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Author Archives: Earthling Interactive

  1. Quick Tips for Using Your Phone to Manage Your Farm

    This is one of the busiest seasons for farmers. You’re looking for any and all opportunities to save time. Look no further than the mobile phone in your hand! Here are some quick tips for leveraging mobile farm management and getting some hours back in your day.

    We know this works because farm software users such as Terry Aberhart, owner of Sure Growth Technologies and owner/operator of Aberhart Farms in Saskatchewan, are experiencing the time-saving (and headache-reducing) benefits every day.

    “It makes a big difference when you have almost all your farm data at your fingertips at all times,” says Aberhart. “The entire team can manage, view, and input data. Having the entire farm mapped, field records, weather data, and inventory management available is a huge value and something almost all of our team members use every day.”

    In fact, Aberhart attributes a 30-40 percent in time savings directly to his team’s use of software across all aspects of the farm operation.

    A big part of these operational efficiencies can be attributed to aspects of farm management that can now be done with a smartphone. The efficiencies continue especially if the farm management app works with both Apple iOS and Android devices, and if it continues to work even if you lose your WiFi or cellular signal.

    Trimble Ag engineers put a lot of time and energy into developing our mobile app because it’s clearly the direction today’s most successful farmers are moving. A recent study by Ipsos found that 80 percent of Canadian farmers use smartphones. That’s a higher adoption rate than the overall population, which probably comes as no surprise to the farmers reading this blog. You know how essential your phone is to your ability to run your farm. What we outline below are 3 quick ways for accomplishing that:

    1. Assigning tasks and keeping track of farm work progress

    Think of your farm operation’s morning routine. Does everyone gather in the office to see the manager standing at a whiteboard laying out all the work to be done that day? Does the manager assign jobs to each person, answer questions, and then everyone heads out to do their specific job on time, on the right field, with the right equipment with no overlap or redundancies, application mistakes, or miscommunication?

    While that may be the case some lucky days, it’s fair to say that this isn’t always how works in real life. Running a farm business is hectic and can get downright chaotic during the busy planting and harvest seasons. Large farm operations that bring on 10+ workers during have a significant number of moving parts to constantly juggle.

    A major pain point, then, is that the farm manager is spending a lot of his day checking on workers, finding out what’s been done, where to send them next, and also contacting them if there’s been a change to the original plan or in priorities for the day.

    This is where a transparent system that can track farm jobs on a smartphone, like the Work Orders feature, can reduce a lot of pain and manual time spent checking on project status.

    2. Maximize use of your farm fleet

    Here, the value is in being able to access real-time fleet locations and the status of each — all from your cell phone.

    Why is this important? Imagine being able to know which of your vehicles are idling at the touch of a button on your phone. Or knowing the precise location of each vehicle and having the ability to send one of your operators exact directions to find it from your phone. What about the ability to easily see which of your vehicles are working and performing at a high level of efficiency? This information is critical to have quickly available especially when planning out field tasks or budgeting, and is all possible with Trimble Ag Mobile fleet management tool.

    3. Manage Labor

    Let’s turn to how you can use your phone to track hours and maximize worker productivity. How do you keep track of when workers clock in or out? What about how long they take for breaks or lunch? And what about tracking hours for payroll? How accurate is the system you’re using today?

    Or, say an immediate need comes up on a certain field. If it’s lunchtime, do you know which farm employee is taking a break closest to that field so they can go check it out? For large operations, having this information in the palm of your hand could save a lot of valuable time.

    Trimble’s solution is Time Tracker, which allows farm managers to view detailed statistics on time worked by employee, access performance reports of your team, find historical time entries by pay period, and all of this with your mobile device.

    To learn more about mobile farm management, check out our free on-demand webinar.

  2. Two Important Reasons to Listen to Your Seed Monitoring System

    Seed monitoring solutions have long been used by farmers in varying degrees of complexity. From the most basic of factory-installed seed monitoring technology to solutions that inform a farmer’s data management software—there are an array of systems on the market to help plant smarter.

    Deciding on the system that’s right for you means determining which functions you need in your planting operation. Do you need to adjust your seed population manually or when using prescription maps? Maybe you want to apply and monitor a variety of inputs from seeds to chemicals, to fertilizers simultaneously. Or maybe you need to automatically control a large number of row units individually. Whatever the situation, evaluate your needs closely—like variable rate application control, automatic section control, and seed monitoring—to determine the right solution for your farm.

