Precision Pays

During the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted with farmers over the years for stories on precision farming tools, I’d have to say that every one of them has touched on the value of their local dealer. Without their set up, training and troubleshooting expertise, adoption of this technology would not be where it is today.

To that end, I spoke yesterday with Andy Boyle who is training coordinator at Ag Leader Technology. They are currently holding dealer trainings at “Ag Leader Academy” at their great facility in Ames, Iowa. “Our U.S. and International dealers truly enjoy this meeting, as it keeps them up-to-date on all of our hardware, so they are truly prepared to help educate and serve their customers,” he says.

During these trainings, dealers partake in 100-, 200- and 300-level classes on displays (INTEGRA, EDGE), on applications like DirectCommand and SeedCommand, on the auto steering capabilities of ParaDyme and OnTrac2 and much more.

“Much of our training is hands-on so dealers get the feel for how everything works, and how to troubleshoot issues that can arise,” Boyle says. “Our showroom has a fully-operational sprayer, spinner-spreader and planter so we can actually calibrate and troubleshoot equipment. And we have four tractors equipped with mechanical and hydraulic steering systems so dealers get drive time training as well.”

CUSTOMERS BENEFIT. Thanks to this intensive hands-on training, these dealers take this knowledge and conduct around 40 training sessions to benefit their customers and prospects during February, March and April in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Canada (see the link below for current list of sessions).

“The dealers focus their customer training on all the how-to information growers need, which is also a great refresher to prepare for the upcoming spring season. They walk through set-up of all equipment to prepare for spring field work, as well as review all operations while in the field,” he adds.

Cost to growers is $25 per session, which includes a meal. To register for a training session (see the link below) call 515-232-5363, ext. 6205.

Visit these links for more information:

Customer Training Sessions
http://www.agleader.com/customer-support/training-sessions/hardware-training/

Ag Leader dealer locator http://www.agleader.com/dealer-search/

Educating growers on efficient use of precision agriculture technology was the idea behind a mobile classroom that is hitting the road for Hoober farm equipment dealership, according to a recent story in Lancaster Farming.

Hoober Inc., a farm equipment dealer with stores in Pennsylvania and Delaware, recently completed work on a precision ag training center that will go on the road to provide farmers with knowledge and training.

“Instead of farmers having to come to us, we’re going to the farmers,” said Scott Hoober, product support manager. “What we have done is create a mobile classroom to help farmers understand how to get the most from precision farming technology.

“The use of this technology has just exploded the past several years and it’s reached the point where training is needed to effectively operate the equipment,” Hoober said. “There’s so much this technology can do that many farmers may not fully understand the complete capabilities of their precision ag equipment.”

The climate controlled mobile education center provides a comfortable classroom setting that Hoober believes will enable farmers to feel more comfortable and confident with the technology.

“We believe this kind of essential training is going to help our customers save time because they will then be familiar with the equipment and will be able to, in many cases, make adjustments and corrections when needed themselves,” Hoober said. “That helps them be more productive, and that’s what matters most.”

Read more…

As most growers involved in precision farming technology will tell you, the value of their local retailer and its technicians is priceless when it comes to installation, upkeep and troubleshooting. Is your precision ag retailer delivering on your needs?

One such example of precision efforts and communications can be found in Iowa at HTS Precision Ag Solutions, with locations in Harlan and Ames. One look at their website proves this emphasis. From product investment strategies and installation to maintenance, repair and troubleshooting, they do it all. And you can get software training to learn how to use the tools to manage your data, or let their experts do it all for you.

HTS also believes in precision communications to customers and prospects, from monthly electronic newsletters and weekly radio shows to use of social media through Facebook and Twitter. And they have started a classified advertising section for anyone to post precision ag equipment for sale.

Check them out here.

The advent of handheld computers with valuable ag software has been great to collect more in-field data whether it’s recording such things as pest/weed locations, soil sample locations and much more. But if you’re a constant user day after day, that tiny screen can get tough on the eyes.

