As farmers, we always want to know that we are making the smartest choices on our land, and a new analytics provider hopes that its new ag data tool, called Validator, can help guide you toward achieving your production goals.
The Validator, released by Main Street Data, is the ag industry’s first broadly-based independent data tool providing growers with subfield-level visibility to any gaps between the potential at a chosen benchmark yield level versus their actual yields, and performance comparison to others farming under like conditions. Armed with this information, growers can determine if they are achieving their goals, understand if their products and practices are working and course-correct if not, accurately assess if their performance is competitive, and ultimately make better, more-informed yield-enhancing decisions.
How it works
Validator leverages the nation’s largest and highest quality data set of corn, soybean and wheat yield, a repository meticulously and accurately collected over seven years. This set of actual combine-collected crop yield data takes into account a range of farming weather conditions from the driest to the wettest, spans millions of acres and 1.3B Microfields across 25 states, and incorporates related naturally-occurring variables at the granular resolution of 150 square feet.
Grower benefits
This comprehensive and accurate view of real yield results under every condition possible allows Main Street Data to set benchmarks for yield potentials in virtually every farming scenario, while accounting for the variable impacts of weather. Armed with this, growers can see not only how their production compares to others in similar conditions, but also drill down to the subfield level and measure the performance of the discrete subfield against the benchmark of what should be possible. It validates their overall practices (plans, seed and irrigation decisions, etc.) and tells them where, at a subfield level, changes can improve their yields. The Validator reflects the promise of precision agriculture.
How to get it
The Validator is available directly to farmers exclusively through GiSC, (Grower Information Services Cooperative), the nation’s only grower-owned and -governed agricultural data cooperative. Validator Platinum is available to GiSC members with a five-year trend plan for $2.50/acre or members can purchase Validator Premium, a single-year (2018) plan, for $0.85/acre. Validator Platinum comes with a money-back guarantee.
