Precision Pays

A Precision Planting product has won the No-Till Product of the Year award for the third straight year. No-Till Farmer readers selected the 20/20 SeedSense/AirForce system as the best product of 2011, following on the heels of No-Till Product of the Year wins by Precision Planting’s Keeton Seed Firmer in 2009 and 2010.

The 20/20 SeedSense/AirForce system was also voted the top no-till product in the Precision Tools category, and was among 11 finalists entered in the overall Product of the Year voting.

Manufacturers whose products were voted the best in 11 individual categories were recognized before about 750 no-tillers at a special luncheon awards ceremony during the 20th annual National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis, Mo. They were also recognized in the Winter 2012 issue of No-Till Farmer’s Conservation Tillage Guide.

A call for nominations for the 2012 program, as well as voting, will be announced later this year.

NovAtel Inc. and Stara S.A. Industria de Implementos Agricolas are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership that will see NovAtel’s industry leading Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning technology integrated into Stara’s comprehensive line of precision agricultural products. The convergence of these two world leading manufacturers is expected to deliver a new level of accuracy and reliability to Brazilian farmers, and to other users around the world who already enjoy Stara’s superior precision farming technology.

Thanks to our Precision Pays readers for helping us hit 50,000 unique visitors in 2011! That’s an increase of 3.5% over 2010. We look forward to kicking that up another notch in 2012.

Our Precision Pays reporters brought you a total of 380 stories, including over 80 with audio interviews or podcasts and 15 YouTube videos. The most popular YouTube video of the year was the John Deere Subcompact Utility Tractor Unveiling at the National Farm Machinery Show, which has been viewed almost 40,000 times.

Some of the most popular stories of the year on Precision Pays were:

John Deere introduces Farm Sight
Corn Choppers at Farm Progress Show
John Deere product launch
Drones tested for Ag Use
LightSquared Wireless Broadband Issues
JD Combine Can sculpture

Best wishes to all for a healthy, happy, prosperous and blessed new year!

TFI Fertilizer Institute (TFI) commended the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for embracing 4R nutrient stewardship (the right nutrient source at the right rate, the right time, and in the right place) at the national level with its December 13 release of the national conservation practice standard for nutrient management.

4R Nutrient Stewardship is an innovative and science-based approach to fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) to help achieve agricultural sustainability. The 4Rs imply there are four aspects to every fertilizer application and it provides a simple framework to assess whether a given crop has access to the necessary nutrients. Asking “Was the crop given the right source at the right rate, the right time, and in the right place?” helps identify opportunities to improve fertilizer efficiency and prevent nutrient movement from each field. The four aspects of this system for fertilizer management are interconnected, and none of the four can be right when any one of them is wrong.

Over the past year, TFI has been working with the NRCS to provide input on their revision of this important standard. The nutrient management standard is an important tool in the NRCS conservation toolbox.

ZimmComm New Media is proud to announce the very first (that we know of) Ag Events Calendar.

This slick 10×15 wall calendar includes dates for all the major ag-related events in 2012, along with photos each month from the 2011 events that we covered. There’s photos from the Iowa Power Farming Show, National Farm Machinery Show, Commodity Classic, Farm Progress Show and lots more.

We ordered a limited number of the calendars to give to some of our clients for Christmas, but then discovered that there are lots of other folks out there who would like to get a copy, so we are ordering more and offering them for sale.

For just $20 each plus $2 shipping/handling, you can get your very own 2012 Ag Events calendar here:

Order 2012 ZimmComm Ag Events Calendar.

Ag Leader Technology is excited to announce the INTEGRA™ display will soon feature planter down force monitor and control capability, allowing the display to monitor and adjust down force based on field and soil conditions. Planting seed at the optimum row unit down force is an important factor in good crop germination, and ultimately, yield. The system will be available for the 2013 spring planting season, with field test systems in operation during the spring 2012 planting season.

The heart of the system is a hydraulic down force actuator, engineered by Dawn Equipment. The actuator is the fastest on the market, allowing the INTEGRA display to make quick row unit down force adjustments. Ag Leader will be selling and supporting a branded version of the actuator.

“Soil conditions encountered by the planter change fast,” says Ag Leader Product Manager Roger Zielke. “Other down force pressure systems that rely on air compressors and air bags can’t respond like this hydraulic system. The planter can be a long way past a different soil condition before air bags fully respond. The hydraulic system reacts as soon as the planter enters a different soil condition, providing consistent seed depth without seed trench compaction. Plus, hydraulic systems hold up better in dusty, rigorous field conditions compared to air-compressor systems.”

Novariant, a leading provider of precision steering products for the agricultural market, has hired Rick Wesch to fill the newly created position of Vice President, Emerging Markets and lead the company’s global growth initiatives. Wesch will report to Chris Ragot, Novariant’s Chief Executive Officer, and will initially focus on China and the Asian markets.

“Rick brings international agricultural strategy and business development experience that will accelerate our growth in these rapidly expanding regions of the world,” said Mr. Ragot. “He and our emerging markets team will seek and develop new opportunities for distributing our industry-leading precision steering products, ParaDyme and OnTrac2 branded under AutoFarm as well as partner brands, into growing agricultural markets.”

