Dr. Lowell Catlett, New Mexico State University economist and futurist, has been looking into the agricultural crystal ball for nearly 30 years. I remember seeing him speak back when Timbuk3 had their one-hit wonder “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” and Lowell used to gallop on stage to that tune wearing sunglasses.
That song was a hit back in 1986 and Lowell is just as funny, interesting and relevant as ever. I saw him at the Pursuit of Maximum Yields event organized by the GROWMARK system’s FS Green Plan Solutions in Bettendorf, Iowa Thursday and haven’t laughed so hard and learned so much in a long time.
One thing that makes him so entertaining is his facial expressions – that’s why I wanted to use several photos here. He makes his points without the aid of power points – he certainly doesn’t need them!
All of the 250 farmers at the event this week will certainly remember without the aid of a power point what Dr. Catlett called “The Crap Factor” – that is higher disposable income to buy more crap. “The quality of our life has gone up dramatically and the price to have (the necessities) relative to our income has gone down,” he says. That allows people to buy more extras, and in the case of developing countries, it means they have more income to buy more protein.
Lowell also talked about how smart phones are helping farmers. “You’ve got the ability to take that mobile technology and do plant diagnostics with it,” he said. In the future, he sees the use of open source hardware (not just software) and 3D assembly that could allow manufacturing to actually be done on site with local materials, like building tractors on farms in developing nations.
2011 has been a phenomenal growth year for MyWay RTK.
The service was launched in the fall of 2010 to bring subscription-based Real Time Kinematic positioning and wireless Internet access to the state of Illinois. That has been more than accomplished with coverage throughout the entire state and base stations being added almost daily in other states from Iowa to Idaho and Kansas to Mississippi.
“It would be fair to say the number of people that are participating has exceeded early expectations,” says GROWMARK precision agriculture manager Sid Parks, who recognized the benefits of the service early on for FS member cooperatives. “We deal with lots of different venders, different colors of equipment, different brands, different service providers and we had a need to be brand neutral,” he said.
MyWay RTK was the perfect solution to provide high quality, cellular modem based RTK differential correction service with accuracy to the one inch range, an improvement from perhaps 3-6 inches often used and with better year to year consistency. “The RTK quality signal is delivered through the internet and cell towers rather than FM radio signal,” Sid said. One important benefit to that is improved repeatability from one base station to the next. “Any place I have cell phone access, I have the potential to deliver that signal via modem.” In the future, it will also give the capability to share files and maps back and forth between the field vehicle and the office.
Sid is quick to point out that neither he nor GROWMARK has any ownership in MyWay RTK, they just knew a good thing when they saw it. “When I first found out about it, I went around with a company representative to our FS companies to show how they could participate – whether they chose to be a member or not, participate in the sales of subscriptions or as a user,” he added.
You can listen to my interview with Sid about MyWay RTK here: Sid Parks Interview
It is hard to believe that the AgWired App has been out for over a year! And the company staking an immediate sponsorship claim was and still is Raven, Precision Simplified. In this week’s program we’re going to learn that Raven has just “Simplified” their website and sees social media as a great opportunity to engage with their customers.
I spoke with Paul Welbig, Director of Marketing and Slingshot Operations this morning. He says that as it relates to information, reaching customers and new technology, the sponsorship of our smartphone application fit right in with Raven’s strategy moving forward, “We thought it was a great avenue to communicate with customers through that venue because a lot of those customers using those types of tools are also going to be customers using Raven and the Slingshot solution in the future.” When it comes to social media Paul says Raven has ample evidence that it is helping them engage with their customers, “That’s what it’s all about is making those connections and really helping support those folks as well.” He says Raven actively watches their social media channels and responds quickly to their customers.
When it comes to the new Raven website Paul says they’ve included a brand new section that provides technical help which you can find at RavenHelp.com. The company is also running a promotion right now where farmers can enter to win a complete RTK system that includes: Cruizer II™ guidance with sub-inch RTK accuracy — delivered by Slingshot® via wireless networks. The company will be exhibiting at a majority of the winter farm shows if you need to see them in person. You can find their schedule here.
Listen to my conversation with Paul in this week’s ZimmCast and learn more about what’s going on with Raven: Raven Simplified
Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.
