Building Rx while in the Field

I'm pretty pumped that planting is underway in Indiana.  Since I can't resist sharing ideas on this blog, I thought I'd throw one out there for you all to chew on.  Share it!  (links are embedded so you could make it work while you are planting if so inclined!)

I just used my iPhone to create a VR Seed map in Optmzr, download, extract and post to Dropbox!  What does this mean?

If a farmer has an iPad connected to a 20/20 they can create and get fresh Rx while in the field. (not quite yet... see below for UPDATE.)   Here is how:

1.        Log into Optmzr.  Run solver.  Download Shapefile (create account if you haven't yet)

2.       Select “Open With…”

a.       Select iZip app (install iZip app first if you haven’t yet.)

3.       Extract contents into a new folder using iZip app.

4.       With iZip still open, navigate to files you want to send to Dropbox, ignoring Nitrogen files, or vice versa with seed depending on what you are doing. (Optmzr downloads all VR applications to that field every time since they can change with the weather.)

a.       Highlight appropriate files (need .shp, .dbf and .shx)

b.      Select “Send” from iZip app and chose Dropbox as the destination (install Dropbox app on iPad if haven’t already.)

c.       Select desired folder to place files in.

5.       Files appear in DropBox.

With this complete you may “Share” the folder to customer (or use your own FieldView if you’re a farmer)  and download files to your iPad and port rates files into your 20/20 per FieldView steps.

All of this can be done with the iPad while in the field if you have an internet connection.  And, the shapefiles are small so they move easy.

I’m going to field now to test it on a 20/20.

(UPDATE:  Well, the farmer was kind enough to spend three minutes and go through steps with me... the trouble is the FieldView app does not allow you to pick from the DropBox folder.  I grabbed my Chromebook, connected to my iPhone hotspot and downloaded zip files.  The grower then logged into his FieldView app and we uploaded the zip folder without extracting... then, synced his iPad and "bam" he had it on his 20/20.  Very slick... but not yet totally doable via iPad only.  Please comment if we missed something!)