Blog

Rain Gauges. Everywhere!

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:53:00 GMT

I am excited to announce our newest service, IntelliCrop Precip. The service was specifically designed for farmers, ranchers, and dairymen/women or anyone else who has an interest in tracking how much rainfall has accumulated on their land..

How many of you in agriculture watch the weather? To get a little more specific, what is the weather variable that is important enough to make you install equipment to capture the data? That variable is rainfall. Without water, plants don’t grow! And it is important to know how much water your crop received throughout the summer months before harvest. It is a huge driver of the potential yield you can expect, thus impacting the decisions you make in regards to marketing, storage, and a variety of others.

As we all know though, a rain gauge at one field location is not indicative of rain fall for each and every field. And the economics of installing equipment at each field, no matter the type, just do not make sense. It is just too costly. This is where IntelliCrop’s Precip service comes in.

With the IntelliCrop Precip service, you get a virtual rain gauge in every field that is accurate, reliable, and best of all, economical. You can find out more information on the service here. Be sure to also check out our YouTube video here.

Why settle for one rain gauge when you can have one in every field! With IntelliCrop, you will Know The Land.

Trafficability Map of the Day Van Wert, OH

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:47:08 GMT

Here is the latest in the series. If you are deploying assets tomorrow for field work, please take a look at this map and make use of the information.

If you would like to see what your market area looks like, get in touch with us so we can get you signed up.

Map of the Day

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:05:46 GMT

Here is today’s Trafficability Map of the Day. Stay tuned for more maps as your area could be next!

Time to apply Nitrogen

Fri, 13 May 2011 10:44:20 GMT

Timing of N application is a critical factor in setting the stage for a successful growing season. As of May 9th 40% of corn acres in the top 18 states has been planted, which is behind last year. This creates scheduling issues with cooperatives and agriculture service providers providing custom application services to their customers. Work orders are beginning to pile up on the dispatchers desk now that we have had a time period of warmer and drier days, and it is critical to apply nitrogen when the crop needs it most in soils that are not too wet. And this spring is not lacking in rainfall! Illinois, for example, has had the highest rainfall this spring since 1957.

There are many factors that go into applying nitrogen, but one aspect remains constant, timing. To ensure optimal nitrogen use for grain, it should be applied during the growth stages V6 to V18. As Figure 1 from Iowa State University Extension shows, the period between these crop growth stages are rapid, meaning the crop is taking up nutrients in overtime

Figure 1

Now that we know the optimal time period to apply nitrogen, we can now focus on the factors that determine the Window of Opportunity to actually get in the field without getting equipment stuck or causing deep ruts that increase compaction and thus decrease yield.

This is where knowing the trafficability (also known as field readiness) and prevailing weather conditions come into play. When you are thinking about where you are going to deploy your assets, where do you get your information? Is it from one source? Is the information provided in 0.39 square mile resolution? Can you share it easily with your custom applicators? Are you using just data or information? There is a big difference between data and information. Data needs heavy interpretation whereas precise information already provides you with a quantitative measure enabling better decisions. Take a look at the information in Figure 2. What types of decision would you make in deploying your valuable assets?

Figure 2

If you would like to have trafficability information, along with accompanying high resolution weather information at your fingertips, easily understood, easily shared, then go here: http://intellicrop.com/knowtheland.

So, what do you think about nitrogen application during the spring? Let us know in the comments.

Regards,

Nate J. Taylor

(814) 441-1867

nate.taylor@intellicrop.com

Wet Fields Are An Understatement

Wed, 04 May 2011 08:30:30 GMT

I recently read an article in the Chicago Sun-Times talking about how wet the month of April was the wettest on record since 1957!

We concur. Take a look at the Accumulated Precipitation and Trafficability conditions below:

That is a great deal of precipitation over 3 days. Obviously no field work could be performed given these conditions, however, there was a short time period in between down pours where it made sense to go have a look at targeted areas in your market area as seen below:

Since it was still early in the planting season, the pressure was not heavy to get out and spread fertilizer. And going in too early can have drastic negative results. If this type of situation occurs over the next couple of weeks, it will be very important to make the right decision on where to deploy assets for field work. Planting into soils that are too wet can impact your yield and cause replanting. Not getting in when there is a potential opportunity can result in losing 1 bushel per acre per day lost or a complete change in hybrid that you plant.

When the time crunch is on how do you deicide what fields to plant? How difficult is it to change the crop you were originally going to plant? How do you make a go/no-go decision? Let us know. We would love to hear from you!

