Deere Dealers Gain From Conference

Carrie Muehling

The 2019 Develop with Deere Conference saw more John Deere dealers attending as they strive to stay current on available technology and know how to best help their farmer customers.

“This is where some of the future of John Deere lies,” said Jeff Barnes with Greenway Equipment. “The way that Deere is thinking about partnering with these software guys and incorporating them in, I think it’s very important as a dealership to support this effort and come here, because I think we need to continue encouraging all the companies that are out there that you have a network. You’re not just working with Deere, you’re working with a dealer network to help deliver these solutions to a broader marketplace.”

Barnes valued the opportunity to find nearly 80 software companies in one place and see what each is bringing to the table. He also appreciated the ability to talk with other dealers about how they are implementing different technology. Marcus McDonald with James River Equipment agreed.

“There is no easy button when it comes to precision ag,” said McDonald. “The way I approach it, everything is customizable. Every farm is different, so being able to customize a software or a program or some type of package is huge for us at a dealership. Having that ease of changing program, changing packaging, offering different services, a different level of services is big for the dealership.”

McDonald said support is also a key piece for dealerships when it comes to partnering with software companies as they work to keep their customers profitable and ultimately stay in business themselves.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Barnes, Greenway Equipment

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Marcus here: Interview with Marcus McDonald, James River Equipment

2019 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere

Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show Underway

Cindy Zimmerman

The Big Easy is the place to be this week for nearly 8,000 cattle industry professionals who were ready to GEAUX for the official start of the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Wednesday.

“Every year the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show hosts members from every segment of the beef industry,” said NCBA President Kevin Kester of California. “Not only is the event a great opportunity for attendees to network and learn about the newest technology and science to improve their operations, but it’s also when we set our policy priorities for the next year.”

Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw delivered the keynote address at the Opening General Session, which was followed immediately by the opening of a 6.5-acre trade show. Highlights this week include the D.C. public policy issues update, NCBA policy committee meetings, the “Mardi Gras Masquerade” hosted at Mardi Gras World, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the closing general session on Friday, and the Cowboy Concert Series featuring music stars Big and Rich.

The Convention will wrap up Saturday morning with a meeting of the NCBA’s Board of Directors, where official public policy positions will be set for the coming year. In this interview, Kester talks about some of the big issues for the organization this year. Interview with Kevin Kester, President, NCBA

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Find photos and audio from the event in the official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

ZimmCast 607 – Developing with Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

In this week’s program I share some more analytics from ZimmComm media content. This time it’s photos and videos – Flickr and YouTube. Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine, only topped by Google?

We also have some interviews to share from last week’s Develop with Deere Conference, starting with Kayla Reynolds, Digital Business Development Manager, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. 

I also chatted with Brandon West, Evangelism Leader, Americas, AWS, who gave a keynote speech during the conference and Ryan Heiniger, Pheasants Forever, who talks about working with John Deere.

I hope you enjoy this week’s program and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 607 - Developing with Deere

John Deere, ZimmCast

AWS, Deere Partner on Data Application

Carrie Muehling

Participants in the Develop with Deere Conference in Chicago had the opportunity to hear a keynote address from Brandon West, Evangelism Leader, Americas, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

West shared that John Deere is a partner of AWS, and the groups have similar philosophies. While West said John Deere is working to build a platform for collecting agronomic data and make it useful for software developers, AWS is trying to provide the primitive building blocks of the internet operating system. He said the volume of data being collected is massively growing because of better connectivity, cheaper processors, and numerous other reasons.

“I think, in this particular instance, machine learning and how you turn that data into useful knowledge is one of the most important things that can be done,” said West. “If you’ve got a bunch of satellite imagery of your fields, you can start to train automated systems to be able to identify anomalies for you and just really increase the level of software automation involved in agriculture so we can really address the scaling problem that we have in this industry right now.”

While the algorithms for machine learning have been around for years, West said those complex ideas can now be built into tools that can be readily applied to industries like agriculture. AWS has a variety of teams ready to help equipment dealers and others to do this, along with a training program and relevant webinars.

