Ag Leader Technology Blog

The corn planter is one of the most expensive implements a farmer can own.  Although the planter can only perform one function, it is a extremely important one, and during the winter months you may want to inspect and service the planter.  Harvest is a great time to take a minute and look at the [...]

Earlier this year, we introduced you to several members of the Ag Leader Software Support team (see Part 1 and Part 2 of this series). Today, meet two more members of our team that you may be speaking with when calling Ag Leader.
Adam Walters
Adam started with Ag Leader in May of 2011 as a full-time [...]

With fall upon us, another management decision that may be on your list is whether you are going to soil sample your fields. Soil sampling your fields can help you do several things. The first item that comes to people’s mind is the ability to create variable rate prescriptions based off of the lab results you receive after sampling. Another benefit to soil sampling that may not be quite as obvious is that this provides an extra layer of data for analysis. For example, you can overlay a grain harvest map with a soil sampling map and then compare the soil test value for high and low yielding areas. How much yield difference do you notice between areas that have different soil test results?

As harvest season kicks off, Ag Leader’s customer support team is getting several calls about yield monitoring.  Before calling into the tech support call center, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help us more effectively help you. The more information you have ready ahead of time, the faster the call [...]

For many years, agronomists from universities and consulting agencies have been pushing for more conservation tillage, such as strip-till.  The concept of fewer passes through the field in a crop season has some farmers seeing the benefit of lower labor and fuel cost.  Another advantage to strip-till is that it allows the farmer to manage [...]

In past blog posts, we have talked about universities putting an emphasis on precision ag education. The Alabama Precision Ag Extension team is another example of an educational institution working with precision ag. This summer, they held a Management Zones/AgGIS Workshop with the goal of educating Alabama farmers on the basics of generating and properly [...]

Earlier this year, I introduced you to several members of Ag Leader’s Customer Support team (you can find those introductions in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). Today, meet two more employees who play important roles in the Technical Support department.
Kelly Kopsa
Kelly Kopsa started with Ag Leader in 1998 as a Technical Support Representative.  In [...]

For the latest and greatest in agriculture, it’s hard to beat the Farm Progress Show. And the 2011 event was no exception. Held in Decatur IL August 30 – September 1, thousands of enthusiastic farmers, students, industry professionals and international visitors came from all over the globe to participate in the industry’s foremost agricultural experience. [...]

Now that the training season has come to an end, it’s time to start thinking about crawling back into the driver’s seat of your combine.  As you are preparing for your journey to the field, I thought it might be good to share some common questions from customer training and the pre-harvest checklist to ensure [...]

Yesterday, I went through the important steps in checking the physical components of your yield monitor. Today, we will go through the pre-harvest calibrations that you should run. Even if you don’t think you need to recalibrate everything on the combine, it is a good idea to check to make sure everything is functioning properly.
The [...]

Well, it is that time of year again – growers are beginning to pull combines out of the shed and begin preparing for harvest.  Last week, Precision Point included blog posts about preparing your GPS equipment and your SMS Software. Making sure your yield monitor is ready should be a step in this important process [...]

At Ag Leader we believe the data you collect has a lot to teach all of us about improvements that can be made on the farm. Some of the problems on the farm will be addressed by the next generation that enters the agricultural fields. Thus, we continue to collaborate with colleges, assisting them with hardware, [...]

As many of us prepare for harvest, the list of tasks seem to increase, ranging from lining up workers, vehicle maintenance, grain handling system maintenance, and… oh yeah, setting up your precision ag equipment! Your precision ag desktop software can be used to export things like Field and Product Names, Boundaries, Guidance Lines, Prescriptions, Crop [...]

Sitting on my back porch watching the sunrise every morning, I have begun to notice the crops have started to turn and fall is right around the corner.  As the corn dries, it is important to remember to prep your precision equipment just like you do the combine and grain cart.  Some things to keep [...]

We are always looking for ways to offer more SMS trainings in different locations, during varying seasons and even in different training environments. In addition to the classroom and online trainings we’ve been offering for several years, in July we started offering a free Introduction to SMS Webinar. We’ve had great turnouts for these sessions and are proud to announce that starting in September we will begin offering Introduction to SMS Advanced and SMS Mobile Webinars.

It’s that time of year again when we start to discuss the new features coming out with the next release of SMS software from Ag Leader.  We have been working all summer on updates to SMS and SMS Mobile to add new tools and improve existing functions to maximize your time.  We hope you’ll take [...]

It seems only yesterday that I wrote my last blog on the Cereals event, but according to my calendar it has been over 2 months. Time flies when you are having fun!
Shortly after the Cereals show, I attended the Boregby field days in Sweden to visit our distributor Datalogisk. This is a very similar show [...]

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 [...]

Want to win a free “I like Ag Leader” t-shirt? Visit our Facebook page and “like us!”  Once you do, you will be eligible to win a free t-shirt just by filling out a simple survey and bringing it to the Farm Progress Show (Lot 518) Aug. 30, 31 or Sept. 1, 2011 in Decatur, IL. You’ll also find out how you can [...]

On August 9th and 10th, we hosted our first SMS Certified II Training Session at Ag Leader Academy.  We’ve been offering the SMS Certified I class for several years, but with the constant advances in the precision ag industry we recognize the need to provide ongoing education.
The SMS Certified II course focused on the tools [...]