Seed treatments have actually been around for decades and it’s reached the point that virtually all of the corn seed planted today is treated with some type of crop protection technology. However, GROWMARK product manager Dave Gentry says that while use of soybean seed treatment is growing, it is not yet as pervasive as corn. “Seed treatments on soybeans have not been quite as accepted until the last 4-5 years,” he said.

Gentry identifies four key reasons for a dramatic increase in the popularity of soybean seed treatments recently. “One is the improved active ingredients,” he said. “They are very effective at a much lower use rate.” The second reason is pushing the planting envelope. “As we’ve become more aggressive in our planting, soybeans are going into soils that are cooler and wetter, there’s more stresses early in the season and so seed treatments can reduce the impact of some of those stresses.”

Gentry says another reason is the value of the seed itself, which makes it worth investing in the treatment to protect it. And finally, the range of products to treat the seeds with has expanded, with additional offerings such as growth stimulants, inoculants, microbials and nematicides.

He notes that about 60% of soybean acres are currently being planted with treated seed, although percentages vary between regions with the east coast and the deep south lower and the eastern corn belt closer to 85%. As for the future, Gentry expects to see most soybean seed treated with products in the pipeline to control Sudden Death Syndrome and soybean cyst nematode. “I think the percentage of treatment will continue to grow and, like corn, start to approach 100%,” he says.

The big difference he sees between corn and soybean seed treatments is that soybeans are moving more to the local dealer level, “allowing them to respond to local situations and local disease and insect pressures.”

Listen to Dave’s thoughts on soybean seed treatment here: Dave Gentry Interview

Find out more about seed treatment options in your specific area at FSSeed.com.

The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit this week on behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations, against Monsanto Company as a preemptive measure “to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed, something Monsanto has done to others in the past.”

“This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto’s transgenic seed should land on their property,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director and Lecturer of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.”

Monsanto calls the organization’s allegations “false, misleading and deceptive.”

The plaintiffs’ approach is a publicity stunt designed to confuse the facts about American agriculture. These efforts seek to reduce private and public investment in the development of new higher-yielding seed technologies. This attack comes at a time when the world needs every agricultural tool available to meet the needs of a growing population, expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050. While we respect the opinion of organic farmers as it relates to the products they choose to grow, we don’t believe that American agriculture faces an all-or-nothing approach. Rather we believe that farmers should have the ability to choose the best agricultural tools to farm their own land and serve their own end-market customers. We are confident that these multiple approaches can coexist side-by-side and sustainably meet the world’s food needs over next 40 years.

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

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

2011 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

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

I spoke with Will Cannon today, SeedCommand product specialist with Ag Leader Technology, to learn about how their new Advanced Seed Monitoring technology can benefit farmers.

“There are two principle components above and beyond traditional seed monitoring—singulation detail and spacing quality—delivered by our Advanced Seed Monitoring capability. While the whole industry is headed towards advanced monitoring, what sets us apart is that our screens are visually simple and appealing, allowing growers to see problems with one quick glance at the screen.”

The first screen, planter performance, shows a large bar graph representing all planter rows. “Farmers can quickly assess population, seed singulation and seed spacing quality,” Cannon says. The second screen, row performance, shows a virtual seed trench. “This is an awesome diagnostic tool for a row that is giving you trouble. You can slow or pause, and zoom in or out, to help pick up on a pattern to help pinpoint issues,” he adds.

Issues with singulation that occur on a row unit usually indicate problems with the seed meter. If seed spacing quality is the problem, that could be caused by driving too fast or improper drop due to seed tube issues, Cannon says. “This technology really helps isolate different issues on a planter so a farmer can quickly determine the problem and the location.”

Current INTEGRA customers with SeedCommand and the Seed Tube Monitor Module can get this valuable update with no unlocking fees. And check out the video link below to actually view the technology.

