Precision Pays

LightSquared announced that it commenced voluntarily reorganization cases under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to give it time to resolve regulatory issues that have prevented it from building its coast-to-coast integrated satellite 4G wireless network.

The company fully expects to continue normal operations throughout this process. All LightSquared distribution partners and customers, including public safety, emergency response, government and military users of LightSquared’s satellite-based communications services can continue to rely on LightSquared to provide them with mission critical communications services.

LightSquared intends to work with all key constituents to conduct an orderly restructuring process to maximize its asset value and to exit Chapter 11 in the quickest and most efficient manner possible.

Read a previous reaction from agricultural and farm equipment organizations as they urged the Federal Communications Commission to withdraw the conditional waiver granted to LightSquared in 2011 and modify the company’s satellite license to prohibit the building of a ground-based network.

Hemisphere GPS announced the new AgJunction Mobile for iOS, an enhancement to AgJunction, its precision agriculture data services platform.

AgJunction Mobile is an in-field data collection system featuring GPS-enabled boundary mapping and soil sampling. To take advantage of the latest technologies, AgJunction and Cogent3D, maker of PrecisionEarth, have come together to release AgJunction Mobile for iOS. Available for both iPhone and iPad, AgJunction Mobile for iOS is based on the PrecisionEarth platform with the time saving enhancement of being able to directly sync with the AgJunction cloud system.

AgJunction users can download the app from the App Store and enter their AgJunction license key, user name and password. From there, the application will automatically manage the two-way transfer of data between AgJunction Mobile and the AgJunction cloud system, eliminating the need to move data files manually.

With the first release of AgJunction Mobile for iOS, users will be able to synchronize data based on their growers, farms, fields, field boundaries, and directed sample locations. Users can then add new farms and fields as well as map field boundaries and soil sample locations. Recorded field data is automatically synchronized with the AgJunction cloud system for use in the field, back at the office, or through an agriculture service provider.

AgJunction will continue to work with Cogent3D to bring more features and benefits to AgJunction Mobile for iOS in the future. This will include downloading recorded datasets (yield, planting, as-applied, aerial imagery, soil sampling and electrical conductivity, etc.) in the field as background layers for viewing and as a reference for field sampling. Other future updates will include integration with the AgJunction electronic work order system and the AgJunction asset tracking system.

Because of the advancements in technology, the agriculture industry has come a long way from where we started.  The aerial application business is no exception.  In this Precision Pays Podcast, brought to you by Ag Leader Technology,  we examine how aerial application has become more accurate and more efficient.

Things have changed a lot since Agriflite Services president David Eby began flying.  Gone are the days of counting paces to measure fields and using telephone poles as markers.  Today’s aerial applicator’s can come within six inches of their target.

All thanks to GPS satellite technology.

You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), agricultural and farm equipment organizations urged the agency to withdraw the conditional waiver granted to LightSquared in 2011 and modify the company’s satellite license to prohibit the building of a ground-based network.

“We urge the FCC to adopt both proposals because of the overwhelming evidence that LightSquared’s proposed ground-based network would cause severe interference to virtually all uses of GPS,” the groups’ stated in a comment letter to the FCC. “High-precision GPS technology is vitally important to American agriculture, and would be gravely harmed by LightSquared’s plans.”

The letter was signed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugar Cane League, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Potato Council, National Sunflower Association, US Canola Association, USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, and the USA Rice Federation.

The groups described the benefits of high precision GPS to American agriculture as “immense and diverse,” saying that, “By enabling farmers to make precise applications for planting, irrigation, and crop protection, GPS technology has been responsible for remarkable growth in productivity, farm income, and improved environmental sustainability.” The petition cited an economic study which showed that precision GPs increased 2007-2010 crop yields by about $20 billion per year, the equivalent of nearly 12 percent of total annual production.

