Better Farming November 2016 FarmNews First > BetterFarming.com 49 Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship ® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. These products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from these products can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for these products. Excellence Through Stewardship ® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready ® technology contains genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup ® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate and dicamba. Agricultural herbicides containing glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate, and those containing dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Contact your Monsanto dealer or call the Monsanto technical support line at 1-800-667-4944 for recommended Roundup Ready ® Xtend Crop System weed control programs. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for canola contains the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil and thiamethoxam. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for canola plus Vibrance ® is a combination of two separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil, thiamethoxam, and sedaxane. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for corn (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for corn (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin and ipconazole. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for corn with Poncho ® /VoTivo™ (fungicides, insecticide and nematicide) is a combination of five separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, clothianidin and Bacillus firmus strain I-1582. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for soybeans (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl and imidacloprid. Acceleron ® seed applied solutions for soybeans (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin and metalaxyl. Acceleron ® , Cell-Tech™, DEKALB and Design ® , DEKALB ® , Genuity and Design ® , Genuity ® , JumpStart ® , Optimize ® , RIB Complete ® , Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design ® , Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™, Roundup Ready 2 Yield ® , Roundup Ready ® , Roundup Transorb ® , Roundup WeatherMAX ® , Roundup Xtend™, Roundup ® , SmartStax ® , TagTeam ® , Transorb ® , VaporGrip ® , VT Double PRO ® , VT Triple PRO ® and XtendiMax ® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Used under license. Fortenza ® and Vibrance ® are registered trademarks of a Syngenta group company. LibertyLink ® and the Water Droplet Design are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. Herculex ® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Used under license. Poncho ® and Votivo™ are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. ©2016 Monsanto Canada Inc. I n late August, both Case IH and New Holland unveiled concept autonomous tractors. These announcements led me to reflect on the developments in our industry so far over my lifetime. The early years As a young lad in the 1950s, I remem- ber my first tractor-driving lesson. My brother put me on the tractor, showed me the basic operations and then stood back. I soon learned to manoeuver that 20-something horsepower Ford 8N that didn’t have a fuel gauge or power steering. I persevered and became a reliable/ dependable operator. I plowed with two-furrow plows, worked ground with an eight-foot cultivator and planted with an old 13-run grain drill on steel wheels. Strangely enough, I still have a Ford 8N tractor, as well as a 15-run grain drill, which is on steel wheels. Neither one has been in the field for the last 30 years. Moving on As an engineering student in the early1960s, I had to program a massive IBM computer using the Fortran language and punch cards. I vowed then that computers would never replace the trusty slide rule - at least in my work. Looking back, I did pass the “computer appreciation course” and still have the log/log slide rule in my desk drawer for nostalgic reasons. I also remember the first GPS I put on the combine in the mid-1990s to permit the yield monitor to provide yield maps. That early GPS had to receive a signal from a ground-based beacon in the United States in order to stabilize or correct its signal to the yield monitor. Those early yield maps provided some fantastically interest- ing comparative yield data within a field. High-resolution satellite mapping With the availability of these maps, it is absolutely incredible what you can see on and around your own proper- ties, as well as those of the neigh- bours. Fortunately or unfortunately at present, they only provide a one-shot look at crops and property boundar- ies. However, conservation authority personnel are working to permit digital map layering to highlight erosion-susceptible areas of fields and to see erosion rates. The availability of such information will allow conscien- tious operators to take action to minimize erosion, such as by switch- ing to no-till farming or putting in grassed waterways. Tracking systems With the advances in GPS technolo- gy, farmers can now use auto steering to help eliminate planting overlap - which saves seed and fertilizer and re- duces potential harvesting problems. These same field-mapping systems How far can technology take us? by RALPHWINFIELD HOW IT WORKS My restored Ford 8N tractor is still in use. It really has more sentimental than actual value. Ag equipment and technology have developed substantially since the 1950s. Consider the advances in auto steering, GPS technology and the recent unveiling of concept autonomous tractors.