For crop advisors at Simplot Grower Solutions, the hours saved digging through data become hours spent with growers. That’s the goal for David Vail, an insights and analytics specialist based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the latest 40 Under 40 awardee class.
Vail’s team uses Power BI to turn large sets of sales data into visuals advisors can read at a glance, like what a grower bought last year and whether this season is on the same timeline. It also uses ArcGIS to map growers and field data in one place, so an advisor can plan visits to nearby farms instead of bouncing back and forth across “a 20 or 30 mile radius.” Next, Vail says, the team will focus on year-over-year analysis and wider access to reports, because growers face “thousands upon thousands of daily decisions,” and “anything you can do to help trim up and make those decisions easier for them is a worthwhile thing that you can spend time on.”
Podcast Q&A: David Vail, Insights and Analytics Specialist, Simplot Grower Solutions
Q: So, my understanding, and you correct me and expand upon, your job is really to help Simplot Grower Solutions and that retail network drive decisions from data, and really connect what you guys can analyze into making more strategic decisions at the farmer level. But tell us a little bit more about your role.
A: That was a really good description of it, actually. In addition to that, a lot of what I feel like we strive to do by helping to make those decisions and bring data to various members of our team is to just help cut down on the amount of time our crop advisors have to spend, cut down on the time it would take for them to find the same findings and the same information that we can really more easily package up and give to them, so that they can spend more time with their growers.
So, I would say it’s all about working in efficiencies and helping those around me who are definitely better suited to work directly with growers, help them do what they’re good at, right? Which is help their growers.
Q: So, what tools are you guys using to kind of make that magic happen?
A: Yeah, I think the two main tools right now that we use are Power BI, which is basically an analytics tool that really brings a lot of really good visualizations to some underlying data. [It] allows us to bring in huge sets of data, as far as our sales data, all of that, into a really easy-to-understand format.
Giving that to our crop advisors allows them to really quickly see, okay, what was I selling last year to this individual? Are we on the same timeframe this fiscal year? How has the growing season changed? Is there a different product that I should substitute here compared to last year, what we were doing? Things like that, I think, are really what we use that tool most for. And then in addition to that, we build it out with some more complicated analysis for definitely some of the leaders on the team and things like that to go over, you know, how many platforms are people buying across, region by region, which of these should maybe we be marketing towards, things like that.
And then in addition to that, we also use a tool called ArcGIS, which incorporates a ton of spatial data, so it helps us see — right now, we’re definitely using it to try to map out and show where all the growers are for a crop advisor, so they can see, okay, if I’m going to visit this grower, I can also visit these other two that are within a mile of them, instead of having to bounce back and forth across, you know, a 20 or 30 mile radius.
And then combining that with, we’ve got some specific field data that we’re trying to pull in all into one map, so that they don’t have to go into multiple spots, or even not have this type of data for their day-to-day lives. So, those are the two really great tools that we’re using.
Q: I think about the digitization of the ag retail business, and maybe in the early phases, it had to be all about data collection, whether that [was] soil sampling or remote sensing. And then we moved into a time of really using that data for decisions, which is so much of what you and your team are doing every day.
What’s something that you guys are able to do today that would have surprised you just a few years ago was possible?
A: I think definitely using mapping tools is something that’s very new to us, so that ArcGIS tool. Two to three years ago, even just talking to crop advisors that have a lot more knowledge of what the tools were maybe 10, 15 years ago, just being able to see all of their data on a map and be able to pinpoint exact fields and things like that allows them to get really precise data that maybe they were guessing at or kind of had a feel for in the past, and we can actually visualize that.
So, I think that’s probably the number one thing. When we show it, we get a lot of oohs and aahs, especially when it comes to mapping, and just a lot of really good ideas. We get a lot of idea generation when we show tools like that to our crop advisors. They’re like, well, can it do this? Can it do that? And then we have, you know, a laundry list that we keep trying to work towards achieving each time we talk to them. So, it’s a cool tool.
Q: Well, you just read my mind. I know the whiteboard behind you is empty, but I’m sure those crop advisors are giving you guys a lot of ideas. So, what is kind of toward the top, or where do you think some of these data-driven solutions are moving toward in the future?
A: A lot of it starts with getting them the right access, and then beyond that — because we recently worked on making sure that they had access to a set of three or four reports that we think cover a lot of good info about invoices and various things like that — but I definitely think in the future, it’ll be probably a lot more focused on year-over-year growth, and things that really center on, okay, what did this look like last year, two or three years, and then helping to package that up in an easier-to-understand bit of analysis for them, so that if there’s some specific percentages or things like that that they want to see, it’s a lot easier than just having to filter through a huge table with 50,000 rows or something like that.
That’s definitely the direction we’re going. Putting a lot more in Power BI that they can access is going to be a huge goal for us, too, in the coming years. We’ve started, like I said, with a smaller group of reports, but we’re definitely going to be expanding that. As they start to get comfortable using it, you know, sending themselves data through that tool, I’m sure that there will be more and more ideas that come out of that discussion each year.
Q: Well, I think what your team is working on, some of the things that you’ve shared, even just so far, is incredibly valuable as we move into the purchase and planning season this fall and early winter. So, thank you for sharing that.
One of the reasons why you’re on this podcast is because you were named to our latest awardee class for 40 Under 40. So, congratulations. And when I have 40 Under 40 awardees on the podcast, I like to close the interview with a question of, what would you share with others who are maybe in the early chapters of their career in ag retail?
A: The thing that I think about almost every day is just continue to learn more. And I think the other thing, especially in ag, since I’m a little bit newer to ag, I would say, is just keeping in mind that at the end of the day, helping a grower who has what I think is thousands upon thousands of daily decisions to make — anything you can do to help trim up and make those decisions easier for them is a worthwhile thing that you can spend time on, for sure.
I think I’m continuing to learn that every day, and anything I can do to make their lives easier is definitely something I want to do.
