Data Management

Cultivating Trust: How the Agriculture Industry is Bridging the AI Adoption Gap

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:13:55 GMT

For California farmer Joe Del Bosque artificial intelligence was once a foreign concept. Today, he uses AI for autonomous weed control and water management.

According to McKinsey & Company analysis , AI can create economic value by improving labor and input costs as well as yield to the tune of $100 billion and by increasing sales and productivity by as much as $150 billion across the agriculture industry. However, most farmers continue to approach AI with a mixture of cautious optimism and skepticism.

“We have increasing costs all the time, we have challenges with pests and with the climate, so we’re looking for AI to help us,” says Del Bosque, who grows cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew and Galia melons on 2,000 acres.

It’s crucial for farmers and technology companies to come together to find solutions for some of agriculture’s most pressing concerns with AI, he adds.

Building Trust Through In-Field Results

In her work as chief product officer for Avalo, Inc , a crop development company creating climate-resilient crops, Rebecca White recognizes the investment price tag for technology is a significant barrier for producers. For example, autonomous and robotic systems can cost hundreds of thousands to a million dollars per unit, she says.

That financial scope can heighten caution around new technology – a point addressed at the recent World Agri-Tech event. As industry leaders emphasize, for trust to form, the technology must first prove its reliability in the field.

Bridging the Gap Between Data and Action

AI requires data – and lots of it. The council for Agricultural Science and Technology explains data is, “commonly fragmented, distributed, heterogeneous and incompatible,” which makes it challenging to use in a way that can be readily analyzed with AI.

The real value in data lies in how it’s returned to the producer, says Ryan Gilbert, a consultant with Deep Root Strategies LLC , a company that drives innovation in agriculture through adopting new forms of technology.

“The foundation [of success] is the data being generated by the companies selling the products and how they deliver that data to farmers to be able to use” Gilbert says. “The question is: What can AI do to actually increase the quality of the information and deliver it when the farmer wants it and in the format they want to achieve the outcomes they need to remain profitable?”

Unlocking AI’s Potential Through Teamwork

The next generation could play a role in building trust. At the Center for Digital Agriculture at the University of Illinois , Jessica Wedow says students are working on several projects that connect AI and agriculture. She says having one foot in each discipline could help form a stronger sense of trust.

If you’re able to involve students who have an understanding of the problems in agriculture and the need for the end users – the farmers and the growers – when building AI-enabled tools that’s a win-win, Wedow explains.

Fredy Diaz, deputy chief data officer for USDA, also believes collaboration, sharing research and insights, will strengthen the role of AI on the farm.

“It is all about teamwork; we’re really big on a partnership between government, industry and academia. It’s something we practice almost every day in my office,” Diaz says.

For example, USDA is working with students from various universities and Amazon Web Services to create technology that solves problems in real-world agriculture.

Closing the Transparency Gap: Ag Data Group Updates Its Model Agreement

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 22:20:43 GMT

Technology moves fast. For example, five years ago, we were just seeing commercially available selective spraying machines in the U.S., now a handful of companies have hundreds of machines across the country.

Changes in the industry were recognized by Ag Data Transparent, an industry group founded 10 years ago with the goal of bringing greater transparency for farmers and the industry in how data is used, collected and stored.

As such, five years after ADT wrote and distributed its first Model Ag Data Use Agreement, they updated it late in 2025. It’s now available on their website for no fee.

“A lot of companies would come to us and say: ‘We want to do things right, how do we do it? What’s the best way to go about collecting data from farmers?’” says Todd Janzen, administrator for the Ag Data Transparent project. “We created this model agreement that they could use as their primary contract with farmers.”

He says in the past five years, it’s been downloaded hundreds of times.

The committee that recently worked to update it included:

a new category for sustainability data (carbon, conservation programs, and climate data)
a new category for usage data and how a farmer is using a platform
addressing artificial intelligence, adding derived data, which would be new data sets that are created based upon use of the ag data itself

“The agreement tries to be much more specific than others you see outside our industry,” Janzen says. “Also, it starts with a basic framework that a farmer owns the data.”

Reflecting on the origin of the model agreement, Janzen remembers a time with many ag startups all collecting data individually. Since then, there’s been a shift, mostly due to consolidation but also businesses closing, where there are fewer players today.

“Ag Data Transparent was created to first establish a set of core principles around what are the best practices for how data should be collected from farms,” Janzen says. “And then secondly, to do a certification or verification of which companies were adhering to those principles, by going through this voluntary certification process.”

Nevertheless, tools to help farmers ensure transparency are important, he says.

“What I understand, there still is a great deal of concern from farmers about what happens to all this data, and with advent of AI it started to reinvigorate a lot of these discussions about data and what does it mean for these AI models to use data, to train themselves,” Janzen explains.

Maximize Yields and Savings with Proven Nutrient Strategies

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:09:25 GMT

The outlook for fertilizer costs versus commodity prices for next season is a tough one for corn and soybean growers across the country.
With that fact in mind, we have compiled a number of our “best of” nutrient stories from 2025 for your consideration.

Our hope is one or more of the following five articles will help you reduce expenses, reallocate resources and build a solid fertility program for the 2026 that works well for your crops and gives you some peace of mind in the process.

26 Ways To Cut Costs Without Sacrificing Yields
If you made deep cuts to your fertility program this season, are you considering whether you can cut even deeper next year?

If so, be sure to check out this article: 26 Ideas To Cut Fertilizer Costs In 2026 . It offers a variety of suggestions from agronomists and other farmers on where you might be able to reduce product use and reallocate resources.

While there are no easy answers to address the cost of fertilizer and other inputs, having conversations with your suppliers and financial providers now can help you leverage your buying power and minimize potential impacts from marketplace uncertainties. For more insights, check out this article: Navigate 2026 Input Costs with A Proactive Strategy .

Reallocate Nutrients And Still Support Yields
Farmers know that nitrogen is the main gas that fuels corn yields. Other macronutrients and micronutrients such as zinc, iron, and manganese also contribute to yield performance. Be sure to check out our article 300-Bu. Corn Has a Big Appetite for N, P and K to learn more.

If you’re looking specifically at how to make phosphorus more efficient, be sure to check out our Farm Journal Test Plot article on the topic: 7 Tips To Make Your Phosphorus Work For You

Every agronomist says to soil test your fields to make sure they are up to the challenge of delivering profitable yields in the most cost-effective way possible. While you’ve probably heard that advice a thousand times, it’s still valuable.That’s where this article comes into play, which features national corn yield champions’ perspective: In This High-Stakes Farming Economy, Some Practices Still Deliver ROI

For even more ideas on how to create a fertility plan best-suited to your needs, check out:

The 4Rs of Fertility
Focus on fertility to prevent pollution and boost profits.

The Challenge of Nitrogen
In your quest for high yields, nothing is more crucial, or more difficult, than managing corn’s most important nutrient.

A Moving Target
Preventing corn from going hungry requires balancing nitrogen and other factors, from year to year and field to field.

The Great Escape
Stabilizers and controlled-release products help keep the Houdini of nutrients where your crop needs it.

In the “Lime” Light
Correct acidity to create diverse microbial populations, which decompose residue and release soil nutrients.

Potassium Insight
Drought emphasizes the value of this vital nutrient.

Don't End Up In The Ditch! Update Your GPS Guidance Lines For 2026

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 16:53:34 GMT

Farmers who use a local RTK network or state-run Real Time Network (RTN) — Iowa and Ohio both offer these signals — for auto steer and GPS guidance systems will need to recapture new GPS coordinates for field boundaries and A-B lines before spring planting.

That’s because The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will soon replace two outdated reference frames, NAD 83 and NAVD 88, with a new corrections datum. The shift could knock your current A-B lines and GPS field boundaries off by anywhere from 1 to 4 meters, according to a pair of Iowa State University Extension precision ag specialists.

The Ohio State University Extension and FABE professor Dr. John Fulton issued a similar warning last fall at the Ohio Farm Science Review.

Iowa State University precision ag engineer Luke Fuhrer and digital Extension specialist Doug Houser say farmers using a major commercial satellite RTK network, such as those offered by John Deere and Trimble, should be OK for 2026.

Farmers who need to make quick updates to field boundaries or A-B lines, or check on the potential impact to existing telematics data this winter, are being told to use the free NGS Coordinate Conversion and Transformation Tool (NCAT) to shift their GPS coordinates from NAD 83/NAVD 88 to NATRF2022.

Fuhrer and Houser also want you to consider:

Physically recollecting GPS coordinates for field boundaries, control points or benchmarks using a system aligned to the new datum.
Recalculating your historical data using updated reference points or transformation software.

Example Scenario

(John Deere/Mel Koltai)

The Iowa State researchers share the following scenario as an example of a farmer who will need to make updates before spring planting:

“A farmer in eastern Iowa has been using a local RTK base station tied to NAD 83 to map field boundaries with sub-inch accuracy to avoid a neighbor’s fence line.

“After 2026, the new NATRF2022 datum will shift those GPS-defined boundaries by several feet. While the fence hasn’t moved, the guidance lines will now show up partially in the neighbor’s field. Without correction, auto-steer will drift across actual property lines.”

Before spring 2026, Fuhrer and Houser want this farmer to:

Back up all current GPS files and data.
Talk to his/her equipment dealer about firmware updates or new coordinate system support.
Use NCAT or dealer-provided tools to test a few key points and see how much they move.
Consider a quick resurvey for high-value areas.

For more info, check out the NGS “Get Prepared” resource here .

Land O’Lakes, Inc. Champions Innovation in Agriculture with AgRogue Growth Partners

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:06:28 GMT

Land O’Lakes, Inc. recently unveiled its strategic launch of AgRogue Growth Partners, an ambitious initiative designed to harness the inherent strengths of the cooperative model. This project aims to fast-track the discovery, investment and adoption of breakthrough technologies to benefit farmers, their businesses and their communities.

“We are taking a very deliberate approach to the topic of venture capital,” says Jason Trusley, chief strategy officer at Land O’ Lakes. Trusley is leveraging his “outside in” strategy leaning on his experiences at Nike, Columbia and Nordstrom and now applying it to his work with the Land O’ Lakes team.

AgRogue includes an investment of up to $7 million in each of 10 to 15 companies focused on innovations in categories spanning:

crop inputs
ag data
supply chain processes
business models

The first participants should be selected by the end of October.

“Our market access through the 800+ retailer partners, and putting skin in the game to help scale these investments is quite different than what we’ve seen in growth equity. We want to invest at the point of inflection, and we believe our system can help find the momentum and then rapidly scale,” Trusley says.

Brett Bruggeman, chief operating officer and executive vice president of ag business at Land O’Lakes, highlights Ag Rogue Growth Parnters is “co-authored” with some of its retail partners.

“Our retail partners are half investors,” Bruggeman says. “The idea was sourced from our CEO council, the largest retailers in our system, two years ago. Right now, we have six retail partners engaged, but more can come on.”

