The agriculture business may have the same goals as it has had for generations, but the methods of achieving those goals are nowhere near the same from one generation to the next. Each new era in the family operation is faced with new challenges and new opportunities. The trouble is that sometimes data and experience are hard to come by. Not everybody wants to share their information, for fear of it being mishandled. However, some of the information they have can help bring more farmers forward in their endeavors.
On Tuesday, Landus Cooperative launched its new Innovation Center in Ralston, Iowa. The small village may not be the place one would expect to see the next step in agriculture take off, but to Landus, it makes sense to be in what is quintessentially rural Iowa. The location of the center is not near as important as the potential this project has to help farmers grow in a changing and data-driven industry.
Audio: Opening remarks from Landus CEO Matt Carstens
Matt Carstens is the President and CEO of Landus Cooperative. He opened the event by talking about the need for such a place as the Innovation Center. He said that agriculture has not done a particularly good job at keeping up with the pace with which technology and data are growing. He says this, “not a fact that agriculture should be ashamed of”, but rather be a driving factor in getting better at bringing innovation to farmers while keeping them at the center of the mission.
Carstens said that while selling inputs and buying commodities is an integral part of their business, it is not the only reason they are in existence. Carstens says they owe it to their farmer members to be more than that. They can be a repository for information vital to the success of Iowa farmers. Not only on the grain production side but also on the livestock operations as well. That is why Landus is working with agricultural partners to help bring innovation and information sharing to their customers.
Landus has partnered with organizations like Sentera, Sukup Mfg., TerraClear, Rantizo, Syngenta, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and Google.
AUDIO: Full Interview With Landus Grow Leader Molly Toot.
I could almost hear the record scratching in your head as you read that last one. Yes, Google is partnering with Landus to make the Innovation Center a way of optimizing and storing this data so it can be more efficiently used. However, it goes beyond just basic internet needs. Molly Toot is the Grow Leader at Landus, and she talks about their partnership with Google in getting to use a new device called the Google Rover, and what that piece of equipment will be able to provide for farmers. It will be able to go into fields and produce massive amounts of data about each plant in your field. That is precision ag on steroids. Landus will be the only cooperative that will be using that piece of machinery at this time.
The core of the project is going to be the data locker. Molly Toot says that the more data that farmers share with others, the more of a knowledge base that can be built. The data is kept anonymous, so you don?t know if the experiences shared come from your neighbor or someone in the next county. The goal isn?t to let farmers know whose farm had these experiences, but rather share with farmers the lessons learned on farms with similar situations. This can help drive decisions on crop plans, grain storage, livestock management, and health, all the way to government programs on things like carbon sequestration and water quality initiatives.
The ambitions of this project might make one think that the sky is the limit for what this Innovation Center can do, but it is not. The sky will just be another partner in the endeavor. When you factor in companies like Sentera and Rantizo, they can take the information gathered by scouting drones, and application drones to better understand how crop health and management can be handled more efficiently. They can prescribe programs that have worked in fields with similar hybrids, traits, and conditions that you have.
Rantizo drones demonstrate tandem dry and liquid spraying and spreading at Landus Innovation Center in Ralston, IA. (Photo by Dustin Hoffmann)
However, they are staying grounded with partners like TerraClear who have robots that help do tasks like rock picking, just for an example.
The technology coming in the next few years is amazing and mind-boggling all at the same time. That is why Landus wants the Innovation Center to be that repository of information on new technologies and a knowledge base of how that technology has both succeeded or failed in certain situations. It is meant to help farmers have peace of mind when making some intense decisions.
AUDIO: Full interview with Chad Bloom of Landus
Again, the center of the success of the Innovation Center starts with the willingness of the farmer to share that information. They have control over their data, and what gets released. The more that can be shared, the better understanding that can be accomplished. Chad Bloom is the Grow Solutions Center Lead at Landus explains how farmers can choose how to use their data.
The 2021 harvest will be the first major event that farmers will both be able to add a lot of data, but also look at data. Bloom talks about how the Innovation Center, in its beginning stages, can be an integral part of that harvest time.
The talk about ?monetizing data? was brought up several times yesterday. I asked Bloom to get in the drone and take us to a bird?s eye overview of how that could happen. He says it ?mission-critical? to find a way to optimize the acres that don?t produce as well and make them produce better. We have a huge amount of precision technology to help turn those acres around, which allows farmers to up their incomes on those critical acres.
Finally, this data will help in an arena that you may not have thought about, and that is in the Ag policy sector. Former Iowa Ag Secretary and USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey is now a member of the Landus Board, and he talks about the challenges USDA has in making policies about new technologies, without grouping them in the wrong place. He says the more that USDA can learn, the better it can make policies going forward.
However, Northey also says that it comes down to what farmers are sharing. Sometimes, it seems like it would be easier to get nuclear secrets from China than to get information from a farmer. However, Northey says that producers are getting more comfortable with using and supplying information. He likened it to using a GPS. You realize that it doesn?t matter that your GPS knows you are driving to Ralston. What matters is that it knows how to give you the quickest way there, all while avoiding constructions, accidents, and speed traps.
Landus wants producers to know that your information is secure. You have control of the data that is used, like other precision platforms. The goal is to make Iowa farmers better at what they do. To make Iowa farmers aware of the victories and the pitfalls of doing things a certain way. It is about sharing experience and information with the next generation of farmers faster and more efficiently.
Landus looks forward to the future of this project and the benefits it can provide. With the partners they have, Landus has built this Innovation Center literally from the ground up for Iowa farmers and ranchers.
Audio: Full interview with Bill Northey
