Topcon was the first major company to track the three signals from the newly launched satellite.

Source: The Russian satellite, described as the “next generation” of GLONASS satellites, was successfully launched on February 26. Ivan Di Federico, TPS chief strategy officer, said, “The satellite launch, part of the modernization of the GLONASS system, provides an additional accuracy advantage over older satellites.”

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the satellite’s advanced equipment will allow doubling of the precise positioning accuracy of current satellite signals.

The new satellite is in orbit approximately 11,870 miles (19,100 kilometers) above the Earth. Additional satellites are planned to be launched this year, and will provide continuous global coverage (with two to three backup satellites).

Di Federico said, “Nearly 30 years after the first launch of a GLONASS satellite, Russia is adding CDMA to the regular frequency division multiple access (FDMA). This addition sets this navigation system apart from regular GPS and other systems under development or testing.”

Topcon pioneered dual-constellation signal reception in 2000 and now “clearly illustrated the company’s technological leadership in the precise satellite positioning industry by being the first manufacturer to combine the FDMA system design of the GLONASS system with the traditional CDMA design of the U.S. GPS system,” Di Federico said.

Bruce Crapo, a grower of 6,000 acres of commercial potatoes and 2,000 acres of seed potatoes in Idaho, is a good example of how the average potato farmer looks at precision agriculture – he uses technology to reduce costs, increase output and improve profits.

Crapo isn’t thrilled at the cost of high-tech equipment such as GPS-guided tractors, but he knows it’s saving him money and there’s no way he can turn back now.

“There is a substantial initial cost involved,” Crapo said. “But I also know it is saving me money. What do you do? Go back to what you were doing before? That’s not an option.”

Crapo, who uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology on all his planters and harvesters, said the latest precision ag technology has taken farming to a different level.

“It’s light years ahead of what it was when we were doing it by hand,” he said. “We’re not going to go back to not using it, but we are wincing a little at the cost.”

Precision agriculture can loosely be defined as using new technologies such as GPS, sensors, variable rate application equipment and aerial or satellite images to make farming easier and more profitable.

Simply put, precision agriculture can help farmers improve their margins by decreasing their operating costs.

Idaho farmer Robert Blair, owner of PineCreek Precision, says the biggest benefit of precision farming is that it gives producers the ability to manage their farm on a production zone basis rather than a whole field basis. This shift, he said, allows farmers to save time and money and helps them offset the rising cost of chemicals, nutrients, fuel and fertilizer.

Blair uses a wide array of precision agriculture techniques on his 1,500-acre farm and said the technology is saving him tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Read on to learn more…

It really is a big money-saver,” said UNL Extension Educator Chuck Burr. “Several years ago, we had some irrigators figure out how much it costs them to make a circle, or put an inch of water on 130 acres. That can range from $600 to $1200 every time they apply an inch of water to that field. So if they can reduce a couple applications, you’re talking a couple thousand dollars for every pivot.”

The cost of pumping goes down, and so do labor and gas costs.

“With the new technology, [farmers] can sit at their computers and make sure the pivot is still
working,” Burr said. “If there is a problem, then they can drive specifically to that pivot.”

The experts say, irrigation technology helps more crops grow better. “Let’s say I have a field that has two different types of soil,” said Burr, “those soil types may require more different amount of water applied during the irrigation season.”

“We’re able to vary the speed that they run,” added Thorburn, “so that we can adjust them for different soil types. Sandy soils need more water than heavier soils.”

More efficient use of land and water means a brighter tomorrow. “Apply water just when it’s needed,” Thorburn said, “the better we are able to conserve that resource for the future.”

Click on the camera icon at this link to view the video.

Steve Tupa of AGCO talks about an advanced version of AGCO’s recently introduced telemetry product called AgCommand. This product provides 25 different messages from fuel use to engine load which can be sent to home computer for observation. It was introduced at Ag Connect Expo, held recently in Atlanta, GA.

Telemetry systems like AgCommand allow navigation, prescription application, location and other data to be transferred easily to and from farm machinery. These systems will grow in importance as farmers seek ways to improve efficiencies on high-priced equipment.

“The main advantage GLONASS capability will offer ParaDyme users is longer run-time without losing signal due to coverage interruptions or low GPS satellite availability,” says GPS and Guidance Product Manager, Matt Leinen. “This feature will be especially beneficial to our growers that often lose satellite signal due to tree lines or other field obstacles; additional satellite availability will help them maintain a GNSS signal and keep running.”

