ZimmCast with New Presidents of AAEA & LPC

Chuck Zimmerman July 28, 2017

During the 2017 Ag Media Summit we had the regular changing of the gavel for both the American Agricultural Editors Association as well as the Livestock Publications Council. I spoke with both of the new presidents for these organizations after their respective board meetings.

In this week’s program I start out with Julie Deering, new president of the AAEA. Julie talks about the recent unveiling of a new logo and website for AAEA which is an outcome of organizational strategic planning. She is pictured receiving the AAEA gavel from now past president Mike Wilson.

The new AAEA- The Ag Communicators Network website is now live!

Here you will find a new and improved, easy to use, platform responsive website that includes all you need to know about AAEA. We invite you to visit the site and familiarize yourself with our new menu items, social media links, partners, and more.

We will continue to update and review this new website. Historic information on ageditors.com can still be accessed for a limited time and will be downloaded and archived thereafter.

We hope you enjoy the new website and welcome all feedback and concerns.

Listen to the program to hear more from Julie about the coming year for AAEA.

After talking with Julie I share my conversation with Cindy Cunningham, new president of the LPC. Cindy says the “basis of the LPC is working to build professionalism and build networking and build relationships among ag communicators.”

Cindy says that a challenge moving forward is the changing way people are getting information and making sure members are able to communicate in ways their audience wants.

Listen for more about the outlook for the new year for LPC.

I hope you enjoy the program and thank you for listening!

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast with Julie Deering and Cindy Cunningham

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here. Use this url in iTunes or your favorite news reader program/app.

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Facebook Live from Deere at #InfoAg17

Jamie Johansen July 27, 2017

Today is the last day of the 2017 InfoAg Conference in St. Louis and we had the chance yesterday to stream a tour of what’s new from John Deere for ag retailers.

John Deere representatives guided us through AgLogic, Field Connect, ExactApply sprayer and the John Deere Operations Center in the video below. Watch and learn more about Deere’s solutions for retailers.

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

Info Ag, John Deere, Video

IntelinAir Debutes at #InfoAg17

Kelly Marshall July 27, 2017

IntelinAir made its debut appearance at the InfoAg Conference in St. Louis, Missouri this week, letting the precision industry know they’re ready for businesses. Although they’ve been around for the past three years, they spent the first two in the lab, CEO and co-founder Al Eisaian tells us. For the first time this year they’re covering grower’s crops in Iowa and Illinois and next year they plan to take the company even further.

IntelinAir stands for Intelligence in Air, Eisaian says, because the company does more than just take arial images. Instead they consider themselves to be in the analytics business, taking those images and using proprietary algorithms to spot issues. The main areas of focus are early season emergence problems, weed detection, and anomalies that could arise from issues like compaction, equipment problems, tiling issues or weather damage.

“We bring all that imagery, push it to the cloud, and then that’s when everything starts,” Eisian explains. “The stitching work starts and all the analysis that shows what anomalies are present in the field- and after all the analysis is done in a matter of 24 to 48 hours then we push it to farmer’s iPads.”

For growers who haven’t looked into ariel imagery for actionable solutions recently, Eisian suggests they revisit the issue. The technology has improved a lot in the last few years, he says, and it’s much more accessible now than it has been.

To learn more about IntelinAir, listen to my interview here: Interview with Al Eisaian, IntelinAir

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

AgWired Precision, Audio, Info Ag

CropTrak Plays Well With Others

Kelly Marshall July 26, 2017

CropTrak as it exists today has been an evolution stemming from customer needs. The company began doing work for the military, a start that served them well in agriculture, says Jonathan Sherrill, Vice President of Sales.

“You have hard, remote conditions where there is no Internet connectivity, there is no cellular, so [you] build tools on a mobile device that’s not dependent on cellular and Internet connectivity that enabled customers to collect data efficiently while they’re in the field,” Sherrill explains. One size didn’t fit all in the military and it doesn’t work in agriculture either.

In fact, that’s why the company changed their name and their game this time a year ago, moving from iCropTrak and a mobile-only platform, to CropTrak with a web-based presence that can be accessed from a desktop when it makes more sense for the grower.

The most recent customer request to be granted is an API that plays nicely with others, specifically the John Deere Operations Center on MyJohnDeere.com. The new platform offers an even closer look at what goes on in the field, going so far as to allow a grower to put a circle on a specific zone and get data like yield by soil type, moisture by soil type, yield by slope, and yield by variety.

Of course, somethings don’t change, like the ease in which Croptrak’s data can be used to complete paperwork. Although, that’s better than ever too. “I think what we’re most excited about is being able to take that data and automatically fill out paper,” Sherrill says.

For more information about our Gold Mic sponsor listen to Cindy’s full interview with CropTrak here: Interview with Jonathan Sherrill, CropTrak

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

AgWired Precision, Audio, CropTrak, Info Ag

Precision Ag Bytes 7/26

Kelly Marshall July 26, 2017

The final five for Syngenta’s #RootedinAg contest have been announced. They are: Thomas Luke Andrews from Boyle, Mississippi; Lauren Grimes from Tifton, Georgia; Steve Groves from Bakersfield, California; Tori Streitmatter from Sparland, Illinois; and Nicole Swinson from Kenansville, North Carolina.
The National Association of Conservation Districts is concerned with budget cuts to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, but is encouraged that the Senate Appropriations Committee has strongly funded technical assistance at the Department of Agriculture for 2018. The Senate’s bill also includes much needed regulatory relief for those participating in NRCS programs.
Soil Health Partnership encourages growers who have never tried cover crops to start small, but start now. Growers looking for ideas or more information can attend one of these upcoming field days to learn more.
Prospera, a digital farming company, has announced a $15M Series B funding round. Lead by Qualcomm Venters and joined by Cisco Investments, ICV, and Bessemer Venture Partners, this funding brings the total investment in Prospera to $22M.
EFC Systems is joining their FieldAlytics product with Geosys Bridge API to offer in-season and historical imagery, providing users with field-level satellite imagery layers that allows for in-season scouting, analysis for field variability management zone creation or export for crop treatment recommendations.

