Have You Completed Your Checklist?

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly

Just as you wouldn’t leave for vacation without an oil change and checking the fluids in your car, as planting season approaches and you find yourself servicing planting equipment, be sure to give your precision ag equipment a “once-over” as well.

A great place to start this routine service check is by making a back-up of last year’s data and creating a 2011 folder. Then, make sure your display firmware, manual and all connected modules are up to date. Updates can be found at www.agleader.com.

We spoke with Nathan Tebbe, Ag Leader Tech Support Supervisor, who gave us a few tips on things you need to be sure to watch for when it comes to servicing your precision ag equipment, and what the benefits are to doing so.

Now, before you begin the 2011 growing season, you will have the satisfaction of checking everything off of your “to do” list, and you can rest assured that you’ve set yourself on the right path toward a profitable and trouble-free planting season.

For a comprehensive list of the things to check or set up before the busy season, download the Ag leader Pre-Season Checklist.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ag Leader Tech Support at 515-232-5363 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (central time) with extended hours beginning the end of March; or send an email to support@agleader.com.

PrecisionAg Awards Nominations Sought

Cindy ZimmermanGeneral

The PrecisionAg Award of Excellence program is still accepting nominations for “some of the most important people and programs that have helped agriculture realize the full benefits of technology to improve agronomy, efficiency, and stewardship in crop production.”

The awards are given in the following categories:

• Educator/Researcher Of The Year
• Legacy Award
• Crop Adviser/Entrepreneur Of The Year
• Farmer Of The Year

Award nominations must be submitted by a sponsor — any individual or individuals, company, or organization. Nominees can be working with precision technology anywhere in the world. Nominations can be made electronically or via downloadable entry form. Entries will be reviewed and scored by a three-judge panel based on the criteria indicated on the nomination forms. Winners will be invited to attend a special ceremony in their honor at the InfoAg Conference, July 12-14, 2011. Winners receive a full conference registration and are provided hotel accommodations for one night at the Crowne Plaza.

Deadline for entries is April 30. More information is available from PrecisionAg here.

Trimble Now Includes Satellite-Delivered Corrections

Melissa SandfortTrimble

Trimble announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets related to the OmniSTAR™ Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal corrections business from Fugro N.V. The acquisition is expected to significantly expand Trimble’s worldwide ability to provide corrections services for land based agriculture, construction, mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) and survey applications. Trimble and Fugro also entered into a multi-year service agreement which includes Fugro’s ongoing operation of its correction network and satellite service broadcast systems that power the OmniSTAR service. Fugro’s offshore marine business is unaffected. Closing of the transaction, anticipated in the first quarter, is subject to certain closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OmniSTAR provides space-based GNSS correction services that can improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver for precise positioning applications. Currently, there are four levels of OmniSTAR service: “VBS” offering sub-meter positioning, “XP” delivering better than 20 centimeter accuracy and “HP” delivering greater than 10 centimeter accuracy. In addition, the new OmniSTAR “G2” service combines GPS plus GLONASS based corrections to provide decimeter level positioning.

Facebook Leads The Pack

Chuck ZimmermanZimmPoll

It looks like Facebook is the big dog in the social media world according to you. Our last ZimmPoll asked the question, “Which social network do you use the most.” A majority say Facebook, 64%, followed by Twitter, 16%, YouTube, 8%, Linkedin, 5%, Other, 5%, Classmates.com, 1%, Flickr, !% and MySpace, 0%. I can’t remember when I’ve checked my MySpace account either.

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “When will planting season start this year?” It’s that time now that we’re in Ag Week with spring just around the corner! Let us know what you think and thank you for participating.

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

Benefits to No-Till

Melissa SandfortResearch, Tillage, USDA

As Ann Perry reports:

Wheat farmers in eastern Oregon and Washington who use no-till production systems can substantially stem soil erosion and enhance efforts to protect water quality, according to research by USDA scientists. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) hydrologist John Williams led a study that compared runoff, soil erosion and crop yields in a conventional, intensively tilled winter wheat-fallow system and a no-till 4-year cropping rotation system. ARS is USDA’s chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA mission of promoting sustainable agriculture.

No-till production left the soil surface intact and protected pore space beneath the soil surface, which allowed more water to infiltrate into the subsoil. In addition, there was no significant yield difference between the no-till and conventional till production, and direct seeding in no-till production saved fuel and time.
Read more about this research in the March 2011 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Alabama NRCS Offers Precision Ag Incentive

Cindy ZimmermanGeneral, USDA

The Alabama Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is encouraging growers to sign up for the Precision Farming Incentive under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

According to State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett, the Precision Farming Incentive is designed to encourage the adoption of variable-rate application of nutrients and pesticides and promote the use of GPS-enabled precision agricultural technology and equipment. The goals of the incentive include improving water quality by targeting areas for reduced nutrient and pesticide application, reducing runoff and leaching of pesticides, enhancing soil quality through reduced erosion and soil compaction and energy conservation through accurate and efficient application of crop inputs. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) is partnering on this initiative.