This week’s program ends with a song called “Raven” by Mark Shepard from Music Alley. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for listening.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an independent technical company must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS signals that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared.
“It is critical that costs for resolving this issue are not passed along to farmers and ranchers through higher GPS or equipment costs,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said during a House Small Business Committee hearing on Wednesday. “LightSquared should cover the expense of all technical fixes related to the interference issue to ensure the cost is not passed along to farmers and ranchers.”
Many farmers rely on GPS for precision agriculture. This includes using GPS for accurate mapping of field boundaries, roads and irrigation systems; for precision planting; and for targeting the application of fertilizer and chemicals that combat weeds and crop diseases. GPS also allows farmers to work in their fields despite low-visibility conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness.
“While the deployment of broadband services is important for economic development, better education and improved health services in rural America, the use of precision agriculture is vital to America’s farmers and ranchers as they continue to feed, fuel and clothe the world,” Stallman said.
AFBF submitted comments to the FCC in July urging the agency to ensure there is no interference with GPS receivers prior to granting LightSquared permission to operate its high-powered base stations.
The precision ag arena has certainly been seeing a lot of activity in the development of new online and mobile tools. Here’sa new one from MyWay RTK called MyWay XChange.
Today MyWay RTK LLC officially launched MyWay Xchange, a new online tool that will connect MyWay resellers and customers in real time. MyWay designed the reseller portal to give resellers live information about their customers and base stations within their respective coverage areas, enabling them to ensure their customers’ RTK service is always performing at optimum levels. MyWay Xchange features a real time map that indicates the current or last known position of each customer. Having access to this live information allows resellers to specify a user’s proximity to surrounding base stations, so they can easily diagnose a connection issue in the event a user leaves the coverage area inadvertently. In addition, live streaming from base stations means resellers know at once if a base station ever goes offline.
“In the event a customer ever has a connection issue, the reseller now has the tools to resolve the matter quickly,” said MyWay RTK general manager, Andy Hill. “MyWay Xchange was engineered to not only alert resellers about current problems, but to also help them anticipate possible risks. Essentially, this tool helps minimize the chance a customer ever gets disconnected because of distance or weather problems.”
As MyWay Xchange features live Doppler Radar coverage for the entire United States, resellers can see both active customers and current weather conditions simultaneously on one screen. In the event severe weather conditions limit a user’s RTK service, the reseller can easily diagnose the problem’s source without leaving the office. Resellers can also use the radar coverage to view weather forecasts and warn customers of impending severe weather conditions beforehand.
A mobile version of MyWay Xchange – available at www.mywayxchange.com – has also been developed, providing resellers an easy and effective way to manage subscriptions, mount points, and login credentials while on the go. The mobile site offers benefits to subscribers as well, letting them manage their accounts and create custom profiles right from the field.
“These MyWay mobile tools let you manage your account without having to return to the office or farm during a hectic day,” said Hill. “It’s a convenience that will help MyWay customers and resellers to keep moving while they’re moving.”
Entrepreneurship is alive and well at Iowa State University. I visited with Michael Koenig at the Farm Progress Show about it. ScoutPro, a business started by 3 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students at Iowa State University will be launching their first products: ScoutPro Lite™ Soybean and ScoutPro Lite™ Corn at the 2011 Farm Progress Show on Aug 30-31 and Sept. 1, in Decatur, IL.
Seniors Michael Koenig, Holden Nyhus and junior Stuart McCulloh founded the new venture, ScoutPro, a software applications development company, following their involvement in an entrepreneurship in agriculture course taught by Kevin Kimle, director of the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative at Iowa State University.
The company has developed a crop scouting app which eliminates the guess work in crop scouting, while increasing producer’s efficiency and profitability. Through systematic questions, the app narrows down pests to ensure a correct identification. Additionally, the app creates field specific crop scouting reports to help producers make better management decisions. The ScoutPro Lite™ apps are compatible on all smartphones, iPads or other tablet devices.
In addition to the app, producers will also be able to manage all scouting reports and gain access to aggregated pest data through their own private, secure website.
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.
It’s always great to see farm broadcasters as featured speakers at events, so it was fun to see our good friend Dale Minyo with the Ohio Ag Net as luncheon speaker at the Conservation Technology Information Center tour August 9 in Northwest Ohio.
