In Episode 38 of Precision Points, we get coast-to-coast insights from the FieldReveal account manager team. Austin (who covers the East), Courtney (who covers the North) and Jordan (who covers the South and West Coast) walk us through what FieldReveal is, the problems it’s solving for precision ag groups and how FieldReveal can help customers of all sizes scale their precision ag offering to help growers make the best agronomic decisions.
What is FieldReveal?
FieldReveal is a web-based precision ag platform that was built for ag retail. It gives agronomists tools to write variable-rate fertility and seed recommendations. Formally known as MZB, FieldReveal focuses on zone management and they have a patented zone creation process using four distinct layers of information. Those layers include electroconductivity (EC) or electromagnetic mapping (EM), soil textures, RTK elevation and historical imagery.
“We've added on other management practices like grid management, anything that our retailer may need to help manage those growers.” started Jordan. “You're looking at dispatch capabilities, telematics to send recommendations directly to the cab, analytics platforms that help us offer as-applied, as-planted and yield analysis, reporting to our retailers to help drive better discussions and decisions with their growers.”
Why choose FieldReveal?
There are lots of options when considering a precision ag platform. According to the field managers, FieldReveal has two significant differentiating factors that they lead with when they go to market. The first is that they have an “agronomy first” mindset. If it doesn’t make sense agronomically or if it doesn’t help make better agronomic decision-making, you won’t see it in FieldReveal.
“Here at FieldReveal, our platform from the very beginning was based solely on agronomics, and it is helping the agronomists and those growers make good sound decisions,” added Jordan.
Secondly, FieldReveal partners with their customers. They spend time localizing the agronomy to their customers’ specific needs and work to keep the customers trained and supported with a dedicated customer support team.
“We definitely pride ourselves in being a true partner with those retailers and building a program or a strategy to fit that specific retailer as well,” shared Courtney.
How does FieldReveal help retail precision ag businesses?
The team at FieldReveal pride themselves on the ability to help their customers scale. After listening to their customers, one pain point that often came up was that, while they may have offered great services, the precision ag business would stall out because of its inability to scale. Because of this, FieldReveal has integrated services like their mapping center, yield data processing, training and on- and offline abilities to help customers maximize their time and scale with ease.
“We’re able to adapt our software to some of their unique needs, such as custom integrations and connectivity to major manufacturers of data connectivity, like data transfer, being able to quickly and efficiently move in-cab data right back to our platform,” started Austin. “Whether it be yield data or as-applied or maybe it's your soil lab and you want an API connection with the soil lab to streamline those things to where you're not having to upload your soil data back into our platform.”
Want to learn more?
The account manager team at FieldReveal is happy to connect with you if you’d like to learn more about their precision ag solutions. Depending on your location, Courtney, Jordan or Austin can be reached for demos or more information. You can also go to fieldreveal.com or check them out on social media. You can listen to our full episode here.
Have you used FieldReveal? Leave a review here.
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: JORDAN TACKETT
Jordan Tackett began his career with FieldReveal in 2012 as the first retail partner in Iowa. In 2014, after successfully adding three more retailers in Iowa, he became the southern territory account manager covering southern South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas.
Tackett’s favorite part of working at FieldReveal is being able to keep up with new and different technologies in the precision ag space and helping retailers utilize them in the field. Growing up on a farm, Jordan understands how hard farmers work and he loves seeing firsthand how technology is helping them increase yield and become more efficient in day-to-day operations.
Jordan graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree. He currently lives in Ames, Iowa with his wife, Lindsey, and their 9-year-old twin boys, Baker and Eli. In his free time, Jordan enjoys coaching Little League baseball, attending local collegiate sporting events and continuing to learn the art of beekeeping.
Guest: COURTNEY GEPPERT
Courtney grew up in Southern Minnesota on a corn and soybean farm, working alongside her father and grandfather. This background is where her interest in the agriculture industry began. After high school, Courtney attended South Dakota State University, graduating in 2018 with a major in Agronomy and minor in Agriculture Business.
After graduation, Courtney worked for Crystal Valley Cooperative for two years as a Precision Ag Consultant. During her employment with Crystal Valley, she enjoyed being a partner with producers to improve ROI and maximize yield through available industry technologies. She recently got married and made the move to eastern South Dakota. Courtney is excited to get involved with FieldReveal and use her passion for the agriculture industry.
In Courtney’s free time, you can find her hanging out with family and friends, camping and staying active.
