Posted: June 23, 2008 at 10:57 pm
By Laura McNamara
The idea of gaining two extra hours in dairy farm management each day without working extra hours seems like a dream, right? What about cutting the time employees spend searching for animals… in half? Well, Scott Haag at Box Canyon Dairy in Wendell, Idaho says a set of MobileDemand rugged tablet PC’s makes those dairy farm dreams an everyday reality.
MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Box Canyon.
MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.
I spoke with MobileDemand CEO Matt Miller about how he found the agriculture industry to be optimal match for the rugged PC company. You can listen to my interview with Matt here.
MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:
Congrats to Joe Michaels who has been named the Forage Segment Director at Vermeer Corporation.
Michaels, who previously served as the segment’s sales manager, is now responsible for overall operations and will report directly to corporate management.
“Joe’s experience and understanding of the market will be invaluable to Vermeer as we continue to develop and market new and better solutions in the hay and forage marketplace,” said Bob Vermeer, president of Vermeer Corporation.
Michaels brings twenty-five years of agricultural equipment sales, service, marketing and product development experience.
After joining Vermeer as ag product director in 2000, he left the company briefly to help McCormick, USA re-launch the McCormick brand in the US market (McCormick USA, which was originally based in Pella, shared a strategic marketing alliance with Vermeer from November 2001 to March 2004) and then returned to the Vermeer forage group as sales manager.
Posted: February 13, 2008 at 6:41 pm
By News Editor
Dairy producers visiting the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif. this year (February 12-14) will have the first look at many new, exciting products, including the new WasteSolverT created by TyraTech Inc. The WasteSolverT is a new automated manure management system designed to help large dairy farms produce more milk and profit in four key areas:
Increasing cow comfort and increase milk production through use of the resulting soft, clean bedding material that has proven to be equal to (if not better) than sand;
Achieving an average 9% phosphorus reduction, and equal or greater reductions in nitrogen and potassium for the Manure Management Plan, that could help allow a corresponding herd size increase;
Significantly reducing annual bedding costs compared to sand or dry manure/cellulose;
Reducing labor costs due to the system’s highly automated nature.
Stop by the TyraTech Inc. booth at the World Ag Expo to learn more! Booth #6507-6508.
Posted: November 14, 2007 at 12:38 pm
By News Editor
Naturally Iowa, Inc., a organic dairy processer in Iowa, has announced that they will be the first to manufacture polylactic acid (PLA) bottle preforms in the country.
The Company has reserved a dedicated factory space in Waverly, Nebraska and has ordered the necessary molds for the manufacturing and production of PLA bottle preforms. Preforms are the second stage in the production of a PLA bottle. Preforms are formed from the raw resin into a cylindrical tube through an injection molding machine. The preforms are then used with blow molding equipment to produce the final PLA bottle.
According to William Horner, President and CEO of Naturally Iowa Inc., the new equipment and facility gives Naturally Iowa complete control over the manufacturing and production process of the biodegradable PLA bottles. “This is one of many firsts for Naturally Iowa. After four years of research and development, Naturally Iowa became the first and only dairy in the world to integrate the blow molding of PLA preforms into our dairy production process. Now, Naturally Iowa will also control the manufacturing of PLA preforms for dairy containers, handling the entire process from resin to perform to bottle.”
Naturally Iowa distinguishes itself from other dairy processors and producers by offering the highest quality organic and all- natural dairy products packaged in an environmentally-friendly, sustainable container that completely biodegrades in 60 to 100 days in an industrial compost facility.
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
I did an interview at expo with John Deere Hay and Forage Specialist Jim Buchs on how dairy producers can get added value for forage at harvest with Harvest Lab.
“We put a unit on our forage harvester that can measure the moisture as its going through the machine,” Buchs said. “With that information, we can calculate the true tonnage that we are harvesting.”
That information can be used to adjust the harvesting rate to the receiving rate at the bunker silo so you can adjust packing tractors or other required applications.
Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Jim here:
Posted: June 13, 2007 at 1:13 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
This week I’m attending Propane Days going on here in Washington, DC. This annual event is put on by the National Propane Gas Association and sponsored by the Propane Education & Research Council. I ran into an interesting project that PERC is working on with a company called Rinnai. This is a company that makes gas fired appliances and one thing they’re doing that is real interesting is tankless water heaters.
As you’ll hear in my interview with Mike Peacock (left) and Kirk Morrow, they’re working with PERC on a project with some dairies to showcase how their technology can benefit the farm. Essentially they say it allows the dairy to replace boiler systems that can break down causing the dairy to be without hot water until it gets fixed. Their systems don’t have many moving parts and so they last a long time. Additionally they’re working with the dairies on some other applications like floor heating which would help northern dairies in the winter to keep floors from becoming slick and animals from slipping.
In my interview with Mike and Kirk they also provide some explanation of just how this tankless system works. You can listen to my interview with them here: Rinnai Interview
The annual Hay Expo will be held June 20-21, 2007 in northeast Iowa. The Expo offers alfalfa and forage producers the opportunity to get an inside view of new technology and ideas, and visit a host farm for an on-site tour. Admission is free, parking is $5.
The host farm is Top Deck Holsteins, owned by Roger and Judy Decker and sons Jason, Derek and Justin. The Deckers farm 1,750 acres, milk 650 dairy cows, and raise 700 dairy heifers, calves and dry cows. The Deckers manage their 350 acres of alfalfa to maximize milk production.
The Hay Expo will feature a 10-acre exhibit field with displays from the major and shortline hay and forage equipment manufacturers, seed, building and storage facility suppliers, and numerous related product suppliers. Exhibitors plan to showcase balers, disc mower conditioners, tedders, rakes, telehandlers, bale stackers, forage seed and more.
Posted: December 13, 2006 at 8:56 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
If you’re hoping to make hay while the sun shines then Nikkel Iron Works has a new tool for you. It’s one example of the kind of new equipment you’ll see on display if you attend the upcoming World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. Remember that they’ve got a very large dairy section as well.
Farmers, locally and nationwide, will soon have a new tool at their fingertips to make baling hay easier and more profitable. That product, the DARF AccuRake™, will be unveiled February 13-15 at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif — the world’s largest agricultural exposition — where it will be honored as a 2007 New Product Nominee.
“It’s a perfect venue to showcase it and introduce it to the farming community,” said Andrew Cummings, president of Shafter-based Nikkel Iron Works. The company invented the AccuRake and will display it at North Street space 62 at the World Ag Expo.
The AccuRake precision hay raking system enhances the proven DARF wheel rake. The system provides for precise depth control of the rake tines regardless of terrain. The main benefits of the system are cleaner, higher quality hay and reduced tooth wear. The exclusive, patent pending design also provides for less stress and wear on other components. The precise control of rake tooth height keeps clods and stones out of the windrow and also results in much less dust while raking.
“Since the teeth aren’t in the dirt, you aren’t going to have that wear and tear. You will double or triple the life of your hay rake teeth,” Cummings said.
The idea of gaining two extra hours in dairy farm management each day without working extra hours seems like a dream, right? What about cutting the time employees spend searching for animals… in half? Well, Scott Haag at Box Canyon Dairy in Wendell, Idaho says a set of MobileDemand rugged tablet PC’s makes those dairy farm dreams an everyday reality.
MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.
MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
This week I’m attending 
If you’re hoping to make hay while the sun shines then