In-Cab Systems: Suppliers Seek Better Access to Data, Stronger Customer Relationships

One of the overriding messages for those in the business of agriculture in 2020, comes down to roughly this: Control what you can, and make the best of the previously unthinkable.

“In times like this, it allows us to really focus on the customer. There are so many distractions in your daily work, that we’re able to now really sit down and review what the customer needs,” Kent Carroll, Senior Director, Business and Channel Development, Topcon Agriculture said in an interview with CropLife®.

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“You can’t conduct business as usual, but business has to continue,” Carroll said. “Farmers are continuing to farm, and we’re continuing to engage with dealers and distributors and OEMs and current customers. But it’s certainly an oddity in this world, when you see a group of field people unable to travel and having to do everything via phone.”

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Michael Stone, Vice President of Product and Solutions Management with Topcon Agriculture, added: “The hardest thing at the moment is that you can’t get on a plane, and there are restrictions on driving to customers’ units. A lot of our dealers are having to put extra measures in place for cleaning vehicles before and after, but we’re fortunate with a lot of our products that we have remote access, which is enabling our support team to help our dealers and customers. Use of that technology helps in a situation like this.”

TAP_Connect_Topcon

TAP: Topcon Agriculture Platform.

In 2017, the company launched Topcon Agriculture Platform (TAP), a cloud-based agricultural ecosystem designed to provide real-time monitoring and data analysis, which has since been its biggest focus, according to Stone. TAP makes it easier for customers to visualize and manipulate their data, and in turn share it with agronomists so they can get recommendations. “They can get more use out of that data, using their trusted adviser so they can support them in their farming operations,” he explained.

“The ag retailer obviously plays an important role to everybody in this cycle,” Carroll added. “By having the ability to move the data, we can give much more real-time access to ag retailers, so they can make decisions quicker if they need to.”

In June, Topcon is set to launch the new AGM-1 GPS receiver, geared for the manual, more economical entry-level market.

“So often for the last 15 years, farmers have collected all this data but have really struggled to utilize it. With the launch of TAP, we’re finding ways to makes it more available for a farmer to use that data. To me, it makes the data easy to access, and then easy to see, and get the information you’re looking for,” said Carroll.

He added: “The biggest thing I’ve heard from our customer base is that now that guidance is becoming commonplace, we’re seeing a transition to the ability to move data in and out of cab. People are looking to find better ways to utilize that data by moving into an office environment, which connects to the TAP solution. That’s the big change I’ve seen in the last six to 12 months.”

Another takeaway from our conversations with Topcon and its competitors is the perennial importance of product ease of use, reliability, and customer support.

Providing the Full Picture

Kris Kinnaird, Product Marketing Manager for Farmers Edge in Winnipeg, speaks passionately about the company, and it’s not just because he is an employee.

“I use the tools every day on our farm, especially in the growing season,” he said. His crops include wheat, canola, soybeans, and barley.

Farmers Edge has enhanced the in-cab experience not only in terms of speed and location of equipment, but also application rates, down pressure, fuel levels, water supply, and any other kind of raw information coming from a machine. At Commodity Classic this year, it launched an upgrade to its FarmCommand digital platform, aimed at large or multi-farm users. “It makes the information easier to access and provides a lot smoother workflow within the platform,” Kinnaird said.

In practical terms, the Farmers Edge telematics device, Gen.2 CanPlug, connects to the FarmCommand app via Bluetooth to display near instantaneous insights into every job on the farm. Gen.2 CanPlug streams real-time equipment values along with planting, spraying, harvest, and tillage data wirelessly to an iPad, tablet, or mobile device so a user can view the status of any field activity and easily analyze where adjustments can be made to improve performance. Mixed-fleet compatibility is a key feature of the technology.