“The more things you try, the more you learn,” said West. “If you want to be innovative, you have to be willing to fail.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Brandon here: Interview with Brandon West, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

2019 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere

Precision Ag Bytes 1/30

Carrie Muehling

  • TechAccel announced the launch of RNAissance Ag LLC, a new company that holds the exclusive license to RNA-interference technology in partnership with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO. The new company will use the proprietary technology in the development of sprayable insect control measures.
  • Register for Foster Our Future to experience how Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research funding is advancing innovations that are changing the food and agriculture landscape. Please register in advance for this event, scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 5 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.
  • Smart Ag Inc. announced that Tim Norris and Paul Bruns have joined the tech firm as leads for the 2019 commercial launch of AutoCart – Smart Ag’s software platform and aftermarket kit that fully automates a grain cart tractor and provides valuable labor assistance during harvest.
  • BRANDT’s proprietary foliar nutrients have helped Randy Dowdy, soybean world record holder, win the Corn Warriors’ yield challenge on corn. The first generation Georgia grower is the new “Corn King,” winning Corn Warriors’ Season 2 with 408 bu/ac using BRANDT foliar products.
  • The Illinois Wheat Association and the Illinois Soybean Association checkoff program will co-sponsor the Illinois Double-Crop Farmers’ Forum on January 31 in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. For more information visit: https://www.illinoiswheat.org/events.html.
  • Check out the 2019 Mid-South Farm and Gin Show for the return of the Aglaunch Startup Station and Showcase on Friday, March 1, 2019.
  • Lindsay Corporation and Nutrien Ag Solutions announced a partnership that will enable Nutrien Ag Solutions crop consultants to leverage Lindsay’s remote irrigation management and scheduling platform to supplement Nutrien Ag Solutions’ offerings.
  • Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. announced that it has initiated an early development program in corn to evaluate novel seed yield and drought tolerance traits.
  • A&L Laboratories and Deveron UAS Corp. announced they have entered into a service agreement where A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. will engage Deveron to administer, manage and execute A&L’s soil sampling collection business. The initial term of the agreement is for 5 years.
AgWired Precision, Precision Ag Bytes

Alltech Releases 2019 Global Feed Survey

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2019 Alltech Global Feed Survey estimates world feed production increased by three percent in the past year to 1.103 billion metric tons, with the top eight countries producing 55 percent of the world’s feed production. ​

The top eight countries are China, the U.S., Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, Spain and Turkey. Together, they produce 55 percent of the world’s feed production and contain 59 percent of the world’s feed mills, and they can be viewed as an indicator of the trends in agriculture. Predominant growth came from the layer, broiler and dairy feed sectors.

“Alltech works together with feed mills, industry and government entities around the world to compile data and insights to provide an assessment of feed production each year,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. “We are proud to present the eighth annual Alltech Global Feed Survey and share the results publicly to demonstrate the importance of the animal feed industry as we strive to provide for a planet of plenty.”

This eighth edition of the annual survey includes data from 144 countries and nearly 30,000 feed mills. To access more data and insights from the 2019 Alltech Global Feed Survey, including the results booklet, an interactive global map and a video presentation of the results by Dr. Mark Lyons, visit alltechfeedsurvey.com.

Download the audio of Dr. Lyons presentation here:
Alltech CEO Dr. Mark Lyons presents 2019 Global Feed Survey

Alltech is at the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show this week in New Orleans and we will be catching up with them to find out what’s new.

AgWired Animal, Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Feed

Cattle Industry Jazzed to Meet in New Orleans

Cindy Zimmerman

#CattleCon19 is ready to Laissez Le Bons Temps Roulez (Let the Good Times Roll) in New Orleans this week at the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show!

The 2019 event will be one of the largest on record with over 9,000 cattlemen and women expected in the Crescent City for 3.5 days of education, fellowship, networking, business and plenty of fun. The convention is the largest gathering of cattle industry professionals in the country, and the NCBA Trade Show will feature more than 350 exhibitors on 7+ acres. The annual meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, American National CattleWomen, CattleFax and National Cattlemen’s Foundation will also be held at this event.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will speak at the Closing General Session on Friday at the New Orleans Convention Center. He will address the farm bill, trade and other issues affecting the state of American agriculture.