Dale talked about the importance of messaging for agriculture. “Sometimes we’ve got to clear up the message,” he said, using the example of increasing profitability in farming. “The way we’ve been able to make a profit is we’ve become more efficient,” Dale said. “It’s more about efficient, it’s about environmental concerns, it’s about being more effective about what we’re doing.”
Dale was pleased that the CTIC chose the Ohio region around Lake Erie to showcase some of the important initiatives that farmers are doing.
The luncheon where Dale spoke was on the Mavis Farm near Edgerton, Ohio. The corn and soybean operation is a fourth generation farm owned by Gary Mavis (pictured) and his wife Pat with son Scott and his wife Jenny. Gary says they follow a corn-soybean rotation on nearly 3,000 acres and divide each field into different yield zones. “We started yield mapping back in ’95 and after a few years of collecting data was able to established yield zones that we felt comfortable with,” he said. “Now we’re applying fertilizer based on those yield zones and we’re varying the rate as we go across the field it might varying 150-200 pounds depending on what the soil test has showed.”
That results in more efficient use of fertilizer and lime, less pounds applied, and money saved.
The winner is Jeff Peterson of Port Byron, IL. He’s flanked by Rick Hofer, Iowa Territory Manager (left) and Travis Goedken, Minnesota Territory Manager. That’s a nice prize to go home with!
While I was at this event I spoke with Katie Beeler. She says Ag Leader Technology is very happy to participate in a Corn Strategies event. Looking ahead to harvest she says auto steer and yield monitoring will help corn growers. The company will be at a number of summer farm shows and I know I’ll see them again soon.
I spent a lot of my career in the broadcasting business and never saw the Federal Communications Commission take action like they have been on the proposal from a company called Lightsquared to utilize high-powered, close-proximity transmissions from a network of ground stations that would cause substantial interference with GPS signals.. It is unheard of for them to allow a company to move ahead on a major project like this without doing full testing first. However, that’s what they’ve done. Fortunately the whole thing is on hold at the moment pending public comment. I think we’d all like more high speed internet access in rural America but not at the expense of GPS. Think about how much has been invested in GPS systems!
At the InfoAg Conference our closing session was titled, “GPS Under Seige: Lightsquared and the Threat to High-End Global Positioning.” This presentation was conducted by Kevin Kobb, Topcon (right) and Doug Schmuland, NovAtel. I spoke with them after their presentation. Kevin and Doug told me it has caused the major GPS producers and distributors to come together to understand the threat and then present that to the public and then work toward a favorable conclusion to the situation. The potential exists for this proposal to affect just about every device relying on GPS satellites. They say that now is the time to act and make your voice heard before the proposal receives a final FCC decision. You can find a lot of information on the website, Coalition To Save Our GPS.
Social media was part of the buzz at the InfoAg Conference this year. The conference is held every other year. This means that since the last one we’ve had a new iPhone, the iPad and Android! I’ve got some interesting stories to post on our Precision Pays website that include how a new company is using the iPad for precision applications.
So this is the stage from this morning when Paul Schrimpf, Croplife Media Group, Jeremy Wilson, Crop IMS and I conducted back to back session on social media. I want to thank all the folks who tweeted in using the conference hashtag – #InfoAg. Click on the link to see what the conversation was all about.
I have now moved from Nebraska to Illinois for the 2011 InfoAg Conference. This is all about precision agriculture so most of our coverage will be found on Precision Pays. Thanks to Cindy we have coverage already started since I was a little slow moving this morning. Here’s her report on the opening session:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative Project (ACRSIP) may well be the “most important thing that USDA has ever done,” according to Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse.
Scuse talked about the initiative as the keynote speaker at the opening of InfoAg 2011 in Springfield, Illinois on Tuesday. The concept is to simplify and provide new reporting options for producers. “Rather than a farmer or rancher going to the local FSA office to do their crop reports as they do now and have to give a second report to their agent, they can actually do the report from home,” Scuse said. “Our ultimate goal is for those that have precision ag equipment in their planters and combines to actually use the information that’s collected from that equipment to be downloaded directly to their Farm Service Agency and to the crop insurance agent, to simplify the process even further.”
