This winter, I feel like I’ve spent the majority of my waking hours thinking about, talking about, and writing about technology in agriculture.
It’s my own fault — in addition to feeding our sister Web site, PrecisionAg.com, and putting out the usual technology articles in this and other magazines we do here, I committed us to getting involved with the Ag Connect Expo in Florida as an education sponsor. I also took on two speaking engagements, one in Kansas that’s in my rearview mirror, and one in Michigan that is rapidly coming up on the horizon.
Therefore, given all the people I’ve visited with in preparation for my winter appearances, it seems appropriate to share a few of the things I think I’ve learned and observed along the way.
One of the most profound discoveries I made was something I actually started just to kill some plane time. I took a blank PowerPoint slide and filled it with the logos of as many technology manufacturers as I could think of. Then, I started drawing lines and arrows inbetween the companies that represent mergers, alliances, and acquisitions that have occurred over the past three years. To say the least, the results were truly eye-opening.
By the time I did my first presentation in Kansas, I had done a before and after slide showing the changes from 2007 to 2010, and it definitely created some chatter and chuckles. The alliance of Ag Leader and AutoFarm alone would have been noteworthy, but that was simply the final, dramatic conclusion of a three-year run of market shuffling. If you’d like to see a copy of the slide I did, you can find it on the www.PrecisionAg.com home page — just click on the news item titled “Collaboration In Ag Technology.”
I think the shuffling is being driven by a maturing of the precision agriculture market. The relatively “old line” companies that have been working on technology solutions for a decade or more are moving outside the comfort zone of their own research and development. They are acquiring or strategically partnering with other companies that bring in new ideas, new technologies, and fresh perspective.
The optimist in me sees this as exceedingly positive. Collaboration often leads to benefits both expected and unexpected as these new ideas and technologies are integrated. I hope that the end result is technology that is more usable and functional. Certainly, in the long term, to not achieve this would be a tragic failure.
However, in the short term I suspect that the changes will cause some heartburn in the Heartland. Changes in alliances among manufacturers ultimately affect everything, from how products work together to how well dealers are able to sell and service. If you’re selling or servicing precision equipment, I’m sure you’re waist-deep in the re-training process to ensure you are ready for the spring season ahead.
The other group that’s sure to struggle with the myriad changes is the grower-customer. Growers are already pretty exhausted trying to keep up with technology, and all the changes at the manufacturer level will not make things easier in the short term.
The future may be bright for technology, but it will take a season or two to digest all the changes. Be patient, stay flexible, and work closely with the technology manufacturers you support this spring.