Guest: AUSTIN MATTERN
Austin grew up in northern Indiana, where he and his family reside today. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Soil & Crop Management from Purdue University. Upon graduation in 2008, he began his career working in ag retail, holding roles such as Account Manager and Location Manager. He enjoys working with producers to increase efficiency on the farm. Additionally, as a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), Austin managed fertilizer, seed and chemical recommendations for his customers and implemented precision agriculture programs.
In 2016, Mattern began working more closely with ag technology. He joined the Winfield United Retail Technology Specialist team, where his role was to support ag retail and local precision ag specialists, working closely with ag tech companies and retailers to develop strategies to implement and adopt ag tech in the rapidly changing market. More recently, Austin worked for Ag Growth International in the Fertilizer Systems division. As a Territory Sales Manager for AGI, he consulted with retail and wholesale fertilizer and chemical companies, helping them to design and build fully automated state of the art facilities.
He and his wife Hannah have two girls and they enjoy the outdoors, camping and horseback riding. As a family they run Spring Hill Farm, a fresh-cut flower farm that serves their local community. In his free time, you may find him fishing & enjoying the outdoors.
Transcription:
Host: Morgan Seger
Guests: Jordan Tackett, Courtney Geppert, Austin Mattern
Voiceover (00:03):
Welcome to Precision Points, an ag tech podcast where we plant seeds of innovation to inspire informed 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 (00:21):
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 I am joined by the account manager team from FieldReveal. So I am joined by Austin Mattern, who covers the east, Jordan Tackett to the south, and Courtney Geppert to the north. So like I say in our interview, we really have coast to coast insights today, and they do a deep dive into what FieldReveal is and how they are aiming to serve their customers.
Morgan Seger (00:55):
All right, you guys, well, I am so excited today. On Precision Points, I am joined by the account manager team from FieldReveal. So we actually have three people joining us today. I have Austin Mattern, the account to the east. So you're covering the Eastern US, right?
Austin Mattern (01:10):
Yes, that's correct.
Morgan Seger (01:11):
All right. We have Jordan Tackett, who covers the south and what looks like all the way up the West Coast?
Jordan Tackett (01:17):
Yes, that's correct.
Morgan Seger (01:18):
All right. And then Courtney, you have those Northern states, but did I read that you also get into Canada?
Courtney Geppert (01:23):
Yes, I'm covering that north country.
Morgan Seger (01:27):
Okay, perfect. So, we have coast to coast insights today. And with this team, we're just going to dive right into our conversation about FieldReveal. So Jordan, can you kick us off and just start us with what is FieldReveal?
Jordan Tackett (01:41):
Sure, and thanks again for having us on here. FieldReveal is a web-based precision ag platform that was built for ag retail and that gives the agronomist the tools to write a variable-rate fertility recommendations, variable-rate seed recommendations for the growers. Some people are aware of where we came from, our beginnings, but others don't. So I may just touch on that for a second. Our technology has been around for over 23 years now. From 1998 to about 2017, we were known as MZB Technologies based in the Dakotas up there. And we focused primarily on zone management for the retailers and the growers. MZB had a patent, and we still have that patent today, on a zone creation process using four distinct layers of information. The first one is EC or EM, which you collect from Veris cart or EM38 model. There we're looking at soil textures, patterns across the field.
Jordan Tackett (02:40):
RTK elevation is one of our layers as well to help manage those topography changes. And the last one we look at, historical imagery to look at those yield potential patterns year in and year out. And then in 2017, FieldReveal was formed when multiple ag retailers came together and bought into MZB. We're currently owned by Ag Retail. And so those owners are Agtegra, which used to be South Dakota Wheat Growers up in the Dakotas, CVA, Nebraska, the McGregor Company out in the PNW and Winfield United. And since then, we've added on other management practices like grid management, anything that our retail or may need to help manage those growers. But most importantly, the partnerships we've formed over the last couple years, you're looking at dispatch capabilities, telematics to send recs directly to the cab, analytics platforms that that help us offer as applied, as planted budgetary and yield analysis, reporting to our retailers to help drive better discussions and decisions with their growers.
Morgan Seger (03:40):
Awesome. So it's neat to hear the evolution of how this is all started and where you're at today. Courtney, if there's a grower or a retailer listening, that's interested in learning more or possibly working with FieldReveal, what would that process be?
