Remote Irrigation Monitoring Saves Time

Taylor Truckey February 17, 2016

Tanner Oliphant, with AgSense, shared the latest with AgWired while at the National Farm Machinery Show last week. AgSense is a web-based service that gives growers access to their pivot and irrigation information through their smartphone or computer.

AgSense released a new product this year that integrates specifically with Valley digital panels. Remote monitoring allows customers to see where a pivot is at in the field, what it’s doing, program VRA capabilities, send real-time alerts, and offers theft monitoring without power.

As for VRA capabilities, Tanner elaborated, “From an agronomic standpoint, if part of your field is sandier and needs more water, or is heavier and needs less water, you can remotely program the pivot to slow down and speed up over those parts of the fields,” Tanner said. “It really gives growers a lot of flexibility and saves a lot of windshield time.”

In other words, in the time it takes you to make a pot of coffee, you can evaluate all of your irrigation and begin to make necessary adjustments.

Although AgSense is partnered with Valley, and there are a few specific tools developed for Valley products, Tanner explained that AgSense products are not tied to only the Valley brand or Valley hardware. “We are also compatible with non-Valley brand pivots, so if you have Reinke, Zimmatic, or a T-L pivot, we also have telemetry [remote monitoring] options for those as well.”

Listen to Tanner’s full interview to learn more about AgSense remote monitoring:
Interview with Tanner Oliphant, AgSense

2016 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by

and

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, Farm Machinery, Irrigation, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Water

Our Important Voice

Jamie Johansen February 17, 2016

From the time Roger Rickard was 13 years old he was driven by causes and has been politically minded ever since. His experiences along the way lead him to start Voices in Advocacy and write a book, “7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates.” He brought his expertise to the stage addressing attendees of the 2016 National Young Farmers & Ranchers conference in Kansas City, Mo.

“I worked to give them very tangible ways in which they can use seven actions to be more effective as an advocate. My book reaches out to that with simple steps,” said Roger Rickard, following his talk with young farmers and ranchers. Those seven simple step include: believe, be informed, discuss the issues, get on the record, be a resource, volunteer and contribute.

He titled his talk, “Elephants Don’t Bite, Donkeys Don’t Kick,” and of course he is referencing the two political parties. His meaning behind it was simple. They won’t hurt you. Go talk to those influencers who represent your local communities, your state and our country. “They need to know. They want to know. They want you to participate in the process because they want to know how to make the right decision. The only way they can do that is by you going out and telling them about the issues that impact you.”

Roger also talked about the power of a vote. If everyone in agriculture gets out and votes. Then we have a powerful voice. In fact, he said if we could all go home with just one thing he wanted us to remember our voices. “They have the ability to impact anything they want if they are willing to step up and speak out.”

I sit through a lot of speakers on the agriblogging highway, but Roger will stand out. I am again encouraged to continue to use my voice to talk ag and beyond. Listen to my complete interview with the Roger here: Interview with Roger Rickard, Voices of Advocacy

Ag Groups, Audio, politics

TractorPal App Simplifies Equipment Records

Taylor Truckey February 16, 2016

While at the National Farm Machinery Show last week, AgWired spoke with the creators of TractorPal, Keith King and Erik Schlimmer. TractorPal is a mobile app that serves as an inventory record keeper for equipment on your farm. It takes that old notebook you have laying around the shop to track maintenance in and puts it in the palm of your hand.

“The app allows you to put in all of your inventory from your agriculture machinery down to your four-wheeler, golf cart, truck, car, and even your lawn mower. You put all of the inventory into the app; when you bought it, how much you bought it for, where you bought it at, and the hours you bought it at. When you service the machine, you put in the part numbers you used, the amount of oil you used, some notes along with it, and how many miles or hours were on the machine.” Keith said.

To see the app on your own device, you can download for Android or in the App Store for iphones.

TractorPal allows you to email reports as well which can be useful when contacting your local dealership or equipment mechanic. Interest in the app has been great so far with users all over the country and internationally finding ways to personalize the tool for their operations.

“We’re moving forward on making the app as universal as possible. Another feature that is coming out will make the app able to sync between devices.” explained Erik. With multiple employees, this feature will be useful in notifying what equipment was worked on when, and what was repaired.

TractorPal will also be partnering with dealers soon to offer a personalized TractorPal app that the dealers will then be able to provide to their customers.

