top of page
  • Writer's picturePrecision Ag Reviews

Ep. 27: Prepping Your Planting Technology with John Fulton



There is a lot to think of when we are preparing for our spring passes across the field. We have already walked through getting our planters mechanically ready to go to the field, thanks to the walkthrough we had with Brett Buehler from AgLeader. And, in this episode featuring Dr. John Fulton, we're going to focus on things you can do now to make sure you don’t get held up or interrupted while you’re busy planting.


The first thing John says we need to keep an eye out for are firmware updates on monitors, GPS receivers or electrical control units. If there are updates available, it's best to have them completed before you get into the field.


Second, make sure your offsets are correct. The offset is essentially the distance between your GPS/GNSS receiver and where the sensor is on your planter. That helps ensure your section control and variable rate seeding scripts know exactly where to change as you progress through the field.


The next big thing John recommends you do is complete a backup. “If you haven't backed up your display since last year and you don't have telematics or wireless, then throw a thumb drive in or a compact flash,” said John. “Just do a backup and make sure data from the prior year is preserved. If you have telematics or wireless, you should be good to go.”


John then gave us a friendly reminder to ensure we have our accounts paid before we get into the field. The big reason, especially for growers using GNSS receivers for differential correction, is you don’t want to interrupt planting because you have to manage your services. This might be an ordinary thing to do, but when we are putting long hours in the field, little things like this could be missed and cause a delay in planting.


Finally, John encourages us to double check our wiring harnesses and connectors. It's important to make sure there isn’t a rub-point exposing wires, corrosion or moisture. It's another simple thing to check before you get into the field to ensure you’re off to the best start possible.

As we wrap up our conversation on planter technology, John and I transition to some work that the team at Ohio State is working on around seed firmers, specifically the Smart Firmer from precision planting. The Smart Firmer is essentially a seed firmer with a window for a sensor that can help you gather information about your field as you go across it. It is collecting data around soil moisture, temperature, organic matter and more, and these insights are delivered directly to the cab on the go.


The biggest immediate change John has seen from growers using Smart Firmer is a change in their seeding depth. The constant feedback of information is allowing growers to make more informed decisions on-the-go, which is impacting their planting season in a way we likely wouldn't have noticed until the crop started emerging. John is also excited about the ability for this information to shape our variable rate seeding recommendations on-the-go with real-time information.


“We're excited because, when I think about the areas that we live, for me, moisture and texture are two things that drive the performance of the planter,” started John. “You're getting a pretty high resolution moisture map and temperature map. We're starting to look at ‘Can we characterize that?’ Then, with Dr. Hawkins’s leadership and eFields starting to look at, ‘How can that be used to help us refine our seeding rates for those areas?’”


Even if you don’t think you need the Smart Firmer for it’s firming action, there seems to be merit to having the sensor on to collect valuable and actionable data across your field. John acknowledges this is an advanced technology, so making other updates may be more important first, so you can properly execute on the information this tool provides.


Tune into our full conversation to ensure you’re ready for spring. We’d love your feedback if you have experience with Smart Firmers. Leave a review!

 

Transcription:

Host: Morgan Seger

Guest: John Fulton


Morgan Seger (00:00):

Precision Ag Reviews is an independent website that shares real farmer feedback on all makes and models of precision technology. But before we dive into today's episode, we have a quick message from this episode's sponsor.


Morgan Seger (00:13): Spring Planting is almost here, and so is the age old debate during the planting season, speed or accuracy? Should we aim to get it done before the inevitable rainy days or should we pace ourselves to get the spacing right? Ag Leader says, why not both. Don't sacrifice precise seed placement for speed, get AG Leader SureSpeed planting system with SureForce hydraulic down force. Not feeling the need for speed, Ag Leader also has a range of planting technology that's sure to meet the individual needs of your operation. Level up your planting this year, contact your local Ag Leader dealer or visit agleader.com for more information. Ag Leader, technology that works for you.


