SMART Farmer Podcast 2018

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, SMART Farmer, USFRA

Welcome to the first SMART farmer podcast of 2018!

In 2017, we interviewed 22 farmers and ranchers and other agriculture industry people from across the country for the SMART farmer podcast to learn how they use the latest technology in their production of food and fiber for the world, like poultry barns with environmental controls on smart phones, using GPS to plant and harvest crops in perfectly straight rows, and how crops engineered for certain characteristics have helped farmers be more sustainable. This podcast was started by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance just to tell the farmers story about why they do what they do in an attempt to connect with the non-farm public. For this podcast, I talked with USFRA CEO Randy Krotz about what they did to try and bridge the gap in 2017 and what plans they have for 2018.

If you have not yet subscribed to the podcast and this is brand new to you, you can do it today and binge listen to all 22 podcasts from 2017! Also, SMART Farmer is now on TuneIn.

Download or listen to this podcast here: SMART Farmer Podcast with
USFRA CEO Randy Krotz

Subscribe to the SMART Farmer podcast

Learn more about USFRA and SMART Farm

John Deere Reaps AE50 Awards

AgWired Precision, Award, Equipment, John Deere

John Deere S700 Combines, CP690 & CS690 Cotton Harvesters have been honored with AE50 Award for innovations that improve production ag.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) AE50 Awards highlight the year’s most innovative product-engineering designs in the food and agriculture industry, as chosen by a panel of international engineering experts.

The John Deere S700 Series Combine was recognized for its significant innovations in “smart” technology, improved operator comfort and data capabilities, while the CP690 Cotton Picker and CS690 Cotton Stripper were recognized for innovations in precision cotton-harvesting technologies that include moisture sensing and round module weighing.

Two hay tool innovations from John Deere Ottumwa Works were also honored with AE50 awards – the BalerAssist™ feature on the large square balers and the Plus2 Bale Accumulator for large round balers, both introduced in late 2017. And the John Deere 5R Series Tractors received an award for innovative designs in product engineering. The awards will be presented at the ASABE Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, in February.

Agrilyst’s 2017 State of Indoor Farming Report

Agribusiness, AgWired Precision, Alltech, Farming, Precision Agriculture

We first met Allison Kopf, founder and CEO of Agrilyst, at Alltech’s 2017 ONE. There she took part in the first Pearse Lyons Accelerator program. As a reminder, Agrilyst is a “web-based software platform that helps indoor farms manage their crops and gain data-driven insights to make more profitable production decisions.”

Allison and her team have now released a 2017 State of Indoor Farming report to recap how the industry grew last year and the outlook for the future. Emerging trends, challenges, and benefits of farming indoors are just a few highlights the report tackles. Agrilyst received over 150 responses from growers in 8 countries.

Top five takeaways:
1. Yields for hydroponic leafy greens grown in a greenhouse are about 12.6x that of conventionally grown lettuces.
2. Leafy greens grown hydroponically in a greenhouse can have a 46% profit margin.
3. 56% of the operating expenses of an indoor vertical farm are due to labor.
4. Automation topped the list of technologies growers are most excited about.
5. Container farms topped the list of technologies growers are least excited about.

2017 in Pictures

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Photography, ZimmComm Announcement

2017 is just a memory now, so we compiled some of our favorite photos from the 50 events we attended this year so you can relive it!

This album includes some of our favorite shots of the year, our favorite people, and some of the many inductees into the Golden Mic Club. There’s only 200 out of more than 10,500 put into over 60 Flickr photo albums this year, so it is only a small sample, but it took hours to go through them all!

To watch as a slide show, just click the button in the upper right above the title photo that with an arrow in it. Enjoy!

ZimmComm 2017 Year in Pictures

Precision Ag Bytes 1/3

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • AgJunction Inc., a leader in automated steering and machine control technology for precision agriculture, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Western District of Texas against Raven Industries, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Raven products violate three AgJunction patents related to automated mechanical steering, implement steering and system calibration technologies. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and an injunction to prevent Raven from selling any products infringing AgJunction’s patented technology.

Precision Ag Bytes 12/27

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

    • NRGene, the worldwide leader in genomic assembly and analysis, is working with a team of researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands and leading commercial partners to create multi-genome mapping of commercial food potatoes. The potato genome is complex. It’s an auto-tetraploid, which means that each potato cell contains four nearly identical copies of each chromosome and gene, making the assembly and phasing of the four copies extremely difficult for traditional technologies. NRGene has completed the phased assembly of three commercial potato varieties.

