I spent a couple days at a conference in Indiana, listening to folks that work at dealerships from around the country that sell precision farming technology. Time and Time again I heard “Farmers don’t care about Ag Tech, they want to put a seed in the ground, grow it, pick it and sell it. Farming is simple.”
I have to disagree. Granted, I don’t farm, but I grew up in Southwest Iowa so I’ve done my fair share of working on farms for local producers, V Ripping a field (I don’t know the purpose of why that’s done.) Baling hay in the heat of the summer, hauling and mixing chemicals for spraying, running the silage and grain carts. Working Cattle and feeder pigs, heck for a time I ran a small Chicken operation. I don’t farm, mine nor my families lively-hood has ever been dependent on the following:
-Weather
-Input Costs
-Commodity Prices
-Quality Help
-1,000 other things that are out of my control.
But what I do know is, Farming is not simple. And I as I was scrolling through the internet today, I find this article… “Presidential Election in Mexico could change corn policy, says Vilsack” from agriculture.com. And as I read the article I couldn’t help but think that farming is far from simple, especially when you have to be up on foreign presidential elections and policies. Geesh. If only it was Plant, Grow, Pick, Sell.
Throw in all those factors that you as a farmer has to think about, plus adding in all of the Ag Technology that comes out, seemingly every other day, and the stress level of a farmer could be on par with that of a JFK Air Traffic Controller (famously the most stressful job on the planet).
But that’s why I really like what we are doing here at HTS Ag. Unlike myself, we have actual farmers on staff, guys that do the same work as the folks we are trying to help with Ag Leader and OPI Grain Management. I hear them chat with each other about the markets and the inputs and employment issues. I listen to them talk through the grain markets and the moisture in the soil.
Then I see when they put SureDrives on their planter, and the data they bring back from using them and the seed savings from turn compensation. They take me out to their fields and I see the picket row stands and where the planter shut off row by row as they crossed the water way or end rows. I go out and see how the RightSpot system on a sprayer can cut input cost on chemicals because of its accuracy. I see this technology they use on their own farms and then I get to witness them on the phone with a grower that’s looking for a solution and it’s never “This is what it can do” its “This is what it did for me.” And I think that is important. And that’s why I like being part of a crew like HTS Ag, because farming isn’t easy, it’s hard. But it does sound like fun.
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