     

    What Seed Monitoring Can Tell You

    The most basic seed monitoring system should be able to validate that your rows are planting. More feature-rich systems will provide real-time population statistics and warnings alerting you to major issues with your planter.

    Singulation Analysis and Spacing Quality

    While there is value in any piece of data that a monitoring system can provide. Two statistics, in particular, offer insight into the overall operation of the planter or row unit.

    Singulation:  Simply speaking, this statistic provides feedback on the number of seed drops that did not result in a skip or multiple. If you start to see singulation values drop, take a look at whether skips, multiples or a combination of the two are contributing.

    Spacing Quality:  Similar to singulation, this statistic reports the number of seeds that were spaced properly. Skips, multiples and meter speed all play a factor in this value.

    Keep in mind that many planting systems have settable thresholds for most values. Changes to these thresholds can change readings for the better or worse but may smooth out or eliminate cyclical placement issues.

    seed monitoring example chart

    2 Reasons to Listen to Your Seed Monitoring System

    You can’t fix what you don’t know. The major advantage to using a seed monitoring solution is that, when properly set up, it will point out planting issues like skips, doubles and failed row units. And it points these issues out at a time when you can take action on the information, rather than after the crop has germinated.

     

    1 – Correct Planting Errors in Real Time

    Peace of mind when you’re planting is a priceless thing. Without it, do you really know what was or wasn’t planted in each row? Identifying a planting problem as it’s happening is where the value of seed monitoring is realized. With your seed monitoring solution and guidance display system working together, you can identify issues as they come up and correct them on the go, in the field, with real-time feedback. Meanwhile, as you plant, your display is busy capturing data to map your operations, not only to help you rest easy knowing that what you thought you planted is, in fact, what was planted but also to help you identify year over year trends and inform next season’s planting.

     

    2 – It’s Not You. It’s Your Planter.

    If you’ve invested in a seed monitoring solution, the information it provides is only valuable if you put it to use. Finding out that your planter is not performing as it should can be a tough pill to swallow but when your monitoring system is set up properly it can and will call out flaws in your planter that need to be addressed to save your yield.

    Common Issues

    Your planter needs to be serviced: Often it comes down to a simple calibration or adjustment that your manufacturer can identify that could make all of the difference.

    You need to upgrade: It could be time to consider upgrading your planter’s hardware so that you are getting the most out of it and your field.

    You may need to slow down: As simple as it sounds, changes in seed types, seed coatings and size can greatly affect a planter’s ability to efficiently meter seed. Slowing down (slowing the meter down) might be all that’s holding you back from a successful yield.

     

    A seed monitoring system can make all the difference come harvest, but only if you listen to the information it gives you and act on it. As you use this technology more and more, you’ll have the added benefit of being able to compare year over year performance of everything from your planter and seed varieties to field locations to make smarter farming decisions that improve your yield and cut down on errors and rework. Seed monitoring is just one tool available in your precision ag toolbox, learn more about flow and application control with Trimble® Field-IQ™.

     

    About the Author: Zach Gettman is a Product Manager for Trimble and manages the development of solutions worldwide. With 10 years of experience, specializing in flow and application control systems, he aims to help farmers increase their efficiency in the field.

  3. Are Water Issues Impacting Your Yields?

    Water is the scarcest nutrient in dry-land agriculture. Even if you aren’t growing in a semi-arid or sub-humid region, water is the most critical input that many farmers struggle to properly manage. All other input decisions should hinge on it.

    For most crops, it takes 4 inches of water just to grow the plant to full, mature size. For corn, it takes about 0.14 acre-inches (approx. 4000 gal) of water per bushel over the entire growing season. To put it in perspective, a 250-bushel corn crop would require 35 acre-inches of water (or about 992,000 gallons per acre) to reach full potential. Every inch of water beyond this goes toward increasing your yield. However, as with any crop input, water must be in proper proportion for maximum yields. Too much or too little water in any given time span can result in reduced yields, even if all your other input decisions were right on the money.

    Precipitation, irrigation and soil moisture all contribute to available water for your crops, and thus your yields. However, there are other factors at play. Topography, soil type, fertility and water availability all affect your yields as well.

    Topography

    Having an accurate read on the topography of your farmland is a valuable tool. Visual surveys and experience driving the entire field show easily identifiable areas of concern. Steep slopes where erosion can deprive you of valuable topsoil, or depressions where ponding occurs, are obvious red flags, but there are other more subtle shifts in topography that can limit your yields too. Thorough land surveys using GPS tools like WM-Survey with RTK accuracy are essential to identifying steep slopes, rises, and low spots where action needs to be taken to improve crop yields.

