ZimmComm Announces Summer Intern

Cindy ZimmermanCompany Announcement

maggie-seilerWe are so pleased with the response to our new agri-blogging internship program. It was tough to choose just one for the summer semester, but we finally decided on Maggie Seiler – a sophomore at Kansas State University dual majoring in agricultural communications and journalism and animal sciences and industry.

Maggie grew up on a dairy operation outside of Wichita and has worked for the Kansas Dairy Association and the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops, as well as serving as an Agricultural Ambassador and an officer for the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. She is very interested in the agriculture use of social media.

“Blogging and the use of social media platforms is becoming an increasingly important part of journalism and the agricultural industry,” Maggie said in her application. “I really appreciate the ability of online platforms and blogs to provide the vital information from agriculture industry meeting to members of the community that cannot physically travel to events. ZimmComm is a company that stays on the cutting-edge of industry developments sharing them with producers. I would really like to be a part of this movement and especially focus on increasing my knowledge of using online platforms to reach out to agriculturists.”

We are not wasting any time getting Maggie on the agri-blogging highway. She will be joining Chuck next week for the 2013 Alltech Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky and you can expect to meet her at other events this summer.

Welcome, Maggie!

Kinze Manufacturing Goes Abroad

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Equipment

Kinze-ManufacturingKinze Manufacturing, Inc. is opening its first production plant abroad in Lithuania. The facility will manufacture Kinze row crop planters, contributing to its growing market in neighboring countries including Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary. Kinze will hire welders, mechanics, CNC operators and other specialists to work in the new plant. Assembly in this new facility is scheduled to begin this fall.

Kinze also will support local educational institutions in Lithuania by working with universities as well as other professional schools and centers for engineering and production training. It will offer students internships in the manufacturing facility as well as hands-on learning opportunities in advanced manufacturing technology and production processes

Projects Promote Sustainability for Corn Growers

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Corn, General, Research, USDA

SustainablecornFarmers are accustomed to adjusting to the twists and turns of growing seasons on a short-term basis, but long-term planning is more difficult, according to climate field specialist Laura Edwards from South Dakota State University’s Extension office in Aberdeen.

The Climate and Corn-based Cropping Systems Coordinated Agricultural Project explores ways that corn growers can adjust their cropping practices to make their operations more sustainable. It is also aimed at limiting or reducing the vulnerability of farmers to short term climate events, such as the 2012 drought. The $20 million grant, headed by Iowa State University, brings together 140 experts from 10 land-grant institutions and a USDA research unit in the Corn Belt.

A smaller more applied project, Useful2Usable, seeks to give farmers the soil, crop and climate data they need to make shorter-term and long-range decisions. The $5 million project is headed by Purdue University.

Precision Laboratories Mix Tank App

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Apps, Precision Labs

PrecisionLabPrecision Laboratories has released an update to their award-winning Mix Tank application, available immediately for download on iPhone and Android smartphones. Mix Tank 2.1 improves the already easy-to-use application and introduces new features to help applicators prevent tank mixing problems. More details on the latest mobile application update are available online at www.precisionlab.com/mixtank.

As part of the latest update, Mix Tank 2.1 introduces “My Favorites” – a tool that allows users to select their most used crop protection products from more than 1,200 available. In addition, “Mixing Precautions” which alert users of a potential compatibility issue, is now more identifiable and appears only when a precaution exists.

USDA’s 110 Value-Added Grants Include Biomass

John DavisGeneral, Government, USDA

usda-logoThe USDA has named the recipients of 110 Value-Added grants for agricultural producers and rural businesses. This agency news release says the grants include biomass-based products and is hoped to spur the rural economy:

“This support will benefit rural businesses and the communities where the recipients are located,” Vilsack said. “These awards also will advance USDA’s goals to develop a bio-based economy and support local and regional food systems.”

In today’s announcement, 110 awardees are being selected for USDA Rural Development Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG). The grants help agricultural producers increase their income by expanding marketing opportunities, creating new products or developing new uses for existing products.

The awards announced today include 11 projects involving bio-based products. They include grants to convert: corn stover to anhydrous ammonia; miscanthus fiber, wood and goat manure into biochar and enhanced compost; and sorghum to electricity and fertilizer.

Value-Added Producer Grants are part of USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, supporting local and regional food systems.

The complete list of Value-Added Producer Grant award recipients is available here.

Snow Woes Slow Planting

Cindy ZimmermanPlanting, USDA

corn-snow2Nothing like a little snow in May to really slow down a planter!

