This week’s program is coming to you from the agriblogging highway. I’m on my way to the 2012 National Ethanol Conference while Cindy is on her way to the GROWMARK Dieselex Gold event. It’s a beautiful morning here at the St. Louis airport.
In this week’s program you can listen in on my conversation with Bill Howard, Fastline. The company was one of our sponsors for coverage of last week’s National Farm Machinery Show. At the show they introduced AgRacer, the mobile farm racing app.
I visited with Bill during their annual customer appreciation dinner. In the photo Bill is awarding door prizes to the crowd of nearly 650 attendees. He says that’s a lot more than the first dinner they held at the show. As he puts it, “It’s a great time to be in ag.” I couldn’t agree more. However, Bill says that Fastline realizes the changing demographics of the farming community. That’s why they’ve launched Jill’s Junction and AgRacer to reach out to women and youngsters who are not only involved in the farm but are also the future of the farm.
Ag apps just keep coming. Here’s a new one from CRYSTALYX Brand Supplements. It’s called the “Beef Cow BCS”. It’s available for iOS or Android devices.
The free app helps Beef Cow-Calf producers manage the nutrition program of their cow herd by assigning storing body condition scores on individual cows.
The app offers the ability to snap profile pictures of your cows and compare them to reference photos of cows that represent Body Condition Scores from 1 to 9.
Determine the BCS that best describes each cow, along with an ear tag number, and save it within the App for future reference. If you would like to arrange your cows by pasture, that functionality is also available. You can then use these stored images as references at any point in the future to determine how best to manage your nutrition program to make sure your cows breed and calve in a timely manner.
Creating your own game app is a surefire way to reach a younger audience! That’s part of the idea behind Fastline’s AgRacer game app. This young guy was sure having fun playing in the Fastline booth at the 2012 National Farm Machinery Show.
However, as I hung around the booth for a while there were show goers of all ages playing the game on iPads. They all seemed to be enjoying the experience too. I have the game on my iPhone and Droid Razr and will play just as soon as I get a chance so I can report back on my experience. Meanwhile, here’s a video clip of the young guy in action, getting a little help in the process.
Add another app to your Ag Apps folder on your smartphone. It’s free for both iPhone and Android users. The app, SoilWeb, combines online soil survey information with the GPS capabilities of smartphones.
The SoilWeb app is a portable version of the UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab’s Web-based interface to digital soil survey data from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Because the app provides soil survey information in a mobile form, it is particularly useful for those working in the field.
Until recently, a disadvantage of Web-based soil survey formats was that user access was limited to desktop computers with an internet connection. That’s one reason that NRCS soil scientist Dr. Dylan Beaudette, while still a graduate student at UC Davis, developed the SoilWeb app in collaboration with NRCS and the UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab.
SoilWeb can retrieve a graphic summary of soil types in response to a user inquiry in the form of soil profile sketches. Each profile sketch shows soil horizons, often compared to a vertical ice cream sandwich made up of layers of soil. Soil names, locations and taxonomic categories are also shown.
The Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA announce their first-ever mobile app. Yep, cowboys do smart phones don’t you know? Here’s what Mike Deering, NCBA Communications, has to say about it.
“Cattlemen may not be on the computer much but they have certainly embraced smart phones. The smart phone application was designed specifically for the annual convention. It will give participants useful information about meeting locations, speakers and more. The app can also be used by media and by people not able to attend the convention. We will be posting news and information constantly.”
So you need to get the app for the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show which will be held Feb. 1-4th. It’s now available for download for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. The Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA App gives its users access to everything the oldest cattle business convention has to offer.
The CIC & NCBA mobile app is a free download and features an interactive exhibitor map and listings, seminars and speakers, schedules to help plan your trip to the largest cattle business convention! The CIC & NCBA app will also provide you with digital information from exhibitors, text alerts, product updates and instant connectivity, all right in the palm of your hand.
Precision Laboratories Mix Tank app was honored by AgProfessional Magazine as one of 10 recipients of the Editors’ Choice New Product of the Year Award. These 10 products represent the best, newest, most innovative products introduced in 2011 for sale or use by the ag retailer market and consulting industry, according to the editors of AgProfessional.
The free Mix Tank app provides the proper mixing order for applicators using crop protection products, helping them avoid incompatibility problems and to ensure their effective use, which saves them valuable time and money.
