100-Dollar-Ideas

New Tools for Your Farm

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:52:02 GMT

A closer look at the 2015 Top 10 New Products from World Ag Expo.

Halfway through this year’s World Ag Expo , Jon Curry was well on his way to selling out of the 400 Earth Talon Shovels he’d brought to the California farm and equipment show.

Curry’s uniquely designed shovel not only earned one of the show’s Top 10 New Products awards this year but caught the interest of farmers, golf-course managers, landscapers and back-yard gardeners. They mobbed Curry’s booth, paying $20 for the shovel that’s now priced at $40 online.

It wasn’t price alone that drew them to the asymmetrical Earth Talon Shovel. For people who spend a lot of time digging holes, the shovel promises an easier, more efficient job of penetrating the ground surface. Its rigid blade curves like a normal shovel on one side, then dips sharply on the other, leaving a sharp point that pierces hard dirt.

Kevin Kienast (left), a turf-grass farmer from Carlsbad, Calif., and Nathan Radwick, a superintendent at a golf club in Malibu, Calif., appear pleased with their new Earth Talon Shovel purchases during February’s World Ag Expo.

“We moved the digging edge forward, concentrating the force at the point for deeper soil penetration,” said Curry, president of Arizona-based Curry Toolworks.

Another of 2015’s new Top 10 picks selling briskly at the show was the MoleCat Unit . The mole trap uses a percussion blast, or deadly shock waves, to kill pesky rodents. Placed in the rodent’s burrow, the device is triggered by the animal’s movement.

“It’s 100% effective,” said MoleCat vice president Vernon Reitenbaugh.

Rounding out the other Top 10 New Product winners were:

Simple Pump Solar Package – This water-well pump is a fully automated system that runs by solar power. “It’s the ideal, off-grid pump that can work especially well for watering livestock in remote locations,” said Simple Pump Company’s Peter Dugan. The package comes with a pump, motor, control systems and a solar power unit. For a 100’ well, the cost is about $3,500, including a 30% federal renewable energy tax credit.

DRI System – Deep Root Irrigation’s new underground irrigation system uses the concept of drip irrigation but delivers water directly below the root zone. Founder and manager Jeff Ciudaj said the DRI system has shown water savings of up to 50% in vineyards and orchards compared to traditional drip systems.

Polydress 02 Barrier 2 in 1 – Created to protect silage stored for livestock, PolyExcel’s oxygen barrier film is the first to combine silage film with vacuum film so that it’s applied in one work step during the covering process.

Hybrid Shipper – Macro Plastics’ lightweight, all-plastic container allows growers to handle product directly from the field, store it and ship it in this returnable-reusable bin.

DeLaval BCS System – Using a 3-D camera and software, DeLaval’s new product automatically calculates the body condition score of dairy cows.

DairyProQ – GEA Farm Technologies has delivered this long-awaited robotic rotary milking parlor for large-scale herds. The high-tech system can handle up to 4,500 cows. “It’s the large-farm solution,” said GEA’s Steve Pretz, “the next step in automated milking.”

Vet Check Maxx – New from Dairy Records Management Systems, this Android-tailored software provides a broad view of cow information for reproductive and veterinary management. It now comes bundled with the company’s PocketDairy product.

Tule River Nut Crowder – Nut growers can reduce labor and eliminate ground crop loss with this nut-harvesting implement. Made by California-based Nikkel Iron Works Crop., it gathers fallen nuts from the end of each lane and re-positions them for pick-up by a trailing machine. The implement does the work of four people in less time.

World Ag Expo’s Top 10 New Products are chosen each year by a group of judges comprised of farmers, ranchers and industry professionals. With 100,000 people attending the three-day show each February near Tulare, Calif., the new-product award offers unique exposure that can help jump-start sales.

BMR and Conventional Hybrids Allow for Greater Flexibility

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:51:46 GMT

DuPont Pioneer announced its 2015 corn silage hybrid offerings for dairy producers.

Source: DuPont Pioneer

DuPont Pioneer today announced its 2015 corn silage hybrid offerings, including the addition of its first integrated refuge brown midrib (BMR) product and three non-BMR products.

Whether growers use BMR or non-BMR corn silage hybrids, the Pioneer® brand corn silage hybrid line offers significant advantages, which have been carefully evaluated. Pioneer has developed BMR hybrids with solid resistance to Northern Corn Leaf Blight and other diseases. In addition, these new BMR hybrids offer improved agronomics and greatly improved forage and starch yield potential.

The new integrated refuge BMR product, Pioneer® P1449AMX™ brand, offers Optimum® AcreMax® Xtra Insect Protection, which is a single-bag refuge product for areas in the Corn Belt needing above- and below-ground insect protection. Pioneer on-farm trials have shown Optimum® AcreMax® Xtra products yield equivalent to pure stands of products with Herculex® XTRA insect protection, allowing growers opportunities to maximize their overall farm yields. This product, a 114 silage comparative relative maturity (CRM), will complement the current BMR lineup from Pioneer with four hybrids ranging from 102-114 silage CRM.

Pioneer also will offer three new non-BMR silage-specific products. These three new platforms range from 102-115 silage CRM and include:

•Pioneer® P0242AMXT™ brand providing excellent tonnage and starch content.

•Pioneer® P0921AMXT™ brand providing outstanding silage yield and fiber digestibility with above average northern corn leaf blight resistance.

•Pioneer® hybrid P1582CHR, providing above average tonnage yields and is well suited to dryland, limited irrigation and drought prone environments in the western U.S.

These hybrids were advanced specifically for silage performance both in terms of starch and tonnage yield. Additionally, they offer herbicide and insect resistance packages for growers.

“With the addition of these new hybrids, we continue to provide conventional and BMR silage opportunities to help growers determine the best silage options for their needs,” said Dave Whitaker, DuPont Pioneer product developer. “We understand that growers today want the flexibility to plant different ratios of BMR and conventional silage to achieve maximum silage yields, starch content and fiber digestibility.”

For more information about Pioneer corn silage products, visit www.pioneer.com/cornsilage , or contact your local Pioneer sales professional.

Today's Products: Ketosis Management Tool

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 02:10:18 GMT

AgSource introduces KetoMonitor, an economical and convenient tool to predict herd-level ketosis prevalence using monthly DHI test-day milk samples.
The KetoMonitor report:
- Estimates herd ketosis prevalence on the day of milk test.
- Guides management and nutrition decisions.
- Alerts farmers when blood testing protocols should be employed.
- Tracks the impact of management changes on transition cow health.

KetoMonitor can be used to evaluate monthly ketosis prevalence and can identify when blood testing should be done. When incidence is greater than 15%, research shows the expense of blood testing every fresh cow twice is justified.

However, when herd incidence levels are below 15%, time and money spent on blood testing can be saved. KetoMonitor can provide a consistent prevalence indicator month to month.

The KetoMonitor report tracks ketone levels over a period of twelve months. That allows producers to analyze the impact of seasonal and management changes.

“KetoMonitor is an amazing new tool to more closely monitor and manage a costly, common disease,” says Robert Fourdraine, vice president of AgSource DHI Operations. “It provides a comprehensive set of tools to monitor and manage transition cows.”

KetoMonitor was developed by Heather White, Tawny Chandler and Gary Oetzel from the University of Wisconsin Dairy Science Department and School of Veterinary Medicine in cooperation with AgSource.