One of the benefits of the recent International Conference on Precision Agriculture in Indianapolis, IN was the chance for different groups and different companies, even some competitors, to get together to find common ground for the good of the agriculture industry. Enter AgGateway. “AgGateway is an organization focused on enabling eCommerce in the agricultural industry, and it goes across trading …
John Deere: Your Tractor is Calling
One of the images Chuck saw at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture was a picture of a farmer on an cell phone, being called by his tractor. While it might be a bit of a parody, it’s not too far from the truth. In an interview with Aaron Bartholomay from the Intelligent Solutions Group of our sponsor, John Deere, …
Agvocating With Kenny Wallace
Illinois Corn Growers got to hang out with “The Agvocate” Kenny Wallace at Chicagoland Speedway today. It’s NASCAR racing weekend and Kenny will be driving in tomorrow’s Nationwide STP 300 race. Kenny attracted a big crowd to the exhibit area outside the grandstands this afternoon. He talked to them and signed autographs for an hour. I heard one fan say …
NASCAR and Ethanol at Chicagoland Speedway
It’s NASCAR race weekend in Joliet, IL at Chicagoland Speedway. My home today and tomorrow. I’m joining the Illinois Corn Growers and Family Farmers for two races. First up will be tonight’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 225. Then on Sunday we’ve got the second annual STP 300 which is part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The Sprint …
Precision Farmer of the Year From Australia
The recipients of the 2012 PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence were honored during the International Conference on Precision Agriculture. Thanks to Paul Schrimpf, group editor of the CropLife Media Group, for the photo since I could not stay for the luncheon at which the awards were presented. Pictured are the award winners with Elliott Nowels (l), Director of the PrecisionAg Institute, …
New EVP of Missouri Cattlemen’s Association
Congratulations to Mike Deering who is the new Executive Vice President of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association. Mike is a good friend and the ag media have loved working with him in his former role as head of communications for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA is losing a good one here. He will assume the position on Sept. 23. Deering …
International FarmSight
Attendees at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture got the full overview of the John Deere FarmSight strategy from Mark Stelford who does Solutions Marketing in the Intelligent Solutions Group. I visited with Mark afterward. Mark says that when you look at some of the megatrends in agriculture and outside the industry like demand for food, fiber and fuel between …
Checking Soil is Dusty Work
Getting down and dirty during the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour is Roger Windhorn, Illinois NRCS State Office. You can watch his presentation in the video below. Roger had a tough job since it is dry and hot in Illinois and as you’ll see in his presentation, there’s a big lack of moisture even down past four feet in …
Growing Options for Nutrient Management
Keynote speaker Dr. Newell Kitchen, USDA-ARS, had a unique title to his presentation, “From Poking Holes to Precision Sensing: Options Growing for Nutrient Management.” He wanted to be clear that the options available to farmers today for managing nutrients are growing. He started out with a historical perspective on what has taken place in this area in recent years. One …
Remote Sensing Still Developing
The first of the two keynote speakers at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture is Dr. David Mulla, University of Minnesota. Dr. Mulla is a past chair of the conference btw. His topic was “Key Advances and Remaining Knowledge Gaps in Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture.” So he talked about what we know and what we don’t know. It’s clear …