February 23, 2012

AGNERDS — The Blackberry Playbook is Making a Comeback

blackberry playbook

Through the January farm show season I continued to run into people that said to me that they were getting a Blackberry Playbook or had just bought one. Whether its the $200 price point or the the increased interest in tablets, it seems to me that the Blackberry Playbook finally has some appeal.  It would [...]

Soybean Aphid App – A Great Decision Making Tool

Courtesy of BauteBugBlog.com

Courtesy of BauteBugBlog.com The Aphid Advisor app is a decision-making tool to help determine whether a control action is warranted for Soybean Aphids (Aphis glycines) on soybeans in the province of Ontario, Canada. This app uses aphid and natural enemy numbers, as well as expected population growth rates, to indicate whether there are enough natural [...]

Dells Latitude XT Tablet a Good Fit For the Farm

Dell XT

The 2011 Farm Forum Event was all about the integration of man and machine for the benefit of agriculture. The tablet device fits right into that category. More and more agri-businesses and producers are making a tablet standard issue in their business or on their farm. Their portability and processing power make them easier to [...]

AgNerds- Is RIM DEAD?

blackberry

The price of the Blackberry Playbook continues to drop with Rogers employees being able to acquire them for as little as $250 Canadian. Whether or not that discount will be seen by consumers is anyones guess, but with horrific sales of only 200,000 units last quarter, any move to get more playbooks into the hands [...]

Agnerds: The Advantages of Podcasts While Your in the Tractor

Agnerds Podcast FreezeFrame.001

This time of year can be exhausting. Long hours in the cab are a regular part of harvest time everywhere and farmers find themselves looking for anything to keep their minds engaged through the monotony of the tractor cab. Radio is a great option, but you find yourself at some point sick of the repetitive [...]

AgNerds – What is a QR Code? – Episode 7

realagricultureqrcode

Do you have any idea what this funky white and black cube is above? You will probably see it in a lot of advertising this fall. What do you do with it? How do you scan it? Why would you scan it? It is an arguably under-utilized tool that has a lot of untapped potential. [...]

AgNerds – Shaun Thinks He May Have to Buy a Droid Phone – Episode 6

  In this episode, the AgNerds talk about Google’s acquisition of Motorola and what that marriage may mean for the future of the Droid phone as well as what it means for other developers using the Android system. Also covered is the growing popularity of the Droid in Canada and the majority presence it has [...]

Talking to Farmers – What Will Be Your Next SmartPhone Purchase?

Yesterday I was at a ag-retailer crop tour in Vulcan, Alberta with Dupont. While Dupont was discussing some of their new products like fungicides and seed treatments, I decided to talk to some of the ag-retail attendees and find out some more about them. In this weeks episode of Talking to Farmers (but in this [...]

My Trip to InfoAg a Precision Ag Conference in Springfield, Illinois

  By Ken Coles, FarmingSmarter.com In July I attended the Precision Ag Conference in Springfield, Illinois. I though in my first blog post I would cover my thoughts and observations at the conference. Day 1 Last week Brent Nicol and I attended the infoag, precision ag conference in Springfield, Illinois. (www.infoag.org). Not being a seasoned [...]

Are Smartphones a Distraction for Farm Workers?

While giving a presentation this week at the Canadian Seed Growers meeting in Hamilton I talked about the critical role that mobile plays in the deployment of social media on the farm. A very bright young seed grower friend of mine asked some very interesting questions during the panel discussion. Eric’s thoughts were, “Every time [...]