The direct ownership of spray boom production is the latest step in Case IH’s strategic road map for its sprayer product platform. As the company works to enhance its application-product offering, the inclusion of longer, lighter booms enables accelerated development and deployment of new technologies. These solutions will be implemented across the Case IH product portfolio.

“We are thrilled to be working so closely with Specialty, which has been a fantastic partner to Case IH over the last few years as we deliver more productive application solutions. This acquisition strengthens our in-house capabilities and allows us to retain key strategic personnel to ensure continuity in this vertical integration.”

said Scott Harris, Case IH global president.

The acquisition of Specialty signals Case IH’s continued commitment to Agronomic Design — helping operators maximize yield and ROI potential. As aluminum spray booms are up to 50% lighter than their steel counterparts, they result in less field compaction, less rutting and better weight distribution.

“At Case IH, one of our primary crop production goals is to help operators cover more acres more efficiently — with solutions that are built to last. This acquisition will be key to providing operators with the equipment and agronomic solutions they need to feed a growing world.”

said Monte Weller, Case IH global product manager for Crop Production and Hay & Forage product lines.

Specialty is known for its advanced engineering and high-quality workmanship as a world-class welding operation. The company’s sprayer boom design incorporates multiple patents to virtually eliminate the fatigue cracking associated with other aluminum boom designs. The aluminum used by Specialty is sourced and extruded in the United States.

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“As part of this study, we conducted a historical analysis going back to 1980 and found that fertilizer costs tend to go up when corn revenues increase. Notably, these prices tend to go up exponentially even after accounting for natural gas prices and higher demand,”

says Joe Outlaw, Ph.D., the AFPC co-director.

Dee Vaughan, a farmer in the Texas Panhandle, says his farm has felt the impact of climbing prices that account for approximately 36% of a farms’ operating cost.

“In just over 2-years, I’ve seen an astonishing 264% increase in the cost of nitrogen fertilizer alone. My farm’s overall fertilizer cost has increased 241%,”

Vaughan says.

Farms are experiencing this price hit regardless of location. Jim Sugarek who farms near Bee County in South Texas also saw a 264% increase in fertilizer costs on his family farm.

“As I prepare to put a seed in the ground in just a few weeks, I couldn’t wait to see if these price hikes would settle to something close to a normal year – much less risk them surging even more,”

Sugarek says.

In the study’s historical analysis of the nitrogen fertilizer industry, four manufacturers, including CF Industries, Nutrien, Koch, and Yara-USA, account for approximately 75% of the total domestic nitrogen fertilizer production.

Inflation and supply chain issues experienced nationwide have been cited by the industry as key factors to the impact on farmers’ fertilizer prices. However, the study shows there are some trends to be considered to the contrary.

Namely, the industry indicates natural gas accounts for 70-90% of variable production costs for nitrogen fertilizer. The study finds that the increase in one type of nitrogen fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, the value of natural gas accounts for only 15%, or $102, of recent price increases.

“The study shows that once the value of natural gas has been subtracted from nitrogen, the residual tends to closely track the price of corn,”

Outlaw notes.

While this correlation could nod to increased demand for nitrogen products as corn prices rise, it could also be “due to the exercise of market power by nitrogen product manufacturers,” the study asserts.

“Our findings raise serious questions and clearly help explain the frustration with this situation farmers are feeling nationwide,”

Outlaw says.

The study was commissioned by state corn checkoffs and associations in Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

As noted in National Corn Growers Association’s release today, looming tariffs would add insult to injury. The AFPC study states,

“Any import tax on nitrogen fertilizers would raise prices for both domestically produced and imported fertilizer by the full amount of the tax rate multiplied by the pre-tax price.

“Fertilizers play an integral role in a crop’s health and success. The steep price hikes hitting farm country are alarming for corn farmers who count on nitrogen and other fertilizers for their plants to thrive. The breadth of how far-reaching this is impacting farmers is telling that something needs to be done to keep America’s farmers from bearing the burden of an industry pushing the limit of how thin they can cut a farms’ margins,”

Vaughan concludes.