Last month, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) determined this week that the LightSquared plan to build a nationwide 4G broadband network will indeed impact “both general/personal navigation and certified aviation GPS receivers.” As a result of that finding, the FCC was expected to revoked the conditional waiver which was granted last year.

The groups added that they remain strong supporters of expanded broadband access in rural America. “However, expanded broadband access cannot come at the expense of degraded access to high precision GPS for U.S. farmers.”

The controversial plan for a wireless broadband/satellite network that could have disrupted GPS use may finally be a dead deal.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) determined this week that the LightSquared plan to build a nationwide 4G broadband network will indeed impact “both general/personal navigation and certified aviation GPS receivers.” NTIA said the latest round of testing showed there is “no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time.”

As a result, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is revoking the conditional waiver which was granted last year and required LightSquared prove the interference problems could be fixed before moving forward.

The Coalition to Save Our GPS is pleased with the move. “The FCC has acted appropriately by declaring that its non-interference condition has not been satisfied and that LightSquared will not be permitted to move forward with its proposal to build a nationwide high-powered terrestrial network in the mobile satellite band,” says a coalition statement. “The Coalition stands ready to work with the NTIA and the FCC to address the important policy issues relating to longer term use of satellite spectrum and reduction of potential interference to maximize the efficient use of all satellite spectrum.“

The coalition is made up of a wide variety of industries and companies – from agriculture and airlines to contracting and transportation. Agricultural interests involved include Ag Leader Technology, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, GROWMARK, John Deere, National Agricultural Aviation Association and New Holland, among others.

The National Corn Growers Association has been monitoring this issue closely on behalf of its farmer members who rely on GPS technology for crop production.

“The announcement is a welcome one for our organization,” NCGA President Garry Niemeyer said. “Expanded internet access is important to our members but not when it compromises the use of high-precision GPS equipment.”

Despite the ruling, LightSquared officials remain committed to finding a solution to interference problems. “This was not a decision based on science or technology but was a politically motivated decision fueled by special interest groups in the GPS and telecom industry,” said LightSquared backer Philip Falcone in a statement. “There are solutions to this problem that can and will address the needs of the GPS community.”

Precision Planting of Tremont, Illinois recently launched a new iPad monitoring application for use in production agriculture. 

It’s called “FieldView”, their latest addition to the 20/20 Seed Sense system for planter management.  Sean Arians, education coordinator with Precision Planting, says the application puts the iPad to good use in the cab of the tractor. “Rather than just playing games like Angry Birds on it, now you have the capability to have cellular data available in the tractor,” Sean says, noting that as we look towards sharing and managing data, this can provide the ability to transfer software updates and information from maps into the cap and up to a server where it can later be accessed by a computer in the home or office.

Find out more about “Field View” in this report: Sean Arians on FieldView

Things are looking bleak for the proposed LightSquared LTE network according to a story in PC World.

A key federal agency involved in testing the proposed LightSquared LTE network has concluded that there is no practical way to solve interference between that network and GPS, possibly dealing a crippling blow to the startup carrier’s hopes for a terrestrial mobile network.

That agency is the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee (PNT ExComm). Now that’s a mouthful. The agencies that make up this one have unanimously concluded that none of the LightSquared proposals would overcome interference with GPS.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter to the FCC:

Earlier this week we published results of our ZimmPoll that showed a majority think the LightSquared proposal would be good for ag/rural America. However, most of those positive responses all came at nearly the same time.

Over the past year, the National Corn Growers Association has monitored issues surrounding the wireless broadband company LightSquared. While the Federal Communications Commission considers approval of LightSquared’s proposed terrestrial based broadband network, NCGA remains concerned about the effects it would have on precision farming. GPS technology has become an important tool for farmers as they improve their efficiency in seed, fertilizer and fuel usage.

“Strong and speedy Internet access is important to our growers, so NCGA supports the expansion of broadband in rural America,” said Ethan Mathews, manager of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for NCGA said. “However it must not come at the expense of high-precision GPS.”

