Article by Matt Hopkins in Crop Life

Our recent survey of more than 200 ag retailers on their tablet usage has unveiled several key findings (look for an article on tablet use trends soon). But perhaps what everyone wants to know is which apps are the most popular among these ag professionals. Well, you’re in luck. We asked participants to name the one app that is most indispensable for their work. While the responses varied widely, these 10 apps were most commonly listed as “can’t live without” by our survey respondents: 

1. Weather. There are number of weather-related apps available for mobile devices, but perhaps the most popular is the one from The Weather Channel. This app combines interactive imagery with Weather Channel expertise. With more than 200 meteorologists and the ultra-local TruPoint forecasting technology, The Weather Channel app helps ag retailers plan their work day.

2. E-mail. According to our survey, “checking e-mail” (94%) was the number one way respondents are using their tablets for work. So not surprisingly, it ranks toward the top of our “most indispensable” list. With dozens of options available, choose the application that benefits you the most and simplifies your e-mail usage.

3. Dropbox. Dropbox lets you bring all your photos, docs and videos anywhere and share them easily. Access any file you save to your Dropbox from all your computers, iPhone, iPad and even the Dropbox Website.

4. Weed ID. The BASF Weed ID App brings weed identification right up to date, forgoing the need to take books into the field to identify potential weed species. Whatever crop you are growing, it is an essential part of good agricultural practice to know the weed species you need to control to use the most appropriate herbicide. There’s also the ID Weeds app, which was developed by the University of Missouri Extension. This app allows you to search for weeds by their common or Latin name, view a list of weeds or identify weeds based upon a number of different characteristics.

5. Agrian Mobile. This app enables access to Agrian’s label database anywhere, any time. Search by product name, registered states, pest controlled and specific product use rates. Features include more than 250 participating manufacturers, instant access to 5,800 crop protection products, labels and MSDS documents, organic search options and more.

6. Documents To Go. The extremely popular office app (over 25 million downloads) allows you to view native Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and attachments.

7. QuickBooks Mobile. This easy-to-use app syncs with QuickBooks to let you manage customers, invoices, sales receipts, and estimates. It allows busy retailers to stay productive, whether in the office or on-the-go.

8. iBooks. More of a personal “must-have,” this app includes the iBookstore, where you can download the latest books (or agriculture-related publications).

9. Connected Farm. Trimble’s Connected Farm app uses your mobile device’s GPS for mapping field boundaries, locating irrigation pivots, marking flags and entering scouting information for points, lines and polygon areas. Scouting attributes include an extensive list of weeds, insects and diseases, and allows you to log the severity of a problem, crop conditions and more.

10. Evernote. Evernote helps you stay organized and on track. The app lets you take notes and create to-do lists, as well as capture photos and record voice reminders. The redesigned iPad version saves time with the ability to create notes with a click via the new Quick Note button and a Recent Notes list for easier multi-tasking.

To view the article in its original format, visit: http://www.croplife.com/article/34026/top-10-most-indispensable-apps-used-by-ag-retailers?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CL%20eNews%20May%201%202013%20(1)&utm_content=

Article by Troy Marshall from beefmagazine.com:

It’s shaping up to be another year of too much for some folks and too little for others. Now it appears the question is this: will it be too much, too soon for corn farmers and too little, too late for cattlemen?

The talk all winter and early spring was the lack of moisture and the persistent drought, with some areas going into year three of exceptionally dry conditions. Then, for parts of the country at least, the moisture conditions improved significantly. In fact, the concern now through parts of the Midwest is delayed corn planting because of too much moisture.

But the wacky weather has done more than just delay corn planting. It has caused the widest price spreads for feedstuffs and cows ever recorded, with similar bred cows selling for as much as $800 different between drought areas and areas with moisture. The price spreads seem exorbitant even with today’s trucking costs, but one of the things that the recent bouts of forced liquidation has taught producers is that the environmental impact on moving cows is tremendous.

Shipping cows from South to North, East to West or vice versa, is more difficult than anticipated. The acclimation factor is significant, and the length of time it takes for a cow to adjust to her new surroundings is time and money lost. As a result, producers are pretty committed to buying replacement females from similar geographic and management systems. The result is a more pronounced trend of regionalization in the female market.