Precision Laboratories is planning to expand the capabilities of the free Mix Tank app early in 2012 and will continue to apply technology resources that will save applicators time and money, while ensuring they receive the most out of every tank mix. Click here to download the free app or search for “Mix Tank” on the iTunes App Store.
Why pack cases of flyers or brochures to stack in your trade show booth when you can just bring along an iPad to display more information in a multi-media format?
Pioneer Hi-Bred used to bring along more than 50 different product brochures to trade shows. Now they bring an iPad with a company-branded app. Pioneer, along with GROWMARK, worked with Float Mobile on these projects. Here’s what they did with GROWMARK.
At the 2011 Farm Progress Show, GROWMARK used an interactive “Yield Maximizer” game to draw attendees to their booth and keep them there longer. It’s part of a larger trend that’s going on in agribusiness – using innovative mobile technology to showcase products and services in unique ways.
“The FS/GROWMARK System upped its technology ante at the 2011 Farm Progress Show. Our goal at the show is always to engage and share valuable information with the farmers and other interested parties who attend. Making use of iPad-powered games that attracted attention, entertained show-goers, and conveyed information about our strong and diverse product lines was very effective,” said Ann Kafer, GROWMARK’s director of communications and marketing services. “We also debuted cropNAtion.com at the show and signed up those wanting to participate in the new social media platform for information about crop production across the country — farmer to farmer.”
Going to the National Farm Machinery Show? We are and we’ll have the new NFMS App on our iPhones!
The first-ever mobile app, called “NFMS ’12,” for the National Farm Machinery Show is now available for free on smartphones (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) and features an interactive exhibitor map and listings, seminars and speakers, Championship Tractor Pull schedules, and Louisville area information to plan your trip to the largest indoor farm show in America.
The mobile app will include frequent updates right up to the opening day of the show. “NFMS ’12″ also will provide digital information from exhibitors, text alerts, product updates and instant connectivity, all in the palm of your hand. Text alerts and mobile updates on what’s happening during the show are also features.
“In addition to the product-packed NFMS Show Guide, the mobile app will contain all the information needed to plan your visit and also help make your days at the National Farm Machinery Show very full and productive,” says Allen Barkve, general manager of Farm Industry News.
Social media will also be incorporated into the app to connect attendees (hashtag: #nfms12). To find additional information about the show, connect with National Farm Machinery Show by following it on Facebook and on Twitter @nfmslouisville.
The free application can be downloaded by searching “NFMS ’12″ in the Apple Store, Android Market and BlackBerry’s App World or by clicking here.
At the Beltwide Cotton Conferences I met Joe Wyrick, President, EWR, Inc. His company has a division called eCotton which “is dedicated to supplying the information processing needs of the cotton industry.” One of the new ways they’re doing that is with a brand new smartphone app called MyModules.
Cotton producers can register new cotton modules and have them transmitted to the gin automatically, with GPS coordinates if you like.
View the status of all of your modules.
View summary status of all of your bales.
This caught my attention since it is available for the iPhone and Android platforms. Joe gave me a demonstration on his iPhone.
Joe says the app electronically solves the problem of getting harvested cotton module data from the grower to the gin. It’s a two way flow so the grower also gets information back from the gin. A helpful feature is that the app captures data for later transmission if there is no local mobile carrier signal. That’s pretty handy.
If TASCAM ever releases their iM2 Microphone for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch you’ll be able to use it with their new PCM Recorder app. I just added it to my iPhone but haven’t used it yet.
PCM Recorder is a free app from TASCAM that turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a portable stereo recorder. Use it with the iM2 to record yourself any- where you go.
PCM Recorder has input and output level faders with an “on-screen” meter to help you check levels. It includes high and low EQ and a limiter to prevent overload. Save your recordings to your computer as WAV files or share with friends and fans by uploading them to Soundcloud.
Farm podcasters just got another gadget to add to their bag of tools. The freedomMIC from Scosche looks promising. It’s a wireless lav style mic which solves some issues that come with recording video of something you can’t get close to. It’s currently out of stock but hopefully that will change soon.
freedomMIC allows you to record with flawless audio on your iPod or iPhone. A built-in clip allows you to record yourself or conduct interviews from up to 33 ft. away from your device. freedomMIC can also be used to start/stop recording directly from the mic as well as activate the shutter function of your device to take pictures from a distance.
Improved Recording
This high performance condenser microphone uses an omnidirectional, hypersensitive microphone with DSP noise cancellation to capture accurate sound. It gives you the freedom to record audio and video while not having to worry about losing sound quality as you get further away from your device’s built-in mic.
