Precision Pays

During the National Farm Machinery Show, Farm Industry News presented their 2011 FinOvation Awards at an evening banquet. Our sponsor, Ag Leader Technology, along with AutoFarm, won for their INTEGRA display/ParaDyme system in the Precision Navigation category. Seen with the award are Mike Olson and Lori Costello, Ag Leader Technology.

A year ago, Ag Leader and AutoFarm teamed up to develop precision products. The first products released from this venture included the Integra display and Paradyme steering system, which drew lots of attention from FIN readers.

2011 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Precision Pays coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by:

It has been a busy day at the National Farm Machinery Show. I’ve been doing interviews all day and adding to the photo collection. So, lots of stories will be forthcoming in the next few days. Let’s start off with our coverage sponsor.

This morning I learned some of what’s new with Ag Leader Technology from Russ Morman. Russ gave me an overview of new products on display that includes their SMS Mobile Mesa Rugged Notepad hand held display, their new GPS 2500 system and advanced seed monitoring for the INTEGRA display. He says they’ve been receiving the most questions on advanced seed monitoring.

You can listen to my interview with Russ here: Russ Morman Interview

2011 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Precision Pays coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by:

The show is underway in Louisville, KY and the crowd is growing by the minute. The weather is really helping out as things warm up.

I did a little random photo walk and have added to the photo album. Keep an eye on it as it grows these next couple days! Since I had just posted the results of our latest ZimmPoll about smartphone platforms I thought it was interesting to run into a booth selling mobile phone accessories!

2011 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

My next step is to begin doing some interviews and of course I’ll be tweeting at @AgriBlogger!

Precision Pays coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by:

Somebody ordered some beautiful weather for this year’s National Farm Machinery Show. Sunshine and “warm” is the way I like it. I got on site early and got in some exercise just wandering around and seeing the show in set up mode.

I checked in at the Kentucky Exposition Center and met Corinne Fetter, Director of Expositions, Kentucky State Fair Board. She says the good weather should “bring people out of the woodwork.” The exhibit space is sold out so there’s 1.2 million square feet to walk through. She says the “Superbowl of Tractor Pulls” will have five sessions over the next several days and there are only a limited number of tickets left.

You can listen to my interview with Corinne here: Interview with Corinne Fetter

I’ve got a photo album started which will be added to periodically over the next several days: 2011 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Precision Pays coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by:

Trimble debuted a couple of new innovations at the recent National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, which they were also showcasing at the Commodity Classic last week.

EZ-Sync™ is a wireless data transfer capability that provides enhanced information management for growers and agribusinesses, and the EZ Surface Software provides surface drainage analysis and design for farmers and drainage contractors.

Brian Stark, who does information management for Trimble, is the company’s EZ-Sync expert. “EZ-Sync allows you to take data wirelessly from a mobile computer or from the Trimble FMX display and send that data from the field to the office,” Brian explained in an interview. “Or, if I’m in the office, I can send my data from the office, [such as] prescription maps or target points, to the field.”

Brian says the software is compatible with several different computers offered by Trimble and it lets producers and managers exchange information in real time. Plus, it decreases the amount of data that is lost simply because workers don’t have time to manually enter information gained in the field when they come back to the office. And, managers are able to better communicate with their workers still in the field.

Trimble retailer Joey Schlatter of Schlatter Inc. of Francesville, Indiana explained EZ Surface. “This software helps contractors define watersheds and flow patterns so they know how to properly drain their fields, whether using surface or sub-surface drainage methods,” Joey said.

With this system, elevation data is gathered through using some GPS-based tools from Trimble. “Once we’ve collected all that elevation data, we bring that data into the office, into our EZ Surface program and generate a 3-D elevation map. Then, with a click of a few buttons, we can see the flow lines, watesheds and all the tools we need to properly design that [drainage] system,” he added.

More information on both EZ Sync and EZ Surface are available from www.Trimble.com.

The New Holland Boomer 8N made its debut at the National Farm Machinery Show last year – but it was just as popular with young and old alike at this year’s show.

The Boomer 8N is a updated remake of the classic Ford 8N tractor, part of New Holland’s heritage. I talked about the Boomer’s first year with New Holland’s John Hundley. “The history of this project was basically a fusion between the old styling of the Ford 8N with new technology of today,” John said. Many of this first year’s sales have been to collectors or people who have fond memories of the legendary Ford 8N growing up on a farm in the 40s and 50s. “We have some people who are buying this tractor and parking it because they don’t want to use it, but this is a workhorse and we do have people buying it and running it in the field everyday.”

