The Rural Voice, 1999-04, Page 64STA ii7CHOICE
Elevate Your Expectations
DIGITAL SATELLITE SYSTEM
Age -A.~444 cesato;v
OVER
140
Precision Ag
Information
Weather -
• Radar Maps with
Zoom and Motion
• Detailed local info
Quotes —
• Commodities.
options and
stocks, continuous updates
News -
Market commentary and reports
AVAILABLE ON STARCHOICE
Call Toll Free 1-877-4AG-CAST
www.agcastcanada.com
TM
CHANNELS
AVAILABLE
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APPLIANCES & ELECTRONICS
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60 THE RURAL VOICE
Ag riTec h
Following the markets via satellite
By Janice Becker
With the newest innovation in
direct -to -home satellite service,
farmers can Zink into current
commodity prices, catch a weather
forecast or consider futures pricing
by simply turning on their computer.
Agcast Canada,
an "agricultural
information ser-
vice" through the
StarChoice satellite
system provides
farmers with
current data on a
variety of material.
The data
displayed can be
customized to individual needs,
allowing farmers to select relevant
information. For example, if rising
hogs, beef prices are probably of little
interest though feed grains may be.
By going through the list of
commodities and futures and simply
checking the option, detailed charts
can be created.
The system can signal when a
certain price is attained on a tracked
commodity. This gives clients the
opportunity to hit the target price for
the product without constantly
watching the screen.
Many of the local cash markets,
including Hensall, are on-line with
many more Canadian sources to
come, said AgCast's Doug Maguire.
"We hope to have more local price
sources available within the month."
They may include the Ontario Pork
Marketing Board and Brussels
Livestock.
As is standard in the industry, all
prices are listed on a 10 -minute
delay. Maguire says real time quotes
would add approximately $200 to the
system.
The delay is considered accurate
enough to follow trends. Producers
can watch to see what prices are
doing and decide on a marketing
strategy, he said.
Because there are far too many
stock market symbols to display all
of them at once, AgCast currently
broadcasts a select number. However,
if there is a company being followed
by a customer, a simple request to
AgCast and the symbol will be listed.
Commodity,
futures
markets
linked to
home
computer
News services provide articles
dealing with agricultural matters as
well as sports, entertainment or the
top news stories of the day.
Weather forctasting and mapping
allows farmers to track weather
patterns, freeing them from the time
constraints of the nightly news.
Maguire said this is a key clement
to the service as the radar updates
help farmers decide whether to move
on spraying, haying or combining.
However, a considerable amount
of equipment is required to use
AgCast.
The first piece of hardware is the
StarChoice satellite system which has
become popular in the past year for
providing direct -to -home television
service to rural residents. A phone
line is then run from the satellite rec-
eiver box to a home computer for the
ongoing downloading of information.
The minimum requirements for
the computer arc Windows 95/98/NT,
486DX processor running 60 MHZ or
higher, 16 MB RAM, 25 MB free
disc space and an available
communication port. For internet
updates, a modem running at (east
28.8Kbps is needed.
The information is also available
via AgCast's web site at
www.agcast.com/ and can be
downloaded from there on a daily
basis, once registered. However, this
method is not recommended due to
the huge volume of material.
Downloading from the web site could
take several hours, causing
difficulties in hdmes where the
internet connects through the only
phone line.
The starter kit and software for
AgCast is $89.95. The monthly
service charge, whether via satellite
or over the internet is $54.95.
As an aside, if you have a long
wait connecting to an address through
the "Go To" site locator on your
server home page, try clicking on the
"Open" button. I find it runs much
faster on my version of Netscape.
Feel free to contact me at
becker@wcl.on.ca with feedback,
suggestions or inquiries.0
Janice Becker is a computer
enthusiast and journalist living near
Walton, ON.