system with GPS was the first form of precision agriculture he adopted on his operation. It is also one of the things he says has had the biggest impact in terms of profitability on his farm.

“The ability to yield map which tracks, not only the varieties but also your population levels shows you what is going on with soil types and other management practices that come into play. That has probably been the most beneficial from a data prospective. We have adopted the auto steering guidance system in the last four years. That aspect has just been remarkable in what it’s done for our efficiency and fatigue issues along with the ability to present a really nice looking operation.”

Jerome went on to explain that sometimes it’s the little things related to technology that can be a struggle. The beeping or flashing lights that are there to remind you of something can get a little annoying, but the benefits of higher yields, less seed loss and efficiency certainly out way the cons. He also shared what he sees as being the future of precision agriculture.

Listen to my interview with Jerome here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/raven/ris-13-tschetter-precision-profile.mp3″ text=”Interview with Jerome Tschetter”]

Check out photos from the event here: Raven Innovation Summit Photo Album

Introducing The New Field Computing System – Viper 4

Jamie JohansenAudio, computers, Dealers, Raven, technology

ris-13-063_edited-1The Viper 4 was the talk of the 2013 Raven Innovation Summit in Sioux Falls, SD earlier this week. This was just one of the many products Raven Industries unveiled during the event.

As a fourth generation Viper, the Viper 4 comes from a legendary family loaded with connections, resources and support. The precision ag system integrates into a simple, connected platform.

The Viper 4 is a rugged modular field computer platform with a flexible design, wireless communication capabilities, will interface to many systems for multiple farming operations and has complete consistant consumable data. It runs on a Raven Operating System and is lighter. The display is 12.1 inches with a resistive touchscreen and airtight design. It comes with fully scalable GPS, camera inputs and equipped for future applications. viper 4

Right after the announcement of Viper 4 attendees had the opportunity to walk through the trade show and see first hand how these new precision ag technologies could benefit them. I spoke with Shane Swedlund, Senior Product Manager in Field Computers for Raven, during the trade show and his enthusiasm for the new product was easy to see.

Listen to my interview with Shane here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/raven/ris-13-swedlund.mp3″ text=”Interview with Shane Swedlund”]

Check out photos from the event here: Raven Innovation Summit Photo Album