John says lots of people have stories to tell about the old classic tractor – and some have great stories about their new Boomer 8N. You can find out more on one of the Boomer 8N websites – myboomer.com features real people and real stories about Boomer tractors, and www.8N.com has information about the history and design of the tractor.

Listen to my interview with John about the Boomer 8N here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Green farm equipment apparel has gone pretty mainstream in the past several years, but if you see someone sporting a New Holland blue shirt or cap, you can be fairly certain they are a real farmer.

I talked with Glenn Brumley who was staffing the New Holland toys and merchandise display at the National Farm Machinery Show about some of the popular items at the big show. “Each year we have a special feature and this year it happens to be a combine in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of our twin rotor combine,” Glenn said. “So that’s been a popular item since every body likes to have something that’s dated from each farm show season.”

Glenn says the dated toys are always big sellers for collectors, but the kids like them, too! The little guy in the photo got a special deal on last year’s featured item. You can find some New Holland merchandise here on-line.

Listen to my interview with Glenn here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Earlier this month, Chuck told you about Ag Leader’s Blue Delta Dealer Network announced at the Iowa Power Farming Show. I had the opportunity to talk with one of these elite dealers and two of his satisfied customers at the National Farm Machinery Show.

Rick Hoeing is with Jacobi Sales of Seymour, Indiana and he is one of only a handful of dealers nationwide who have graduated thus far from the new Ag Leader Academy to become the very first Blue Delta Dealers. I asked him why it was important for him to go through the in-depth training it required to receive that designation.

“The Ag Leader Blue Delta Dealer Network is definitely a very important part of the precision ag industry which is very dependent on service to the customer,” Rick said. “As precision ag as an industry goes, it’s in constant change, almost seasonal change. To be able to gain hands-on experience well before we have a product in place in the field is a huge asset.”

“The customer is going to buy a product that he knows he has quality service for,” Rick added.

Two of Rick’s customers, Justin Gelfius (left) and Steve Bennett, were with him at the Ag Leader exhibit and I got a chance to ask them what was so special about a Blue Delta Dealer. “They’re always just a phone call away and normally over the phone they can diagnose your problem and get you going again,” Steve said. “Rick’s been great to work with,” Justin added. “It’s really nice to stick with somebody that you can know and trust with regard to technical support and Rick is very good with all the new equipment and technology.”

Steve and Justin actually use precision technology on their commercial tomato operation in southern Indiana, using it for everything from spraying and setting tomatoes to cultivating and picking tomatoes.

Listen to my interviews with Rick, Steve and Justin here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

One of the great things about the National Farm Machinery Show is the Championship Tractor Pull … the largest, oldest and most prestigious indoor tractor pull, according to Corinne Fetter, Director of Expositions for the Kentucky State Fair Board.

“This is the 42nd year for the tractor pull and the 45th year for the National Farm Machinery Show, and so the two have worked together for quite a while now. And we feel they complement each other rather well,” said Corinne during an interview on the last day of the event last weekend.

She says for the men and women who compete in the tractor pull that it is truly a labor of love, that takes a lot of time, effort and money to get the kind of performance and down-to-your-toes rumble and roar that these machines produce. But she also credits the crews who get the track ready to give the pullers a world class area to put their machines through their paces. And she says none of this would be possible without the fans. “For some of them, this is their vacation every year,” she says. “And I can tell you, there are plenty of red fans, and there are plenty of green fans.” And plenty who are just color blind!

Listen to ZimmComm reporter John Davis’ interview with Corinne in the audio player below and enjoy short video clip of a few of the pulls here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

What is NUE from John Deere at the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show is Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency – a precision improvement for nutrient application.

I talked to Dave Wendt with John Deere, who was demonstrating the new addition to the 2510 high speed nutrient applicators. “This machine is a 23 row model, set up on 30 inch spacing to not only side dress, but to run in fall or spring pre-plant.”

The machine folds up into a nice 18 foot package for on-road transport, but the really cool thing that Dave was demonstrating was how it hooks up to the PitStop Pro tendering system to help customers quickly and efficiently change anhydrous ammonia tanks without leaving the cab of the tractor.

“Today, to hook and unhook anhydrous tanks manually might take 10-12 minutes,” Dave said. “With the PitStop System, we’re looking at about a minute and a half to two minutes.” The system is controlled through the same GS2 display in the cab that runs the AutoTrac or rate controller.

