CORPORATE PARTNER PERSPECTIVE | Funded by the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Get digital or go home. Why all the fuss? Why should you care? For some time now, the ag-food chain has been ad- dressing a growing global population, increased demand, dwindling natural resources, and changing crop cycles. The “great awakening” is that agri- culture must do more with less. Global goals to mitigate green- house gas (GHG) emissions and achieve Net Zero initiatives have caused many companies, concerned with potential future penalties, to consider carbon offsets as a way to demonstrate mitigation. Agriculture offers a clear solution. Buying “green” credits from farming practices to sequester carbon in the soil, for example, is just one way to buy consumer goodwill. Consequently, the farm- er’s ability to prove mitigation practices with verifiable data puts them at the table and in the winner’s circle. Verifiable data makes a win- ning hand. Farmobile, now a part of the AGI family of brands, specializes in data technology that enables farmers to collect and control an organized and detailed, point- by-point, raw agronomic and machine data set — gathered in real-time from a mixed fleet of farm and ag retail equipment. As a participant in a number of carbon, water and regenerative pilots, Far- mobile has identified some of the most-wanted data attributes. A farmers’ winning hand of field-level data cards, most often, includes two to three years of: • As-applied or fertility (especially nitrogen) • Fertilizer type • Tillage practice • Planting • Harvest • Cover crop (what type, when applied and terminated) The most frequently-missing and hardest-to-prove data sets include: cover crop (type and seeding/termination dates), tillage Data can be automatically collected and shared between farmers and ag retailers to create a comprehensive “system of record” for a full-season data decks. A PUBLICATION OF THE ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION September 2021 25 practices and as-applied data. Producing digital records to prove these adds important value. But, farmers can’t do this alone. Ironically, many companies assume farmers maintain a full set of data cards for every field and activity; but they don’t. Farmers must collaborate with ag retailers to add the fer- tility card. Technologies like Farmobile provide a distinct advantage because data can be automatically collected and shared between farmers and ag retailers to create a compre- hensive “system of record” for a full-season data decks. Analogy aside, farming is no game. And, in the digital world, there are no mulligans. Farmers either have the data, or they don’t. Opportunity abounds; and more data means better ROI-potential. Start collecting data, today. Create a digital acre, because all farmers deserve a winning hand and a royal flush. Farmobile, now a part of the AGI family of brands, specializes in data technology that enables farmers to collect and control an organized and detailed, point-by- point, raw agronomic and machine data set.
