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.

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Johnny Park, president and CEO of Spensa and a Purdue research assistant in electrical and computer engineer has created an easier, more efficient way for producers to monitor insect data collected from fields.  This month, Park launched MyTraps.com.

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You can learn more at www.MyTraps.com.

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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

MyWay RTK 

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This summer, John Deere had its biggest John Deere New Product Launch in its history.  One of their goals is to keep growers on the go in the field.  Dierker says they focused a lot on the front in of the combine.

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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.

In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we explore GPS technology.  If you’re like me – and rely on your GPS just to navigate the roadways – imagine how heavily some industries (like agriculture, airlines, railways and even the New York City Fire Department) rely on the accuracy and efficacy of GPS in their daily operations.  What would happen if we lost the ability to use it?  This month we sat down with Sid Parks, Manager of Precision Farming with GROWMARK, and learned about the Coalition to Save Our GPS, how we could potentially lose it and why this is something for us to monitor.

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

I sat down with Sean Arians, Education Coordinator for Precision Planting, a company based in Tremont, Ill, about the wide variety of tools available to growers today.  One of the great things about today’s farming practices is the availability of these technologies.  Today’s technologies aren’t just for the big guys anymore.  Farmers can now choose their level of investment and can see their return on investment in a shorter period of time.

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we’ll look at how some farmers are using their online time and the social media tools they’re using to make important purchases.

A recent survey by AgHaven showed that more farmers are spending more time online but are sometimes frustrated with the results. AgHaven President, Srik Soogoor says they’ve developed a website to help those producers who work on multi platforms. Soogoor says since they’re using these smart phones and iPads, farmers want access all the time.

Meanwhile, Paulsen Marketing looked at how people in rural areas were using the online community. Paulsen’s Alicia DeGeest says their white paper, entitled “Rural Lifestylers are Changing the Way They Research and Buy Products,” delved into what people in these areas were doing. She and her Paulsen colleague Sara Steever found that people identifying with the rural lifestyle were adopting new, online technologies at about the same rate as their non-rural counterparts. DeGeest says these rural consumers used online feedback to influence their buying decisions and even employed their connectivity right in the stores to help them decide what to purchase.

It’s a fascinating conversation, and you can hear more of it in the player below: Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we hear about a new app that can help producers more precisely mix crop protection products.

Precision Laboratories, an agricultural chemical company, has developed, Mix Tank, an iPhone-based app that allows you to save custom tank mixes and share them via email, Twitter and Facebook.

You can hear more about how Precision Labs developed and continue to work on Mix Tank from the company’s Vice President Jim Reiss and Marketing Director Daniel Ori in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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You can find out more about Mix Tank through the Precision Laboratories website.

In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we hear from a panel that discussed how to maximize yields using precision ag techniques. David Waits, President and CEO, SST Software, was joined by Terry Griffin, Professor of Production Economics and Row-Crop Farm Management at the University of Arkansas and Bruce Erickson, Director of Cropping Systems Management at Purdue University at the recent GROWMARK FS GreenPlan Maximizing Yields seminar.

Waits says the biggest issue is the standardization of data.

“Until we do that, we’re all on a different basis, and we’re going to have trouble bringing very much of it together.”

Erickson, says precision agriculture is much different than when it started in the mid-1990s, with the biggest jump in technology in the guidance field. In fact, he says precision is really now the conventional way of farming.

“I can’t think of a full-time, commercial farmer who I work with right now who doesn’t use some type of precision farming.”

He adds that most of the benefit from precision ag has been in the form of lowering input costs and maximizing yields. But Griffin says we’re also seeing a benefit to farmers’ and their families’ overall qualities of life.

“Even if we ignore the economics, people are happier.” He says less stress and less fatigue that precision agriculture helps bring to the table are making real differences in people’s lives.

You can hear more of what the three had to say in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we hear from three real farmers who have implemented precision agriculture techniques and equipment.

During the recent AGCONNECT Expo in Atlanta, farmers Doug Applegate, Bill Darrington and William Masteller talked about how each of them got involved in precision agriculture and why it is so important to them. Their comments came during the Successful Farming Innovations session entitled “Vision for 2020: Does Precision Farming Pay?”

