It’s March and I can almost taste spring. Certainly the thermometer around here isn’t part of that – but the slightly longer days and that first day of spring marked on the calendar for later this month – has me longing for it. Dream with me of those warm spring nights in the field filling... Read More
Category: Technology
It’s time for another edition of AgNerds, where Shaun Haney and someone else equally tech-savvy talk about gizmos, gadgets and other techie things! And, yes, for this edition we do indeed have the one and only Peter Gredig back in the saddle/tradeshow chair to talk about, of all things, the cloud. The what, you say?... Read More
It’s like a scene from an old-timey western movie. A grizzled cowboy squints into the horizon and says “I don’t like the look of those clouds. Storm is a’ brewin.” I’ve witnessed similar body language as I cross the country talking to farmers about mobile technology and the new world of data management, but it’s... Read More
A high-clearance sprayer simply can't compete with the efficiency of aerial application of some crop protection products. But just because a plane can cover farm more acres than ground units doesn't mean there isn't a drive to do the job better and more efficiently. On this stop of the Dow AgroSciences' TechTour, Paul O'Carroll, of... Read More
Not skilled in long-division but need to know how much crop you're losing out the back of your combine? Smartphones may not collect or count lost seeds (yet), but their built-in calculator provides pretty great help with field-math. And, with an upcoming app, the process of determining harvest loss while mobile will become a whole... Read More
In 2012, the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program supported the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association in the development of apps designed for prairie farmers. Those apps are very near completion, and in our first discussion with Tom Wolf, spray application specialist, we spoke of one that will help producers determine the spray quality of various nozzles, an... Read More
If your farm is one soil type from end to end, you can feel free to skip this post. Of course, unless your farm is only 20 feet square, it likely contains several soil types and textures overall and in each field. The concept of managing each soil type or resulting management zone is not... Read More
The only data that's useful is data you can...well...use. On the farm, that means data that can translate into a decision, without the use of an interpreter, quickly and efficiently. Many companies currently offer all kinds of data collection services for your operation. The real question is, how will that impact what you do tomorrow?... Read More
The Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association received $91, 205.00 from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program in early 2012 to build agricultural apps designed for Canada’s prairie farmers. The results of this project are now being announced, with apps very near completion. This project will produce five agricultural apps for smartphones and tablets that will give producers... Read More
If you've got a GPS-equipped yield monitor in your combine, I have good news. You're already well on your way to developing a practical precision farming plan for your farm. Well of course I am, you say. But, if we're all being very honest here, what do you actually do with that yield map beyond... Read More