Visit these links for more information:

Video Interview about Advanced Seed Monitoring
http://precisionpays.com/2011/02/ag-leader-releases-advanced-seed-monitoring/

Advanced Seed Monitoring
http://www.agleader.com/media-center/

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

“Today, farmers are looking for advances in seed technologies and precision planting practices that will enable them to produce more, conserve more and remain profitable,” said Julie LaBonte, Monsanto Prescriptive Ag Business Manager. “These tools are Monsanto’s next steps toward providing increased confidence in seed choice, placement and plant population for field-specific recommendations.”

Farmers in the pilot program are also receiving IntelliSeed custom planting recommendations that enhance the crop management decisions for the current year, as well as provide insight for future crop decisions.

Find out more here.

The new technology was on demonstration during the show, and Mark Anderson, Territory Manager for Ag Leader talked to me about the product. It was a little cold and the concrete was a little hard to do any corn planting during the show, but I was still able to get a virtual tour of how the Advanced Seed Monitoring tool worked.

The technology was designed specifically for corn farmers to use on Ag Leader’s INTEGRA displays and when integrated with SeedCommand, is another precision ag technology that will help farmers increase yields and increase profits.

Anderson mentioned some additional features along with the ones mentioned above. These include:

• Virtual Seed Trench for a seed-by-seed view to assist in diagnosing problematic rows.

• Automatically determines and displays the rows operating at the lowest and highest levels for singulation and population.

• The new Advanced Seed Monitoring incorporates seed meter and placement details into SeedCommand’s row shutoff and planter-drive modules on one, easy to read and navigate screen.

Anderson said that growers were already really excited about the product at the show and once the word gets out, he expects high demand for the product. So, to ensure that all their growers get the update in time for planting, he encouraged them to order their Advanced Seed Monitoring tool as soon as possible. You can do just that by giving them a call at 515- 232-5363 or visiting their website at www.agleader.com.

And before you’re ready to apply nitrogen this growing season, check out their OptRx technology. Growers who used the technology last growing season, on average, improved their bushel per acre costs of $25.

Miss the show? Check it out in our Iowa Power Farming Show flickr photo album.

Precision Pays coverage of the Iowa Power Farming Show is sponsored by: .

The furry-looking insects start their development smaller than the head of a pin, but the caterpillars soon develop an appetite for cotton as big as the crop.

To demonstrate the insects’ destructive power, Clemson University entomologist Jeremy Greene planted two cotton varieties — one genetically modified to provide protection from caterpillars, one not — in a demonstration field at the Edisto Research and Education Center.

The non-protected cotton was planted in a pattern that spelled the word “Tigers.” Aerial photographs taken near harvest show that while the genetically modified crop survived intact, the unprotected plants provided three square meals a day for the crop-hungry herbivores.

The demonstration crop was planted in late May last year and grew through the summer.

“We wanted to show the kind of damage caterpillars can do when they’re allowed to eat unprotected cotton freely,” Greene said.

Cotton is a multimillion dollar crop in the Palmetto State involving hundreds of farms and thousands of jobs.

Nearly all cotton varieties planted in South Carolina contain genes found in the naturally occurring Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, that help the plant make its own insecticide.

Bt cotton is genetically modified with specific genes from Bacillus thuringiensis. Think of it as in-plant insecticide, Greene said. This technology has been commercially available since 1996, but improvements over the years have enhanced the control of major pests.

The plant makes the proteins just like the bacterium does. The particular strain of Bacillus thuringiensis available in cotton, which was planted for the demonstration, works only on immature lepidopterans, or caterpillars. Lepidoptera is the insect order for moths and butterflies. The toxic proteins have no ill effects on other organisms.

“During 2010, we had a very high population of bollworm that infested cotton acres at the Edisto research center,” Greene said. “We planted a non-Bt variety where you see the word ‘Tigers’ and a two-gene Bt cotton where you see the fluffy white cotton lint.”

The striking difference in appearance is due to bollworms eating all of the green cotton bolls in the non-Bt variety that did not have protection from the insects.

Greene applied no insecticides to control caterpillars in this field, so the difference between the Bt and non-Bt varieties is illustrated clearly.

