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 …
Livestock Reports Not Sexy, Hard to Understand, and At Risk
For anyone who has ever done livestock market reports in the media, you know how complex and how intertwined they are. What happens in one market can greatly affect all of the others (including what goes on in the grain markets), and understanding these relationships is certainly not an easy task (doing markets for Chuck back during our days at …
Insight into John Deere FarmSight
When it comes to FarmSight, Jerry Roell has the insight. He’s John Deere’s Director, FarmSight, Intelligent Solutions Group. Jerry says they began developing FarmSight about two years ago looking at three areas. The first of these is machine optimization and trying to figure out how to make machines more efficient, more productive and to monitor machine help. The second area …
Private Companies Also Worried About USDA Cuts
Previously, we talked about how USDA officials are concerned about how possible budget cuts will affect their ability to keep providing the timely, accurate reports on which so many farmers depend. And they’re not the only ones concerned. In our continuing series looking at the recent Farm Foundation webinar on data collection, we hear from Paul Hughes of Nestle Purina …
USDA: Environment Not Conducive to Public Info
At a time when farmers rely more and more on good information, officials at the USDA worry that budget cuts are going to make their job of providing information to those farmers more difficult. “We were being stressed right now in an environment not conducive to public information,” said Joe Prusacki, Director, Statistics Division, at the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics …
GROWMARK Supports ASTA
Matt Hynes, Manager, Agronomy Marketing, for GROWMARK is on the board of the American Seed Trade Association as a Regional Vice President. I spoke with him to learn more about ASTA and why GROWMARK is supportive of the organization. To start with Matt says that the seed business is part of what GROWMARK does. “To be part of an organization …