Voiceover (00:58):

Welcome to Precision Points, an Ag tech podcast, where we plant seeds of innovation to inspire inform decisions about precision technology and its impact for growers like you. We explore precision Ag tools and technology, from the soil to the sky with your host, Morgan Seger.


Morgan Seger (01:16):

Welcome back to Precision Points, an Ag tech podcast from precisionagreviews.com. I'm your host, Morgan Seger, and in each episode, we strive to bring you unbiased Ag tech information and ideas. And today on the show, I have, dare I say, a fan favorite, Dr. John Fulton, back with us to talk about planter technology. So, back in March, we had an episode with Ag Leader where we went through all of the mechanics of the planter and how to get that ready for spring. Today, John really focuses on the technology. So we're talking displays, the harnesses and sensors to make sure you are ready to roll.


Morgan Seger (01:52):

We also spend some time talking through seed farmers, specifically the smart firmer, the data you can get from that, and how he has seen that data impact the way growers are planting. As he called it, this is the sacred pass we make every year. We want to do the very best we can. So I hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr. John Fulton.


Morgan Seger (02:12):

Welcome back to Precision Points. Today, I am joined once again by Dr. John Fulton. John, welcome to the show.


John Fulton (02:18):

Yeah. Thanks, Morgan, for having me back.


Morgan Seger (02:20):

I'm excited to talk with you today. We tried to time this out to where people are in their planters, starting to get seed in the ground, and today, we want to talk about planter technology. Where's your head at when it comes to planter technology this morning?


John Fulton (02:36):

I think most guys have already gone through the planter, so they've looked over all the bearings, bushings and kind of the common pieces. Hopefully they've checked their meters, these newer meters can be calibrated or at least checked to make sure they're singulating and meeting the expectations out in the field. So, at this point, we're ready to go to the field, but is our technology ready and then what are we thinking about of how we set that technology to maximize performance? You hear, and we've got a couple people in Ohio, you constantly hear where that planter pass is so critical. It sets what the rest of the year is going to look like. I mean, if we mess up and we don't get off to a good start, we can never fix that.


John Fulton (03:22):

So you hear guys talk about it, it's the sacred pass across the field. So, using technology, having it set up, but making sure it's given you feedback during the planting season is very critical because we want to place seed giving it the maximum yield potential here right from the start.


Morgan Seger (03:43):

Yeah, for sure. So I love that. We actually just did an episode a couple of weeks ago on the mechanics of a planter. So walking through, checking your closing wheels and all of those kinds of things. So, can you walk us through the technology side now? What kinds of things should they be thinking of when they go to set up the technology, the monitors and the sensors and those types of things?


John Fulton (04:06):

First thing I would mention is, if they haven't already done so, check to make sure there's no firmware updates, and that would include on a display, the GPS or GNSS receiver. And then in some cases, there's some electrical control units that could be updated. If you haven't checked, first thing I would do is call your dealer and just kind of ask them if there's any firmware upgrades and make sure that's done pretty quick before you hit the fields, that would be my first recommendation.


John Fulton (04:37):

Second is getting all your offsets. And if you've done an update, make sure you check back through your menus, and when GPS offsets, and most of the technology today is pretty straightforward regardless of company. I think about Ag Leader, Precision Planting, their 2020 monitor, a John Deere GS3, GS4 type monitor. But go to those menus and make sure your offset is related to your GPS, related to your distance between your rear axle and the point of where your meter is, all those things are correct, because that becomes very important because that's all used by the technology to set up when things are turned on and off, if section control, and many of our planters have that. But we don't want it to be shutting off too early or too late, those kinds of things.


John Fulton (05:28):

And so those, all those kind of setup features including offsets, just browse through that real quick, and today's a great time to be doing that.


Morgan Seger (05:36):

Sure. So when you're talking offsets, is that just the distance between where your receiver is and where the sensor is on the planter?


