Farms & Ranches Build Resilience to Drought

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Conservation, USDA

usda-logoAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the award of $5.3 million in Conservation Innovation Grants to develop approaches and technology that will help producers adapt to extreme climate changes that cause drought. These grants will fund projects benefiting several states that were significantly impacted by last year’s drought. The United States Department of Agriculture 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.

The grants will address drought-related issues, such as grazing management, warm season forage systems, irrigation strategies and innovative cropping systems.

Recipients plan to evaluate innovative, field-based conservation technologies and approaches, leading to improvements like enhancing soil’s ability to hold water, evaluating irrigation water use and installing grazing systems that are more tolerant to drought.

Ad Design Contest Winner Announced

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Fertilizer

IMG_1875_2_copyJim Mills of Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers awarded Jennifer Ray, Ag Communication major $500 for her ad design contest.

Jennifer Ray, Ag Communication major at California Polytechnic University participated in an ad design contest along with her classmates. Designs we submitted and carefully looked over for overall design, message and effectiveness of the ad. There were all well done, Jennifer’s ad rose to the top with creative concepts, alignment with AgroLiquid brand standards, and ease of understanding the message quickly. Jennifer’s ad design was published in AG CIRCLE magazine.

The 4Rs are All Right

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Growmark, Nutrient Management, Planting

Everything is right about the 4Rs of nutrient management – the right source, the right rate, the right time, and the right place for applying nutrients in the field.

howard“It actually drives a farmer to look more at a systems approach to nutrient management rather than just making an application and moving to the next step,” said Dr. Howard Brown, Manager of Agronomy Services for GROWMARK, Inc.

Brown says GROWMARK has been focused on nitrogen management as one of the driving factors for higher yields for the last several years. “We looked at nitrogen from the standpoint of feeding the plant nitrogen throughout the period of time that it needs it and putting some on as late as we can so the plant can utilize the nitrogen and keep plant health later in the season to equate to higher yields,” and it worked for three of the last four years – with last year being the exception because of the drought.

With planting season upon us, now is the time to look at a comprehensive nutrient management plan that encompasses the 4Rs and what Brown calls the “MOM” approach – Maximizing yield, Optimizing nitrogen utilization and Minimizing environmental impact. Brown also talks in this interview about “N-Watch” which involves taking inventory of plant-available nitrogen in the soil. “N-Watch provides us a new dimension,” Brown said. “We’ve got to manage the nitrogen in the soil.” Checking the soil for residual nitrogen Brown says will help provide farmers with a better idea of how much nitrogen they need.

Find out more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/howard-4r.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Howard Brown”]

Combating Social Media Overload

Talia GoesNew Holland, ZimmPoll

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Has winter weather affected drought conditions in your area?”

Our poll results: Fifty percent said Yes, thirty-two percent said No, and eighteen percent said it’s Too Early To Tell. Seems the drought of 2012 may not be over. I heard once that weather cycles last 6 years. Sure hope that isn’t the case with this drought.

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How do you combat social media overload?” With the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation turning 4 years old it is obvious that something is working when it comes to farmers and industry using social media to advocate for their industry. But even if you are not actively agvocating you’re probably using some form of social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and there are many more. So our question comes out of this week’s AgChat. For many it is easy to get so engrossed by the online conversation, especially with mobile devices like smart phones and tablets, that they start feeling overwhelmed by it all. Let us know … Are you on social media overload?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

Monsanto Ground Breakers Week

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Monsanto

logoFarmers and seed dealers from major U.S. crop production regions recently gathered in St. Louis and Peoria, Ill. for “Monsanto Ground Breakers Week.” The nearly 250 farmers in attendance are part of Monsanto’s on-farm trial program, Ground Breakers, experiencing two new innovations from Monsanto: Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, and FieldScripts.

At the events, farmers participated in educational sessions in advance of Monsanto’s Ground Breakers Field Trials Under Permit program for the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System for soybeans and Ground Breakers FieldScripts, a corn hybrid recommendation and variable-rate-seeding prescription that can help maximize yield potential.

The Monsanto Ground Breakers program engages farmers in an additional phase of on-farm testing prior to the commercialization of new technologies. The Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System is intended to bring growers more consistency and improved weed control, especially tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds. FieldScripts technology leverages innovations in hybrid performance research, data analysis and precision equipment to deliver and execute a variable rate seeding prescription that can help maximize yield potential across soil variations. FieldScripts represents the first offering from Monsanto’s Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) – a research and development platform dedicated to integrating Monsanto’s expertise in seed science, field science, data analysis, precision equipment and customer service.

USDA Announces New Conservation Collaboration

Talia GoesConservation, Dupont Crop Protection, USDA

USDA-LogoAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new federal-private collaboration with DuPont to safeguard natural resources on private lands used to supply bio-based feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production.

The joint agreement between USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service and DuPont aims to set voluntary standards for the sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues for renewable fuel, and supports rural job creation, additional income for farmers, bio-based energy development, and the safeguarding of natural resources and land productivity.