Applegate, who farms near Oakland, Iowa, was a fairly early adopter of precision agriculture, putting the technology to work for him in 1996.

“It gave us a tool to keep track of where everything was planted, compare yields. Variety selection is very big on helping the cost effectiveness of using this equipment. That was our original payoff,” says Applegate.

Darrington, who didn’t come to the precision ag game until 2006, says he was waiting for the right system to come along that would help him farm the hilly terrain of Western Iowa.

“We end up with a lot of overlaps. You all know what it’s like when you’re planting 34,000 seeds, and you double that, you don’t have much yield in those areas.” Darrington says precision ag helps him prevent those types of duplications in seeding and fertilizing that don’t really help the overall yields.

South Dakota farmer Bill Masteller told the group that precision agriculture was a business decision for him to get the most out of his 1,500 acres of wheat, corn and soybeans.

“Farming is a business, of course. And they don’t exactly give land away or make more of it. So, since I have such a limited amount to work with, I have to be efficient as possible.”

All three farmers agree that good technical support is extremely valuable for them to get the most out of their precision agriculture operations.

You can hear more of what the three had to say in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we talk to this podcast’s sponsor, Ag Leader and review what the company did in 2010 and what’s to come in 2011.

Ag Leader’s marketing manager Dave King says 2010 was a busy year for his company with the introduction of lots of new products, including the Integra displays, the ParaDyme and OnTrac2 steering systems, the OptRx crop sensor system, and the SMS software line.

While new gadgets and software are good, King says Ag Leader has not forgotten that customer service is key. That’s why they have the Blue Delta dealer program.

And coming in 2011, King says we’ll see improvements to the Integra display systems and expansions of the dealer and customer training programs, as well as some new features for Ag Leader’s SeedCommand and DirectCommand product lines and the expansion of the OptRx line for wheat growers.

He says if you’d like to find out more, just check out the company’s website, www.AgLeader.com, or go see a dealer in person or at one of the many farm trade shows Ag Leader will be attending in the coming year. A complete list of shows and dates is available on the Ag Leader website.

You can hear more about what Ag Leader did in the past year and what the company will be offering in 2011 in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we look at the issue of being able to share data between different precision ag manufacturers’ equipment and software. It’s an issue recognized by the precision agriculture industry as a whole. Members of AgGateway, a consortium of ag businesses that helps the industry share information electronically in the agricultural and food supply chains, are taking the lead on how to solve the problem.

Kelby Kleinsasser, who is the director of Ag Information for Raven Industries and the chairman of the new Precision Agriculture Council at AgGateway, says that starting earlier this year, they wanted to find a way to share data in field operations and data transfer, while protecting the proprietary information each company brings to the table. The new council he chairs is now working on the issue and hopes to have a solution that will allow data to be shared between various companies’ programs and hardware, while keeping proprietary information protected.

“We’re not talking about open source. We’re talking about open standards,” Kleinsasser says. Intellectual property will be maintained.

Kleinsasser adds that they’re looking for input from other members of AgGateway so that the standards will best help producers farm and ranch most efficiently. You can follow updates on this subject on the AgGateway website.

You can hear you can hear more about what he has to say about setting the precision ag data standards in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we take a look at a piece of software and iPhone and iPad application that is helping at least one manager of a herd of cattle be more precise.

Everyone wants to be more efficient in how they handle data. Whether you’re multi-national corporation or just a single podcaster, you need to have a way to manage the information you collect on your business, so you can apply the data that you’ve gathered to how you operate. Paul Nehring, the owner of NewGrass Farm near Wausau, Wisconsin found FileMaker, which is helping him manage his 40-head-a-year operation of grass-fed cattle and market that beef.

“There’s just a tremendous amount of data that we all like to keep, whether you’re doing crops or pasture or cattle,” Nehring says. He says the beauty of FileMaker is that it has applications for the iPhone that allow him to put in his information, right out there in the field. That saves him anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes of work at the end of each very long day, and over the course of a year, that could add up to a couple of weeks worth of work.