John Fulton (05:45):

That's correct. Typically, you get a common location. Many times, it's the rear axle to the tractor, and what's the distance to the hitching point, what's the distance to the meter where seeds being metered and placed in the field. Where's that GPS receiver relative to that. So there's some different ways but it's that distance, getting that all set up, so we know, hey, it's 15 or 25 foot. Tell you, even with a firmware update, sometimes that can maybe reset to default and may not represent what you're actually hooking up on your tractor as it relates to the planter.


Morgan Seger (06:23):

Okay, sure. And I'm sure that if it's off even just a couple of feet, it's really going to affect your section control, so I can see why making that squared away, otherwise you'll see that all season.


John Fulton (06:34):

Absolutely. Well, section control, and then if you're doing any kind of variable rate, so if I'm trying to execute a prescription map, I want to make those rate changes at our boundaries of where we're making, between zones. So, all that plays a pretty important role. I would encourage folks, to that point, once we get to the field, it's basically the sections control, a lot of the cooperators that we do on farm research with, we'll make several passes and we'll get out and dig seeds, and see where things are shutting on and off. And that allows them the opportunity early in the season to adjust anything accordingly to make sure that's coming on and off where you want it to be.


Morgan Seger (07:14):

Sure. I remember back in some of our very first days looking at variable rate seeding fields, we were checking almost every zone. Every time we saw the different population, we were like, oh my gosh, it worked, we were just so amazed by that technology. How often do you recommend people are getting out and checking that now?


John Fulton (07:35):

If they're using newer technology, we're a lot better today at getting it set where things occur, where you expect them to occur in the field as far as a rate change or an on off for the road control type technology. Definitely right out of the box, so the first field you jump into and you get going, I definitely encourage people to take a little bit of time, not only to check depth, that's so critical, we know that, but check some of the technology settings as it relates to the on off or rate changes. I think as the season goes on, it's not a bad thing every few fields, if you got some time, just to kind of jump off and check, especially if you got someone there helping you and you're doing a refill, you can jump out there real quick and do some digging and say, hey, yep, everything's working as expected. As we mentioned, I mean, I want to get it right up front because once it's in the ground, we're kind of set for the rest of the season.


Morgan Seger (08:33):

Yep. Okay. So firmware updates, GPS offsets. Anything else top of mind that they should be checking here?


John Fulton (08:41):

A big one in my book is doing a backup. If you haven't backed up your display since last year and hadn't thought about that, if you don't have telematics or wireless, then throw a thumb drive in or a compact flash if you have a little older monitor and just do a backup and make sure that data from the prior year is preserved, make sure you have that. If you have a telematics or wireless, you should be good to go. I'm expecting that data's already been transferred to the cloud platform, whoever's that may be, very popular in our areas, Deere's operation center climate field view.


John Fulton (09:23):

But I also would check, and normally this isn't a problem, but making sure that if you are having to pay for something within your service package there with that platform, make sure you're paid up per se. You don't want to get started and all of a sudden, things kind of get shut off, your account gets shut off, which normally speaking, that's already done in advance. But doing a backup, making sure that any services that relates to your technology, that includes differential correction, if I'm paying for differential correction, planting is pretty timely and critical. I do not want to lose differential correction because I didn't have my service paid up in week two or three out there. So, checking on your service packages and having that all paid up is pretty important.


Morgan Seger (10:10):

Sure. Can you explain what differential correction is for me?


John Fulton (10:14):

Yeah. You bet. So, back in the day, we talked a lot about GPS, GPS receivers. Today, we talk about GNSS receivers. Most our companies offer a receiver and we call them GNSS because they're tracking not only the US satellites, GPS satellites, but they're also tracking possibly the European satellites, Galileo or the Russian GLONASS. And there's a few others out there, but the point is GNSSs, we're tracking all these positioning satellites to be able to calculate a position here on earth with that receiver.


John Fulton (10:48):

A differential correction is basically a service and a technique to make sure that that's highly accurate for us. For most of us, if we're using RTK, we're down to sub-inch. We can drive down the same road repeatedly, today, tomorrow, next year. If we're doing SF3, it's pretty good, Trimble has some options that will see folks. But some of those corrections to make sure that our position accuracy is sub-inch of no more than one meter, there's a payment requirement there. So if you're a John Deere user, especially for RTK, there's typically some kind of subscription. If you're a Trimble user, RTX, or even an RTK type solution, there could be a payment there that makes sure that correction is available during the field operation.