“With our in-cab experience, something that sets us apart is our accessibility through multiple devices. I work on a farm with my brother and dad, and we all have our own phones,” Kinnaird explained. “All of the information is saved and integrated in one platform and that makes it really easy to use. It’s also available across many devices, whether it’s my phone, my Samsung tablet, or my iPad. Some competitors are limited to using it on an Apple iPad only and not with a phone.”

The company’s weather network is another distinctive feature that attracts customers. A farmer who signs up with Farmers Edge gets weather stations installed on their land, with no extra maintenance costs aside from the subscription fee. “We farm about 4,000 acres. We have neighbors that have Farmers Edge as well. We have one weather stations installed on our farm, but I have 10 on the surrounding land that provide great insight to what’s going on,” he said.

“When we’re working with our partners, whether it’s a retailer or equipment dealer, we’re trying to help them better an existing relationship that they have with the farmer. At the end of the day, we’re trying to help farmers make decisions off accurate data that’s collected on the farm. What we are providing is that full picture,” he explained. “When we think about what drives decision making for a farmer, it’s accurate insights, and the ultimate insight would be an accurate prediction of yield early in the season when in-season decisions are made on managing a successful crop. Is my yield potential high? Should I make another nitrogen application to shoot high, or is my yield potential low, and I can decide if an extra application is warranted.”

What’s next in the in-cab space, according to Kinnaird:

“I think we are going to continue to grow in the products we’re offering our farmers and try to continue to complete that full picture, in terms of in-field sensors and monitoring within the field. We have exciting things coming in terms of a FarmCommand upgrade, but then also looking at different ways to zone map those fields and bring in extra layers — not just satellite imagery, but elevation and yield data as well,” he said. He added, “Digital disruption is going to continue to evolve. We’ve been watching the industry closely, listening to our customers and partners closely, to try to drive our product. The in-cab experience has been a really big one for us in the last few months.”

Outback Rebel terminals

Outback Rebel terminals.

Tractors of a Certain Age

Darren Pritchard is veteran Director of Sales for Outback Guidance, the Kansas-based aftermarket supplier of in-cab systems. The company caters to small- to mid-size farmers looking to retrofit simple but highly accurate autosteer systems on tractors of a certain age — the sweet spot for Outback, Pritchard likes to say, is between five and 45 years old.

“We’ve been in the business 20 years, and there are a lot of legacy products that people need out of the field and traded in, and that’s really been what we’ve been successful with — the trading out of old products,” he told CropLife. “Now, we are not just a WAAS or RTK company. We can offer everything from 6- to 8-inch accuracy or 1-inch repeatable accuracy, for planting cotton, corn, or beans,” he continued. “What we find more and more at the trade show booths, is that people say, ‘I own this, and it works well, but how can I make it better?’ I find a lot of customers are now ready to spend the money on the next step to get more accuracy out of their autosteer, and not just the correction service.”

Atlas

Outback’s Atlas Correction Service.

Outback last year launched its Atlas Correction Service, which provides up to 1-inch repeatable accuracy and can be paired with its newest high-tech offering, the iPad-like Outback Rebel, an ISOBUS-compatible touchscreen terminal.

To recall Pritchard’s earlier mention of trade shows: They generate significant sales for Outback. He voiced concern on how COVID-19-related postponements and cancellations will impact business, including Canada’s Farm Show in Regina and uncertainty around the U.S. Farm Progress Show in early September.

To help fill the gap, the company’s website got a complete makeover, and it has kicked its marketing campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram into high gear. Interest and sales leads have been strong, and sales are roughly comparable to a year ago.

Yet, the specter of uncertainty around coronavirus and low grain prices has been hard to shake.

In early spring, the busiest time of the year, Outback ran into inventory issues on delayed shipments of cables and antennas from China, as that country was being ravaged by coronavirus. It received a large shipment of cables last week and has now fully caught up, he said. Although China has ramped its manufacturing back up, “this has been a huge eye opener for us. We can’t have that again. I’ve talked to competition, and they all had the same problem.”

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