That is exactly the challenge that John Gullidge and their 20 soil sample gathering crews faced—staring at those tiny screens as each four-wheeler maneuvers over 800 to 1,200 acres a day in the fall. “The rugged military-grade laptops like the Toughbook are much easier to see, we were just looking for a new mobile-type software to try that worked beyond the handheld,” he says.

Gullidge is computer systems manager for KSI Labs in Shelbyville, Ill., one of the largest volume soil sample labs in the U.S. “Since our technology need has outgrown our current hardware/software use, I asked Ag Leader in August 2009 at the Farm Progress Show if they could make their SMS Mobile work on a laptop. And sure enough, this fall we’ve got a crew using the SMS Mobile PC software.”

So far, he likes what he sees with the program. “We can see everything on a large screen; we no longer have to start sampling in the corner of a field; the GPS will automatically access a grower’s farm and field selection that is already loaded; we can easily import shape files from other software applications we get from dealers; we can add changes to fields at any time; it will count how many acres we have covered; we can stagger grid patterns, and much more,” Gullidge says.

Gullidge says so far he uses only the soil sampling capabilities of the SMS Mobile PC software. “I use other software too, but have been very impressed with Ag Leader as a company. Not only is their technical support very good, but they are very open and responsive to ideas and they move quickly with improvements, unlike some companies,” he adds.

Visit these links for more information.

SMS Mobile PC http://www.agleader.com/products/sms-mobile/

Video on SMS Mobile PC http://www.agleader.com/2010/07/19/sms-mobile-pc/

KSI Laboratories http://ksilab.com/

Toughbook Computers http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/why-toughbook-reviews.asp?cm_mmc=PCSC_Toughbook-_-HomepagePromos-_-PageBottom-_-ToughbookReviews

Designed for dealers, crop consultants and other ag professionals, new FieldRx is a web-based precision farming engine that creates customized site-specific recommendations for any crop.

Just in time to begin soil sampling in preparation for the 2011 growing season, FieldRx is bringing crop consultants and agricultural dealers a more user-friendly program for writing custom fertilizer prescriptions. Designed by ag professionals for ag professionals, FieldRx was created to eliminate the frustrations with existing precision ag software programs while providing concise grower reports and smaller controller files.

“We’re really excited about bringing FieldRx to market because of the solutions and time-savings it’s going to bring to crop consultants and dealers,” said David Krueger of Ag Software Designs. “FieldRx will streamline the process for using VRT data and making custom recommendations to growers.

A highlight of the FieldRx engine is the ease of uploading field borders and sample points. In addition, lab results can be imported directly into FieldRx from some labs without the user having to manually obtain and upload the data.

“Our goal in developing FieldRx was to put users first by saving them time and eliminating the potential for human error that can arise from manual data input,” said Lance Ramthun of Ag Software Designs. “A lot of VRT programs currently on the market are extremely time-consuming to set up, and one wrong click while inputting data can be very costly for dealers.”

FieldRx boasts a minimal learning curve for users, who only need access to the web to get started. Furthermore, users don’t need a high-level of computer proficiency to operate the program.

“We know software and new technologies can be very intimidating to users, especially if there is a lot of potential for error,” said David Hydrick of Ag Software Designs. “People are going to be extremely satisfied with how easy FieldRx is to use.”

In addition to soil test recommendations, the FieldRx engine has the power to support many other variables for prescription writing in future releases. Other capabilities include web services that are available for other vendor’s software tools to upload data directly to FieldRx.

For more information about FieldRx, please visit www.fieldrx.com or call (888) 336-0029.

More equipment companies involved in precision agriculture are deploying remote diagnostic capabilities as part of a broader telematic system offering.

Farm Industry News offers a fascinating look at some of the current technology.

After being on the agriculture market for almost a decade, telematic systems that once were thought to be useful mostly to large farming and custom application operations with far-flung equipment fleets are beginning to offer features that smaller operations may find attractive as well.