Soybean Growers Lose $1.6 Billion Annually to SCN and SDS

AgWired Precision, ASTA, Audio, Bayer, Soybean

Diseases like Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) continue to plague soybean growers to the tune of $1.6 billion per year, based on USDA 2016–2017 marketing year projection for average soybean price of $9.10 per bushel. Those two diseases contribute to the largest number of bushels lost for soybean farmers, who sometimes don’t even realize disease is present.

“Much like Soybean Cyst Nematode, you might not see those visual symptoms of Sudden Death Syndrome, because SDS is a soil-borne pathogen, so we can have that root rot occur – the actual pathogen enters through the root system and can have root rot occur – and then toxins are produced by the fungus in the root system and that is what creates the foliar symptoms,” said Jeremiah Mullock, seed growth product development manager with Bayer. “The expression of those foliar symptoms and toxin production are based on the environment during the growing season.”

Mullock said that’s why seed treatments like Bayer’s ILeVO are becoming more important, especially at a time when resistant soybean varieties are not always getting the job done against SCN, in particular. He said ILeVO provides protection beginning at planting, creating a larger root mass and ultimately increasing yield.

Learn more in Cindy’s interview: Interview with Jeremiah Mullock, Bayer

President Trump to Address Farm Bureau

AFBF, AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Video

Next month, for the first time in 26 years, the President of the United States will address the membership of the largest general farm organization in the country.

Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, will address farm and ranch families from across the nation at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 99th Annual Convention, Jan. 5-10 in Nashville, Tenn. It was January 13, 1992 when the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush, addressed the AFBF 73rd annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri.

That was just two weeks after Chuck and I had uprooted our Florida family and moved them to Missouri to work for the Brownfield Network. Lynn Ketelsen and I were chosen for some reason to anchor the live audio feed of President Bush’s speech, delivered via satellite to radio stations. That was where I first heard the pronunciation Missour-uh for the Show Me State and wondered if I had been pronouncing it wrong all my life. The scanned photo here is the best I could find in my archives – which is a box in the attic.

Searching on-line for photos from the event, I did find the video of the address on C-SPAN, and the text of the speech from the American Presidency Project. Two of President Bush’s main themes were international trade and tax reform, which are likely to dominate President Trump’s remarks as well. President Bush actually addressed the AFBF annual convention twice – the first time in 1990, which C-SPAN also has archived.

This is pretty fun to watch – and thanks to C-SPAN for keeping such an extensive archive and being a good use of our tax dollars!

Precision Ag Bytes 12/20

AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

  • BRANDT has announced that Randy Blackburn has joined the U.S. ag sales team as Territory Sales Manager for the Northeast region. Randy has over 25 years of ag sales experience in the northeastern U.S. Prior to BRANDT, Randy managed customer development for Meherrin Chemical and spent 15 years in customer development for WinField Solutions and 10 years in sales and retail management for CPS.
  • Several successful Midwest agricultural retailers are partnering in a new business. CommoditAg™ is an easy-to-use online ordering platform utilizing an extensive network of local warehouses offering high quality agriculture products at low prices direct to your farm. With easy pick-up and delivery services, customers no longer have to wait to get what they need before going to the field. CommoditAg.com is now live and accepting orders.
  • The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today named five farmer and fertilizer retailers pairs who are implementing innovative and sustainable 4R fertilizer management practices on the farm to increase production and reduce their environmental impact. The 2018 Advocates include: Glenn Beck, Windermere, Fla./Rob Watson, Griffith Fertilizer Company, Frostproof, Fla.; Maria Cox, Whitehall, Ill./Kyle Lake, CHS Carrollton, Carrollton, Ill.; Chuck and Darin Dunlop, Parker, Kan./Jason Sutterby, AgChoice, Moran, Kan.; Jeff, CJ, and Greg Durand, St. Martinville, La./Earl Garber, Sanders/Pinnacle Agriculture, Crowley, La.; Doug Weathers, Salem, Ore./John Peters, Wilbur-Ellis, Woodburn, Ore.
  • ​USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service plans to invest $10 million in the Conservation Innovation Grants program, funding innovative conservation projects in three focus areas: grazing lands, organic systems and soil health. Grant proposals are due Feb. 26, 2018.