Ag Leader Technology Blog

For several years now, Ag Leader has been selling precision farming products into China. Over the years the interest in precision farming has increased as China modernizes their farming practices and imports more western made farm equipment. China has been forced to rapidly update their farming practices and equipment for two reasons: 1) the growing demand for food from a rising population (and a population with more disposable income) and 2) a labor shortage.

I am pleased to announce Hans Stiekema has joined the Ag Leader organization as the Regional Manager – EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).  Hans comes to the Ag Leader organization with over 30 years of experience in business development in the agricultural industry.  He has previously worked for manufacturers such as Krone (D), Argo [...]

Nick Ohrtman and I attended the AGRISHOW in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil during the first week of May. AGRISHOW is a large outdoor farm show similar in size to Farm Progress Show here in the US. The major OEM’s (both international and domestic) have elaborate booths showcasing their new products, and customers have an opportunity to talk with factory representatives about equipment they are interested in.

One of the big draws at auto shows is always the concept cars that manufacturers exhibit.  People get excited to see what cars and trucks may look like 10,15 or 20 years from now.  Most of the time these concept cars never come to market in their original form, but go through various modifications and [...]

Over the years, Ag Leader has worked with various universities and research organizations on precision farming projects.  These have ranged from the development of new technology, such as cotton harvesting, to studying the benefits of products such as autosteer and variable rate application.  One of the research organizations that Ag Leader has worked with is [...]

On April 14th I wrote a blog post about the Chilean earthquake and the effect it had on agriculture and promised a follow up.  I recently spoke with Rodrigo Ortega from Neo-Ag, the Ag Leader distributor in Chile, to get his feedback on how the agricultural community is coping.  Below is the update from Rodrigo.
Six [...]

Back on May 12th I wrote a blog post about rice farmers in Costa Rica adopting precision farming practices and realizing the benefits of the technology.  Two weeks ago I had the chance to visit Costa Rica and talk with rice farmers about their operations and experiences with precision farming technology.  While talking to the [...]

p>The trade show has been a staple in the agricultural industry for over a century.  The popularity of these shows has grown over the years to the point that there is a show in every state along with large national and international shows.  Agricultural trade shows generally cover a wide range of agricultural products for [...]

In my last blog post I mentioned that I was in the UK preparing for the Cereals Show and having a bit of trouble with my sleep.  Since then, the Cereals Show has come and gone and I have been able to catch up on my sleep.  The show provided a great opportunity to talk [...]

 As I write this post I am back on the road again after a short week at home.  I am currently in England preparing for the Cereals Show that starts today (Wednesday, June 9th).  I have been traveling a lot in the last two months and while I’ve enjoyed it, I’m also   looking forward to [...]

If you are a farmer in North America there is no doubt you wear a lot of different hats during the day. I am not referring to a Pioneer or Dekalb hat, but the hat of grain marketer, accountant, agronomist, machine operator, etc.  You are heavily involved in all aspects of your operation.  This is [...]

I successfully made it back from Italy after the delay due to the volcano eruption in Iceland, a mess I hope I don’t have to deal with again.  With that behind me it is time to move on to Costa Rica where our new distributor Agricultura Cientifica is introducing Ag Leader products into the region.
Agricultura [...]

I came across the combine on the right (sorry the picture isn’t better, it was taken with a phone) while traveling in Europe this month.  This horse-drawn combine is from the early 1900’s and is made mostly of wood with some tins use on parts of the elevator.  Seeing this combine made me stop and [...]

On February 27th of this year Chile was struck by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake causing great damage to the country. Rodrigo Ortega Blu from NeoAg, the Ag Leader distributor in Chile, was near the epicenter when the earthquake struck. Thankfully, Rodrigo and the rest of the staff at NeoAg and their families were not hurt [...]

While Ag Leader is usually thought of as a North American company, we have been selling into the international market for 16 years and currently have distribution in over 30 countries.  We are fortunate to work with a great group of distributors who represent the Ag Leader brand across the globe.  Some of our distributors [...]