According to the latest business intelligence data from AEM, the global economy expanded by a robust 5.1% in 2021. And while projected growth of about 3.9% is expected for 2022, slower growth seems like a foregone conclusion. Short-term factors like the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing supply chain issues and persistent labor shortages, as well as long term factors like deglobalization and inflation, have emerged to dampen enthusiasm a bit on the heels of what has been a strong economic resurgence worldwide.

AEM Director of Market Intelligence Benjamin Duyck said: 

“The last recession we experienced ended the longest period of economic expansion in the United States, and that recession lasted from February 2020 to April 2020. Two months, in traditional economic terms, can’t even be accurately described as a recession. However, this economic disruption has impacted us all greatly, and we are still dealing with the aftereffects today – labor shortages, supply chain problems and higher interest rates.”

Continued Growth On the Horizon

The question of when the next economic recession will hit is one that’s easily asked, but not so easily answered. Recent volatility in the stock market has done little to quell concerns. However, the stock market is still up 20% when compared to a year ago, and 30% from two years ago (just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic).

“Can we accurately predict the next recession?” asked Duyck. “No, and it’s a common joke that economists correctly predicted 15 of the last 10 recessions. In other words, they are frequently wrong and pessimistic. Though, it will be interesting to see what happens, especially with high inflation.”

AEM has surveyed its members quarterly for nearly two years regarding how quickly they expect to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. For some time, the responses had been generally quite positive, according to Duyck.

“But the data for this last quarter is moving again in the other direction, largely due to the headwinds we’re facing with inflation, workforce issues and supply chain disruptions,”

he said.

Mitigating factors

When it comes to ag equipment, the impact of inflation can’t be understated. There has been an 11.7% year-over-year increase in the prices of farm machinery. On the construction side, inflation is a little lower, but it has been rising gradually, with a 9.7% increase in the last quarter.

Talent acquisition is also a significant – and troublesome – factor for ag and construction equipment manufacturers. According to the results of AEM’s most recent quarterly member survey, hiring on the manufacturing floor remains a major issue – 84% of all respondents have experienced issues in this particular area, while 90% of all ag members surveyed have dealt with this particular issue.

Respondents offered a wide range of potential strategies and tactics for addressing hiring challenges – internships, educational partnerships, higher wages, bonuses, marketing and recruitment efforts, flexible hours, and outsourcing, are among the most common – but it’s clear workforce will remain a prevalent issue for equipment manufacturers for the foreseeable future.

What’s also just as clear are the factors that have led to the supply chain problems currently plaguing ag and construction equipment manufacturers, according to Duyck.

“Ultimately, the imbalance between supply and demand and COVID-19 restrictions eliminated all the inventory and the grease that allows the global supply clock to operate. Another metaphor that maybe hits closer to our industries is this: We’re running a machine that’s low on oil, and almost out of it. The machine will continue to run, and maybe even run for a while – until it doesn’t. COVID-19, followed by growing numbers of employees leaving the workforce, have led to both shutdowns and scarcity of products,”

Benjamin Duyck, AEM Director of Market Intelligence.

As a result, and in response, the supply chain has intended to initially adjust production lower, expecting lower demand. In addition, shipping companies cut schedules, expecting a drop in demand for shipments. And while demand in some aspects of the economy dropped, the decrease was not evenly spread over all industries and all workers.

While people still continued to spend money on homes and consumer purchases, interest rates remained low, and the U.S. experienced an expansion in monetary supply. Furthermore, workers and businesses were supported by the government. All of this, combined with the scarcity of products and higher demand results in inflation, adversely impacting supply chains.

Eventually, scarcity of products and higher demand resulted in inflation making its way up the supply chain – and factories could not expand easily due to bottlenecks in the chain caused by both low production and the global nature of production. Now, due to overdemand, it’s very difficult for suppliers to understand the true demand for their products.

“We can see this in our industries, not only from the OEMs and from the component manufacturers, but also from the end users of the OEMS. That, in short, is why we have supply chain issues. Workforce, supply chain, and all of it ties together and the results of policies and actions decades in the works set off by COVID-19.”

said Duyck.