Regards,

Nate J. Taylor

(814) 441-1867

Twitter – @IntellICrop

To Spread or Not To Spread

Tue, 03 May 2011 14:39:07 GMT

I had the opportunity and pleasure to head out into the field this past Sunday to determine if fields would be ready to spread fertilizer on Monday 5/2/2011, yesterday. I always enjoy visiting fields and talking about agronomy and the decisions our customers must make.

The good news is that the fields were in fact ready for field activities! There were some really wet spots, probably due to drainage, given the fact that the rest of the field was certainly ready to go.

Here is a photo of the “Boot Test”

Notice how far the heel of my boot went into the soil, just a couple of inches. This particular field was the most “wet” as dust was flying in all the other fields as we walked across them.

The purpose of my attendance was to validate the accuracy of the soil moisture/trafficability model we are using. As it turns out, the model provided accurate information when compared to the market area we were in.

Here is a snapshot of the area we were in

As you can see, the trafficability output of the model matched what we saw in the field. We love to hear from our customers so navigate to here: IntelliCrop and then get in contact with us to answer any questions you may have on how trafficability can enable you to make better asset deployment decisions.

Regards,

Nate J. Taylor

(814) 441-1867

nate.taylor@intellicrop.com

Is Your Field Ready To Plant Corn?

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:28:41 GMT

The University of Minnesota Extension crops educator, David Nicolai, wrote this post titled “Wait for Proper Soil Conditions before Planting Corn.” It is a brief post discussion on corn production in Minnesota with a focus on soil conditions and early planting.

Different geographies certainly have different times to plant corn. As Mr. Nicolai states, “Long-term data from the University of Minnesota indicate that the optimum planting date for corn in Minnesota is during the last week of April and the first week of May.” Just a little further south, the Integrated Pest Management Department at the University of Illinois Extension shows the following for planting dates in IL.

Naturally, there are other factors involved in determining your planting date. One critical factor are the soil conditions. Trying to plant early to increase yield and possibly decreasing dry down costs is always something to strive for, but “avoid “mudding the seed in” just to get the crop planted early. Instead, wait for proper soil conditions and perform tillage operations only when necessary.” says Mr. Nicolai.

At IntelliCrop, one of our main focal points is delivering soil based information and model output so you can become more effective in managing your assets. While you are putting together a planting plan, taking into account tillage practices, crop rotation, seed costs, population, and others, let IntelliCrop provide you with the soil and high resolution weather conditions.

Have a great spring, planting, and growing season everyone. Stay tuned for more as we begin to talk about the importance of timing the applications of crop inputs.

So what else do you take into account when determining your planting schedule? We would love to hear back from you.

Regards,

Nate J. Taylor

(814) 441-1867

When Can You Enter Your Fields?

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:30:40 GMT

Its that time of year again! The temperature is rising, cabin fever is wearing off, and agriculturalists are preparing their fields for planting. This is indeed an exciting time to be in the field of agriculture: spring time.

Along with this excitement comes an insanely busy schedule. Last minute purchases and deliveries, equipment cleaning and preparation, and labor plans are at full bore.

At this point, many have already planned out their preliminary field operations and planting schedules. Soon it will be time to execute on these plans. The question at hand is will the weather and corresponding field conditions work in your favor. These two variables will ultimately drive everything.

As we all know, there is no way to control the weather and soil conditions, but we can certainly employ tools to assist us in managing our operations for maximum benefit.

Deploying your valuable assets to areas where the conditions are not operable result in lost time and increased costs. On the flip side, not deploying assets where they should be results in unhappy customers and missed opportunities. And how many people do unhappy customers talk to at the local coffee shop?

What is needed are tools and services that provide information that enables data driven decisions. This is the essence of what we are striving for at IntelliCrop.

Accurate and timely information is king in production agriculture, especially when it is a forecast. Take a minute and think about how your operation can change when you have accurate decision sets of forecast high resolution weather and trafficability information in a format that enables a quick and confident decision.

Now that you have thought about that, contact us to discuss your thoughts in more detail.

Beta Launch of Our Flagship Service

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 18:44:33 GMT

After months of intense planning, crazy amounts of hard work (thanks David & Travis!), and most of all, fun, we are fast approaching our Beta launch. It is scheduled for April 1st, 2011. We already have companies engaged and ready to take part! But we are also looking for other companies to partner up with during the beta period.

Our flagship service will provide soil moisture, precipitation, wind speed, and air temperature model output via an internet connected, map-based, simple, effective, and powerful user interface. You can see more of the interface by navigating to our Products tab here. Then contact us for a live demo.