The announcement involves the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NRCS and DuPont. USDA, through NRCS, will provide conservation planning assistance for farmers who supply bio-based feedstocks to biorefineries as the industry begins to commercialize. Conservation plan, written for individual operations, will ensure sustainable harvest of corn crop residues while promoting natural resource conservation and land productivity. A conservation plan is a voluntary document, written in cooperation with farmers, which helps them protect natural resources while promoting a farm’s economic sustainability.

Happy iPad mini Winner

Chuck ZimmermanGeneral

Nick Leibold iPad mini winnerHere’s our happy iPad mini winner, Nick Leibold. Thanks to his wife, Kendra, for taking the photo. She says Nick will put it to good use on the farm.

Since Nick is standing in front of a John Deere tractor I wonder if he’ll have to get one of their new custom mobile device mounts for the cab! I’m sure we’ll see more and more of those popping up on the farm accessory list!

We thoroughly enjoyed our contest and want to thank everyone who entered once again. Hopefully we’ll get to do it again soon.

Backup Today and Don’t Become an April Fool

Chuck ZimmermanSoftware, technology

World Backup DayHappy Easter which is falling on World Backup Day. Have you taken the pledge to back up your data?

The World Backup Day Pledge

I solemnly swear to backup my important documents and precious memories on March 31st. I will also tell my friends and family about World Backup Day – friends don’t let friends go without a backup.

It is very important that you should not only do this today but very regularly. With all the talk we’re hearing about “big data” keep in mind that is only useful if you have it. Catastrophes happen. Don’t let it happen to your data. Here at ZimmComm New Media, we are backup fanatics and archive the masters of all our photos, audio and video files.

I get asked about this quite a bit and have been meaning to write about it. World Backup Day reminded me to get it done.

Here’s our work flow for backing things up.

1. Local computer backups

Each of our computers has a local backup of all data. For our PC’s I have them automatically backup to our shared server. The server is a computer itself that resides on our office network system. We’re currently using an HP Home Server unit that has a capacity of about 4TB of data. Each computer is backed up weekly or in the case of a laptop, whenever it is connected to the network after being on a long road trip. The server has built in syncing software which allows us to create custom settings for each machine’s backup. You can use other software on your computer to sync straight to an external hard drive. I use a program called SyncBack for this.

For our Macs I use Time Machine, which is part of the Mac OSX operating system. Time Machine backs up to a small local hard drive. I have tried many of them and the most reliable seem to be Seagate external hard drives. I travel with one that holds up to 500GB of data. This small hard drive also serves as a great place to temporarily store photos/audio/video until I archive them which I’ll go into later.

Regardless which type of smart phone or tablet you’re using today, this local backup can play an important role with them, not just your computer itself. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad then make sure you sync with iTunes often to keep your device backed up. I can just about guarantee you’ll be glad you did. The same goes with your Android device or whatever you may be using.

2. Cloud computer backups

Besides this local backup we use BackBlaze to back up computer data regardless of being PC or Mac. It is less expensive than other options and very simple to use. Some of those other options include Apple’s iCloud, which I use for syncing all my Mac/iPhone/iPad data, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, which we use for sharing all kinds of files easily, and of course services like Carbonite. There are lots of choices for cloud backups today. Their benefits include the fact that your data can be available from anywhere, anytime, if you need it. Read More

Precision.AgWired.com Podcast: The future of “pharming”

Meghan GrebnerEducation, Farmers, Precision Pays Podcast

pp-podcastCystic Fibrosis is a disease that critically affects the lungs, the pancreas, the liver, and the intestines. 

Iowa farmer Bill Horan and his brother Joe have been growing crops that have been genetically altered to produce the proteins used by pharmaceutical companies to treat diseases.  One of those is canine lipase that is used in one of the pharmaceuticals used to treat Cystic Fibrosis.

In this Precision.AgWired.com Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we’ll talk to Iowa farmer Bill Horan and take a closer look at the future of “pharming”. 

[wpaudio url=http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/03/PPP-0313.mp3 text=”Precision.AgWired.com Podcast”]

You can subscribe to the Precision.AgWired.com Podcast here.

The Precision.AgWired.com Podcast is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology.

Most Valuable Dealership, Brokaw Supply Company

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyBrokaw Supply Company, a single-store business in Fort Dodge, Iowa, sells and supports six different brands of precision equipment including Ag Leader Technology as one of their premier lines, and services a customer base that stretches into Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The dealership has been named Precision Farming Dealer’s 2013 Most Valuable Dealership. They boast 36 employees (4 precision ag specialists); 90 percent of their 2012 precision ag revenue was from hardware and their 2012 precision technician service billed 900 hours.

Brokaw’s General Manager Craig Harthoorn says the dealership had to break into the precision ag world.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/03/Craig1.mp3″ text=”Listen to Harthoorn explain”]

He also says they are a “niche marketer”.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/03/Craig2.mp3″ text=”Listen to Harthoorn explain”]

One way Brokaw is making the most of its independence and showing customers that its willing to find the best technology solution for their respective farm is through the development of its precision kits.

The company started putting together the kits — priced-out lists of precision parts for farm equipment — in 2009 to give customers a better understanding of what they were buying, and to provide salespeople with a handy tool.

Read More