FileMaker’s Vice President of Marketing and Services Ryan Rosenberg describes as the “world’s easiest to use database for individuals and work groups,” and points out that while the software wasn’t specifically designed for agricultural purposes, it’s ability to handle data makes it ideally suited for those purposes.

“If you’re running a farm, how different are you really than someone manufacturing ice cream?” He says you have to keep track of raw materials, customers, workflow and products, as well as finances. All of that can be managed with FileMaker.

Rosenberg adds that since most folks in the world are not I-T experts, they’ve designed Filemaker to be easy for anyone to use.

More information is available at www.FileMaker.com.

You can hear you can hear more about what they both have to say about this precision tool in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast it in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we take a look at some of the precision technology on display at this year’s Farm Progress Show.

Show manager Matt Jungmann characterized as a bit soggy (four inches of rain on one night of the shows!) but overall successful demonstration of what America’s farmers are doing today. One of those exhibitors that was still able to make an impression on the crowds was our sponsor Ag Leader. Jeff Bentley, GPS Guidance and Steering Sales Manager for Ag Leader , showed off the company’s new GPS guidance and steering technology called ParaDyme, while Ag Leader’s Lucas James demonstrated the company’s SMS Technologies software.

You can hear what they have to say about their precision technologies and what it was like to be at this year’s Farm Progress Show in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast it in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we listen to an explanation of how precision agriculture sometimes actually misses the mark.

The whole idea of precision agriculture is being able to precisely place seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and any other applications in the exact right place at the exact right time in the exact right portion, right? Well, it’s not always that easy. And attendees at the recent International Conference on Precision Agriculture heard that sometimes you just have to realize that precision agriculture is not that precise.

Auburn University associate professor and extension specialist John Fulton held a session where he explained some of the limiting factors you have to consider when using precision practices. He explained you have to consider the actual physics involved to get the molecules of chemicals to the nozzle tip and how the speed the tractor is moving can affect the actual application.

His biggest advice to the audience was to slow down.

You can hear more of my conversation with Fulton in this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast it in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we listen in on one of the sessions at the recent International Conference on Precision Agriculture held in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Ken Cassman with the University of Nebraska’s Center for Energy Sciences Research told the standing-room-only crowd that if you look at the past 40 years of farming and extrapolate those increases to the next 40 years, food production will still fall short, putting the world’s population … estimated to be 9.2 billion people by the year 2050 … and the world’s food supply on a crash course. He says estimates are that agriculture will have to increase production by 1.75 percent a year. Right now the numbers are closer to about a 1.3 percent increase. And Cassman says world agriculture will have to meet that increasing demand without negatively impacting the water supplies, nutrients, and wildlife of this planet.

So what’s the solution? Increased biotechnology to get more out of crops? Cassman says while biotechnology has increased yields somewhat, there’s no good, hard scientific evidence it will be able to meet the growing demands. He believes the real solution is meeting a food crop’s true genetic potential through something he calls Ecological Intensification.

It’s a fascinating conversation, and you can hear more of it in the player below below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we talk to Raj Khosla, a professor of Precision Agriculture at Colorado State University and the chair of this year’s conference who says this a landmark event, as they mark 20 years of meeting like this.

“It started as a small workshop with a bunch of people in Minnesota.” He says there are several scientific and practioner-oriented papers at this year’s meeting for the anticipated 500 attendees.

While much of the conference is focused on information for the scientists and consultants, he’s hoping to attract more frontline farmers and producers.

“I strongly believe there’s a lot of information for them.”

More information, including how to take advantage of the early bird discount for those who sign up before July 9th, is available on the International Conference on Precision Agriculture website.

We’ll have coverage from the conference, and in the meantime, you can hear more of my conversation with Khosla in the player below. Precision Pays Podcast

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we talk to Gregg Carlson, who is using an algorithm to figure out precisely in each corn field what the optimum planting population should be for specific areas within that field.

Carlson says his formula even shows what fields should not have a lot of precision techniques applied to them.

It’s a fascinating conversation, and you can hear more of it in the player below. In addition, you can contact Carlson and get some insight on some papers they haven’t yet published at the South Dakota State University Web site.