A color-coded yield map, produced by precision agriculture specialist Will Henderson at the Edisto center, illustrates the crop after harvest using one of the center’s pickers that is equipped with a yield monitor. The map shows “good” yields in green and “bad” yields in red.

The damage potential of important lepidopteran species, such as bollworm, is not new, Greene said. Moths have flown into fields, laid eggs and hatched as injurious caterpillars for decades.

Transgenic Bt technology and its improvement over the years are relatively recent advances that represent effective, economical and environmentally friendly control of these insects in agriculture, he said.

“We know what they can do to non-Bt cotton versus Bt cotton — the photographs speak for themselves,” Greene said.

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.

Advanced Seed Monitoring provides planter performance monitoring of seed meter singulation, skips/doubles and spacing quality, along with population and spacing information for all rows when corn planting.

The INTEGRA display features a full-screen planter performance view that includes display items and bar graphs for population, singulation, skips/doubles and spacing quality. All of these features are available while the display is simultaneously performing guidance, mapping and autosteer functions.

“Growers looking to eliminate yield robbing planter problems such as poor seed spacing and singulation will find this system extremely valuable and easy to use. The INTEGRA display’s 12.1” screen provides the industry’s largest view of the performance of all rows. Problematic rows stand out with one glance at the screen,” says Roger Zielke, SeedCommand Product Manager. “A virtual seed trench view shows the placement of each seed of a problematic row to help determine if the problem is in the seed meter or seed tube.”

In addition, Advanced Seed Monitoring automatically determines and displays the rows operating at the highest and lowest levels for singulation and population. All of this functionality is joined with Ag Leader’s popular SeedCommand row shutoff and planter-drive modules on one screen. Existing INTEGRA and SeedCommand Seed Tube Monitor module owners can take advantage of Advanced Seed Monitoring with the February 2011 INTEGRA firmware update.

They listed:
- Raven Sling Shot system
- Connected Farm concept
- GSI Binspector
- Grain entrapment rescue tubes
- Votivo nematicide seed treatment
- SmartStax corn
- Agrisure Viptera trait
- Surveillance sunglasses
- Vertical till revolution
- Kixor herbicide technology

Read on to learn why.

“We talk to each producer that we work with, and they are the ones telling us that they sure use less chemicals on a field than they used to because of the (precision farming) technology they have,” he said. “I think from those discussions, most are figuring they are saving between 5 to 10 percent on a field with GPS technology.”

Metzger likes to mention the story of a farmer who has been enrolled in the Farm Business Management Program for several years. When ordering herbicide for his total crop acreage he always added five percent to what he had figured and ended up using the entire amount each year. However, the year he added a sprayer with GPS and boom control to his operation he took the entire extra five percent that he always ordered back to the chemical dealer because he didn’t need it.

With the average chemical cost for wheat today at $31.23 per acre, Metzger said there is the potential for great savings.

“If you start looking at saving $2 to $3 an acre on chemical on a couple thousand acres of wheat, it doesn’t take very long before the savings can add up to $5-, $10- or $20,000 on an average farm,” he said.

“And as the costs increase, there is even more of a desire to save all the time,” he continued. “If we didn’t have the GPS units we might still be over-applying by going around sloughs twice, doing the headlands twice – those types of things. But with the GPS and the automatic shutoff, those areas of over-application are taken care of.”

And the savings doesn’t end with chemicals. The five major costs associated with crop production–chemicals, fuel, repairs, seed and fertilizer–can all be trimmed back. Read on for more details.

This new functionality enables control of up to three channels of granular product or a combination of one channel of seed and two channels of granular product. The new Air Cart support provides the benefits of SeedCommand and DirectCommand to broad-acre seeding.

“Support for air carts for seeding and fertilizer application is something our growers have requested, and Ag Leader now provides a valuable precision farming tool for broad-acre operations,” says John Howard, Product Manager. “The calibration enhancements, meter prime feature and support for meter circuit clutches provide benefits such as AutoSwath, data logging and mapping and variable-rate seeding or fertilizer application for these operations.”