GLONASS support is the latest functionality added to the ParaDyme automated steering system. The ParaDyme can be controlled through Ag Leader’s EDGE or INTEGRA display, and features remote service and the ability to receive RTK differential correction signals via cellular network. The ParaDyme automated steering system benefits include sub-inch accuracy, increased fuel efficiency, reduced operator fatigue and more.

The Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association (NeATA), founded in 2001 by innovative Nebraska farmers, ranchers, agribusiness representatives and the University of Nebraska Extension, has compiled another great conference.

Need a technology makeover? How about using Nitrogen more wisely? Do you want to learn how to tell your story and share your values with consumers? How about learning a better way to select crop genetics? Check out the upcoming program, and book your trip now.

For Facebook users, find NeATA here and add them as a favorite.

“We’ve said for a few years now that ‘accuracy is addictive.’ Well farmers are proving that as this has been a year driven by higher precision—a move to more RTK accuracy.”

The big deal. Darr cited the widespread nature of expanding RTK networks, both public and privately owned. “These networks are pushing us towards RTK becoming a standard commodity, which will help drive down the costs and give more growers the potential to achieve high-end accuracy. And that is a big deal.”

The CORS network has had a strong run over the past three years. Indiana is now online as the most recent, along with CORS networks in Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri. “I see this growth slowing down, but we’ll continue to see greater stabilization and improvement in the signals,” Darr says.

In the private sector, we’re seeing greater expansion from Trimble’s VRS network and from John Deere’s StarFire 450 MHz radio system, as well as other smaller companies building systems across the Midwest.

Crop sensing. Another big push is on to figure out how to use active crop sensing to provide financial benefit. “With the addition of Ag Leader’s OptRx system, along with the Greenseeker from Trimble and CropSpec from Topcon, growers have the potential to unlock another area of profitability. It’s not as simple as auto guidance, and it may not work for everyone,” Darr says.

This technology offers a natural fit in wheat, since growers are used to topdressing in the spring. “Anytime you can automate N applications, you’re looking at both economic and environmental benefits. A reduction in the over-application of N is a big deal,” Darr says.

“The challenge for Midwest corn growers is that not every producer uses sidedressed N when corn is 12 to 18 inches tall, which is where this technology needs to be used. So you’re asking growers to change production practices as well as adopt new technology, so these challenges will slow adoption. But it offers huge potential,” he adds.

The future. “If you look back 4 or 5 years, and think about the automation technology that has come out—from auto swath to auto steer—all the easy things, relatively speaking, have been automated. Future automation gets tougher. We now need to circle back to data and press that information into greater knowledge. That’s what we’re after. We must gain knowledge from all this data to improve our operations,” he says.

GPS World offers a look at their top five events in GPS/GNSS for 2010, so check it out, too. http://www.gpsworld.com/survey/top-5-events-gpsgnss-2010-a-year-end-review-10854

Visit these links for more information.

CORS Network
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS/GoogleMap/CORS.shtml

Learn How CORS Network Can Fit Precision Farming
http://precisionpays.com/2010/01/learn-how-cors-network-can-fit-precision-farming/

Lessons in Differential Correction
http://www.agleader.com/2010/07/02/lessons-in-precision-ag-differential-correction-part-2/

RTK Network Options
http://farmindustrynews.com/precision-guidance/rtk-network-options

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

The umbrella of real-time kinematic (RTK) correction signals that covers much of the Corn Belt will be larger and more robust by the time the 2011 planting season rolls around. As a result, growers in many geographies will have multiple correction signal options for driving RTK navigation systems.

Going into 2010, most of the heart of the Corn Belt was covered by either radio or cellular systems, or both. But there were coverage gaps. By 2011, a coverage gap in Illinois will have been plugged, and coverage in Ohio, Indiana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and other states will have been beefed up.

The improved coverage is a result of build-outs of both traditional radio-based systems and newer cellular delivery systems, which distribute RTK corrections via the Internet through cellular communications networks. Unlike in recent years, when additions to the cellular delivery system were dominated by new and expanding state department of transportation (DOT) systems, this season’s new cellular entries are systems dedicated to agricultural users.

Read on…

The Alabama Precision Agriculture Team discovered that some users of GPS/GNSS-based technologies were not optimizing the GPS/GNSS correction services for their particular field operations (e.g. using the WAAS correction service for planting). It is imperative to understand the different accuracies associated with GPS/GNSS correction services so one can maximize benefits of their precision ag technologies.

