Ag Leader Opens New Training Academy Facility

Kurt LawtonAg Leader, Company Announcement, Dealers, Education, GPS, Guidance, Insights Weekly, Planting, Software, Spraying

Insights WeeklyThe doors open next week on Ag Leader Technology’s new Ag Leader Academy, which will play host to its top 200 dealers who will use this great new training resource to learn about the new product line for 2010.

“This is a big event for us, as we just launched an entire new suite of products, announced our new partnership with AutoFarm, and now opened our new training facility,” says Mike Olson, North American Sales Manager. “And it’s the first chance to give our dealers a look inside the complete package we now offer.”

Olson says that not only will the company’s best dealers get to touch the equipment next week in the big showroom space, they’ll also gain first-hand product knowledge in the new classrooms. “We have multiple classrooms, along with a larger SMS Software Computer Lab with tiered seating like a theater, and space for everyone’s laptop.”

Dealers will have several classroom sessions on all the products. “We’ll spend a lot of time going through the new INTEGRA display, along with the entry-level Edge display, which has been completely reworked for 2010. They will also learn all about the new steering products (ParaDyme, OnTrac2, L160 Lightbar), as those are brand new. And we’ll provide updates on the DirectCommand and SeedCommand, as well as all software products.”

Complete Solution. “Both customers and dealers are excited about the fact that we now have a complete solution from one company. We have our own steering system now, we have displays, yield monitors, application controls systems and the desktop software,” Olson adds. “We now feature the most complete system out there—and it’s all coming with the Ag Leader name on it.”

Precision Ag Events in North & South Dakota

Kurt LawtonGeneral

NDSU CROPS DAY

The North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center will conduct its annual Crops Day on Dec. 15.

Using a combination of NDSU and industry crop experts, the educational event will provide a review of production research and recommendations for corn, dry beans, soybeans and sunflowers, according to Greg Endres, NDSU Extension Service area agronomist. A session will also provide basic information on the variable-rate application of fertilizer for those exploring a precision-agriculture strategy.

Registration begins at 8:15 a.m. The registration fee is $10 per person to cover the cost of refreshments and a noon meal.

Producers interested in the variable-rate application of nitrogen fertilizer can attend the second session to learn about the best layers of information to use when building zone maps, equipment needs and options, and the potential for this strategy to improve farm profits. Speakers include Franzen; John Nowatzki, NDSU Extension Service agricultural engineer; and Russell Luvass, precision agricultural specialist with Raven Industries.

SOUTH DAKOTA EXTENSION NO-TILL CLINIC

The South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service will host the 2009 No-Till Clinic on Dec. 9 at the Davison County 4-H Fairgrounds.

The clinic begins at 8:30 a.m. with registration, and sessions take place until 3 p.m. The cost is $20 per person for participants registering on or before Dec. 2 and $25 for those who register after that date. The cost covers materials, a noon meal, and breaks. To register, call the Davison County Extension office at (605) 995-8620.

Morning presentations include “Fertilizer Replacement and Timing” by South Dakota State University Soils Testing Lab manager Ron Gelderman, “Plants and Planting” by University of Nebraska Extension engineer Paul Jasa, and “Agriculture’s Financial Health” by Denny Everson, president of the agri-business division of First Dakota National Bank.

SDSU Plant Science Department professor Gregg Carlson will answer questions on precision agriculture throughout the clinic.

After lunch, Dan Forgey of Cronin Farms will present information on cover crop mixes for specific goals. Dwayne Beck, manager of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm, will discuss no-till operations he oversees in central South Dakota.

Alabama Extension Hosts Annual Precision Ag Conference

Kurt LawtonGeneral

Farmers in the southeast US should attend the fourth annual Precision Ag and Field Crops Conference on December 8 at the Wind Creek Hotel in Atmore, Ala.

The conference will feature precision agriculture exhibits, equipment demonstrations and educational sessions. During the event, producers will have the opportunity to learn about a variety of precision agriculture topics including section control technology, economics of precision agriculture, soil fertility applications, and CORS for agriculture.

“We are very excited to bring our annual precision ag event to southwest Alabama and are looking forward to this year’s program”, says Shannon Norwood, ACES Multi-County Extension Agent and conference chair. “There are a lot of great farmers in southwest Alabama and we look forward to visiting with them.” Participating partners for the event include the Alabama Farmers Federation, Auburn University, University of Florida Extension, Alabama Natural Resource Conservation Service, Alabama Association of Conservation Districts, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Stations and USDA-ARS.

For more information, visit www.alabamaprecisionagonline.com.

Hemisphere GPS Partners With Third Eye Maps

Kurt LawtonAerial Imagery, Company Announcement, Fertilizer, Remote sensing, Spraying

Hemisphere GPS will now offer aerial imagery in partnership with Third Eye Maps to assist their spraying system technology.