Courtney Geppert (03:56):
Yeah. So I guess I would start with just have them come and talk with the specific account manager that covers the area that they're working with those account managers that can develop strategies and plans for that specific retailer. We definitely pride ourselves in being a true partner with those retailers and building a program or a strategy to fit that specific retailer as well. From there, then we would essentially evaluate the retailer and then bring them on as a retailer. And then we would go ahead and train them up too. So we've got a team in Watertown, South Dakota, and they help us with trainings and then they're also available for support as well. So that would be the next step. And then from there, we just continue that relationship. So, I mean, we're not a company that wants to onboard them and head down the road to the next one. We're going to work with them side by side to help them provide value you to their growers and help those agronomists build those relationships with those growers as well.
Morgan Seger (05:07):
That's great. Yeah. I know when we were just kicking off, before we started recording, you mentioned that you had another demo coming up. So I'm sure that's a great way to give them access to see what all there is.
Courtney Geppert (05:17):
For sure.
Morgan Seger (05:18):
Yeah. So, Jordan, when we're looking at these precision ag platforms, what is it that makes FieldReveal different?
Jordan Tackett (05:26):
We actually get that question quite a bit, because there's a lot of platforms out there, and I think it comes down to two main points. One for us and that we can't stress it enough, is agronomy first always. It has to make sense, agronomically speaking. There's a lot of platforms out there that are okay at doing a lot of different things, but they aren't great when it comes to the most important one thing. And that, to us, is agronomics. Here at FieldReveal, our platform, from the very beginning, was based solely on agronomics, and it is helping the agronomists and those growers make good sound decisions. If a grower is working with another retailer and we're talking with development work, feature add-ons, things that are needed to help them do their jobs. We look at it as... The first thing we do is say, "Hey, does this help the agronomists make better decisions for the growers?"
Jordan Tackett (06:21):
Point number two, Courtney touched on pretty quickly, is how we operate and partner with our retailers. We really do become true partners with that retailer. It isn't just, "Here's a piece of software and figure it out for yourself," type of company. We do become true partners with our users, and our main goal is to help them increase their precision acres, to help drive value to the growers. And also, to us, it helps bring value to that whole retail as a whole company, if you're looking at it from a holistic standpoint. The grower can buy products anywhere. But I think the question to them is, who's showing that grower the best value for their dollar spent? Who's giving the best ROI on each field to show value themselves? I think it just comes down to the partnerships and the values that help drive those relationships for the future.
Morgan Seger (07:16):
Yeah, for sure. So when you talk about being agronomy first, is this a tool where you're still leaning really heavily on the agronomist and just trying to give them the best information, or is this the type of tool that's going to be basically giving you the answers?
Jordan Tackett (07:31):
We've always looked at it as, the agronomists are the experts in the field. They have localized agronomy. Agronomy is localized. And so when you start to get too broad, I think you lose a lot of that localized agronomy. And so we work with our retailers and agronomists to put in localized equations, localized products, and we give the agronomist those tools to be successful out in the field. You know, we're in the office or we're driving around, we're all in from the agronomy field, but that agronomist in that localized area is going to be that champion for that grower. And so we want to just give them the best tools possible for them to make decisions, whether that's in central Iowa, where I'm located, or if it's in the PNW out there. We're in the Palouse Hills with hundreds of feet of elevation change. They know their field the best, so we just give them the tools that can help them succeed.
Morgan Seger (08:23):
Yeah. I love that because I'm sure... I mean, each of you cover territories that are really, really huge and probably very diverse. So I was wondering how that all worked into the equations and algorithms and stuff that you guys are working with. So very good.
Morgan Seger (08:38):
Now, Austin, I know on this show, we talk a lot about new and innovative ideas, and the best ideas are those that are trying to solve a problem. So what is the problem your customers are trying to solve and what are you guys doing at FieldReveal to walk them through that?
Austin Mattern (08:54):
Yeah. Great question, Morgan. I think one of the things that we find when we're talking with our customers and our prospects, is that, like we've said before, their areas, their agronomy, their customers, whether it be row crop or livestock or massive topography changes or watershed quality issues, different things, they're all looking for something to be unique to them. And then they want efficiency with those management practices.
Austin Mattern (09:22):
So at FieldReveal, we sit down and we listen to our customers. We listen to our prospects, we listen to what they're asking for, with help. Many of them do a really good job of offering an array of precision ag and technology services to their customer base. But one thing that continually comes back up with these customers and prospects, is that scaling upon those services and those offerings tends to be an issue. Whether it's turnover internally that they experience and they lose a little energy and synergy that they have internally with that turnover, possibility that they may experience, or whether it may just be in retail and in agriculture, we all wear so many hats throughout the season to get the job done for our growers that we care about and need for our business to thrive.