GPS/GNSS Drift
Upon returning to the field, a producer may notice discrepancy between what he/she knows to be the crop row where an AB line was previously established, and where the guidance device is suggesting the AB line is located. WAAS and sub-meter correction services may seem accurate during one field operation but be off-track when the operator returns to the field. This result is because there is typically large ambiguity between pass-to-pass accuracy and year-to-year accuracy or GPS drift.

 GPS/GNSS Drift / Year-To-Year Accuracy (Y2Y) / Long-term Accuracy: Drift can be defined as GPS/GNSS receiver (guidance system) accuracy over time. Causes of drift are changes in satellite configuration, operating near trees or other obstacles, and satellite data errors.

 Pass-to-Pass Accuracy (P2P): Represents the short-term (<15 min.) relative accuracy of a GPS/GNSS receiver but does not necessarily reflect long-term accuracy (which includes drift). One can think of this as the accuracy between adjacent, parallel passes made within 15 minutes of one another.

Since manufacturers typically report pass-to-pass accuracy, it is generally used for equipment purchasing decisions. However, this accuracy may not reveal how the guidance or GPS/GNSS-based system will perform relative to the last operation or over the course of time if previously established AB lines are re-used. This result is especially true when AB lines are established for planting and re-used for harvesting.

As mentioned above, GPS/GNSS drift is largely due to the changing GPS/GNSS satellite constellation patterns used by the guidance device to derive positional information. GPS/GNSS satellites are in continuous motion orbiting the earth twice per day in a repeated pattern. It is assumed that the GPS/GNSS satellite constellation and environmental conditions will not drastically change within a given 15 minute time span, thus derived positions using the same satellite constellation and environmental conditions will be closely correlated relative to each other. However, the GPS/GNSS satellite constellation and atmospheric conditions change over just short time periods resulting in different satellites in varying geometric configurations. Therefore, the magnitude of drift expressed by your device is dependent on the correction service used. Using WAAS, potential range of drift is plus or minus 4.7 feet. With sub-meter accuracy, it’s 2.3 ft.; with decimeter it’s 1.7 ft.; and with RTK it’s 1 inch.

Read on to learn solutions…

After exploring all of the equipment that can be purchased, you will find that there are three basic options for GPS accuracy:

1. A free signal, known as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), provides pass-to-pass accuracy of about ±6 to 13 inches and has a potential GPS drift of ±4 to ±7 ft. WAAS is managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

2. A “corrected” signal that requires a paid subscription can provide a pass-to-pass accuracy between ±2 and ±13 inches and has a potential GPS drift of ±1.7 to ±3 ft depending on the correction service.

3. A real-time kinematic (RTK) system that provides pass-to-pass accuracy of ±1 inch and a potential GPS drift of ±1 inch. This system requires the purchase of an RTK base station if an RTK network, such as CORS, does not already exist in your area. The Continually Operation Reference Station (CORS) network is a free RTK signal operated and monitored by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). If CORS is not available in your area an annual subscription for a proprietary RTK network can be purchased.

It is important to keep in mind two terms relating to GPS/GNSS accuracy when evaluating signal options. Pass-to-pass accuracy is the accuracy of the GPS/GNSS receiver over a 15 minute time-frame and pertains to short-term operations such as spraying or fertilizing fields. GPS drift is the accuracy of the GPS/GNSS receiver over an extended period of time. GPS drift is more long-term and becomes important when planting or harvesting.

Check out his piece to learn more.

I spoke the other day with Jeff Bentley, Ag Leader Technology’s sales manager for GPS Guidance and Steering, to get his take on the usefulness of non-human steering in the fall.

He told me there are three major areas that auto steer technology can benefit a farmer in the fall—combining, field tillage and fall fertilization. And you don’t necessarily need the higher cost RTK differential correction signal.

OnTrac

“In the combine, either our OnTrac2 assisted steering system or our advanced ParaDyme automated steering will benefit anyone with a platform head to keep it completely full of soybeans or wheat during harvest,” Bentley says. “We have some customers who also use RTK to guide a corn head down rows that were planted using RTK auto steer.”

ParaDyme

When it comes to fall tillage, many growers have done some on-farm testing with automated steering. “The results growers tend to see when comparing manual steering to auto steering usually range from three percent up to 10 percent greater efficiency. And you can use a wide range of signals, from the free WAAS signal to OmniSTAR to RTK.”