Current retail partners in AgRogue include:

Alabama Farmers Cooperative (Alabama)
Central Valley Ag (Nebraska)
Farmers Cooperative – Dorchester (Nebraska)
Farmward Cooperative (Minnesota)
GreenPoint Ag (Alabama)
Keystone Cooperative (Indiana)

“AgRogue Growth Partners represents an exciting new chapter in agricultural innovation, driven by a commitment to farmer success. By uniting our strengths, we will focus on creating new opportunities for farmers to thrive, providing them with the new tools and resources they need to overcome industry challenges and grow a more reliable, abundant food supply,” Kevin Still, president and CEO of Keystone Cooperative, said in a company press release.

AgRogue Growth Partners will have another partner in Radicle Growth, who will manage the program and vet the startups.

Trusley says there are four themes AgRogue will address:

optimize farm income
improve grain quality/find premium markets
resiliency and soil health
help grow the retail business through systems, innovations and partnerships

“We are seeking pre-market innovation. And for example, Cooperative Ventures (CHS and Growmark’s initiative) could be potential partners as we transition closer to the growth curve,” Trusley says. “Cooperation is important to drive change in agriculture, and cooperation is especially complex with cooperatives. We are trying to create more diversification and greater scale to the funding to solve the broader set of issues for farmers.”

Your Next Read:
America’s Farm Labor Crisis: Can Immigration Reform Save Agriculture?

Broadband Coming To A Field Near You? Data BRIDGE Act Would Bring Connectivity To The Farm

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:20:56 GMT

On Tuesday, Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin (IN-09) introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4950 – the Data BRIDGE Act – to improve how the FCC’s broadband map accounts for agricultural lands.

Today, barns and other farming structures located across the rural countryside are included in the FCC’s broadband map, but the surrounding cropland, pastures, and acreage where farming happens are not.

The Data BRIDGE Act directs the FCC to integrate USDA’s existing cultivated land data layer into its broadband map, with no new cost or mandates, ensuring federal broadband funding “reaches the fields that power America’s food supply.”

Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin (Ind.-09)

(Photo Credit Nate Payne)

“Our farmers depend on reliable broadband to stay competitive in a modern economy,” writes Houchin in a statement to Farm Journal. “The Data BRIDGE Act is a commonsense, low-cost solution that ensures federal broadband investments actually reach the fields, pastures and production areas where work happens. I have fought for years to expand rural broadband, and this bill is another important step toward closing the connectivity gap for our farm families and rural communities.”

Here is a link to the proposed bill at Congress.gov. The bill has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It would need to be voted on and passed by both the House and the Senate before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. The president could then veto the bill or sign it into law.

The bill currently has seven cosponsors, including four House Democrats and three Republicans.

Contact your local Congressional Representative and ask them to support H.R. 4950 if you would like the bill to become U.S. law.

Your Next Read: Analyst Flags Potential Overshoot in Corn Yield Estimate And Why It Matters

Farm Drone News: AgEagle Multispectral Sensor, GPS Satellite Launched and Rantizo Spins Off Software

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 20:32:33 GMT

AgEagle Aerial Systems Unveils New RedEdge-P Green Camera

(AgEagle Aerial Systems)

AgEagle Aerial Systems announces the launch of its new RedEdge-P Green, a multispectral camera designed to enable precision agriculture from planting to harvest.

AgEagle says farmers that use the new sensor payload can achieve higher yields through quicker interventions both early on and late in the crop cycle. Operators can reduce fertilizer and irrigation inputs and engage in smart harvesting techniques using optimized indices and targeted indices like the Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI).

Available as a standalone camera or in paired configurations with the original RedEdge-P and the RedEdge-P Blue, users can leverage up to 15 noise-resistant, data-rich spectral bands essential for large-area precision agriculture.

The RedEdge-P Green camera is NDAA-compliant and integrates with multiple drone platforms. Each camera kit includes a Calibrated Reflectance Panel (CRP) and a Downwelling Light Sensor (DLS2) for radiometric calibration.

Production of the RedEdge-P Green camera is underway, and the first units are expected to ship this week. For more information about the RedEdge-P Green visit ageagle.com.

Dutch Startup Launches Largest GPS Network for Drones, Tractors

(Lindsey Pound, iStock)

FreshMiners, a Netherlands-based IOT firm, launched a GPS service that enables accurate positioning for agriculture, construction and drone navigation, according to AgriMarketing.com.

AgriMarketing.com writes that the Dutch company is launching a service for extra-accurate GPS. It is intended for drone pilots, farmers and others. With this new technology, users can correct their GPS positions down to the centimeter. Real-time correction signals are sent to the user’s GPS receiver via a global network of base stations. This correction is essential for applications in agriculture, land surveying and drone navigation, among other things.

A subscription gives users access to the GEODNET network, which, with more than 19,000 base stations in over 140 countries, is now reportedly the largest RTK network in the world.

Read more at AgriMarketing.com.

Missouri Doctoral Student Says Drones Are Fine Tool for Crop Scouting

(Photo by Abbie Lankitus)

Researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered a mix of drones and AI can help farmers measure the health of their corn more efficiently.

Instead of relying on handheld devices, which are slow and impractical for larger fields, the researchers surveyed corn fields in mid-Missouri using drones equipped with special cameras to capture images and data.

After combining the drone images with soil data, the Mizzou researchers used a type of AI known as machine learning to quickly predict the chlorophyll content in the corn leaves of the entire field with great accuracy.

The study was led by Fengkai Tian (pictured above), a Mizzou doctoral student who works in the lab of Jianfeng Zhou, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Read more from the University of Missouri here.

Rantizo Spin-Off American Autonomy Inc. Says It Can Close the Spray Drone Data Loop

Rantizo is now connected with the John Deere Operations Center through John Deere API services.

(Rantizo)

Ground rig as-applied data has been around for decades, and it comes in handy when you’re tabulating your end of year scorecard to find out which treatments boosted yields and where a spray might have fallen short.

Yet even though spray drones treated over 10 million crop acres in 2024 alone, there’s still a gap that exists in capturing that data and integrating it into your farm management software.

Former Rantizo CEO Mariah Scott, who is now the CEO of a spinoff operation dubbed American Autonomy Inc., says her new outfit’s AcreConnect platform can help close that gap with API connections into John Deere’s Operations Center and more major FMIS platforms.

“We talk to farmers about getting that complete view of your field management, by closing the loop so you understand what’s effective or what’s not,” Scott says. “Most of the farmers we talk to use spray drones and a ground sprayer, and that (as-applied) data from the sprayer goes right into their FMIS account, but with the spray drone it doesn’t always work like that.”

The deal to divest the spray drone operations side of the business was quietly announced on Aug. 1. The Rantizo name, the startup is a pioneering spray drone service provider, still lives on, but now there’s a clean break between the spraying operations and the software on the back end that enables it.

Learn more about the Rantizo-American Autonomy Spinoff over at PRNewswire.

Your Next Read: Southern Rust Has Infected Iowa Corn in ‘Likely Every County’

John Deere-Sentera Tie Up: Here’s What We Know So Far

Fri, 23 May 2025 21:07:32 GMT

John Deere has announced its acquisition of Minnesota-based aerial optics innovator Sentera. Although specific details are few and far between this early in the process, here’s what we know so far:

The two companies have a long history. John Deere was the first enterprise customer Sentera signed onto its system over a decade ago, and the two companies have had an API link in place between Sentera’s drone management software and John Deere’s Operations Center since 2016.
Financial details are not being disclosed. We do know the deal is not subject to any further regulatory or shareholder approvals.
In a similar fashion to the Blue River Technologies and Bear Flag Robotics acquisitions, Sentera will maintain its independence as a free-standing business unit. Once fully integrated into the Deere family, Sentera will operate under the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG) framework. Sentera leadership will remain at its St. Paul, Minn., headquarters.
For the time being, no major changes are planned for either company as we head into the heart of the summer crop scouting and spraying season. The two companies anticipate having more details to share about the nuts and bolts of the acquisition this fall.
The two groups are a natural fit. Sentera is aggressively marketing its SmartScripts drone weed mapping program, and the technology is complimentary to John Deere’s Operations Center and its See & Spray and ExactApply application technologies. One driving force behind this deal, Farm Journal is told, is Deere’s motivation to integrate more real-time agronomic data into its Operations Center platform, and Sentera’s aerial data capture capabilities can help make that happen.

(John Deere)

A deal to lift both boats. John Deere has built up a deep bench of artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous technology expertise within ISG, and Sentera has a long track record of aerial sensing and camera payload innovation. Considering how many cameras and sensors are included from the factory on new John Deere machines and within its Precision Upgrades retrofit kits, there should be a healthy cross pollination of sensor and camera innovation between Urbandale, Iowa, (where ISG is based) and St. Paul, Minn.
Sentera can help make See & Spray even better. SmartScripts uses drone-based imaging to scan a field and build a weed pressure map which is then loaded onto the sprayer’s in-cab computer. Now the sprayer operator can see exactly where weeds are in the field and focus their spraying efforts there first. There’s also a logistical and planning aspect to SmartScripts: by knowing exactly how many weeds are present in the field, and even what type of weeds are there, an adept operator can have the right active ingredients premixed and the exact amount needed loaded into the tank or staged nearby in a tender truck to keep that sprayer running all day long.

“Farming is becoming a very sensor and data-centric business, and in our opinion, there isn’t anyone doing it at broad scale today better than John Deere,” says Eric Taipale, chief technology officer, Sentera. “The way we can bring these data-driven insights and improve grower outcomes — it’s just what we’ve always been about. It’s what John Deere is all about. There’s such a great mesh between the two cultures, the objectives and the mission of the two organizations.”

Joseph Liefer, global technology marketing lead at John Deere, adds, “We’re excited about how this complements our existing portfolio with See & Spray, and then not just that (product). Now a farmer with an individual nozzle-controlled sprayer from any manufacturer can also leverage this technology. A drone can fly their field, generate a weed map, turn it into a prescription in Operations Center and the machine can go execute the plan. From an ag retailer standpoint, that might have a mixed fleet, and this gives them more tools in the toolbox to do targeted application for growers and help them save on herbicide. We view this deal as complementary to our overall tech strategy.”

Your Next Read: MAHA Report’s Surprising Stance on Glyphosate, Atrazine Explained

CNH, Starlink Announce Satellite Connectivity Expansion To Case IH And New Holland Machines

Fri, 16 May 2025 03:52:38 GMT

CNH has an agreement in place with Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, to bring industry-leading satellite connectivity to farmers.

The company says this new collaboration will provide customers of Case IH, New Holland and STEYR, with robust high-speed connectivity – further unlocking the benefits of a fully connected fleet – even in the most remote rural locations around the world.

“We’re thrilled to offer our customers access to industry-leading satellite connectivity, enabling them to maximize the potential of our full suite of precision technology in even the most challenging rural environments,” said Stefano Pampalone, Agriculture Chief Commercial Officer at CNH.

(CNH Industrial)

Starlink’s Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite network offers reliable, low-latency internet. This enables today’s smart machines to communicate and coordinate efficiently , enhancing productivity. The connectivity module will seamlessly integrate with CNH’s FieldOps digital platform, giving farmers visibility of their machines and providing data from anywhere, anytime. It also enables greater data streaming capabilities by keeping farm management devices consistently connected, regardless of location.

CNH says this collaboration underscores it’s ongoing commitment to equipping farmers with reliable, tailored solutions that meet the unique demands of agriculture, while amplifying the capabilities of precision technology.

You can read the full announcement here.