    Topography is also the most important factor when designing drainage systems. Understanding where the watersheds and different soil types are within the field determines where mains and laterals should be placed for optimal control of the water table. That is the key function of any subsurface drainage system.

    Soil Type

    Whether your soil is heavy sand, silt, clay, or some combination thereof, its composition greatly affects its ability to retain moisture and make it available to the planted crop. Clay soils are excellent at holding water, but they are also heavy and sticky. Heavy gumbo is great at holding water but not good at allowing excess to move through. Sandy soils are the opposite. They drain well with high hydraulic conductivity and great percolation. Appropriate spacing of tile laterals throughout the entire field is mandatory to achieve adequate drainage and produce consistent yields. If they are too far apart for the soil type, you cannot control the water table effectively; too close together and you waste money on tile and installation.

    Fertility

    Water can have a significant impact on soil fertility throughout the year. Heavy rain events or over-irrigation can cause significant erosion and wash away not only the thin layer of topsoil but the precious organic matter and nutrients within it. Most of the organic matter present in soil is in the topsoil and its loss directly reduces a soil’s fertility and thus your yields. Proper water management system design, especially when you factor in large rain events, can mitigate 80% or more of that erosion.

    Nitrogen and phosphorus are two of the three most important nutrients your crop needs to meet its potential. They are also the two nutrients most susceptible to leaching. Nitrates readily dissolve and drain to depths below where plant roots can get to them. Phosphorus also leaches and moves downward in sandy soil. To combat this, a good understanding of soil composition and a good water management strategy are required so that all your input decisions can help your crop achieve its full potential consistently.

    Water Availability

    Drainage systems are invaluable during spring when water is so abundant it can threaten new plantings and even your ability to plant during the prime window. They’re also extremely important during the fall when you need dry crop conditions for a timely harvest.

    During the hotter, drier months of the summer, however, nature doesn’t always cooperate by providing enough water for viable yields, and that valuable tile in your field can become even more important for maximum profits. With the addition of controlled drainage structures, you can have positive control of the water table throughout the field. Utilizing water control gates can turn your traditional tile drainage into a water retention system that keeps your water table at the appropriate level.

    Early in the growing season, the gates can be left wide open to push your crop to increase root depth and tap into more nutrients, giving it better drought tolerance and fewer issues with lodging. Later in the growing season, they can be used to store water in your field and keep it readily available for increased yields.

    Drainage control structures don’t just increase your yields. They have also been shown to reduce nutrient runoff and help farmers have better control of the water quality that exits their fields. Not only can a drainage control system boost your yields – they can help reduce your overall inputs as well!

    With all these factors potentially affecting your yields, it is easy to see why proper water management is the solid foundation of every successful precision ag farm. Whether it’s too much, not enough, or in the wrong place, water issues impact every grower. Trimble Agriculture has been a leader in the water management space for 50 years now. We love listening to our customers because they give us most of our best ideas, and we take pride in developing products and end-to-end solutions that solve our customers’ most pressing needs.

    Learn more about Trimble’s water management solutions. 

    Photo Credit: Daniel H., Vantage South Atlantic

    About Author: Josh Shuler is a Product Manager with Trimble Agriculture covering multiple product lines including Water Management. He has more than 16 years of professional industry experience across the breadth of precision agriculture. He is originally from Missouri where he grew up on a row-crop and animal production farming operation.  He’s a 2002 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri.

  4. More Power. Same Price. Farmer Pro Has Two New Features!

    After launching Trimble Ag Software two years ago, we have paid close attention to customer feedback. As today’s farms continue to grow in size and complexity, Trimble’s engineering and product development teams are working hard to continually enhance our software solution to add more value. That’s why we’re excited to announce two new features that will be added at no cost to subscribers of our most popular product, Farmer Pro, as well as Farmer Pro Plus.

    “Farmers are looking to adopt technologies that impact their bottom line, so we’ve rolled out two new features that bring value to any size of operation,” said Darren Howie, General Manager of Trimble’s Agriculture Business Solutions. “Whether it’s using Crop Health Imagery to assist with scouting, or leveraging Work Orders to plan out daily activities, Trimble Ag Software helps our customers make better management decisions, saving both time and money.”

    Our new cutting-edge features address two very different challenges experienced in so many farm operations today, but they have one thing in common. Both leverage the Trimble Ag Mobile app for in-field crop scouting and the deployment of field work—all with a smartphone. Ready to find out more?