Wireless Freedom
freedomMIC connects via Bluetooth to record high quality audio from up to 33 ft. away from your device. freedomMIC attaches conveniently to clothing for completely handsfree audio recording.
Click to Control
freedomMIC can also be used as a wireless remote for your camera. Press the button to wirelessly start and stop recording from the microphone. The microphone can also be used as a wireless shutter release for taking still pictures from a distance.
An integrated rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to 4 hours of run time. Use the included micro USB cable to charge freedomMIC.
Now there’s an app for AgWeb. Farm Journal Media just announced the launch of their mobile app.
“Our online user base—the largest web audience in agriculture—repeatedly turns to AgWeb for current market information, agriculture news and online tools and databases. The new mobile app will help keep growers connected to AgWeb from their mobile phones or tablets, even when they are in the field or on the road,” said Greg Vincent, AgWeb Editor.
Vincent anticipates that two of the most popular features of the new app will be its weather and markets sections. Users can get current local weather conditions, 12-hour weather history and forecasts, precipitation, wind forecasts and a seven-day forecast. The weather radar can also be expanded to show weather activity down to the road level, allowing farmers to see if they are getting rain on a particular field.
The new app is free to download, and available through iTunes and Android app stores for use on iPhones and Android mobile devices.
Don’t forget to include the AgWired app on your smartphone too.
Mobile app technology is growing fast in the ag industry. Even the dairy sector is seeing more and more of it. Take Select Sires which took their Select Detect activity monitoring system to a new level this year when they introduced the mobile optimized version at World Dairy Expo. I spoke with King Smith to learn more about it. In the photo he’s showing the new mobile app on an iPad.
This new mobile application allows dairy producers to access cow records from the barn, from the field or when they are on the go.
The mobile Select Detect application is optimized for iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad® and Android™-based phones. It allows for a quick remote review of cows on the high activity list, low activity list and heat expectancy list. Both daily and hourly activity charts can be viewed to determine if and when A.I. should be performed. This removes the need for dairy producers to be in the office to review the software and allows for a quick snapshot of activity that is updated every hour.
Hey iPhone fans. Today’s release and delivery of the new iPhone 4S makes it a great time to get the free AgWired app. And you Android folks don’t worry. We’ve got you covered too. Sorry Blackberry users. We have felt your pain this last week.
So here’s where you can go to join the thousands of people getting AgWired on their smartphones: AgWired App in iTunes Store
The AgWired App allows you to easily keep up to date wherever you are and provides multiple ways to to see news filtered by key word categories. Additionally, the app has a built in mechanism to provide you with the latest news produced by the ZimmComm News Network on alternative energy, the dairy industry and the latest in precision agricultural farming.
When you open up the app you use the drop down menus to find the latest news from AgWired, Domestic Fuel, Precision Pays and World Dairy Diary. Thank you.
I’ve already been getting questions about Apple new mobile operating system, iOS 5. That’s what happens when you tweet that you’ve got it!
Like many people yesterday, I was frustrated getting the update on my iPhone 4. It took about 2 hours to get it downloaded and then I couldn’t get the update installed due to Apple server overload. So I waited until this morning and then had no problem.
Here are a couple of initial thoughts for you:
1. I really like the changes in the camera functions. Now you can crop, enhance and Tweet, all built in. The photo here is one I took and did all three functions while out jogging on the Katy Trail (I stopped for a few seconds ) a while ago. Click on the photo for a larger version. When the phone is asleep you can just double click the home button, click the camera icon that now appears and you’re ready to shoot. No waking the phone up, finding and opening the camera app. The volume up control now lets you snap the shutter too which is a big help.
2. I was very confused about where my music went since there is no longer an iPod app. There is now one called Music instead. It only has your music. Videos have been moved to the Videos app. Makes sense and I breathed a sigh of relief. At first I thought it might have had something to do with the whole iCloud thing and music that you purchased through iTunes. The majority of music in on my computer came from CD’s that I own.
Other than that about all I can add right now is that there have been a lot of app updates. Getting those and updating them via iTunes took quite a while this morning. I know this isn’t a lot of information but those are just a few initial observations.
Tomorrow I am supposed to get my new iPhone 4S. After I get that set up I’ll share more.
Here’s a new app for your phone. The Hoosier Ag Today app was just announced. I’ve got it on my HTC Thunderbolt.
