Precision Pays

If you’re headed to Orlando next week to catch the first-ever world-class AG CONNECT Expo, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn about the latest precision technologies from around the world, as well as ‘kick the tires’.

New products and technologies will be showcased during the January 13-15 trade show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. You can also check out some of these products posted on the show’s Web site, where you can even rate the products.

Many educational sessions led by industry experts are scheduled every day. Topics range from top tech trends, top shops, trading machinery, crop marketing, robotics and more. And you can also register to attend smaller interactive educational breakout sessions on such topics as energy, technology, farm management, family business management, risk management, high yield and a plan for success workshop.

We’ll have reports from the show, so stay tuned. And if you’re into the social media tool Twitter, you can follow along with everyone who posts at #agconnect.

Post Update: Listen to a show preview with ZimmComm’s Chuck Zimmerman in his weekly podcast, the ZimmCast below:

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All agricultural technology enthusiasts are invited to attend the 10th Annual Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association Conference (NEATA), January 27-28, 2010 at the Midtown Holiday Inn, Grand Island, NE.

Pre-conference programs will focus on Optimizing Pivot Irrigation Management (9:00 to 4:00) and Social Media Applications in Agriculture (1:00 – 4:00) will be offered the afternoon of January 27.

The conference opens Wednesday evening with Dr. Raj Khoslo, Precision Agriculture Specialists, Colorado State University, discussing Precision Nutrient Management on Site-specific Management Zones, followed by Bill Kranz, Irrigation Specialist, University of Nebraska-Lincoln addressing Monitoring Irrigation Water Application with Computerized Controllers.

Thursday morning opens with international guest and precision agriculture expert, Sam Tengrove, Australian farmer, sharing Adoption of Precision Agriculture by Australian Grain Growers. Additional general sessions offered include Broadband: Who Needs It?, Mapping Evapotranspiration with High Resolution and Internalized Calibration (METRIC), and Global Perspectives of Site-specific Weed Management.

Twelve concurrent sessions addressing a variety of emerging agricultural technology topics will also be offered on Thursday. The concurrent sessions in the Ambassador room will be hands-on workshops. See the conference brochure.

Up to 8 CCA credits are available for conference participants with an additional 6 CCA credits available to those who attend the Optimizing Pivot Irrigation Management pre-conference workshop.

More information is available at http://neata.org.

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.

Precision farming techniques and practices are taking center stage at this year’s Beltwide Cotton Conference in New Orleans, January 4-7, 2010.

According to a report in Mid-South Farmer magazine, Bill Robertson of the National Cotton Council says Randy Taylor, Oklahoma State University will set the stage for the precision agriculture theme Tuesday morning at the general production conference with a look at current and future opportunities for cotton producers using precision agriculture technology in their fields.

“From there, the precision agriculture theme branches out in other Tuesday and Wednesday workshops in the New Orleans Marriott Hotel,” he explains. “The general production conference this year — where all attendees gather in one hall — is set in the nearby Sheraton Hotel.”

Workshops include:
1. A collaborative report on several years’ research from across the Cotton Belt concerning site-specific management of nematodes, Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 5.

2. Hands-on sampling for precision agriculture uses, by Jeffrey Willers, USDA ARS researcher in Mississippi, Wednesday morning, Jan. 6.

3. Sensor-based Nitrogen Application, by David Dunn, of the University of Missouri at the Delta Research Station in the Missouri Bootheel, Wednesday morning, Jan. 6.

4. Cotton Irrigation, by Dana Porter, Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Lubbock, Texas.

For more details, visit the Beltwide Cotton Conference website.

Southern growers get a chance to check out the latest precision farming technology at the annual Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show, set for October 20-22 in Moultrie, Georgia.

Now in it’s 32nd year, it features 1,200 exhibitors and 600 acres of field demonstrations. And this year the show will feature a new Technology Innovations and Solutions series of seminars, sponsored by Farm Press and hosted by Southern States Cooperative.

If you come Tuesday, October 20 at 11:00 a.m., you can hear an excellent presentation on the latest in precision agriculture featuring Harlan Little of AGCO, Russ Moorman of AgLeader Technology, Jared Hayes of John Deere AMS, Todd Smith of Outback Guidance Hemisphere GPS, Phil Howard of Southern States, Ron Cox and Jesse Chisholm of TopCon and Sid Siefken, Tim East and Brian Kelley with Trimble Navigation / Ag Technologies.

Check out Visitor Information for more news on the show, and a schedule of events.

Many of you corn growers using precision technology are very aware of the challenges we’ve had in the ethanol business, especially battling groups with an agenda to distort facts and misinform the public. Growth Energy is a group that was formed to battle that problem on Capitol Hill.

Here at the Farm Progress Show, Gen. Wesley Clark, Growth Energy, announced a new initiative. The organization is calling for country of origin labeling for fuel. I would call that the “COOL for fuel” initiative! Hey, we do it with food, why not fuel?

General Wesley Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, today called on the United States Congress and the White House to take action to dramatically enhance the market transparency of the nation’s fuel supply by requiring a national standard of country of origin labeling (COOL) for fuel.