Additional features of the air cart support include tables for referencing stored meter calibration values to reduce the chance of error; variable rate control by product for more efficient use of inputs; support for bin level and fan speed sensors; and an automatic meter shut off option if fan speed falls below a minimum setting. The air cart support is available with Ag Leader’s INTEGRA display.

To that end, a recent piece on the adoption of GPS that appeared in The Cap Times newspaper (Madison, Wisc.) talked about the economic savings of precision farming. And it quoted Columbus, Wisc., farmer Alan Paulson who said, “At the end of the day, you’re not exhausted.”

Check out the rest of the story.

I spoke the other day with Iowa farmer Tim Palmer, who also is president of the Conservation Districts of Iowa—a group of 500 county commissioners who are responsible for carrying out state laws and programs within district boundaries. Palmer had just returned from their annual conference where the theme was ‘Mastering Conservation 101.’

“Our whole conference was all about topics focused on improving water quality. If we can keep soil in place, water quality automatically improves,” he says. “We discussed many ways to help educate growers on conservation methods; about how there’s more to soil quality than organic matter and yield. And we offered breakout sessions on planter adjustments, managing no-till residue, precision farming, value of no-till, livestock grazing management and other topics.”

Chad Huedepohl, DirectCommand sales manager for Ag Leader Technology, spoke to the group about how precision farming tools can help promote conservation practices. He addressed three areas during his talk:

1. Auto guidance: “I talked about the myth that auto steer only works in fields with straight rows. Our SmartPath technology tracks the contours in a field as you drive the first path, then it takes over the steering during subsequent paths—which helps growers farm fields differently to keep erosion in check. And auto guidance eliminates row marker trenches that can turn into highly erodible gullies during heavy rain events,” Huedepohl says.

2. Efficient nitrogen application: “Our OptRx crop sensor system can help growers reduce excessive nitrogen application by reading the crop and applying only the amount needed, instead of applying a flat rate of nitrogen across whole fields.”

3. Reduced chemical and seed over-application: “As growers adopt more contour planting to reduce soil and water movement and erosion in square fields, they create more point rows which can lead to over-application of seed and chemicals,” he says. “With auto guidance and row/boom shutoff, that problem is eliminated. Our AutoSwath technology combined with planter row shutoff devices not only provide less corn lodging and herbicide over-application, it saves on seed and chemical input costs, too.”

Visit these links for more information.

Conservation Districts of Iowa http://www.cdiowa.org/index.html

Iowa Soil and Water Conservation District Annual Conference
http://www.cdiowa.org/AnnConf10/Ann%20Conf%202010%20Program%20draft.pdf

Ag Leader SmartPath http://www.agleader.com/2010/07/08/smartpathtm-“drive-and-guide”-guidance-pattern-introduced-by-ag-leader/
http://www.agleader.com/products/guidance/guidance-patterns/

Ag Leader OptRx http://www.agleader.com/2010/02/15/optrx/
http://www.agleader.com/products/directcommand/optrx/

Ag Leader AutoSwath http://www.agleader.com/products/directcommand/

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.

The new John Deere SeedStar XP monitoring system allows producers to monitor and adjust a wide variety of planting operations on-the-go for optimal seed placement and increased productivity.

“Everything that customers said they wanted in a fully integrated monitoring system for planting operations went into the SeedStar XP system,” says Chris Savener, project manager, planters, for John Deere Seeding.

“This includes an easy-to-read, at-a-glance screen with seed skip information and data on row-unit ride dynamics, which are critical to monitoring and maintaining overall planter performance at the row-unit level. Ultimately, the SeedStar XP monitoring system helps ensure that every seed is planted to the correct depth and spacing within the seed furrow across the entire field. Tests show that the system helps producers save planting time and seed while maximizing yields.”

