With the expansion of mobile technology there are more and more mobile apps being developed to support farms and ranches. Many of these mobile apps are designed to help to collect information and determine issues that might be coming up for farmers in their fields, soil, weather and other updates concerning their land and crops. This can all be collected on their smartphone.   

Specifically, there are helpful apps working with weed and pest identification, weather, field mapping, commodity pricing, irrigation tools, pesticide application charts and more.

Some people love all the tech and gadgets and of course, some people do not! Here are some agricultural technology mobile apps to check out.

AGriMobile 
This app features commodity news, weather, local cash grain quotes and charts, as well as local news.

Xarvio 
A scouting app that identifies weeds, recognizes diseases, analyses leaf damage and field stress, crop emergence analysis and shows the nitrogen uptake.

FarmDog App
Scout your fields for issues, share field observations and treatment decisions.

Field check App
View pesticide applicators of any kind to locate specialty crop and beehive locations from their mobile device or tablet.

FieldNet mobile
This is a remote irrigation management tool. You can remotely change your irrigation as it shows irrigation pivots.

Aphid Speed Scout
Is an app through the University of Nebraska. It helps you track your aphid counts on soybeans (or other crops).

Pl@ntNet 
This is a plant identification tool. You can sort by your location what types of weeds you find.

Ag PHD App
This app helps you identify problems in your field specifically with weeds and insects. It gives you the name, a photo and some control recommendations.

Fambrite
While you're checking out the mobile technology please keep in mine our software, Farmbrite. Our farm management app lets you track farm mapping and planning, weather updates, organization, and spending all while on the go.

There are more and more agricultural apps popping up all the time with the goal of helping farmers and ranchers identify problems and solve them quickly.  

Agriculture has been with us for a very long time. Even if we don't work in agriculture it impacts our daily lives. Here are 7 fun facts about agriculture!

Here are some interesting facts about agriculture:

40% of the worlds population is in agriculture.
It makes sense. We need agriculture to survive.
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Cows are big producers.
They produce a lot of milk and meat. They also eat- a ton, literally.

9 million organic producers world wide - and growing.
There are many producers that use organic process but just haven't gotten the designation yet. There is a word for this-transitional. 

Some plants need cold weather to flower.
Cold stratification on seeds and plants signals the plant to be dormant and then once it warms up again the plant is ready to reproduce. 

Crayons are grown - from soybeans
The soybean oil from one bushel of soybeans will make 2,112 crayons. One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons!

30% of the 3.3 million farm operators are women.
Women farm operators have increased 20% from 2002, and more than 75% of women farm operators are owners of their land. Globally, 70% of all farmers are women. 

Fungus helps trees grow
Because the fine threads that make fungal mycelium, it can spread over long distances, fungi can capture water and nutrients from far away and bring them back along the fine threads and close to plants roots.

Cover crops are used for many reasons and can greatly improve your soil. They can greatly reduce weeds, improve soil help build, improving soil fertility and quality while controlling diseases and pests, and promoting biodiversity as well as reducing soil erosion. 

How Cover Crops Reduce Soil Erosion:
Vegetation plays a vital role in controlling erosion by:

• Shielding the soil surface from the impact from rainfall.
• Holds soil in place. 
• Prevents crust formation.
• Improves the soil’s capacity to absorb water.
• Slows the velocity of runoff. 
• Soaks up water between storms through the plants. 

Soil type, depth, water-holding capacity, and fertility all affect plant growth. Depending on the crop you intend on planting you can increase fertility by growing legumes and incorporating them at the proper time in order to provide nitrogen.

If you have clay or if water penetration is poor in your soil, cover crops with fibrous root systems, such as cereals,  can be grown to improve the physical structure of the soil. 

Four classes of cover crops:
1.) Grasses/Grains 

• Rye
• Wheat
• Barley
• Oats

2.) Legumes 

• Alfalfa
• Red clover
• Fava
• Vetch
• Cowpeas

3.) Brassicas 

• Radish
• Turnip
• Rapeseed
• Arugula
• Mustard  

4.) Broadleaves 

• Spinach
• Flax
• Marigold
• Buckwheat

Planting cover crops:
Plant your cover crop strategically in the fall so that in will grow faster than the weeds in the spring.  Maximum effects are achieved by planting early in the fall or in the late summer into a prepared seedbed followed by an irrigation to increase germination, early growth, and soil cover. 

Seedbed Preparation:
Regardless of the cover crop species selected, soil preparation is relatively standard. Preparing a well granulated, soft, friable, and moist seedbed generally works well for virtually any cover crop species.