AEM Member Perspectives

According to AEM’s most recent quarterly survey of its members, more than 95% of ag and construction equipment manufacturers that responded said they are experiencing supply chain issues. However, it appears either demand is beginning to normalize, or supply chain signaling is improving, because 44% of respondents noted the issues are beginning to turn around.

Duyck said:

“For the vast majority of these people, issues are both domestic and global. The issues are also widespread, but consensus opinion among members is that the issues lie particularly with prices, shipping and quantities of raw materials and, subsequently, inputs and components. In addition, the issues do not necessarily lie at the endpoint or receiving shipping, but rather at the supplier source – and especially international shipping.”

Many AEM member respondents indicated supply chain issues have caused them to fall behind, despite ongoing growth, which could eventually lead to changes in inventory management. According to Duyck, the third quarter of 2021 saw inventory levels increase between 15 and 20% in both the ag and construction segments, with ag seeing an additional 15% jump in the fourth quarter of last year.

“Whether changes in inventory management will actually take place has yet to be seen, but it’s quite possible that higher inventory levels will become more prevalent for some time,”

said Duyck.

However, despite all the challenges impacting the ag and construction equipment industries, growth is still expected (albeit at a slower rate than in recent months).

AG and Construction Equipment Market Outlooks

For the construction equipment market:

• Construction industry value is expected to grow 4.5% this year, largely driven by residential.
• AEM member perceptions show strong demand (83% see year-over-year growth ahead), and it’s reasonable to expect growth of 6-10% over the next 12 months on the heels of 6-10% stronger growth than was expected in 2021.
• Infrastructure spending is set to gain significant momentum in the coming years.
• Uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, high material costs and monetary policy all remain concerns.

For the ag equipment market:

• Farm income has increased regardless of government support declines and production cost increases.
• Member expectations remain strong (81% see year-over-year growth ahead, and 91% expect growth to continue).
• Inventories are too long after being depleted in 2021.

“Ultimately, the imbalance between supply and demand and COVID-19 restrictions eliminated all the inventory and the grease that allows the global supply clock to operate. Another metaphor that maybe hits closer to our industries is this: We’re running a machine that’s low on oil, and almost out of it. The machine will continue to run, and maybe even run for a while – until it doesn’t.”

said Duyck.

Source: AEM

The post Inflation, Shortages, Rates and Supply Chain Problems: AG and CE Market Outlook appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The Bobcat T7X is fully battery-powered and is built to be more productive from the ground up with electric actuation and propulsion. It is also quieter with high-performance torque and more powerful than any diesel-fuelled track loader that has ever come before it, all while eliminating any carbon emissions.

Originally developed for the North American market, the Bobcat T7X is undergoing internal testing and the gathering of customer feedback is planned for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region to identify its commercial potential.

Scott Park, President, and CEO of Doosan Bobcat said:

“Doosan Bobcat is at the forefront of innovation, and we are proud to debut the all-electric technology of the T7X to help customers maximize both sustainability and productivity. Our focus remains on providing solutions and products that empower people to accomplish more and build a better world.”

In the T7X, the traditional hydraulic workgroup has been completely replaced with an electrical drive system consisting of electric cylinders and electric drive motors, which means virtually no fluids. The new, all-electric Bobcat T7X uses just under one liter of eco-friendly coolant compared to around 216 liters of fluid in its diesel/hydraulic equivalent model.

The all-electric platform enables instantaneous power and peak torque available at every operating speed. The operator no longer must wait for the standard hydraulic system to build up power.

Joel Honeyman, Vice President of Global Innovation at Doosan Bobcat, added:

“This machine is a technological feat for Bobcat and for the entire industry. We challenged the status quo to deliver a connected, all-electric machine designed for power and performance that previously was not possible. We are excited to share this advancement with the world and proud of the hard work that has gone into making this a reality.”

The T7X operates with zero emissions and reduced noise and vibration generated by the machine. It works quietly and efficiently in noise-sensitive areas and indoors, which significantly lowers sound levels and improves the working environment.

It can also significantly lower daily operating costs when considering the reduction in annual maintenance costs and elimination of diesel, engine oil, diesel exhaust fluid, and hydraulic parts.

At the heart of the T7X is a powerful 62 kW lithium-ion battery from technology partner, Green Machine Equipment, Inc. While applications vary, each charge can support common daily work operations and the use of intelligent work modes for up to four hours of continuous operation time and a full day of operation during intermittent use.