Listen to or download my interview with Dave in the player below and watch a demo video here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A blanket of snow greeted attendees of the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show today – but since it fell yesterday, everything is going off as planned and the show is just as big as ever.

Harold Workman, president and CEO of the Kentucky Exposition Center which handles the big show, emphasized that it’s business as usual for the four day show. “We got some pretty northern weather here with 6-8 inches of snow that came in yesterday,” he said. “But the interstates are clear, we got the parking lots cleared off, and a lot of people are coming in to the show.”

This is the 45th year for the show which Harold said started in one little corner of one of their wings and grown to more than 800 exhibitors filling over 1.2 million square feet of blessedly indoor space. “It really has become an icon – kind of a barometer for the agribusiness industry,” he said. Attendance is normally right around 300,000 for all four days of the show, including the Championship Tractor Pull sponsored by Syngenta. That event is just a few years younger than the NFMS and is always a sell out.

Our Precision Pays sponsor Ag Leader Technology is here and we will be visiting with them about what is new this week.

Listen to or download my interview with Harold Workman in the player below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

New Holland has introduced a new utility vehicle called The Rustler. Daughter Carly got to take it for a drive which you can watch in the video below.

I spoke with Paul Trella, New Holland Product Manager, who says customers tell him, “It’s about time.” Of course you can get the new vehicles in New Holland blue but you can also customize them in camo or black or probably any color you’d like. I’ve got several photos of them in our photo album.

You can learn more about the new things from New Holland in my interview with Paul:
fps-09-nh-rustler.mp3

Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The latest in precision technology is on display at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, for both newbies and more seasoned users.

“On one hand we have new products for operators who have yet to get into precision ag,” says Kim Fletcher with John Deere Ag Management Solutions told me. “We came out with an entry level manual guidance system for parallel tracking. We came out with the StarFire 300 receiver, which is a WAAS only GPS receiver that can provide 13 inch pass-to-pass accuracy. And to pair that, we came out with a GreenStar Lightbar.”

For more advanced system users, Kim says they have new products for them as well. “We came out with a GS2 Rate Controller Multi-Product, which can control multiple products or multiple operations at once.”

Another product is Auto-Trac Row Sense. “We fused together data from mechanical row feelers on the corn head along with Auto-Trac GPS guidance to create one of the most accurate, most responsive corn harvesting guidance systems in the industry today,” Kim said.

Kim says they are getting more and more converts to precision every year because it really does save growers time and money. Check out some of the John Deere new products on-line here.

Listen to an interview with Kim here nfms09-jd-kim.mp3

See more photos here: NFMS 09 Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

John Deere unveiled the largest planter in the industry at the 2009 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville this week.

Rob Rippchen, division marketing manager at John Deere seed in Moline, IL says the DB120 “next generation” 120 foot planter is generating a lot of interest at the show. “There’s kind of a ‘wow’ factor,” said Rob. “It’s so wide it can’t even unfold all the way in our booth.” But he says the outer four row units fold over on each end so it is still the same transport width as the DB90 and just about six foot longer in transport length.

“Not only is the planter wide, it’s high-tech,” Rob explains. “You’ll notice that there are no markers on it, most growers are using auto-steer or auto-trac to guide their planters so that allowed us to eliminate the need for markers. But, in addition to that, Row Command – our individual row unit clutch on-off system – is standard on this planter. So, as you come to a point row or do an area of field that you’ve already planted, it shuts the row unit off so that you don’t over-populate in that area of the field.”

The planter will plant somewhere between 90 and 100 acres an hour. John Deere will have a limited number of the new planters running in the fields this spring and will start taking orders for the big boy this summer.

Listen to an interview with Rob here nfms09-jd-rob.mp3

Watch Rob explain some of the DB120 features here:

See more photos here: NFMS 09 Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Despite the icy weather that recently affected parts of Kentucky, the 2009 National Farm Machinery Show and Championship Tractor Pull will proceed as scheduled.

More than 150,000 Kentucky residents were still without power this week after ice storms the last week of January, prompting President Obama to declare more than 90 counties a major disaster area and order federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.

Still, the 44th National Farm Machinery Show will return as planned to the Kentucky Exposition Center February 11-14. The nation’s largest indoor farm show features the future of farming with row after row of the newest products and services, hands-on demonstrations of the latest technological advancements, and a variety of free seminars.

Precision Pays will feature reports during and after the event, so stay tuned!