Atlanta, Georgia and St. Louis,
Missouri
June 10, 2009
Addition to Agriculture News &
Forecast Site Makes it Most Comprehensive Online Resource for
Farmers
The Weather Channel Interactive
(TWCi), in continued partnership with agricultural products
leader Monsanto Company
(NYSE: MON), announces the launch of the Growing Degree Days
calculator, an exciting new enhancement to its popular
Agriculture News & Forecast section at
www.weather.com/farming.
The Web site section, launched in January, has been a success
with the agricultural community. As growers began using the
site, they also offered feedback about future designs including
the addition of a growing degree day calculator. TWCi and
Monsanto have worked together to create the easiest-to-use
online tool available to compute growing degree days (GDD), a
measurement that relates to anticipated crop growth by
calculating the amount of accumulated heat over a specific
period of time. Farmers simply enter location, select a base
temperature, and choose start and end dates to get their GDD
result.
“The growth and development of crops is directly impacted by the
growing degree days, and having this information available can
help farmers make better informed management decisions,” said
Boyd Carey, lead of technology development for Monsanto. “TWCi
has created an easy way for growers to run those calculations to
compare different years at a given location. In a spring like
this one where we’ve had so much rain and so many cloudy days
across our agricultural production areas, this tool could prove
useful immediately.”
Farmers can compare two different years’ GDD (as far back as
2003) for the same date range and location. Additionally, each
calculation – one of the most complex on weather.com – includes
the 30-year-average GDD for the selected dates and location,
alerting farmers to the typical GDD for the selected time frame
and location.
The Growing Degree Days calculator uses both forecast and
30-year climatology data from The Weather Channel, allowing for
past, present or future calculations. The calculator draws from
the most accurate weather data available, using proprietary
TruPoint technology created by The Weather Channel. TruPoint
forecasts allow for future weather information accurate up to 2
kilometers (1.24 miles). This technology combines traditional
weather observations with even more data to create forecasts for
more than 1.9 million locations – literally filling in the gaps
of the reporting systems used by other providers.
“This practical tool for the agricultural community is the
result of true collaboration between weather.com and Monsanto,”
said Sheila Buckley, vice president of national sales for TWCi.
“Feedback from our Monsanto partnership has enabled us to create
the most comprehensive weather resource for farmers available
anywhere online.”
The Growing Degree Days calculator is a useful addition to
www.weather.com/farming, which launched in January 2009 and
offers several components to help farmers make crop management
decisions, including:
- An in-depth Farmers
Forecast that includes the most detailed data on weather
conditions affecting crops – precipitation, wind, soil
moisture, sunrise and sunset times, and UV index
- Severe weather alerts to
warn farmers with freeze, frost, high wind or hail
indicators
- 36-hour and 10-day
forecasts and an almanac to compare typical and historical
weather data
- More than 30 regional and
national maps, including drought severity, soil moisture,
rainfall estimates, precipitation forecasts, optimal
planting schedules and first and last freeze norms
- An interactive map with
customized points of interest and weather layers such as
radar, clouds, dew point, wind speed, temperature and past
precipitation
To get the latest farming forecast
and agriculture news, please visit
www.weather.com/farming.
About The Weather Channel Interactive
The Weather Channel Interactive (TWCI) is the leading provider
of broadband and wireless weather products including
weather.com, The Weather Channel Desktop and The Weather Channel
Mobile. weather.com, the Web site of The Weather Channel, is the
ultimate source of weather on the Web helping users plan their
lives by delivering timely current conditions, expert forecasts
and relevant lifestyle content for 98,000 location IDs
worldwide. TWCI reaches more than 35 million unique users online
each month and is the most popular source of online weather,
news and information according to Nielsen//NetRatings. TWCI also
provides consumers with unique and customizable products such as
Desktop Weather, toolbars, extensions, widgets, gadgets, and a
full lineup of mobile services including downloads, messaging,
mobile Web, and mobile video. Other TWCi sites include
forGetaway.com, a vacation home rental site, Forecast Earth, a
site dedicated to the discussion of climate change, and a series
of international sites, including www.weather.co.uk,
www.meteo123.com, www.wetter123.com, www.canaldotempo.com and
www.weather.com/espanol.
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains
focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to
produce more from their land while conserving more of our
world's natural resources such as water and energy. |
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