The GreenStar 2 compatible SeedStar XP system features a user-friendly, full-color planting monitor, or it can be integrated with a producer’s existing GreenStar 2 display to eliminate clutter in the cab. The system is supported by a series of row-unit sensor nodes and downforce sensors configured to the specific model of planter. In addition to the features of the original SeedStar 2 monitoring system, the SeedStar XP system includes these enhancements:

• Seed singulation and seed spacing monitoring
• Row-unit downforce monitoring and adjustment
• Row-unit ride quality monitoring
• Overall row-unit and planter performance monitoring
• Split-screen applications for planting and guidance (AutoTrac)

The SeedStar XP system is available on select model year 2011 John Deere planters, including the 1770NT, 1770NT CCS™, 1790 and DB Series planters, and is fully integrated and compatible with other Ag Management System products used for planting, such as Swath Control Pro for planters, GreenStar AutoTrac assisted steering and Apex farm management software.
For more information on the John Deere SeedStar XP monitoring system, see your local John Deere dealer or visit www.JohnDeere.com.

Engineered for large acreage small grain growers who need to cover thousands of acres in a short planting window, the Precision Air 3580 has a three-compartment tank with a total capacity of 580 U.S. bushels.

The three tank compartments hold 135 bushels, 183 bushels and 262 bushels respectively, providing growers with more seeding and fertilizer options and higher capacities in one pass. Tanks are made of steel, with tough, powder coat paint inside and out for a harder finish, better rust protection and longer wear.

“Our broadacre customers are asking us for larger drills and carts with more capacity, so they can run longer between stops,” says Gord Engel, Case IH seeding product manager. “The less time farmers spend re-filling seed and fertilizer tanks, the more acreage they cover during the prime planting window, and the more they reduce seeding costs.

“Whether you’re growing wheat, barley, rye, oats, canola or pulse crops, the further north you go, the smaller the planting window gets,” Engel adds. “Planting at the right time helps maximize yields. With the Precision Air 3580, growers cover more acres per hour, per day, per week and per season.”

To learn more, visit this link.

60-inch corn

Ag Leader’s Paul Rose blogs about his trip to South Africa, where the company installed its first ParaDyme system in that country. The 5,000 acre farmer featured in the story plants 60-inch corn that, moisture permitting, averages 80 bushels per acre.

For more details, check out the story.

Many agronomists and producers conduct experiments that test the impact of rates of fertilizer, population, or pesticide on yield. To analyze this data we need to conduct a yield response analysis. Agronomists and or producers that understand yield response and how to use yield response to determine the point of optimum economic return will be able to make better management decisions. The point of optimum economic return is determined by:
1. Conducting a yield response experiment
2. Converting the yield response data to a functional relationship,
outputcorn yield = f(input the plant population)
3. Using calculus to determine where the change in the value of the input equals the change in the value of the output.
In site-specific farming, scientists have found that yield response relationships may change spatially and temporally.

To learn more, read the paper “Using Yield Response Analysis to Calculate an Optimum Plant Population“.

The Furrow

Broadwater, Neb., grower Frank Lussetto says zone management helped him accomplish three broad goals of being agronomically sound, economically smart and environmentally safe. He uses zone maps for phosphorous, nitrogen and seeding rates, grouping six to eight soil types in a field into three to five zones. And he used elevation and electrical conductivity as the primary drivers in zone development.

The story also featured Enterprise, Kan., farmer Larry Hottman and his use of zones, derived more prominently from yield maps collected since 1998. He too used electrical conductivity readings to map soil properties along with grid soil sampling.

University of Nebraska agronomist Richard Ferguson says they are seeing a $26 per acre benefit using site-specific nitrogen application and zone management.

For more details, read the story.

Hopefully you pulled out that owner’s manual, or enlisted your local dealer’s help, several weeks ahead of pulling into the first field with a planter full of seed. “The equipment only works as well as the set-up, so running the calibration software on your monitors should be an annual event,” says Nick Ohrtman, Technical Support Supervisor for Ag Leader Technology.

Since there’s no real standard procedure when calibrating for variable-rate technology, it is critical that you follow the guidelines in the owner’s manual of both the piece of equipment and the monitor that is driving it. “Our display monitors, like the Insight or INTEGRA, have a calibration wizard that walks you through seed meter calibration, allowing you to count the actual seed that drops per revolution, which is critical for variable-rate seeding” he says.