Although LightSquared states that solutions to the interference problem have been developed by several independent companies, the company has yet to provide access to either the test results or the devices. Further, the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration are continuing their evaluation of theGPS interference issue. NCGA will look to the FCC and NTIA to ensure the issue has been resolved without loss to accuracy and performance.

In addition, NCGA will continue to work closely with John Deere, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the American Soybean Association to ensure the GPS technology remains available to our farmers.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an independent technical company must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS signals that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared.

“It is critical that costs for resolving this issue are not passed along to farmers and ranchers through higher GPS or equipment costs,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said during a House Small Business Committee hearing on Wednesday. “LightSquared should cover the expense of all technical fixes related to the interference issue to ensure the cost is not passed along to farmers and ranchers.”

Many farmers rely on GPS for precision agriculture. This includes using GPS for accurate mapping of field boundaries, roads and irrigation systems; for precision planting; and for targeting the application of fertilizer and chemicals that combat weeds and crop diseases. GPS also allows farmers to work in their fields despite low-visibility conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness.

“While the deployment of broadband services is important for economic development, better education and improved health services in rural America, the use of precision agriculture is vital to America’s farmers and ranchers as they continue to feed, fuel and clothe the world,” Stallman said.

AFBF submitted comments to the FCC in July urging the agency to ensure there is no interference with GPS receivers prior to granting LightSquared permission to operate its high-powered base stations.

The latest report from USDA’s Economic Research Service on “Recent Adoption of Precision Agriculture” is about five years behind the times.

The report heralds that agriculture is “On the Doorstep of the Information Age” – using mostly information from 2005-06. According to the report, “recent data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) show that use of yield monitors, often a first step in using precision technology for grain crop producers, has grown most rapidly, and was used on 40-45 percent of corn and soybean acres in 2005-06.”

The information for the study relies primarily on 2001 and 2005 surveys of corn, 2002 and 2006 surveys of soybeans, and 2004 and 2009 surveys of winter wheat – “the 2010 corn survey results were not yet available when this report was prepared” – which was this year. While there is some interesting data in the report, it is woefully out of date. Just think, if the survey had included questions about the use of smartphones on the farm, it would have been zero, since it was January 2007 before the first iPhone was introduced – and we’re now on the fifth generation. Point being, the adoption of all types of new technology has literally skyrocketed in the last five years.

Be that as it may, the most interesting findings in the report show that precision really does pay for farmers. For example, they found that corn and soybean yields were significantly higher for farmers using yield monitors compared to those who did not. In addition, farmers using yield monitors had lower per-acre fuel expenses. Average fuel expenses were lower, per acre, for farmers using variable-rate technologies for corn and soybean fertilizer application, as were soybean fuel expenses for guidance systems adopters and adopters of GPS mapping and variable-rate fertilizer equipment had higher yields for both corn and soybeans.

With all this new technology, you would think that USDA could find a way to gather, compile and disseminate information a little bit faster.

Yesterday Lightsquared announced a “solution” to concerns over interference with GPS systems from it’s proposed wireless broadband network.

LightSquared™, a wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will create consumer choice and industry innovation, has signed an agreement with Javad GNSS Inc. to develop a system that will eliminate related interference issues for high-precision GPS devices.

The Javad GNSS system can be adapted to work with high-precision GPS devices including those already in the agriculture, surveying, construction and defense industries. (full release)

I’m not sure how forcing farmers and all kinds of people, especially those defending our country, to purchase new equipment that will have to be installed to keep their current GPS systems working is a real solution to what appears to be a very real problem. I’m all for more and better choices for broadband, especially in rural areas but not at the expense of GPS systems that perform very critical functions. This action seems to be an admission by Lightsquared that the concerns are real. Otherwise, why do this? I asked the Coalition to Save Our GPS for their response and got it right away.