The intelligence of the power management system is programmed to sense when loads are increasing, automatically backing off power when not needed to preserve the total energy use and extend the machine’s runtime.

The T7X will initially be available only in the North American market but the company intends to expand this to other regions in the future. During the company’s CES Media Days news conference, Doosan Bobcat NA (North America) announced a strategic partnership with South Carolina-based Sunbelt Rentals, a leading rental equipment company in North America with more than 1025 locations, with a strong presence in Europe in the UK, Germany, and France.

Through this partnership, Sunbelt Rentals committed to a significant investment in a large fleet of Bobcat T7X all-electric compact track loaders and electric compact excavators in North America, which will be co-branded and made available in 2022 and beyond. Sunbelt Rentals will be the first national equipment rental company to adopt Bobcat’s battery-electric technology and make it available to customers, supporting the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) focus for both companies.

The post Bobcat Launches Electric Compact Track Loader appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The post Lindsay Eyes Top Irrigation Trends for 2022 appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

John Deere is an Innovation Award honoree in two categories for its See & Spray technology. See & Spray is a technologically advanced robot for the agriculture industry that leverages computer vision and machine learning to detect the difference between plants and weeds and target the application of herbicide on the weeds. This plant-level management technology gives a machine the gift of vision, benefiting the farmer, the surrounding community, and the environment.

“The opportunity for technology in agriculture continues to inspire us to develop cutting-edge smart machines, systems, and solutions to treat each plant individually and support our customers. John Deere is at the forefront of innovation, and with technology like See & Spray, we’re helping our customers maximize sustainability, profitability, productivity, and visibility so they can focus on the important work of feeding a growing world population,”

said Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer for John Deere.

See & Spray uses deep learning, cameras, and robotics to distinguish plants from weeds. The future of this technology is key to treating each plant individually, providing only and exactly what every single plant needs at the moment, making chemical usage more efficient, protecting the surrounding soil and plants, and producing healthier, more productive crops.

The Robotics category of the Innovation Awards highlights programmable or otherwise intelligent machines capable of performing specific tasks or replicating human movement or interactions. The Vehicle Intelligence & Transportation category highlights automotive and other transportation products and services that integrate technology into the driving or riding experience. Products are reviewed and scored by a panel of judges comprised of designers, engineers, and technology media. Products are also evaluated on their engineering and functionality, aesthetics, and design; and what makes the product unique and innovative. Those with the highest rating receive the “Best of Innovation” distinction.

The CES Innovation Awards are based upon descriptive materials submitted to the judges. CTA did not verify the accuracy of any submission or of any claims made and did not test the item to which the award was given.

The post John Deere Selected as CES 2022 Innovation Awards Best of Innovation Honoree in Robotics Category and Honoree in Vehicle Intelligence & Transportation Category appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

SRI International today announced that its insurtech venture spinout, Wingsure, is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) capabilities to deliver instant access to personalized insurance products for underserved small farmers and communities worldwide.

Wingsure is an insurtech platform that revolutionizes how small farmers and rural customers leverage insurance and financial products to transform their lives and livelihood. The U.N. reports the global rural population is more than three billion. Wingsure delivers instant access to all through personalized mobile-based insurance products and services. It supports economic empowerment with transparency and promotes sustainability through modern agricultural practices that preserve and enrich the environment.

“The benefits of artificial intelligence need to be accessible to everyone—not just the big corporations. Bringing SRI’s computer vision and natural language processing technology into the hands of small agriculture allows Wingsure to reach communities that need this technology the most,”

said Todd Stavish, vice president, and managing director of SRI Ventures.

The gap between economic losses and those that are insured widened in 2020 due to the pandemic. According to a Swiss Re Institute study, the global insurance protection gap reached a new high of $1.4 trillion. Wingsure connects insurance companies, brokers, and agri-businesses with small farmers worldwide through their mobile devices.

Wingsure’s application leverages AI and machine learning (ML) to rapidly process insurance claims with the aid of SRI’s computer vision, geospatial, and AR technology, which can confirm crop damage, identify the validity of insurance claims and make prompt settlements.

