New Holland Perfect Combine Initiative

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Combine FB AppFor New Holland the Perfect Combine is an initiative celebrating the production of the 50,000th TC New Holland. It happened in the Plock Poland plant in October.

To celebrate the milestone the company is taking a look back through the history of the combine model with the use of a Facebook App.

When users access this app, they will be involved in a quiz, having to answer some questions about the product’s history as well as the world’s history. Questions will trigger the ability of users, who can prove their knowledge about every single detail of TC Combine’s history… definitely a challenge for real New Holland fans! 🙂

The initiative is shareable thanks to the creation of special digital postcards, different according to the question answered. Each user who answers all the questions will gain a special info graphic, delivered by the app, to share with friends.

Celebrate this important goal for with New Holland in a funny and easy-going way.

Agribusiness, Apps, New Holland

Prince Agri Products Symposium

Chuck Zimmerman

OmniGen-AFNext up on the AgriBlogging Highway for me is the pre-conference symposium at the Penn State Dairy Cattle Nutrition Workshop. The symposium is sponsored by Prince Agri Products and will focus on Mastitis Management and Transition Cow Health. Reducing the incidence of mastitis and enhancing transition cow health can have a significant impact on dairy cattle health, milk production and profitability.

Prince Agri ProductsI’ll be conducting interviews with the presenters during the morning on Tuesday, November 12. Here are the presentations being featured:

• “Management Practices for Enhanced Transition Cow Health and Production,” Robert Corbett, D.V.M., Dairy Health Consultation, Spring City, Utah.
• “Managing Mastitis in Dairy Heifers to Improve Overall Herd Health,” Steve Nickerson, Ph.D., professor of lactation physiology, Animal and Dairy Science Department, University of Georgia.
• “Revisiting Prepartum DCAD: Reducing Hypocalcemia of Transition Cows,” Dave Beede, Ph.D., professor of dairy nutrition and management, Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University.
• “Keys to a Good P&L: Strategies to Make Money,” Greg Bethard, Ph.D., G&R Dairy Consulting, Calmar, Iowa.

Prince Agri Products has created a new microsite for their OmniGen-AF product you will want to check out.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Dairy

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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  • 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.
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What’s Your Choice for Hunting Ride?

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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.
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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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