Morgan Seger (11:40):

Gotcha. So another thing you definitely want to have set up from the beginning because you don't want to worry about your sprayer tracks and other stuff throughout the season if you don't have those lines straight.


John Fulton (11:50):

And it's the same thing, if I've got a relationship with Verizon or another cellular package because maybe I've got an iPad, making sure that that's all up to date, whether it's whatever technology. So, some of the technologies do have a cellular data service with them. And to your point, if you're not paying attention and you're just on that payment schedule and it happens to go off and it's late April, well, then you're going to have to not only diagnose the issue, but you're probably going to have to call and re-up for what you want. You just don't want to interrupt planting. It's just a timely process, we want to keep that planter moving.


Morgan Seger (12:31):

That's what I'm thinking. As you go through this stuff, I mean, some of that sounds kind of basic things to be checking, but there are just so many things that can happen while you're planting that you don't want these things to be what's hanging you up.


John Fulton (12:42):

I don't know if it's fair, Morgan, but it's kind of like our bills we pay. We set some things up to be automated, some we probably still pay. You just got to keep an eye on things because you want to make sure things are getting paid and paid on time. Insurance. The same with technology. We are better today, typically a company will have one payment and you're kind of set for the year, but at times, depending on what you're doing, you may want to just go through, hey, I've got everything paid up and I'm good to go for planting at least, if not the rest of the year.


Morgan Seger (13:18):

Yep. For sure. Especially when you're working sun up to sun down in those busy planting days, it's harder to remember those little things that you need to be keeping an eye on.


John Fulton (13:27):

And trust me, I've been out in the field. Now, this has been a few years ago. I mean, like I said, I think we're a lot better today on payment and efficiency, making sure things are. I've been in a planting situation where things went down and you sit for a day because you can't figure out what's going on. You find out, well, shoot, we didn't renew a subscription. As you say, it's beyond frustration during that period.


Morgan Seger (13:52):

Yep, I can imagine. I've been in plenty of planters in the spring where the monitor's just beeping at you and you just can't get it to work. And it makes you want to ditch your plan and just plant it like you used to back before we had all this technology. So I think anything we can do to kind of mitigate those warnings or those holdups are very beneficial for our growers. One that I know we ran into a lot was just being out of boundary. So, do you have anything that growers can set up to make sure, if they're working off of a variable rate seeding prescription and they're getting an out of boundary alert?


John Fulton (14:33):

That's a great comment. My first comment is is every company's a little different on how that's handled, in my experience. For us, typically, we make sure that there's we'll say an average. If we go out of boundary or into an area that, again, to your point, that's not properly mapped or isn't within the map, that at least it kicks over to a nominal seeding rate. That might be 34, 35,000 for corn, it may be whatever 140, 160,000 for beans. But a lot of times, you can set up, at least on the more recent ones, you can set up, where if it goes out of boundary, you can hit a button and bam, you kind of switch over to just a nominal seeding rate, it's kind of like a fixed rate, but at least you can get things done.


Morgan Seger (15:23):

Yep. And then you don't have to abort the whole mission. You don't have to leave your planter in the dust because you're having an issue.


John Fulton (15:29):

That's right.


Morgan Seger (15:31):

Good. Anything else on this kind of technology overview as we're prepping our planters?


John Fulton (15:37):

Kind of maybe should have mentioned up front, when we think about wiring harnesses and connectors, if you haven't, most of them I'm sure have already gone through it by now, but just kind of looking, making sure there wasn't rub point on a wiring harness where a wire gets exposed or a few wires gets exposed. It can happen. A connector sits all year, gets a little moisture, it gets some corrosion on it, make sure they get cleaned out so you got good connection and communication or power. So just going through real quick and looking over wiring harnesses. And in particular, connectors. Basically, getting a little moisture and corrosion, that could be a headache too once you get started.


