The Ohio State Grange, a statewide fraternal organization for farmers, is supporting telecom reform. Grange president Gary Brumbaugh makes the case in Farm and Dairy:

Rural citizens in Ohio are currently faced with a challenge: old and outdated legislation.

The Ohio Modernization Act of 2009, S.B. 162 and H.B. 276, would modernize telecom legislation by preserving current consumer protections and removing costly regulations, which will in turn allow telecom providers to invest more in infrastructure.

This infrastructure is critical to rural citizens, who may current lack affordable, high-speed access, or not have access at all. This would be resolved through the new proposed laws by encouraging competition, through reforming the outdated rules that are unfairly applied to one class of providers, but not the competitors.

…

The Ohio State Grange, founded in 1873, along with our local granges, supports the Ohio Telecom Modernization Act. The Grange believes in choice and competition, and without this act, many rural communities in Ohio may be shut out from receiving the benefits of broadband Internet.

InOneWeekend. Aug. 28-30 in Cincinnati. [InOneWeekend]

Ohio Third Frontier Saves and Creates 21st Century Jobs. [Ohio Business Development Coalition Blog]

May ballot in state’s plans to renew Third Frontier. [Business First of Columbus]

Several hundred Ohio companies make Inc. 5000 list. Columbus-based InsuranceAgents.com placed highest among Ohio companies on the list, ranking 24th. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Sustainability Summit Generates Ideas. [Advance Northeast Ohio]

Hamachi With a Side of Bluetooth. A London restaurant is serving up an Asian-fusion menu from a “Minority Report”-styled “e-table” that lets diners place electronic orders. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

Innovation Hits CBUS + CINCY. [IT Martini]

Entry deadline approaching for Cincinnati Innovates contest. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Tweets Will Soon Come With a Dateline. Twitter is getting ready to unveil a new feature that will add longitude and latitude to any tweet. [NY Times Tech Blog]

2009 BioOhio Annual Conference. Sept. 30-Oct. 1. [BioOhio via TechLife Columbus]

The Ohio Story. [Ohio Ambassdor Program]

Slot debate goes ’round. [The Columbus Dispatch]

Ohio is at the Heart of America’s Polymer Industry. [Ohio Business Development Coalition Blog]

TechColumbus, Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator featured in June issue of Entrepreneur’s StartUps. [Entreprenuer's StartUps, TechColumbus]

Columbus GiveCamp 2009. Developers, designers and database admins create custom software for non-profit groups. July 17-19 at Quick Solutions in Westerville. [Columbus GiveCamp via TechLife Columbus]

HiLo Bike Ride wrap-up. [TechLife Columbus]

Third Frontier Public Briefing: 2010 Funding Opportunities. Hosted by NorTech. Friday, July 17 in Independence. [NorTech]

Precision agriculture: Satellite technology making farming more efficient. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

IT Martini Hour 5: Bridge to Somewhere. Thursday, July 30 at Havana Martini Club in Cincinnati. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Morgan Foundation awards $915,000 in grants. [Crain's Cleveland Business, Advance Northeast Ohio]

Local broadcasters’ higher fees hitting basic cable subscribers. [The Cleveland Plain Dealer]

How Much Did Michael Jackson Rock the Web? [NY Times Tech Blog]

AT&T taps BAF for first phase of natural gas vehicle deal. BAF Technologies will convert 600 Ford E-Series vans to run on CNG by the end of the year. [earth2tech.com]

Happy Fourth of July!

Earlier this week, MarketWatch highlighted the growing use of satellites and global-positioning systems in farming. The equipment, which can improve efficiency, has been more widely adopted in the past year as farmers struggle with high grain prices and fuel costs.

“It’s a learning curve for sure, but it’s where things are headed,” said Andrew Burleson, a third-generation farmer near Charlotte, N.C. “The U.S. has advantages and disadvantages, and the market is global, so anything we can do to become more efficient — to differentiate ourselves — is good.

“We have to produce more with less if we want to stay in business.”

The use of GPS hands several advantages to farmers. First, it allows them to till, plant and spray chemicals more efficiently by reducing the overlap that occurs as tractors crisscross fields. The latest technology actually will steer a tractor, reducing overlap from a couple of feet to 4 inches or less — cutting out waste, and even allowing for steadier work hours as the auto-steer cuts down on fatigue.

Second, the technology helps farmers map the yield of their crops so they can see which parts of their fields are less productive, which could help improve their planting and spraying strategy.

…

Auto-steer technology, such as Deere & Co.’s GreenStar AutoTrac system, literally steers the tractor, helping it plant or spray in precise rows. Depending on the size of the farm, that can save a farmer thousands, even tens of thousands, of dollars over a single season.

Burleson of North Carolina, who farms 3,200 acres of row crops such as cotton, said the use of auto-steer trimmed between 5 percent and 10 percent from his annual seed cost alone.