The third fall application that benefits from auto steer is fertilization. “Growers use it when applying anhydrous, when using a spinner-spreader and especially when applying fertilizer as part of a strip-till operation, using RTK so they can come back and plant exactly over the top next spring,” Bentley says.

To control these systems, Bentley says the OnTrac2 uses the EDGE display. For the ParaDyme, you can use either the EDGE or the INTEGRA display. “And with either display you can add DirectCommand for section control and rate control for anhydrous bars and strip-till air carts.”

Bentley says if you haven’t invested in steering technology yet, its year-around uses will deliver greater efficiency, fuel savings, input savings, time savings and especially less operator fatigue.

Visit these links for more information.

ParaDyme and OnTrac2 http://www.agleader.com/products/steering/

INTEGRA http://www.agleader.com/products/integra/

EDGE http://www.agleader.com/products/edge/

The TalkingFields initiative is now showing how to combine satellite observation with satellite navigation to benefit European farmers.
Sustainable food production and food security are critical challenges. TalkingFields will help by using precision farming methods to produce crops more efficiently. For instance, by optimising farmers’ use of fertiliser and giving early warning of plant disease risks, both costs and environmental impacts can be reduced.

“There are existing services variously employing Earth observation data, satellite navigation, farm management software and crop growth models, but TalkingFields is the first to combine them all,” said ESA’s Tony Sephton.

“We’re setting up an end-to-end service that is simple to use and sufficiently cost-effective to be self-sustaining.”

How does it work? The farmer requests the service for an area defined using satnav. Satellites gather information on the land’s potential – observations over several years can reveal variations in crop growth through soil changes – as well as current crop status.

These results are combined with information from field sensors such as weather conditions and soil moisture. The farmer adds in his own knowledge, and in return receives detailed satnav instructions on where and how much fertiliser to spray, for example.

A variety of satellites can be employed, although priority will be given to free data sources such as Landsat and ESA’s forthcoming Sentinel-2 satellites, due for launch in 2012.

“Ideally, we might have weekly satellite acquisitions, but cloud cover makes that unfeasible,” explained Dr Sephton.

“Instead, we need only two to four satellite images per growing season, which are fed into a sophisticated crop growth model.

“With TalkingFields the emphasis is on service: we’re not giving raw satellite data straight to farmers. Instead, we advise them directly on actions to be taken throughout the growing season.”

Read more

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.

When the built-in, dual-frequency receiver is upgraded to GLONASS, it provides the option to nearly double the number of available satellites from which to receive satellite signals.

For precision planting operations, the CFX-750 display is compatible with Trimble’s Field-IQ crop input control system and Tru Count clutches and can perform section control on up to 48 sections. Add rate control with the Field-IQ system to save costs and increase yields while also keeping records of what was applied. Additionally, operators can increase visibility from the cab by using the two live video feeds on the CFX-750 display to view the implement being pulled behind the vehicle.

“The Trimble CFX-750 display features the industry-leading Trimble Maxwell 6 chip that tracks up to 44 satellites simultaneously including GLONASS,” said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “This is a great high-performance, entry-level platform that can be upgraded to the Field-IQ section and rate control system as the farmer’s needs grow.”

The CFX-750 display is affordably priced starting at US$2,995 MSRP and is expected to be available in September 2010. Contact a local Trimble dealer at www.trimble.com/locator for more information.

The campaign, which began May 1 and was completed on July 31, produced an abundance of imagery with many areas covered multiple times. Not only the United States was covered; 97% of Mexico was collected and almost 60% of Canada. Many areas were imaged more than once over this three month span and totaled 17 Million square kilometers of North America. All of this imagery is currently available for purchase in the RapidEye Library.

The company also has released a success story with the French precision farming company S2Bvisio about how RapidEye has delivered nitrogen fertilization maps for canola and wheat fields for the customer. You will find details about this project at http://www.rapideye.de/upload/documents/References/Customer_Reference_S2B_08_06_2009_ENG.pdf.

RapidEye images the Earth in unparalleled quantities and will continue to make its satellite imagery available through its Library, which can be searched either through a local distributor or directly through its Customer Service department. To find a distributor visit the RapidEye website at www.rapideye.de/distributors. Additionally, a selection of RapidEye products can be searched for, purchased and immediately downloaded through the RapidEye Geodata Kiosk at www.geodatakiosk.com.

