4 Point Checklist To Bridge The Data Gap With Farmers

There continues to be an assumption by those outside of production agriculture’s inner circle that the farmer has complete possession and control over their farm’s digital data history. Reality begs to differ as many important pieces of digital field data are created and retained by someone else—often an ag retailer and/or trusted adviser.

This large data gap has been exposed by outsiders because an expanded digital dataset is needed in order for emerging sustainability and carbon credit programs to be viable. The new normal is now someone other than just the agronomist wants and needs farmer data in order for the farmer to be a player in the sustainability game.

Fertilizer and crop protection product applications are considered key cogs in most sustainability and carbon credit programs. However, because an overwhelming number of acres are applied by local ag-retailers and independent applicators the handoff back to the farmer of the digital record of such field activity has been sketchy at best — at least up until now.

For farmers to be in control of their data, they need complete access. As such, ag retailers need to be ready to answer the call when data sharing is requested. 

To clear the higher bar that is currently being set, farmers will start asking more detailed and more frequent questions. Here’s how you as an ag retailer can be prepared: 

• Will the data contain following: date applied, product(s) applied, actual rates, field totals and the actual GPS point-by-point data.
• How will the data be delivered to the farmer: access via the cloud or online portal is preferred, USB storage will work, but the potential for data loss or failed transfers is much higher.
• Will farmers be able to download the dataset and send to other parties: Being able to down-load an electronic field activity dataset from a trusted third party provider is key to assembling a complete record of the products applied on each individual field. Being able to share such data with other parties for add-value and future opportunities is critical for future market opportunities. 
• In what file format will data be delivered: It is best to deliver electronic field records in the most common data formats. The ESRI shapefile is by default the most prolific format and is a good choice when requesting your data to be shared back to you. The other even more basic format are text files which can be delivered via either the .txt or .cvs file formats.

Being prepared will further instill you as a trusted advisor and someone ready to outfit a customers farm for the future with its complete digital dataset.