In addition to its advanced AI and ML, Wingsure combines voice prompts and natural language processing to allow farmers to speak in their native language. The platform can be scaled to integrate with existing mobile communication platforms, and claims that previously took 3 to 12 months to complete can be verified and processed in minutes.

“Farmers are the foundation of our society, but many farmers worldwide are exposed to risks that could cost them their livelihood and their land. We now have the technology to protect these small farmers anywhere in the world. Not only can we insure them, but by applying this kind of advanced technology, Wingsure can help farmers become more successful growers,”

said Avi Basu, founder, and CEO of Wingsure.

The initial implementation will focus on India where 70 percent of households are dependent on agriculture for their living. Many are located in remote locations without access to financial services and are unable to insure against crop failure or other unexpected events. Wingsure’s mobile platform provides services that were previously inaccessible to this enormous market, where 800 million people are agri-dependent.

The post SRI Spinout Wingsure Develops AI-driven Mobile Insurance App for Small Farmers appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

“Monarch Tractor is at the intersection of tech and agriculture and is helping farmers implement cutting-edge AI technology for unprecedented insights. The deep-learning technology is a game-changer in its ability to help farmers maximize all aspects of their daily operations. This Golden Bridge Award is a great honor and will further fuel our efforts to set a new standard in AgTech,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder & CEO, Monarch Tractor.

The coveted 13th Annual Golden Bridge Awards program recognizes and honors the world’s best in organizational performance, products and services, innovations, executives and management teams, women in business and the professions, case studies and successful deployments, public relations and marketing campaigns, product management, websites, blogs, white-papers, videos, advertisements, creativity, partner programs, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world.

The award-winning Monarch Tractor is the first to offer a trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming, increases efficiency and safety, and maximizes profitability for farmers. In addition to its 2021 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Award, Monarch Tractor has won several industry awards and recognition including the 2021 RBR50 Robotics Innovations Award, 2021 BIG Innovation Award, and “2020 Tractor of the Year” in the AgTech Breakthrough Awards.

Source: Monarch Tractor

The post Monarch Tractor Wins 2021 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Award appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

This could provide farmers with accurate, repeatable soil health monitoring at the farm scale. Agronomists and farmers could use this information to guide precision improvements to soil health, maximizing yield, and increasing revenue with minimum chemical input.

The groundbreaking pilot project is being conducted using SRC’s Tom monitoring robot to take soil samples with PES Technologies’ soil health sensor mounted on the robot. The sensor detects Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)  released from soil. In the wider project, the sensor output is being correlated with information about 10+ soil health indicators, including microbial biomass and soil organic matter content.

The project consortium comprises PES Technologies, Small Robot Company, NIAB-EMR, HL Hutchinson Limited, the University of Essex, and the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich. The project is funded by the government’s Innovate UK grant program. Trial sites include the Lockerley Estate in Hampshire, where robots are a key part of its regenerative farming strategy.

Game-changing for soil health

Phase one of the pilot is now complete, with the proof-of-concept milestone now achieved. The team developed and attached a mechanical sampler to the robot, collecting soil samples from the trial site for in situ detection of VOCs. The soil sample size collected is 10cm3 (400g).

Working together, the consortium is using machine learning approaches to profile soil health trialing VOC sensing technology for automated, continuous in-field sensing with the SRC robots. Microbial VOCs other than carbon dioxide has not previously been exploited in a practical low-cost, on-farm method for measurement of soil health.

The next phase of the robotics element of the project is for NIAB-EMR to conduct ground truthing on soil health data gathered. Samples collected by the robot will be sent to the lab for testing and analysis and compared with the PES sensor data. This will be conducted in the autumn, including at five existing on-farm sites at Lockerley Estate, including comparisons with five years of historical data.

PES Technologies are developing a game-changing soil health analysis tool to provide farmers with a cost-effective technology for the rapid assessment of soil health. In the project, the tool’s output data is being related to a variety of biological, chemical, and physical soil health indicators, including microbial biomass and soil organic matter content, by analyzing the activities and diversity of a soil’s microbial community.

Prior to this project in 2018, PES Technologies demonstrated the feasibility of using the sensor for detecting differences in soil volatiles in collaboration with NIAB-EMR.