How Ag Retail Services Drive Farmer Customer Loyalty

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 18:18:40 GMT

Every two years, the team at Stratus Ag Research looks at how services provided by ag retailers are valued by farmer customers. One of the main takeaways is the more engaged a farmer is with services provided by a retailer, the more influence the retailer has on crop protection decisions.

When a farmer engages with six or more services provided by their main retailer, two-thirds of that group say the retailer has a strong influence on input decisions. Comparatively, if a farmer only uses three services provided by a retailer, one-fourth of those farmers say the retailer has a strong influence on their decisions.

Mike Weddell of Stratus says this creates a flywheel effect: service, influence, share of customer.

In all, the study spans 14 services. Its free-to-download report highlights four:

Field scouting
Product performance data
Cost comparison data
Crop planning and review

Scouting gives a strong foundation

Per the Stratus research, when farmers receive field scouting services those ag retailers have significantly more influence on farmer purchase decisions. While 65% of farmers consider field scouting to be a useful service, only 36% of farm customers are getting field scouting services from their main ag retailer. And 32% of farmers would find a field scouting service to be useful but are not getting it from their main retailer.

Making a plan builds influence

When retailers engage with farmers in crop protection product planning at the field level, it increases their influence significantly. More than half of farmers say crop planning services are useful, yet only one-third are currently reviewing plans, records or imagery with their main retailer.

Be an information source

When ag retailers provided crop protection performance comparison data, they in turn have more influence over farmer buying decisions. Almost 75% of farmers aren’t currently getting such information from their primary retailer.

Pricing information is in-demand

Three-fourths of farmers say cost comparison data for crop protection products is useful. But fewer farmers have their primary ag retailer sharing the information — this year it’s down 8% fewer farmers receiving cost comparison information.

Farmer responses were across the Midwest, south and northern Plains. In total, about 800 farmers shared insights on services they receive from ag retail.

“It’s been traditionally very difficult for retailers to charge for services, but sometimes they can,” Weddell says. “Often, farmers want the service but not to pay for it.”

Weddell and others at Stratus say the value of services extends beyond any per acre or per hour fees.

“There’s an opportunity to be more influential with more valued services,” Weddel says. “And there are gaps in what farmers say they want, and what is available to them from their primary retailer.”

One such example is with farm data management software, and as Weddell highlights, this is a hard opportunity to solve for as farmers use a variety of platforms, and retailers would have to be up-to-date on more than just one.

“Even though farmers say they need the support, the technical skills required are a heavy ask for ag retailers, who are also battling churn in getting someone trained with agronomic and technological support.”

John Deere Challenge: Watch a New York Tech Journalist Farm 20 Acres of Corn for $20 Profit

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:52:49 GMT

You might recall this viral stunt from when it was announced last spring: John Deere and tech influencer David Cogen (@TheUnlockr) joined forces to set the New York-based journalist up as a row crop farmer for an entire growing season. Using 20 acres of prime Iowa farmland, Cogen’s mission was to find out if he could accomplish what farmers must achieve to put food on America’s dinner tables: turn planted crops into cold, hard cash.

Unlike most farmers, though, Cogen was basically given every cheat code in the game: He had guidance from John Deere experts throughout the crop journey, all of the latest John Deere equipment with all the tech bells-and-whistles any farmer could dream for —not to mention a blank check for seed, crop inputs, fuel and labor.

Cogen began by ordering up soil tests and custom fertilizer applications. Then he flew back to Iowa to complete the spring tillage pass and seed the field. Next came another trip to spray weeds post-emergence with Deere’s See & Spray smart application system before returning in the fall to harvest the finished grain and haul it down to the local ethanol processing plant.

Along the way Cogen learned a handful of lessons any seasoned farmer already knows all too well:

The weather never seems to do what you want it to do, when you want it to do it. That’s farming.
You have to eradicate weeds or they will rob your yields and destroy your profits.
Variation is the enemy, it’s all about consistent production and harvesting at the precise moisture level and timing.
A dry late-summer and early-fall is a factor you can’t control but it can cost you real dollars on your final yield. The corn will dry down too fast in the field if you don’t get it off on time, so in this case, water is truly money when it comes to corn and soybean farming.

In the end, Cogen’s field averaged 209 bushels per acre and produced just over 3,000 total bushels of corn, which equates to over 200,000 lb.

His total expenses for the year (land costs, seed, fertilizer and “other”) totaled $16,456, while his total revenues for the 19.24 total acres of corn harvested was $16,478.

Don’t adjust your monitor. Yes, you read that right.

The New York tech editor farmed all year long and only brought home $22 in total profit. It just goes to show, turning a profit on only 20 acres is incredibly hard to do. Small acre farmers deserve just as much respect as the big boys.

“Honestly, I hope that like myself, that this has opened your eyes into what it actually takes to farm,” Cogen says at the end of the video. “Just all of the work that goes into it and you can have a new appreciation for farming and for farmers.

Your Next Read: Farmer Finds A Silver Bullet For High Corn Yields

Industry News: Loveland/Ascribe Bioscience and DigiFarmz/Agrellus Partnerships Promise New Tech and Products

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 20:52:11 GMT

Loveland and Ascribe Bioscience Expand Collaboration
Loveland Products and Ascribe Bioscience are continuing their work together in the U.S. market - which began in 2023 - to include additional proprietary Phytalix premixes.

Phytalix is a biofungicide derived from small molecules in the soil microbiome that prime the plant’s innate defenses. It offers broad-spectrum disease control and improved plant health.

“Phytalix’s compatibility with existing crop protection products represents a breakthrough for biological solutions, allowing us to deliver products that are more effective across millions of acres in the U.S.,” says Casey McDaniel, vice president of Loveland Products.

Jay Farmer, co-founder and CEO of Ascribe Bioscience adds, “We’ve seen outstanding field performance from Phytalix-based combinations and has the potential to have real economic value for growers.”

This collaboration is part of a broader effort by Nutrien Ag Solutions to build a differentiated portfolio of proprietary crop protection products through its Loveland Products brand. Product submissions to the EPA in the U.S. are anticipated by the end of 2025.

Research Partnership Evaluates Digital Agronomic Solutions
A partnership between DigiFarmz and Agrellus will provide large-scale field trials to validate the use of DigiFarmz’ agronomic recommendations.

The collaboration began as a way to help DigiFarmz to expand its technology to the states of Iowa and Illinois. Agrellus will oversee the trials and measure the agronomic and economic benefits of the platform’s digital recommendations compared to traditional farming practices.

The trials will include supervised product application, technical visits through the whole season, qualitative and quantitative data collection at different crop stages and a comparative analysis of results. The plots will be significantly larger than those typically used in conventional research.

Agrellus will provide monthly updates, consolidating the findings into a certified final report. DigiFarmz, in turn, will grant access to its platform, and provide training and technical support to ensure the proper implementation of its technology in the trials.

This project aligns with ongoing research conducted at the University of Tennessee, the University of Illinois, and with farmers associated with WHIN (WHIN | Northwest Central Indiana Community Partnerships Inc.).

Eyes In the Sky: Be Aware of Data Collected About Your Farm

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 15:30:01 GMT

There has been a lot of discussion about data ownership, data sharing and data value for on-farm information such as application rates, planting dates, yield and harvest dates. It’s a working assumption that as you enter into any kind of data collection and data sharing agreement, you read the fine print, scroll and sign the usage agreement.

Farmers themselves generate more than 10 MB of data per acre between the planting, application and harvest passes they make in the field.

That does not include additional scouting, soil sampling or other data-driven missions in the field conducted by the farmer or a designated consultant.

But what if you were told some of the data from your land and your farming practices is being collected without your consent. And furthermore, your consent wasn’t required.

“Many farmers are not completely cognizant that imagery is being collected by multiple sources that are freely available such as Sentinel from European Space Agency,” says Terry Griffin, professor in the department of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and sole proprietor of Griffin Consulting LLC.

Since 2017, the free-to-use 30' resolution images from Sentinel-2 L2A have captured satellite images every five days or so.

Using the NDVI values and how they change between flights, those images can be used to detect crop type, planting date, harvest date and more.

And because they are captured from public air space, your consent isn’t needed.

NO CONTROL

Todd Janzen, an attorney with Janzen Schroeder Agricultural Law LLC, says farmers creating the field level data still expect to have control of its sharing and usage.

“There’s still a big expectation of privacy in the data farmers generate themselves,” he says. “But for data that is available publicly, there’s no court that would say there’s an expectation of privacy in that data.”

For example, Janzen cites the Open Fields doctrine stating anything visible in an open field that can be seen by the public comes with no expectation of privacy.

Griffin says the two data sources — those generated by and shared with permission from the farmer and the publicly available images — are being used together to refine models and algorithms for all kinds of land management applications.

“The big one everyone sees as the target is yield modeling. We aren’t there yet, but there are a lot of people working on it,” he says. “There are others such as carbon emitted or stored, water usage or runoff, and more.”

Griffin uses the satellite data as a lookback tool in consulting work.

“It’s a magic eye in the sky that you can rewind and playback,” Griffin says. “I have consulted on herbicide drift cases, and by the time it gets to me, it’s two years old. So, using the Sentinel images, I can go back as needed and look up images at specific times.”

Griffin says planting and harvest dates can be determined within a few days. He can also assess other management practices such as irrigation, cover crops and tillage.

Using the Sentinel satellite data, the 30' resolution is available for free, and more detailed 3' and 1' resolution imagery are available with a paid subscription.

“What none of us know is how detailed the military satellites are or what kind of resolution can they reach,” Janzen says. “But regardless of whether it’s with a satellite, airplane or drone, if someone wants to collect the data they can do it from the public air space.”

With the technology already in place, the applications for the images will continue to development.

“Farmers need to know the satellites are watching,” Griffin says. “You are more vulnerable than you realize, and this data can be used against people. When it comes to this data, the farmer and landowner aren’t the customers — they’re the product.”

Griffin also points to farmers who have already acknowledged they are being watched from above out in the back 40.

“A lot of farmers find themselves on Google Earth when they are harvesting or planting, and then they screenshot that, and it becomes their social media profile pic,” he says. “But there are applications for this data beyond that for sure.”

New Partnership Automates Delivery of Customized Planting Prescriptions

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:43:02 GMT

A new partnership between Corteva and John Deere is making planting season a more enjoyable, seamless process for some U.S. corn and soybean growers in 2025.

The companies are automating a process many row-crop growers historically jotted down in a notebook or, more recently, stored on a USB flash drive – their planting prescriptions.

The partners, who are integrating the digital and onboard capabilities of the John Deere Operations Center with the agronomic expertise and analysis of Corteva, can deliver field-by-field planting prescriptions direct to farmers’ equipment via the cloud and a wireless connection.

Andy Fabin, second from left, says he was able to improve the planting accuracy on his farm ten-fold last season because of automating his hybrid and variety placement in the field.

(Rhonda Brooks)

Andy Fabin, who participated in the partners’ 2024 pilot program and signed on again this season, says when he or an employee drives into the field boundary, the display in the tractor cab will pop up with the work plan for that field. The farmer accepts the work plan, and all the information will populate into the display and they are ready to plant.

