Scouting With Aerial Precision Imagery

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Jeff Buyck and Mark Grout, Jr.

While many farmers have embraced the technology available to scout fields with unmanned aerial vehicles, Jeff Buyck with C&B Operations has taken things a bit further. The John Deere dealer from South Dakota uses manned aircraft to scout fields and help area farmers identify problem spots more quickly.

“It’s really being able to detect an issue before you can see it,” said Buyck. “By the time you see it, it’s too late. Farming is very visual. You drive down the road, my crop looks good, it doesn’t look good. I see an issue here. When we fly over with near infrared optics, it’s what the naked eye can’t see.”

Buyck said a manned aircraft can also get from field to field much more quickly than scouts traveling over the road. The dealership partners with Aerial Precision Imagery out of St. Paul, Minnesota, which provides the high resolution photography. After the data is processed, it can be uploaded to the John Deere Operations Center.

You can here Chuck’s interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Buyck, C&B Operations

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

Water For Food Charts the Way Forward

AgWired Precision, International, Irrigation, water, Water for Food

The Water for Food International Forum last week ended on a high note as more than 40 high-level participants from around the globe shared their vision for and commitment to how the private and public sectors can work toward expanding access to irrigation.

Kicking off the very large round table discussion was World Food Programme Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Distinguished Fellow Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Cousin gave a passionate address about the critical importance of irrigation. “When asked what keeps me up at night, I talk about irrigation,” she said. “Because to achieve the outcome of ending hunger, irrigation is manifest.”

Cousin says she is pleased to see the partnership between the Daugherty Global Institute at the University of Nebraska and The World Bank. “What (they) have done is catalyze the conversation,” said Cousin. “This conference began the dialogue amongst leaders about what’s already happening and what we need to do differently.

“We will end hunger and we will make agriculture productive across the global community,” Cousin says confidently.

Listen to Cousin’s inspiring address and my interview with her by clicking on the links below:

WFF18 Ertharin Cousin, Ambassador World Food Programme

Interview with Ertharin Cousin, Ambassador World Food Programme

Water for Food Virtual Newsroom
2018 Water for Food Forum Photos

Dealers Seek Solutions for Growers at Develop with Deere

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

The 2018 Develop with Deere conference saw growth in the number of local equipment dealers attending, as they continue to seek solutions that will help their customers.

“They’re certainly looking to fill gaps in the Operations Center that are specific needs to their customers in their areas. That varies greatly,” said Brad Silva, Platform Marketing with John Deere. “It doesn’t matter what the solution is – a lot of interest across the board from the dealer group.”

Silva said 2018 John Deere combines and sprayers will now be equipped with the Generation 4 CommandCenter, which is already available on large tractors. The benefits include real time streaming into the Operations Center every 30 seconds. But the Generation 4 data format is not compatible with John Deere’s legacy system, APEX. Dealers are looking to help their customers get into that new Operations Center, possibly with the help of software tools represented at this year’s conference.

You can here Chuck’s interview with Brad here: Interview with Brad Silva, John Deere

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

TapLogic Provides ‘Ease and Control’ in Soil Sampling

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Cyrus Alexander and Jason Klotz, TapLogic

Growers who want to handle soil sampling on their own terms might appreciate the connection between John Deere and TapLogic, a longtime leader in “do it yourself” soil sampling.

“We really built everything with the grower in mind first,” said Cyrus Alexander with TapLogic. “It’s ease and control. Control is a big thing… control and choice. A grower gets to have his own account, his own farms and fields. He samples. He knows the quality of the samples, where he’s pulling them, what he’s testing for. And then from there, he gets to see his results and see what he needs to put down where. He’s telling himself now what fertilizer he needs to put and the prescriptions he needs to help. And we just help him along the way.”

Alexander said growers can use the company’s Soil Test Pro software to schedule sampling and gather that information through the John Deere Operations Center, giving them more control over the soil sampling process. Alexander was at the 2018 Develop with Deere conference.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Cyrus here: Interview with Cyrus Alexander, TapLogic

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

Large and Small Companies Collaborate for Grower Success

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Liron Brish and Michael Hermon, Farm Dog

Building a relationship with an established company like John Deere can be a game changer for a start up company like Farm Dog.

“Getting that Deere brand next to our name is just huge on the credibility aspect,” said Liron Brish, co-founder and CEO of Farm Dog. “I’m no longer random Farm Dog company when I go speak with a grower, but rather, Farm Dog that works with Deere. So, from that aspect, it’s incredible for us.”