Sam Watson Jones, President, and co-founder, Small Robot Company, said,

“Developing farming systems that can regenerate soil health at scale has to be one of our highest priorities. This is vital for food security. Farming is seeing a big shift from intensively managing the soil to regeneratively managing the soil. Our autonomous robots can already deliver a highly precise per plant view. The next step is to bring this precise viewpoint to soil biology. At a level of detail far in excess of current best practice.”

Andrej Porovic, CEO, PES Technologies comments:

“Healthy soils are key to profitable farming. Poor soil health is reducing the productivity and profitability of the agricultural industry worldwide – in particular, it is impacting yields and soils’ resilience to changes in climate. There are more micro-organisms per gram of healthy soil than there are people on the planet – but without these living microbes, the soil is not soil, but just dust. Choosing the right way to improve soil health is vital. We believe that putting our technology on SRC’s robots would be a real game-changer.”

Craig Livingstone, one of the first farmers to trial the new technology, SRC Farmer Advisory Group and National Food Strategy Board representative says,

“Robotics offer us a real chance to answer the many questions of modern agriculture in responding to climate change, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and of course soil and food security. The light weight, low impact monitoring robot Tom is now on my farm scanning emerging wheat, and taking soil samples to assess soil health. In time, by reducing the trafficking on our soil, minimising the use of pesticides, I’m convinced this can only add to more productive, functioning soils capable of producing quality nutritious food.”

Gateway for Carbon Testing

In the future, robotic monitoring could also provide accurate, repeatable carbon measurements at the farm scale. This could be transformational in providing accurate carbon sequestration measurement to support UK farming’s transition to Net Zero by 2040. In the UK alone, 18 million tonnes of emissions could be converted into anything up to 6 million tonnes of CO₂ locked back into the soil, every year. That is a net difference of 24 million tonnes, the equivalent of two-thirds of the UK’s emissions from aviation.

“The UK – and UK agriculture – have made bold commitments to Net Zero. Robotics can already take billions of accurate measurements in each field. This will transform the way that farms are able to sequester and cycle carbon and measure that accurately. The opportunity for the UK (and global) agriculture to support the transition towards Net Zero is enormous,”

agreed Sam Watson Jones. 

Craig Livingstone said:

“The climate and biodiversity emergency is here and now for farming. The carbon objectives for our business are really important, focusing strongly on our operations emissions reductions and carbon sequestration. An overarching strategic aim for our business is to be Net Zero, and robotics will be a key tool to take us there.”

Rob Macklin, the National Trust’s Head of Farming and Soils, commented:

“Technology needs to play a big part in solving many of the issues we currently face in farming – particularly improving soil health and carbon sequestration, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel power and fertilizers, and avoiding the adverse impacts of synthetic chemicals on the environment. We have started small robot trials at Wimpole and intend to extend trials to other estates in the near future.

Calum Murray, Innovate UK’s Head of Agriculture & Food, said:

“It’s fantastic to see how Innovate UK’s funding has supported Small Robot Company to develop game changing technologies that will revolutionize the agriculture sector. At Innovate UK, we are proud to be supporting the transformation of the UK’s food production systems, improving productivity and sustainability, and helping the industry move towards achieving net zero emissions by 2040.”

Source: Small Robot Company

The post Small Robot Company Announces Development of Robotic Soil Health Intelligence appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Cogniac Corporation has partnered with Doosan Bobcat North America. Bobcat, a global compact equipment leader, is implementing Cogniac’s proprietary visual data processing platform within the manufacturing warehouse kitting inspection process. This move will increase operational efficiencies, boost productivity and reduce material handling times, all part of Bobcat’s commitment to quality and drive for innovation.

“We’re excited about this partnership as it demonstrates the efficacy of the Cogniac systems. Our technology is designed to be additive to the manufacturing processes, offering companies the ability to increase the safety and standards of their products. Bobcat was a great choice for a partnership because they are pushing to innovate and adopt technology as a core pillar of their growth strategy,”

said Chuck Myers, CEO of Cogniac.

Companies are often already collecting useful visual data, making the Cogniac technology virtually plug-and-play. Cogniac’s Visual Operations Intelligence Platform offers customers the ability to process, in real-time, large amounts of visual data collected for inspection, flagging them to a human operator for review. The system also allows for more strategic distribution of employees to projects requiring the human touch which maximizes workforce productivity. Cogniac has built its platform to be a no-code solution designed for non-technical users and eminently user-friendly to allow for quick adoption and integration into existing workflows.

