December 2014 ag technology

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Ag Technology S P E C I A L

S E C T I O N

2014/2015

Embrace The Evolution he agriculture industry has always depended on new technology to propel it forward into the next era of producing more with less. Today, advances in equipment and precision agriculture are changing the way farmers, consultants and agribusinesses view the land from which they reap their profits.

Services, such as AccuField, that help producers manage all of the valuable data that is collected through precision ag technology also are becoming more and more popular. Letting the experts help decipher this information can provide a hefty boost to your bottom line.

Other companies like BB Hobbs, Inc. focus on precision irrigation and agronomic needs. Specific crops and soil types must be considered to put together the most efficient and profitable program for producers.

The ultimate goal of precision agriculture technology and equipment is to help producers get the most out of every acre.

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Maximizing Your Ag Technology Investment Precision agriculture can sometimes feel like information overload, but it doesn’t have to be. AccuField puts your farm’s agronomy and precision ag information right at your fingertips in a simple format that allows you to manage your fields as never before. This company is a web-based, easy-to-use interface that provides access to farm data from anywhere, anytime via the Internet. AccuField allows you to target inputs for maximum yield and profit across the field.

They understand that successful crop management is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach. From simple boundary and weather tools to field data and imagery that captures field performance, producers will have the information to make more informed decisions, increase yield potential and better determine crop inputs.

AccuField offers precision soil sampling, variable-rate applications, site-specific hybrid selection, imagery and data management services, and their trained and experienced staff is available to support their customers with precision agriculture on every level.

AccuField helps turn information overload into simple, focused solutions and increased farm potential. Their farmers appear to be very happy with what AccuField has to offer.

Grower Stan Usery, Jr., from Elkmont, Ala., says, “I have been really impressed with the AccuField program and the

AccuField takes field data from crops such as corn and creates practical, informed decisions.

support staff. AccuField is a very simple, point-and-click program, which I find very intuitive and easy to use. It is a welcome change from often cumbersome and complicated precision ag software I have dealt with in the past.”

Precision Irrigation And Fertigation BB Hobbs, Inc. is an irrigation company that specializes in surface drip irrigation, sub-surface irrigation (SDI) and shallow subsurface drip irrigation (S3DI). The company was founded in Darlington, S.C., in 1988 by Bryan Hobbs and has since grown to have four branches (South and North Carolina, Florida and a brand new branch location in Tifton, Ga.) as well as a fertilizer company, Liberty Acres. They meet the irrigation and fertilizer needs of the Southeast region from Florida to Virginia and as far west as Alabama and Tennessee.

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Ag Technology

In the long run, utilizing a custom plant nutrition plan helps promote a healthier, higher-yielding crop.

BB Hobbs and Liberty Acres work in tandem to create a one-stop-shop for growers. While BB Hobbs focuses on irrigation solutions, Liberty Acres focuses on the agronomic needs of growers. Using fertigation-grade liquid fertilizer, dry fertilizer and high-quality foliar nutrients, Liberty Acres can work with growers to build a custom plant nutrition plan based on their crop and soil types.

BB Hobbs designers and salesmen work closely with growers to create the best system for their individual pricing and crop

needs. From just a few acres to thousands, BB Hobbs can design, install and service an irrigation system.

While focusing on surface drip, SDI, and S3DI, BB Hobbs, Inc. is a diverse irrigation company that has just achieved the Reinke Pride Silver Award for excellence as a Reinke pivot and lateral dealer in South Carolina. BB Hobbs, Inc. has qualified staff to design a pivot or lateral to best suit a grower’s needs as well as fulltime certified Reinke technicians who can service all brands.

Reinke pivot products are built using high-strength steel that is 50 percent stronger than steel used in other irrigation

The optimum operating pressure from an range between 40 and 70 psi.

More value.

ALL Reinke irrigation systems use high-strength steel for: • Longer life • Lower maintenance costs • And better performance in the field Contact us for the best value in irrigation systems.