It’s all about the more efficient use of nitrogen so Don says there may be some areas of a field where they actually apply more nitrogen while in other areas it will be reduced if it’s not getting used efficiently.

Listen to an interview with Don from the CTIC tour here: Don Lampker Interview

Conservation In Action Tour 2010 Photo Album

Coverage of the Conservation In Action Tour was made possible by and the

This was just one precision farming economic message presented by Matt Darr, Iowa State University ag engineer, during a field day at its Northern Research Farm field day, according to a story in AgriNews.

“This is suitable for non-critical guidance, including tillage, spraying and seeding/drilling,” Darr said. “They are also used for autoswath systems on sprayers, but accuracy will decline in larger fields.”

Investing in a $2,000 light bar for a sprayer can cut chemical costs by 4 to 8 percent per year, Darr said. In areas with rugged terrain, the savings have been as much as 17 percent.

Dual frequency correction offers advances over single frequency correction and provides pass-to-pass accuracy within 4-inches or better, Darr said. This works well for precise auto steering for planting and for planter section control. It requires a yearly subscription that can range from $800 to $1,500.

Real Time Kenematic, or RTK, correction is the most accurate GPS correction because it uses a privately-owned reference station located close to the GPS receiver. RTK can provide one-inch pass-to-pass accuracy and is the only GPS correction that provides year-to-year position stability. RTK allows controlled traffic, strip tillage/fertilization/planting and extremely precise autosteering. Darr said that although RTK receiver costs have come down, the investment is still high from a cost and complexity standpoint.

RTK networks maintained by groups of implement dealers are available for a subscription fee. The cost is similar to a dual frequency subscription.

Read the story to learn more about more network choices and their value.

The new five and one half minute video highlights ParaDyme as the world’s first totally integrated precision farming system, with the capability of being installed on any “color” or brand of farm equipment from tractors, combines, sprayers and spreaders to swathers.

AutoFarm ParaDyme is the single system solution to all facets of precision farming: planter control, application control, yield monitoring, data logging and management, plus hands-free GPS steering via WAAS, EGNOS, OmniSTAR HP/XP, and RTK. It is also GLONASS ready. The ParaDyme System offers a choice of three displays: AutoFarm INTEGRA, AutoFarm EDGE and AutoFarm Viper Pro. It is also compatible with the AutoFarm OnTrac2 GPS Assisted Steering System running with ParaDyme/INTEGRA or ParaDyme/EDGE.

With its unique factory-integrated wireless, ParaDyme offers a Remote Real-Time Service connection to the dealer in addition to optional RTK ReadyConnect that provides RTK correction without a base station. A newly enabled WiFi function is another expansion of an already feature-packed solution to virtually everything precision ag.

Kelly Sharpe, of GK Technology, Inc., in Halstad, Minn., said his company creates variable rate mapping, taking an image from a field and creating zones based off of this input image.

Zones are soil sampled and fertilizing and seeding maps are created. The producer receives a prescription that he can input into his GPS system to apply fertilizer and seed at the correct rates while traveling across the field.

“Economics has forced us to make more money off the same acres,” Sharpe said. “There’s a lot of variability in every field caused by topography and soil types. Maps can show you where there might be more leaching of nitrogen or different soil types requiring different treatments.”

“You could put 30 pounds of nitrogen on the top of your hills and 90 pounds on the bottom of your valleys and it might not be accurate,” he said. Zone mapping is the solution to putting on the right amounts, and it can be done “right from the cab,” Sharpe said.

Check out this piece to learn more about the benefits of satellite imagery and variable rate manure application.

“AutoFarm is the only GPS steering provider currently offering this capability,” says John Bressler, Sr. Marketing Manager, AutoFarm. “The ParaDyme looks like a WiFi ‘hotspot’ to the user’s PC and once connected the software is quickly and easily uploaded.”

The WiFi connectivity to upload software, now enabled on version 1.2 of the ParaDyme Software allows users to remotely load software without the customary auxiliary cables or USB devices.

The ParaDyme System is the industry’s first single system solution to all facets of precision farming: planter control, application control, yield monitoring, data logging and management, plus hands-free GPS steering via WAAS, EGNOS, OmniSTAR HP/XP, and RTK. It is also GLONASS ready. With its unique factory-integrated wireless, ParaDyme offers a Remote Real-Time Service connection to the dealer in addition to optional RTK ReadyConnect that provides RTK correction without a base station. The newly enabled WiFi function is another expansion of an already feature-packed solution to virtually everything precision ag.