    CROP HEALTH IMAGERY

    Crop Health Imagery, powered by PurePixel™ technology, provides reliable, cloud-free, calibrated satellite images to farmers and their trusted advisors. What’s so special about PurePixel? It leverages a proprietary algorithm to analyze multiple sensor inputs to produce calibrated vegetative index maps throughout the growing season. This unique calibration allows farmers to compare crop health at each growing stage for more targeted crop scouting, enabling smart in-season application decisions that help farmers maximize yields and drive profits.

    Crop Health Imagery will transform the way farmers monitor their fields, detect problems early, and execute quick remedies that will save money and drive farm profits. The PurePixel calibrated vegetative index provides a quantitative value to each pixel which, because it’s consistent from date-to-date and field-to-field, allows growers to make accurate comparisons — and smart decisions well before harvest.

    WORK ORDERS

    Work Orders takes the guesswork out of assigning and tracking field work for farm managers. This easy-to-use mobile feature assists in managing logistics, assigning tasks, tracking progress, and making quick adjustments to maximize efficiency and farm productivity. In addition, farm workers can leverage their smartphone to receive daily tasks, resulting in better usage of time and potentially reducing application mistakes.

    These new features are available globally. Current subscribers of Trimble Ag Software’s Farmer Pro and Farmer Pro Plus licenses receive these features at no additional cost. Ready to activate them and get started? Click here.

    Want to find out more about Farmer Pro (we have free on-demand webinars, video tutorials and an e-book)? Click here to learn more today or request a 1-on-1 demo.

  5. How Can I Leverage Weather Data to Maximize Crop Yields?

    As farmers move further and further into precision management, getting a firm grasp on the areas of their fields that are underperforming becomes vital. Often, this variability involves water.

    According to Elston Solberg, a Senior Agri-Coach with the AGRI-TREND network, there are two sources of water: soil water and precipitation. These two sources are equally critical in determining crop yields. However, farmers usually focus on precipitation and don’t pay enough attention to the moisture already in the soil.

    Solberg says it typically takes four inches of water to grow the plant (closer to six for corn). Every inch after that amount goes toward adding bushels. How many bushels depends on aspects such as crop type and soil texture. A crucial factor is how closely the grower monitors crop and soil moisture.

    In an ideal world, Solberg says farmers would be able to identify yield opportunities and predict yield potential weeks before harvest. Knowing in advance allows the grower to ‘pull triggers’, meaning take actions such as adding inputs or reducing fungicide applications. These are the in-season actions that can lead to big ROI benefits.

    Where do I start with using weather data?

    1. Find historical rain amounts for the growing season.
    2. Determine crop-available water in the field’s soil.
    3. Find water-driven yield potential. Here’s that equation: Moisture Driven Yield Potential = Soil Moisture + Historic In-season Precipitation = Total Potential Moisture minus four inches for the plant (six inches for corn) = X leftover. That X amount is what’s used to make bushels depending on crop type, soil texture and crop monitoring.
    4. Measure rainfall with a rain gauge, weather station, or Trimble Ag Software’s Ag Premium Weather, which provides accumulated rainfall plus the historical average.
    5. Adjust inputs based on how well water-driven yield potential is tracking to actual precipitation.

    At the end of the day, Solberg says farmers will experience measurable results by learning to use weather data — more specifically, soil moisture data, historic precipitation levels, and actual in-season precipitation — to make data-driven in-season decisions to match yield goals to available moisture.

    The end result? Better water and nutrient-use efficiency, and higher farm profits.

  6. Tech Innovators Shaping the Future of Precision Agriculture

    I recently attended the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco where leaders across the agriculture value chain converged to understand and facilitate the advancement of our industry.

    The notion that precision agriculture is angling to be the next darling in the tech solution space was only validated by the 900+ ag leaders and innovators present at this event. With bright new startups from around the world vying for their chance to disrupt one of the most mature and established industries in our economy, there was a sense that continued change and progress is absolutely in our future.

    Four Emerging Precision Agriculture Solutions

    While many new and clever ideas were pitched over the duration of this fast-paced conference, four stand-out trends emerged from this collection of tech solutions.

    Creating Eco-Friendly Biotechnology

    Consumers are increasingly aware, educated and interested in what happens to their food before it reaches their table. This puts pressure on farmers to evaluate their nutrient management, pest control, herbicides and other input processes. As a result, farmers are going to be looking for less invasive chemicals that are as cost-effective as possible to help them stay competitive. Interesting new arrivals are working on bio-based solutions to improve nutrient management, pest control and even improvement of the soil biome.