BB HOBBS, INC 230 CROSS STREET DARLINGTON, SC 29532 (843) 944-0596

www.reinke.com

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systems. The pivot center and tower legs come standard with nine gauge, 60,000 PSI yield, galvanized steel in a roll formed c-channel design that makes cross bracing unnecessary. The spans come standard with a Reinke patented, V-ring seal that leaves a smooth, almost seamless joint inside the pipe. This almost seamless joint doesn’t expose the V-ring seal to harmful UV-rays and also provides a stronger flange-to-flange connection that will not allow spans to sag or settle over time. Details such as that are why this company chose to design and sell Reinke, because of the quality and endurance the products offer to a customer.

BB Hobbs, Inc. believes that their mission as a company is to utilize engineering and biological sciences to help their customers produce higher quality and quantity food and fiber products to feed and clothe an increasing population on a decreasing amount of farmland in an environmentally sound way. Well-designed irrigation systems and quality fertilizer products are shown to do both and pay for themselves within the first few seasons.

End Guns & Booster Pumps According to Reinke, end guns are an economical way to add profitable acres to your farm operation. That is the good news! The not-so-good news is that an end gun requires the highest operating pressure of any sprinkler on the irrigation system and is located where the system pressure happens to be the lowest.

For example, if the end gun nozzle requires 55 psi, the system can be designed with a 25 psi end-of-system pressure and a two HP booster pump can be utilized to provide the additional 30 psi required for maximum end gun performance. Reinke understands the importance of efficiency and the hidden cost associated with inefficiencies.

That is why the company locates the booster pump at the end gun with full sweep elbows to minimize the costly friction loss and additional weighty components generally associated with mounting the booster pump at the end tower.

Not utilizing a booster end gun can pump when the operating pressure falls below the minimum requirements can be detrimental to the soil, delicate crops and crop yields, Reinke says. There are devices available for some end guns that are designed to diffuse the nozzle stream at lower pressures, but they also reduce the throw and effective coverage of the end gun. A smaller and/or more economical end gun, impact sprinkler or other part circle device designed for this purpose may be a more suitable choice for the desired additional coverage.

As precision ag technology and equipment have evolved over the years, the definition of precision ag has become synonymous with “whole farm management.”

The ultimate goal is to realize the highest return on investment, while sustaining resources in a responsible manner. AT Agri-AFC and BB Hobbs, Inc. contributed information to this article. To learn more about Agri-AFC or to find an Agri-AFC, LLC or Alabama Farmers Cooperative location near you, visit www.agri-afc.com or www.alafarm.com. For more information about BB Hobbs, Inc,. please call (800) 5978903 or visit www.bbhobbs.com.

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Tech Tidbits ■ MSU EXTENSION DEER APPS HELP HUNTERS

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

Three smartphone apps have been developed by the Mississippi State University (MSU) Deer Lab, a collaborative effort of the MSU Extension Service and MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center.

Bronson Strickland, Extension wildlife biologist, said the first MSU Deer Lab app has been updated to reflect the latest information on food plots. Users can measure the area of a food plot and then select forages to plant. The app will calculate the appropriate seeding rate based on the size of the plot.

The Deer Lab has also developed an app that helps hunters train themselves to identify characteristics that will improve their ability to age live deer.

The newest app, MSUES Deer Hunt, is designed to help hunters and hunting clubs manage deer observation data and harvest data. During or at the end of deer season, hunters can run a report based on their observations and determine when they saw the most deer, where they saw the most deer and from which stands they saw more bucks. They can also run a report of harvest data to calculate average body weight, antler score and other useful information.

All three apps are available for Apple devices through the App Store.

makes end-of-row operations easier, faster, with much less disturbance to the seedbed.

In fields of softer or wetter soils, there is less strain on the tractor since there are no wheels to pull through the soil and caster around during turning operations.

The fully mounted hitch option is being offered on 12-row Single and TwinRow stacking planter configurations with standard unit hoppers or with optional 50-bushel capacity Central Seed System.