Austin Mattern (10:10):
So one thing at FieldReveal that we've found to be very crucial to our success is making sure that our retailers that work with us and partner with us are successful through being able to provide them the solutions that they need. Those solutions like our mapping center being able to help their business scale on offering them that added service, being able to provide data services to them for processing yield so they're not spending as many hours in front of the computer, making sure that their sales agronomy teams are comfortable and competent with the precision ag offering, making sure they're trained up and making sure that they have the time that they need to be in front of customers instead of sitting in front of a computer for hours within inefficient software platform.
Austin Mattern (10:55):
So what we've really done is we've tried to create a modern platform that runs high speed with today's standards of internet. We've given offline solutions where internet access may be limited for some of our infield services like soil sampling and being able to view your prescriptions on a mobile app, many things that other platforms do as well. But we want to do them quickly, we want to do them efficiently, and we want to do them in the scenario in the platform area where customers are comfortable doing it. Whether it be on a tablet or on a laptop, out in the field or in their office, we want to provide all those capabilities to those customers.
Austin Mattern (11:35):
I think being able to also adapt our software to some of their unique needs. So custom integrations and connectivity to major manufacturers of data connectivity, like Fox data transfer, being able to quickly and efficiently move in-cab data right back to our platform, whether it be yield data or as applied Or maybe it's your soil lab and you want an API connection with the soil lab to streamline those things to where you're not having to upload your soil data customer, my customer, as that comes back into our platform.
Austin Mattern (12:14):
So we've provided a number of solutions that create a seamless connection, whether it's with our mobile app out in the field and your soil sampling, or with labs, or like Jordan has already stated earlier, with dispatch and telematics. So I think in the whole grand scheme of things, to sum it all up and summarize, what solutions are we solving for retailers and growers today at FieldReveal, is that we're taking the standards that the industry's been asking for, and we're executing on them. We're creating a faster platform that works at the pace and the speed and the location that you need it to work at. And we're streamlining those clicks within the tool to make sure that you're not going 17 windows deep within a tool to access something that you might need to access 72 times a day. We want that to be on the surface level where it's easy to access and you can repeatably do that with customer after customer as your day goes on, and do it on-the-go in the field at the barn gate.
Morgan Seger (13:16):
Sure. And that makes a lot of sense. If you guys are doing the training, you want to make it as simple and straightforward as you can. One thing that I found interesting, you talked about how we're all wearing so many different hats, whether it's at the grower level or at the ag retail level, and lots of times these things that we perceive as like a value add are the first things we drop. So to do the things that we have to do to get the crop in the ground, or whatever. So I can definitely see how having this streamline and efficient platform is a huge benefit in doing some of that leg work behind the scenes.
Austin Mattern (13:50):
Yeah, for sure. You mentioned something there that's interesting and we hear it a lot, is that retailers will often say, as soon as the commodity markets drop on grain prices and fertilizer prices go up, that the precision ag and technology pieces are the pieces that maybe fumble or get dropped on farm. And we really put a lot of emphasis with our partner and our customers to lead with the technology, lead with the tools that they've been provided through FieldReveal, whether it be on a sales call, or a crop planning call with a grower, those seed conversations, those fertilizer conversations, those nitrogen variable-rate, in-season application conversations, all can start with managing that overall cropping plan with FieldReveal and then setting up those variable-rate applications and those recs to drive the total tons or the total bags of seed, the varieties, the placement, the populations, the nutrient use efficiency of nitrogen through that nitrogen use efficiency score.
Austin Mattern (15:00):
You can begin all of those conversations with technology and drive value for your grower and get really sticky with that relationship with them. And you're no longer just that price for that commodity product that they're looking for.
Morgan Seger (15:19):
Yeah, for sure. And I think I maybe use air quotes around "value added" because I agree, when things get tight, that's really when we should be doubling down on technology in these services that we're providing, because that's the whole point in trying to increase our ROI, and that works too when things are tight.