“That’s one of the beauties of this – I don’t have to rely on the operator to know anymore exactly what hybrid is supposed to go into that field,” says Fabin, who’s based near Indiana, Pa. “That information has been preplanned and put into the computer. I don’t have to worry that, ‘whoops, I keyed in the wrong information.’ I know it’s going to be correct.”

Correct Data From The Get-Go
Good data about which hybrid or variety is going into a field sets the grower up for season-long success from the start, notes Trenton Brisby, North America agronomy innovation manager for Corteva .

“We’re able to auto-create a work plan for the grower now, something we had not been able to do before,” Brisby says. He adds that the work plans can be based on a flat seeding rate or a variable rate prescription. Either way, the goal is to place every seed where it can perform up to its maximum yield potential.
Lindsey Pollock, agronomy collaboration manager for John Deere, says information the work plan delivers helps streamline the time and effort it takes for growers to start planting. “We know they’re in a hurry, that they want to get that seed in the ground. The [technology] is reducing the time and mistakes that could happen within those work plans,” Pollock says.

That was true for Fabin, who says the work plans improved the planting accuracy on his farm ten-fold last season.
“Having the information delivered wirelessly really made a difference,” he reports. “If we had to travel 15 miles back to the office to get something and bring it back to the field, I mean, that’s hours that the planter could be sitting. And to be honest, it wasn’t going to happen. We were going to go into the field, plant and fix it later.”

A lot of farmers find themselves dealing with that same issue or a similar one during planting season, says Corbin Crownover, Pioneer sales representative.

“Every year we’ve had cases where the same seed corn hybrid could be named three different ways in the monitor, so we’d have to sort that out and get the information adjusted at the end of the year before we could do anything with the data,” Crownover recalls. “When we can make the [hybrid] numbers all accurate the way they should be, it makes things easier for all of us in the post-harvest review and analysis.”

How The Process Works
The basic process of building the work plan involves a handful of steps, according to Brisby, who outlined the steps for Farm Journal in a brief discussion.

First, the Pioneer sales representative works with the grower to develop a hybrid and variety placement plan for each field, Brisby says.

Next, the representative then connects with the John Deere Operations Center to make a work plan for each field, using either flat or variable seeding rates. Then, the grower is contacted to review the plan.

“Once they give the representative permission, the rep can then push the work plan direct to the equipment monitor,” Brisby says. “When the grower goes to the field to plant they get a pop up on their monitor screen that says, ‘You have a new work plan. Do you want to accept this?’ The grower can say ‘yes,’ and then start planting.”

The grower can also answer no, in case he needs to use a different hybrid or variety in a field. If needed, the operator can load the new seed information into the system manually.

However, Crownover says the grower’s seed sales representative can load multiple varieties and hybrids into the system, so they are included in the original work plan. This gives the farmer the ability to switch between seed products without having to go through a manual step. “We’re able to fine-tune seed selection and placement so farmers can feel more confident that their fields are going to be planted as prescribed,” Crownover says.

Technology Needed To Participate
In some cases, farmers who might want to participate in the partners’ program lack the equipment or are unable to wirelessly send and receive data.

“This is where we really believe strengthening the relationship and collaborating comes into place between Pioneer and John Deere,” Brisby says. “Working together, we can make sure the customer is able to get what they need.”

Fabin says he appreciated being able to work with Corteva and John Deere in the pilot program. “I appreciate all this technology, as a small business owner,” he says. “Capital is something we really have to manage, and these partnerships are a way for me to leverage the equipment we’ve already got. If we can reduce inputs whether seed, fertilizer or chemicals it’s good for us and is why I partner with these two companies.”

For 2025, John Deere and Corteva are expanding the pilot program to additional U.S. farmers before rolling out the program on a more widespread basis, which the companies anticipate for 2026.

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How To Predict Farm Profitability With Yield History

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:01:00 GMT

By Daniel Fowler, NAICC president

For the past 25 years, we’ve tried to base crop recommendations around proven IPM and all crop fertilization based on soil test results and Liebig’s law of the minimum. I feel this has, for the most part, served our clients well. This winter, while sitting down having conversations with growers about cutting waste and maximizing efficiency in inputs, there isn’t much fat left for them to trim. However, for some clients, this isn’t enough — and that’s difficult to say. Agronomically, I still believe this ‘Keep it Simple’ approach is the foundation to any successful farm operation, but what happens when the agronomics are there and the economics still aren’t working out?

It’s always amazed me how numerous growers can farm in an area around each other with similar crop mixes and all have their own unique styles and approaches. It’s a blessing to be able to step back and attempt to look at a 20,000' perspective to try to see the intricacies of each operation. From this vantage point, we get to see both the good and the bad. As independent consultants, this gives us a unique perspective that is sometimes hard to articulate because these are all hardworking businessmen and businesswomen who are putting it all on the line.

So as agronomists, we stay in our lane. When we see some of the common pitfalls, we often bite our tongues. Many times, the hurdles to farm profitability are issues in the scalability in an operation. The common hazards are usually too much labor, too expensive land rent, lower productive soils, poor marketing plan and/or an excess of equipment for the acres and crop mix. All these pitfalls in this economic environment ultimately cause debt, and we know debt is the leading cause of a farm operation not being profitable.

How We Can Help
With these threats out of our control, how can we help our growers remain viable in a low commodity price environment? One of the ways we are addressing this issue is encouraging growers to research each farm’s yield history. When we examine crop budgets, with inputs already in line, the only way for that budget to show a profit is to increase yield or price. As simple as that sounds, many growers do not examine the yield history on a field-by-field basis. If a field’s yield history does not match or exceed the yield needed for at least breaking even on a budget, then we are simply not setting ourselves up for success. This goes for production potential of a farm and also the ability to properly insure your revenue.

Unfortunately, in many areas, farms are coming available this spring. This will be an opportunity for many operations to grow. If your clients will have growing operations, encourage them to avoid many of the pitfalls this year. And above all, even though times are tight, one area we don’t want our clients to cut is fundamental recommendations based on years of proven university data. These recommendations are foundational. They are not excessive and should provide a return on investment.

How Ag Retailers Are Harnessing AI In The Real World

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Getting more done quicker, more thoroughly and more accurately seems like quite a feat, but many industry pros give real-world examples of how artificial intelligence (AI) is helping ag retailers do just that every day.

“I don’t think there’s any task that’s too small that you can’t take AI and apply it within agriculture,” says Ryan Raguse, co-founder of Bushel, whose software powers more than 3,500 grain and ag retail facilities and reaches over 100,000 farmers across the U.S. and Canada.

Raguse says when it comes to the adoption and use of AI, business leaders have three options:

Do nothing
Wait for your competitor to get the tools and then follow them closely
Lead the industry and get in front of the trends

For the past six years, Glen Franzluebbers and the team at Central Valley Ag (CVA) have been using Taranis technology to explore how AI fits into their programs.

“When I think about the challenges for our team — it’s labor, time and information overload,” Franzluebbers says. “Our No. 1 priority is doing right by the grower, and that means we need to be accurate in our recommendation but also efficient.”

Using Taranis Ag Assistant, they are able to take their local expertise and pair it with the technology. Six in-season missions include: stand count, weed detection, insect or disease damage assessments, nutrient deficiencies as well as other analytics.

Trevor Cox, CVA regional manager, notes the technology is a great tool, but won’t replace agronomists.

“With weed management, there is nothing like seeing the whole field all at once. It’s incredibly valuable,” he says. “With stand count, it only tells you if the stand count is low. It could be dry conditions or planter setup. You still need an agronomist who can troubleshoot why the stand count is low. But there is a value in being alerted there is a problem, and then it’s up to us to find out why.”

Franzluebbers says its additional benefit is the year-end analysis.

“It’s like a report card, and it’s all in one file rather than a big binder of reports,” he says.

Chief commercial officer for Taranis, Jason Minton, says this is an example of how AI is taking big data and analytics and helping turn them into decision-making tools.

“Our drones fly a field and take pictures of every single acre down to the leaf level at three tenths of a millimeter,” he says. “It is an immense amount of data, but AI makes it manageable and actionable to drive that efficiency that you need for your people who are overwhelmed with 17 things to do every day.”

Minton also highlights the importance of having human experts continue to refine the AI’s accuracy.

“The AI is constantly being retrained, and it’s being done by agronomic experts who can help direct where it’s correct and where it’s wrong,” he says.

Earlier this year, AgVend announced Goose, which is an AI co-pilot designed for ag retail.

“Goose empowers every team member with a personalized assistant capable of delivering instant answers to complex questions, such as who booked urea last fall but has not booked this season,” says Eli Rosenberg, co-founder and chief product officer at AgVend. “It automates time-consuming tasks, like recording meeting notes, and uncovers valuable customer and business insights in seconds, such as determining which customers have contracted less grain this season.”

The future of AI in ag retail continues to be unveiled. While automation unlocks new efficiencies for ag retailers, it’s up to the team to reallocate the time and talent for it.

Why Reliable Connectivity is the Key to Smart Farming Success

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 19:01:50 GMT

For smart farming technologies to have an on-farm impact, machine connectivity must be robust.

“What farmers need most are tools or systems that will help them avoid one of their staunchest enemies: downtime,” says Alex Ngu, product marketing, Trimble. “If there’s been rain for two weeks, the skies clear and you have one day to take off the crop, downtime due to shoddy signals can cut deeply.

Current estimates show roughly 20% to 30% of rural areas in the U.S. do not have sufficient cellular network coverage. Equipment manufacturers are partnering with satellite connectivity providers to ensure you don’t have to stop and wait for a strong connection. Or worse yet, forge ahead without capturing the data needed.

Enhanced Options

Case IH announced a collaboration with international satellite provider Intelsat in spring 2024. Intelsat offers the world’s largest satellite network alongside terrestrial (cellular) to increase connectivity. Its best known for providing in-flight Wi-Fi to many well-known commercial airline brands. Kendal Quandahl, precision segment lead, says Case IH plans to expand the beta testing for its new satellite terminals with farmers in South America as well as other regions. The service is currently being tested in North America, but is not yet available.

For Quandahl, who still farms with her family, it’s all about offering options so farmers can choose the service that works best for them.

“If you think about it, there are areas where Verizon is really strong and AT&T isn’t, and then you might go somewhere else where Verizon doesn’t have good coverage,” Quandahl says. “Previously, in our equipment we have had farmers choose one cell provider. Now we’ve enhanced our hardware, so it can talk to multiple providers. Very soon, we’ll offer satellite as another option.”

Quandahl says the connectivity module will come in a small box that’s installed into a tractor or combine cab by mounting a receiver and plugging in a cable or two. When paired alongside a receiver that can pull in cellular signals, the pair can offer peace of mind to a farmer due to the redundancy of having both signals available at the same time.

Quandahl is seeing a lot of farmer interest in satellite connectivity, and she has heard from several Case IH dealers that are also excited about being able to use the signal to remote into machines and help growers troubleshoot their issues.

Coverage Boost

John Deere made big waves in 2024 when the manufacturer announced its partnership with Elon Musk’s low earth orbit satellite service Starlink. The two companies joined forces to develop satellite receivers that farmers can install on their John Deere machines to keep them connected. The service,
called JDLink Boost, is available through John Deere dealers, though pricing has not been publicly released as of press time.