“If your variable-rate monitor is set to plant 34,000 seeds and the population monitor says you’re only seeding 30,000, then that’s a sign that the calibration was done inaccurately. If this happens with our system, when both monitors are running through our display, an alarm sounds when the populations don’t match up,” Ohrtman adds.

Granted, most calibration settings made are saved by crop, but it is still wise to recalibrate every year for each crop. “Once you’ve calibrated for corn and soybeans, then every field will use the same calibration. And the calibration doesn’t change when you’re switching plant populations,” he adds.

For growers using planter section or row shut-off technology, it’s advised to make sure your settings are correct each year. “With our AutoSwath system, there are three different settings available, so it’s wise to check the owner’s manual every year, as well as do a dig check in the soil on the first round to make sure the row shut-offs are working correctly.” Nick talks about tips for using AutoSwath in his blog post here.
For more information:
Calibrating Equipment for Variable-Rate Application

Variable Rate Equipment – Technology for Weed Control

Gear Up For VRT (Farm Journal, March 2009)

“I like knowing exactly to a row when hybrids and varieties start and stop—especially when you have to switch near the end of a field—so when you analyze yield results you know why the yields went up or down,” Cannon says. “That practice led to conducting strip trials across whole fields. And I often plug in all my hybrid/variety numbers into the monitor before I head to the field so changing numbers and fields is simple.”

And Will does a lot more than just track yields. “Last year we conducted alternate strips across a field to compare no-till and strip-till soybeans. We set up and mapped alternate passes of strip-till in the fall, came back in the spring, locked in with auto-steer to fertilize and plant into the strips, then no-till plant in-between those passes,” he says.

Cannon likes having all that mapped in the spring, because come harvest he doesn’t have to worry about where the combine is in the field. “I can just harvest and not worry about anything else, because I trust the monitor and data gathering.” Then during post-harvest into winter he crunches data. “I really like the capabilities of the SMS software. There are great tools I can use to select which passes across the field I want to analyze and compare. And I learned a lot about what tillage systems work best in specific fields.”

Another data layer is tracking his refuge management acres. I see this as becoming more and more important, as different hybrids change percentage of refuge acres, plus if I get audited I can direct them exactly to where they need to take tissue samples. And exact location is a big help if I need to apply insecticides on those acres,” he says.

Cannon continues to be impressed with the flexibility built into today’s software and data recording capabilities. “You have a lot of features to document things, so you don’t have to remember it all. And as more growers learn the capabilities, they figure out new ways to use it—because what appeals to one grower may be the opposite of what another guy wants. And the history of data that you build up is invaluable in the future.”

I talked to Nick Ohrtman this week, technical support supervisor for Ag Leader Technology. He said a good place to start is to check the manufacturer’s website (or with your local dealer) to see if any of your equipment needs a firmware upgrade.

“Be sure to clear out data from last-season (after you’ve copied and transferred it to your computer), and create a new season—including any new fields you have added, as well as load any new machinery, new hybrids and varieties, new herbicides or other new inputs you plan to use,” Ohrtman says. “Doing it now saves time when you’re in the field.”

The owner’s manual is a good resource as you run through your display. “Always a good idea to test your auto-steer by capturing a signal and run up and down the yard a few times. And the same dry run with your planter and a little seed helps calibrate the seed monitor,” he says.

When you do your walk-around to check planter shut-off clutches and hydraulics, don’t forget to also check all the cables to ensure nothing is pinched or was chewed by rodents.

Many companies also provide spring guides or checklists to help with product prep. “We provide our owners with a list, published in our newsletter, that details pre-season display setup, using the new INTRGRA display, as well as pre-season prep for SeedCommand and DirectCommand,” Ohrtman says. “We’ve also been conducting training sessions across the country during much of February and March for our customers.”

Former cabinet  minister Chris Smith, now chair of the Environment Agency, addressed farmers at the annual conference of National Farmers’ Union, saying that “climate change will create new demands on land and environmental resources–and could provide opportunities for novel crops and systems.”

