EZ-Sync from Trimble to Keep Producers & Offices Connected

John Davis


2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

There’s another innovation from Trimble making its debut at the National Farm Machinery Show here in Louisville, Ky.

Trimble has sent out this press release introducing its EZ-Sync™ solution, a wireless data transfer capability that provides enhanced information management for growers and agribusinesses. While I was at the Trimble booth checking out the newly announced EZ Surface Software that provides surface drainage analysis and design for farmers and drainage contractors, I also caught up with Brian Stark, who does information management for Trimble and is the company’s EZ-Sync expert.

“EZ-Sync allows you to take data wirelessly from a mobile computer or from the Trimble FMX display and send that data from the field to the office. Or, if I’m in the office, I can send my data from the office, [such as] prescription maps or target points, to the field.”

Stark says the software is compatible with several different computers Trimble offers, and it lets producers and managers exchange information in real time. Plus, it decreases the amount of data that is lost simply because workers don’t have time to manually enter information gained in the field when they come back to the office. And, managers are able to better communicate with their workers still in the field.

“Just think about the possibilities here. If you have someone out there soil-sampling, they could be out there collecting sample points, finish the job, hit a button, [and download that information directly to the office],” says Stark.

Stark says you can’t really put a price on how valuable that fresh data will be for those in the field and at the office.

For more information, check with your local Trimble dealer or go to www.Trimble.com.

You can hear more of my conversation with Brian below.

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland

Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS

Trimble Shows EZ-Surface Software at NFMS

John Davis


2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

California-based Trimble, a technology company specializing in software that has, among others, applications for agriculture, construction and mapping, has introduced its EZ Surface Software to provide surface drainage analysis and design, especially for farmers and drainage contractors. This marks the first time in the industry where the complete survey, design, layout, machine control, install and map capabilities in one system like this comes from one company.

I stopped by the Trimble booth here at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. and talked to Joey Schlatter of Schlatter Inc. of Francesville, Indiana, who sells Trimble products.

“This software helps contractors define watersheds and flow patterns so they know how to properly drain their fields, whether using surface or sub-surface drainage methods.”

Schlatter says studies indicate that crop yields can be affected by 20 percent or more, well above most producers margins. With this system, elevation data is gathered through using some GPS-based tools from Trimble.

“Once we’ve collected all that elevation data, we bring that data into the office, into our EZ Surface program and generate a 3-D elevation map. Then, with a click of a few buttons, we can see the flow lines, watesheds and all the tools we need to properly design that [drainage] system.”

Schlatter says you can find out more information from your local Trimble dealer and at the company Web site: www.Trimble.com.

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland

You can hear all of my conversation with Joey here:

Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS

Championship Tractor Pull at NFMS

John Davis


2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

One of the great things about the National Farm Machinery Show here in Louisville, Kentucky is that it is held in conjunction with the Championship Tractor Pull … the largest, oldest and most prestigious indoor tractor pull, according to Corinne Fetter, Director of Expositions for the Kentucky State Fair Board.

I sat down with Corinne to talk a bit about the tractor pull and its association with NFMS.

“This is the 42nd year for the tractor pull and the 45th year for the National Farm Machinery Show, and so the two have worked together for quite a while now. And we feel they complement each other rather well.”

She says for the men and women who compete in the tractor pull that it is truly a labor of love, that takes a lot of time, effort and money to get the kind of performance and down-to-your-toes rumble and roar that these machines produce.

But she also credits the crews who get the track ready to give the pullers a world class area to put their machines through their paces. And she says none of this would be possible without the fans.

“For some of them, this is their vacation every year. And I can tell you, there are plenty of red fans, and there are plenty of green fans.”

You can see a short clip of a few of the pulls below:

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland

You can also here more of my interview with Corinne here:

Audio, NFMS, Video

New Holland Wins FinOvation Award at NFMS

John Davis


2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Chalk up another innovation for our friends at New Holland!

The company that is bringing you AgWired’s coverage of the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. is being recognized with Farm Industry News’ FinOvation Award for New Holland’s BB9000 Series large square balers at this year’s show.

I caught up with New Holland’s Platform Marketing Manager for Crop Packaging (which includes balers), Colin Skoronski, to get some of his thoughts about the award and the baler.

“The BB9000 is continuing to bring innovation … integrated density systems, on-the-go changes, the ability to adjust itself for what the customer has for desired inputs.”

He adds that New Holland is the first company to bring an true integrated bale weight system, an on-the-go weighing system that lets the customer know exactly what he’s making for bale weights. Skoronski says that’s especially important for producers who are custom baling and want to make sure they have just the right amount of weight in that bale. And for the customers on the receiving end, they know exactly what they are getting as well.

Skoronski says it’s a culture of innovation at New Holland.

“That’s how New Holland started way back when … [what New Holland was known for was] talking to the customers and listening to the customers and understanding what their true needs were and figuring out a better way for them to do it.”

And that innovation continues today.

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland

You can hear more of my interview with Colin here:

Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS

Farm2U

Amanda Nolz

I have recently become a Facebook fan of a cool group, Farm2U. This page is made by farmers and ranchers and is written for consumers. With informative news articles, personal farm stories and positive messages, Farm2U is designed to bolster consumer confidence and trust in America’s food supply once again.

With 1,691 fans to date, Farm2U describes itself as, “A place to connect with farmers and ranchers and ask questions about why we do what we do to grow and raise food for you.”

Represented in this fan page are several folks within the agriculture industry including: a grain farmer, cattle rancher, dairy producer, hog farmer and even moms. What a great way to utilize social media in order to share the positive message about agriculture with consumers! Check it out!

Agribusiness, Social Networking

Are You Carhartt Tough?

