The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that recreational users of unmanned aerial systems, or drones, must register their systems with the federal government. A task force will be created to develop recommendations for a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, “Registering unmanned aircraft will help build a culture of accountability and responsibility, especially …
Total Factor Productivity Can Increase with Precision Ag
Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is a way to measure outputs versus inputs and the key tool of the annual GAP Report produced by the Global Harvest Initiative. This year’s report, “Global Agricultural Productivity Report: Building Sustainable Breadbaskets,” was released during World Food Prize and John Deere’s Kelly Winquist provided a preview of how countries are doing with TFP. “So its …
Ag Biologicals Can Play Starring Role in Productivity
Colin Bletsky, Vice President of BioAg, Novozymes was a participate in the panel discussion following the 2015 Gap Report release during World Food Prize. In an interview, he says that Novozymes came on board with Global Harvest Initiative because the company has a mission to help develop sustainable technologies. Bletsky is also passionate about this mission in his role as …
John Deere Int’l Mobile Training Unit Sees Success
During the during the World Food Prize I had the opportunity to learn about a new mobile training unit pilot program from Geoff Andersen, director, Global Citizenship and Strategic Planning with John Deere. The unit was first used in Ghana and Kenya to help more than 60,000 farmers learn how to increase productivity. Andersen was in country to work with …
Check out the My New Holland Mobile App
Our phones are king and we get loads of information through them and now you can access additional agriculture information via New Holland’s My New Holland app. My New Holland is a personalized space for New Holland customers and a user can access instructional videos, operating and maintenance tips from New Holland product experts, educational white papers, and more. “Our …
#GAPReport2015: Productivity, Sustainability Must Be Priority
The global productivity of agriculture has stagnated for the second year in a row and productive, sustainable agriculture must be a priority. This was one of the main findings of the 6th annual Global Agricultural Productivity Report: Building Sustainable Breadbaskets (#GAPReport2015) released by the Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) today during the World Food Prize taking place this week in Des …
The Commercial UAV Expo
We keep hearing that it’s “the year of the drone.” Here’s more proof of that. The first ever Commercial UAV Expo is slated for October 5-7 in Las Vegas and AgWired is a supporting media sponsor. To learn all about it I visited with Lisa Murray, Diversified Communications. Lisa says that not only is there a precision agriculture segment of …
Online Data Tool from FarmLink, Progressive Farmer
Arriving for the 2016 planting season, growers will soon be able to subscribe to an online tool through DTN/The Progressive Farmer and FarmLink. The two companies have announced an agreement to develop a new dashboard product to help farmers evaluate productivity. Combining DTN/The Progressive Farmer’s local weather stations and cash market information from FarmLink allows for a new product that will give …
Ayrestone Productivity Making Data Transer Efficient
There’s a revolution coming in agriculture, and it has to do with technology and how data is managed. “There’s just a lot more devices today that talk on a network and more coming all the time,” Bill Moffitt with Ayrstone Productivity told Chuck during the recent InfoAg Conference. His company offers producers long-range wi-fi networks that can cover up to …
Prez Candidate Rand Paul: Stop EPA Farmland Grab
Republican Presidential Candidate and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is kicking off his first Iowa radio campaign ad “decrying the Obama Administration’s land grab of Iowa farmland”. The radio ad will be heard on farm radio stations. The ad is focused on the Waters of the US legislation and highlights the devastating consequences of the new regulation. “In Washington, DC, President …