Listen to the full interview with the TractorPal creators here:
Interview with Tractor Pal Creators

2016 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by

and

Agribusiness, Apps, Audio, Equipment, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Tractor

Ethanol Industry Strong at #RFANEC

Chuck Zimmerman February 16, 2016

This morning at the National Ethanol Conference, Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association, gave his annual State of the Ethanol Industry Speech in front of over 1,000 attendees. He said that the domestic ethanol industry remains strong and touted its ability to successfully navigate the vagaries of the markets and overcome the perils of policy uncertainty.

“The strength of the U.S. ethanol industry is seen in its record production – 14.7 billion gallons, its record blending demand – 13.75 billion gallons, record feed production – 40 million metric tons, and record greenhouse gas reductions – 41.2 metric tons,” said Dinneen. “Those aren’t the stats of an industry in retreat, that’s an industry confident, defiant, and prepared to weather any storm.”

Dinneen called the U.S. ethanol industry the “cornerstone” of the rural economy, noting that it added $44 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and paid $10 billion in taxes last year. He drew a sharp contrast with what he characterized as the “boom and bust cycles” of oil extraction which, he said, can wreak havoc on economically-vulnerable communities.

You can read his full speech here.

You can listen to Bob’s speech here:

Speech on State of Ethanol Industry - Bob Dinneen, RFA

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Eric Swanson, Emerging Leader for CIRB

Kelly Marshall February 16, 2016

Eric Swanson is a Crop Underwriting Manager at Country Financial and one of the charter members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program, currently in its first year, is helping to build the next generation in the field of crop insurance through a better understanding of the way government and the private sector work together in the program.

According to Swanson, the program is excelling in that goal. As a participant he has had many experiences meeting with the many people who influence the world of crop insurance, like Congressmen and Senators, people at the USDA and Risk Management personnel. It’s eye opening, he says, to see the faces and meet the people who make it all run. And it wasn’t as intimidating as he expected.

“I think it’s broadened my perspective tremendously. Just understanding the breadth of what’s involved to make this program run. We can sometimes get caught in the day-to-day. Part of what my job is, is to pay attention to the day-to-day and can sometimes get lost in the weeds. So to come up for breath a little bit and take a much broader view of what’s involved to make this program successful, that I’ll take of the rest of my career.”

Swanson strongly urges others to participate in the program as well. He praises the staff, saying they created more than activities, but provided the group with meaningful events.

Hear more about the program here: Interview with Eric Swanson, CIRB Emerging Leaders Program

2016 CIRB Annual Meeting Photos

CIRB, Insurance

AFS from Case IH Takes Precision Tech to Next Level

Jamie Johansen February 16, 2016

Case IH’s Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) has added three products to it’s line-up: AFS RTK+, ElectriSteer and AFS Connect™ Data Sharing. Growers got an up close look into the technologies at the 2016 National Farm Machinery Show and benefits of precision agriculture.

Radio delivered based solutions for growers are no more. Cellular guidance correction signals alleviate line-of-sight issues offering consistent accuracy within the network. “AFS RTK+ allows producers to easily achieve sub-inch accuracy for farming practices that require the highest level of precision, such as strip till or bedding,” said Leo Bose, Case IH AFS Marketing manager. “Better yet, they can rely on this secure, Case IH network solution to support their entire fleet.”

AFS Connect™ Data Sharing provides a cloud-based, integrated data-sharing platform. “Gone are the days of handing off USB drives,” said Bose. “With AFS Connect Data Sharing, producers can collaborate with their trusted third-party providers to make real-time decisions — saving time and money.”

The third and final new offering to AFS is the ElectriSteer providing affordable, after-market autoguidance solutions.
The universal steering motor connects with the AFS Pro 700 monitor to provide autoguidance for both used and new machines across all equipment manufacturers. “ElectriSteer is a quick, easy and affordable way for producers to realize the benefits of autoguidance for all their vehicles,” added Bose.

Listen to my complete interview with Leo to learn more. Interview with Leo Bose, Case IH

Agribusiness, Audio, Case IH, data, National Farm Machinery Show, Precision Agriculture

Ag Economist Talks Insurance Premiums at CIRB

Kelly Marshall February 16, 2016

Michael Swanson is a Chief Agricultural Economist for Wells Fargo with more information about the ag economy than most of us can wrap our heads around. He recently spoke at the 2016 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting and tried to break down some of his information in a seminar entitled “Challenges Facing the World Agriculture Market.” Chuck Zimmerman caught up with him afterward to talk about some of his key takeaways.

Swanson started off with the cost crop insurance premiums as part of a grower’s budget. “Crop insurance premiums, as measured by the government, are only 4 percent of the total spending in the ag sector, so when we talk about what’s too expensive and what we should cut money on, that’s way down the list,” Swanson says. Producers wanting to cut costs should take a look at areas such as cash rents, fertilizer and machinery as more effective ways to reduce spending.