    Farm Data Management (IOT) and Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML)

    From food traceability to better and easy farm management, data is a hot-button issue for the agriculture industry today from farmers to processors, to retailers and everyone in between. The startup teams that can figure out how to aggregate data trends in a way that is useful and actionable to farmers are going to be the winners in this space of precision agriculture. Farmers want tech that helps them work smarter instead of harder and can also be easily implemented into their current operations. Eventually, this won’t be enough as the winners will also need to offer Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning tools and algorithm solutions that continually crunch the data produced, learn from the wide dataset generated and provide recommendations and actionable tasks that will help better manage the farm operation, plant health and overall outcomes.

    Sensor Technology for Agriculture

    Hand in hand with data management, particularly when thinking about IOT solutions, sensor technology continues to be a focus for farmers. Having their finger on the health of their farm helps them anticipate and strategize farming practices year over year—building a more stable, predictable operation. We saw all kinds of sensors from soil, water, weather, nutrient and more that can be deployed on the farm and beamed via Bluetooth, radio, WiFi and LoRa to the cloud and central control operations on a farm.

    Agricultural Robotics

    Another prominent topic at this conference—and among leaders in agriculture around the world—is robotics applied to agriculture practices. It’s viewed as an option to mitigate the challenge of labor shortages. The key here is bringing robotics to market for farmers that are reliable, connect with the rest of their farming equipment, and improve efficiency enough to soften and justify the financial investment. Robotics have come a long way in the last few years and lower cost computing and chip technology are making them more and more accessible to farming operations. We soon will be in a world where many of the berries and apples we eat do not pass through human hands.

    Collaboration is the Key to Success

    Trimble has been ingrained in the agriculture industry for years, bringing some of the earliest and most reliable precision agriculture technology to market. We’ve seen over time that innovation is the only way to drive this industry forward and to help farmers around the world succeed in a gruelling, but often rewarding business. Getting new innovative technologies into the hands of farmers across the globe remains one of the greatest challenges of new start-ups and other businesses new to the ag industry.

    From my perspective, the path forward rests on:

    • Leveraging our trusted network of Vantage and Trimble dealers worldwide to bring products to the farmers who can benefit from them
    • Engaging with, listening to and empowering up-and-coming startups and innovators with great ideas that could shape our industry
    • Encouraging more collaboration within the industry to drive standards and ease of use

     

    Advice to Innovators

    There is a lot of opportunity in this space to shape the way agriculture grows as an industry and to help farmers around the world in one of the oldest and most noble of professions. It is an industry that relies on gaining trust and building strong relationships in local communities and worldwide to achieve success. Innovators that take the time to learn the industry and how it moves, how farmers make decisions, and how they access and implement this technology within their local communities, will be the ones who succeed in this highly competitive market. Building solid relationships that are lasting will be the key to staying in power in ag, so take the time to build your credibility and leverage the relationships you build over time.

     

    Abe Hughes is the General Manager of the Trimble Agriculture Division, responsible for the worldwide strategic growth and expansion of this global Ag Tech leader in precision agriculture. Trimble is a $2.6 billion high tech pioneer in global positioning, modelling, connectivity, mapping and data analytics which is transforming the way we work in agriculture, mining, geospatial, transportation and logistics.

  7. Introducing Advisor Prime: Trimble Ag Software for Service Providers

    As any crop advisor or independent agronomist knows, all farms are unique just as each farmer client has their own specific goals, expectations and working styles.

    A good service provider understands these unique needs and provides a service that not only meets them, but often exceeds them. However, a successful service provider must be able to not only customize their offering for each farmer — but also find workflow efficiencies and shortcuts that reduce manual entry and allow them to scale up their business.

    This pressing challenge was one of the main drivers behind Trimble’s newest offering: Advisor Prime, the premier web-based solution featuring an intuitive, streamlined workflow for creating and sharing management zones and variable rate prescriptions.

    We know that one of the biggest challenges facing crop advisors and independent agronomists today is moving data between software platforms, adjusting or creating large volumes of prescriptions, and sharing data back with their farmer customers. By using Advisor Prime, you’ll reduce data entry errors created by repetitive field-by-field procedures, cut out hours of processing time, and eliminate steps in transferring data back to the farmer.

    Want to find out more? Learn more about Advisor Prime.

