The Daily Statesman reports Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., will begin offering a one year Precision Agriculture certificate in the spring of 2016.

It's one thing to have issues with your own precision farming equipment, but when you're a custom applicator serving a 60-mile radius of farmers who operate more than 20,000 acres, precision equipment uptime takes on a new meaning.

The editors of Farm Equipment have announced a special workshop to kick off the Dealership Minds Summit on Jan. 13-14, 2015, Cincinnati. A 90-minute session will cover “Strategies for Capital Access & Transitional Wealth Management in Equipment Dealerships” and delivered by industry veterans Nick Mast and Tom Owen of ChannelMASTERS.

Staying on top of new products and the support required to keep a dealership's suite of products running smoothly are difficult tasks. Lance Larsen, precision ag specialist with South Dakota Wheat Growers, talks about the importance of training, especially as it relates the the OEMs.

AGCO has announced a new customer support resource, the Fuse Contact Center, to assist customers with setup, calibration and operation of AGCO precision agriculture and machine communication technology products.

Growing up, I was a fan of the so-called ‘spaghetti’ westerns, especially the ones where Clint Eastwood squinted his way through a series of prolonged gunfights with a lit cigar clenched between his teeth.

Question: What types of continuing training/education does your dealership require in the area of precision farming and in which areas is training/education most lacking?

A progressive approach to recruiting and training precision farming specialists can help dealers land talent in a competitive market.

Proper training and preparation can reduce stress levels for precision farming technicians during busy seasons.