Jordan Tackett (15:37):
So what he was saying of leading with technology, we've made it a goal of ours the last couple years to make precision a process and not a product. You always look at it as, okay, here's your expenses, here are your inputs, now do you want available rate and what's going to be this much. Do you want to create a zone map? It's going to be this much. We're trying to change that conversation of, we're doing variable rating, we're doing precision ag, and this is how we're going to do it. And this is going to help us A) sell products, whether it's fertilizer, chemical seed, whatever that is. But leading with that conversation of, this is how we're doing things from now on, and not having a price attached to that precision side of things.
Jordan Tackett (16:23):
I mean, we're looking at adoption rate of still 30% to 40% across the board with growers in precision ag. And for as long as it's been around, I feel like those numbers should be up. So our goal has tried to increase those acres with our retailers, not just for us, but for them. That the more growers they have in precision ag, like Austin said, that stickiness is there. And you show them a value in what you're doing precision ag and you got a customer for life, in my mind.
Morgan Seger (16:57):
Yeah. Well, it just helps you make... It helps you do your job that much better and more efficiently that it's not really about a dollar amount at the bottom of the page.
Jordan Tackett (17:07):
Yep. It's what best for you, the grower, what's best for each field. And it is precision. I mean, to be straight forward with everybody. Precision will help with those input costs, as input costs are increasing, as we've seen across the board right now with fertility costs. That precision is going to help you put them exactly where that ROI, the greater ROI is going to be in that field.
Morgan Seger (17:29):
Jordan, could you describe a unique situation that FieldReveal was able to help find a solution to?
Jordan Tackett (17:34):
Yeah, I was thinking about this question. And I think it, again, builds off what Austin was talking about, scalability and being able to look at a retailer and say, "What are your needs to help grow your business? What are you wanting to get out of precision ag? Are you a new retailer? That's just dabbling into precision ag. Are you a customer that's been around for a long time and just want to keep growing that?" And so I look back a few years, about five or six years ago, I met Michael Kempke. He was the precision ag lead at Garden City Co-op, one of the largest co-ops in Kansas. And then they get in their precision department off the ground for a couple years and wanted a true partner in the software space to help guide them into the future. They kind of hit a wall there. They weren't sure where to go.
Jordan Tackett (18:22):
He had a team in place that was great, helped him meet their goals, helped him meet the growers goals, but just needed that extra leg up on the competition. And so we came in. We partnered with them. We worked hand in hand with helping them gain more and more growers in the system. And we did that by proving that our system works. And we proved it to the agronomists that it worked. A lot of them grumble like, "Oh, I'm going to do more work than what I'm used to doing," which isn't the case, really. So we proved to them that the system worked. We proved to the growers that our system works. And, really, they became one of our heaviest users throughout the years. As far as meeting their goals, they've met and beat expectations every year, as far as adoption with their company.
Jordan Tackett (19:05):
And I stick with Kempke on this story because he went from are heaviest users, and now he's a GM of a really small co-op in Bazine, Kansas at the Cooperative Grain & Supply Company. He reached out to us again. He has no team. They have no experience in precision ag, and the growers there don't really know what precision ag is and how it can benefit them.
Jordan Tackett (19:25):
So us coming in and using the strategy that we're used to of partnering with the retailers and going through those processes that we do with them, with our support team in South Dakota, becoming that extra arm of their precision department. He set his goal and, really, he's doubling acres every year, because again, he's proving to them that precision ag is paying off. And so with us, you look at each retailer differently, like I mentioned. Are you a retailer that's starting off from scratch with a single location? Are you a retailer who is the dabbling in precision ag or all the way up to one of our owners like Agtegra and CVA who have been doing it for 20 plus years? They're known across the industry in the country for having best in class precision departments and leaders in this space. And they're using our software to add more value to their offerings than what they were.
Jordan Tackett (20:18):
So I look at it as, not really the size of the retail operation that makes you successful in precision ag, I think you, as the retailer, it's who you choose to partner with for software that makes you successful in precision ag or not.
Morgan Seger (20:33):
Well, and that really illustrates that story. And I like that you're kind of even echoing back to what Austin was saying. So it speaks to its scalability. If you can go from a smaller retailer to one of the largest co-ops in the country and still be able to serve them and help them meet their goals. I think that says a lot about the system and the processes that you guys have in place.
Jordan Tackett (20:53):
Yeah. I look at it from a personal standpoint. I have growers that I help manage their acres with. I'm also a user of a FieldReveal. I was a user of MZB before I came to work full-time at MZB and FieldReveal. And so I still have some of those growers that I deal with. And so I'm a single person who helps three or four growers manage like 5,000 acres. But then we have Agtegra who has millions and millions of acres in the system. And they're writing millions of acres of recs every year. And we're creating hundreds of thousands of zone maps each year for them.
