SMS Training and Resources

Melissa Sandfort

Insights Weekly One goal of the Ag Leader SMS Software team is to provide training opportunities and resources that are effective regardless of the users SMS knowledge and fit into their busy schedules. This is why they have put all of their resources in a simple, single location for growers to get to: sms.agleader.com (or go to agleader.com and click Support).

At the beginning of every month, Ag Leader offers free online webinars that growers can sign-up to attend. If you don’t have time to attend during our scheduled times, there are pre-recorded versions that have been posted for you to watch at your convenience. These serve as great precursors before attending one of the online or classroom trainings that will be held throughout the winter, which you can now sign-up for.

Under the SMS Resources page, here are links to other resources such as:

– Documentation: i.e. getting started guides and manuals
– YouTube tutorials: videos that describe individual tasks like reading in files and exporting field and product names, prescriptions and crop plans, guidance, and variety tracking information
– Discussion Forum: a dedicated discussion board for SMS products where you can ask questions and get answers from Ag Leader and other SMS users
– Spatial Data Links: links to assist you in finding other data to import into SMS or used for other purposes in your operation

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

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    Zimfo Bytes

  • In a special ceremony at Chicago’s historic Drake Hotel Sunday, the Meat Industry Hall of Fame inducted six new members into the Class of 2013.
  • Jerry Burns has joined the Wheat Growers’ MZB Marketing Team as a key account specialist.
  • DuPont recently received two prestigious Agrow Awards in recognition of innovation and excellence in its R&D pipeline and packaging innovation efforts.
  • World Dairy Expo announced that as of Dec. 1, 2013 Susan Orth will be stepping into a newly created role, Sponsorship Manager and Crystal McNett has been named Trade Show Manager.
Zimfo Bytes

What’s Your Choice for Hunting Ride?

Talia Goes

zp-nhOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ”What’s the biggest threat to getting the Farm Bill done?”

Our poll results:
· Lack of bipartisanship – 39%
· Nutrition reform – 36%
· Other – 18%
· Animal ag issues – 7%

The farm bill conference committee has still only met once, but there is some hope they will have a compromise bill by Thanksgiving. In the meantime, fall means it’s hunting season in many areas of the country for various types of game and more hunters these days are using off-road vehicles. Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Which vehicle do you prefer for hunting?” Are you good with the basic four wheel ATV or does a bigger utility terrain vehicle better suit your hunting needs? Let us know.

ZimmPoll

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  • Two farmers from Illinois and Minnesota – both growing Roundup Ready 2 XtendTM soybeans – are seeing first-hand the efficacy of dicamba for weed control, as well as seeing the value that Diversified Weed Management Practices (DWMPs) can have on their fields.
  • Zoetis introduces Excenel RTU EZ (ceftiofur hydrochloride) Sterile Suspension with a lower viscosity formulation that improves syringeability by 40 percent.
  • Kinze Manufacturing, Inc. is launching a new blog called “Sparks of Innovation.”
  • Nearly all of the strawberries in the United States are grown in Florida or California, but faced with growing competition in the industry from Mexico, a team of UF researchers is looking for ways to diversify the industry.
Zimfo Bytes

New Sponsor for Great American Wheat Harvest

Chuck Zimmerman

C & B OperationsThere is a new gold sponsor for the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film. C & B Operations, LLC which represents
24 John Deere dealerships in South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, all featuring agricultural equipment, service and parts has jumped on board.

“We value the family-owned business traditions of C & B Operations, LLC, and the historical impact this company and the town of Gettysburg, SD brings to the overall narrative of our film project,” Weaver says. “Their management and marketing practices provide the leadership that has laid the foundation of attracting generations of loyal customers, which we appreciate.”

Gettysburg was founded in 1883 by veterans of the Civil War, and in 1991, because of their shared heritage, became “sister-cities” with Gettysburg, Penn. C & B Operations, LLC began in 1988 when Dan Cronin and Rod Burwell purchased the John Deere store in Gettysburg to maintain a John Deere dealership in Cronin’s hometown. In 1999, Cronin passed away and his son, Matt, took the role of president to date, while Burwell remains chairman.

“A film like the Great American Wheat Harvest encapsulates the heritage of farmers, custom harvesters and life in rural America,” says Matt Cronin, president and CEO, C & B Operations, LLC. “It is important to use communication vehicles, such as this documentary, to show the American public how important the agricultural industry and the family farmers are in feeding the world.”

