Ten Ways Technology Will Change How Retailers Support Farmers

By: Ron Smith

Agriculture is on the cusp of another revolution as farmers and their key suppliers of goods and services tap the potential of rapidly changing technology.

At the recent Winfield US Answer Tech Summit in Dallas, leaders from across a wide spectrum of industries that interact with agriculture offered short-and long-term analyses of how technology — which they agree is changing exponentially — will affect the company’s many retailers, as well as their farmer customers.

They discussed how technology — including improved communications; better, more accurate sensors; and programs that provide actionable information to help farmers and their advisors — will improve cropping and marketing decisions.

Here are 10 key takeaway points from their presentations:

1. “All agronomy is local,” says Mike Vande Logt, executive vice president and chief operating officer for WinField US. “Local agronomists know what goes on in a particular area; they also benefit from local accountability.”

Local advisors, working closely with farmers, he says, are better able to use specific technology — including field sensors, GPS, yield monitors and other tools — to help growers make decisions on hybrid selection, in-season nutrient management, and whether a certain hybrid will benefit from fungicide application.