Harvesting data: Farmers go digital

By Rick Barrett

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE

As Wisconsin farmers plant crops this spring, perched in the cabs of big tractors rolling through their fields, the words “capturing data” probably wouldn’t be used to describe the bucolic scene.

Yet increasingly, that is what’s happening as farmers monitor in real time the planting and harvesting of their crops – capturing data that is analyzed for the purpose of boosting production and profits.

Modern agriculture, like other industries, is plugged into the world of big data. Moreover, some farmers are capitalizing on the information gleaned from their fields by selling it to agribusinesses such as seed and chemical companies.

“That’s probably the main reason we are on board with this, to try and figure out how to market our data,” said Lee Bushman, who plants and harvests about 6,000 acres of crops for farmers in Buffalo County near the Minnesota border.

That’s where the Farmobile Data Store enters the picture. The Overland Park, Kan., firm collects a farmer’s electronic field records and markets the data to agribusinesses – splitting the revenue evenly with the farmer.

“Our business is built on the conviction that the data farmers generate is inherently valuable,” said Jason Tatge, Farmobile’s founder and chief executive officer.

How valuable are electronic field records that include information such as planting dates, the number of seeds planted per acre and when a crop is ready for harvest?

It depends on how much a buyer, such as a seed company, is willing to pay. However, the data could put a few thousand extra dollars into a farmer’s pocket, in addition to being a crop-management tool.

Getting paid for data that’s captured by planting and harvesting equipment anyway is a worthwhile goal, Bushman said.

The Farmobile system uses a small device, called a passive uplink connection, that gathers planting and harvesting data from field machinery in real time.

Data can include seeding rates, crop yields and other variables.

The device, which a farmer leases for $1,250 a year, can be installed on a variety of equipment in five minutes, according to Tatge.

It’s like a Fit Bit for farm machines. Once plugged in, the device captures information from planting and harvesting for viewing in real time on an iPad. Also, the data can be analyzed later on a computer.

A farmer can choose what electronic field records he wants to sell, and to what buyers. Farmobile is the custodian and marketer of the data but never owns it.

Farmers can share, rather than sell, their electronic field records. That could be the case if they are working with an agronomist, a business consultant or banker who needs the information to help with the farmer’s own business.