Morgan Seger (16:19):

Yep. And something that, again, is preventable if you just take a little bit of time to look at it ahead of time.


John Fulton (16:24):

Correct.


Morgan Seger (16:25):

Well, good. Well, I appreciate you walking us through that. Would you mind if we switch gears here a little bit and talk about some of the technology that we're seeing people add onto their planters, particularly looking at seed farmers?


John Fulton (16:38):

Yep. You bet.


Morgan Seger (16:40):

So, last time we talked, you mentioned that you were doing a little bit of work looking at the smart farmer. Do you mind sharing some of that with us?


John Fulton (16:48):

Yeah. I want to acknowledge there's some others in our team doing that. Dr. Hawkins in particular, she reported just the start with some of the work from this past year on smart farmers and our 2020 eFields report. There's a lot of smart farmers coming in and being placed on planters today. They're actually giving us a new look because they give you things like furrow moisture, furrow temperature, furrow organic matter in particular, and a few other things. Those are now being collected and displayed. I would tell you, they are I think fundamentally going to change how we look planting, and most likely they're going to improve our planting. I think primary example of that is the cooperators that I sat in a tractor with last year, all of them that had smart farmers readjust their depth. So they really took another look at depth settings on that planter.


John Fulton (17:52):

We may be talking to 16 row, but a lot of these guys are running 24 row planters as well. We got out and we had our depth stick and we're digging and we think we're good. Just having that feedback because we know in some cases, field conditions can, they're going to change as you move across the field. But just that feedback, in particular, that soil moisture made us get out of the tractor a little bit more and felt like at the end of the day, in the studies that we planted it in that manner because we got everything set before we got to our study area, I would tell you, I think we have much more uniform emergence, but we did not, we definitely used different depth settings, this is primarily in corn, than we did the prior year out there, and we're essentially trying to plant two inches.


John Fulton (18:43):

So that's an example where there's not a lot of, it's just the feedback helps get you thinking out of the camp, gets your depth because we know how critical depth and depth to moisture and how that plays a role in emergence. And then the other thing, what we're really looking at is how do those data layers, so when we think about moisture or organic matter, and that gives you a lot more intense look at a higher resolution look, even though it's only we'll say two inches or the depth of your furrow, look on your soil characteristics planting out there. How does those data layers, do those begin to play a role in when we think about variable rate seeding or how we manage and maybe automate some of the technology as it moves across the field.


John Fulton (19:31):

And so, we could even throw in some fertility, could it be used to inform fertility as we think about planting? I acknowledge that precision planting is thinking about or has got testing out that basically uses smart farmers to dictate what the seeding rate is. So, you show up without a prescription map, you show up in a field and basically you're seeing rates sensor-based now. It's all based on what that sensor output. And so, there's a relationship there that gets built in to monitor in the system that controls the seeding rate.


John Fulton (20:05):

So, we're excited because when I think about the areas that we live, Morgan, for me, moisture and texture are two things that drive the performance of planters. And this now gives us the capability as starting to somewhat, not only get moisture feedback on the planter, but texture inadvertently per se we'll say with organic matter. But when you got four to six, a lot of times six sensors across the 24 row planter, you're getting a pretty high resolution or moisture map and temperature out. And so, we're starting to look at, well, can we characterize that and then our work and what we started with Dr. Hawkins leadership and eFields starting to look at, how can that then be used to help us refine our seeding rates for those areas.


John Fulton (21:00):

And so, that's kind of where we're at. I'll tell you at the same time, we're also thinking about how that's going to inform our fertility management. That could be on the planter, which we know we're adding talk about ad-ons to planters, we're adding more things onto the planter, in particular fertilizer placement, and furrow or two by two or two by two by two. But I also think that where there's some opportunity to think about how that might influence what we do side dress and some of the mid season type stuff. That's a lot, but that's kind of where we're finding that those data layers could be very informative to some of those other operations.


