GIS Software for Farming

I was once told I was an "anomaly." I've been called worse but this one might have been the most accurate. The statement was specifically referencing my knowledge of GIS software while I was farming full time. It struck me as both insulting and inspiring. Now that I've been running a precision agronomy consulting business for more than 6 years I understand just how true the statement was... of me and the industry norm.

Perhaps 30,000 farmers own Farmworks worldwide, but I would estimate that only a small percentage actually use it near 25% of it's capacity. (I pulled this stat from an article at the time they sold to Trimble.) Anyways, I'm certain there are other software products on the market... we own several, including fine tools from Mapshots, SST and many others birthed from the late 1990's. The trouble with all of these is two fold... first and foremost, they were birthed by people with a record keeping mindset. They make importing, storing and viewing data from variety of monitors possible. There are also software tools from hardware manufacturers that do some of this as well... Apex, SMS, etc. But, they lack some of the best features of the first set... including strong, open ended analytics and cross platform prescription generation. I'm not saying they don't do it, but sheer power is not among their strong points although ease of use might sneak up a small bit for those thoroughbred hardware farms.

All this said, none, and I repeat, NONE of these data engines have the ease of use that farmers want or need. I liken it to how intuitive my iPad is, and how even my 3 year old can operate it. Maybe GIS software will never get there (nor should it ever?), but do farmers really desire true GIS software?

Field record keeping is akin to checking air pressure... you should do it more often and yet you can still get a flat tire even if you do it constantly. What I believe farmers need is a dashboard with some levers and knobs. Give them something to react to... something to throttle up or down, shift and turn. They'll tweak and dial until it sings. Of all people, grain farmers are among the most responsive business managers in the world. And yet, they have a timeless respect for the unchanging, unpredictableness that statistics has a hard time quantifying.

My recommendations are simple. Buy a cheap mapping tool and a powerful, separate accounting tool. Get experts to help on both, interfacing agronomy with financial planning, reconciling where it makes sense. This isn't a job effectively done on your own. Then, shop for a true agronomic dashboard experience that gives you live insights into your production system.