Mike Kool, senior product manager for connected fleets, shares the beta test phase for JDLink Boost provided some really good feedback from test farmers in the U.S. and Brazil.

“Generally, they told us how well it works switching between satellite and cellular, and that’s really our goal,” he says. “It’s giving customers the ability to augment satellite where they cannot connect to cell, and vice versa.”

With John Deere taking another step forward in the autonomy market with the release of its Next Generation Perception System for autonomous tillage on the 8R and 9R series tractors in January, Kool says it’s absolutely critical to maintain high connectivity when a machine is in autonomous mode.

“Our goal with this is to drive value, and connectivity is just so foundational to our technology stack,” Kool says. “Now we can do that in a multitude of flavors and give our customers the ability to get their data back into their operations however they see fit.

“That data is key for our customers because it generates a scorecard at the end of the year — how did I perform, and what tweaks do I need to make for next year to be more productive?”

While generally viewed as rivals in the heavy ag equipment space, there’s one thing Case IH and John Deere can both find common ground around when it comes to connectivity.

“I’d say the benefit of adopting satellite through an OEM is we’ve focused on integrating it directly into our equipment,” Quandahl says. “We don’t have to interrupt the operator’s day-to-day to install or change connectivity providers, and they appreciate that.”

Did You Know?

Kansas State University associate professor Terry Griffin analyzed the financial impact to farmers from the May 10, 2024, GPS outage, which was caused by solar weather and sun flares in outer space. Many farmers around the Midwest were right in the middle of planting during the outage.

Griffin found that (assuming a minimum of 200 bu. per acre yield and $4.50 crop price) Illinois farmers who were delayed by the outage and forced to plant corn later in the month experienced losses of up to $90 per acre.

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Double Down on Data: How Blackjack Strategy Inspires One Smart Farm

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:44:33 GMT

Hebert Grain Ventures CEO Kristjan Hebert has built a sharp strategy for managing the machines and people that stretch across his 41,000-acre small grains venture in western Canada.

“We use data to make decisions; we’re trying to turn our farm into blackjack farming,” Hebert says. “Because Mother Nature is always going to have one buried card, right? So, you know that everything can’t be perfect, but at the same time, we already know the odds. When I have a king and the dealer has a six, I know what I would do, and I know what I would tell my team to do.”

Historically, Hebert says, the machine performance data he meticulously collects and analyzes in John Deere’s Operations Center has shown it takes his team about 1.25 hours per acre to successfully farm a field. By looking at performance data metrics and experimenting over the years, he has whittled that metric down to 1.05 hours per acre. To Hebert, that means he’ll need enough human labor to cover 43,000 working hours during spring planting.

Hebert Grain Ventures has also established some basic performance benchmarks, based once again on machine data. During spring planting, the operation runs four 80'-wide air seeding drills with the goal of each drill planting 500 acres per 24-hour cycle. That equates to 2,000 acres in total planted per day, which puts the operation right at the 21-day mark for planting his 41,000 acres.

RELATED: Meet The 2020 Top Producer Of The Year: Kristjan Hebert

Now, Hebert can always know if his team is ahead of, on or behind schedule and adjust accordingly so the operation hits its 21-day planting window.

The management team uses John Deere’s Operations Center to stay engaged with the real-time machine data coming off its fleet. The app shows estimated field completion metrics so Hebert can proactively stage inputs and fuel to cover each field crew’s needs.

Field prescriptions are all pre-loaded into the app and tied to a specific field by agronomists, so once an operator arrives at the field, they will know exactly what to do and where to do it.

More - Kristjan Hebert: Myths Versus Facts of Modern Farms

These same efficiencies extend to human resource planning. Each machine is staffed with two operators, overseen by day and night crew chiefs. The management team meets weekly with each crew chief to identify where improvements can be made. During seeding and harvesting, metrics such as acres per hour, work-to-idle ratios and transport times are tracked down to the individual operator. Leaderboards are reviewed each week, and decisions are made to boost performance.

When the night shift comes on and it’s time for the morning crew to go home, Hebert insists that crew changes are conducted with NASCAR pit-change precision. He has each crew’s start and end time overlap by one hour, which helps with the efficiency of machine handoff and information exchange from one operator to the next. This reduces machine downtime.

A Backup Plan

By tracking the data and sharing these insights throughout the farm team, crew chiefs are able to match less skilled operators with more experienced workers to smooth out uneven performance, as well as increase training where required.

“What we want to create over time is a blackjack cheat card for our team. Any task with, for example, over 75% odds of it being successful, they can just do it — they can say ‘hit me’ and they don’t even have to ask,” Hebert explains. “Everything between 50% and 75% probability, you have to ask me first.”

Above all, Hebert’s optimized approach to planning underscores the value of good, clean data collection. The ability to constantly analyze, diagnose and adapt its field operations in real-time is essential to the operation staying on schedule.

“We just try to worry about what might go right, and we try to plan for what will go wrong,” Hebert says. “Most people in this world maybe don’t make a decision because they’re worried about what might go wrong. The biggest thing for me is, when it does go wrong, now what’s the plan?”

Taking A Systems Approach
Here are seven areas of focus we culled from our interview with Hebert to help you implement a well-rounded, systems approach to managing the people and machines on your farming operation.

Commit To Data-Driven HR: Analyze machine and operator data to determine the number of hours required for each field operation the foundation.
Utilize Online Time Clocks: This streamlines the process of tracking the working hours of equipment operators. Use the data to adjust schedules based on actual work done and efficiency.
Real-Time Monitoring: Use mobile apps that provide real-time data on equipment status and performance.
Performance Metrics: Regularly review performance metrics (weekly during busy times and monthly thereafter) such as acres per hour, working time versus idle time, and transport time. Use this data to identify areas for improvement.
Team-Based Scheduling: Encourage a team-oriented approach to scheduling. Humans tend to perform better when they work in teams.
Training and Development: Use performance data to identify operators who may need additional training. Pair less experienced operators with seasoned ones to develop their skills.
Logistics Coordination: Ensure that logistics crews are informed about the needs of each field based on machine data, preferably within a single digital platform that all parties can access at anytime.

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Speed To Burn: How Farmers Edge Flexed Its Muscle With Conduit Build Out

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 22:08:00 GMT

Farmers Edge is pulling the curtain back on its role building out and powering the back end of the Conduit online platform.

Conduit is a digital e-commerce platform that is connecting farmers with crop protection solutions. The website officially opened for business back in April 2024, launched by Iowa-based Landus Cooperative.

RELATED: How Landus Is Blazing A New Path in Ag Retail

According to Farmers Edge CEO Vibhore Arora, his outfit armed Conduit with a technology strategy and development team to launch its customized online crop inputs storefront in under six weeks.

What Farmers Edge specifically brought to the table was substantial: two decades of agronomic experience, $100M in R&D, and 100+ in-house experts, all right there ready to roll from within its Managed Services division.

“We realized, I’ve been in the CEO seat now for 2.5 years, and my first mandate was to inspect the business and learn our customer’s pain points,” Arora says. “We spoke to over a 100 customers – from large agribusinesses and cooperatives to independent ag retailers and even small family farms – and we realized there is a lot of interest in trying to use technology and digital solutions in farming.

“But many of these businesses don’t have the ability in-house to build, implement, and maintain these technologies for the entire life cycle. Our thinking shifted. We have strong credentials in the digital agronomy space – we have agronomic data sets across 50 million acres and we’ve developed and launched a number of digital solutions within precision ag, sustainability, and in crop insurance. Why not offer up our capabilities to other ag businesses to help them accelerate adoption?”

While the two sides in the end matched up quite nicely, in the beginning it was pure serendipity that led to the partnership. Arora was at an industry event where he heard Landus CEO Matt Carstens speak about his vision for transforming his business into the farm cooperative of the future. It spoke directly to Arora’s ethos as an entrepreneur and serial innovator, having spent the bulk of his career climbing the corporate ladder all the way up to the executive team at Amazon.

Once he got home, Arora picked up the phone and reached out to Carstens, making his pitch to help the cooperative leader he calls a “visionary” implement the digital e-commerce aspect of Conduit.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“This is a unique project to me because I came into ag to work on a more compelling mission. When I was at Amazon, it was mostly about shipping boxes,” Arora says. “The specific value proposition of what Conduit does and what we did for Matt, digitizing the benefits of a cooperative and giving it a farmer-first feel, which is what Matt was really looking for, and now we can look at the data – we’re seeing a 10% increase annually in online transactions – clearly farmers need a safe, secure, and responsive digital platform to transact on, and it has to have strong bones and a solid structure in the back end. I think besides the speed to market that we achieved, it is the alignment between the two business teams that helped make this happen.”

“Partnering with Farmers Edge has allowed Conduit to fulfill its commitment to empowering customers with innovative technology that enhances profitability, productivity, and long-term success,” adds Matt Carstens, Conduit President and CEO.

RELATED: Four Questions With Landus President and CEO Matt Carstens

Farmers Edge Managed Services supports multiple segments across the farm ecosystem with technology outsourcing, data licensing and white-labeling, and custom technology development.

Arora says Managed Services can develop tech solutions faster and reduce the cost of building technology by 30-50% for its commercial partners. He points to tie ups with companies like TCS, Google, and InfoSys, as well a deep bench of domain and tech stack expertise, as proof that the team can help any agribusiness navigate the digital revolution.

“Anyone in ag that is looking for a solution they don’t want to build themselves in-house, we can help out you out,” he says. “Or if you already built it and now you need help maintaining it, we can help there, too.”

With Conduit now launched and in a good place, Farmers Edge Managed Services is looking for new projects and partnerships in the digital ag space, Arora says. To learn more about Farmers Edge Managed Technology Services, visit: FarmersEdge.ca.

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Dalton Dilldine: Next-Generation Producer Follows in His Father's Footsteps

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 14:38:25 GMT

Fourth-generation Arkansas farmer Dalton Dilldine always dreamed of farming and following in his father’s footsteps.

“I knew I wanted to farm and really couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he says.

But Dilldine’s dad unexpectedly passed away when he was a senior in high school with a limited succession plan in place — leaving him with the choice to take over the operation, start his own farm or go to college.

He chose all three.

“I would go to school and come home every weekend. After I graduated, I started taking over the whole operation and really tried to do things that my father would be proud of - and that I could be proud for myself. I just tried to do my best every day.”

Expanding With Innovation
Located in the Delta of Arkansas, he co-managed Half Moon Farm with his mother until 2010 when he went on his own, creating Mezza Luna Farms. Now, Dilldine grows 6,000 acres of cotton, soybeans, wheat, corn and rice. Of those acres, 2,700 are owned and the rest rented. The farm also has four full-time employees and several H-2A workers.

His strategy for the operation is continuous improvement with a focus on profitability.

“One of my big goals is to just try to be efficient, whatever can be done. We use technology and buy bigger equipment to be able to do more with less,” he says. “Just finding people who want to work on our farm and want to help and understand how a farm works has been a big help for us.”

He also pushes his yields, working with NRCS on conservation programs and quickly adapting to new technology.

“We have moisture sensors in our fields that will tell me the optimal time to start and turn off irrigation. There’s automation in most of our wells, too. I can start them with my phone and turn them off. They’ll tell me if something’s going on,” he explains. “Our equipment with GPUs are an asset to see what’s going on in the field from my office. That’s been a huge blessing.”