Jordan Tackett (21:27):
And so scalability is key, but the process we have set in place, and especially with our support team in, in South Dakota is, hands down, the best support team in the world with when it comes to precision ag. And they're the reasons, really, that we're successful. Us three people just drive around and talk to people like yourself and try to gain traction across the United States. But they're the ones that do all the leg work for us, and they're the ones that really support those retailers, whether it's, again, one person, or if we have 50 agronomists with eight million acres.
Morgan Seger (22:00):
Yeah. For sure. I think that support people are like heroes without capes. That was the same for my career too.
Jordan Tackett (22:07):
Yes. We give them a lot of grief and it's like a family, to be honest with you, up there. And if we need something, we call up to get it done right away. If they need something we all step in. We help each other out. And when push comes to shove they're there for us and they're there for the retailer, and they go out of their way to make sure they are successful.
Morgan Seger (22:29):
Awesome. So, Courtney, if there's someone listening who wants to learn more, where would you send them?
Courtney Geppert (22:35):
Yeah. A few things come to mind here. I guess first and foremost, I would say just reach out to one of us account managers. Morgan, we can send you the information, if you want to add that into the show notes.
Morgan Seger (22:48):
That'd be great. [crosstalk 00:22:49]
Courtney Geppert (22:48):
And our website. And then our contact information as well. We've all, us three account managers, have ag retail experience. We know what it's like to teach you guys to learn to use a software and expand on that too. So we're very down to earth and we would love to have a conversation with anyone about it. And then also start doing a demo experience or get some zone acres in for whoever's interested in learning more about it. Another thing too we've got, we're very active on our social media platforms. So Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, follow us on those and watch for updates and things that are coming in the future for us as well. But I would say first and foremost, just get in contact with one of us three. We'd love to have a conversation with you.
Morgan Seger (23:41):
All right. So the last question that we like to ask our guest on this podcast is what is one technology you're most excited about, and this can range from like the alarm clock on your phone to autonomous and robotics in the field. Austin, do you mind taking this one for the team?
Austin Mattern (23:57):
So when considering new technology in agriculture I'm excited about a lot of things. And one of the things that I think, isn't necessarily new but it's definitely new to a lot of people, is our zone technology. Just being able to consistently build zones that allow you to manage your farm with a heavy influence with topography and satellite imagery, allowing you to write prescriptions based off multiple yield goals.
Austin Mattern (24:27):
So if you're out there and you're driving across the farm, and you know that you have areas of your field considering commercial No. 2 Dent corn that would yield, say 125 bushels year in and year out in a really eroded clay knob, we can feed that clay knob correctly and abide by all the new programs that are out there, whether it's for our nutrient stewardship or H2Ohio, or whether it's whatever state regulatory watershed water quality piece that you have in place where you are at, we can feed yield goals that you as the grower and you as the agronomists locally have in mind for what that field's capable of. Ranging from as low as 75 bushels or lower all the way up into that 350/400 pocket of the field that you want to push that you've never been able to push for before, because you had one flat yield goal out there across an 80 acre field for 225 bushels. And were you really doing that zone that could hit 340 justice by having a yield goal of two and a quarter or 240.
Austin Mattern (25:36):
So I just wanted to isolate that piece of our platform as it's one of the things that I'm incredibly excited about as I go out and talk with prospects and potential customer in my region. Another technology that's really exciting is our data services portfolio that we're going to be offering at FieldReveal. So we've got a industry partner best in class company that we're partnering with that's going to help us at FieldReveal launch a data services platform, and it's specifically going to be called Data Hub. That platform is going to be able to look at yield data, bring it in using those industry connections out there for the different pucks, data collecting devices, whether it's MyJohnDeere or Climate, Slingshot AgSync, just any one of those platforms out there, we're going to be able to bring that raw data in, unprocessed, uncleaned, uncalibrated, and then do all of it for you through an automated process with our software.
Austin Mattern (26:40):
So it was going to not only absorb that yield data, it's going to normalize it. It's going to clean those different nuances that are in it, like header up and down, turn rows, the header running half full, running empty, but still with the header down scenario in place. We're going to clean all that noise up out of that data and then calibrate it. Say you've got two or three combines with bean tables on them running in a 300 acre field, if those machines weren't calibrated in unison there in that field, and then one of them moves on to the next field and whatnot. This tool is going to allow that data to be geospatially referenced and clipped to where the data from those three machines will be normalized, cleaned, and calibrated together to the field that they were in together. And then it's going to also allow that data to be tagged to the next fields where that other combine moves to.
