Soil Test Results May Not Reveal Accurate Field Nutrient Availability

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Soil Sampling

Growers conducting soil tests this fall may be surprised at unexpectedly low potassium (K) levels. It’s likely, however, that fields tested in drought-stricken areas have plenty of nutrients waiting to move back into the soil, according to DuPont Pioneer agronomy experts.

With little rain on most fields in 2012, K, absorbed by corn plants during the growing season, has not yet been released back into the soil from deteriorating corn stalks. In a drought year, K also can become fixed between clay layers until water moves through the soil again. Expect that K test levels will increase to more normal values if you can wait to sample following a significant fall rain event.

Even though K levels from this year’s soil test will likely be lower than actual amounts, farmers can rely on crop removal rates and previous years’ soil test results as a guide to estimate next year’s K needs. To determine crop removal this year, multiply the field’s harvested bushels by an estimated 0.3 pounds of K removed per bushel of corn or 1.5 pounds of K removed per bushel of soybean. The calculated amount is a good estimate of how much K was consumed by the crop during the growing season and thus the minimum amount that should be replaced for the next crop if historical soil test levels were in the optimum range.

Lack of water also may cause a drop in soil pH from previous years. Without precipitation, lime applied to help balance pH in spring 2012 cannot infiltrate the soil and take full effect. Additionally, dry soil conditions are often associated with increased salt concentration at the soil surface, which can also result in lower than expected pH test values.

Consult your local DuPont Pioneer agronomist or Pioneer sales representative to get the latest information on what is best for you and your fields in 2013. Find more information about soil testing and other topics at www.pioneer.com.

Technology in Focus at Global Farmer Roundtable

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Farmers, International

The seventh annual Global Farmer Roundtable, sponsored by the Truth about Trade and Technology (TATT), was held at the 2012 World Food Prize in Iowa recently. The event included 17 producers from Canada, Honduras, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, United Kingdom, Uruguay, US, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

“We took the farmers to Iowa State to the seed lab first then went out to Couser cattle farm at Nevada,” said TATT Chairman Emeritus Dean Kleckner. “But the best part was the roundtable discussion as they talked about what they saw in agriculture coming down the road and what they wanted to happen.”

Kleckner says most of the producers want to use biotechnology, even those coming from countries where the use of biotech crops is prohibited. “Biotech is here to stay, it’s the new conventional agriculture,” he said, noting that those producers who are unable to use biotech crops believe they are at a disadvantage. “And I agree with them that they are disadvantaged against the U.S. and Argentina and Canada and South Africa and other countries that do use biotechnology.”

Kleckner says some precision technology is being adopted in certain areas of the world, but for many small shareholder farmers their land area is just too small to make even a tractor necessary. “Many women farmers in Africa, for instance, are only farming 2,3,4,5 acres,” he said. But, the use of any new technology, whether it be biotech, equipment or information, has the ability to help farmers increase yields to feed themselves and others.

Listen to my interview with Kleckner from World Food Prize: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/elanco/wfp12-elanco-kleckner.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dean Kleckner”]

Field Connect Helps Producers Monitor Soil Moisture

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Data Collection, John Deere, Soil Sampling

With water management becoming an increasingly important factor in crop production, John Deere introduces John Deere Field Connect to provide site specific water management data to facilitate the decision making process surrounding irrigation practices. With site specific information, producers are able to more efficiently utilize irrigation inputs resulting in fuel savings and additional yield potential. The Field Connect system continuously logs soil moisture data from probes installed in customer fields and transmits the data to a website that customers can access remotely.

John Deere Field Connect is a fully integrated system that includes three different probe options, solar panel, as well as both a satellite and cellular data connection. Field specific soil moisture data is transmitted to a secure website for viewing, and customers can program the system to receive alerts based on set parameters.

Field Connect graphs soil moisture readings at the individual sensor level (soil depth) and over the entire monitored soil profile, and shows water movement within the profile over time. The system can be customized to each field depending on the type of crops grown, soil type and water management objectives of each customer. Producers will be able to integrate the data from John Deere Field Connect with yield, soil type, fertility and other agronomic information to more effectively optimize the productivity of each field.