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Four Honored with PrecisionAg Awards

Kelly Marshall July 26, 2017

The opening session of the Info Ag Conference in St. Louis, Missouri kicked-off by honoring four winners of this year’s PrecisionAg Institute‘s Awards of Excellence. These awards recognize commitment and exceptional service in the precision agriculture industry.

Dr. Harold van Es from Cornel University was the recipient of one of two 2017 Educator/Researcher Awards. van Es played a large role in the development of Adapt-N, a cloud-based, real-time nitrogen management tool.
Interview with Dr. Harold van Es, Award Winner

Wade Barnes earned the 2017 Crop Adviser/Entrepreneur Award as a co-founder of Farmers Edge. His company began in his basement but now offers big data, digital agriculture, and agronomy services to growers in 5 countries.
Interview with Wade Barnes, Award Winner

Dr. Joe Luck, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also received the 2017 Educator/Researcher Award. Luck is both an Associate Professor and Precision Agriculture Engineer in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and founder of Precision Agriculture Data Management Workshops for the Extension services. Interview with Dr. Joe Luck, Award Winner

Dr. Paul Fixen, recently retired from the International Plant Nutrition Institute, was honored with the 2017 Legacy Award. His distinguished career includes leading a team at South Dakota State University that made substantial progress in understanding the role and requirement of chloride in crop production, authoring 300+ articles related to nutrient management, and developing and teaching popular courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels.Interview with Dr. Paul Fixen, Award Winner

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

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AgWired Precision, Audio, Info Ag

Beyond Big Data at #InfoAg2017

Kelly Marshall July 25, 2017

This isn’t the first time Steve Sonka has been a keynote speaker at Info Ag in St. Louis, Missouri, but last time he spoke he focused on Big Data. Today his message has changed.

“Big data is only part of the opportunity in production agriculture,” Sonka told me. “I talked today about digital ag. What that refers to is the introduction, really in the last four to five years, of new sensors, new devices to capture data about actual production on our farms and our fields and feed lots and pens. We’ve never had that before. And that raises lots of opportunities that really go beyond big data as we normally think of it.”

True big data takes a lot of work, money and know-how to capture and interpret- requiring multi-national companies and people with PhDs. But today many farms have “lots of data” on a USB drive, often in the desk drawer. It cannot be considered true “Big Data” but it’s still a lot more information than a person could comprehend with an Excel spreadsheet, Sonka explains. It’s within this space that entrepreneurs have a lot of room to meet the needs of farmers.

If data is changing, then so are the economics surrounding it. Traditionally goods are consumed, and if one person uses it, it’s gone. Not so in a digital age. And where once there was value in collected data, today we find value in the solutions it presents. Learn more Sonka’s thoughts on data in my full interview with him here: Interview with Steve Sonka, InfoAg Keynote Speaker

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

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AgWired Precision, Audio, data, Info Ag

Update on FMC’s Dupont Transaction

Chuck Zimmerman July 25, 2017

During the InfoExpo at this year’s Ag Media Summit I visited with Tom Becker, FMC Retail Market Manager, and got an update on the pending transaction with Dupont. Tom says expectations are that the deal will be finalized during the 4th quarter this year.

FMC is acquiring certain products from Dupont which Tom says will put the company into the top five crop protection companies in the world. The products will really help round out FMC’s portfolio of solutions for farmers.

Lisen to my interview with Tom here: Interview with Tom Becker, FMC

View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

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Ag Media Summit, Audio, FMC

InfoAg Conference Underway in St. Louis

Cindy Zimmerman July 25, 2017

The 2017 InfoAg Conference is underway in St. Louis with a bigger crowd and more exhibitors than ever.

Since 1994, the InfoAg Conference has been the premier event for discussion and advancement of precision agriculture. This event draws interest from domestic and international agriculture professionals and features a wide range of educational and networking opportunities for professionals interested in learning more about precision agriculture techniques.

We will be bringing you all the latest in precision ag technology this year, thanks to our sponsors John Deere and CropTrak, so stay tuned!

2017 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Coverage of the InfoAg Conference is sponsored by

AgWired Precision, CropTrak, Info Ag, John Deere, Precision Agriculture

#AgMedia Student Award Winners

Jamie Johansen July 25, 2017

Ag Media Summit is in full swing here in Snowbird, Utah. The Livestock Publication Council (LPC) and American Ag Editors’ Association (AAEA) student awards and recognition luncheon honored the future of our industry. Special thanks to the Pork Checkoff for sponsoring the wonderful lunch we had.

The LPC Forrest Bassford student award winner was Topanga McBride, Kansas State University. Alltech was honored to again sponsor the award. Runners up included: Katie Friedrichs, Oklahoma State University; Taylor Belle Matheny, Kansas State University; and Jill Seiler, Kansas State University.

The AAEA Jim Evans award winner was Jackie Newland, Kansas State University. Runners up included: Shalin Lawson, West Texas A&M; Lindsay Robinson, University of Missouri; and Audrey Schmitz, Kansas State University.

Both young ladies will be seniors and are actually best friends. We wish them all the luck as they wrap up their college careers and jump into the hunt for a job in the rewarding field of agricultural communications.

View and download photos here: 2017 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

ACN, Ag Groups, Ag Media Summit, LPC

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