The newest systems offer remote diagnostics of power equipment, real-time combine monitoring and on-the-go transfer of prescription application, as-applied and yield maps. GPS-based features like current location, field and transport speeds, and idling versus working time also are becoming more sophisticated.

Read the rest of the story.

Computers and software are an essential element in a grower’s toolbox to achieve greater efficiency. Without advanced software, the coming explosion of variable-rate prescriptions and precise field management zones will not be possible.

Even if you are not a power user of software yourself, it’s nice to know that those suppliers creating maps and prescriptions for your fields have the expertise. To that end, Ag Leader Technology offers it’s three-day SMS Certified Training course for its SMS Advanced Software program – held at its Ames, Iowa headquarters. The next course is July 13-15.

“This class is mostly for ‘power users’ of our SMS Advanced program, primarily service providers like crop consultants and retailers who have already been through the one-day Basic and Advanced training and have worked with the software for at least six months to a year,” says Issac Bauer, Software Support and Training Supervisor for Ag Leader. “We created these small group classes because users wanted greater in-depth knowledge of our analysis tools—from yield by hybrid and yield by soil type comparisons to writing the needed equations for prescription application.”

Not only do participants receive a 500+ page, in-depth manual (only available with this class), but they also receive 22 CCA credits toward their Certified Crop Advisor accreditation. “At the end of the course, the 10 to 12 participants are tested on their knowledge. If they pass, they earn a plaque as a Certified SMS Software user, which they can promote to their customers.”

Class size is kept small to ensure all individuals get all their specific questions answered. “Participants really like this course because they get to drill down and really understand the power of the software. Not only do they learn how to speed up the processes they are already doing, but they learn more about the analysis tools—from how to run multi-year data analysis and how to compare data sets, to learning the ins and outs of the equation editor to create management zones, create layers and make prescriptions,” Bauer says. “In addition, attendees get to interact with others from different areas and backgrounds to discuss ways they handle different situations.”

For more information on this and other SMS Software training classes, call 515-232-5363 extension 1.

For more information:

SMS Advanced Software: http://www.agleader.com/products/sms-advanced/

Upcoming SMS Software Training Classes http://www.agleader.com/customer-support/training-sessions/software-training/

As corn continues to grow across the Midwest, areas of heavy rain in portions of states may cause more problems than just pond replanting. Loss of applied Nitrogen can cause valuable yield loss.

I spoke with Cory De Jong, Certified Crop Advisor and GIS/Agronomy Sales at Sully Cooperative Exchange in Sully, Ia. today. They tested the Ag Leader OptRx crop sensor system last year during all the heavy rains. “We strictly used the sensors on a sprayer for mapping purposes, as we weren’t set up yet to apply nitrogen. And we saw a lot of (plant health) variability in fields, covering several thousand acres that we mapped,” he says.

“Last year, sidedressing N definitely paid due to all the spring rain we had here in central Iowa. On average, growers gained at least 15 bushels an acre by sidedressing. And if they applied variable-rate, they could have gained 30 bushels,” De Jong says. “We saw 50 bushel per acre differences within fields with the OptRx. So this year we’ve got a bar ready to custom apply with OptRx to apply sidedress N. And we have a bar with OptRx that customers can rent, too.”

De Jong says there is a lot of hog and chicken manure used by customers in his territory, and they are interested in this sensor technology. “For example, one grower who has a lot of hog buildings wanted to know how much N he was getting from his manure. We used the sensors to shoot the plant leaves and saved him input dollars. And in some areas the N gets reallocated to areas of the field where N is needed most,” he adds.

He feels this sensor technology will gain more and more users, once growers see the benefits of variable-rate application. “As interest picks up, we’ll add sensors to a sprayer that will just be dedicated to sidedressing. We may be losing some N business due to manure, but we’re gaining business by helping customers apply N only where the sensors detect it is needed—as well as how much the plants need.”