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Jain announced that its Water Management Services, where Jain consultants deliver weekly irrigation schedules to growers based on satellite imagery, hyperlocal weather, and machine learning analysis of soil moisture content and water infiltration properties, has won the Irrigation Association 2021 New Product Contest Award in the Specialty Agriculture Irrigation category.

This year’s contest was a hybrid event combining virtual and live elements. Products were evaluated based on innovation, design quality, increased water/resource-use efficiency, ease of use, and product life expectancy. Contest judges are experienced professionals with technical knowledge and industry expertise. Official judging was conducted via Zoom Nov. 17-18, with winners announced live on the Irrigation Show floor on December 9.

Winning in the Specialty Agriculture Irrigation category, JAIN Water Management Services was honored for its highly integrated offering of agtech software, hardware, and consulting services that generate intelligent irrigation schedules; featuring the first-of-its-kind utilization of high-resolution satellite imaging for ETc (crop water consumption), real-time local weather and soil moisture sensing in the field, bundled together with Machine Learning toward providing unprecedented precision in the management of when and how long each crop irrigation event needs to last.

Accepting the award, Jeff Tuel, Executive Vice President of Jain Irrigation and head of Water Management Services, said,

“Growers today are facing environmental challenges the likes we’ve never seen before, in addition to incredible labor shortages. We developed JAIN Water Management Services to remove the hesitancy in deploying new technologies that can meet these problems head-on. While the tools may be complex, the process is quite simple and relies on tried-and-true soil, plant, and water relationships. The growers get this, and it’s remarkable to see how quickly over the course of the program they’re able to pick up the technology and start producing their own irrigation schedules.”

“The New Product Contest award is a great validation by the Irrigation Association and the members of our industry of the importance JAIN Water Management Services is having. Modern technology makes it easier to manage water than any time before in history, but agtech companies need to meet an even higher bar before farmers are willing to change how they operate and we have to be able to adapt along with them, too. Our ability to train and support customers to become power users of JAIN Logic software, to understand their problems, provides a low cost, the low-risk trial of the leading technology available today,”

said Aric Olson, President of Jain Irrigation.

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“The Fendt Rogator team is very pleased to accept CropLife IRON’s Product of the Year award. The product was designed to meet the needs of both farmers and retail operators by providing flexible capabilities in a format that improves usability and delivers a great return on investment. The tremendous response it’s received from customers and the industry has us very excited about the future,”

said Greg Pumo, marketing director, application equipment, Fendt North America.

The Fendt Rogator 900 Series Applicator is a self-propelled, rear-mounted boom applicator with dual-position, adjustable crop clearance for use from pre-plant to tall crops. The machine adjusts between standard (56-60”) and high clearance (72-76”) in less than 45 seconds with the push of a button. It can also be switched between liquid, dry pneumatic, or dry spinner delivery systems in as little as two hours. The result is a single, versatile solution for the year-round application of liquid or dry crop nutrients and crop protection products and seeding of cover crops, replacing multiple machines, and optimizing equipment investment. The applicator’s innovative design and versatility also allow for better control of timing and methods of applying products to help optimize yields and investment in crop care products.

“CropLife IRON started the Product of the Year competition so our readers would have the chance to vote for their favorite product releases each year. I’m happy that we were able to continue this fine tradition for the 2021 calendar year by honoring AGCO for the release of the company’s Fendt Rogator unit. This model was the overwhelming choice for the annual ShowStopper Award at this summer’s Midwest AG Industries Exposition (MAGIE), and now it has added the Product of the Year trophy to its list of awards as well,”

said Eric Sfiligoj, editor, CropLife, and CropLife IRON magazines.

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“High-value crop production requires the ability to pull implements and conduct harvesting operations over rows of varying widths without damaging the crop,”

said Dennis Ogle, marketing manager for John Deere.

“The 6120EH provides up to 30 inches of drawbar ground clearance to avoid damaging the plant or roots during applications such as cultivating, spraying, transplanting and harvest.”

