Turning ‘40 Chances’ into a Legacy Through Farm Data
Two years ago, I was introduced to Howard G. Buffett’s written work through 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World. As a farmer, educator, and newly minted tech specialist in the field (literally), I consumed the book whole in one sitting. What a way to put my world into perspective! I have 40 seasons to get my crops right. 40 chances to know my land and pass it on. 40 years to create my family’s legacy of feeding those who depend upon us.
The word ‘daunting’ does not even begin to express the task of the farmer to get it right the first time…. This is not a 40 year waiting period for perfection! The farmer does not have the luxury to play around with her acres. The farmer cannot say, ‘Naaaaa, I’ll wing it!’. She cannot sit idle and wait for someone else to make decisions for him. The world’s food supply rests on the farmer’s shoulders to proactively know from past experience how to get the job done right every time.
Getting the job done has morphed into a professional and very personal obsession. I’ve met with countless dairymen from Pennsylvania, even at their kitchen tables, hearing how they desire to know more about what their cows are doing. My favorite time is riding alongside the farmer in Illinois during harvest in his combine. He clutches his 2001 flip phone with the grip of death refusing to give it up, but he wants his children to know more than he does with the aid of technology about the fields he will pass down. Then their are the meetings I’ve had the privilege to be a part of with agricultural R&D facilities like the Noble Foundation in Oklahoma — a place where every bit of information gathered is destined to help the cattle rancher, alfalfa, and pecan grower. I continue to take all of these experiences back to my own family’s small vegetable farm and work to make sure every tomato, cucumber, and ear of sweet corn is grown to perfection every time.
Up until this moment in farming history, most attention has been given to the advances in agriculture from machinery and biotechnology. Better equipment has allowed the farmer to be more productive and more efficient. Seed genetics and breeding have brought forth amazing gains in crop yields and desirable traits to feed more people with less. But now we have a new revolution at the farm that will give the gift of extending our ’40 chances’ through a legacy of data. Data may not initially seem as tangible or attractive as a brand new color-of-your-choice tractor, but this data is what will extend the number of chances we all have.
Hundreds of thousands of farm acres are being mapped at The Climate Corporation to show a farmer where to plant and at what density with a partnership with Precision Planting. Computers are aboard tractors and combines to monitor every inch of tillable soil at John Deere and Agco. Dairy cows are even wearing FitBit like monitors that track their activities thanks to developments at Afimilk and Lely! Robots, automated planters, weather sensors, cameras, and apps galore — it is all swirling around the farm like Dorthy’s tornado before landing in Oz. Thankfully, this is not a dream of flying monkeys and a wizard we cannot see, it is the beginning of how from today, we can extend our chances beyond 40 to the next generation by properly collecting and connecting our farm data.
Step one for the farmer is to get connected. Upgrade your wi-fi, call your congressman if your internet stinks to get them involved, and lay out a plan to integrate new technology with what you have. Most start with buying new fancy equipment and other technology, but what’s it worth if you can’t hold a steady internet signal? Step two is to get all of your data up to the cloud (even if it is just in the form of Excel spreadsheets). Don’t know what the cloud really is? No worries — it is one of my most favorite things to educate farmers about. Step three is to sit down with whomever is your farm’s heir. Ask them about farm technology and what gets them excited! Build up your farm data together now, it will be the unwavering insurance policy for the success of your farm in the future. The collected data from today will shape better decision making on the farm tomorrow.
Today’s data is going to allow tractors to drive themselves. Today’s data is going to allow the farmer to not only monitor, but manage their operation from a smartphone from anywhere. Today’s data will allow for higher food safety standards, better animal treatment, and overall better farming practices. We all need to be active participants together to extend our 40. The more data we gather, the better prepared we can be for what is ahead.