For more information, visit

OptRx Crop Sensor http://www.agleader.com/products/directcommand/optrx/

Ag Leader Products http://www.agleader.com/products/

Sully Cooperative Exchange – Agronomy Dept. http://www.scecoop.com/index.cfm?show=10&mid=7

Certified Crop Advisors https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/

We’ve written before about economic savings derived from auto steering and auto planter row shut-off off. But many growers often favor the aspects of increased productivity with less fatigue at the end of the day.

We spoke with Adam Gittins, Precision Ag Sales Manager for HTS Precision Ag Solutions in Harlan, Iowa, about the current planting season and local farmer philosophy on this subject.

“Farmers, and I’m one of them, often apply two schools of thought regarding productivity and planting season—auto steer and auto shut-off,” Gittins says. “First, adding auto steering allows growers to run later at night with less fatigue and still be every bit as accurate as planting during the day. Second, by adding auto row shut-off to the planter, guys are saving time with quicker turn time at the headlands.”

Farm more acres. Running longer hours combined with quicker turns can help growers farm more acres with the same equipment. “We’ve seen operations add farm land, and instead of buying another tractor and planter, they’ll instead buy auto steering and planter shut-off to increase productivity—and be able to farm 20 percent more ground with the same equipment,” he says.

“It so much less stress when you don’t have to stare at a marker furrow all day. And I feel I’m doing a much better planting job because I can swivel my seat part way around and watch row units and planter attachments, and can make quick adjustments as needed—instead of focusing mostly on driving. And I feel so much better physically at the end of the day,” he adds.

Becoming standard equipment. Gittins cited one extreme example from this past winter where a farmer saved money by buying an auto steer unit instead of paying for markers on a new 90-ft. planter. “Another trend we’re seeing is that guys who purchase new tractors won’t wait and add auto steer later, they put it in now.”

While good weather is really helping a lot of farmers get crops in the ground quicker this spring, any grower with auto steer and auto planter shut-off will tell you how this technology has truly helped them improve their entire planting operation.

For more information, visit
Tips for using AutoSwath http://www.agleader.com/2010/04/08/tips-for-using-autoswath/

Ag Leader Steering Products http://www.agleader.com/products/steering/

Ag Leader Products http://www.agleader.com/products/

HTS Precision Ag Solutions, Harlan, Iowa
http://www.htsag.com/

HTS on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harlan-IA/HTS-Precision-Ag/222272725264?ref=ts

HTS Precision Ag’s blog
http://htsag.blogspot.com/

In an effort to offer growers more complete precision farming guidance and application packages, more precision ag companies are forming alliances, as reported in a recent issue of Farm Industry News magazine.

A review of recent partnership/purchase announcements highlights the trend. Ag Leader and AutoFarm; Raven Industries, SST Software, Ranchview, and Buhler Industries/Versatile; and Hemisphere GPS and Third Eye Maps all revealed new alliances in the final months of 2009.

Within the past few years, the alliance list has become a virtual who’s who of precision agriculture: AGCO/Topcon/KEE Technologies; Trimble/Dickey-john/Rawson/Tru Count/GreenSeeker/Farm Works; Leica/Rinex/TeeJet; Ag Leader/Holland Scientific/Kinze/Norac; and Raven/AutoFarm. Both Trimble and Ag Leader also have long-term technology partnerships with Case New Holland (CNH). Of the major precision ag providers, John Deere stands alone, although it announced in 2009 that it would begin offering certain Raven application control technologies through its dealerships.

To learn more about why companies are cutting deals, as well as future prospects, read the story.

Friday, I wrote about how Ag Leader listened to customers of their SMS Advanced software and built a Certified Training program to give participants deeper knowledge that helps their own business.

This weekend I spoke with Justin McCuiston, who helps customers of the farmer-owned cooperative Farm Service Inc., in northeast Arkansas with variable-rate fertilizer programs, yield mapping and other precision farming practices.