In addition, specialty operations that include vegetables and fruit farms demand extra-slow tractor speeds than traditional transmissions may not be able to attain. The creeper transmission allows for speeds as low as .14 mph to accommodate hand-harvesting operations.

New features on the 6120EH include:

• High-crop axle maximum clearance of 33 inches
• Multiple tread spacings of 72, 76, 80 or 84 inches
• Creeper transmission minimum of .14 mph at rated engine speed
• LED lighting package
• Precision ag components (John Deere AutoTrac Universal 300, 4240 Universal Display, StarFire 6000 Receiver, and JDLink)
• Less drawbar and draft link option

“Input costs for growing high-value crops continue to rise each year. The 6120EH, with its high clearance, helps protect crops and maximize production and quality on every acre, while also improving harvesting efficiency,”

Ogle said.

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This machine offers a wide range of options for simultaneously spreading seeds, fertiliser and even catch crops. With it, Lemken, the specialist for professional arable farming, has expanded its portfolio to include a machine for consistently cost-optimised market fruit cultivation.

The seed hopper of the Solitair 9+ Duo holds 1,850 litres. Its capacity can be split 50/50 or 60/40, depending on needs. As a result, two application variants are possible:

• In the single-shot version, seeds and fertilizer are combined downstream from the two metering units in each of the two hopper segments. The different components are guided to the double-disc colters via a seed pipe and deposited in a seed furrow. This allows a suitable starting dose of fertiliser to be added for winter sowing or a complete fertiliser application for summer sowing. An automatic tramline mechanism is integrated into the distributors.
• The double-shot system provides greater deposition flexibility. With this system, the two components flow separately to a double-disc colter via doubled distributors in two seed pipes. They can then be spread either in a single row, as with the single-shot method, or separately and alternately in two rows following a quick exchange of the tramline cartridge in the distributor. In addition, the deposition depth of every other row can be adjusted separately via the pressure roller up to a difference of 5 cm. This allows two different seeds to be placed at different, optimum seeding depths or inter-row fertilisation to be applied while seeding.

The Solitair 9+ Duo is available in working widths of three and four metres. Orders are being accepted now; full availability is scheduled for January 2022.

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Full-area application of ground-applied herbicides from an additional tank is also possible on the same pass with a twin line system. Field trials to date show that the use of this technology reduces herbicide use by up to 90 percent in individual measures, depending on the weed pressure and field conditions. Extensive field trials this year in sugar beet, maize, and rape will further qualify the benefits of this technology.

The newly developed high-tech sprayer boom has the camera and lighting modules integrated in such a way that they are ready for field use and ensures precise spot application via the ContourControl active boom guidance system and the SwingStop active vibration damping system, which is unique on the market. The combination of individually switched pulse width frequency modulation (PWFM) valves and specially coordinated Agrotop Spot Fan nozzles with a 25 cm nozzle spacing ensures precise spot application and maximum saving potential at working speeds of up to 12 km/h.

Bosch’s image recognition system detects any weeds in milliseconds at a very early growth stage, in order to apply herbicides to the target surface with high precision and efficiency. The specially developed LED lighting technology provides support in difficult ambient conditions such as with shadows and, of course, at night.

Another advantage of the integrated SmartSprayer solution is its superiority over satellites and drones, as plants are detected in the millimeter range, making real-time applications possible.

The best field-specific setting and the recommended herbicide mixture for the SmartSprayer system and when they should be used are based on the advanced xarvio Agronomic Decision-making Engine (ADE) from BASF Digital Farming. Various parameters such as cropping, weed spectrum, and weather conditions, are automatically taken from xarvio FIELD MANAGER, processed to create a decision, and transferred to the SmartSpraying system in line with the good agricultural practice of integrated plant protection. This ensures that the herbicide application is carried out at the right place, the right time, and at the right intensity.

Together with Bosch and BASF Digital Farming, Amazone has carried out a wide range of research activities and implemented them in a marketable product with its interdisciplinary know-how. The gradual market introduction of this pioneering SmartSprayer technology, which is unique worldwide in its technical possibilities and system approach, will take place in the coming years.

