PRODUCTION
THE WESTERN PRODUCER | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | JANUARY 14, 2016
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DATA COLLECTION
AG JUNCTION
Farmers fail to capitalize on data
Equipment maker plans more job cuts
Growers have the technology in their equipment but are not using it, says agronomist BY ROBERT ARNASON BRANDON BUREAU
Agricultural firms and consultants have been claiming for at least two years that using complex information systems to enhance agronomy, farm management and yields will become standard practice on Canadian farms in the near future. Manitoba grain farmers aren’t buying the hype. Mitch Rezansoff, an integrated solutions manager with Enns Brothers, a chain of John Deere dealerships, said only 10 percent of Manitoba growers collect data from their operations. “Just from John Deere customers, in Manitoba as a whole … we have an idea of what percentage (of farmers) are storing data to the cloud with John Deere,” Rezansoff told the Manitoba Agronomists Conference at the University of Manitoba in December. Enns Brothers wants to convince skeptical farmers that Big Data does deliver on its hype. The company initiated a project with Manitoba growers in 2014 to demonstrate the benefits of data collection and analysis. “A lot of growers have technology w ithin their equipment and they’re under-utilizing it,” Rezansoff said. “My role is to look at the entire farm operation…. How does technology, agronomy and information tie into that farm operation?… They need to be working in sync to take advantage of the advancements being released into the agricultural industry.” Enns Brothers worked with one grower in 2014, had six sites for the project in 2015 and intends to have eight this year. The company began offering agronomic services a few years
Agronomist Mitch Rezansoff is working with growers to demonstrate the benefits of data collection and analysis in improving profits. | ROBERT ARNASON PHOTO ago in response to customer demand. “There are very few ag equipment dealerships, even in North America, that are doing (agronomy) today,” Rezansoff said, adding Enns Brothers employs five agronomists. One of the company’s demonstration sites is a 3,600 acre wheat, canola and soybean farm. The grower was concerned about overapplying inputs and wanted to use an information system to reduce overlap. “Looking at yield data over a number of years, we were finding that this (farmer) … had overlaps of 200 acres across the farm,” Rezansoff said.
The data suggested the overlap was costing the producer $24,000, a year in extra seed and excessive application of anhydrous ammonia. As well, the overlap strips were staying green, which caused problems at harvest. The producer responded by buying section control technology, which can turn a section of a seeder off or down to reduce application rate. Rezansoff said the technology immediately reduced overlap, but it will take years for the investment to pay off. Enns Brothers also worked with a producer from Arborg, Man., whose 4,300-acre farm was strug-
gling through wet years. Data analysis showed 17 percent of the acres were unproductive because of excess moisture. The company charted the farm’s elevation to establish the best way to move water off the land and reclaim drowned-out acres. “It’s quite interesting, based on tradition, how many people are moving water in the wrong direction,” Rezansoff said. “But when you start to look at the elevations as a whole … you realize the water needs to go in the opposite direction.” Dan Hacault, a producer from Swan Lake, Man., who conducts trials and collects data on his farm, said farmers will doubt Big Data until the benefits are proven. “Farmers want to drill down to what it means on (the) farm,” he said. “What are the cost savings, what is the enhanced income?” John Bergen of Roland, Man., agreed most growers are skeptical, particularly if the data comes from another farm. “Guys will find a reason not to believe data,” he said. “ I d o n ’ t b e l i e v e t h i s re s u l t because he’s using a yellow combine … his soil is different than mine or he got a hailstorm in July.” Enns Brothers has collaborated with a small number of Manitoba growers, but Rezansoff hopes to have enough sites and examples by the end of this year’s growing season to publicly share project results. He remains convinced that data is the future of grain production. “Can data replace farmers’ experience and intuition? The answer is no. It complements it,” he said. “Data is the new reality in farming. It’s here to stay.” robert.arnason@producer.com
Restructuring saw staff reduced by 100 last spring BY MICHAEL RAINE SASKATOON NEWSROOM
Ag Junction, which produces the farm equipment brands Outback and Satloc, is reducing its workforce by one-fifth. The move comes in the wake of a recent industry consolidation that saw it paired with California-based Novariant. It’s not the first time Ag Junction has cut staff. The company, which was once based in Calgary when it was Hemisphere GPS, reduced its staff by 100 from 270 in early 2014 when it moved from Alberta to Kansas, shortly after its name change and restructuring. Last spring, it acquired original equipment manufacturer guidance provider Novariant in a share merger, which put 15 percent of the company’s shares into the hands of venture capital firm Investor Growth Capital. Another 15 percent of the shares, which traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange as AJX, rests with other insiders such as staff and board directors. The combined company had 200 staff at the time the merger was announced, according to corporate filings. Further staff cuts took place as a result, which reduced the workforce to 185, which will now be reduced by one-fifth. Business consolidation is expected to result in a $3.3 million savings to the operation, which will maintain the Outback, Satloc and Novariant brands. The company said it will maintain corporate offices in Kansas. michael.raine@producer.com
» CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE “If we had an issue in a crop, I’d let you know. But a lot of farmers up in Western Canada really like that sensor. So we’re kind of surprised to hear that.” Gurr didn’t test other yield monitors, but he said he has used other brands and observed that canola yields are inconsistent. John Deere said this fall that yield monitors shouldn’t be used to generate yield maps. “The data supplied by a combine’s yield metering system is often not accurate enough because the system cannot be calibrated to any harvest situation or because calibrating would disrupt the harvesting chain,” it said. “As a result, the yield maps used are inaccurate and do not comply with the standards of precision farming.” In August, the company said it is introducing Active Yield, a monitor with automated calibration to improve the reliability and accuracy of yield data. Gurr will make his monitor-scale research public when he has finished summarizing the data. robert.arnason@producer.com
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