NCBA President and California cattleman Kevin Kester says the industry is honored to host Secretary Perdue at the Convention. “There are many issues facing those who make their livings in the cattle industry, so It’s great that Secretary Perdue will share his thoughts and his agency’s plans with us at the Convention,” Kester said. “We have more than 7,000 people already pre-registered for the event, and we should have a record turnout. Those in attendance at the Closing Session will benefit from hearing what we an industry can expect from government in the coming months and years.”

Keep up with all the action on the official 2019 Cattle Industry Convention virtual newsroom where all photos, audio and video content will be posted.

AgWired Animal, Beef, Beef Checkoff, Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

Partnerships Help Farmers Handle Digital Information

Carrie Muehling

Helping farmers to solve challenges that exist with precision agriculture and large amounts of data is a constant focus for Lane Arthur, who leads the Digital Solutions group for John Deere. Arthur said once data leaves one of the company’s machines, it is his group who manages that information.

“The reality is, farmers don’t farm alone. They need a lot of partners. They need a lot of people to work together,” said Arthur. “Long term, the way we see this is farmers will be able to customize their software the way they want through these connected software companies.”

Arthur said the Develop with Deere conference continues to grow in a couple of ways. The first is the actual number of connected software companies attending. The second is the depth of knowledge and the value of information that they bring to John Deere customers.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Lane here: Interview with Lane Arthur, John Deere

2019 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere

Corn and Ethanol Co-Sponsor 2019 Crappie Masters Tournament

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2019 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail is about to begin a new year of showcasing the benefits of 10 percent ethanol blends for fishing and boating. The first of 16 tournaments begins Friday, February 1 in Deland, Florida on the St. Johns River.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) are co-title sponsors of the tournament for the third consecutive year to help fuel the knowledge of participants.

“We have done significant education outreach to the boating community on the benefits of 10 percent ethanol blends (E10), and have helped push back on misinformation on higher blends like E15,” said Crappie Masters President Mike Vallentine. “Every Crappie Masters tournament winning team for the past four years has safely used E10 fuel with no reported engine issues.”

RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says they have seen the partnership pay off as boaters become more educated and, in turn, educate others. “The winners of the 2018 season highlighted the numerous environmental and performance-related benefits of using E10 in their boat. For nearly 30 years, E10 has been used in all types of marine engines and the fuel blend is approved for use by all major marine engine manufacturers, helping to clean the air and water,” he added.

“This season, we are excited about continuing to engage with boaters and anglers about the benefits of the renewable corn ethanol they fill up their boats with throughout the tournament trail,” said NCGA Ethanol Action Team Chair and Missouri farmer Jay Schutte. “Not only are there a number of environmental benefits to fuel blended with 10 percent ethanol, but as the world’s cleanest and most affordable octane source, ethanol helps maximize engine performance.”

Crappie Masters Television will also highlight each tournament. The weekly show can be found on the Pursuit Channel, which is on DIRECTV 604, Dish Network 393, Verizon, CenturyLink and Roku.

The 2019 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail season runs through September 28. Click for the full schedule.

Listen to an interview here with Robert White and Missouri Corn Director of Market Development Bradley Schad from last year’s tournament about why this has been such a good educational opportunity for corn farmers and ethanol producers.
Interview with Robert White, RFA, and Bradley Schad, MO Corn

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFA

Develop with Deere Conference Still Growing

Carrie Muehling

Organizers of the Develop with Deere Conference in Chicago had a goal of pulling the entire “agriculture digital ecosystem” – everyone that helps growers feed and fuel the world – together, according the Pete Kasap, who manages the ISG Business Segment Strategy for John Deere.

“We have to adopt this technology. It’s going to help everybody,” said Kasap. “And it’s just figuring out how to get all of the pieces together, and an event like this really helps.”

Kasap welcomed attendees at the opening general session of the conference, which added retailers and input providers along with customer software houses this year. Kasap said dealers recognize they need more help in this area, and the conference is a great way to make connections. This year’s event saw nearly 80 connected software companies and representatives attend, along with more than 150 John Deere dealers.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Pete here: Interview with Pete Kasap, John Deere

2019 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album

AgWired Precision, Audio, John Deere