“We have five locations that cover about 8 counties in this rice and soybean area, where about half of our growers now use variable-rate prescriptions. In the past we used another software program, but switched to SMS Advanced which has turned out to be hands-down the best software I’ve ever dealt with in the 16 years I’ve been doing this,” McCuiston says.

“What truly makes it valuable is Ag Leader’s Certified Training program with the small class sizes and personalized training, which allows us to optimize the software capabilities to meet the services we offer to growers. We run 14 variable-rate fertilizer rigs that cover thousands of acres, and we couldn’t do that without the capabilities and batch processing features of SMS Advanced,” he says.

McCuiston says that once growers start with variable-rate fertilizer, they stick with it. “We re-pull soil samples every three years, which helps makes true believers out of them because they see soil improvements, fertilizer savings and improved profits.”

Check these links to learn more about SMS Advanced and Certified Training.

Ag Leader Technology has announced the Blue Delta Dealer Network. At the Iowa Power Farming Show I spoke with Mike Olson to learn more about it. He’s pictured working in the booth here at the show.

Basically, Ag Leader Technology has developed a new elite precision farming distribution network in an effort to bring more structure to a growing precision agriculture community.

The network is designed to help precision farming dealers become well-rounded precision farming experts, as well as help farmers locate and identify elite precision farming dealerships throughout North America.

“Our goal is to provide these dealers with a number of tools to help them better educate and sup- port their precision farming customers,” continues Olson. “We’ve learned that the more educated growers are about precision farming, the more they embrace it. We believe this will have a significant impact on the industry.”

You can listen to my interview with Mike below.

Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

When the term ‘crop consultant’ comes to mind, growers often think in terms of scouting, insects, diseases, soil fertility and testing, and perhaps input buying recommendations. But have you stopped to think about their value in helping you properly invest in tools of precision agriculture?

Retailers who sell precision ag equipment know the technology, but do they know your operation as well as a crop consultant might? Michael Vos, software sales manager for Ag Leader Technology, says that crop consultants often have an advantage of knowing agronomics, and that gives them a broader perspective of a grower’s operation.

Place seed, place fertilizer. “For example, just yesterday we were talking with a crop consultant who was answering grower questions about the placement of fertilizer and especially micronutrients. He says the first thing he reminds growers is not to forget the fundamentals—placing the seed accurately in the field,” Vos says. “He says that once growers do that, then they can look at using precision technology to band fertilizer and micronutrients and plant right over the top of it—reducing rates compared to broadcast.”

Vos says consultants that they work with often dovetail that discussion into asking, ‘Well, then how are you going to make sure you are applying fertilizer accurately?’ “That’s when they talk about the value of a controller monitor like our InSight or INTEGRA models, that not only control rates (flat rate or prescription variable rate), but it monitors the rates and records them to help improve future decision making. And, in combination with a guidance system like our ParaDyme, they can optimize seeding and fertility in a strip-till system.”

See the big picture. “Crop consultants understand the breadth and depth of the entire farming operation—from agronomics to technology to marketing. That allows them to see the weaker links in an operation, and help point growers in the best direction to improve their efficiency,” Vos says.

Not only can they help correct the inefficiencies, a good crop consultant can also help growers prioritize their precision farming investment. “Some farmers may be better off starting out with a precision ag tool for their planter. Others may get a quicker payoff by adding technology to their sprayer. Still others may want to start with a guidance system,” he says.

Other resources:

Why Hire A Crop Consultant? (Corn & Soybean Digest)

How to Choose a Crop Consultant (Citrus & Vegetable)

How to Choose Your Crop Consultant (AgProfessional)

What a Consulting Engineer Can Do For You

National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants

American Society of Agricultural Consultants

Arriving just ahead of a blizzard bearing down on Iowa yesterday, more than 200 key dealers got their first glimpse of the big, new Ag Leader Academy training facility in Ames. The group will get hands-on experience over the next several days, learning all about new products and the steering technology and services gained from the partnership with AutoFarm.

