iPad mini Impressions

Chuck Zimmerman

I have been using my iPad mini for about four days now. Just thought I’d share a few thoughts since I’ve been getting emails and messages from people wondering which iPad they should buy this holiday season. My advice includes taking a serious look at the mini. Here’s mine in my hand displaying the AgWired App at full screen.

The first impression I had of the new iPad mini is of course the size. It’s more like a paperback book than a large hardback. It is lighter and that makes extended reading or browsing much easier on your hands and arms. I have no problem with the smaller screen. I got the wifi only version since I have two phones that can make a hotspot. Why have another plan?

The mini uses the same lightning connector as the iPhone 5 so now I have two cables! I was going to buy an extra one until I realized the iPad mini comes with one.

Battery life on the mini has been impressive. I’m not doing a bench test review here but after using the device over several days I had only used a fraction of the battery that my (now old) iPad would have for the same amount of use.

This is just a first impression. I’m impressed! I love the size, the battery life and my travel bag is now lighter. I have no negative comments. Do you have one? What do you think? Please feel free to comment.

Apps, Technology

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Wheat Growers and Curry Seed announced that they have formed a strategic alliance enabling Wheat Growers to be the exclusive dealer of Curry brand seed in more than 30 counties of central South Dakota and 16 counties in southern North Dakota.
  • Intermountain Farmers Association has become an Alltech Official Partner of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy.
  • Ruth Jensen, Santa Maria, Calif., received the American Agri-Women LEAVEN Award.
  • Precision Laboratories is pleased to announce that their Mix Tank app was “highly commended” for “Best Stewardship Program” at the recent AGROW AWARDS gala.
Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Charleston|Orwig announces the promotion of five team members within the agency’s integrated marketing practice area.
  • A first-of-its kind global learning initiative is providing Syngenta employees working in plant breeding and related disciplines with ongoing access to knowledge and programs to enhance their life-long professional development.
  • Syngenta announced that it will acquire Sunfield Seeds.
  • The new Kleckner Scholarship will be utilized to support at least one global farmer’s participation in the Global Farmer Roundtable – a special project of the Truth About Trade & Technology Foundation.
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New Beginnings at Ag Leader Academy

Melissa Sandfort

Ag Leader Academy had an extremely successful year in 2012. It housed nearly 140 Dealer Trainings this year covering 13 different courses! Dealers came from around the world to learn more about Ag Leader products so they could provide their customers the best support possible.

Ag Leaders addition of Hydraulic Down Force and Intellislope has opened up new opportunities at Ag Leader Academy. Ag Leader dealers will now have 15 courses to choose from for 2013. With a rapidly growing product line and the world becoming ever busier it can be difficult for dealers to keep up on latest product functionalities. For 2013 Ag Leader Academy is trying harder than ever to make it more ergonomic for dealers to attend training. Ag Leader dealers will be able to register and attend courses through webinar, self paced training modules and at Ag Leader Academy in Ames. Ag Leader Academy has is excited to launch its new online dealer training platform for 2013. Below is a sneak peak of what Ag Leader dealers have to look forward too! Happy Holidays from the Ag Leader training Team!

Ag Leader

Have a Sweet Thanksgiving!

Cindy Zimmerman

Of the many foods we have to be thankful for in this nation, I’ll bet there are lots of people who are thankful every day for the gift of chocolate! Oh yeah!

This is an image of our sweet Thanksgiving greetings sent this year to some of our clients. Hopefully most received them before leaving for the holiday, but if not, it will be waiting for you at your desk on Monday. Some other clients will be receiving a sweet bag of Florida citrus next week. We want you to know how much we appreciate not only your business, but your friendship as well.

We also are very grateful for the hundreds of other business associates and AgWired readers that we count as our friends. Wish we could send everyone a whole bushel of Florida citrus and sweet chocolate to let you know how much we appreciate you! You are all in our prayers of gratitude this holiday and we wish you the sweetest joys of the season!

ZimmComm Announcement

What’s on your wish list?

Melissa Sandfort

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ” What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?”

Our poll results: Thirty-three percent said turkey; twenty-five percent said other; twenty-one percent said pumpkin pie; fifteen percent said sweet potatoes/yams; and six percent said Cranberry sauce/relish.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What gadget is on your Christmas wish list?” Are you hoping for a new smartphone? A new tablet? An upgraded item or nothing at all? Let us know!

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

FMC Talks New Product Lines

Jamie Johansen

FMC Corporation shared new product lines during the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talks. Chuck talked with Bentley Curry, FMC Representative, about herbicides and harvest aids farmers can take advantage of in the fields.

