The extreme dry weather in the midwest was very evident at this week’s Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour. Out in the corn fields we had a nice breeze, but that breeze was blowing a lot of dust! On our first stop, Martin Case, AGROTAIN, was a presenter. This is the second year of this tour and we’ve gone from …
Mobile Farm Manager App From John Deere
How about managing your farm operation from your iPad or Iphone? John Deere plans to make that happen later this year. Tyler Hogrefe, seen here being interviewed by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News, is a Product Manager for John Deere in their Intelligent Solutions Group. He was a presenter at their FarmSight Tech Summit. I spoke to him about John …
FARRM Bill Amendments: What Made the Cut
More was proposed than adopted, but in the end, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, better known as the FARRM bill, moved out of the House Agriculture committee with 43 amendments (see a complete list of what was approved, defeated, withdrawn and tabled here from our friends at Agri-Pulse.com). One of the more significant amendments that passed kills …
Corn Market Commentary
Corn growers got the world market viewpoint today at the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies from Bill Tierney, Chief Economist, AgResource Company. I spoke with him after his presentation. China was a market he spoke about and I was fascinated to learn that the average holding of corn there is about 10-12 feet wide by about 60-100 feet! Bill says, “When …
House Committee Considers Farm Bill Amendments
Last month, we told you about how the U.S. Senate had trimmed the number of amendments in the Senate Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, better known as the Farm Bill, from 300 down to 73. Today, the debate moved to the House, as the House Agriculture Committee was adding and subtracting the lower chamber’s own amendments (about …
Controlled Release Nitrogen on Corn
The Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour stopped at Herb Steffen’s farm again this year. At his farm we received presentations on the use of controlled release nitrogen on corn that according to Herb includes our sponsor’s products – AGROTAIN! Herb says he and his family have farmed in the area since 1863 so you know these people really take …
Preview of Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour
The 2012 CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour is about to kick off in sunny Illinois. I spoke with CTIC Executive Director Karen Scanlon this morning to get a preview of the project and our tour. Internet access and time is limited today since we’re on a farm tour but I’ll be collecting stories and interviews to share in …
Precision Ag is Cloud Mobile
Cloud management of data for precision ag applications and more is just a natural part of the continuing technology revolution and it is now here thanks to AgIntegrated which is launching their Onsite service very soon. To learn more about Onsite and AgIntegrated I spoke with Mike Santostefano, Director of Marketing and Business Development. Mike says that during the last …
BASF Looks to Tackle Sustainability, Quality Issues
When it comes to feeding a growing population, quality is just as important as quantity. Since farmers need to be producing more food, while at the same time being responsive to the quality needs of their customers, the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit in Chicago featured a panel with representatives from Purdue AgriBusiness, Murphy-Brown and JBS United to talk …
John Deere Mobile Weather
Mobile weather sounds like it would be a high priority for farmers today. John Deere unveiled their version of it at the FarmSight Tech Summit. I visited with Janae Tapper, Product Manager in the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group about the product. For private and commercial applicators who need precise weather information in order to make proper product application and …