Precision Pays

Spending time this winter analyzing your precision practices is always beneficial. To this end, check out this DTN AG Online Seminar called “Sizing Your GPS Investment/Which Tools Fit the Farm,” hosted in September by DTN and The Progressive Farmer magazine.

The seminar discusses numerous topics: As more tools associated with GPS technologies come available, farmers are beginning to question which ones make the most sense in their operation. For farmers just getting into the GPS world, the question is how far to get into the technology. Is yield mapping enough? Or should the farmer jump right in to high-accuracy RTK signaling and autosteer equipment systems? This webinar will include a panel of farmers who have walked through those decisions and can add insight in to what they’re doing, how well it works, and whether it adds to their efficiency and profitabilility.

To listen to a wide variety of other excellent Webinars–from taxes and seed to tillage and grain marketing, visit the DTN AG Online Seminars page.

This week I’m attending the National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas. It’s the first contact I’ve had with this group and I’ve been learning a lot. For example, I didn’t realize how big a role precision agriculture is playing in aerial application. I guess it makes sense though. If you can use gps and variable rate on the ground then why not from the air?

One of the people who explained some of this to me was David Eby, AgSync, pictured on the left of Denise and Ryan Eby in their trade show booth. David says that they realized the need for aerial application companies to have a software solution for managing data, especially when they’ve got multiple planes in the air. So they developed AgSync, which is a web based solution for this problem. We’re sure seeing a growth in web based programming aren’t we? Even in ag!

David says they’ve been working closely with BASF on the development of this program. I’ve been hearing a lot of applicators here talking about BASF’s Headline fungicide and I asked him what that has meant for the business. He says “it has changed our world in aerial application.”

Listen to my interview with David here:

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If you’d like to see some photos from the convention then check these out: NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2008 National Agricultural Aviators Association Convention
is sponsored by: .

If you’re looking for an economical way to get started using precision ag on your farm, John Deere has some new options.

Adding to the extensive lineup of GreenStar precision ag products, John Deere announces a new line of economical systems to help operators get started with precision ag or enhance the older systems they may already own.

“Let’s start with the new GreenStar Lightbar,” says Kyle Collins, senior marketing representative, John Deere Ag Management Solutions. “Many of our customers need a simple, economical parallel tracking display. Our new lightbar has 27 tracking LEDs to guide the operator as they are driving their equipment through the field. They easily steer the tractor or other self-propelled machine left or right based on which lights are illuminated.”

While I was attending the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention I spoke about the new budget precision options with Laura Robson, John Deere Senior Marketing Manager.

You can listen to my interview with Laura here:

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At the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention in Kansas City last week I spoke once again with Laura Robson, Senior Marketing Manager, John Deere. This is actually a picture of Laura from Commodity Classic earlier this year.

I asked Laura what Deere is doing in the precision area that will help farmers who are still trying to get their corn out of the field since it has been a wet, late season for so many in the midwest. She says that producers might want to look at Auto Trac Row Sense. It uses mechanical feelers on the corn head in conjunction with automatic guidance to guide the head precisely down the row. She says this is especially useful for down corn which has been a problem in areas hard hit recently by high winds.

You can listen to my interview with Laura here:

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Utilizing precision farming equipment when you’re harvesting corn will pay off even more once you can start harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol production. That’s what I learned at POET’s Project LIBERTY field day in Emmetsburg, IA this week. POET is working with ag OEM’s like John Deere to develop harvest equipment to collect cobs for the plants they plan on building in the near future. They plan to begin building a cellulosic ethanol production component of their Emmetsburg plant in late 2009 with production expected to begin in 2011.

Of the current options for harvesting/collecting the cobs, Deere is working on the corn cob mix kit (CCM) option. It’s basically an attachment to the combine according to John Deere’s Barry Nelson, who was attending the POET Project LIBERTY field day.

Barry says that this will allow farmers to produce up to 11 percent more ethanol per acre. That’s a pretty good gain in efficiency. He says they’re also looking at other equipment options including a special cart or new combine.