Dilldine also purchased a commercial grain entity during the 2022 harvest season amid a drought that was leading to significant decreases in basis due to low river levels.

“It’s about 750,000 bushel storage. Right now, we can use about 600,000 of that capability,” he says. “I can dump trucks in about six minutes, and I can load them out in about 12 - which is pretty fast for a private grain facility.”

Adversity Strikes Twice
On top of losing his father, the beginning of Dilldine’s farming career was made even more challenging when he suffered a major injury that crushed two vertebrae in his back.

“I had a long road of recovery right in the beginning of farming,” he remembers. “I had to do a whole lot of talking on the phone and teaching somebody else how to run that sprayer. It was a lot to deal with.”

But he learned a valuable lesson that has served him well on the farm.

“I taught myself to be a whole lot more patient and to not be wide open all the time,” he says.

Dilldine’s wife, Skiver, who also assists on the farm when she’s not busy as a nurse practitioner, says she couldn’t be prouder of his progress.

“He didn’t have a mentor in his younger years to kind of guide him through some of the hard farming lessons, and he’s learned those on his own with the help of others. He’s just really put in a lot of legwork, a lot of tears and blood, and just really powered through all the adversities to come out on top,” she says.

Despite these challenges, Dilldine says he’s reached many of his farming goals - and others can too.

“I want young farmers to be aware that you can do it. It’s not impossible as often as it feels like,” he adds.

Plowing Through Tough Times: Equipment Manufacturers Double Down on Technology Upgrades Amid Sales Slump

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:20:46 GMT

New two-wheel and four-wheel drive tractor sales appear to be in a free fall to start 2025, and combines are tumbling down with them. That’s based on data pulled from the latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) U.S. Ag Tractors and Combine Report.

With spring planting just a handful of weeks away for some, the ag equipment industry is well aware of the forecasts predicting another down year demand-wise.

“I would say our guide on the larger ag machines is in that minus 20 to minus 30 range for the full year, but I haven’t gone through all the details (of the AEM report) yet,” says Kurt Coffey, head of North America, Case IH.

Coffey does think it’s a bit premature to sound the alarm bells based on a contracted January, though.

“We need to see the quarter play out in total, because there are companies that had new product launches that were getting the new line rates adjusted and maybe didn’t ship in January, but they may ship in February,” he adds.

Still, the AEM numbers to kick off 2025 don’t paint the rosiest of pictures. Case IH specifically is coming off a busy 2024 that featured two new massive row crop combine launches and the late-summer introduction of its new mobile fleet management app, FieldOps. For this year, the company debuted a new Farmall C utility tractor in the 100 hp range that Coffey says represents “kind of the core of the every man’s tractor” and is something he is “very excited about that.”

“There are certain areas where we’re very clean and there are certain areas where we would like to reduce a half a month to a month of stock, if that makes sense,” Coffey says. “We’re sitting where we want to be on more of the large categories, but I would like to maybe get a little cleaner on some of the livestock or mixed farm categories, but these are statistically small to our total performance, so it’s nothing really that we’re concerned about here in North America.”

Coffey says he isn’t super worried because his team is focused on what matters: staying steady and “destocking at the dealer level.” He says that effort has helped with overall dealer financial health and has calmed some of the concerns equipment dealers had coming into the year.

“We’ve been closely watching lead measures and used values, and not only values in dollars, but also in quantities,” he says. “And we heavily invested in velocity last Q3 and Q4 to help get some of the used stuff through the system, and now we’re starting to see some of the fruits of that labor.

“I don’t want to speak for our dealers, but we’re hearing feedback that we’re being more proactive and a stronger partner in that area than our dealers have had in a long time. That feedback came from our dealer advisory board. And that’s a good indicator of when the market stabilizes, how healthy are we to then attack a market on an upside?”

Of course, sluggish machine sales aren’t the only hurdle to leap over. The ongoing threat of tariffs – many of which could be levied against some of America’s strongest ag trade partners – has demanded a high level of attention over the last few weeks.

“I’m a farm kid from a town of 800 people, Ashmore, Illinois, and at like eight years old my dad told me ‘Kurt, I can’t sit here and worry about if it’s gonna rain or not,’ and we were in a massive drought. It was the 80s and it just really imprinted on me like, I can’t control this, so what can I do about it,” Coffey says. “And so we stay disciplined and balanced (in our approach). We’re having daily reviews with the Executive team because look, last week it was China, Mexico, and Canada. And then the next day, Canada and Mexico were paused for 30 days. And last week, we had a solid go forward plan. And then over the weekend there’s steel and aluminum (tariffs), so the plan changes. We’re staying calm, focusing on customer value and in a disciplined way, we’re doing what we can to deliver that.”

With new equipment sales slow and the threat of a global trade war looming, one area Coffey is seeing interest from farmers is in Case IH’s tech stack and its digital platform, FieldOps.

“We’re really going deep on our technology and unlocking value with our FieldOps platform,” Coffey told Farm Journal last week at the National Farm Machinery Show. “Where’s the machine? How’s it operating? What are my yields? I need to send that to my agronomist.” Honestly, I’ve been here all day today and that’s probably half the conversation. People literally coming up saying, ‘Hey, how do I integrate my data from my combine to my planter?’

AGCO-PTx Trimble weigh in
AgRevolution CEO Stacy Anthony met with Farm Journal at the AGCO booth, where the Duluth, Georgia-based manufacturer debuted an updated line of Massey Ferguson utility tractors as well as a new Hesston double square baler for hay and forage operations.

RELATED: AGCO Launches Massey Ferguson 2025 Compact Tractor Series, New Double Square Baler

Anthony told us farmers he met with at the show are still talking about last year’s AGCO-Precision Planting-Trimble tie up, which remains the largest ag tech acquisition deal in history. The companies re-branded its combined precision ag technology portfolio under the PTx Trimble name.

“We were always thought of as kind of chasing the leader for years to come, and now this PTx Trimble deal has given us a position to lead from the front, to lead with strength,” Anthony says. “Now we’re going to have a tech stack that’s unlike and unmatched from anybody else in the industry. That’s what we’re excited about and that’s what the farmer is excited about, because he’s got a choice now. He’s got a choice between the competition.”

PTx Trimble had its own separate booth in Louisville, where it was showing its new WM-Field Form land-forming and water management kit for the first time.

The WM-Field Form kit adds an RTK receiver to the blade implement on a tractor already equipped with auto steer to increase single-scraper landforming accuracy and improve connectivity at the edge of the field or in areas where the tractor and implement may not have full line of sight to the sky.

The company also featured its OutRun autonomous grain cart retrofit kit. That tractor and grain cart autonomy kit is available now from PTx Trimble dealers. Although it will start out automating only the tractor-grain cart functions, senior product manager Dinen Subramaniam says the same kit will be adapted to automate tillage tools and dry fertilizer spreaders in the near future.

“There are a lot of small operations that really struggle to find good help and there are large farms that can benefit from the increased efficiency,” he says. “They can now take someone, a highly skilled operator, and get them to do something that is worth their time, but no one else can do it, and then have an autonomous tractor out there taking care of the other tasks.”

Deere Dials Up More Retrofit Options
John Deere did not launch any new tractors or machines at the Louisville show this year, but the manufacturer did expand its Precision Upgrades retrofit program to include ExactEmerge and MaxEmerge 5e seed meter upgrades for 2015 and newer factory planters. The kits are available now at your local Deere dealer.

Deere says farmers that upgrade to its ExactEmerge electric seed meters can increase productivity by more than 100 acres per day by planting at speeds up to 10 mph.

(Matthew J. Grassi)

Both upgrade kits offer increased population accuracy - Deere claims a 20% increase in seeding accuracy compared to its MaxEmerge 5 meters - and the ExactEmerge kit enables accurate population and spacing while planting at speeds up to 10 mph, Deere says.

“Traditionally, customers have gotten a planter upgrade from us and essentially that upgrade came in a full row unit, but now we’re giving them the ability to upgrade without replacing the entire row unit,” says Kyle Barry, manager, Precision Upgrades.

Barry adds the newer your John Deere planter is, the easier it is going to be to install the electrically-driven seed metering kits on your own. Deere is also offering dealer installation if farmers would rather let the dealer techs handle it.

Barry says most farmers make the decision to upgrade an older planter once they get wind of the capabilities that new technology can offer, such as automatic row shutoffs and better seed singulation. Often, those increases can be the difference in getting your acreage planted in a tight window versus missing your window and feeling some yield drag on the back end of the growing season.

“With both of these seed meters we’re giving you the ability to have individual row shut offs on your planter,” he explains. “So as you go around corners or you plant into a headland and you have point rows, we’re going to shut each individual row off. You’re putting the seeds exactly where you want to, so you’re not over planting. That’s where you can get that 20% increase in population accuracy.”

After re-branding its aftermarket program to Precision Upgrades and launching the Precision Upgrades Essential kit at last year’s Louisville show, Deere is now offering many of its technologies as both OEM installed and aftermarket add-ons, most notably being its See & Spray smart spraying technology. Barry says this evolution at Deere is all about meeting farmers where they are on the technology journey and helping them be more productive and profitable.

“We’re increasing the options that customers have with upgrades in general, its not something we’re doing that is just specific to planters,” he says. “We’ve got sprayers, combines, air seeding, basically you name it. Depending on the customer, we’ve got options (for them). We’re really excited about these two new meter only upgrades because it’s giving customers that traditionally would have said no to an upgrade the ability to get this technology on their farm. Or, if its planter-applied fertilizer they want to get into, now we have ExactRate and ExactShot (kits).”

Your Next Read: Where Farm Equipment Is Made

Industry News: Growers Enhances Loyalty Program With AI, Kugler's New Starter and Nufarm's Herbicide On The Way

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 19:17:46 GMT

Growers Enhances Loyalty Program With AI
For 2025, Growers is expanding its customer loyalty program to combine the power of AI-driven insights with fully tailored loyalty initiatives.

At the core of the program is Axiom, an advanced AI technology engine developed by Agmatix, Growers’ sister company under ICL Group. Axiom by Agmatix analyzes customer behaviors and product performance data to provide predictive insights, real-time recommendations, critical alerts and tailored incentives for members. Using technology, it can adapt to seasonality, geography and farmer profiles, which enables retailers and manufacturers to optimize offerings and tailor them to their individual customers.

The Growers Loyalty Program can also create fully digitized, personalized loyalty models, such as loyalty points to spend on products at preferential rates, which incentivize cross-segment purchasing and help retailers craft tailored incentives for the farmers they serve.

The closed-loop rewards model ties loyalty points to future purchases from the same retailer and manufacturer, strengthens customer relationships and improves ROI for all participants. The AI platform also has the ability to predict customer behavior, based on historical purchase patterns, and to provide retailers with critical alerts to factors like customer churn and new sales opportunities.

Kugler Introduces New Starter
Kugler Company is launching K-Carb ProStart, a high-ortho, low-salt starter. Designed to give crops a strong start to the growing season, this all-in-one in-furrow application includes a micro nutrient package with fulvic for effective carbon management, optimal nutrient uptake and soil vitality.

According to Kugler, the product’s low-salt formulation makes it a soil-friendly solution. It can also be used as a foliar application.

