Editors' Notebook
MyDTN Features Enhanced Weather, Cash Grain Data
By DTN/Progressive Farmer Staff
OMAHA (DTN) -- DTN subscription customers using the MyDTN online and mobile products will notice a number of enhanced features following an update that was launched Dec. 4.
Top of the "what's new" list is the integration of local weather station information, for customers who are part of the DTN Ag Weather Station network, into a new DTN weather station console. Ag Weather Station users can access their on-farm weather station data and that from others in the network that they've chosen. The new feature allows users to either compare conditions across the local weather stations they've selected or to drill down into detailed conditions at a specific location.
The new weather features work regardless of whatever device -- computer, tablet or smartphone -- the farmer has set up to access MyDTN.
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These weather condition comparisons would allow a farmer to see which fields in his area have the best wind speed conditions for spraying, for example, or to better judge which fields would be driest for field work following scattered storms.
Growers with DTN Ag Weather Stations that include premium weather sensor capabilities, which provide real-world readings of soil moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation and a rating for leaf wetness conditions, can use the new MyDTN weather station console to observe and compare those details.
Information on the weather station network can be found at http://www.dtn.com/…
Customers currently using DTN Standard, DTN Grains Pro or other platforms can learn more about the new MyDTN product at http://www.dtn.com/…
FIND THE BEST GRAIN DEAL
A second key update to the MyDTN platform is an improved cash grain calculation that automatically factors grain transportation charges when comparing cash bids within the DTN Cash Grain database.
The "My Net Price" feature adds the option to add either a standard transportation costs or the grower's own costs to the "My DTN Grain Bids" area, letting the user see the true best deal for grain buyers in his or her delivery area. Adding specific transportation rates is done through the "Settings" area. Growers can add bushels per load, fuel and labor costs per mile for calculating true costs. Growers hauling their own grain can also add in an unloaded "return-trip" cost to the calculation -- though there isn't yet a way to price in that "backhaul" of Christmas presents, meals at a favorite but far-off restaurant, visits to lonely college students or other intangibles that might be part of a trip to a particular delivery point.
The entire MyDTN product was designed and launched in mid-2014 to create a consistent "look" to critical weather, markets and news information regardless of the device used. As a farmer moves from the desktop in the office to a laptop or to a tablet or mobile phone in the field, the look and feel is familiar and easy to navigate. MyDTN also allows users to customize the look of specific areas to highlight information that user wants to see at first glance.
This latest MyDTN update was scheduled to coincide with the DTN/The Progressive Farmer Ag Summit, which takes place December 8-10 at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel. Summit participants will be among the first to get to "test drive" the new online functions. For information on Ag Summit, see http://goo.gl/…
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