“LightSquared has, as usual, oversimplified and greatly overstated the significance of the claims of a single vendor to have ‘solved’ the interference issue. There have been many vendor claims that have not proven out in rigorous tests and the demanding tests of marketplace acceptance. Moreover, this is not a one-size-fits-all situation and a few prototypes does not a solution make. The estimated 750,000 to 1 million high-precision GPS receivers now in use in the United States vary widely: there are hundreds of different high-precision devices used in performing thousands of different tasks. High-precision GPS supports a wide variety of uses, including agriculture, construction, aviation, surveying and many scientific and safety-of-life applications.

“In any case, this is not an issue that can be solved with a LightSquared press release. As the FCC and NTIA recently recognized, more testing is necessary to evaluate interference impacts under LightSquared’s latest technical proposals. We welcome the participation of Javad in those tests.”

There are Android and iPhone apps for just about everything.  My friend, Jason Webster runs the Practical Farm Research for Beck‘s Hybrids in Downs, Ill.  In addition he farms, too.  Jason fully admits he doesn’t always practice what he used to preach about scouting fields during the growing season.  Because of that – he’s gone to a more sophisticated form of scouting.  One that he utilizes and with full conviction can explain to farmers why they should make the leap to incorporate that technology into their farming operations, too. 

In this month’s Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, Jason explains the future of finding problems in our fields. 

You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here. The Precision Pays Podcast is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to fully review possible interference to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared.

“High-speed broadband services have great potential to bring opportunity to rural Americans, but should not jeopardize the Global Positioning System,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Many of our farmer and rancher members rely on GPS for precision agriculture.”

“It is the accuracy of GPS that makes it useful to farmers and ranchers,” noted Stallman. Disruption to GPS could raise on-farm production costs.

AFBF submitted comments to the FCC in July urging the agency to ensure there is no interference with GPS receivers prior to granting LightSquared permission to operate its high-powered cellular base stations.

“Deployment of broadband services is important for economic development as well as improved education and health care services in rural America, but the use of precision agriculture also is vital to America’s farmers and ranchers as they continue to feed, fuel and clothe the world,” Stallman said.

The deadline for comments on the issue to FCC was today.

Kreg Freeman of Colquitt, Georgia is a double winner for his 2010 peanut crop that yielded a whopping 6626 pounds per acre.

Kreg, pictured here with University of Georgia Extension Peanut Agronomist John Beasley accepting his award as the statewide winner in the Georgia Achievement Club this year for the 100-300 acre category, credits a good part of his increase in profitability and yields to precision technology, as much as 500 pounds per acre. “We use GPS and auto steer tractors,” he told me. “What I got paid for the auto steer part of the tractor in one year.”

Kreg was also named as the Farm Press Publications Peanut Profitability Award winner for the Southeast during last week’s 2011 Southern Peanut Growers Conference. That award is based not only on yield, but production efficiency, honoring those growers who produce the highest yields at the lowest cost per acre.

Listen to my interview with Kreg from the SPGC here: Kreg Freeman Interview

Closing out the InfoAg Conference this year was a session on a very important topic. Titled, “GPS Under Seige: Lightsquared and the Threat to High-End Global Positioning,” this presentation was conducted by Kevin Kobb, Topcon (right) and Doug Schmuland, NovAtel. I spoke with them after their presentation. The threat comes from a plan to allow high-speed internet service to utilize GPS satellites to distribute their signal correction: high-powered, close-proximity transmissions from a network of ground stations that would cause substantial interference with GPS signals. This plan is currently in a comment phase at the FCC.

Kevin and Doug told me it has caused the major GPS producers and distributors to come together to understand the threat and then present that to the public and then work toward a favorable conclusion to the situation. The potential exists for this proposal to affect just about every device relying on GPS satellites. They say that now is the time to act and make your voice heard before the proposal receives a final FCC decision. You can find a lot of information on the website, Coalition To Save Our GPS.

Listen to my interview with Kevin and Doug here: Interview with Kevin Kobb and Doug Schmuland

2011 InfoAg Conference Photo Album