“This year we had the Authority line of products in combination with Authority XL, Authority MTZ. Probably the product that was best fitted for the Mid South was Authority MTZ. It has a great point when you get resistant management where we got pigweed, water hemp and lambs quarter that has become glyphosate resistant. It is a super fit for that because it gives residual that you can go down at pre planting and at planting with the product and take care of those small seeded resistant type weeds.”

“On the cotton side we are really excited about a new product for the defoliation department called Display. I had the opportunity to look at sizable acreage of it this year. It had just received its label for 2012. We had the opportunity to see it after some rain events had come in. The cotton was getting pretty close to harvest and the cotton had greened back up, had all this second growth and typically that stuff is really hard to get off the cotton plant. But Display is a new PPO type compound that disrupts the cellular action in the leaf and gives you really fast dry down of that juvenal growth. It take that stuff off the plant, shuts the plant down from growing and gets it ready for harvest.”

Listen to my complete interview with Bentley here: Bentley Curry - FMC Corporation

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Cotton, FMC, Harvest, NAFB

SMS Basic/Advanced v12.5 and SMS Mobile v6.5 released!

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyAg Leader is pleased to announce the release of SMS Basic/Advanced v12.5 and SMS Mobile v6.5. With this new release, SMS Basic, SMS Advanced, and SMS Mobile PC now support Windows 8 and gesture control for touchscreens running Windows 7 and 8. We have also added enhanced support for the following precision ag companies: Ag Leader Technology, CNH, Gradient, John Deere, Mid-Tech, Precision Planting and Trimble. Changes have also been made for Legends and the Legends Utility for SMS Basic/Advanced.

With the release of v12.5, Ag Leader is adding two new modules to SMS Advanced: Water Management and Plot Prescription. The new Water Management module includes a tile plan editor where users can map out and plan where tile lines should be installed on their farm. The Plot Prescription module allows you to strategically place and define in-field research plots in the office and then use these plot prescriptions to plant in the field. Click here to learn more about the modules for SMS Advanced.

Before updating to the latest version of the SMS Software, here are a few things you should do first:
• Check In Projects – If you are an SMS Advanced user, all projects that have been “Checked Out” need to be checked back in. This can be done by going to the File menu and clicking Projects.
• Create a backup of your data – Creating backups ensures that you have a good starting point in the event in that you have issues during migration or if you have other computer issues, such as a bad hard drive, down the road. Backups can be created by going to the Services menu and clicking Backup/Restore Project(s)
• Plug devices into the wall – If you’re using a laptop, Ag Leader MESA, Ag Leader Field PC, or other pda device, make sure that you have it plugged into the wall. This will ensure that your device does not loose power while installing the update or migrating data.

If you have SMS Mobile for PDAs or have unlocked your software via phone, you will be sent a CD in the mail. Otherwise, if you would like to install the software sooner, see the release notes, or download a demo version for one of our other SMS products, click here.

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

OMG GMO!

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the positive outcomes of the 2012 election was that Californians actually voted against Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of foods containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). However, those opposed to GMOs continue to attack the technology that increases safe, affordable and abundant food by stepping up their scare tactics.

GMOinside, for example, is urging people to “Celebrate a Non-GMO Thanksgiving!” Check this out:

Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating around the dinner table with family and friends. But, is there an unwanted guest at your table? You may not realize that many common Thanksgiving foods contain genetically engineered ingredients!

The website proceeds to provide a chart to help people “identify the GMOs in popular holiday foods” and urging them to “keep a look out for foods from companies that opposed Prop 37, such as Campbell’s, Coke, General Mills, Kraft, Nestle, Pepsi, Hershey, Unilever.” Oddly enough, turkey is not mentioned on the list, despite the fact that the majority of commercial turkey production uses corn for feed – and most feed corn is genetically-modified.

What really bugs me about the non-GMO movement is that the people who are most against modifying crops to prevent disease or tolerate drought are very much in favor of attempts to genetically-modify humans to prevent or eliminate diseases or increase life spans. What’s wrong with that picture?

One of the main reasons that Thanksgiving is celebrated during this time of the year is to give thanks for the blessings of the harvest. Instead of demonizing GMOs, we should be giving thanks for the scientific breakthroughs that continue to allow us to produce more bountiful harvests every year.

Biotech, Food

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

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  • Mark Clarke, General Manager of World Dairy Expo, has submitted his resignation to the WDE Executive Committee.
  • Paradowski Creative and Monsanto received a first place Silver Inkwell Award from the International Association of Business Communicators DC Metro chapter for Monsanto’s sustainable agriculture campaign.
  • DuPont Pioneer and the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Foundation announced a donation from the business to double the number of student internship grants available to NAFB member radio and television stations and networks.
  • DuPont Pioneer and Cargill announced they will work with farmers near Cargill’s facility in Sidney, Ohio, to grow Plenish high oleic soybeans in 2013.
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