Clark also unveiled Growth Energy’s labelmyfuel.com, which showcases the costs of American dependence on foreign oil, and serves to rally grassroots support for Congressional action on COOL for fuel legislation.

So what do you think about this initiative? Good idea?

You can listen to the press conference here:

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Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Precision Pays coverage of the Farm Progress Show is sponsored by: .

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Since we know that many farmers are using social networking services like Twitter and Facebook I thought you’d be interested to learn about a couple of opportunities to learn more while you’re attending the Farm Progress Show next week.

To start with there’s a weekly Twitter conversation called AgChat. AgChat is for farmers, in fact for anyone involved in providing food, fuel, feed and fiber as well as consumers. The audience is growing and it’s providing some good interaction with people who want and need to understand agriculture today.

“AgChat gives farmers a stronger voice and leverages the power of the agricultural community,” notes Michele Payn-Knoper, Certified Speaking Professional and founder of #AgChat. “We see upwards of 1,000 “tweets” during our two hour discussion every Tuesday night, cementing this tool as an important venue for sharing views and ideas on current food and farm topics, from antibiotic use to mainstream media misinformation about agriculture.”

On Tuesday, September 1, Farm Progress attendees can learn more about this social media tool at two #AgChat events:

• Tweetup: A networking and #AgChat demonstration for those in agriculture who are a part of Twitter, or want to see it in action. From 3-5 p.m., in the Country Financial tent, booth 749 on 7th Street, join Payn-Knoper and others in the #AgChat community, who will answer any questions you have. Refreshments will be served.

• #AgChat live: Join other farmers and agribusiness to participate in this fast-paced streaming “convo” on Twitter. Tweet and talk with several of the chat regulars, or just watch the community in action. Payn-Knoper will be moderating live from Farm Progress, 7-9 p.m., in the Decatur Conference Center & Hotel Illini Room. Bioenergy is the topic for the Sept. 1 chat. Other #AgChat participants will be joining in the streaming conversation from locations around the world.

If you won’t be attending the Farm Progress Show then just get online Tuesday evening at the time listed above and go to www.tweetchat.com and enter the search term, #AgChat. Then you’ll be able to watch the conversation unfold one “tweet” at a time. You’ll need a Twitter account to do so but you don’t have to write if you don’t want. You can just watch. But we encourage you to participate!

Cindy and I will be attending the event and can often be found in the media tent. We’ll have stories as we find them for you here.

Check out this video from a field robot event at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, courtesy of Epoch Times online.

“We can reduce the amount of chemicals we use by the very precise application and by doing so, we will also reduce emissions and residuals of chemicals on food.”

Putting theory into practice, students and engineers held a Field Robot Event at the Wageningen University campus last month.
They tested small, driveable machines averaging between 50 to 80 centimeters in width and no more than 40 centimeters in height. Cameras, sonar, infrared and GPS sensors helped the machines steer in the right direction

The robots can distinguish between good and bad plants. They are designed to direct a detergent spray on weeds with such high precision that they avoid touching the crop itself.

The Field Robot Event tested the tiny machines’ ability to navigate and detect weeds.

[Professor Eldert Van Henten, Wageningen University]:
“What we see is that currently tractors are already using auto-steering and GPS so in a way we are supporting human labor with technology. The next step might be that the farmer is supervising one or two additional tractors, still having supervision and then further future might be that robots are truly autonomous on the field.”

Southern growers interested or already involved with the efficient tools of precision agriculture should take part in the upcoming January conference in Tunica, Mississippi.

The Southern Precision Agriculture Conference will be held January 12th and 13th, 2010, at Harrah’s Tunica Convention Center in Tunica. It will be part of a joint meeting with the National Conservation Cotton and Rice Conference, the Southern Corn and Soybean Conference and the newly formed Southern Field Crop Alliance (SFCA).

The SFCA conference will examine issues across crops and precision agriculture technologies. And it provides a chance to network with growers and industries from across the south. For more information on SFCA, contact Angus Catchot at acatchot@entomology.msstate.edu or B. Rogers Leonard at rleonard@agcenter.lsu.edu. Conference details are found at http://nctd.net/.

I recently attended the Southern Peanut Growers Conference blog and talked with representatives from Trimble and Ag Technologies who work together in the Southeast to provide the very latest in technology to help peanut growers be more productive.

Tim East of Trimble and Brian Kelly of Ag Technologies discussed their relationship with peanut growers in the southeast and what they offer for growers. “The peanut growers and the people in the peanut industry are great to work with,” Tim said. “Technology is a tool in the tool box. We’re trying to make the farmers more efficient to get more things done in less time.”

Brian says they listen to the needs of growers and bring the technologies to them. “We try to go to and work with the vendors we service, such as Trimble, in the interest of bringing those solutions the customers need, such as saving money on energy,” he said. “We’ve gotten to see a lot of these customers take precision ag full circle and see it make money and save on those energy costs.”

Trimble and Ag Technologies were the sponsor for the Southern Peanut Growers Conference blog for the second year in a row.

Listen to my interview with Tim and Brian here:

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