Agribusiness, Harvest

Rain, Rain, Go Away …

Melissa Sandfort

imageCome again another day,
Little Farmer wants to…harvest!

Today Aunt Jeanette writes:

As I was sitting in my sunroom this afternoon watching the raindrops ‘plink’ on the deck rail, this children’s rhyme seemed quite fitting.

Remember when I was hoping for a good, soaking rain between planting season and irrigating season? Well, someone must have misunderstood, as it seems the signals got crossed and we are getting the good, soaking rain during harvest! I guess on a positive note, we will have some time to get caught up on things in the office that have been neglected. Furthermore, I do not know many farmers that have ever complained about rain any time of the year (except the times it has been accompanied by hail, high winds, and/or freezing temperatures!).

No, I really do not want the rain to go away. It has settled the dust and given us a much-needed break from long, grueling hours in the combines, grain carts, semis, and elevator. It is also quite possible we may get more than five or six hours of sleep tonight! And just maybe some of those huge cracks in the ground (some of which could swallow a small child!) will disappear.

My very favorite part of a rain, however, comes at the end. No matter how many clouds are in the sky, my optimistic self always looks for the rainbow and the sign of sunny days ahead.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Hand-Held Grain Moisture Tester

Talia Goes

GT 30300 Box_Case_UnitTo help producers more accurately monitor the condition of their grain during harvest and in storage, John Deere introduces the GT-30300 Grain Moisture Tester. This new hand-held device provides direct readout of moisture and test weight for 20 different grains in seconds, without pre-weighing the samples, at the touch of a button.

According to Barry Deiters, product manager with John Deere Merchandise, the new GT-30300 Grain Moisture Tester is the most accurate and advanced hand-held tester available. “The tester measures the moisture of harvested or stored grain from 5 percent to 45 percent with repeatable accuracy to plus or minus 0.2 percent and test weights with repeatable accuracy of 0.5 lb. per bushel, without having to pre-weigh the samples.”

The tester also measures the temperature of stored grains from 40 to 120 degrees F with repeatable accuracy to within 1.0 degree. Other features include a backlit LCD display for easy viewing of data, automatic temperature compensation and USB port and cord to make software updates and downloading data easy and convenient. Each unit comes with an attached swiper for grain leveling and heavy-duty carrying case.

Agribusiness, John Deere, Technology

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What Does the Farmer Say?

Cindy Zimmerman

This parody of the viral “What Does the Fox Say?” is way less annoying – and has a great message for non-farmers. Derek Kingenberg is a Kansas farmer who could give the Peterson boys a run for it. CNN’s Eatocracy calls him “delightfully demented!”

Already has half million views – “work, work, work!”

Video

iCropTrak Updates Improve Soil Sampling

Cindy Zimmerman

icropCogent3D, makers of iCropTrak, have taken soil sampling to a whole new level for farmers this fall.

Aaron Hutchinson, Cogent3D president and co-founder, says they took the best practices from their dedicated soil sampling apps and feedback from soil sampling customers to upgrade iCropTrak Soil Sampling capabilities. “iCropTrak is the third generation of our farming technologies that we’ve built,” he said.

With the recent App store updates, Aaron says soil sampling has been refined to make it significantly faster to operate and easier to create and collect grid and zone sampling. “So that somebody who might be a seasonal worker or a full-fledged professional can get the most from our tools,” he said.

Aaron tells me that they are working on another release for Spring will increase the performance of the technology by a factor of ten. “So we’re ready for the new MyJohnDeere.com data connections that everybody’s been hearing about, as well as being able to deal with some of the very large amounts of data that people are starting to collect on their farms,” he added.

iCropTrak is sold in over 50 countries and Aaron says they recently spent a month in Africa, where six of the ten fastest growing countries in the world are located, and next week they will be at Agritechnica in Germany.

Listen to my interview with Aaron to learn more: Aaron Hutchinson, iCropTrak

iCropTrak is an iPad/iPhone mobile app and personal cloud combination that lets you customize the features of the application including its sampling and scouting forms. iCropTrak mobile app can be found in the Apple iTunes store and the custom cloud can be purchased directly from iCropTrak sales team. You can also check them out on Facebook or through their ad on the AgWired mobile app.

Audio, Farming, Technology