  8. Need Help Setting Up Prescriptions and VRA Plans This Season?

    Farming isn’t just a full-time job, it’s a lifestyle. And while technology has done a lot to transform this industry, today’s farmers need it to work simply… and to simply work.

    This hits especially hard as farmers are heading into planting season. To make the process easier, we’ve launched a new help video where growers can learn how to easily design and transfer their variable rate application (VRA) plan from office to field.

    You’ll learn how to:

    1) create a new management zone or grid map for your seed variety and soil test results;

    2) use simple or advanced formula-based, prescription-generation tools to create VRA maps for any product;

    3) generate controller files to wirelessly send VRA maps to any vehicle display for precise product application in the field.

    If you find this helpful check out other video topics, which include:

    • Getting Started with Grain Contracts
    • 3 Easy Steps to Soil Sampling
    • Making the Most of Your Yield Data

    It is one thing to invest in software, and yet another to maximize its benefits and capture real ROI. Our new videos will be a great resource for the coming crop year!

  9. We’ve Been Busy! Summary of Trimble Ag Software 2017 Updates and Enhancements

    Check out what’s been keeping our developers so busy in 2017!

    We’re excited about all the updates and enhancements our team has made to the software over the past year. For example, did you know that:

    • You can now track real-time fleet positions — and monitor fuel levels — all from your Trimble Ag Mobile app

    • Our new Ag Premium Weather service sends out automated hail alerts

    • You can now assign crops to multiple fields

    For more information check our Trimble Ag Software: 2017 Year in Review.

    For specific questions please reach out to our team directly at (800) 282-4103 or TABS_Sales@Trimble.com.

    Let us know what update you were most excited to hear about by tagging us on social media. Thanks for your interest!

  10. Taking Desktop Customers to the Cloud: Where Farm Data Truly Drives Profits

    When I first began working in the ag software space in 1996, farmers were excited to use their desktop computers to track their field records, maps and accounting entries. Compared to a notepad and scattered pieces of paper tucked in drawers in their home office and the glove box of their pickup truck, desktop software made farm management a whole lot simpler.

    That was then. Now, farmers need to be able to track and manage their operation in real time, from their mobile device. That means the data being collected from the field has to show up in the system whether they’re at their office computer, in the shop fixing machinery or with their trusted advisor discussing crop plans for the coming year. Farm data needs to be close to the farmer at all times — 24/7.

    This is why I’m so excited about Trimble Ag Software’s new syncing upgrades. Now, farmers can have their cake and eat it too. Whether they are using our desktop software in the office or on their smartphone in the fields, data can be utilized from multiple locations so that informed decisions can be made.

    And for farmers who wants to avoid desktop software completely, Trimble offers a full online solution that works without the desktop software. This is what is cool about Trimble Ag Software, you have the opportunity to pick where you want to start.

    Here’s just a few syncing enhancements we’ve made with the latest version of Trimble Ag Software:

    ▪                Downloading Field Tasks from the Trimble Ag Mobile App — when entering field task on the mobile app (seeding, fertility, crop protection and other), data can now download into the desktop software. Previous versions was only syncing data to the online platform. This is an important enhancement as desktop customers can now leverage their smartphone for entering field records.

    ▪                New Task Syncing from Desktop — now you can select tasks (field records and maps) in the desktop software and upload them to the online platform. Why is this important? We have over 30,000 legacy desktop customers who have years of as-applied maps (example: yield, multi-variety seed, fertilizer rates, etc.) that they accumulated for a field. With a click of a button, those as-applied maps can be viewed on the smartphone. This is perfect for field scouting when you can see a yield map or a hybrid change when navigating to low yielding areas.

    ▪                Read Completed and Planned Soil Test Locations from Trimble Ag Mobile App — soil sampling just got easier with our new syncing tools. If you laid out a planned target sampling job on the desktop, it can now sync with the Trimble Ag Mobile app. And once you log the actual locations on the mobile app, that data syncs back to the desktop where you can import soil test results to those logged points. This eliminates the need for legacy in-field Windows Mobile software, such as Farm Works Mobile, giving you more flexibility in using a Android or iOS tablet or smartphone for soil sampling tasks.

    But don’t take my word for it. Tour these upgrades for yourself and let us know what you think at TABS_News@Trimble.com.

    Brian Stark is a farmer and worked with Farm Works Software until July 2009 when it was acquired by Trimble Inc. He now works in marketing and communications with Trimble Ag Software out of Hamilton, Indiana and can be reached at brian_stark@trimble.com.