This photo from Minnesota was posted last week on the Case IH Facebook page. Despite the snow, Minnesota farmers did manage to get two percent of their corn crop in the ground last week, but they should have over half of it planted by now.

Nearly 50% of the crop nationwide should be planted by now in an average year, but only 12% was planted as of Sunday according to USDA. Last year at this time, nearly 70% of the crop was planted.

planting

There was more progress last week than in recent weeks, even in states that saw more white stuff on the ground. Minnesota, Michigan, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin all finally got a few points on the board after making no progress in the previous weeks. Illinois, Indiana and Iowa move up a few notches from 1-2% to 7-8%. But, again, all should be at or nearing the halfway point by now.

Emergence is far behind normal as well with 11 of the 18 top corn producing states showing no corn above ground yet. Just three percent of the crop has emerged compared to 29% last year and 15% average.

Not to worry yet, however. “It is still early in the planting season and slow progress at this point should not cause alarm,” said National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson, a grower in Iowa. “Modern farming technology has dramatically reduced the time needed for farmers to plant a large number of acres, and this means we can begin planting much later if need be.”

And a little cooperation from Mother Nature would help.

Farm Safety App Could Save Lives

Cindy ZimmermanApps, Equipment, technology

Save lives in a rollover? There’s an app for that.

Researchers at the University of Missouri have developed an application for smartphones that uses GPS systems to locate farmers who have rolled their tractors.

rollover-app1The app, called VRPETERS (Vehicle Rollover Prevention Education Training Emergency Reporting System), uses sensors and GPS capability built into smartphones that can detect rollovers. Once the app detects a rollover, it sends an automatic emergency e-mail and phone message with the coordinates of the accident location to family or emergency responders.

“The tractor is the main power source for field operations, and tractor rollover accidents have been killing people since the beginning of their use in agricultural production,” said Bulent Koc, assistant professor of agricultural systems management at MU and developer of the app. “More and more farmers are using their smartphones to monitor weather or calculate production inputs while operating machinery. Since they already have their phones with them, installing VRPETERS could help save lives.”

Data from the NIOSH show that one out of every 10 tractor operators will roll a tractor at least once. NIOSH also notes that only half of the 4.7 million tractors on U.S. farms have rollover protection. In order to minimize false alarm rollovers on the app, Koc and his research assistant Bo Liu designed a device that must be attached to the tractor. This device helps calculate the stability characteristics of the tractor and will provide a warning to the driver when the tractor approaches its rollover point.

Read more here.

Ag Leader Summer Dealer & Customer Training

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly

Ag Leader offers a variety of SMS™ training sessions to help answer grower and dealer questions about the software.

Today, we caught up with Jessica Ahrens, Ag Leader training specialist, and asked her:
• What’s new this year?
• How do these training sessions set Ag Leader apart from other precision ag companies?
• Why is attending a training important each year?
• And most importantly, when do they start and how do growers and dealers get signed up?

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/05/JessicaAhrensFullAudio.mp3″ text=”Listen to our full interview with Ahrens here”]

Remember to visit sms.agleader.com for more information.

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.

Grants for Broadband Service in Rural Communities

Talia GoesAgribusiness, USDA

usda-logoAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new rules to better target Community Connect broadband grants to areas where they are needed the most. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. This announcement is one part of the Department’s efforts to strengthen the rural economy.

USDA Rural Development’s Community Connect Grant program serves rural communities where broadband service is least likely to be available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for citizens.

USDA’s Rural Utilities Service plans to publish information on Community Connect funding opportunities, including application deadlines and the amount of assistance available, in the Federal Register soon.

Web-based Water Quality Index Tool

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Conservation, General, Resources, Soil Sampling, USDA

WQIMasthead767x118-04Scientists at the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service recently developed a simple, web-based tool that helps producers easily understand the quality of water flowing off their fields – the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff (WQIag).

“Water quality is complex,” said NRCS National Water Quality and Quantity team leader Shaun McKinney. “Experts usually focus on one aspect of water quality – such as temperature, nutrients or pesticide content – instead of thinking about a more complete picture.”

On the WQIag website, producers input information about their field, such as slope, soil characteristics, nutrient and pest management, tillage practices, and finally, conservation practices. The WQIag calculates these variables into a single rating on a 10-point scale: 0 being very poor; 10 being excellent.

Though some variables – such as slope and soil type – won’t change, producers can adjust other factors for a quick estimate of how conservation impacts water quality. A few clicks calculate the value of less tillage, less fertilizer and other conservation practices, which makes it versatile to use.