Farm Dog’s mission is to make scouting more effective and more efficient. The company has developed an app available for use on phones and tablets that will allow anyone scouting a field to more easily record and communicate observations collected. They can then use that information to formulate a prescription for spraying that field, for example. The app also will alert growers to disease and insect pressure that might be present in a particular geography.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview here: Interview with Liron Brish, Farm Dog

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

Farmers Mutual Hail Turning Data Into Usable Information

AgWired Precision, Audio, Crop Insurance, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

Since the acquisition of John Deere Insurance Company in 2014, Farmers Mutual Hail has built upon advancements in technology and resources to ease the processes for acreage reporting, adjusting reporting and claims adjusting for crop insurance.

“One example would be saving hours compiling scale tickets and all the various pieces of information that you have to aggregate to actually do your reporting, either production reporting or acreage reporting,” said David DeCapp with Farmers Mutual Hail. “What this does is make that digitized information as you’re planting or as you’re harvesting, to be able to just hit a button, literally, and send that information through the Operations Center and into our systems so the grower doesn’t have that much work that they have to do.”

DeCapp said the company talked with lots of dealers at the 2018 Develop with Deere conference about how to ensure equipment is calibrated accurately to make the data work effectively for the customer.

You can here Chuck’s interview with David here: Interview with David DeCapp, Farmers Mutual Hail

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

Reaction to President Trump’s SOTU

AFBF, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, NFU, USDA

President Donald Trump made no direct mention of agriculture in his first State of the Union address, but he did address important issues for agriculture and rural America including infrastructure and immigration, trade and taxes.

Trump called on Congress to “produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs,” which American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall says would help rural communities. “Infrastructure upgrades tied to our rural communities will help pave the way for economic renewal that is so badly needed,” said Duvall.

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson was also pleased with that message. “There is clearly a growing need for significant federal investment in our nation’s roads, rails, broadband, locks and dams. We urge the administration and Congress to move swiftly in developing the promised comprehensive infrastructure package.”

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was pleased with the president’s address and his commitment to agriculture. “President Trump’s unifying address to the nation recounted this administration’s impressive achievements in its first year, which have strengthened the economy for all Americans, including those who do the important work in the agriculture sector. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is already helping workers and will allow agricultural producers to invest more in their operations and their own families,” said Perdue. “This is a president who has rural America and agriculture close to his heart, as his words and deeds clearly demonstrate.”

Precision Ag Bytes 1/31

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • The annual Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association (NeATA) conference will be Feb. 7-8 in Kearney at the Younes Conference Center. Learn more about the conference here.
  • The National Association of Conservation Districts announced the 2017 poster and photo contests winners at the organization’s 72nd Annual Meeting. Each year, the NACD and NACD Auxiliary photo and poster contests give students and adults the opportunity to display their artistic talents on a national stage.

More Dealers Attend Develop with Deere Conference

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

In an effort to help local dealers build better relationships with the software companies that often provide third party support to growers, John Deere again invited both groups to its 2018 Develop with Deere conference.

“We’re going to continue to add more and more solutions that can be built off the John Deere Operations Center platform and then that will cause us to continue to grow the conference as well to be able to get more of those solutions in front of the dealers,” said Kevin Krieg, a software segment manager with John Deere.

Krieg said John Deere machines generate lots of data, and software companies often supplement that and bring in things like aerial and satellite imagery, scouting apps and other tools to fill in the gaps of what is happening within the fields. The conference offered classroom sessions for dealers as well as the Solutions Expo trade show, where dealers could interact with and learn more about software companies and the products they offer.

You can here Chuck’s interview with Kevin here: Interview with Kevin Krieg, John Deere

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

John Deere Dealers See Value for Customers

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

John Deere dealers like Tom Rosztoczy with Stotz Equipment came to the 2018 Develop with Deere conference to learn about the newest technology in the industry, identify additional vendors to bring to customers, and network with other dealers.

“We think the combination of John Deere’s operation center and other software platforms is going to enable us to actually take precision agriculture and turn it into actual value for farmers,” said Rosztoczy, who serves the Mountain West area with 25 stores in eight states. “It takes us from data to knowledge and action.”

Rosztoczy said it is difficult for farmers to keep up with the quickly evolving technology. He believes it is his job stay in touch with the technology and help bring solutions to farmer customers.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Tom here: Interview with Tom Rosztoczy, Stotz Equipment

You can find conference photos here: 2018 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album