You can listen to my interview with Barry here:

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Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Precision cotton farming will be a focus of the upcoming Cotton Incorporated crop management seminar and workshops.

Randall Weiseman with Southeast Agnet recently interviewed Cotton Inc Director of Agricultural Research Ed Barnes about the event being held in Tunica, Mississippi on November 11-13. “We’ll actually have a hands-on seminar on how to do precision fertility management, how to collect soil samples with GPS, ” said Barnes. “For someone who is more experienced we’ll have a detailed seminar on how to transition to zone management and cut down your number of samples.”

More information is available on the Cotton Incorporated website.

Listen to Randall’s interview with Ed here:

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Valley Irrigation was showing off its brand new line of GPS Ready irrigation control panels at the Sunbelt Ag Expo earlier this month in Moultrie, Georgia.

“We have our computer panels that are industry exclusive GPS ready,” Sara Sims with Valley said during an interview at Sunbelt with Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weiseman. The GPS Ready PRO2 Pivot Control Panel and GPS Ready AutoPilot Linear Control Panel currently are available from Valley dealers. The GPS Ready Select2 Pivot Control Panel will be available later this year.

“If you’re doing split crops or different crops during the growing season, you’ll be able to computerize and track your programming to change your water and chemigation throughout the field,” Sara said. She added that current customers can upgrade existing PRO2 panels for the new GPS ready panels.

Listen to Randall’s interview with Sara here:

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Precision technology goes hand in hand with biotechnology when it comes to increasing productivity for agriculture.

That according to Dean Kleckner, chairman of Truth About Trade and Technology - as well as former president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and a farmer from Iowa. He attended the recent World Food Prize symposium where farmers from all over the world gathered for a Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable.

Kleckner calls precision technology “huge” in helping to increase agricultural production. “It isn’t just biotech that is leading to increased production. It’s being able to use precision farming to put on more fertilizer in the part of the field that is capable of producing more,” Kleckner said. “Sometimes it’s only ten feet apart, but if we map it we can apply fertilizer and tillage differently.”

“It all costs money to do it, but many farmers are saying it’s money well spent and I happen to agree that it is,” Kleckner continued. “And I would suggest that we ain’t seen nothing yet. I believe that in not too many years we are going to be able to double production of corn, soybeans, wheat and flax and everything else that we grow.”

Listen to comments from Dean Kleckner during an interview at the World Food Prize:

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Precision technology can play a vital role in helping to feed a growing world population, which is why it was a focus at the World Food Prize symposium last week in Des Moines.

John Deere CEO Robert Lane participated in a panel conversation on “The Role of the Private Sector in Global Food Security and Development,” together with representatives from other major agribusiness companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bunge.

Lane says Deere has been in the business of bringing productivity tools to the best producers in the world for 170 years. “Precision agriculture is a huge step forward because there is now intelligent machinery that takes productivity to a much higher level,” Lane told me. “We have a limited amount of land and an even more limited amount of water and to make that work so we can double the amount of food production, precision agriculture is indispensable.”

Listen to a short comment from Mr. Lane after his presentation at the World Food Prize:

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At Sunbelt Ag Expo, the John Deere 7760 Cotton Picker is getting a lot of attention. The new machines should be available for next year but they have several out in the field including one here at this show. I’m hoping to get some video of it in action in just a little while in fact.

This morning I spoke with Annette Bitto, Cotton Marketing Product Manager. She has been out in the field with growers demonstrating the new cotton picker. In fact, she says that one grower told her that when she took it back he felt like a kid who had his toy taken away. Of course the machines are fully precision ready from the factory and allow producers to gather all the information they need to more effectively manage their farm.

“Without ever stopping the machine during picking, the operator can then carry the module to the end of the field to be transported later to the gin. This efficient, non-stop harvesting system eliminates unloading into a boll buggy and processing in a module builder. Ultimately, the producer saves time, fuel and manpower when harvesting and processing the cotton.”

Listen to my interview with Annette here:

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