Scuse says they plan a pilot test of the program this fall and hope to have it implemented by 2013. “This is how we’re going to provide a better service for farmers and ranchers,” he said. “It will ultimately save the taxpayers a great deal of money with this initiative.”
Chuck and I are tag-teaming this InfoAg Conference. He will be covering tomorrow while I head to Dixon, IL for a Wyffles corn strategies field day. Chuck will be doing a presentation on using social media here at the conference on Thursday.
This is the newest app on my iPhone and will be on my Android phone later this morning. It’s the InfoAg 2011 Conference app.
The InfoAg 2011 Conference, hosted at Springfield Illinois’ Crowne Plaza, from July 12-14th, is pleased to add a digital Conference Companion available exclusively for the InfoAg 2011 exhibitors and attendees. Designed to supplement the online conference program, this app allows its user to view an at-a-glance program, search speakers, exhibitors, and presentation synopses, as well as create a personalized conference itinerary.
As you can see from this screenshot I’ll be on the program talking about social media. Our moderator for that session is Paul Schrimpf, Group Editor, Croflife Media Group. Also in our session will be Jeremy Wilson, Technology Specialist, Crop IMS. Our session will be offered twice next Thursday. Hope you can make it.
The app is the creation of Quentin Rund, PAQ Interactive. Get it and let him know what you think. I think this is going to become a standard offering of shows of all kinds, farm included. Kind of like the “old” conference brochure but much easier to use and carry around!
The Coalition to Save Our GPS is growing as new evidence mounts that a proposed communications network would interfere with GPS systems. New agriculture industry members of the coalition include AGCO, Agricultural Retailers Association, National Agricultural Aviation Association, National Cotton Council of America, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, North American Equipment Dealers Association, and USA Rice Federation.
A report was submitted last week by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) technical working group on the potential for interference to GPS from the proposal by Virginia-based company LightSquared to set up 40,000 wireless broad-band stations across the nation on a frequency that is right next to the one used by GPS.
According to Ken Golden with Coalition member John Deere, the report affirms that the proposed LightSquared network would have a serious impact on farmers. “The report of the working group demonstrates there is no practical solution to mitigate the interference that would result if the proposal is allowed. It is not acceptable to allow a new network to interfere with these vitally important industries and weaken the strong competitive position of the U.S. in the global economy. Research has shown that losing the use of GPS technology could have a negative impact of $14 billion to $30 billion annually for U.S. farmers.”
GROWMARK is one of the coalition members also, and I talked with Manager of Precision Farming Sid Parks about why this is such an important issue for the industry.
“The coalition was formed as group representing those users of GPS technology across not only agriculture, but other industries as well,” Sid said. “It is a very wide-reaching potential threat to the pulse of America, really.”
That includes public safety, aviation, transportation, construction, technology, recreation, and shipping – just to name a few. “We are a user of the technology and we try to use it to be the most efficient operators we can,” said Sid.
A company that wants to create a new, integrated wireless broadband/satellite network is facing opposition from agricultural global positioning system (GPS) providers and users.
As we reported on Precision Pays, Virginia-based company LightSquared
has proposed to set up 40,000 wireless broad-band stations across the nation on a frequency that is right next to the one used by GPS. Opposition to the plan became organized in the form of the Coalition to Save Our GPS, which consists of a wide variety of industries and companies, including agricultural interests and technology providers such as New Holland, Deere, GROWMARK, Leica Geosystems and Trimble Navigation.
This week, the company announced a solution to the GPS interference issue by moving to a lower block of frequencies that is “largely free of interference issues with the exception of a limited number of high precision GPS receivers that are specifically designed to rely on LightSquared’s spectrum.”
Agricultural interests are concerned about that exception. A study released by the Coalition to Save Our GPS estimates that LightSquared’s plan could result in “direct economic costs of up to $96 billion to U.S. commercial GPS users and manufacturers.” Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble, says the analysis “also highlights how LightSquared’s recently announced ‘solution’ to the interference problem, which LightSquared admits will not reduce interference for high precision GPS uses, is no solution at all. High precision GPS uses represent nearly $10 billion in historical investment by GPS users over the last five years and $30 billion in annual economic benefits.”