Intense lobbying by food companies, the growing significance of climate change, recent international food crises and shortages and a major independent Royal Society report have all helped to give the government the authority to put GM back on the national agenda. The controversial technology was the focus of intense campaigns including destruction of GM crop trials by environmentalists in the 1990s, and last month came under renewed attack from academics and organic food campaigners at the Oxford Real Farming Conference.

Lord Smith will say: “We can already see wildlife following climate change – the mayfly is now found some 40 miles further north than before and warmer winters and wetter summers are thought to be a major factor in the rapid decline of pollinating insects with UK bee populations, in particular, falling by 10-15% over the last two years.

“The reliance on seasonal weather patterns means that farming will follow climate change too. My own personal view is that we probably need to be readier to explore GM options, coupled of course with proper environmental safeguards, in adapting to the changes that the climate will bring.”

The GM industry now involves 14 million farmers in 25 countries who are growing 134m hectares of GM crops around the world. This is a 7% increase compared with last year.

He says a savings of 5 percent can be achieved, which can deliver a payback in two years. And in some cases, with irregular-shaped fields, payback can be earned in one year.

Read the story for more details…

SureVac is designed for John Deere Pro-SeriesTM XP row units, but is also compatible with any John Deere vacuum seed meter manufactured in the last 20 years. In addition to John Deere corn and soybean seed disks, SureVac supports the eSet® vacuum disk from Precision Planting.

Chad says SureVac is an electric row shutoff made to shut off the seed placement per row on a row by row basis. He says this benefits the farmer user by saving on seed and avoiding “doubles” such as on point rows.

Iowa Power Farming Show Photo Album

Well, as you can probably guess, almost everyone who has auto steer would never go back to steering again. Who can blame them. However, the other day I spoke with central Ohio grower Gary Piper, who told me, “I’d give up auto steer in favor of my planter row control.”

This Centerburg producer, who farms 5,400 acres with his two brothers, just finished his third season using Ag Leader SeedCommand on their Insight monitor that controls Tru Count clutches on their 16-row planter. Piper admits to being skeptical when he first installed the units—about the reliability of the clutches and how soon he might recover his investment. But he figured with smaller, odd-shaped fields, ‘like one 24-acre field with eight corners,’ that it would pay off eventually and help control costs.

“The first year running them, I was very impressed. I saw first hand the results since I do all the corn planting. It wasn’t just the seed savings, but it really improved harvestability not having to deal with doubled-up rows that combine like a weed patch,” Piper says.

One-year payoff. It wasn’t until last year that he kept track of exactly how much seed he saved. “After planting 2,500 acres, we saved 38 bags, or about $7,600 worth of triple-stack hybrids—enough to easily pay for it in one year. And with SmartStax hybrids running $300-$350 this coming year, you can save even more.

Another benefit he liked had to do with comfort, under weather-stressed times. “Last spring we had challenging weather, which forced us to spend three long nights running the planter. As an operator I could not have physically done that and still kept the precision I demand—which the SeedCommand gave me.”

Yield loss. The other savings not often considered is yield loss from double-planted rows. “I never realized how dramatic that can be until I helped a neighbor combine last fall, who had double planted point rows—and I watched the yield monitor drop to about one-third the normal yield.”

After hearing that, one begins to understand why Gary won’t part with his planter row control system. Just plain common sense.

If you’re interested in a precision agriculture decision-making spreadsheet tool developed by Kansas State, look under ‘Decision-Making Tools’ called KSU-GPSguidance at this link:
http://www.agmanager.info/farmmgt/machinery/default.asp

Introduced in 2008 for Pro-Shaft drive planters with MaxEmerge and Pro-Series XP row units, RowCommand has become a widely used planter component for many row-crop producers.

“As the cost of seed continues to rise, more producers are looking for ways to maximize their seed investment through more precise placement in the field and to reduce overlap,” says Chris Savener, product manager, John Deere Seeding. “The availability of RowCommand as a field conversion attachment to chain-drive planters gives more producers an opportunity to realize the value of this technology in their operations.”

