Last week during the AG CONNECT Expo in Orlando, Florida, Hemisphere GPS launched the G100 all-in-one steering and guidance system for auto-steer ready agricultural vehicles. I caught up with Dwayne Hildebrandt, the Sales Manager for North America, during the event to learn more about their new product which is best suited for strip till or row crop farmers. The EDrive X is a centimeter level steering solution for these applications and can be combined with the 8220 or 8221 dual frequency RK1 base station solution, explained Hildebrandt.
I asked Hildebrandt what the advantage is to a farmer of purchasing GPS. He answered that typically farmers have had to plant or apply inputs by eye or with the use of a disk marker which reduces accuracy. He also noted that these technologies can be quite heavy and cause issues with the set up of the machinery.
“GPS technology works very well independent of dusty conditions, or day time or night time and really allows a lot higher precision because you’re not relying on operator experience,” said Hildebrandt. “So it allows the farm owner to virtually put anyone in the cab and get very, very good accuracy in terms of planting precision and application precision.”
Precision, said Hildebrandt, is one key to profitability and with their GPS technologies, farmers are not wasting as much on inputs, thus reducing their costs.
Listen to my interview with Dwayne here.
During the show, NAEDA was approached by some of the international manufacturers to set up some dealer networks in the U.S. Williams said that there are two secenaries these manufacturers have. One is they have a patent pending and two an existing company wants a presence in the States. In order for NAEDA to help them, Williams said the patent must be approved first and then he needs to know if they are wanting to sell through a distributor or dealers. “We’re giving them suggestions about dealer agreements and tools that dealers need to take a new product international.”
There were many tractors and loaders filling the McCormick booth during 
Many people came to McCormick’s booth to encourage them, along with other American-based companies, to invest more overseas in investment and education. While Miller agreed that this should happen, he also said that more international ag companies should consider investing in America’s agricultural industry.
For the sixth year in a row, 
high quality feed, consistency of feed and how well the corn cracked. The cross Jaquar delivers all that.”
Valmont Industries took home two AE50 awards during the AG CONNECT Expo last week including one for its Base Station 2 with soil moisture monitor. Michele Stolte, with 
Dr. Tom Richard, Associate Professor with Pennsylvania State University, kicked off the session discussing the agricultural value of adding winter crops or double crops to a farmer’s rotation. An example of a winter crop that would be suitable for Pennsylvania is winter rye. Once harvested, the crop could be used for cellulosic ethanol. An example of a double crop would be planning a grain such as barley in the spring followed by a summer crop such as corn or soybean. Richard noted that when most people do a biomass potential study, they don’t factor in winter crops and double crops, thus reducing the amount of biofuels that could be produced on the same amount of land currently in production.
It’s time for the