Today’s farmer needs to do more than collect data, he or she needs to do the right things with that data to manage their property.
That’s the goal of Syngenta’s AgriEdge Excelsior program. It’s something that goes beyond crop protection and seeds to help better educate farmers about the big picture of the operation. The Land.db software helps in tracking all inputs — even down to electrical and water costs — and it can drill down into a cost per acre on the field.
“For most of my growers using this, it become an integral part of their operations,” said Stacey Shaw, an AgriEdge specialist working the booth at this week’s Ag Media Summit. “Like a tractor, it’s just something you need when you farm.”
The information that AgriEdge can manage will help farmers when they’re talking to banks about financial needs. Everything is recorded and understandable.
The cloud-based software is never going to truly be a precision ag tool, but it does incorporate such tools. AgriEdge has integration with companies like John Deere and CNH, so data collected in the tractor, such as application rates and timing, and can be brought straight into the software.
“It’s all tailored to the grower,” Shaw said. “A lot of it is the software program, but our job as AgriEdge specialists it to figure out how it fits their operation the best. We’re the ground support.”
Shaw works with about 65 growers, and one of his growers has been using the program for about 15 years — almost since its inception.
This tool “helps people to make better decision on their farms,” Shaw said.