There was a lot of buzz about teaming up two new products in particular, which highlights the strengths of the new partnership between Ag Leader and AutoFarm. The ability to pair the new ‘flagship’ products—Ag Leader’s INTEGRA monitor with the high-accuracy automatic steering ParaDyme product from AutoFarm—will offer the most advanced and innovative precision ag system ever, say the companies.

The INTEGRA full-featured, year-around display, comprised of a 12-inch HD touchscreen, features a new hardware platform that can handle mapping, planter and application control, yield monitoring, real-time data logging and more—controlling virtually every operation from the cab.

And to make this a fully integrated system, a patented dual-antenna roof module called the ParaDyme, delivers a unique steering system that can handle any correction (from WAAS to RTK), plus it offers factory-activated and integrated wireless and cellular communications for remote diagnostics. It not only can provide sub-inch accuracy with RTK or the CORS Network, but it can track pitch, roll, yaw, vehicle position and heading.

ParaDyme System

“With ParaDyme, we’ve taken automatic steering to a whole new level,” says Michael O’Connor, Chief Technology Officer with Novariant, the parent company of AutoFarm. “This sets the standard in single-system solution to precision farming, when combined with the Ag Leader INTEGRA monitor system.”

What impressed me during the presentations was the simplicity behind the complex and all-encompassing capabilities of this system. For example:

• The ParaDyme platform fits both entry level users and the experienced RTK-intensive, variable-rate users, simply by swapping out monitors, steering systems and selecting the right correction signal—from sub-meter to sub-inch accuracy.
• No more complex steering calibration—you push a button and the computer automatically calibrates by turning and learning the tractor movements.
• No more need for a front-wheel sensor, due to the patented dual-antenna system configuration.
• There’s a seamless upgrade path for growers who want to start with an entry-level Edge monitor and assisted-steering, then move up later. The ParaDyme unit doesn’t change (only the signal), and the INTEGRA monitor uses the same cables and bolt-on hardware as the Edge monitor.
• With a decade of precision-steering experience, AutoFarm technology fits on more than 370 different vehicle brands.
• With ParaDyme, you are directly connected to your local dealer with a service plan (for a fee) to minimize downtime. If you have a problem, you push the help button on the monitor and it contacts them. Not only can they view your screen, they can actually make remote adjustments and troubleshoot it, without waiting for their truck to arrive.
• And for growers who live in states with good CORS networks coverage, the built-in cell phone system in the ParaDyme will automatically chose the best local carrier for your signal to run RTK—without you or your dealer worrying about another cell phone, and carrier, and service. Plus, you can activate it in 30-day increments, so no need for year-long contracts.

There are many more details, so contact your local dealer.

The doors open next week on Ag Leader Technology’s new Ag Leader Academy, which will play host to its top 200 dealers who will use this great new training resource to learn about the new product line for 2010.

“This is a big event for us, as we just launched an entire new suite of products, announced our new partnership with AutoFarm, and now opened our new training facility,” says Mike Olson, North American Sales Manager. “And it’s the first chance to give our dealers a look inside the complete package we now offer.”

Olson says that not only will the company’s best dealers get to touch the equipment next week in the big showroom space, they’ll also gain first-hand product knowledge in the new classrooms. “We have multiple classrooms, along with a larger SMS Software Computer Lab with tiered seating like a theater, and space for everyone’s laptop.”

Dealers will have several classroom sessions on all the products. “We’ll spend a lot of time going through the new INTEGRA display, along with the entry-level Edge display, which has been completely reworked for 2010. They will also learn all about the new steering products (ParaDyme, OnTrac2, L160 Lightbar), as those are brand new. And we’ll provide updates on the DirectCommand and SeedCommand, as well as all software products.”

Complete Solution. “Both customers and dealers are excited about the fact that we now have a complete solution from one company. We have our own steering system now, we have displays, yield monitors, application controls systems and the desktop software,” Olson adds. “We now feature the most complete system out there—and it’s all coming with the Ag Leader name on it.”