Amanda Nolz

My favorite clothing gear on the ranch, Carhartt and Cintas have recently launched a search for North America’s toughest workers. The Are You Carhartt Tough? Contest is being conducted in conjunction with the roll-out of a new product line being offered by the two companies. I know at my cattle operation in South Dakota, we don’t step foot outside without our Carhartt coats (and layers of long johns, of course!), and I want to know who else out there is Carhartt tough?

Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq:CTAS), North America’s largest uniform supplier, has partnered with Carhartt, a global manufacturer of premium workwear, to offer Carhartt garments for the first time in a Uniform Rental Program.

With Ducks Unlimited® acting as media sponsor, contest organizers will reach out to the American workforce to identify people who are strong, dependable, resilient and rugged.
Beginning on April 30, three finalists will be announced each quarter. After a year’s time, all twelve finalists will be featured on the contest website where the public will be encouraged to cast votes for the toughest of the tough. Two Grand Prize winners will receive either a weekend duck hunt trip designed by Ducks Unlimited® or a trip to The STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series in 2011.

If you think you’re tough enough, submit a short essay and photograph for this contest here.

Advertising

What’s New at NFMS

John Davis


2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Hello from the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky! Cindy is off to Florida, and I’m going to be here at NFMS for a couple of days covering events.

Just a few minutes after I got into the airport, I was able to find my way to the Louisville Convention and Expo Center just in time for a seminar officially entitled “High-horsepower, Row-crop Tractors.” But it might be more accurately called “What’s New at NFMS.”

Among those presenting from some of the major manufacturers of farm equipment was our friend Tom Lano from New Holland. I videotaped his presentation with Chuck’s Flip video camera:

I apologize for the shaky video (not quite like the good ol’ days of betacams) and shaky editing (Windows Movie Maker is a little different than what I used to use), but I think you get a sense of what he presented. For time purposes, I had to edit out part of the promotional video Tom presented, but I was able to keep the video of the T-7000 line of tractors’ new anti-lock braking system (ABS).

“The tractors are getting bigger and bigger and heavier and heavier, and we’re carrying huge loads behind them down the road … so they need to be safe.”

Tom went on to say that New Holland does farm machinery shows all over the world, and these events gives New Holland not only the opportunity to show off what they have, but they can also get a lot of good feedback from the farmers who have to use this equipment every day.

Tom also talked about how New Holland was the first company to OK a 100 percent biodiesel blend in all their tractors … pretty darn important when you consider many of the folks who use their tractors are using them to plant and harvest the feedstocks, such as soybeans and canola, that make that same biodiesel they put in their tanks.

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:
New Holland

You can here more of my conversation with Tom here:

New Holland, NFMS

Getting To Know Leica Geosystems

Chuck Zimmerman

Leica GeosystemsSince I’ve found that many AgWired fans are not familiar with Leica Geosystems, a new sponsor of ours, I thought it would be helpful to post a little background for you. You can also listen to an interview I did with Rob Kiernan at the recent AG CONNECT Expo. In it he said:

“Being a late entrant in the precision ag market, we have had the advantage of looking at what the market is seeking and identifying the gaps.” One of the gaps Leica identified was that of timely service. To address this need, Leica developed the Virtual Wrench™ service.

“Virtual Wrench is the world’s first remote service option. It gives the people who are operating the machinery the ability to reach out to the service team without having to leave the cab. Through cell phone connectivity, our technicians can look right inside that machine and see exactly what the operator is seeing. We’re able to help people with that service very quickly and very efficiently anywhere there is cell phone service.”

Translated, that means farmers aren’t waiting for a service truck to arrive in their field to fix the problem. Leica has found that about 90 percent of the service calls related to ag electronics can be “repaired” remotely, as it is primarily a matter of adjusting the various settings to the terrain and the task at hand.

So just what is Leica Geosystems? To start with it’s part of a nearly 200-year-old Swiss company with a long heritage of pioneering measurement solutions around the world. That background has been why they believe they can offer a strong lineup of precision ag products to today’s farmers. Read More

Agribusiness, Leica Geosystems, Precision Agriculture, Technology

A Biodiesel Family

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 249In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of the music of Emily Richards and Jason Brock since I first met them at a National Biodiesel Conference years ago. The photo is from one of the screens that was displaying them during their time on stage at the conference and I thought it looked cool.

Emily Richards and Jason BrockEmily announced that she and Jason have been working on a music project since last year’s conference. They’re using a service called CCMixster and have published the first of three albums. This first one is available for a free download right now. It’s already on my iPhone.

Emily says they wanted to create an album of music on biodiesel. They created a project called, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Remix” or R4. They had about 50 musical contributions from the CCMixter community. The Brown album is the first of what will now be 3 albums. You can learn more about how the R4 project worked with this link.

After the final general session concluded I interviewed Emily and Jason along with CCMixster member Bob Nunnally. Jason describes the CCMixster community and how it fits in well with the biodiesel community. This week’s program contains that interview as well as a song from the Brown album called, “Biodiesel Family.”

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.

Audio, Biodiesel, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta Seeds, Inc., announced it received import approval from the National Commission for Sanitary Risks of the Mexican Ministry of Health (COFEPRIS) for genetically modified corn event MIR162, also known as the Agrisure Viptera trait.
  • The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives launched a campaign to tell the story of this country’s 2,500 farmer cooperatives to policy makers, government officials, and the American public. Based around the theme of “Farmer Cooperatives: Providing for America”, the campaign will emphasize the central role that co-ops play in preserving the family farm, supporting the rural economy, and bringing innovative products to consumers in the U.S. and around the world.
  • The American Humane Association and the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) praised the new HBO movie, Temple Grandin, which aired Saturday, Feb. 6.
  • Manna Pro has launched a new corporate logo and and tagline, Nurturing Life, which reflect the modern values of its primary customer base.
    Zimfo Bytes