“The use of GPS technology is vital to thousands of people who make their living with agricultural and construction equipment. It is simply not acceptable to allow this new network to interfere with these important industries when all indications are that there is no practical solution to mitigate this interference,” said Ken Golden, director of global public relations at John Deere. “In agriculture, the loss of a stable GPS system could have an impact of anywhere from $14 to $30 billion each year. That could significantly erode the strong competitive global position of U.S. farmers in the world agricultural economy.”
Meanwhile, the 2012 agriculture appropriations bill recently passed by the House includes language specifically to register concerns about the LightSquared network and directs the USDA “to ensure the FCC is aware of these concerns.”
You can make sure your mix is right when you get the Precision Laboratories Mix Tank App. And if you need a device to get it then get your entry in for the Mix Tank App iPod Giveaway. Here’s some advice about adding sulfur from the folks at Precision Laboratories:
Recent plant tissue testing has shown an increased need for sulfur in Midwest corn fields. Sulfur functions as a structural component of proteins and amino acids, a catalyst for chlorophyll production and as a nodulation enhancer in legume crops. With recent research showing a positive crop response to sulfur applications, retailers and growers are interested in adding sulfur to their corn fertility programs this season. But they may be heading for trouble.
One of the easiest ways to add sulfur in corn is to include ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) with urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) as a carrier for pre-emerge herbicide applications. But ATS can challenge the emulsifier systems used in most pre emergent crop protection products and cause incompatibility problems in your sprayer. These problems can reduce weed control, plug screens and nozzles as well as make clean-out more difficult and time-consuming.
Researchers from Precision Laboratories, the leading supplier of custom adjuvants and specialty chemistries, have screened numerous pre-emergent herbicide combinations with ATS, UAN and various compatibility agents. They found that while several compatibility agents worked well in UAN, most did not work well once ATS was added. Convert ™ compatibility agent was specifically developed for eastern corn belt customers to use in UAN and ATS tank mixes. On the market for more than 10 years, Convert has one of the highest rates of emulsification and will improve stability and eliminate compatibility problems associated with tank mixing UAN and ATS solutions. (more…)
MyWay RTK LLC – a precision farming technologies company that specializes in open-technology RTK (Real Time Kinematic) – introduced industry veteran, Andy Hill, as the new General Manager. Hill comes from Premier Technologies, Inc., bringing with him 20 years industry experience in precision farming and agriculture.
With its territory already blanketing the entire state of Illinois and quickly expanding in states like Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, MyWay RTK executives sought a proven industry expert to oversee the company’s continued growth.
As General Manager, Hill’s primary role will be facilitating the expansion of the MyWay RTK territory and working with industry representatives to implement the latest MyWay RTK offerings.
Planting season has officially started with the first USDA crop progress report of the year released this week. Three percent of the nation’s corn crop planted – the same as both last year and the five year average. Cotton is running on schedule with seven percent planted and sorghum is 20 percent.
As the planters start moving through the fields, Precision Laboratories is reminding growers to get the most out of their fields by getting the most out of their weed control by following two simple steps:
1. Reduce costly tank-mix incompatibility issues by following the proper mixing sequence
Tank mix compatibility issues can cost you time and money – lost spraying time from plugged sprayer nozzles, lost product and the risk of cross contamination problems later. Precision Laboratories recently released a simple and unique way to identify the correct mixing sequence for your crop protection products. The new Mix Tank app for iPhone and iPod touch, is the first of its kind, helping you determine the accurate mixing sequence for pesticides, adjuvants and foliar nutrition products. With over 700 crop protection products from over 15 manufacturers, the new Mix Tank app can process any combination of products and determine the correct solution. Download the Mix Tank app at http://bit.ly/MixTank. And if you don’t have an iPhone, you can enter to win a free iPod Touch loaded with the app and other tank mixing resources. To register for the Precision Laboratories/ZimmComm iPod Touch giveaway, click here. (more…)
Agricultural equipment and machinery manufacturers are implementing more advanced electronics into their products these days to help farmers become ever more efficient. That’s why “Smart Farming” will have its own special segment at Agritechnica 2011, November 15-19 in Germany.
