Farm Works Welcomes DAAS (Danish Agricultural Advisory Society)

Nine individuals from the DAAS (Danish Agricultural Advisory Service) traveled to the Farm Works headquarters in Hamilton, IN on May 22, 2006.  DAAS is composed of 3,300 professionals who work with farmers in Denmark to improve crop production.  Farmers in Denmark face similar challenges as US farmers, income, yield potential, price, traceability, plant protection, and nutrient management are all concerns for a declining farm population.  The DAAS is trying to help farmers address these issues by recommending computer software solutions.  Members of the DAAS were already familiar with Site Mate for GPS mapping of field boundaries, soil sampling, and scouting fields for weeds and other pests.  While touching on some of those topics at the one-day event, Farm Works Employees also presented the DAAS members with other uses of Site Mate and mobile computers, including variable rate product application, and integrating Site Mate with Trac Mate and Guide Mate.  By integrating Trac Mate the Danish farmers would be able to tie GPS maps to crop records helping to solve the issue of traceability.  The Guide Mate software would add the additional benefit of GPS guidance to save product usage on specialty crops, such as hops and tobacco, thus reducing production costs and increasing profitability.

After the presentation at Farm Works the nine members of DAAS traveled to a local farm in Angola, IN. Matt Ridenour, owner of Ridenour Farms, shared his knowledge of GPS and how he has applied this technology to his farm.  Everyone had an opportunity to view the GPS receivers, guidance systems, and software that he has installed on his equipment.  Matt informed the group how the technology has increased his ability to cover more ground with less overlap, and saved him money by allowing him to use fewer inputs.  Matt also stressed the importance of traceability on roundup ready corn and bean varieties and how record keeping and accountability will continue to be a key issue in the future.  To solve the traceability issue, Matt has installed a Pocket PC with Farm Works Trac Mate and Site Mate in to his equipment.  Using an available 9-pin serial port from a Raven 115 GPS receiver, Matt was able to tie his existing GPS receiver to the Pocket PC and use an implement switch to stop and log data automatically.  After the meeting at Ridenour Farms, Farm Works treated the nine members of DAAS to a local favorite American restaurant.

A Little More about Agriculture in Denmark
Even though Denmark is one the smallest Scandinavian nations, it has become one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products.  Because of the large output of agricultural and industrial produce, Denmark enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world.  Most of Denmark's land is used for farming with over 50,000 farmers.  The majority of the farms (80%) in the country are smaller than 50 hectares (124 acres.) About seventy-five percent of Denmark's land is used for raising crops and other agricultural products. Most of the agricultural production in Denmark is centered in the land of Jutland.  Denmark grows many grain crops including barley, oats, wheat, rye, flax, hemp, hops, and tobacco. Approximately 75% of the crops raised are used for feed for livestock. Some of the most important livestock industries in Denmark are raising hogs, beef or dairy cattle and chickens.  Danish butter, cheese, eggs (the eggs are marked Danish), and meats are known all over the world.  Ninety percent of the agricultural income comes from animal production. 

For more information on the Danish Agricultural Advisory Service, click here.

Documented by Brian Stark
Sales & Marketing Manager

Pictures from the Event
(Click on Picture to Enlarge)