K-Carb ProStart’s Main Takeaways:

Complete nutrient package for early plant development.
Carbon management to enhance soil health and nutrient absorption.
High-ortho, low-salt formula is gentle on the soil while maintaining maximum effectiveness.
One-pass application designed for efficiency

Nufarm Herbicide Receives 24(c) Registration in Colorado
Scorch EXT Herbicide from Nufarm has received 24(c) registration in Colorado for broadleaf weed control in fallow and eco-fallow fields. A herbicide premix powered by Nufarm’s proprietary Duplosan technology, Scorch EXT was developed in response to the increasing threat of kochia, including biotypes resistant to glyphosate, dicamba, 2,4-D and/or fluroxypyr in groups 2, 5, 9 and 14.

Scorch EXT features a combination of dichlorprop-p, dicamba and 2,4-D. According to Nufarm, recent university and third-party research with the product has demonstrated very consistent control of kochia. In addition to kochia, it is also able to control Russian thistle, common lambsquarters, Canada thistle, Palmer amaranth, wild mustard and tansy mustard.

The product is also registered to the 24(c) labels in Kansas, Colorado and Montana. Scorch EXT is approved for IVM applications, including general farmstead and non-crop areas including rights-of-way, fence rows and industrial sites. It is currently pending EPA registration for additional crop uses.

John Deere-Starlink Satellite Service Available Now, New High-Speed Disk Series Debuts

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:17:04 GMT

John Deere announced the release of JDLink Boost, a satellite connectivity solution designed to work in fields with little to no cellular coverage, and a new high speed disk tillage solution.

The new JDLink Boost kit supports the partnership between John Deere and Starlink by SpaceX network.

Deere reps say JDLink Boost will benefit farmers operating in fields where cellular coverage is limited or unreliable by providing a secure and faster connection along with real-time access to machine and agronomic data. This improved connectivity enables more timely decision-making regarding irrigation, fertilization, pest control and harvesting.

You can read more about JDLink Boost here. The news release does not detail how the new service will be priced. Reach out to you local John Deere dealer for more information.

New High-Speed Disk Series

John Deere announced a new lineup of high-speed disks, a dual-season tool that it says provides excellent field finish and residue management. It also comes autonomy ready from the factory, Deere says.

(Steve Dolan )

Deere’s new high-speed disk line replaces the largest models from the 2680H series, according to a company press release. Available in widths ranging from 25’ to 45’, Deere says there is a disk size that fits nearly any tractor and farm.

The new high-speed disk line offers improved residue flow, helping reduce plugging in tough tillage conditions such as high field moisture or high residue situations. In the new model, an additional 4” was added between the disk and the finishing basket, which helps provide better overall residue flow.

The high-speed disks come autonomy ready in-base from the factory, and are equipped from the factory with a receiver mast, harnessing, lighting package and TruSet.

Visit your local John Deere dealer or deere.com for information on the full line of tillage equipment.

See & Spray: 5 Things John Deere Learned in 2024

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 14:35:56 GMT

Back in September, John Deere released some interesting stats regarding the performance of its See & Spray Technology in the crop protection application technology sphere.

The company says the technology it acquired via a $305 million acquisition of ag tech startup Blue River Technologies in 2017 has been run across over 1 million acres of cropland during the 2024 season, resulting in an estimated savings of 8 million gallons of herbicide mix.

Related: Machinery and Tech News: CropX Acquisition, See and Spray Update, New GSI Grain Dryers

Deere hosted a webinar to help farmers, retailers, and custom applicators interested in the system understand some of the logistical and operational challenges that come along with converting from an all-broadcast to targeted broadcast herbicide strategy.

Perhaps that right there is a good starting point, since it was highlighted by John Deere representatives over the course of the hour and a half virtual meeting: See and Spray, both the Ultimate and Premium editions, are not a spot spraying technology; it’s what Deere is referring to as a “targeted broadcast application technology.”

That means when the technology senses the presence of weeds, it will broadcast a uniform rate of spray material across that area. The machine will not apply product in areas where it does not sense the presence of weeds.

Battle Against Resistant Weeds: How One Technology Could Revive No-Till On the Plains

Dekalb, Illinois, fourth-generation corn, wheat and soybean farmer Dan Hartmann talked about his first season of See & Spray usage during the presentation. He purchased a See & Spray Premium Precision Upgrades kit from his local John Deere dealer and had it installed on a model year 2018 sprayer.

First and foremost, he learned that using See & Spray to its fullest abilities would necessitate moving from a two-pass program to a three-pass program. Even after making that shift and factoring in fuel and labor costs, Hartmann says he ended up saving $31,000 combined in herbicide application costs across his 5,500 acres.

“I’d say the only real issue that we ran into was when we had to empty the tank (of unused product) after the last field,” he says. “I ended up mixing and filling more than I needed, so you always need to be doing the math in your head on how many acres you have left and how many gallons are in the tank. It wasn’t a big deal though, in the end we just had to turn See & Spray off and broadcast everything for the last field, so the product was all used up.”

No Hands: Young Illinois Farmer is Now Taking Planting Tech to New Heights

The young Illini farmer, who recently was promoted to row crop manager and farms alongside his wife Ashely and his parents, says going forward he should be able to reduce his annual herbicide buy to cover somewhere around 60-70% of his total acreage. He feels comfortable banking on the fact the technology will result in significant savings of product applied.

One additional note to mention is that for now See & Spray is only available for use in corn, soybeans, cotton, and fallow crops. Deere representatives on the call said the company is working on its machine learning algorithms and in the near future we should see this technology opened up to small grains, peanuts, and sugar beet growers.

Here’s five tips we found interesting from John Deere’s end of year See & Spray presentation:

1. Nozzle Selection is Important
There are a handful of John Deere branded and third-party nozzle types available for See & Spray. In the system, nozzles are grouped in a six-nozzle module consisting of 3 broadcast nozzles and three “See & Spray” nozzles. The See & Spray nozzle grouping is rear-inclined to provide equivalent coverage at 15 mph to broadcast at 12 mph. Proper nozzle selection is vital for maximizing the system’s effectiveness and achieving accurate applications.

2. The Factory Settings May Require Adjustment
Within the G5 display there are Sensitivity and Buffer settings that can be manipulated to tailor your application for weed size and environmental conditions. By increasing your Sensitivity slider, you increase chemical usage by targeting smaller weeds, while lower sensitivity will ignore some of those tiny little baby weeds, thus reducing usage.

3. New Data Insights via Field Analyzer in Operations Center
Farmers can use the new weed pressure maps feature and the coverage (as-applied) map feature to analyze field performance, both in real-time from the driver’s seat as well as post-application in the app. Farmers can also give access to their John Deere Operation’s Center account to an agronomist, crop scouts, crop consultants, really anyone that will find value in accessing that data to help the farmer visualize and manage in-field weed distribution.

4. Variables Will Influence Success
Factors like tillage, crop rotation, and camera maintenance can impact system performance. Reducing tillage, leaving more crop residue in fields, and using cover crops can help reduce your herbicide usage in concert with the technology. And although it’s not a big burden, growers should do a quick visual inspection and clean off the camera modules across the boom before a spray job. Luckily, if you forget, there is an alert in the G5 display if your cameras become blocked by dirt or dust particles.

5. Speed and Height Matter
Often, John Deere representatives shared, customers that experienced performance issues with See & Spray were either driving too fast across the field or had the boom set too high. And crop height also matters. In corn, soybeans, and cotton, John Deere says the maximum height the crop can be for effective applications is 16” tall.

Your Next Read: If Rains Shut Down Your Fall Tillage, It’s Time to Implement Plan B

Technology Risk Takers: A Look At United Prairie's Innovation

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 18:00:00 GMT

Whether it’s a product, software or machine, the team at United Prairie doesn’t shy away from new technology. The retailer is prepared to take a leap of faith if it means bringing the best innovations to its customers.

“We have been a company that has readily adapted and grabbed the bull by the horns to figure this stuff out, even though it could be potentially detrimental in the end,” says Kyle Meece, United Prairie agronomy manager.

It’s the forward-thinking mindset and willingness to embrace change that led to United Prairie’s Tolono, Illinois, headquarters being named the winner of The Scoop’s 2024 Business Innovation Award, sponsored by Ever.Ag Agribusiness.

It All Starts With The Grower
United Prairie is a full-service ag retailer. It offers dry fertilizer, seed, custom spraying and application. Since 1996, when the company was founded, the United Prairie footprint has expanded from four locations to 14 across east-central Illinois. That growth has made the shift to modernize operations paramount.

“We needed to find ways to be more efficient and give a better customer experience to the grower,” says Curt Miller, United Prairie CEO. “It all starts with the customer. You hear their wish list, see what’s achievable and what makes sense and then go from there.”

Meece echoes that sentiment and emphasizes the importance United Prairie places on including growers in these decisions.

“The worst thing I can do, or anybody in our industry can do, is assume we know what the farmer wants,” Meece says. “We have to go ask what they want to see, where they feel like they’re lacking and what we can improve for them.”

The most impactful changes the company has implemented based on grower feedback include the following:

A customer portal and app
Fleet management tools
Drone application

United Prairie UP Connect Digital App

(Cheyenne Kramer)

Going Digital
One of the most requested updates has been the ability to digitally view and pay invoices, prepay bookings and track expenditures as the retailer’s customer base has been transitioning between generations. This is now possible with the addition of the company’s app and customer portal named UP Connect, which was developed in partnership with AgVend.

“We love to hear what kind of features they’re wanting,” says Dakota Patton, United Prairie controller. “We don’t want to push something out just because everyone is doing it.”

Roughly 20% of customers have downloaded the app, but Patton says an important distinction is that almost all of the company’s top 100 customers are using it.

“It’s not just the number of accounts. It’s the key accounts,” he explains.

Patton shares the goal with adding these tools isn’t to become totally paperless but to be able to offer customers their preferred option.

“You’re going to have some people that are still wanting paper statements and contracts,” Patton says. “I just want to be able to offer to every grower we have whatever they feel comfortable with and offer the best service.”

United Prairie uses Sky Dispatch from Agvance to notify growers when application is complete.

(Cheyenne Kramer)

On-Demand Updates
Just as popular as paying invoices in the app is the ability to check the status of an application with the integration of Sky Dispatch by Agvance.

“Some of our growers were really wanting on-demand updates of when their applications are completed, so they can dispatch tillage equipment to their fields,” says Ben Rawlins, United Prairie operations manager.

This feature has been a long time coming for the company. Rawlins explains United Prairie has been in the process of testing versions of the software for more than a decade.

“We had been playing with a version of the program since the mid-2000s,” Rawlins says. “The older versions didn’t work well with our business model. But the latest one was what we needed, and we implemented it two to three years ago.”

The new ability to notify growers when their field has been completed has created a notable efficiency for United Prairie, essentially cutting out a middleman during the application process.

“It eliminated a lot of phone calls because the manager has access to be able to see where they are in their application, and the salesperson doesn’t have to be in the middle of that. Whenever customer communication does need to be made, it automatically does that,” Rawlins says.

Carly LaFoe launches United Prairie’s spray drone

(Cheyenne Kramer)

Adding, Not Replacing
One of the most difficult additions United Prairie made is drone application.