For more information on the AutoFarm ParaDyme system and WiFi capability, Remote Service, etc., visit www.gpsfarm.com.

While that technology is a ways off into the future, Gearlog.com posted a recent piece on how unscrambled GPS has helped consumers. It listed a few benefits we’ll see before self-driving cars.

More efficient hybrids. A hybrid car is good for half a mile to two miles in EV (electric vehicle – only) mode but the car typically keeps the hybrid battery topped up as soon as it gets a chance. With a smarter GPS receiver that talks to the car’s navigation system and to the charging system, the GPS could advise the car it’s about to head down a long hill in a mile, but only after two hills. The car would use the electric motor on the hills, or whatever works best for efficiency, and arrive at the start of the downhill with the hybrid battery nearly depleted, then use the downhill to recharge the battery. The result would be improved economy.

Predictive swiveling headlamps. On higher-end cars, the headlamps swivel lift and right when you turn the wheel. With more accurate GPS, the car would start to turn the headlamps a second or two before the road curves. That adds a small measure of safety. Plus, on a dark country road at night, sometimes it’s hard to recognize if you’re seeing the road marking curve sharply to the right, or if that’s an angled white rail fence 20 yards off the highway. The headlamps could help show you the way.

Ultra-accurate speedometer. A GPS system also calculates your speed. Car speedometers are often inaccurate by a couple miles per hour, sometimes to insure that even if you use a slightly different diameter tire, you’re never going faster than the speedometer indicates. Some drivers like the insurance factor of a mechanical speedometer that reads high by a couple mph. Others may want to know that when the speedometer shows you’re doing 68 mph, you’re doing 68, not 65, 66, or 69. So you could use GPS to apply a correction factor to your speedometer. Or not. No doubt all these features would be ones you could enable or disable, at your discretion.

Read more details here.

Boeing announced that the first of 12 Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF navigation spacecraft that the company is building for the U.S. Air Force has successfully completed prelaunch testing. The satellite, GPS IIF-1, is scheduled for a May 20 launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

GPS is a space-based, worldwide navigation system providing users with highly accurate, three-dimensional position, navigation and timing information 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. The 12 GPS IIF satellites feature stronger and more precise signals that will enhance the services that support U.S. warfighters, their allies, and civilian GPS users around the world.

“These next-generation satellites provide improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks; a more jam-resistant military signal and a longer design life than earlier GPS satellites; and a new civil signal that benefits aviation safety and search-and-rescue efforts,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “GPS IIF is the culmination of our deep experience with 39 successful satellites from previous missions, representing more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force.”

“GPS is used by nearly a billion people worldwide for everything from farming and aviation to public safety, disaster relief and recreation, not to mention its military purpose of providing precision navigation and timing to combat forces,” said Air Force Col. David Madden, GPS Wing Commander. “GPS IIF will increase the signal power, precision and capacity of the system, and form the core of the GPS constellation for years to come.”

As the first spacecraft in the GPS IIF series, GPS IIF-1 underwent stringent and comprehensive testing following shipment to the launch site in February. Tests included verification of key satellite functions as well as end-to-end system testing to verify operations between the satellite and the Boeing-built ground control segment at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. Commands were sent from Schriever to GPS IIF-1 at Cape Canaveral to turn on payloads, reprogram processors, and verify interoperability with user receivers and equipment, both civil and military.

In April, the Air Force and Boeing team completed a comprehensive series of prelaunch exercises. These included a mission dress rehearsal and two integrated crew exercises that involved all GPS IIF launch and missions operations crews, from controllers at Schriever to space vehicle engineers and range radar operators at Cape Canaveral to tracking stations around the world.

“ISSAC is a space-related research project that will result in the delivery of direct benefits from space to the general public,” said Doug Olsen, ISSAC project manager. “The ISSAC project is in the midst of developing an upgrade to its camera sensor, which is expected to be launched in April 2011. It will resume operations during the 2011 growing season.”

ISSAC is designed to take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, of vegetated areas on the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Images will be delivered within two days directly to requesting farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their environmental stewardship of the land. Images will also be shared with educators for classroom use.

The system allows users to select specific geographical areas of interest over which to request collection of imagery in both red and near-infrared bandpasses, and at medium-high spatial resolution. Farmers using variable-rate application and other precision agriculture techniques will be able to dynamically delineate management zones as the crop vegetation canopy changes during the growing season; this can result in more effective use of fertilizer and other chemical inputs and reduce negative environmental effects.