Through the collaboration of multiple technologies, Hemisphere GPS now offers imagery solutions to its agriculture and land management customers. Third Eye Maps uses infrared camera systems to generate aerial imagery and maps with a variety of useful information. For agriculture, this information is used to determine vegetation growth indices as well as nutrient and irrigation irregularities that are essential for the improvement of farm yield efficiencies. For land management, imagery aids in the recognition of invasive species and other vegetation identification that enables targeted management. The captured imagery data is post-processed and formatted into digital files which are compatible with most GPS assisted spray systems including the Hemisphere GPS Air IntelliFlow and IntelliGate liquid and dry flow control systems, respectively.

“This combination of technologies provides our customers with valuable data that can be used in conjunction with automated spray applications; whether they are simply turning a spray on and off, or using it with full variable rate treatment in aerial or ground applicators” says Kip Pendleton, Vice-president and General Manager of Agriculture. “Growers, pilots and landowners can now spot spray areas as small as one-tenth of an acre in a more precise and cost effective manner.”

Third Eye Maps brings more than 20 years of vegetation mapping and land management experience to Hemisphere GPS. The combination of Hemisphere GPS’ advanced guidance and flow control systems and Third Eye Maps’ aerial mapping technology and services offers Hemisphere GPS’ customers a more complete solution for imagery usage, data management and spray efficiency.

Think About Saving Seed Input Dollars In 2010

Kurt LawtonAg Leader, Education, Insights Weekly, Planting

Insights WeeklyWe hope harvest is finally over, although it may not be for some, due to the weather extremes that seemed to occur across the Midwest.

As you reflect on your year, and begin to think about 2010, thoughts usually turn first to seed buying. And due to the tax advantages we highlighted last Friday (“5-Year Farm Equipment Depreciation Ends in 2009”), perhaps you should look at investing in technology that will stop seed waste and save yield.

Ag Leader Technology introduced its patent-pending SureStop electric row clutch for row crop planters back in February. These electric clutches work in tandem with the Ag Leader SeedCommand to start and stop seed flow row-by-row eliminating seed waste on end rows, point rows, around waterways/terraces and more. Not only do you achieve seed savings (estimated from 3% to 12% depending on field size/shape), you also gain yield in those areas that use to be double planted, which robbed yield from all plants in those areas.

While availability was limited last spring, some farmers who used the clutches offered their views on how they worked.

Grower Comments. “The return will be from the seed that I am saving, that I’ve been wasting all these other years,” says Scott Duncan of Flandreau, South Dakota. Other producers also saw similar benefits of lower seed costs and increased yield potential by using the clutches.

“It just seemed in the past when you plant you have these point rows and you’re putting rows in the middle of other rows, and that won’t give you yield. Normally we were having to go and buy additional seed, and this year we had seed that we could return,” says Lyle Nelson, Leland, Iowa.

“The best thing about the clutches would be the less overlap,” says Andrew Hanson of Forman, North Dakota. The clutch starts and stops seed flow by temporarily disengaging the seed meter, eliminating double-planted areas as well as the need to accurately raise/lower the planter at end rows. “It makes it easier so you don’t have to mess with all the switches for the overlap. You don’t have to go back and re-seed where you didn’t hit the switches in time,” he adds.

Each clutch requires a low-amperage draw (1/3 amp) and is operated using the tractor’s standard electrical system. Since electricity is used to power the clutch, rather than air, no air compressor, air tank or other equipment is required for the clutches to function properly. “All along I was looking to find something simpler, that I didn’t have to use an air compressor and hoses. The electric clutches, in the back of my mind, it was what I had been looking for. I was waiting for something like it to come out,” Nelson says.

Designed for chain drive seed meters, the clutches are compatible with many major planter manufacturers, including Case IH, John Deere, KINZE and White.

For more information or to order SureStop clutches, contact your Ag Leader Dealer, call 515-232-5363 or visit www.agleader.com.

Raven Buys Interest in SST Software

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Displays, Equipment, Software

Raven Industries and SST Software are building on their strategic alliance started in July–aiming to provide customers with simple and efficient ways to move and manage precision agriculture information.

These solutions include integration of SST’s AgX Platform into Raven’s Viper Pro and Envizio Pro field computers. SST’s AgX Platform is a standardized data structure and reference database that enables efficient in-field record keeping and seamless communication between AgX -compliant software and devices.

“SST’s software suite and database structure has proven itself in the marketplace and our approaches to the precision agriculture market complement and build on each other,” said Raven President and Chief Executive Officer Ronald M. Moquist. “The use of Raven high speed modems and our field computers will help provide a real-time link to SST’s powerful algorithms. We anticipate that the integration of the AgX Platform will add to both company’s revenues.”

“Raven is a partner that agrees with our mission–providing independent information management services to our ag service providers and their farmer-customers, as they manage field inputs for maximum efficiency,” noted David Waits, SST President and CEO. “Raven’s robust hardware offerings and ag business perspective will help us to achieve that goal.”

Matt Burkhart, General Manager of Applied Technology Division at Raven Industries emphasized, “Our ownership position in SST demonstrates our mutual commitment to deepening this strategic alliance. The combination of the AgX Platform with our field computers gives growers a platform they can depend on for the foreseeable future.”

