Sean Trefiak, the Precision Ag Technician for Pattison Agriculture out of Yorkton, SK, recalls a time before Crop Intelligence was available and farmers would sometimes be influenced by “coffee shop talk” from their neighbours when making decisions in dry seasons about whether or not they should top dress their crop.
Now these farmers have access to sound data to guide them on making informed decisions.
“When we have those probes a meter in the ground and it's telling us that there's moisture there and that the crop is going to produce more than we think, then we can pull those triggers and make some more money on our farms,” says Trefiak.
Trefiak has been working with Crop Intelligence through Pattison for the past two years. He is in charge of managing Crop Intelligence installers who work with customers to help them understand the app’s data. He also works with any of their customers’ agronomists to help them make better decisions for their clients.
“We want to make our customers more profitable in their business,” says Trefiak. “So, providing Crop Intelligence to them helps them make better decisions on their farms so that they can be more profitable and grow more bushels to help feed the world.”
As a vendor, Trefiak has seen a trend with his customers and their use of Crop Intelligence. During their first year with the app, customers use it as a learning year to better understand their fields. Into their second year, they start trying more things with their crops, such as top dressing or using new products. They start to trust the data and soon add more weather stations.
“We've even had first year customers that already have two weather stations want to add two or three more to their operation—just because they're seeing the value that they're getting already,” adds Trefiak.
While Pattison sells big ticket items and different machinery that can increase profits on a farm, he sees strong value in Crop Intelligence as a tool.
“It may be a small dollar item compared to other things we sell. It's not a seven hundred thousand dollar combine, but it can increase the profits quite substantially for the investment that the farmer would be making today.”
- An interview with a Crop Intelligence Vendor