ASTA Annual Meeting Kicks Off

Meghan Grebner

Industry leaders and seed experts are in Indianapolis this week for the 131st American Seed Trade Association’s Annual Meeting. ASTA CEO Andy Lavigne says much of the discussion this week will focus on innovation and technology in the seed industry. The meeting kicks off Thursday morning with Purdue University president Mitch Daniels.  Lavigne says Daniels will focus on innovation and that will set …

Agribusiness, ASTA, Biotech, Seed, Technology

FS Sales Lens Offers New Views

Cindy Zimmerman

A great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand. GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand …

Audio, Farming, FS System, GROWMARK, Technology

iCropTrak Introduces 60 Second Soil Zoning

Cindy Zimmerman

iCropTrak has released a new mobile farming app with the ability to create a new grower, a new farm, add CLU field boundaries, and soil zones in as little as 60 seconds on an iPad without the need of a desktop or cloud server. According to Cogent 3D president Aaron Hutchinson, this new application means that for the first time, …

CropTrak, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Technology

Syngenta Survey Confirms Ag Loves Digital Tech

Jamie Johansen

A majority of growers and other agricultural professionals turn to online sources first for general information about their industry, and over half of them use mobile or handheld devices 10 or more times per workday. These are some of the key findings in a recent Syngenta survey, in which more than 300 readers of Thrive, the company’s production-focused magazine and …

Agribusiness, Syngenta, Technology

Google Glass Intern

Kristin Liska

This past week at the NAMA convention, I was lucky enough to try the infamous Google Glass. Needless to say, I fell in love with it. I am sure for the first ten minutes I looked like an idiot trying to figure it out, but I got the hang of it. While I was wearing them, all I could think …

Media, NAMA, Technology

Typo Keyboard for iPhone 5/S – AgNerds Rejoice

Chuck Zimmerman

My agnerd order has been placed for a Typo Keyboard for my iPhone 5S. I am eagerly waiting for it. Why? Because I like typing on real keys. I’ve become “better” at typing on the virtual keyboard but . . . Typo has apparently pissed off Blackberry though. For some reason they think they “own” the physical keyboard. Last week …

Equipment, Technology

Alltech Asks “What If”

Jamie Johansen

Knowledge and planning provide a sense of relief, particularly in business. Business and Technology, one of the six major sessions during “What If,” the 30th Annual Alltech International Symposium will help attendees stay worry-free by asking, “What if there are faster ways to predict the future?” The session will offer businesses strategies to maximize efficiency by embracing technological innovations and …

Agribusiness, Alltech, Crop Science, Events, Technology

Breaking ZimmGlass News

Chuck Zimmerman

I just got my new ZimmGlass frames with my prescription lenses installed! That’s news! These give me my full trifocal prescription, allow me to read the Glass screen and are transitions to boot. No need to worry about being out in the sun and wondering what to do. The old frames I had did have clip in sunglass lenses though. …

Technology

FarmLink Offers TrueHarvest Benchmarking Tool

Cindy Zimmerman

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 …

Audio, Farming, Precision Agriculture, Technology

Ag Leader AgFiniti Now Available

Cindy Zimmerman

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 …

Ag Leader, Audio, Commodity Classic, Farming, Precision Agriculture, Technology