Thanksgiving Tweets for Farmers

Cindy ZimmermanFarmers, General

If you like to eat – thank a farmer on Twitter today.

Many agriculture advocates are taking part in tweeting the hashtag #thankafarmer today from 10 am through 12 pm CST. Twitter users are also expressing their gratitude with a #thankafarmer twibbon.

The twitter efforts are just a small way to recognize and thank farmers for the abundant food they provide that is both safe and affordable. They are also completely committed to the land on which they farm and care very deeply about their communities, environment, land and animals, something that is often overlooked.

If you are a Twitter user and unable to tweet because of previous commitments, please sign yourself into Twuffer, a twitter service where you can time your tweets. This document contains links to different websites that are advocating for US Farmers and some tweets to get you started.

Leica Offers Cost-Effective Lightbar Guidance

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Displays, Equipment, GPS, Guidance, Leica Geosystems

If you’re seeking a cost-effective start in precision guidance, Leica wants you to check out their new mojoMINI 3D lightbar guidance system.

The Leica mojoMINI lightbar comes with the Leica SmartAg antenna and GLIDE technology for improved in-field accuracy. Plus, the easy-to-use 4.3-inch, touch-screen display has multiple guidance options, including AB parallel, A+ heading, contour and pivot guidance for use in many field types.

“The mojoMINI can be installed in minutes and is so versatile that growers can get daily use out of the display,” said Peter Bailey, product manager. “Plus the easy-to-follow 3D display greatly reduces the operators’ time to learn the system while increasing in-field guidance accuracy over traditional LED lightbar systems.”

The Leica mojoMINI lightbar system complements the current line of mojo auto-steer products, including  the Leica mojoGLIDE console with 6- to 8-inch (15- to 25-cm) pass-to-pass accuracy and the original Leica mojoRTK console with repeatable 2-inch (5 cm) accuracy.

Trimble Expands EZ-Office Software Capabilities

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Harvesting, Planting, Software, Spraying, Trimble

If you’re looking to easily map and manage your field data, Trimble offers their new 2010 AgGPS EZ-Office software suite of products, designed and developed by FarmWorks, a division of Trimble.

EZ-View, EZ-Office and EZ-Office Pro focus on data management in the office while EZ-Office Mobile software runs on the Trimble Nomad or Juno SB handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) computers in the field.

“The new EZ-Office software products help take the stress out of the vital, but often tedious record keeping and data management tasks for crop growers,” said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “These records are not just the foundation data for making precision farming practical and more productive—for some operators, they can be the legal records required by government agencies, landlords and farm management firms.”

Trimble EZ-View software is a free application that allows farmers to easily view and print basic reports from data collected by the Trimble EZ-Guide® 250, EZ-Guide 500 and FmX™ integrated display.

Trimble EZ-Office 2010 combines powerful mapping with ease-of-use and enhanced importing and exporting functionality.

Examples of crop and field management data that can be collected and stored by EZ-Office software include:

  • Guidance line data from Trimble displays
  • Precise areas tilled, planted or sprayed
  • Specific “as-applied” data showing how much seed, fertilizer, and crop protection chemical has been applied
  • Yield data can be imported from the FmX display as well as many other popular systems
  • Google Maps™ background images and support for other imagery

Trimble EZ-Office Pro 2010 includes all the features of EZ-Office plus additional tools for information analysis:

  • Flexible formula-based prescription map generation
  • Automated multi-year yield map averaging for discovering consistently high and low yielding areas of a field
  • Integration of financial data with precision farming operations for profit map analysis

Trimble EZ-Office Mobile 2010 enables farmers to map field operations data, such as field boundaries, farm drainage tile lines, field obstacles and weed infestations, while on foot, in a pickup truck or from an all-terrain vehicle (ATV).The field imagery tool allows crop scouts to utilize the built-in GPS receiver and digital camera on the Nomad or Juno SB handheld computers to capture geo-referenced photos of problems such as weeds and insects.

The EZ-Office 2010 software suite is now available through Trimble’s agriculture distribution channel. For more information, including the location of your nearest Trimble reseller, call 1-800-865-7438 or visit www.trimble.com/agriculture. The EZ-Office software is designed and developed by Farm Works Software, a division of Trimble.

Outback Adds Boom & Planter Controls

Kurt LawtonCompany Announcement, Equipment, Fertilizer, Planting, Spraying

The new Outback AutoMate works with all Outback Guidance products to control sections of a boom or planter–while claiming a very quick ROI.

The AutoMate allows you to manage up to 10 different sections of your boom and multiple planter sections. This automation results in drastic savings associated with application costs. The system recognizes both pre-defined applied zones and/or previous coverage areas. The AutoMate is designed for simple, hands-free operation. Simply set-up the unit and the system will automatically turn on and off sections when covering areas already applied. The system will also turn sections back on automatically on unapplied sections, eliminating skips.

Like all Outback products, the AutoMate is engineered to expand with your growing GPS guidance needs.