This free application provides farmers with up-to-the-minute market prices, time-sensitive news, and an exclusive Indiana agricultural weather forecast. But what makes the HAT app unique is that farmers can listen to exclusive audio content on their wireless devices. “This is in-depth information that is too long for today’s commercial radio formats but the kind of detail that today’s farmers crave,” said Gary Truitt, president of Hoosier Ag Today. The HAT app is currently available on the Android platform with an iPhone version ready for release in a few weeks.
The app was developed in collaboration with LoadOut Technologies at the Purdue University Research Park. A development team with experience in app creation and agriculture worked to create an application that meets the unique informational needs of the agricultural industry. This is a prototype of an app that will be developed for other farm media organizations across the Midwest. The app takes advantage of the time-sensitive and localized information that statewide farm broadcast organizations can provide, while delivery that information directly to farmers while they are in the field or on the go. (more…)
Joining the ranks of farm shows with an app is the Sunbelt Ag Expo. It’s the Know On The Go app for all your mobile device types. It’s on my iPhone already because I’ll be there next week thanks to the support of the New Holland Boomer 555 Contest!
“Know on the Go” is the official mobile app for the 2011 Sunbelt Ag Expo, to be held Oct. 18-20 at Spence Field in Moultrie, Ga. The Sunbelt Expo is a must-attend event for anyone in agriculture, featuring hundreds of exhibits, a working farm, equipment demonstrations and driving ranges, and various educational opportunities.
“Know on the Go,” provided for the first time by Farm Press Publications and Penton Media Inc., will allow those attending the Sunbelt Expo this year to use their iPhone, IPod Touch, iPad, Blackberry, Android and other web-enabled phones to receive up-to-the-minute news alerts and other breaking information during the three-day show.
“The Sunbelt Expo: Know on the Go mobile app was developed by Penton Custom Media and has been used at some of the largest trade shows in the nation,” says Greg Frey, vice president at Penton Media and publisher of Farm Press. “We believe this new technology will greatly enhance participants’ experience at this year’s Sunbelt Ag Expo.”
You might remember PrecisionEarth being introduced at InfoAg this summer. Well it’s now available for your iPad (or other iOS device)! PrecisionEarth makes Soil Sampling Simple, Faster, with less mistakes, and with less paper. Build up the Grower, Farmer, Field information as well as collect new boundaries, grids, and samples all inside PrecisionEarth, even when 3G/WiFi is not available. When complete export your sample results as vectors for use in other applications and backup your information to the included WebConnect Cloud Storage Account.
Already Have Source Data?
PrecisionEarth comes with Localconnect to automatically re-project and format vector and raster/imagery information. These can be vectors for boundaries and directed sampling locations, and images/rasters of your fields.
All of this comes for a one time fee of $250 USD in the Apple App Store.
If you’ve wondered how you can incorporate an app into your marketing strategy then take a look at Harvest to Hand. This is a unique, functional tool that a lot of people will appreciate. How do you think that makes them feel about the Farm Family Insurance Company that produced it? This screenshot is from my current location on my iPhone searching for events.
Harvest to Hand is a Labor of Love from Farm Family, part of the American National Family of Companies, providing insurance protection for farms, families, individuals and small businesses in rural and suburban areas for over 50 years.
We are committed to supporting agriculture through a knowledgeable agency force and a full range of insurance products that can address a diversity of needs. We help to educate our local farms and family generations on safety and risk mitigation with the focus on prevention and sustainability. Harvest to Hand is just another way Farm Family can support our agricultural communities and help connect locally produced agriculture with consumers across the USA.
We are proud of our own agricultural roots and happy to introduce you to Harvest to Hand. We encourage you to download and visit this app often as the listings continue to grow. And most importantly we hope you will remember to BUY LOCAL!
This week’s program is coming to you from the agriblogging highway. I’m on my way to the 2012 National Ethanol Conference while Cindy is on her way to the GROWMARK Dieselex Gold event. It’s a beautiful morning here at the St. Louis airport.
I visited with Bill during their annual customer appreciation dinner. In the photo Bill is awarding door prizes to the crowd of nearly 650 attendees. He says that’s a lot more than the first dinner they held at the show. As he puts it, “It’s a great time to be in ag.” I couldn’t agree more. However, Bill says that Fastline realizes the changing demographics of the farming community. That’s why they’ve launched Jill’s Junction and AgRacer to reach out to women and youngsters who are not only involved in the farm but are also the future of the farm.
In this week's program you can listen in to my conversation with Bill Howard, Fastline, about their new mobile game app, AgRacer.
