The buzz is all about precision…steering, strip-till, fertilizer placement. During Successful Farming magazine’s annual Crop Tech Tour, editors asked growers what technology worked in the field this year–given weather extremes that ranged from severe droughts to floods. Tom Loitz of Geneseo, Illinois, says his new strip-till system combined with row shut-offs on his planter showed strong payback when he entered … Read More
Cotton Growers Embrace Precision
About half of the nation’s cotton growers are practicing precision agriculture. PrecisionAg.com reports that the use of precision technology among cotton growers grew from just 18 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2005. There are a number of reasons for this increase. First, changes in farming practices requires more precision and repeatability, such as the use of subsurface irrigation … Read More
Classic Precision Demonstration
At the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville, hundreds of farmers were interested in finding out more how precision technology can help them save time and money. Laura Robson was the expert on hand, demonstrating the John Deere GS2 Display which provides excellent visibility of spraying functions while operating in the field. The GS2 Display is used for rate control, guidance, … Read More
Precision Sprays
Lee Madden is product manager in the sprayer marketing group with John Deere and he was busy at the 2008 Commodity Classic trade show in Nashville this week telling growers about the new 30 series line up. Among the changes in the new series is standard precision features, like the GS2 monitor. “That’s the color touch screen display for the … Read More
Tennessee RFS Winner Talks About His Experience
Alan Meadows is a corn and soybean producer from Halls, Tennessee – which is located in the western part of the state near the border with Missouri. As one of this year’s ASA/John Deere Reach for the Stars winners, Meadows was able to use the precision agriculture package in several different applications. “First I had it on my sprayer and … Read More
New Precision Ag Products
At the John Deere product introduction Kayla Reynolds, John Deere Ag Management Solutions, gave a presentation to the media and a group of securities analysts. It was kind of a like a Precision 101 class since many of those attending have no background or experience with agriculture. The event provided them with some great information that will help them better … Read More
Precision Ag Updates From John Deere
When it comes to sprayers John Deere is bringing a lot of new things to the market. At the product introduction I spoke with Brent Madden who not only works for John Deere but also farms with his family in Iowa. I asked him to put his farmer hat on first and tell us about some of the new sprayer … Read More
Precision Ag on Display at John Deere Product Launch
There was plenty of precision ag on display at the John Deere product introduction and I’ll have posts here about that over the coming days. This display was part of one of the field demonstrations where dealers got to see what they can offer their customers this fall. While I was at this field station I interviewed Mike Park, Factory … Read More
Growers were “Reaching for the Stars”
The American Soybean Association (ASA) and John Deere held one of three “Reach for the Stars” summer grower meetings in Bettendorf, Iowa, on July 20th at Scott Community College. At least 25 growers were in attendance despite heavy, damaging rains received in the state earlier that week. To begin the classroom presentation, Ray Gaesser, Iowa Soybean Association President, gave a … Read More
Automate your spray boom
Chemical overlap when spraying is costly in product and sometimes in added crop stress that can cut yield. But it’s next to impossible to prevent it on headlands and on point rows. Plus, sprayer skips can be costly when unsprayed weeds rob yields. John Deere’s automated solution to these costly problems is Swath Control Pro, designed to control boom sections … Read More