Put Your Data to Work for You

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, IA Power Farming Show, Software

ia-power-13-agleader-2Many farmers who have been adopting precision farming technology over the last 20 years may have a gold mine of data that could help increase productivity – if they just knew how to organize and analyze it.

Luke James with Ag Leader Technology is doing an educational session at the Iowa Power Farming Show today about how farmers can get more value from their data. “Data can be really powerful if you can put it to use,” he says. “Anything that has to do with how something impacted yield – then you can take it even further and look at profitability.”

James says the Ag Leader SMS software can help growers organize and analyze the data collected from the combination of planting, fertilizer, spraying and harvest.

Find out more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agleader/ia-power-agleader-luke.mp3″ text=”Interview with Luke James”]

If you’re at the Iowa Power Farming Show you can find out even more by attending the Ag Leader educational session at 11:30 today or by stopping by the Ag Leader booth #831.

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

2013 Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

IA Power Farm Show Conducting Planting Survey

Cindy ZimmermanIA Power Farming Show, Planting

ia-power-13Farmers attending the Iowa Power Farming Show this week in Des Moines once again have the opportunity to participate in the show’s planting intentions survey, which has been pretty close to the USDA numbers since it started in 2008.

Farmers who register on-line can save $3 off admission and participate in the confidential survey at the same time. On-line registration is still available for the show which runs through 3 pm on Thursday and those who participate in the survey will receive the final results by email.

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

2013 Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

Ag Leader Hydraulic Down Force Beats Airbags

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, General, IA Power Farming Show, John Deere, Planting, Video

ia-power-13-agleader-3“Airbags are for crash test dummies” is the slogan on the ad in the Iowa Power Farming Show program for the new Hydraulic Down Force system from Ag Leader Technology.

“With our hydraulic system we can fully adjust pressure from zero to full down force in one second or less,” said Will Cannon, product specialist for Ag Leader. “Airbag systems, because of some of the limitations with airbags themselves, it takes much longer – upwards of 20 or 30 seconds.”

ia-power-13-willWith a 24 row planter at 5 mph that could mean as much as a quarter of an acre goes by before the system adjusts. “That one second is a big deal out in the field,” Cannon said.

Ag Leader’s Hydraulic Down Force System is available for this planting season for all John Deere planters and Kinze 3000 series row units. “We’ve got plans already for testing on White and Case IH planters and expect to have them available for spring of 2014,” added Cannon.

Find out all about Ag Leader’s Hydraulic Down Force in my interview with Will here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agleader/ia-power-agleader-will.mp3″ text=”Interview with Will Cannon”]

Watch the video below to see Chad Huedepohl with Ag Leader Technology demonstrate how Hydraulic Down Force compares with airbags.

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

2013 Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

AG CONNECT Expo Off to Fast Start

Chuck ZimmermanAg Connect Expo, Audio

AG CONNECT Expo Sara Truesdale MooneyAG CONNECT Expo is off to the races in Kansas City, MO. Show Director Sara Truesdale Mooney was busy with ag media early, seen here being interviewed by Julie Harker, Brownfield Ag News.

Sara says there are over 30 co-located events taking place here this week. That’s a lot of extra activity that id drawing people to the convention center. There are almost 400 exhibitors this year with over 30% more exhibit space. There is also a record number of educational sessions taking place here as well.

You can listen to my interview with Sara here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agconnect/agconnect-13-mooney.mp3″ text=”Interview with Sara Truesdale Mooney”]

You can find my photos in the 2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album.

Scientific Integrity Important to Koch Agronomic

Chuck ZimmermanAg Connect Expo, Agribusiness, AGROTAIN, Audio, Fertilizer

Koch Agronomic Services at AG CONNECT ExpoKoch Agronomic Services is on display here at AG CONNECT Expo. I visited with Greg Schwab, Director of Agronomy (pictured with the company team), to learn what he’s talking to farmer attendees about.

Greg says the company has grown tremendously in the last two years with multiple acquisitions to add to their product lineup. One of the key issues he’s talking to attendees about is nitrogen management. He’s also talking about the company commitment to “scientific integrity.” He says that they’ve been working with university researchers around the country to make sure the products they develop bring real value to producers that will help their bottom line.

You can listen to my interview with Greg here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agconnect/agconnect-13-koch-agronomic-schwab.mp3″ text=”Interview with Greg Schwab”]

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

More Power at Iowa Power Farming Show

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, IA Power Farming Show, technology

iapower-13-jungeWith more than a century of history, the Iowa Power Farming Show has become the third largest farm show in the United States, according to show director Tom Junge.

“We have over 300,000 square foot of exhibit space and about 750 exhibitors,” Junge said. “One thing we take pride in is we have all ag displays. We have three different floors of big equipment and three floors more of smaller equipment.”

Last year the show attracted some 22,000 farmers from Iowa and several other surrounding states and Junge says it takes quite a bit of snow to keep them away. “Over half our attendance now is coming from at least two hours out,” he said.