“The drone application was more challenging than we anticipated and not as efficient as we anticipated, but a lot of the growers and people in the community are interested in it,” Miller says.

Carly LaFoe, assistant marketing manager and drone operator at United Prairie, explains in working through those challenges, the company found the best place for the technology would be on new acres.

“We don’t want to take acres away from an airplane or take acres away from a sprayer. We’re more here to help them,” she says. “If they can’t get the job done, we’ll come in and try.”

The team plans to sit down this winter and calculate just how many acres they were able to add this year by having their drones, but LaFoe estimates the Tolono drone was able to spray around 2,500 over the summer.

And while the original plan for this technology wasn’t for recruitment, it’s become a unique tool to set United Prairie apart.

“When students at career fairs find out we have a spray drone and the new See & Spray technology, they want to learn all about it,” LaFoe says. “Technology is a big part of the next generation’s lives, and they really love what we’re incorporating.”

Miller adds, “Younger generations want to see new tech and see organizations that are advancing.”

Kyle Meece examines soybeans on the United Prairie Innovation Farm

(Cheyenne Kramer)

Not Just Any Innovation Will Do
When it comes to putting new innovations in front of customers, United Prairie sets a high bar to meet.

A rigorous vetting process takes place for all technologies and products to ensure they provide a return on investment. Depending on what the innovation is, it may be tested with employees who have been known to adapt quickly, operations managers, sales managers or on the company’s innovation farm.

“We research everything we sell to a farmer. That’s not negotiable. That return on investment has to be there, or we won’t sell it. It’s just that simple,” Miller says.

Meece explains there’s a three-year process for products that make it to the United Prairie Innovation Farm, which was started 10 years ago to perform randomized, replicated trials on a small scale.

Year one: The product goes on the research farm to look for return on investment.
Year two: If return on investment exists, then the product goes to the sales team and is given to key growers to test.
Year three: If return on investment continues, then the product can be brought to market with confidence.

United Prairie’s fertilizer warehouse

(Cheyenne Kramer)

Forward-Thinking Mindset
That advancement within the company is what the team believes makes United Prairie unique within the industry.

“Our management and our operators are willing to adapt to something as quick as we can throw it at them, LaFoe says. “We approached them and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get a spray drone.’ And we had three operators step up and say, ‘I want to learn how to operate it.’”

And it’s not just about adapting to implement a new technology or tool. It’s also the need to roll with the punches afterward.

“Anytime you try to make changes, there’s pushback, and that’s OK. There should be pushback in anything someone is passionate about,” Miller says. “There’s also going to be innovations or technologies that you try that do not work. But being able to work through those challenges makes us more efficient and helps us give a better customer experience.”

It all comes back to being a partner—solving problems for growers and helping keep them sustainable for years to come.

“We want it to be a joy to do business with United Prairie,” Miller says. “When I walk into a grower’s office and their admin staff grabs me and says, ‘Hey, we really like this. It has made our lives a lot easier.’ To me, that’s a really big win.”

Will USDA Fumble The 45Z Football?

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:29:11 GMT

The clock is ticking on the U.S. government to provide clarity around the 45Z tax credits outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act. The provisions are scheduled to go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

But the latest efforts in Washington D.C. could change the size of opportunity for farmers who sell their grain with a carbon intensity score.

“USDA is trying to put some guidance together to help the Department of Treasury with the final 45Z rules,” explains Mitchell Hora, founder of Continuum Ag. “This administration has been keen on climate smart ag and climate smart commodities. But climate smart ag and low carbon feed stocks for biofuels are not the same thing.”

Hora says the distinction between the two will help ensure farmers are able to pursue the largest incentive. Whereas bundles were used with 40B and other previous programs, Hora contends 45Z needs to use the Department of Energy’s GREET model.

“If bundles are used, it stifles farmer innovation—it waters down the impact,” he says.

As an example, he offers a farm from northeast Iowa.

When implementing no-till, cover crops, and manure, the farm averages a 250 bu. yield. With a bundled approach, there’s $0.00 incentive. However, using the GREET model, there’s a -4.6 carbon intensity score equating up to $1.82/bu value.

“We have to get this done right. The weight of this decision is massive. The ripple effect 45Z could have is tremendous.”

Continuum Ag has scored more than 330 million bushels using the GREET model.

“It takes five minutes, is very scalable, and we’re offering it for free,” he says.

Hear more in Hora’s latest conversation on AgriTalk with host Chip Flory.

Your Next Read:

Carbon Intensity Is Going To Be A Team Sport

Precision Ag Updates from John Deere

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 01:23:31 GMT

John Deere has a trio of updates to its lineup of precision ag tools– G5 Universal displays, JDLink M modem and StarFire 7000 Universal receiver.
“Our goal is to ensure every customer can benefit from the value connectivity provides. Whether it’s helping their dealer receive alerts on equipment, sharing agronomic data or monitoring logistics – connectivity makes it easier,” says Ryan Stien, marketing manager for John Deere. “The modem, along with the G5 Universal displays and StarFire 7000 Universal receiver, provide customers with a pathway to the future of precision ag.”

Key features of the new G5 Universal displays:

two configurations – G5 with a 10.1-inch display and G5Plus with a 12.8-inch display
a 35% larger viewing area
three times faster processing speed
a high-definition screen

G5Plus includes AutoTrac, Documentation, and Section Control in its base offering, simplifying the purchase experience. Farmers can select additional features including automation features such as AutoTrac Turn Automation, AutoPath, Machine Sync, and In-field Data Sharing.

Key features of the StarFire 7000 receiver:

five years plus of repeatability
73% faster pull-in times
17% more accurate when using SF-RTK when compared to previous models using SF3 signal.
Improved signal stability and reliability

Introduced last year, and now, as an aftermarket option, farmers can add a StarFire 7000 Universal receiver to their equipment for improved functionality or to replace outdated GPS receivers for better accuracy and repeatability.

JDLink M modem key features:

can be installed in as quick as 15 minutes
designed to support legacy equipment, mixed fleets and support vehicles
easily document machine and work data
easily transfer data from machines

Mineral: Applying Silicon Valley ‘Superpowers’ To Agriculture

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 01:13:27 GMT

For the past five years, the team at Mineral have been working inside X, the moonshot factory of Alphabet (Google’s parent company).

Today, Mineral graduates as the business is made a standalone company within Alphabet.

What’s the first thing to come from Mineral to the farm?

The company has been working through established ag partners (more than a dozen currently) to develop tools with machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and geospatial technologies.

“We are hoping to bring a new perspective as an outsider by partnering with those who have deep expertise as existing players in the industry,” says Mineral CEO Elliott Grant. “If we are successful, we will help build a fundamental step change in capabilities with a set of tools that are incredibly powerful.”

Grant shares Mineral wants to apply its expertise a large scale, while respecting the details and anomalies inherent in agriculture. Farmers won’t buy technologies direct from Mineral, but the company’s goal is to have its tools embedded in the inputs, equipment and decision-making tools used by farmers.

“Every farm looks a little different, and every plant looks a little different. We know the models we build have to work across 100,000 different environments, but our strength is in steadily investing in the diversity of data. Technology can handle all these situations when the model built are robust and are built to handle the complexity and analyze the diversity of data in agriculture. It’s our job to bring the user along the ride.”

He says the first product a Mineral partner is likely to bring to market will be around weed detection tools. The team at Mineral says their work spans scouting, identification, mapping, and application.

“One of the areas we’re already seeing a lot of demand for our partners is our ability to identify and model weeds,” says Greg Chiocco, Mineral growth lead. “It’s an area we spend a lot of time and energy on as the implications of weed modeling are endless.”

The data Mineral is collecting is another of its core competencies.

With its work, Mineral has developed an image database of more than 17 crops in every stage of growth in multiple environments. It’s being used for modeling and can be used in many projects with partners.

“Much like an Android model, we aren’t one fully closed ecosystem. We have an open ecosystem,” says Mineral Chief Operating Officer Erica Bliss. “We think about how ag is evolving, and it’s not about just one set of tools. We think it’ll take this open approach to tackle to the nuanced and local challenges.”

A visual example of the work Mineral is doing is the rover platform.

The rover is a four-wheeled semi-autonomous platform Mineral has developed over four years. There are multiple configurations of the machine from narrow row configurations to high clearance. The core functionality of the rover is as a data collection machine.

“Think of this as our Google Streetview car,” Grant says. “It’s not a final product. It’s a research tool.”

The rover can collect 1 million image a day to measure characteristics of plants. For example, in one 24-hour period one rover collected nearly 6 million images measuring a dozen plant traits for R&D purposes.

One company Mineral has said its partnering with in the input space is Syngenta.

Another partner in the specialty crop business has yielded multiple projects moving forward.

Driscoll’s has been a partner of Mineral to help it solve two problems: in-field harvest analysis for its berry crops and post-harvest crop condition ratings.

While harvesting strawberries and raspberries comes with challenges on assessing crop condition, a specific technology has been developed to monitor the crop in the field.

“It wasn’t just that we increased the yield harvested, the human experts got better,” says. “They got better insights on yield forecasting so they learned why the machine was making the prediction.”

Grant adds, “It may surprise some people that artificial intelligence isn’t replacing people. Rather, it’s a co-pilot to help decision making by pointing out anomalies.”

The second project illustrates how artificial intelligence is used to assess the conditions of harvested berries including color, size, bruising and more.

This application can be run on a mobile phone. It only requires a blue background and a color key card for calibration.

One focus for the team at Mineral is to make its technology easier to use in the field.

With its partners at Alphabet providing proprietary chips, Mineral is excited to accelerate the use of Edge Computing—meaning there doesn’t have to be a strong, consistent internet connection to run computer applications, collect images, make maps and make decisions.

Grant shares how the devices have gotten smaller and smaller in the past five years.

“Something that can be held in two hands is able to provide stereo imagery, its own lighting, computing power, GPS and power management for the rover,” he says. “It’s getting lighter, cheaper and more powerful every year.”

In fact, they are working to build products for situations without connectivity.

“We shouldn’t assume high bandwidth is available,” he says. “Doing this work on The Edge for the next decade is critical.”

What about other well-known Google technologies?

When asked about geospatial, Grant says the team at Mineral benefits from the work done at its sister company Google Earth. He adds Google Earth has been an amazing tool for researchers and has moved the needle for the GIS system.

“We benefit from generating data from the Google Earth engine and built a layer translated to ag specific with field boundaries, crop types cover crops and tillage,” Grant says.

Mineral has analyzed 10% of the total farmland—which means of the 4 billion acres on Earth for farmland. 450 million acres of farmland are in the Mineral platform.

“Scale is in our DNA, and one our superpowers is scale,” Grant says.

While Google Glass has so far been taken off the shelf for the consumer market for more industrial applications, Grant doesn’t rule it out as a future platform for innovation.

“I think there’s a future in which the interaction isn’t intermediated by a phone. Perhaps it’s headworn. The computing power is there. But if it will be a face worn AR device, I don’t know. But the fundamental tech is there,” he says.

So what’s Mineral’s vision for the future of agriculture?

Grant says, “Five years from now, I would hope the tools we imagine, a machine learning enabled co-pilot for example, is no more remarkable than using Google Maps for navigation.”