Hydraulic Down Force on Display at Farm Progress Show

Chuck ZimmermanAg Leader, Farm Progress Show, Insights Weekly, Planting, Video

Insights Weekly

Ag Leader Technology’s Hydraulic Down Force/SeedCommand was on display this week at the Farm Progress Show. We teased it earlier this week but now you can see how it works. Once again Will Cannon, Ag Leader Technology product specialist, was right there when we visited the booth in Boone, IA.

Planter down force monitor and control capability is now integrated into the Ag Leader Technology INTEGRA™ display. It allows display to monitor and adjust down force based on field and soil conditions. Planting seed at the optimum row unit down force is an important factor in good crop germination, and ultimately, yield.

Control all of your planting operations, from Advanced Seed Monitoring to variable rate planting and clutch control with SeedCommand.

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Ag Secretary Visits Farm Progress Show

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Farm Progress Show, USDA

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited the 2012 Farm Progress Show in his home state of Iowa on Thursday to announce new USDA grants to support beginning farmers and discuss why Congress should pass a new farm bill next month.

He gave three reasons why agriculture needs a farm bill now. “One, because it includes the disaster programs vital to livestock producers,” he said. “Second reason is certainty. You’re a producer and trying to figure out what you’re going to do next year, how are you going to figure it out.” The third reason Vilsack said is momentum in rural America. “We’ve got farm income, record exports, record enrollment in conservation practices … why would we want to stop that momentum by creating all this uncertainty?”

Listen to or download Sec. Vilsack’s remarks and question/answer session here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-12-vilsack.mp3″ text=”Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Remarks”]

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

Harvesting Corn at Farm Progress Show

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Corn, Farm Progress Show, Harvesting, John Deere, Video

The weather cooperated big time this year at the Farm Progress Show so that field demonstrations got in a full schedule.

We had a nice breeze to tone down a hot day in the field during the show. Corn harvest demonstrations began at 11am and there were crowds on hand to watch the large combines, tractors and grain carts in action. I had the opportunity to make it out there for a while and see some of the action.

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

Precision.AgWired.com Podcast: Changing hybrids on the fly

Meghan GrebnerGPS, Planting, Precision Pays Podcast, Satellite, seed, technology

When a farmer purchases a bag of seed corn – Jason Webster, director of Beck’s Hybrids Central Illinois Practical Farm Research says they should already be thinking about where they are going to plant that corn.   As technology continues to evolve – it may become easier to change hybrids within a field.

In this Precision.AgWired.com Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we’ll learn more about the technology they recently unveiled designed to help farmers put corn right where it needs to be.

[wpaudio url=”http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/08/PPP-08-12.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.

Poll Says Increased Feed Costs, Food Prices

Melissa SandfortZimmPoll

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ”Beyond commodity prices, what will this year’s drought have a greater impact on?”

Our poll results: Thirty-eight percent said feed costs; thirteen percent said food prices; eleven percent said fuel costs and crop insurance, respectively; nine percent said crop inputs; eight percent said land costs; and five percent said tillage practices and other, respectively.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, ” How will the drought affect farm equipment sales?” For growers looking to update their fleet, or invest in new equipment and technologies, will they think twice when factoring in drought affects or will their pocketbooks still allow them that purchase – what do you think?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

Sunny Days at FPS

Cindy ZimmermanFarm Progress Show

Welcome to day two of the 2012 Farm Progress Show. Here’s the sunrise view from the media tent this morning.

We’re on location again enjoying the cool temperatures before things heat up and hoping to get out in the field for some harvest demonstrations since this will be the first show in a while where they can be done. There’s a lot of talk about the hope of rain moving north from the storm in the Gulf that finally hit land. It may be late in the season but the Midwest sure needs to get some soil moisture to at least get a head start on next season.

Check out the latest FPS12 pics in the 2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

John Deere Showcases the Future at FPS

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Farm Progress Show, Industry News, John Deere

John Deere is giving farmers a glimpse of what farming in the future might look like at Farm Progress Show and it looks cool.

“We put together a little video of a farmer in the future that shows some advanced technology to give a vision of the future,” said Deere’s Barry Nelson. “We’ve got 7 billion people right now, it’s going to grow to 9 billion and we need new technology to help producers become more efficient at everything they do.”

