Readers of this blog know that I like technology, and have since I was a kid. Admittedly back then technology was more dream than reality, but today we are 'living the dream' when it comes to the technology in agriculture we can access. Sometimes that tech dream can be a kind of nightmare. Last week I was with a group of forward-thinking folks as part of a meeting with key people at Penton, our new owners. Great fun, great learning and a lot of interesting insights. One topic I…

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When you use technology and make it part of your life it's amazing how quickly it feels like that tech has always been with you. Remember when we didn't have email? While I wish I did some days, I don't remember and I'm not sure how we got things done. Years ago - too many to list here - I took a trip with two other colleagues. This was before cell phones, email and all of that (cell phones might have been around but we were journalists working for a weekly ag newspaper…

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Blogger note: Yes the column is Tech Tuesday, and I know it's Thursday…ever have one of those weeks? Let's just call this the rain-delayed version. Every spring and fall computer writers roundup their thoughts on new computers, and this year the rise of the tablet is being keenly felt across laptop land. Moving to a laptop is a great decision because it's easy to cart your info and programs where you need them. However, tablet computers are changing this market…

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It's easy to report on studies that come across the in-box these days - and many often do that without regard to any perspective. That'll probably be what happens with a new study published in the May-June issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality. The study shows that 50 years of inorganic fertilizer use did boost crop yields and even pushed up soil organic carb stocks, but the practice did little to enhance soil aggregate stability. It's soil aggregate stability that…

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This tech blog focuses on a range of things - for a short-attention-span ag nerd what would you expect? It occurred to me as we're all waiting around for the ground to dry out and warm up that we're darn focused on planting, but after that crop is in the ground we'll need to do more. Weed control is such a hot topic these days that everyone is doing what they can to tell the resistant weed story. I ran across an interesting infographic recently from a friend over at BASF that…

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Last week Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences announced a cross-license agreement that allows each access to new corn trait technology. For Monsanto the agreement means that it has a license to the Enlist herbicide-tolerant trait effective immediately, including the ability to have it in the next generation of SmartStax in the future. "This means more brands in the market will be offering the Enlist trait," says Ben Kaehler, U.S. seeds general manager, Dow AgroSciences. "In…

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The most-researched crop production product in use today is subject of another study that raises questions about the safe levels of the product in drinking water. Atrazine, a widely used herbicide, has been on the market for more than 50 years, and has been subject to thousands of studies. This latest toxicology study from Purdue University reports to have found that atrazine "alters reproductive and neuroendocrine genes during embryonic development in fish." Digging into the…

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Okay, mea culpa, but for years I've kind of harangued readers about the importance of battling resistant weeds and the phrase I always use is "mode of action" as in, you need to be sure your weed control program involves different modes of action. Of course during Commodity Classic a few weeks back BASF showed me that it's "site of action" not "mode of action" that really matters. In fact you could be changing up mode of action only to keep hammering…

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Recently I did a talk to a farm group that didn't want me to talk "farm technology" my job was to talk only about technology - the smart phones, the  Internet and other tech stuff that has infiltrated our lives. Basic tech has always been of interest to me and it's fun to talk about it. Thought I would do that in this week's blog. Those of my farm readers who were first to the smartphone world by purchasing a Blackberry may still be carrying around the…

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I was in Iowa over the weekend enjoying some excellent time with family. Most of them have some idea of what I do for a living, and they know I'm involved in some social media activity. While our blogger Lavell Winsor does a great job helping you understand some of the key tools for telling your story, there's one idea that I think deserves even more attention: the hashtag. I got asked a few times about what a hashtag is this week and I wanted to explain something that can be…

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