Morgan Seger (21:36):

Yeah, that is a lot. So, I'm kind of working my way through everything you're saying right now. One thing that I love about it is that it is actively mapping while you're already out there. So it's kind of like a multi-purpose tool because you don't have to go out and get those things at a different time. So I like that.


Morgan Seger (21:54):

One question I have for you is how does that moisture reading get reported back to you in the cab? Is it like a percentage of soil moisture or is it just wet dry? What does that look like?


John Fulton (22:08):

It gets reported back as an actual number, a percentage. It could be 20%, 30%, 40%. Nominally, they kind of suggest that 30% is kind of where you want to be operating at. But it's an actual number. It'll be 26.2, 28.1. So you'll see that changing, and of course, it gets recorded as well to create a map.


Morgan Seger (22:32):

Okay. So, yep, and then that was my next question was what number or whatever do you want to be at? So if you're in about 30% soil moisture, that's kind of the target.


John Fulton (22:43):

Yeah. Off the top of my head, and I don't want to, we probably should ask one of the Precision Planting folks, but off the top of my head, I was thinking it was around 30, give or take, that you want to be right in that area, is the preference.


Morgan Seger (22:57):

Okay. So then agronomically, you said you were shooting for around two inches depth. How deep do you go to get to the soil moisture, feeling like you're not going to be delaying emergence to the point where it's suffering or hurting the crop?


John Fulton (23:15):

So I'd say in general, we've had a lot of discussions on this, just kind of general rule of thumb, I would say being anywhere from an inch and a half as being the shallowest down to two and a quarter, two and a half. Depending on the planter, I will say that we've had, in some soils, very difficult to go any more deeper than two and a half. You've got to have a lot of weight that counteract trying to get those discs down to that depth to open up a furrow.


John Fulton (23:46):

So, I think generally speaking, for a lot of the conditions, we'll say from kind of a dryer to marginal moisture, you can be definitely, for corn, inch and a half to two and a quarter, maybe a little bit more, some areas that you can be. You've got that range to kind of play with to get yourself to moisture.


Morgan Seger (24:08):

Okay. So that makes sense. And I was wondering how deep the planter could actually even get it. It also depends on the forecast, if there's rain coming in the forecast and things like that would probably persuade you one way or the other as well.


John Fulton (24:22):

That's correct.


Morgan Seger (24:23):

So when they're getting out and changing their depth, are they pretty much doing that across every row or since there's multiple sensors, are they able to kind of be specific with parts of the planter?


John Fulton (24:35):

Today, we've been pretty much putting the same setting on each individual row. That goes back to planter maintenance. If we assume that all the discs aren't good, proper diameter, been set up on their clearance, there's opening discs, we set each row to the same setting. It's just what setting gets you to your preferred depth. And like I said, a lot of times we're talking two inches for the work we've been doing.


Morgan Seger (25:05):

Okay. Okay. That makes sense. So I think those were all my questions I had right off the top of my head based off of what you were sharing. Can you talk a little bit about the actual affirming action? It's kind of like a Keeton Seed Firmer, where it's still actually pushing the seed down into the bottom of the trench, right?


John Fulton (25:23):

Yeah, that's what it's kind of designed as. Basically it's a seed firmer. It's got in AR technology, so there's a little window per se there that emits, we'll say a laser for simple discussion here. And then there's a, it looks at what gets reflected back as a measurement. It's a sensor, but at the same time, it's a farmer making sure that seeds placed in the proper position in that furrow.


Morgan Seger (25:57):

Okay. So, your opinion then, if someone thinks they have their planter set up well to where they don't actually need the farming action, still worth it to have the sensors and all that additional data.


John Fulton (26:12):

I myself see the smart firmer just being a little bit more of an advanced technology on planters. Depending on the situation and a grower where they're at with their technology portfolio on a planter, I think there's a lot of opportunity. We're still learning, I think a lot of people are still learning where the value is on smart farmers. But I guess my point is, I want to make sure folks have, there's some other technology I would say that you're going to need on a planter in my mind before you go to kind of an advanced technology and take advantage of that.


