Entering 2021 and coming out of a global pandemic, FieldWatch is operating in the virtual space much like so many other businesses and entities are and have been for a year now. Has that affected what we do? Short answer - NO. IT affects HOW we do it, but not what. As we enter 2021, we have had some changes and we are ready to take 2021 by storm to help get our registries and tools into the hands of more folks to promote stewardship and communication. Here are the changes / updates that FieldWatch has for 2021:   Bob Walters has taken over as President / CEO as of October of 2020 Curt Hadley has been hired as of Jan 2021 as Business Development Manager   SeedFieldCheck is moving into 4 more states after a successful 2020 pilot in Iowa. IL, IN, MI, & NE are coming on-board. CropCheck for Row Crop Producers continues to grow and is in AR, IL, IN, OH & NC Industrial Hemp has been added as a specialty crop in most of our user states   As of mid-February ...

Guest blog by: Craig Romary, Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture In 2008, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) became aware of a cooperative project between the Nebraska Winery and Grape Grower Association (NWGGA) and the Nebraska Aviation Trades Association (NATA), where tall, visible flags were used to mark vineyard locations. This aligned with what NDA pesticide inspectors were hearing from applicators during drift inspections – “we didn’t know they (the specialty crop) were there.”  NDA also heard about other states’ online mapping systems at that time, appreciated their value and applied for grant funds to develop one for our program.  With help from the NWGGA and the University of Nebraska Center for Land Management Information Technologies, the Sensitive Crop Locater was developed. In 2012, NDA joined DriftWatch. Participation has grown incrementally each year since then, although we are still trying to reach more commercial specialty crop growers and beekeepers,...

  RED GOLD Growers Use Drift Watch Roger Gunning (Contributor) Even Red Gold growers can experience damage to their tomato crops from spray drift during the growing season. While the level of spray drift damage may change in severity each year, the consistency that  Drift Watch  provides is essential to bring awareness to the location of our sensitive tomato crops. This awareness is beneficial in order to reduce costly spray drift .  However, we have found that over the last twelve years, we have experienced a decline in our drift claims with the use of Drift Watch. Drift Watch greatly reduces cost for both the grower and the applicator of sensitive crops through reduced drift claims and lost time. If you are an applicator, the cost of joining  Drift Watch  may seem to be an unnecessary expense. However, in perspective, your membership is less than an average spray drift claim. At Red Gold, we proudly promote Drift Watch and have successfully experienced it...