A new benchmarking tool has been developed by FarmLink that can help farmers get the fullest potential from their operations. “We’re helping a farmer identify where he should go find yield in a cost effective manner and other areas where he’s doing great,” says company president Scott Robinson about the tool they call TrueHarvest, which uses objective data to show …
Register Today For New Farmer Summit
Attention new and aspiring farmers you can learn about both the field and financial sides of farming while making valuable connections at the two-day New Farmer Summit April 4 and 5, 2014 at Primrose Valley Farm near New Glarus, WI. The low-cost event includes 24 practical workshops on topics such as caring for livestock, organic vegetables, orchards, bees, soil, equipment …
Vilsack at NFU Announces Small Farmer Help
During an appearance at the National Farmers Union (NFU) convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new and expanded efforts to connect smaller farmers and ranchers with USDA resources that can “help them build stronger businesses, expand to reach new and larger markets, and grow their operations.” In a press conference from the NFU convention …
New Poll Finds Farmers Less Optimistic
A new poll of Iowa farmers finds less optimism about the financial picture of agriculture this year. The Agri-Pulse Farm Opinion Poll, launched last month in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), found that farmers expect to see weaker financial returns in 2014 and will adjust their expenditures – spending less on fertilizer and equipment but more on crop …
The Wild Radish Song
I like radishes. But like some folks in Australia, not the wild kind. A parody of the Gotye hit “Somebody I used to know” by agronomic consultant Bill Long, who farms on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia as well as consults to a number of farmers in the region. This is a farmer’s lament on attempts to control wild …
Bayer Brings in Bloggers for Panel
During the Ag Issues Forum ahead of Commodity Classic last week, Bayer Crop Science brought in a panel of bloggers for a session called “Welcome to MY World: Consumers and Growers Seek Common Ground,” a conversation between three bloggers. The panel answered questions such as “What do your followers want to hear, how are they getting their information, and how …
Classic Farmland Movie Stars
Commodity Classic went to the movies last week with a sneak preview of the feature length documentary “Farmland” which will debut later this month. The media was allowed to watch, but not report on, the movie – but we are able to meet and talk with some of the stars who took part in a press conference at Classic with …
GROWMARK, John Deere Data Collaboration
GROWMARK and John Deere are collaborating to make life easier and improve decision-making for producers and agronomists. The two are collaborating to deliver near real-time field level data to producers and FS Crop Specialists by linking FS Advanced Information Services (FS AIS), a suite of precision agronomy software, with John Deere Wireless Data Transfer, JDLink™ and MyJohnDeere. GROWMARK Agronomy Marketing …
Bayer Panel Addresses Water Security
What the world needs most is water – but beer is pretty important too! So water security was one of the issues addressed during a panel at the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues forum last week in San Antonio, and beer was a big part of the discussion. The panelists included (left to right) Dr. Marco Ugarte with MillerCoors, Gary Beck …
Ag Leader AgFiniti Now Available
Ag Leader Technology’s new cloud-based platform AgFiniti® was a hit at last week’s Commodity Classic where growers were happy to learn that it is now available for them. “AgFiniti is an affordable and reliable solution for wireless connectivity in the field because it allows users the flexibility to choose the best wireless service carrier in their local area and hotspot …