“The UND interdisciplinary effort that has produced this camera is a remarkable story,” said UND President Robert O. Kelley. “Faculty and students from several colleges and centers on campus have produced an instrument that will analyze the composition of agricultural and other natural resources on the surface of the earth from the International Space Station.”

“The consolidation of multiple technologies into a single instrument will add tremendous economic value to the agricultural industry in North Dakota and around the world,” Kelley said. “UND and NASA have forged a very productive partnership in this initiative.”

ISSAC is operated from the Science Operations Center (SOC) on the UND campus, staffed by students from across the campus, including from the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the School of Engineering and Mines. From the SOC, students will send commands to ISSAC to take images and transmit them to SOC, where they’ll be processed and delivered to end users. Images captured by the camera will be made available to the public through UMAC’s Web page (see http://www.umac.org/).

Recent blog posts talk about variable rate (VR) seeding, VR calibration, data management, data collection with cellular modems, the value of on-the-go nitrogen sensors, firmware upgrades and much more.

The blog site also categorizes posts into topics to help you sort for exactly the info you seek.

One good overview of this science, published in 2003 by USDA-ARS scientists from across the country, will help you grasp the realties and benefits that can be achieved. And the technology has dramatically improved since this was written.

One independent agronomic guru who is a favorite of mine (and I’ve quoted many over the years in farm magazine articles) in Tom McGraw, owner of Midwest Independent Soil Samplers (MISS). Tom calls a spade a spade, and offers some excellent advice, which he gives in his newsletter, on their website, and especially to customers.

Bottom line is you should consider examining one field, perhaps your toughest most variable ground, to see what you can learn and improve upon with this sensing technology. Talk to your local retailer to understand their capabilities, or contact one of the four MISS locations.

The challenge is dealing with all ages and different colors of equipment. Sam asks…We have three green combines 1 newer the 2nd is 10-11 years old and the other is a dinosaur and the newer one being the only one with yield mapping through waas signal using original brown box from JD ( never right ). Next we have 2 Planting tractors both have 20/20 seed sense systems from precision no GPS. Sprayer we have a XLRD 1000 Pull Type pulled by a JD 4430 with a INSight and an EZ-Guide 500 waas signal. Spreader truck we have a Insight along with EZ- Guide Plus. Now I must say that it looks like we just put a down payment on a 06 Apache with auto steer by Raven. Also a new red combine is probably coming this fall 8120 Case and we are talking about buying a new corn planter also.. we put a lot of tile in we bought a tile plow.. No GPS also we have a 8530 JD autosteer ready for doing a lot of tillage and side dressing corn with anhydrous. 9520 T John Deere does a good majority of the tillage and also runs the tile plow. Now you see my situation figure out a plan for that to move into RTK.

Several growers have responded here.  Take a visit and weigh in with your advice.

Growers in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Nebraska can access VRS Now Ag. Additionally, European growers can receive correction services in Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic and Estonia. As with corrections supplied by conventional Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) radio towers, Trimble VRS network corrections provide sub-inch repeatable Global Positioning System (GPS) accuracy for precision farming operations such as tillage, planting, spraying and field preparation.

The Trimble VRS solution uses proprietary software to create correction models for regions covered by the network. The VRS service can provide growers with instant access to high-accuracy RTK positioning without the need for a local base station. VRS corrections are valuable in areas with natural obstructions such as trees and hilly terrain due to the fact that corrections are obtained by a cellular modem, rather than through the line-of-sight signals provided by an RTK tower.

Trimble pioneered RTK in the early 1990s as a means of delivering high-accuracy GPS positioning. Today, there are more than 750 million acres covered by Trimble agriculture RTK base stations. The VRS Now Ag service was developed to deliver high-accuracy positioning via cellular communications and provides more than 400 million acres of sub-inch accuracy.

“We are very pleased to provide Trimble VRS Now Ag service to nine U.S. states and five European countries,” said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “VRS Now Ag service provides an additional high-accuracy correction option for farmers who require reliable sub-inch positioning for their crucial field operations. Trimble VRS Now is fully supported and dedicated to the success of farmer field operations.”

A 12-month subscription will cost $1,200 or $1,500, depending on whether you want GPS only or access to GNSS. For more information visit www.trimble.com/agriculture/TrimbleVRSNowAg.aspx or contact your local Trimble dealer at www.trimble.com/locator.