For growers hoping to increase income, however, ethanol probably isn’t the way to go, Swanson cautions. With gas prices so low the consumer would pay more to increase the amount of ethanol. Since a vast majority of the population are drivers, agriculture should try to stay friends with them. But there are ways to make $4.00 corn work on a farm, Swanson reassures us. If prices settle there growers have the opportunity to make money if the set-up of the operation is designed accordingly.

Listen to more of Chuck’s interview here: Interview with Michael Swanson, Chief Agricultural Economist, Wells Fargo

2016 CIRB Annual Meeting Photos

Agribusiness, CIRB, Insurance

#ShowMeYFR Reaches Young Farmers & Ranchers

Kelly Marshall February 16, 2016

The American Farm Bureau Federation hosted their annual Young Farmer & Rancher Leadership Conference in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend. According to coordinator Marty Tatman, more than 1,100 attendees gathered from across the nation to learn, network, and be inspired.

“Advocacy, Leadership, and Motivation were the three key areas that the committee wanted to focus in on this year. So we picked three keynote speakers that would be able to speak on behalf of each of those topic areas. Another thing we try to do with the conference is create a lot of opportunity for networking and sharing ideas,” Tatman told me.

It seems the committee, made up of 26 young farmers & ranchers representing various farm backgrounds, has worked hard and achieved the goals they set. Keynote speakers included former NFL player, Jason Brown, motivation speaker Kelly Barnes, and founder of Voices in Advocacy, Roger Rickard. Breakout sessions covered topics from public speaking to big data. Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell made an appearance to focus on healthy children, and participants even got to spend time in a Q&A with President Zippy Duvall and Vice President Scott VanderWal.

And while being on the committee is no small task, member Katie Farley assures me it is all worth it.

You can hear the full interview with Marty Tatman here:Interview with Marty Tatman, American Farm Bureau Federation

Listen to the story of committee member Katie Farley here: Interview with Katie Farley, AFBF Young Farmer & Rancher Committee

AFBF, Ag Groups, Events

#NFMS16 ZimmCast with FMC

Cindy Zimmerman February 15, 2016

The 51st annual National Farm Machinery Show held last week in Louisville, Kentucky featured 880 exhibitors covering 1.2 million square feet of floor space. As the name of the show implies, the focus is on equipment, but FMC Corporation has continued to increase its presence at the show about the past 30 years, making the company really standout to exhibitors, media and attendees.

During the show, I sat down with FMC portfolio manager Rick Ekins to talk about why they have made NFMS a priority show through such activities as sponsoring the media room and exhibitor lanyards and hosting customer receptions. “We’re happy that we’ve been able to increase our presence here,” Rick says. “This is where you engage face to face with growers, with customers. This is where you get to establish connections with other businesses that help us carry some of our projects forward.”

FMC’s decision to sponsor the NFMS media room a few years ago gave it a real upgrade and allowed the show to provide an even better working environment for the media than ever before – which we really appreciate!

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: ZimmCast from #NFMS16 with FMC

2016 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

The ZimmCast

sponsored by

Locally owned, globally strong.

Audio, FMC, National Farm Machinery Show, ZimmCast

Case IH Reveals 2000 Series Early Riser Planter

Jamie Johansen February 15, 2016

The 2000 series Early Riser planter has been re-thought from the ground up and was revealed last week at the 2016 National Farm Machinery Show by Case IH. The planer is the first to factory-integrate industry-leading seed placement technologies from Precision Planting® into a completely new system featuring a best-in-class rugged row unit.

“From all-new cast iron components to an electrically driven low maintenance metering system to the entire toolbar, we redesigned every inch of the new Early Riser planter,” explained Tony McClelland, Case IH planter marketing manager. “It was all based on direct customer feedback and field-testing. We made sure that this new planter is not only extremely accurate, it’s also robust enough to deliver precise placement across all terrains, crop types and speeds for faster, more uniform emergence.”

Designed for modern seed types, treatments, populations and conditions, the new planter can be easily customized to a range of soil types, terrain, fertilizer/chemical application needs and varying crop residue management practices. Plus, a streamlined design and tool-free crop changes and adjustments result in simpler maintenance.

McClelland said the planter is built for three things. Accuracy, durability and simplicity. Learn more by listening to my complete interview with Tony here: Interview with Tony McClelland, Case IH

Agribusiness, Audio, Case IH, Equipment, National Farm Machinery Show, Planting

Page 665 of 2,376
←
1
...
664
665
666
...
2376
→