Source: Amazone

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Despite the widespread prevalence of specialty crops – along with the fact they currently possess a market value of $79.8 billion (which accounts for more than 16% of total agricultural output) – so often this segment of agriculture gets overlooked.

Specialty crops explained

It’s easy to understand why. “Specialty crops” is a relatively broad term and one which encompasses many different things. According to the 2004 Farm Bill, specialty crops are defined as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).” Even this definition is broad, given that so many different products can fall under “fruits” and “vegetables.” And often, when we talk about agriculture, the focus finds itself aimed primarily at row crops or animal agriculture. While row crops constitute a select few crops that are oftentimes harvested with a combine and make up the majority of U.S. farmland, specialty crops are most often found in California and Florida.

However, the number of specialty crops being planted is growing more and more in areas across the United States. Recent estimates found there are now more than 184,000 specialty crop farms spanning over 10.4 million acres of farmland. Despite the fact that U.S. specialty crop production is a big part of overall U.S. agricultural production, it does face a number of significant challenges.

Learn more about AEM’s Specialty Crop Leadership Group and other leadership groups like it.

Challenges and opportunities

U.S. producers often find themselves at a disadvantage on a global (and even domestic) scale because, in most areas across the country, year-round production is impossible. And, unlike with row crops, specialty crops can’t be raised in bulk and stored to be sold throughout the year due to freshness concerns. In addition, specialty crops are often much more weather-sensitive than their counterparts. This makes them extremely vulnerable to instances like the recent extreme weather seen across the southern part of the U.S., one which resulted in specialty crop losses of more than $600 million.

To make matters worse, domestic production has also been hit hard by the ongoing trade war. The U.S. continues to import a number of specialty crop products, which drives down domestic prices, and other countries have hit U.S.-produced specialty crops with high tariffs. Meanwhile, Europe has imposed over $4 billion in tariffs on a number of U.S. products. The impacts of those tariffs could be substantial, with NC State estimating sweet potato exports alone potentially seeing a reduction of $70 million.

And, as is the case with most things, specialty crops have been negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID-19 emerged last spring, it was estimated that Florida strawberry production alone lacked 30% of the labor it needed. Specialty crops are one of the most labor-intensive forms of agriculture that exists today. This is because most operations have a heavy reliance on H-2A temporary agricultural workers. During the pandemic, many of these workers were cut off from coming to the U.S., and those who were permitted had to have special accommodations, as producers also must provide these workers with housing as well. Even before the pandemic, however, the demand for workers had already far exceeded supply.

While numerous challenges exist, it isn’t all bad news for the specialty crop sector. An annual growth rate of 2.6% is projected over the course of the next decade, and commodity prices have already climbed nearly 40% since 2011. Ultimately, though, it remains to be seen if the challenges facing specialty crops will limit the extent to which producers are able to take advantage of opportunities for growth.

Increased innovation among equipment manufacturers

Specialty crops are often sold in the form they are harvested, largely because aesthetics matter to many consumers. This has made developing harvesting equipment even more difficult, as most people don’t want to buy bruised or damaged fruits and vegetables. As a result, several manufacturers have found ways to develop machinery that can harvest these products in a gentle enough way, so as not to damage the product. Doing so has helped make the equipment more appealing and for some specialty crop products, such as potatoes, harvesting equipment has been around for ages. However, most harvesting equipment is still relatively new and not as widely adopted.

While the mechanization of specialty crop harvesting has been slow and very difficult due to the nature of the crop and consumer expectations, a number of products are already on the market today, including harvesters from AEM member companies New Holland, Pellenc, Gregoire, The Morning Star Company and Oxbo.

Most of these machines can match the output of 20 people on a per-hour basis. This goes a long way in helping to address the labor shortages that this industry faces, while also providing a more secure and reliable source of food. In reducing labor needs, machinery also improves producer margins due to the reduced labor cost that would otherwise be needed. All in all, they make the industry more attractive from a producer standpoint through the improved margins and a worker standpoint due to reduced physical labor and better paying, skilled jobs.

The following article was written by Austin Gellings, AEM Agricultural Services Manager

Source: AEM

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