Winter
2016
Grains
West
30
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR
ON-FARMDATA
On-farm data is only worth collecting if
you plan on using it, and only useful if it
answers the right questions.
Shaun Haney, founder of
RealAgriculture.com, said the problem
isn’t so much collection or even security.
“The issue,” he said, “lies solely in
farmers’ capability or willingness to
transform the data into information to
make better agronomic decisions.
“Don’t get me wrong, many are doing
it and doing a great job, but farmers
tend to enjoy collecting the data much
more than crunching the data. There
are some great companies in the market
that are attempting to help make this
change.”
One of those companies is Farm Credit
Canada (FCC). Not only does FCC offer
data management applications, like
Field Manager Pro, but it also produces
educational tools to teach farmers how to
better utilize the data they collect.
“One could argue that our ever-
improving ability to measure and
collect this information challenges our
capacity to fully understand or draw
value from the numbers,” said Kevin
Stewart, president of AgVision Media
and host of several of FCC’s educational
videos. “Crop yield monitors are a good
example. Recording a geo-link yield
value every two seconds as the combine
moves across the field has resulted in
enormous data files, and many growers
have 10 years of yield information, but
deriving the value from this information
has not been very easy.”
By designing simple trials, he said,
farmers will be able to test old and new
processes, and use the data they collect
to make better decisions.
“The yield data scenario provides a
good example,” he said. “Instead of
simply collecting the same information
across the entire field year after year,
consider which single fertility or crop
protection product decision you are
most uneasy about. If you think you
are applying too much or too little of a
particular nutrient, design and conduct a
field-scale trial and measure the results of
two different rates.”
In another example, Stewart
suggested setting up a “with and
without” trial to test agronomic advice,
such as whether or not that additional
fungicide treatment is really worthwhile.
Doing so allows farmers to use data
to support their decision to use—or
not use—the treatment in question the
following year.
Perhaps most importantly,
Stewart said farmers need to shift
their mindset. Instead of measuring
aggregate performance in the field, he
recommended they analyze datasets and
records to measure the cost benefit of
specific practices or products.
“For the grain grower, a simple on-off
experiment or variety comparisons
provide yield data that puts a hard
number on the experience and injects
confidence into future decision-making,”
he said. “Direct your data collection so
that it tells you something that you don’t
know. More importantly, the data should
provide you with clarity and confidence
to either do things differently or stay the
course.”