Wesch has 20 years of experience in Agribusiness sales and marketing and has spent the last seven years in a variety of roles with John Deere and Company. He has a MS degree in Agronomy from Texas A&M and a MBA in Strategic Management and Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Novariant, a leading provider of precision steering products for the agricultural market, today announced the closing of a $10 million debt facility from BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P. The funds will be used to expand Novariant’s current initiatives in new product development and to support the company’s growth.

The growth strategy includes expansion of Novariant’s precision steering product line for the
growing agricultural market as well as increasing distribution into emerging markets, such as
Eastern Europe and Asia. Novariant already features industry leading precision steering
products, ParaDyme and OnTrac2 branded under AutoFarm® as well as partner brands.

Click here for more information.

Topcon Precision Agriculture (TPA) and AMAZONE Ltd. announced a strategic partnership in which TPA will provide hardware components and expertise for automatic steering systems and section control for a complete range of professional farming solutions.

Customers will realize benefits as the systems have been optimally matched and tested to ensure a maximum range of dependable applications while delivering outstanding accuracy and precision.

The initial project of the partnership was the development of user-friendly content for an ISOBUS-operator terminal with a unique AMAZONE functionality. This console will be presented at Agritechnica 2011 in Hannover, Germany, as the new AMAPAD ISOBUS terminal.

At the heart of this new product and collaboration is the innovative AgApp (Agriculture Applications) concept developed by AMAZONE. This concept allows third-party software to be loaded onto an operator terminal, which means applications from independent developers can be fully integrated into the console interface. Now, the end user really only needs one control terminal – whether operating a machine or a sensor.

Topcon Precision Agriculture (TPA) has announced an agreement with SAME DEUTZ-FAHR (SDF), to produce a new product line for SDF dedicated to precision agriculture.

The agreement provides for cooperation between Topcon and SDF’s engineering department to develop state-of-the-art precision farming products. The products will be designed for SDF tractors and combine harvesters and marketed with the brand Agrosky™ via SDF’s distribution network. Agrosky is SDF’s brand of precision farming products.

The partnership will allow the entire range of SDF products to be equipped with precision farming devices, ranging from automatic steering, with precision from +/- 2 cm, to the most sophisticated machine control systems.

The new Agrosky SDF products for tractors and combines will be officially presented at Agritechnica 2011.

Dave Stamp, a veteran of the seed industry has joined E4 Crop Intelligence in a leadership role, announces Greg Reisz, E4 President. Stamp resigned from Channel Bio where he was Central Region Business Director.

Prior roles included sales manager for Midwest Seed Genetics, NC Plus Hybrids and Wilson Seeds.

A high-performance round baler, purposefully designed for producers who want capacity, speed and reliability in smaller 5′ x 4′ round bales, is now available from Vermeer. The new Vermeer 504N, modeled after the Vermeer Super M Series, produces 47″ wide x 60″ diameter (1.2 m x 1.5 m) packages that weigh up to 1200 lbs (544 kg), depending on moisture content.

Vermeer Introduces a New Generation of Rebel Balers — Twelve years ago, Vermeer introduced the first ever hitch ‘n go baler designed to meet the needs and pocketbooks of producers with low horsepower tractors looking to roll their own high-quality round bales. Today marks the launch of the new Rebel Baler generation, this time with two models – the Rebel 5420 and 5520 Balers – and several significant new features incorporated from larger Vermeer models, but still maintaining the user-friendly functionality and meeting the lower horsepower requirements of the popular original.

Vermeer Adds High-Capacity Wheel Rake to VR Series — A new, high-capacity wheel rake capable of raking 28′ (8.5 m) wide passes – yet nimble enough to maneuver like rakes much smaller in size – is now available from Vermeer Corporation. The heavy-duty VR1428 is designed to give operators more capacity and the ability to handle more acres in less time, with fewer maintenance issues. It combines smart, streamlined design and functionality with simple, tool-free adjustments, while incorporating outstanding operator conveniences.

AGCO, Your Agriculture Company, is pleased to announce the availability of System 350 Automatic Steering through AGCO’s North American dealer network. The System 350 features a new X30 all-in-one control console that gives operators an entirely new level of precision accuracy, dependability, flexibility and ease of use beyond what they’ve come to expect from other steering systems in the market.

The System 350 Automatic Steering includes boundary and U-turn recognition features that allow operators to easily complete turns and lock onto the next swath. The System 350’s guidance dashboard provides on-screen indicators for area applied, speed, row number and satellite information while it builds a color coverage map that the operator can review to make adjustments that can help increase productivity of the work at hand. The System 350 also can be easily moved from one vehicle to the next.

The final ZimmComm publication survey winner has been drawn and the lucky one is Rita Ruud, a nutritionist with North Dakota State University and World Dairy Diary reader. She will be receiving a check in the mail for $250 for taking just about two minutes of her time to fill out our survey and help us do a better job of serving the folks who read this on-line publication.

January was the third and final month for the ZimmComm publication survey since we have now received enough responses to make it statistically significant. We would sincerely thank everyone who took the time to help us out.

Here’s a few interesting things we learned from the survey about Precision Pays readers:

The largest percentage of our readers (22%) are actual crop farmers of mainly corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. The next largest category was Equipment & Services at 18%, followed by education at 15%. Another 11% each fell in the categories of Crop Consultant or Advertising/Marketing/Sales.

We had responses from 15 states and Canada. Most responses came from Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, California and Oregon.

Thanks again to everyone who filled out the survey!