Seeding:
Cover crop seed can be planted either with a drill or a broadcast seeder. Drills place the seed with much more precision than broadcast seeders but either can be used. 

Watering after seeding helps ensure successful germination and establishment of the crop. Once germinated, many cover crop species can survive drought fairly well. 

Mowing:
Mowing the cover crop can actually improve cover crop establishment and performance. Mowing removes taller weeds that can shade the cover crop. Mowing also encourages the growth of shoots from the crown of the plant, spreading, and flowering. Many cover crop species are pasture forages which respond well to grazing. 

No-Till versus Till:
Whether to till or not is an important consideration while choosing a cover crop strategy. Preventing soil erosion and saving energy are two benefits to no-till management strategy. Another benefit is firm footing in wet weather, which can make a tremendous difference, especially if your area receives a high volume of rains.  Growers also often report fewer insect and mite pest problems in no-till areas. 

What is no till? No-till planting refers to the planting of primary crops into actively growing cover crops. This practice can be used when planting a grain crop. The other type of no-till involves planting into a bed where the cover crop was killed 2 or 3 weeks before planting time.

Annual Cover Crops Green manures: 
Green manure cover crops are typically planted from roughly September to early December or into the spring. They consist of winter annual grasses, legumes, or flowering plants. If the green manure is used to add nitrogen, legumes are used alone or in combination with non-legumes, usually cereals. These plants store nitrogen in their roots and are tilled/mulched into the soil to decompose and add nutrients to the soil.

How much nitrogen?
Research indicates that legume cover crops can fix from 50 to 200 pounds per planted acre of nitrogen. The amount of fixation depends on the cover crop species, soil pH, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil nitrogen status, and inoculation.

Microorganisms:
Although invisible to the naked eye, soil microorganisms are an important part your soil, and are a potentially valuable asset to your next harvest. The value lies in the role they play in the decomposition of organic matter, improvement of soil structure, cycling of nutrients, and as a living reservoir of nutrients. The microbial community is most beneficial to the grower when it is diverse, abundant, and active. Microbial populations play active and passive roles in soil fertility and should be taken into consideration to improve soil health. 

At the end of the day we could go on and on about cover crops and the numerous benefits to planting them. There is no universal cover crop for all agricultural operations. The choice of cover crop systems depends largely on the benefits you hope to gain from the cover crop. Cover crops should be chosen for their suitability for a production system and the style of farming that the manager wishes to use. The cover crop’s physical stature, water use, and ease of establishment/maintenance are only a few reasons why they should be chosen carefully. That being said, there are a tremendous amount of cover crops  to choose from. Start small and experiment to determine which type will most benefit you.

​You asked for it, so we developed it. The Farmbrite mobile App is out!
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Built by farmers for farmers. The Farmbrite native mobile App for IOS is a simple to use all-in-one agricultural operating system for your farm or livestock business. We've developed Farmbrite to make it simple to plan your season, manage your resources, track your operations, measure your output and understand what is working well and what is not providing valuable insights that can help you run a more efficient and profitable agriculture business.

Running your agricultural business just got a whole lot easier. You don't need an internet connection to input your data, just your mobile device. The information will sync to your account when you're back in range.

Run your farm business from anywhere, anytime.

Key Farmbrite mobile features:

• Easily view, update and add all your Farmbrite data on and offline.
  
  
• Farm management: Manage your schedule and track farm task completion. Scan Farmbrite QR codes to quickly access crop, livestock, and equipment records to support quick and easy updates and note entry.
  
  
• Livestock record keeping: Easily track your livestock health, growth rates, vaccination records, treatments, yields and profits and more. Log animal records from anywhere.
  
  
• Crop & field record keeping: Easily plan and track all your crop production. Record notes, harvests, soil health, crop or field amendments & treatments and more.
  
  
• Accounting: Easily record income & expenses on the go. Then (from the web version) you can easily generate a profit & loss statement at the click of a button and be ready for tax time with IRS Schedule F compatible reporting.
  
  
• Equipment: Easily manage and track all your tools, equipment and machinery by keeping notes, photos and service and maintenance records in a single location. Need quick access to an online manual? No problem…just store a link in Farmbrite to quickly access it anytime and anywhere.
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• To use the Farmbrite mobile app you'll need a paid Professional Subscription.

Learn more about Farmbrite
Check out our Plans & Pricing  (Professional Plan required for mobile app access)

Here are 6 tips to help get your farm or ranch ready for the cold.