Austin Mattern (27:31):
I know I've said a lot there very quickly, but I'm really excited about that tool and what it's going to be able to offer the industry and helping that use of yield data at the retail and grower level to scale with the need that they have for that data. I think one of the limiting things that we have right now in the industry with utilizing good yield data is emphasizing good yield data. We have it, we collect it, we store it somewhere. We store it on a cloud, or we store it on flash drives, but have we done anything with it?
Austin Mattern (28:06):
And I think that's where the next chapter in this story with yield data is going to come, is once you have a service and a team behind you, that's going to help you process it through our data services offering. You are going to be able to take that and use it in the decision ag space. Applying it back to your operation and being able to utilize it and looking back at the year and saying, "Okay, we made these incremental decisions. How did it impact our operation? What was the true ROI? What was my cost per bushel of production this year?" Instead of, "I think my cost per acre of corn was this." I think the grower of tomorrow is going to be able to tell you how much the cost per bushel on his farm was in the past year. So those are some of the things that I'm the most excited about, Morgan.
Morgan Seger (28:58):
So do you guys have an estimated date on the data hub?
Austin Mattern (29:03):
We're actively launching that now with some of our core retailers. They're going to begin trialing that and pushing it out and utilizing it here this fall and winter, and then we're going to continue to develop that tool out and probably have a more broad scale launch for next year.
Morgan Seger (29:21):
Awesome.
Courtney Geppert (29:21):
So just adding on, I guess, a little bit to what Austin started here talking about, one thing that I am excited about, just as a young individual in the ag industry, is the ROI and analytics side of the industry. Being a young producer, my husband and I have a field of our own. So I guess we can see it firsthand. You got to make sure that you're managing each and every acre very specifically and watching that bottom line as well.
Courtney Geppert (29:51):
And I think, definitely, as young producers transitioning into the future of ag, are going to need to be more diving into different ways to track that. So I think that that's one thing that I'm excited to see evolve and really micromanage each and every acre. And I think FieldReveal does a great job of bringing different programs together to paint that full picture for producers so they are managing each and every acre to the best potential and the best ability of each field.
Morgan Seger (30:25):
Yeah. So it's almost like you can help retailers scale, no matter their size, but you're also working with growers of all size. And I can see it being really valuable, especially for newer growers to have all of these insights right off the bat. So, Jordan, did you have anything you want to add on about what you're most excited about?
Jordan Tackett (30:43):
Yeah, I think the best technology, and this is probably going to sound cliche, is the technology we haven't added to our system yet. So as an example, we have a council that meets once a month that talks about development needs, the direction our company should be going. And it is great to hear what our retailers and owners want. We don't really care what the industry says is important for the future or deems important now, we create technologies in our system that our retailers want, that owners want and our users want. And so I'm most excited about what our retailers are going to need in five years so we can start changing our system to accommodate that to the futures for, once again, helping them build their precision departments out, helping their retailers grow their business how they see it fit, and how we can be a part of that.
Morgan Seger (31:35):
Yeah, for sure. Well, you guys, I have had so much fun today and I am so grateful for you all taking the time to be on the show. Thank you so much.
Morgan Seger (31:45):
Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Precision Points. It's always fun to have new industry experts in on the show. And Austin, Jordan and Courtney did a great job working together to really explain what FieldReveal is and how they are working to serve their customers. I love that they're focusing on scalability and really can serve a wide range of customers at the retail level and at the grower level. I love that they also have a lot of really exciting things coming up.
Morgan Seger (32:13):
So I'm sure this is just the first conversation of many that we have here as we dialogue back and forth around how precision ag fits on every farm. To get the show notes from this episode, please go to precisionagreviews.com. While you're there, check out our grower source reviews. We get feedback from growers like you on their thoughts and experiences with precision ag tools and services. We're doing this to serve as a database of information so when you are trying to make your next precision ag decision, you have some insight to fuel that decision making process. Until next time, this has been Precision Points podcast. Let's grow together.
Voiceover (32:51):
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. To hear more podcasts like this, please rate, review, and subscribe to precision points. Visit precision ag reviews.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.