The RowCommand system controls seed delivery by automatically engaging and disengaging the chain drive clutch on each individual row unit based on GPS field maps and boundaries. “The system allows operators to reduce overplanting in point rows and around headlands, thereby reducing seed costs and the yield drag associated with double planting,” Savener adds.

RowCommand requires a GreenStar2 1800 or 2600 display and SeedStar2 monitoring system installed on the planter for operation. The RowCommand system is compatible with the following chain-driven John Deere planter models and row configurations:

• 1720: 12-row narrow; 12-row wide; and 16-row narrow
• 1760: 12-row narrow
• 1770: 12-row narrow
• 1770NT: 12-row; 16-row; and 24-row narrow
• 1770NT: CCS 12-row; 16-row; and 24-row narrow
• DB 44: 24-row, 22 in.

Retailers who sell precision ag equipment know the technology, but do they know your operation as well as a crop consultant might? Michael Vos, software sales manager for Ag Leader Technology, says that crop consultants often have an advantage of knowing agronomics, and that gives them a broader perspective of a grower’s operation.

Place seed, place fertilizer. “For example, just yesterday we were talking with a crop consultant who was answering grower questions about the placement of fertilizer and especially micronutrients. He says the first thing he reminds growers is not to forget the fundamentals—placing the seed accurately in the field,” Vos says. “He says that once growers do that, then they can look at using precision technology to band fertilizer and micronutrients and plant right over the top of it—reducing rates compared to broadcast.”

Vos says consultants that they work with often dovetail that discussion into asking, ‘Well, then how are you going to make sure you are applying fertilizer accurately?’ “That’s when they talk about the value of a controller monitor like our InSight or INTEGRA models, that not only control rates (flat rate or prescription variable rate), but it monitors the rates and records them to help improve future decision making. And, in combination with a guidance system like our ParaDyme, they can optimize seeding and fertility in a strip-till system.”

See the big picture. “Crop consultants understand the breadth and depth of the entire farming operation—from agronomics to technology to marketing. That allows them to see the weaker links in an operation, and help point growers in the best direction to improve their efficiency,” Vos says.

Not only can they help correct the inefficiencies, a good crop consultant can also help growers prioritize their precision farming investment. “Some farmers may be better off starting out with a precision ag tool for their planter. Others may get a quicker payoff by adding technology to their sprayer. Still others may want to start with a guidance system,” he says.

Other resources:

Why Hire A Crop Consultant? (Corn & Soybean Digest)

How to Choose a Crop Consultant (Citrus & Vegetable)

How to Choose Your Crop Consultant (AgProfessional)

What a Consulting Engineer Can Do For You

National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants

American Society of Agricultural Consultants

In our final installment of looking back at the top stories of 2009, here’s a list of newsworthy stories that featured new or updated products. I list the stories starting with the most current from December, working back to January of 2009. No ranking of importance is included…but feel free to post your comments about these products.

Lindsay Adds Remote Irrigation Pump Control

Trimble Adds Harvest Capabilities to Monitor

Ag Leader Welcomes Dealers To New Facility

Leica Offers Cost-Effective Lightbar Guidance

New RTK Module Receives Tower or Cell Signals

Topcon Launches On-The-Go Crop Nutrient Sensor

Six New Products From Ag Leader Technology

Raven Buys Interest in SST Software

Trimble Adds Modem To Enhance RTK Signal

Take Command of Planting With SureStop

New SMS Software From Ag Leader Technology

Deere Adds New AutoTrac Guidance Products

Trimble Expands Capabilities of FmX Display

Trimble Buys Farm Works Software

Trimble Acquires NTech and Greenseeker Technology

Deere Dealers To Offer Raven Products

Smart Nozzles Aid Precision Application

Raven Adds Planter and Sprayer Control

New GreenSeeker Precision Products To Save Fertilizer

Trimble and Tru Count Increase ROI

Technology Makes 120-Foot Planter Possible

Growers Learn More About APEX Software

RowSense Makes Sense