Other options include new design cast iron closing wheels, MonoShox downforce system and hydraulic row drive.

■ SOUTHERN PRECISION AG CONFERENCE SCHEDULED

The Southern Precision Ag Conference will be held in conjuction with the Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference on Jan. 14-16 at the Crowne Plaza in Baton Rouge, La. Visit www.nctd.net.

■ HITCH OPTION STACKING PLANTERS FOR ROW CROPS

The new fully mounted hitch option for select Monosem stacking toolbar planters is now available. Rear lift-assist wheels are no longer necessary to help carry the planter.

Through hitch redesign and component reconfiguration, the weight distribution of the planter has been reduced and shifted forward, closer to the tractor. This shift in weight allows Category IV hitchequipped tractors to handle the planter lift and carry without the need for lift-assist wheels. The absence of lift-assist wheels DECEMBER 2014 • AG TECHNOLOGY /

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Apps For Agriculture oday, mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes, and downloadable “apps,” or applications, are available for almost anything you can imagine. Agriculture is no exception.

Below is a sampling of some of the latest apps for agriculture that may have a fit in your farming operation.

Inclusion of an app on this list does not imply endorsement, and exclusion does not imply dissatisfaction.

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whether the yield benefits of various input combinations justify the costs. The other uses the main maturity rates for a farmer’s region, the cost of soybean seed and an estimated price of the soybeans at the time of sale to determine an optimal seeding rate based on a percentage of return. It also includes documents and videos that describe the research behind each tool.

• Full Moon Finder The Old Farmer’s Almanac has released

• Extreme Beans This app was developed by the United Soybean Board (USB) and includes two calculators that help farmers plan for their next crop. One helps users determine

Custom Planters Built-to-order Single Row & Twin-Row

All Toolbar Configurations - Rigid & Stacking 30”- 40” MONOSEM Inc., 1001 Blake St., Edwardsville, KS 66111 Ph 913.438.1700 Fx 913.438.5455

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THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC

• BRANT Tank Pro This app was developed to help growers and agricultural applicators check product compatibility before making critical purchase and application decisions. It focuses specifically on the compatibility of post-emergent herbicides and BRANDT SMART SYSTEM foliar micronutrients.

The app prompts users to select a herbicide and a BRANDT SMART SYSTEM formulation. The app then indicates whether it is safe to proceed with the tankmix, whether to mix with caution or whether to perform additional jar tests.

an app that will tell you next full moon dates to help plan events, fishing and hunting trips and more. Each day, a large moon image will show how much of its surface is lit – along with moon folklore for the day and the name of each full moon (e.g. Full Snow Moon, Full Strawberry Moon). This easy-to-use app also includes the moon’s age and percentage of illumination as well as a monthly calendar and the ability to swipe left or right to navigate day-by-day.

• ScoutPRO Corn A user-friendly, mobile field-scouting app for farmers and agricultural industry professionals, ScoutPRO Corn allows users to scout and identify weeds, insects, disease and disorders while in the field. Users are then able to upload important field data, images and notes to generate field-specific scouting reports. Field mapping capabilities are included to allow cellular data enabled users to map fields via GPS coordinates for increased accuracy in reporting.

Scouting reports can be saved, stored on the ScoutPRO hosted, user-specific website and/or emailed to be shared or archived for reference in future crop years.

• STINK Bug According to Jack Bacheler, NCSU Extension entomologist, STINK Bug is a web-based cotton decision aid. It is more comprehensive than the field decision aid card. This app contains images of common stink bug adults, along with their nymphs and damage symptoms, scouting steps, a listing of the dynamic threshold, instructions for building your own field card and links to additional information.

• Used Farm Equipment A mobile android app from Farms.com allows you to search by equipment category, manufacturer, brand name, price range, location and more. Farms.com will connect you with the used farming equipment you’re looking for, from a dealer you can trust. Search the inventory of used tractors, tractor attachments, combines, livestock equipment, chemical applicators and sprayers, ATVs, planting and seeding equipment, skid steers, harvesting equipment and more.