S2: Trip 4 – Extra Mile – Labor + Farmers’ need for speed
S2: Trip 4 – Extra Mile – Labor + Farmers’ need for speed
By Jason Tatge | Oct. 9, 2020
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After 30 years, Ernie Chappell still considers the agricultural software business he founded, EFC Systems, as a three decades-old startup. That begs the question. When is a company no longer a startup? According to Ernie, maybe never.
In agriculture’s ever-evolving landscape of precision ag, data intelligence and software integration if you’re passionate about driving change, the goal is to ALWAYS stay startup-nimble and NEVER SETTLE for anything less than forward-movement. In fact, change is crucial to accelerating the growth and number of digitally engaged ag retailers and growers needed for the future.
Tune in (here) for the full Extra Mile as Ernie and Jason talk about two of the greatest challenges facing today’s ag change-makers — time and talent. According to EFC’s CEO, the farmer’s growing need-for-speed in securing more and better intelligence has added stress to ag retailers who face doing more with a significantly smaller qualified ag talent pool. Having enough “right” ag-talent to meet farmers’ exponential need for intelligence is driving even more innovation in record-keeping and farm management and planning systems.
- ERNIE: The growers that ag retailers are serving desire immediacy of information. But one of the big constraints we’ve found is labor. There’s not more time, and there’s a shortage of people. So we’re trying to take on more activities and more growers with less people and limited resources. So the tools EFC is delivering certainly has a component of driving efficiency for how ag retailers are executing on all of the services they are trying to provide to growers….”
- JASON: Many of the ag retailers we work with say that about 10 percent of their acres are what we define as “digitally engaged” — meaning those farmers are sharing data with their service providers or trusted partners. They are actually doing something with the data — whether it’s figuring out where to scout, take soil samples, determine what applications or seed they should be looking for … Do you find that to be true, too, Ernie?
- ERNIE: We are seeing the acreage increase … Growers are actually relying on it more and more. It’s becoming the “norm.” And that’s created a need for more recordkeeping and reliance on these data insights. We see adoption going up significantly and the need for farm planning…
Tune in here for the full episode with Ernie and Jason as they talk about trends in ag-business and how EFC System has been leading the way in precision ag for decades.
S2: Trip 1 – Extra Mile – Know the hidden cost of idle time
S2: Trip 1 – Extra Mile – Know the hidden cost of idle time
By Jason Tatge | Oct. 9, 2020
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Everybody knows Greg Peterson, a.k.a. Machinery Pete as the blue-book for farm equipment. For over 30 years, farmers have relied on his auction expertise and services. As an on-line machinery guru, Greg has the “inside track” on what’s hot and what’s not in the used equipment market; but it’s much more than that. He packs a lot of farming wisdom and business economics into every conversation because, for farmers, it’s not just an equipment purchase — it’s an investment in their operation. How well their machines perform out in the field can impact how fast or how efficiently a crop is planted, nourished and harvested. And, that’s EVERYTHING.
In the Extra Mile from Jason Tatge’s road trip with Machinery Pete the “story-behind-the-story” is about the huge potential of defining the hidden costs of idle time!
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S1: Trip 4 – Extra Mile – Goodbye thumb drives
S1: Trip 4 – Extra Mile – Goodbye thumb drives
Farmobile editors | December 23, 2019
Editors note: Take a look back on this year’s observations from the road trips with Jason Tatge, Farmobile CEO .
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Real-time data is a growing trend in agriculture today. Ag retailers are demanding to have true insights into their operation that lead to efficiency. Using thumb drives to track data is unreliable and time-consuming, that’s why Farmobile created true real-time fleet management. LIVE data collection and visibility allows the ag retail operations manager to make adjustments while their operator is still working in the field. See how ag retailers and farmers are saying goodbye to thumb drives.
Watch The Extra Mile from Jason Tatge’s road trip with Andrew Gladden, chief information manager for Luckey Farmers Cooperative. In a “story-behind-the-story”, they discussed how thumb drives are unreliable and an out-of-date way to track work completed on a field.
S1: Trip 3 – Extra Mile – When data isn’t your day job
S1: Trip 3 – Extra Mile – When data isn’t your day job
Farmobile editors | November 26, 2019
Editors note: Take a look back on this year’s observations from the road trips with Jason Tatge, Farmobile CEO .
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One of the trends that continues to grow in our society is that of transparency and traceability. More consumers, and in turn, food companies, want to know how and where their food was grown. Agdata may just be the farmer’s best friend.
Tune in to The Extra Mile from my conversation with Steve Cubbage, Record Harvest president and Farmobile vice president of services. In a “story-behind-the-story,” we discuss the growing push for food traceability and how agdata will play a vital role in the future of growers and agriculture.
S1: Trip 2 – Extra Mile – Farmers take control
S1: Trip 2 – Extra Mile – Farmers take control
Farmobile Editors | Published November 13, 2019
Editors note: Take a look back on this year’s observations from the road trips with Jason Tatge, Farmobile CEO .
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The most exciting use cases for data collection technology come directly from farmers. They are the grassroots creators of agronomic and machine data that enriches their operations, optimizes farm and field efficiencies, provides better insights and allows them to monitor and manage their mixed fleet of equipment — in true, real-time.
Below is extended footage from Jason’s on-the-road conversation with Missouri farmer David Seba, Seba Bros. Farms. They talk about how real-time fleet monitoring gives farmers a whole new level of visibility into field performance, machine logistics and employee efficiency.
S1: Trip 1 – Extra Mile – Data to dollars
S1: Trip 1 – Extra Mile – Data to dollars
By Farmobile Editors | Published Oct. 30, 2019
Editors note: Take a look back on this year’s observations from the road trips with Jason Tatge, Farmobile CEO .
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Over the past few years, Farmobile’s team and grower-customers have been hard at work, amassing millions of acres of certified Electronic Field Records (EFRs) in the Farmobile DataStoreSM exchange – the U.S. first voluntary data marketplace that connects farmers with qualified data buyers for a new ROI.
Below is extended footage from Jason’s conversation with Mark Bauer, Great Bend Co-op, KS, where they talk about the exchange and the multiple ways in which ground-truthed data is impacting the industry.