Winterize Farm Equipment With Slip Plate

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Audio, Company Announcement

With the fall harvest ending in the near future it’s time to look at winterizing all that equipment. That means you need a good lubricant and that means you might want to check out Slip Plate. You can find out all they ways you can use this product from Superior Graphite on their website. Go ahead. Visit now. Here are a few places where you can use Slip Plate:

SLIP Plate dry film graphite coatings (SLIP Plate No. 1, SLIP Plate No. 3, SLIP Plate No. 4, and SLIP Plate Aerosol) significantly reduce sliding friction on corn picker heads, combine cutter bars, hay elevators, planter plates, hay bailers, gravity wagons, and many more applications around the farm.

Slip Plate is a dry lubricant that is very environmentally friendly unlike petroleum based products. More reasons to use Slip Plate!

I visited with Barry Lee, Superior Graphite, once again to talk about Slip Plate products for the agricultural market. This is part of a periodic series of interviews I’m doing to help the ag industry come to know this company and their products. In our interview Barry not only talks about products for specific farm applications but also one I think you hunters our there should know about and that is Black Ice.

A unique formulation combining a unique solvent cleaner with a friction reducing mineral that first cleans the surface, and then deposits a layer of pure, lubricous graphite powder.

This makes it perfect for gun cleaning!

Our discussion also focused on “What’s inside a can of graphite?” You might think all cans of graphite are the same but they are not. Barry did some research on this subject that finds two things that govern the performance of the graphite product you are using: amount of graphite and the type of graphite. You can find details of his research findings on the Slip Plate website.

Listen to my interview with Barry here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/superior-graphite/slip-plate-10-9-12-larger.mp3″ text=”Interview with Barry Lee”]

Ag Leader is Spanning the Globe

Chuck ZimmermanAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights WeeklyAg Leader has been selling into the international market for 18 years and currently has distribution in over 30 countries. Offices are growing and now span the globe with people on the ground in the Netherlands, Europe, Australia and Brazil, and the company hopes to continue to grow those operations to better serve international customers.

David King, Ag Leader marketing international business manager, says, “We see a lot of growth opportunities in different parts of the world and we are serious about our international presence.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with David here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/agleader/ag-leader-7-12-king.mp3″ text=”Interview with David King”]

The international market for precision agriculture is complex with different farming practices and equipment for each country and region of the world. It can be a challenge to adapt U.S. products to meet the needs of the farmers in different parts of the world. And as many countries face the challenge of producing enough food for its growing population (including the United States), precision farming and its benefits will continue to play an important role in farming operations.

Here is a picture of the European staff in front of the office in The Netherlands. (L to R) Gerrit Emmens, Sybren Rispens, Paul Rose and Hans Stiekema

For more international perspectives, follow the team on the Ag Leader blog.

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.

Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator Available

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Corn, Fertilizer, Soybeans

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach highlighted the Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator that is available to help farmers find the maximum return to nitrogen fertilizer applications and the most profitable application rate for their farm.

The Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator can be found here.

This online tool is rapidly updated to allow for changing hybrid genetics, rotations and climatic conditions. The Iowa database in the calculator was updated in 2012 with 2011 response data and now contains 214 trials for corn following soybean and 111 trials for corn following corn.

The calculator can be used for both corn and soybean rotations and corn-on-corn operations. It allows farmers to compare up to five price ratios – pricing options for nitrogen and corn. Farmers can reach out to their local fertilizer suppliers to find current fertilizer prices

The calculator then lets farmers determine the optimal rate of application based on up to four different corn prices.

Importance of Technology in Feeding the World

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Equipment, Events, Monsanto, seed

Biotechnology and precision agriculture technology are twin advancements in farming that are working together to help increase productivity to feed the world.

Monsanto‘s executive vice president and chief technology officer Dr. Robert Fraley addressed the topic of game changing innovations that are shaping the future of green technology during the 2012 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue last week in Des Moines.