Junge says Ag Leader Technology is a major sponsor of the show. “We wanted to work with a company that is progressive and precision is very crucial to farming,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Tom here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agleader/iapower-13-junge.mp3″ text=”Interview with Tom Junge”]

Sponsored by Ag Leader Technology

2013 Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

AgReliant Genetics, LLC uses Sage SalesLogix CRM

Talia GoesAgribusiness, Software

Picture1Sage North America announced AgReliant Genetics, LLC has used a customized version of Sage SalesLogix on iPad tablets to achieve 95% CRM adoption among its 300 sales employees and accelerate its sales and marketing processes. AgReliant Genetics cites Sage SalesLogix as a key contributor to its growth.

AgReliant Genetics markets five seed brands in Midwestern corn and soybean states. Each representative works with a customer base of farmers, dealers and retail operations, traveling approximately 50,000 miles a year while working out of their trucks to service territories. Prior to implementing Sage SalesLogix, sales representatives across all five brands used individual selling processes.

The company’s initial CRM deployment showed management the importance of collecting detailed prospect and customer information, managing seed orders in CRM from its fulfillment system, scoring prospects for sales prioritization, and automating marketing campaigns. However, user adoption was just 5 percent due to the inconvenience of carrying laptops in the field.

2013 FFA Chapter Challenge Begins

Talia GoesFFA, Monsanto

ffaFFA members in 15 states can now register for the 2013 FFA Chapter Challenge presented by Monsanto.

The 2013 FFA Chapter Challenge, challenges FFA members to make meaningful connections with local agriculturists with a new twist.

FFA chapters will now compete in one of two contests with the FFA Chapter Challenge: option one requires FFA members to interview and document local agriculturists who then vote for a chapter, and option two requires FFA members build a portfolio of agriculturist and community member interviews, develop a social media plan and film a video promoting agricultural awareness. Two FFA chapters, one from each contest area, will win the grand prize to attend October’s 86th National FFA Convention & Expo in Louisville, Ky.

Before FFA chapters are eligible for the program, they must register online.

Other prizes will be awarded to each state’s top ten FFA chapters in either category for the FFA Chapter Challenge. Those prizes, a line of credit for use on FFA expenses such as supplies or national convention registration fees, range from $2,500 to $100. As a sponsor of the program, Monsanto will provide more than $300,000 in incentives.

Winners will be announced in early April.

AG CONNECT Expo Displays Will Be High Tech

Chuck ZimmermanAg Connect Expo, Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere, technology

AG CONNECT Expo 2013John Deere is ready for AG CONNECT Expo. So says Barry Nelson who I spoke with at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention.

john-deere-logoBarry says one of the great features of AG CONNECT Expo is that John Deere is bringing a lot of their executives. He says customers will be able to talk directly to them. He says this is true of all the exhibitors at this industry show. Barry says that if you visit the John Deere exhibit, “You’re going to see higher tech displays than you’ve ever seen?” It can’t be a more convenient location for the company since the John Deere marketing center is in Olathe, KS, right next door!

You can listen to my interview with Barry here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agconnect/agconnect-13-nelson.mp3″ text=”Interview with Barry Nelson”]

FarmLogs Gets Financial Boost

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Software

FarmlogsMore mobile farm applications are coming. This one from FarmLogs. The company will be exhibiting at this week’s Iowa Power Farming Show.

FarmLogs, the Michigan startup and Y Combinator alum that helps farmers digitally manage their farm to increase profitability, today announced that it has closed a $1 million seed funding round co-led by Huron River Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. Hyde Park Angels, Silicon Badia Ventures, and First-Step Fund participated in the investment along with angel investors. The funding allows FarmLogs to expand its team and to further develop its mobile applications in time for the 2013 planting season.
Launching almost exactly a year ago, the farm management software company has quickly helped modernize farming by bringing critical farm data online. FarmLogs replaces paper record keeping with simple, easy-to-use software that is accessible via smartphone or web browser. With FarmLogs, growers can plan, manage and analyze their farm’s operations in order to increase yield and profitability. The tool allows farmers to quickly forecast and measure profits, track expenses, and more efficiently schedule operations.

“We built a product that my family and other farmers were asking for. Our customers around the world tell us that they could never go back to the old way,” said Jesse Vollmar, CEO and co-founder of FarmLogs. “We are on a mission to create world-changing innovation in agriculture. This funding allows us to accelerate our growth to help even more farmers take advantage of modern technology.”

FarmLogs helps row crop farmers (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) save time and gain total visibility into all aspects of the farm in one place. A dashboard gives users a daily snapshot of a farm’s performance, access to maps, calendars, weather conditions, market prices and relevant news. Field activities such as planting, fertilizing, and harvesting can be quickly logged in the web browser, or right from the field using the GPS enabled mobile app. Users can then drill down into their farm’s performance to learn from previous results and use that information to make smarter, more efficient farming decisions.