Read more …

Article by Troy Marshall from Beef Magazine

Normal moisture is exceedingly critical to the beef industry’s fortunes in 2013, but significant cowherd expansion won’t happen unless profitability is addressed.

USDA’s most recent Cattle On Feed (COF) report showedplacements and COF numbers at levels that are unprecedented since the data series began in 1996. Everyone continues to be focused on the weather situation, which has precluded any chance of expansion thus far, and may actually cause 2013 to be yet another year of liquidation.

Without a doubt, moisture is the key in the short term. With moisture, we’ll see a decrease in input costs; and we should see a double-plus situation where margins are increasing from both an increase in prices received and a decrease in prices paid for inputs.

Still, it’s a valid question to ask how much expansion will occur when moisture conditions improve. There’s little doubt that prices and rain will result in a rebuilding of numbers, but it’s also probably true that the industry will never see the type of numbers we once had. Our genetics are improving at a phenomenal rate, which means we’ll never need the cow numbers we once did to meet demand.

The forced liquidation of our cowherd over the last few years has also translated into one of the most effective culling periods in our history. The poorer-end cows have been liquidated, and the average genetic value of today’s cowherd is significantly higher than just a few years ago. Not only are we seeing improvement in genetic trends from aseedstock industry perspective, but we effectively ratcheted up to unprecedented levels the selection pressure in the cow-calf sector. We simply need fewer cows today to produce thesame amount of beef.

Read more …

Article by Burt Rutherford from Beef Magazine

If there’s any advice that succinctly addresses the currentweather situation facing many cattlemen, it’s this: “Cinch up. The ride ain’t near over yet.”

That, in cowboy lingo, is one of the conclusions you can draw after listening to Ted McCollum, Texas AgriLife Extension beef specialist in Amarillo, walk through some historic weather pattern data. Just be warned – it’s no trip through the tulips.

Weather in the interior U.S. – specifically defined as if it rains or not – is largely influenced by water temperatures in both the Pacific and North Atlantic, he says. Looking at data provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, he points out that in the 1950s, we had a very cool Pacific Ocean and a very warm Atlantic.

He says the current data suggests we again have a very cool Pacific Ocean and a very warm Atlantic Ocean. “The conditions we have right now with the Atlantic and Pacific are the same conditions we had in the 1950s as far as temperatures go. And the conditions that don’t bode well for North America are when we have a warm Atlantic and a cool Pacific.”

Looking at the charts, he says it takes about 30-35 years for Atlantic seawater temperatures to complete a cycle. “About 1928-29, it warmed up and stayed warm for 30 years. Then it cooled off from about 1958 or ’59 until 1996.”

So, if the Atlantic began warming in 1996, that means we’re about 17 years into the cycle. “So we may have a few more years before the Atlantic cools down,” he says.

The Pacific began to cool in the mid 1940s and stayed cool until about the mid-’70s.”It stayed relatively warm from 1975 up until about 2006. Looking at 1945 to ’75, that’s about 30 years; ’75 to 2006 is about 30 years. So we are about 6-7 years into possibly a 30-year time period that the Pacific Ocean may be cooler than normal,” he says.

And those seawater temperatures drive rainfall patterns in the U.S. With a warm Atlantic and cool Pacific, the general tendencies are for the East Coast and Northwest to have ample moisture; for the interior U.S., drought is likely.

Given the timing of the cycles, we’ll someday move to a cool Atlantic and a cool Pacific, which will provide some relief, he says. Eventually, the cycle will turn to a warm Pacific and cool Atlantic, and cattlemen will enjoy rainfall patterns similar to the 1970s and ’80s. But for the present, the chances of the interior U.S. having abundant rainfall are a lot lower than they were a few decades ago, McCollum says.

Cattlemen facing their second and even third year of severe drought are likely looking for any indication that things will get better. “If we go back and look at the 1950s, from ’52 to ’58, was it dry every year?” McCollum asks. “No. I think there was at least one year of normal rainfall. But that one year was bracketed by a couple of pretty severe years on either side. So I don’t want us to think we’re moving out of the drought. I don’t think we are yet,” he says.

“When we talk about recovery and rebuilding the cowherd, we need to keep that in mind,” he adds. “This may not be over with.”

Cinch up.

To view the article in its original format, visit http://beefmagazine.com/business/long-term-weather-outlook-cinch.