“What’s exciting is the explosive amount of new technology that’s possible,” said Fraley, noting that while biotechnology is important – and in fact is the most rapidly adopted technology in the history of agriculture, there is so much more. “The advances in science and technology, across plant breeding, across equipment, across information technology – and biotechnology – are going to be part of that systems approach that will allow us to meet and exceed that need” for increasing food production to meet a growing population.

“It’s clearly possible for us to achieve doublings or triplings in crop yields as we are fully able to deploy and use technologies to meet that need,” Fraley noted.

Fraley had a really interesting observation about technology advances in farming equipment. “There’s more computational power in today’s tractor than there were in the first spaceships,” he said. “And that’s giving farmers literally the capability to farm meter by meter and use that information technology to be more precise in the positioning of seeds and chemicals.”

And did you know that every Indian farmer now has a cell phone? “The ability now to prescribe agronomic recommendations, to warn in the advance of insect flights, has become a global part of the incorporation of those tools,” said Fraley.

Listen to Fraley’s comments at the World Food Prize here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/elanco/wfp12-monsanto.mp3″ text=”Monsanto’s Robb Fraley”]

View the World Food Prize Photo Album here.

Read more about the 2012 World Food Prize on AgWired.

Workshops on Low‐Cost, High Efficiency Irrigation Techniques

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Events, Irrigation

Hands‐on training in proven strategies for maximizing ag water efficiency while minimizing cost will be held Nov. 7‐9, 2012, at the Rio Grande Center for Ag Water Efficiency near Harlingen, TX.

The two workshops – designed specifically for irrigation district personnel and producers – are offered by the Texas Project for Ag Water Efficiency (Texas AWE), a project managed by the Harlingen Irrigation District with funding from the Texas Water Development Board.

• District Technology Enhancements (Nov. 7‐8) is geared toward irrigation district personnel, managers and directors, and government agency employees. Topics include introduction to SCADA and other hardware in telemetry systems; automated gates powered by wind and solar; soil moisture monitoring; and calibration & metering water in open channel and closed pipe.
• On‐Farm Irrigation Advances (Nov. 9) is designed for ag producers and will cover low‐ or no‐cost irrigation techniques and technologies to improve yields and boost net farm income. Topics include irrigation scheduling, basics of soil moisture management, using evapotranspiration networks, narrow border flood irrigation, and more.

A nominal registration fee covers the costs of lunch and materials. Click here to register or call Heather Jones at 956.423.7015.

Winfield Solutions’ R7 Agronomy Tool Voted Top in Technology

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, agronomy, Variable rate

In May, ARA invited members to nominate technologies and/or presenters to be featured during the Technology Breakout Session during the ARA Annual Conference & Expo. The 11 nominees were then presented to ARA membership for voting. Voting concluded on Thursday, October 18 with WinField Solutions’ R7 Tool winning with 173 votes.

The R7 Tool is a comprehensive precision farming solution that enables variable-rate prescriptions for seed, crop protection and crop nutrient applications. Click here to learn more.

The winner will be allowed 30 minutes to present their product and receives a complimentary trip to the conference. Additionally, AgGateway will travel to the winner’s home office to present a check for $1,000 to the charity of the winner’s choice.

DPAC Awarded Training Program Grants

Melissa SandfortAgribusiness, Company Announcement, Resources

The Dakota Precision Ag Center (DPAC) has been awarded two grants totaling $3.28 million for the development of training programs in precision agriculture. DPAC will develop the programs to help fill in-demand jobs requiring high skill level in precision ag technologies and enhance current workplace training at North Dakota agribusinesses and implement dealers.

Precision ag includes remote sensing or GPS; soil and grid sampling; and information management tools.

Currently nationwide there are 8,000 unfilled positions requiring knowledge in precision ag but not enough people with the right skill sets to fill those openings.

One of the grants comes from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant’s $2.99 million will fund training to recent veterans or workers who are currently unemployed due to foreign trade. DPAC plans to provide training through this program from Minnesota to Wyoming.

The North Dakota Department of Commerce’s grant for $288,600 will provide additional education for workers already employed in agriculture.