During the 2011 Commodity Classic, I had a chance to chat with our friends Malene Conlong and Annette Reichhold with DLG (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft – German Agricultural Society) who organize the bi-annual Agritechnica. Malene says they chose “smart farming” as the special topic to highlight during Agritechnica this year. “You guys in America actually started this off with your precision farming and this is something that we’ll be exploring in depth,” she said. “By 2050 we’ve got 9 billion people on the earth and these people have to be fed somehow and I think smart farming is one of the ways that will be possible.”
Agritechnica started in 1985 and is the world’s largest agricultural machinery and equipment exhibition, with 2300 exhibitors and 355,000 visitors. They recently partnered with the AgConnect Expo here in the United States to build up a similar show on this side of the Atlantic on the off years – even though they will technically be held in the same calendar year.
It’s Spring folks and that means it’s about time for farmers to get in the field! And just in time to help them out, Precision Laboratories has a mobile application that will be very helpful. It’s the Mix Tank App which was just recently announced. In this week’s program we’re going to learn more about it and the company.
I spoke with James Reiss, Vice President of the agricultural chemistries business and Daniel Ori, Marketing Specialist. The company is headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois and provides “specialized chemistries applied to plants, seed, soil and water to maximize resource and biological performance potential while stewarding the environment.” It was founded in 1962 and entered the ag industry in 1976.
There are several things about their new mobile application that really help set it apart and I think ultimately will make it successful. To start with, the Mix Tank app provides a service that you can’t find on the web right now and it’s one that is not only needed now but will become increasingly important as time goes on. This unique, needed service, is a really good characteristic of a good app. It seems to be rock solid in performance, at least from my short time using it on an iPod Touch. And finally, it allows you to save custom tank mixes and share them out via email, Twitter and Facebook. As you’ll hear Jim and Dan say, this app has been really well received by not only farmers but retailers and consultants who want to use it as a way to communicate their recommendations to customers!
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
Chuck and Mike often wind up at the same events all over the country so it seemed like a good idea to do a little AgriTalking about the changes they've seen in the ag media landscape.
Dr. Lowell Catlett, New Mexico State University economist and futurist, has been looking into the agricultural crystal ball for nearly 30 years. I remember seeing him speak back when Timbuk3 had their one-hit wonder “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” and Lowell used to gallop on stage to that tune wearing sunglasses. 
One thing that makes him so entertaining is his facial expressions – that’s why I wanted to use several photos here. He makes his points without the aid of power points – he certainly doesn’t need them! 
Lowell also talked about how smart phones are helping farmers. “You’ve got the ability to take that mobile technology and do plant diagnostics with it,” he said. In the future, he sees the use of open source hardware (not just software) and 3D assembly that could allow manufacturing to actually be done on site with local materials, like building tractors on farms in developing nations.
The service was launched in the fall of 2010 to bring subscription-based Real Time Kinematic positioning and wireless Internet access to the state of Illinois. That has been more than accomplished with coverage throughout the entire state and base stations being added almost daily in other states from Iowa to Idaho and Kansas to Mississippi.
“It would be fair to say the number of people that are participating has exceeded early expectations,” says 
It is hard to believe that the 
The 
Many farmers rely on GPS for precision agriculture. This includes using GPS for accurate mapping of field boundaries, roads and irrigation systems; for precision planting; and for targeting the application of fertilizer and chemicals that combat weeds and crop diseases. GPS also allows farmers to work in their fields despite low-visibility conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness.
It’s always great to see farm broadcasters as featured speakers at events, so it was fun to see our good friend Dale Minyo with the 
The luncheon where Dale spoke was on the Mavis Farm near Edgerton, Ohio. The corn and soybean operation is a fourth generation farm owned by Gary Mavis (pictured) and his wife Pat with son Scott and his wife Jenny. Gary says they follow a corn-soybean rotation on nearly 3,000 acres and divide each field into different yield zones. “We started yield mapping back in ’95 and after a few years of collecting data was able to established yield zones that we felt comfortable with,” he said. “Now we’re applying fertilizer based on those yield zones and we’re varying the rate as we go across the field it might varying 150-200 pounds depending on what the soil test has showed.”
I have now moved from Nebraska to Illinois for the 2011 InfoAg Conference. This is all about precision agriculture so most of our coverage will be found on 
The 
As we 
Agricultural equipment and machinery manufacturers are implementing more advanced electronics into their products these days to help farmers become ever more efficient. That’s why 
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