During the John Deere preview, hosted by Max Armstrong, they showed how some of that new technology is already in sight. “We’re launching Mobile Farm Manager, so you can take your iPad or your smartphone to do mapping and yield data,” said Barry. “We also have Remote Display Access where if you give permission to your dealer, he can tap into any of your machinery and look at your display remotely and know what the problem is.”

On the iron side, Deere has expanded their 6 Series Tractor line up, added more options to the 5E Series utility tractors, launched new 9 Series round balers, and a whole new species of Gator, the RSX850i. More about all that to come.

Listen to or download my interview with Barry here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps12-barry.mp3″ text=”John Deere’s Barry Nelson”]

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

DEKALB Anniversary Bike Auctioned

Chuck ZimmermanFarm Progress Show, Monsanto

The DEKALB® brand’s custom 100th Anniversary Bike by Paul Jr. Designs revved up the excitement at the 2011 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill., when the bike made its engine-roaring debut to a crowd of onlookers at the main gate of the show.

At the 2012 Farm Progress Show in Iowa on Tuesday, the bike’s year-long tour came full circle as Rick Brandt, CEO of BRANDT from Springfield, Illinois, was announced the online auction’s highest bidder. Through multiple DEKALB fundraising opportunities, including the chopper auction, American farmers raised a grand total of $250,000 for the American Red Cross. Jason Hoag, DEKALB Brand Lead and Rick Brandt, on behalf of America’s farmers, presented a check to Leslie Schaffer, Regional Chapter Executive Officer for American Red Cross, Greater Iowa Region.

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

Looking Ahead to 2013 Planting

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, Farm Progress Show, Planting

Farm Futures released the results of a 2013 planting intentions survey. I visited with Arlan Suderman, Market Analyst, to learn what they found out.

U.S. farmers are unsure about whether to increase corn acreage next spring, despite high prices and sharply lower production caused by this year’s historic drought. Instead, Farm Futures magazine’s first survey of 2013 planting intentions shows growers would rather boost soybean and wheat seedings.

Results of the survey of some 1,800 growers were released Tuesday morning on the opening day of the Farm Progress Show held Aug. 28, 29 and 30 in Boone, Iowa.

Corn and Soybean Acres Shift

Farmers plan to put in 93.1 million acres of corn in the year ahead, down 4% from this year, when they planted the most corn ground in 75 years. Farm Futures’ survey found producers actually planted slightly more corn in 2012 than reported in June by USDA, though they abandoned more of that ground than the agency estimates due to the ravages of the drought.

Instead of increasing corn plantings, as most experts assume, farmers want to continue expanding soybean acreage in the year ahead. Growers said they want to seed 78.1 million soybean acres next spring, up 1.2% from this year’s total. Farm Futures also found higher soybean acreage this year, though greater abandonment, too.

“Ironically, this shift from corn to soybeans mirrors a similar shift taking place in South America as well, casting doubts on the world’s ability to rebuild tight global feed grain stocks without a significant shift in global weather patterns to boost yields in 2013,” notes Farm Futures Market Analyst Arlan Suderman.

You can listen to my interview with Arlan here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-12-suderman.mp3″ text=”Interview with Arlan Suderman”]

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader

Calling for a Farm Bill Now at FPS

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Corn, Farm Bill, Farm Progress Show, Industry News

As the Farm Progress Show kicked off in Boone, Iowa, representatives from several of the more than 45 organizations that make up the Farm Bill Now coalition spoke out to urge Congress to finish work on new agricultural policy legislation as soon as possible.

Among the diverse representation in the coalition is the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. “We represent 850 equipment manufacturing companies, with 450 of them involved in the agricultural industry,” said AEM president Dennis Slater. “Our farmers, our manufacturers, our American workers and families, simply cannot afford to have Congress keep delaying this.”

Other speakers for the coalition at the FPS included National Corn Growers Association First Vice President Pam Johnson, 25×25 Alliance board member Ron Heck, American Soybean Association president Steve Wellman, Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill and Iowa Farmers Union president Chris Peterson.

Listen to or download comments from all here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps12-fb-now-1.mp3″ text=”Farm Bill Now at FPS”]

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision.AgWired.com coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by John Deere and AgLeader