Bobcat leverages visual data in their warehouse to inspect bulk materials and parts for any potential inconsistencies to create precise kits to be used for downstream manufacturing processes. Ensuring a high level of accuracy on the assembly line is a key factor in work efficiency and commitment to quality at Bobcat. The company is committed to adopting the next evolution in advancing manufacturing technology to make operations smarter and eliminate production downtime.

“Cogniac has produced a world-class technology platform. Given our long history of innovation and focus on technology at Bobcat, the Cogniac system provides significant benefits for us, leading to higher efficiencies and optimized quality control in our processes,”

said Russ Honeyman, vice president of Quality Management at Doosan Bobcat North America.

The partnership currently serves the Bobcat operations and warehouse in Otsego, Minnesota.

The post Cogniac Provides Doosan Bobcat with AI Visual Operations Intelligence Platform appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

As Ryan Hutchison, Integrated Solutions Manager for South Country puts it,

“We’re trying to provide agronomic insights around weather and soil moisture data for the customer and their partners. Based on water and where it is in the soil profile, we’ve been able to put together insights on what yield potential is based on water. If water was the only limiting factor, what is your yield potential?”

Serving farmers across 7.5 million acres of south-central Saskatchewan, South Country has been in the connected farming business since 2014 when they brought John Deere Field Connect to their customers. With John Deere discontinuing support for JD field connect at the end of 2020, South Country faced a problem.

“John Deere was discontinuing a product that we’d sold customers back in 2014. We had a fleet of a couple of hundred John Deere weather stations that were going to go offline at the end of 2020.”

Hutchison says.

“Our core need initially was the connectivity solutions for our existing product. But their flexibility has allowed the relationship to grow.”

South Country first met RealmFive at a John Deere Develop w/Deere conference, and their interest was piqued. Hutchison and his team were impressed early on, saying,

“Right off the cuff, it was clear they were there with a purpose. They were open to discuss and listen to what we were doing and what our current and future needs were.”

RealmFive’s flexibility in adapting to and working with South Country’s proprietary software proved to be a game-changer.

“Their ability to adapt their API to meet our needs was great. It’s very common for a company to have stringent API access, but their team was very quick to help us understand how to pull the data directly from their system.”

Another example of RealmFive adapting to South Country’s needs is hardware. Hutchison recalls a specific example:

“Normally hardware is a component in a box and let’s hope one size fits all. But in Saskatchewan, we don’t have a lot of 4G coverage in the countryside. We were delivered 4G technology, which worked fine where we had coverage. And where that didn’t exist, their hardware allowed us to do a modem swap effortlessly. It was that simple. We were able to work with their hardware easily to meet the needs of our trade area.”

“Their communication is top-notch. It’s like being married.”

“I would say that R5 customer service has shown to be one of the best we have worked with.”

With service, another high point for South Country is the communication between both organizations. According to Hutchison,

“They’ve done a good job of staying in contact with our entire team, regardless of their position (in the company). Everybody along the way took ownership of the task until it was appropriately handed off. From the CEO on down, they’ve been very open to communicating in many ways.”

During the transition from John Deere Field Connect to RealmFive, South Country had some very quick marketing and support needs.

“They took ownership of their own marketing and met their own commitments. The ability to understand our marketplace. And if they don’t know something, they invest the time to listen and understand what our needs are.”

he said. What really stands out, according to Hutchison, is

“RealmFive is going to allow us to continue to differentiate and meet the needs of our customers.”

The reality across agriculture is that more and more things are connected every day. Hutchison believes that “the path forward is going to come from the insights from the data – that’s what the producers are looking for.”

That’s where he sees RealmFive’s brand-agnostic approach as particularly strong.

In sum, Ryan Hutchison sees South Country’s experience with RealmFive this way:

“We were able to employ conversion a year ahead of the discontinuation of a John Deere product, save the producer money, and, quite frankly, get better connectivity.”

Source: South Country Equipment

The post South Country Equipment Developes Crop Intelligence Management Software appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.