There are many opportunities in the field of agriculture. One could say we are drowning in these opportunities. There are, however, two important tools in the agriculture tool-bag that, when integrated together, create a powerful decision support platform. Those tools are computing technology and agronomic based models (soil, weather, pest, and disease).

Computing technology has grown exponentially. We have gone from analog difference engines to IBM’s Watson. Companies can now leverage the immense computational power available today to run highly complex models; this is what we are doing here at IntelliCrop to deliver state of the art model based information accurately and reliably.

How many times have you wanted to have a certain piece of information before making a decision regarding equipment deployment? How many of these instances was that information soil and/or weather based? It is possible to obtain this information manually; managers can deploy the needed labor to collect the data. But at what cost? This is where modeling enters the picture. By utilizing model output, a manager can selectively target the areas that are questionable and need further attention as well as those that are certainly a go/no go.

We are currently conducting meetings with potential customers to take part in our beta program. Space is limited so please submit your information using our contact form so our sales group can get back in touch with you.

Stay tuned for more posts as we document the beta program, product development progress, and our overall love of agriculture.

ZedX Inc. and IntelliCrop LLC form Strategic Alliance

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

IntelliCrop LLC, Sycamore, IL, USA and ZedX Inc., Bellefonte, PA, USA announce a strategic alliance to bring together ZedX’s next generation, high resolution weather data with IntelliCrop’s advanced timing models for equipment applications in crop production.

The combination of high resolution models tailored to site-specific weather data ensures that applications are made at the right time with reduced management stress and minimum use of equipment, labor and fuel. Sporadic rainfall patterns coupled with variable soil moisture properties across a region present growers, cooperatives, and agricultural service providers with a scheduling nightmare for equipment. Hundreds of man-hours are spent in surveying fields and testing soils to be sure that equipment is properly deployed at the right place and at the right time on a farm. Early deployment in a wet field can risk bogged down equipment, damaged soils, and potential erosion. Late deployment in early accessible areas results in missed opportunities for applications and an inefficient use of human and material resources.

IntelliCrop’s product offerings, driven by ZedX’s weather data engine, bring a new temporal dimension to precision agriculture. Variable rate applications place chemicals and nutrients at the right place in a field and IntelliCrop’s timing models ensure that the applications are done on the best day and hour. Furthermore, the placement and timing of an application is made with knowledge of equipment trafficability.

The first generation of IntelliCrop’s timing models will be released for the Midwestern United States in the first quarter of 2011 with an expanding geographic distribution for 2012. Large growers, cooperatives, and agricultural service providers employing IntelliCrop’s models will realize immediate savings through more efficient fuel usage, equipment deployment and improved timing of fertilizer and chemical applications. The utilization of IntelliCrop’s timing models with existing precision agriculture programs will take in-field production decisions to the next level.

For more information please visit IntelliCrop at http://intellicrop.com and ZedX, Inc at http://zedxinc.com.

Contacts
IntelliCrop LLC
Nate J. Taylor
814-441-1867
nate.taylor@intellicrop.com

ZedX, Inc.
Brian Antonucci
Chief Operating Officer
Office: (814) 357-8490
Fax: (814) 357-8499
antonucci@zedxinc.com

About ZedX, Inc.

ZedX, Inc. is a leader in the development of information technology (IT) products and services for the agricultural and environmental industries. ZedX offers the agricultural community high resolution weather data and their processing, climate analyses, crop and pest models, and innovative georeferenced, web-based platforms that integrate data and model output into practical, decision-support products. ZedX's customers include growers, businesses, public institutions, governments, and international agencies. The company embraces quality, two-way customer support.

For more information, please contact:

Brian Antonucci
Chief Operating Officer
ZedX Inc.
Office: (814) 357-8490
Fax: (814) 357-8499
Email: antonucci@zedxinc.com

About IntelliCrop, LLC

IntelliCrop LLC is an emerging data integration leader servicing agricultural service providers, co-ops, and large growers that deploy millions of dollars of assets across thousands of square miles to apply fertilizer and chemicals on grower’s fields. IntelliCrop, with its deep knowledge in the agriculture and emerging technology spaces, delivers easy to use, reliable, web-enabled solutions specifically suited for businesses supporting and engaged in crop production agriculture.

For more information, please contact:

Nate Taylor
Sales & Marketing Manager
IntelliCrop, LLC
726 Somonauk St
Sycamore, IL 60178
Office: 814-441-1867
Fax: 815-91-5135
Email: nate.taylor@intellicrop.com