Morgan Seger (26:49):

Okay. Anything specific?


John Fulton (26:52):

I mean, obviously, they're going to have to have the high end display. So in this case, they're going to have probably a newer 2020 display. They would have to have the EC units and the wiring harnesses to make that all work. So I would expect, I would advocate having down force, primarily hydraulic down force on a planter. I think that's going to be as as critical as anything of controlling depth. Sure, I can sense it, but if I'm truly in a mindset that I want to place every seed and I want to do it as accurately as possible, then I'm going to need a display, I'm going to need downforce. I need a decent meter, doesn't have to necessarily be a new one, but a meter that's going to give me really good singulation. Most of them do today.


John Fulton (27:39):

I'm just saying, if it's an older planter and it's, and then you think about adding on some of this other technology such as smart firmer, because, I hate to say it, if I don't have downforce in my book and I'm still at the mechanical spring level, then I can make adjustments, but am I doing the right thing for my adjustments? Can I make that work? And downforce is going to give me much more consistency on maintaining, especially if we've got situations where conditions are varying in the field. So I think about, like I said, texture and moisture being a couple of different drivers of changes as we go across the field.


Morgan Seger (28:17):

Sure. Okay. That makes a lot of sense. It's kind of like agronomically, you can't increase high yield crops if you don't have drainage or fertility or some of those other basics under control.


John Fulton (28:28):

That's right. Correct.


Morgan Seger (28:31):

Awesome. Well, anything else you think growers should be thinking about if they are about to get in their planter or if they're cruising through the fields right now?


John Fulton (28:38):

Well, I guess I would always throw out, I would encourage them if they aren't doing some on-farm research, we're at a stage based on a fertility and even seeding front, I mean, fertilizer's a little bit more expensive this year, but on farm research, thinking about doing some on-farm research to answer their questions, and think about how to fine tune their input management. It's not too difficult. We're happy to help out on that front. They can give us a call and we're more than happy. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to kind of make sure they're making the most profitable decision for themselves.


Morgan Seger (29:11):

Yep. For sure. I love the way this technology has evolved. The way we used to talk about data still felt really heavy and clunky, where now the data seems so much more accessible where you can run your own on-farm trials, actually see the data and start making decisions off of it. So, not too late yet.


John Fulton (29:28):

You bet.


Morgan Seger (29:30):

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, and I hope you have a happy planting season as well.


John Fulton (29:35):

Yeah. Thanks, Morgan. Appreciate it.


Morgan Seger (29:38):

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Precision Points. We are so grateful that you spend this time with us and we hope that you are gaining valuable insights from the conversations that we're having here on the show. We would love any feedback you have. You can go to our show notes at precisionagreviews.com and leave comments there. We would also love a rating and review anywhere you find your podcast. Be sure to check out precisionagreviews.com to see all of our growers sourced reviews. It's growers just like you who have used technology that are giving us feedback on how it worked on their operation. From all of us at the Precision Ag Reviews team, we hope you have a safe and successful spring planting season, let's grow together.


Voiceover (30:21):

Thanks for tuning into today's episode. To hear more podcasts like this, please rate, review and subscribe to precision Points. Visit precisionagreviews.com for show notes from this episode, and read expert advice on the blog, share your experience with the precision Ag products you use and check out our network of farmer reviews. Let's grow together.



 

Host: Morgan Seger

Morgan Seger grew up on a small farm in northwest Ohio before studying agriculture at The Ohio State University. She spent 10 years working with ag retail – specifically in ag tech – prior to hosting the Precision Points Podcast. She lives and farms in western Ohio with her husband Ben and their four children. Morgan has her own blog, Heart and Soil, where she talks about her experience farming, gardening, and raising her family.





Guest: John Fulton

John Fulton is a professor in the Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering Department at The Ohio State University. His research and Extension efforts focus on precision agriculture, machinery automation and use of spatial data to improve crop production and the farm business.

174 views0 comments
Search Loading.gif
bottom of page