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In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we talk to Autocopter president Donald Effren, who describes how this little helicopter with a five-foot blade-span operating at about 25 feet above the ground brings farmers and ranchers a level of sophistication that has its roots in the high-tech Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, better known as UAVs, that the military has been flying in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Effren says his aircraft is actually more stable than some of its military cousins.  And with controls that are easier to operate than most hobby shop model helicopters and a price tag of $30,000, in line with most farm implements, this little dynamo could be the next big thing in precision agriculture.

Listen to the podcast in the player below to find out more about the Autocopter. You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here.

The Iowa Soybean Association started this project nine years ago to study both the environmental and economic aspects of farming practices and to help growers find out what works best for them on their operation. Since that time they have expanded into nine other states. “We’re trying to say that growers can use a lot of the precision ag technologies to actually identify which products or practices are working better,” Tracy says. “In Iowa alone we had over 450 replicated trials.”

Listen to the podcast in the player below to find out more about the ISA On-Farm Network®. You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here.

The Precision Agriculture Research Group (PARG) at the University of New England in Armidale has been studying the benefits of real time GPS tracking for monitoring livestock activity, according to Dr. Mark Trotter. “GPS tracking of livestock has been around for several years and a lot of research has come out of Texas, Oregon, Kansas and other places in the states,” Mark says. Mostly this has involved collars on the animals that store information which can be downloaded to find out where they’ve been. “But we are starting to see a shift towards real time GPS devices where the information is transmitted back to the researcher or producer to give them an idea of where their animals are in real time.” Mark says they have been demonstrating the value of precision technology in crop and livestock production through a project called Clever Cattle and Cropping Systems.

Mark and his PARG colleagues will be presenting some of their research at the 10th International Conference on Precision Agriculture July 18-21 in Denver. Listen to the podcast to find out more.

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For this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we go to the Precision Agriculture Research Group (PARG) at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia where they are working on Ultra Low Level Airborne (ULLA) sensing. I spoke with group leader David Lamb about the system and its potential for helping growers who need timely aerial imaging information in challenging weather conditions and potentially saving them both time and money in the process.

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Ag Leader Technology president Al Myers and AutoFarm CEO Herb Satterlee spoke to agricultural media in early December about the collaboration between the two companies and the recently released INTEGRA display and ParaDyme steering system.

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National Corn Growers Association chairman Bob Dickey is also chairman of CleanFlex Power Systems, which is so new they haven’t built a website yet, but what they have done is developed a method to efficiently use ethanol in diesel engines.

Dickey started the idea a year ago when he bought a new John Deere 150-hp four-cylinder turbo diesel irrigation system engine and retrofitted it to use an ethanol and diesel blend. “It worked so well that we applied for a grant at the University of Nebraska and we’re currently doing research there to bring credibility to what we’re doing,” Dickey says.

The company has developed a new hydrated-ethanol fuel called EM60 (a mixture of 60% ethanol and 40% water) to combine with diesel fuel to power diesel engines. “Just like oil and water don’t mix, ethanol and diesel don’t mix,” Dickey said. So, they run two lines into the diesel engine. “The only time the ethanol, water and diesel are together is at the point of combustion and it really works well. The engine runs cooler, it runs more efficient and the emissions are reduced.”

CleanFlex president Ron Preston says they are talking with agricultural equipment manufacturers, railroads, and even bus companies about the idea because the EM60 fuel has the potential to help meet Tier 4 emission standards that become effective in 2011. “There are 60 million diesel engines in the United States,” Preston says. “We’ve been working with EPA and going through the proper steps to make ethanol a solution that will help them meet emissions requirements.”

Listen to a Precision Pays Podcast with Bob Dickey and Ron Preston about CleanFlex by clicking on the player below – or subscribe to our monthly podcast, sponsored by AgLeader Technology, by following this link or the sidebar link.

The entire webcast can be viewed at www.isafarmnet.com. AgLeader Technology’s pre-harvest tips can be found on-line here.

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In this first edition of the podcast, we hear from champions who choose precision technology and how taking your software mapping solutions to the field is easier than ever before.

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