“EGNOS is already a success story in the agricultural sector,” said Aguilera. “It already has 50% market share, which is expected to reach 70% by 2010. The ultimate result will be increasing yields, conservation of resources and materials, and lower costs. The benefits are there, the EGNOS signal is already being exploited by farmers, and it is available free of charge.”

The Galileo Application Days ‘High Precision’ session highlighted a number of GNSS applications already being used in the agriculture sector.

Michael Quinckhardt of Claas Agrosystems outlined how his company is exploiting advanced GNSS-based applications. “Precision farming includes automatic steering for tractors and monitoring of all our machines,” he explained. “We can help farmers to know where their machines are and what they are doing at any given moment.”

Tracking and yield analysis can also help to optimise the use of fertilisers. “One can understand that different fields across a wide area will differ in terms of various qualities and in their abilities to support crops,” said Quinckhardt, “But the fact is there is a degree of variability in terms of soil quality even within a single field.”

By recording information from harvesters about what the soil is producing from one patch to the next within a field, and matching that information with precise GNSS-based location information, farmers can pinpoint very accurately where they need to apply more fertiliser and where they can save money by applying less.

Rob Kiernan of Leica Geosystems discussed the three phases of action in agriculture: planting, crop protection and harvest. “Maximising production in agriculture is all about doing the right thing at the right time in the right place,” he said. “Systems like Galileo and EGNOS tell us about place with a high degree of accuracy throughout the production cycle, and this is revolutionising the way we work.”

For more on this story…

SMS Advanced software is geared toward crop consultants, agronomists or other co-op personnel, precision ag managers, GIS mapping specialists and other service providers who provide precision farming services to growers. “We’ve been providing software and one-day general training since the late 1990s. But this past year we expanded to an in-depth three-day training course for advanced users,” says Michael Vos, SMS Sales Manager for Ag Leader.

“New and existing SMS Advanced software customers wanted an in-depth level of training, so we created a Certified Training program, which includes 15 to 22 CCA credits. We offer an excellent trainer to student ratio, as we normally have two trainers and 8 students, in our new state-of-the-art Ag Leader Academy computer lab,” he says.

The three days are tailored to exactly what the individuals want to learn. “We make lists of topics and details that are desired so users get the exact training to fit their business model. Some of the popular topics requested include: how to write equations for prescriptions, how to use aerial imagery and read it to make fertilizer use and crop scouting decisions, how to build a customer soil fertility booklet and creating soil management zones from aerial imagery and numerous years of yield data,” Vos says.

Every attendee receives a special certified manual with screen shot by screen shot steps for the software program. And within the book there are explanations why each tool is used, along with definitions and real world scenarios on how each tool is used.

“It’s definitely a complex tool, and when users see all the potential benefits of the software, they want to learn how to use it to the fullest extent,” he says.

Check out upcoming SMS Training Sessions…

Topcon Precision Agriculture’s senior VP Albert Zahalka gave a talk recently about how the future of precision ag is here today, and the journey is just beginning. Some of the key points he made:

• Receivers with GNSS technology will have fewer lost signals.
• Today’s precision ag is about three key elements: saving time, reducing costs, and environmental stewardship.
• Future: Massive user interface improvements will make operation simple without the need for a manual.
• Future: Expanded telematics will allow users to remotely monitor critical operating conditions and status of machines whether in a field 5 minutes away or across the globe. You’ll be able to manage your farm from inside your home.
• Future: Autonomous machine operation, already at work in the mining industry, will come to agriculture. Coming safety measures will allow for autonomous driverless machines to work in fields.

In the future, farmers will be increasingly reliant on accurate, dependable statistical information, which will then feed into integrated precision agriculture systems to deliver outstanding productivity and crop yields.

In the not-too-distant future, we’ll have a farmer sitting in his farmhouse, looking at his computer and saying to his wife, “Marge, we are going to do the planting today.”

Then he will press the “planting” button and his tractor (or tractors) will come out of the shed, head off to the fields and begin planting the right seed in the right location, in the right quantities for optimum growth, all with minimal human intervention.

And if there’s a problem or a machine breakdown, the farmer will be instantly alerted.

And as those crops grow and mature, we’ll have sprayers and watering equipment driving along in the farm field. It will see that one plant is not as green or thriving as well as the next, so it will apply a shot of water or nutrient as required.

That vision is still a little way into the future – but it is clearly the direction precision agriculture technology is going.

Read the entire speech.