Building trust in food begins with empowering farmers through one of the largest and most diverse conservation- and sustainability-focused public-private partnerships in our nation’s history: America’s Conservation Ag Movement. To find the latest news and resources related to the Movement, visit AgWeb.com/ACAM.
Every farm’s sustainability journey is unique. But the thread connecting everyone from where they begin to the route along the way is data. Here are some top takeaways on how data can be a critical part of the conservation puzzle.
1. Evidence will be needed to maintain farmers’ social license in how they farm. “It’s about protecting the American farmer’s right to operate,” says Jason Weller, vice president of Truterra, the farmer-led sustainability business unit at Land O’Lakes. “It will take technology for those farmers to show how they’re adopting stewardship practices, providing for great benefits not just for food production but in stewarding those natural resources of soil and water and air resources.”
2. Tools enable a change in practices and help evaluate success. “Farmers ask what data to collect first, and my answer is to first get financial records in order to be able to assess profitability,” says Jeremie Pavelski, president of Heartland Farms, a potato and vegetable growing operation in central Wisconsin and co-founder of Heartland Ag Tech.
3. Data must be insightful to drive decision-making. Pavelski has been collecting data for more than 20 years. His goal is to create actionable insights. “If you’re just putting information into a system and you can’t create any actionable items, it is really kind of pointless.”
4. Ease of data transfer and analysis is paramount. Pavelski says many companies now create software that makes data integration much easier, “so you truly can get an end-to-end solution.”
5. Stay true to your journey, and don’t go it alone. “Step back and understand what you’re really after and if you are willing to test new technologies,” explains Aaron Deardorff, head of digital ag solutions at Syngenta. ”The sky’s the limit on where a trusted adviser can help you navigate the waters of this immense digital space.”
6. Set a strong foundation with your team. Pavelski encourages farmers to get buy in from their teams. ”So while you are getting some wins with new technology, you are working with your team to demonstrate how it’s going to make us more efficient.”
