Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue briefed members of the House Agriculture Committee Tuesday on the current state of the rural economy and USDA’s farm bill priorities. “We’re in a very different situation than when you last contemplated a farm bill,” said Perdue in his opening remarks. “The state of the rural economy is fragile.” Secretary Perdue was asked about a number …
Precision Ag Bytes 2/7
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International has announced the appointment of the newly formed Agricultural Aerial Remote Sensing Council to serve on a steering committee and as brand ambassadors who will help develop the Trusted Operator Program for remote pilots and unmanned aircraft systems training organizations that serve the agriculture community. Billi Hunt has been named the Executive Director …
Scouting With Aerial Precision Imagery
While many farmers have embraced the technology available to scout fields with unmanned aerial vehicles, Jeff Buyck with C&B Operations has taken things a bit further. The John Deere dealer from South Dakota uses manned aircraft to scout fields and help area farmers identify problem spots more quickly. “It’s really being able to detect an issue before you can see …
Water For Food Charts the Way Forward
The Water for Food International Forum last week ended on a high note as more than 40 high-level participants from around the globe shared their vision for and commitment to how the private and public sectors can work toward expanding access to irrigation. Kicking off the very large round table discussion was World Food Programme Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Distinguished Fellow …
Dealers Seek Solutions for Growers at Develop with Deere
The 2018 Develop with Deere conference saw growth in the number of local equipment dealers attending, as they continue to seek solutions that will help their customers. “They’re certainly looking to fill gaps in the Operations Center that are specific needs to their customers in their areas. That varies greatly,” said Brad Silva, Platform Marketing with John Deere. “It doesn’t …
TapLogic Provides ‘Ease and Control’ in Soil Sampling
Growers who want to handle soil sampling on their own terms might appreciate the connection between John Deere and TapLogic, a longtime leader in “do it yourself” soil sampling. “We really built everything with the grower in mind first,” said Cyrus Alexander with TapLogic. “It’s ease and control. Control is a big thing… control and choice. A grower gets to …
Large and Small Companies Collaborate for Grower Success
Building a relationship with an established company like John Deere can be a game changer for a start up company like Farm Dog. “Getting that Deere brand next to our name is just huge on the credibility aspect,” said Liron Brish, co-founder and CEO of Farm Dog. “I’m no longer random Farm Dog company when I go speak with a …
Farmers Mutual Hail Turning Data Into Usable Information
Since the acquisition of John Deere Insurance Company in 2014, Farmers Mutual Hail has built upon advancements in technology and resources to ease the processes for acreage reporting, adjusting reporting and claims adjusting for crop insurance. “One example would be saving hours compiling scale tickets and all the various pieces of information that you have to aggregate to actually do …
Reaction to President Trump’s SOTU
President Donald Trump made no direct mention of agriculture in his first State of the Union address, but he did address important issues for agriculture and rural America including infrastructure and immigration, trade and taxes. Trump called on Congress to “produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs,” …
Precision Ag Bytes 1/31
The annual Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association (NeATA) conference will be Feb. 7-8 in Kearney at the Younes Conference Center. Learn more about the conference here. The National Association of Conservation Districts announced the 2017 poster and photo contests winners at the organization’s 72nd Annual Meeting. Each year, the NACD and NACD Auxiliary photo and poster contests give students and adults …