Trimble Announces Expanded Capabilities for Field-IQ System

Adds More Variable Rate and Boom Control Options for Sprayers, Spreaders and NH3 Applicators

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Aug 31, 2010, 06:31 ET

BOONE, Iowa, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB) announced today new and enhanced variable rate and boom control options to the versatile Field-IQ™ crop input control system. The expanded capabilities help farmers manage pest and nutrient applications by avoiding spray overlap with automatic or manual control of up to 48 sections—more sections controlled than any other variable rate system in the industry today. For added simplicity, convenience and savings, farmers can use the same display that guides the vehicle to also control a planter, sprayer, spreader, and anhydrous ammonia (NH3) strip-till.

The announcement was made today at the Farm Progress show, the nation's largest outdoor farm show.

The Field-IQ system can apply liquid or granular products by prescription maps and will keep records of what and how much was applied. The modular system can also save costs at installation by connecting to existing components already in the sprayer such as valves, flow meters and existing cab-mounted switches.

Field-IQ is compatible with both the FmX® integrated display and the new CFX-750™ display, Trimble's new 8-inch, color touch screen offering affordable guidance, steering and precision agriculture capabilities.

Control of Material Applications

The Field-IQ system controls material application for self-propelled and pull-behind sprayers, self-propelled and pull-behind spreaders, anhydrous ammonia and strip-till applicators.

More Options for Spreading

The Field-IQ system will now control not only the highly accurate Rawson™ PAR 2 and 40 drives, but also integrates into existing Servo and PWM valves that are already installed in most spreaders, ensuring an easy connection.

Additional Capabilities for Strip Till and Toolbar Applications

Previous strip till capabilities with Field-IQ included liquid fertilizer; the enhanced system now also supports NH3 and granular fertilizer applications.

"Field-IQ was designed to give farmers and custom applicators easier and more affordable ways to control, monitor and map variable rate inputs such as seed, chemicals and fertilizer," said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble's Agriculture Division. "These new features to the system provide additional season-long solutions that save input expenses and improve crop yields while being compatible with many kinds of equipment already at work in the field. It's part of the full precision ag solution from Trimble which also includes nitrogen sensors to save in fertilizer costs, yield monitoring to measure the results and desktop software to analyze results and generate prescription files to seamlessly tie operations together."

The new capabilities for variable rate and boom control on the Field-IQ system are expected to be available in September 2010. Contact a local Trimble dealer at www.trimble.com/locator for more information.

About Trimble's Agriculture Division

Trimble's Agriculture Division is a leader in precision agriculture and guidance, operating globally with resellers throughout the world. Trimble's Connected Farm™ solutions help customers operate farm vehicles and implements more efficiently, save on input costs, and increase yield and productivity. Solutions include vehicle and implement guidance and steering; application control for seed, liquid, and granular products; laser- and GPS-based water management technology; record keeping and seamless field-to-office information management. For more information, visit: www.trimble.com/agriculture.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location--including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.

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SOURCE Trimble