Annually planted cropland in 38 Alabama counties – about half the state – is eligible for the incentive and April 29 is the batching period cutoff date for selecting applications for funding.

I don’t know if there are other states offering this initiative. I did some searching on the national NRCS site and around but Alabama is the other one I could find specifically offering this program, but it does sound like a good way to help especially smaller or disadvantaged farmers to make that initial investment in using technology that helps the environment while saving time and money for producers.

Till We Meet Again

Melissa SandfortAgricultural Anthropology

One of my goals living on the farm is to have a garden. I started one in Kansas City, but then we moved away. But this summer, I’m going to make a concerted effort to keep a family tradition going. We have these Syrian cucumbers that look like pinwheels when you cut them and never get bitter, no matter how large they grow. To date, Grandma is the only one who can grow them, but I’m going to try my hand at it.

In order to get the garden started, I’m going to have to do some tilling. I’m sure I can borrow the gas-operated tiller in the shed. Back before motor-operated equipment, this is the tiller they’d use to loosen the dirt for garden planting. Looks like a lot of work if you ask me.

Then, if I get really creative, I’ll grow some cucumbers and dill and see if Grandma can help me jar some homemade pickles. Vlasic, move over.

I’ve just got to figure out a way to keep the critters out. Like the deer who like to watch TV through our bedroom window. I can just see them munching on my Syrian cucumbers now.

Until our next history lesson …

Ag Leader Firmware Update

Melissa SandfortAg Leader, Insights Weekly

Insights Weekly

The latest firmware updates for the INTEGRA and EDGE displays have been released, offering several enhancements and new features for customers. With these new features, the displays offer even greater functionality for your operation, and the firmware enhancements address many common requests.

Customers who have the INTEGRA display will see increased functionality, including Virtual Terminal and Advanced Seed Monitoring for corn planting. Virtual Terminal gives growers the option to control additional implements with one tool. Advanced Seed Monitoring helps growers eliminate yield robbing planter problems by monitoring key factors, such as seed meter singulation, skips/doubles, spacing quality and population and spacing information.

Listen to an interview here with Matt Leinen, Ag Leader Product Manager, about how the latest firmware update can benefit your operation.

According to Matt, “The update will provide a reduction in gaps on coverage maps when using AutoSwath with SeedCommand, and the on-screen map will now exclude undesired log points outside of the field operation that previously required a user to ‘Clear Bounds.’”

Two major firmware updates are made each year: by February and again in the summer prior to harvest season.

For more information about the firmware updates, visit the Ag Leader blog.

Your Phone Helps With Tank Mix Courtesy Precision Laboratories

Chuck ZimmermanApps

Need help mixing crop protection products? There’s an app for that from Precision Laboratories. You can also find a series of videos on water quality and compatibility in their YouTube Channel.

The new Mix Tank app is designed to support retailers, crop specialists, researchers and growers in providing accurate and efficient tank mix sequences that will enhance profitability and ease.

As mixing issues and interactions continue to cause more problems, the Mix Tank app will help reduce product and money lost from plugged sprayer equipment and cross contamination errors. The free Mix Tank app offers the first of its kind assistance in determining the accurate mixing sequence for herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, adjuvants and foliar nutrition products. With over 700 crop protection products from over 15 manufacturers, the new Mix Tank app can process mixtures to determine the correct mixing order.

“Evolving crop protection strategies lead to more tank mixing and the potential for more tank mixing errors. An improper mix can cause lost time and money, and even lower efficacy or failure of your crop protection products. By using the Mix Tank app, users can get the most out of every tank mix,” said Jim Reiss, vice president of Agricultural Chemistries at Precision Laboratories. “We’re excited to bring this new technology to the industry and offer another tool for growers, custom applicators and our retail partners.” Read More

Need To Educate Public About GMO Crops

Chuck ZimmermanZimmPoll

It sure looks like we have a long way to go to help educate the general public on GMO’s! In answer to the question, “How much do you think the public understands about GMO crops?” an overwhelming 70 % say Majority know nothing. Wow. Only 22% or our readers say Some think they know. Only 4 % say People totally understand and 4 % say Most are well informed. This sure seems to suggest that there’s a real disconnect between consumers and science, at least in the minds of our readers. What do you think?

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What social network do you use most?” Let us know and thanks for participating!

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