Technology has been able to transform modern-day agriculture in amazing ways - and according to some experts - what we see now is just the tip of the iceberg.
Shaun Haney, a self-described Ag Nerd, writes reviews for TheMobileFarmer.com to help farmers make smart decisions about smart phone technology and more. Haney says the use of mobile devices on the farm is increasing dramatically:
“There just so functional. Between keeping field notes, or seeing what’s going on in the market, email, having all your contacts in one device that backs up with your computer, instead of having it in notebooks and notebooks that are flying around in the wind, or flying out the window of the combine or the truck. They just provide so much value.”
Many producers are finding themselves wondering if an iPad would be better than an iPhone for their particular needs, but Haney says in some cases:
“Maybe it is a little of ‘walk before you run’, but certain things like field mapping software, and things like that, sometimes screen real estate is very important. Some of the Smart phones do have small screens. Screen real estate can be very important depending on what you’re doing. So, for me, it’s both. For some people starting with a Smart phone and getting used to how the devices work before jumping into something like an iPad or a Playbook, or one of the Android tablets.”
Haney admits that the choices for ag-related apps have taken a little while to develop but he expects that to change soon as by the end of this year nearly 50% of producers will have some type of mobile device. As of right now though, there are some very useful apps out there:
“DuPont has a tank mix app, DeKalb Genuity Traits has a Genuity app that’s really good. DeKalb has a soybean and corn planter calculator that’s really good. So, there’s more and more coming, but it is right now…the ag specific apps are slowly rolling to the market, but as I look at the different app stores the numbers continue to increase. So, I think a year from now we’ll look back and say ‘Wow!’, we’ve come a long way.”
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