What is a Premier Crop system?

Narrator: We are grateful that you are joining us for another episode of the Ag View Pitch, as we know that your time is very valuable. Our team at Ag View Solutions is always here for you for any questions or comments that you may have. Please feel free to reach out to us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com. And now here is your host, Shay Foulk.

Shay

Foulk: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. Today you have Shay Foulk with some special guests from Premier Crop Systems. I appreciate everybody Taking a little bit of time to join in. We have Dan Freeburg and Brenton Rossman as well as Renee Hansen tuning in. Dan and Brenton, I wish you, or I'm hoping here that we can get a good introduction from both of you and learn a little bit more about what Premier Crop Systems is. And I'll preface this by saying we really enjoy having this perspective and different conversations on what organizations can provide and what value they can bring to the farmers that are listening to this podcast. So if we could just start with a quick introduction from each of you and get going from there.

Dan

Frieberg: Sure, I'll go first. Dan Freeburg and I started the company in 1999. And it's really, uh, che, it was kind of the advent of a lot of spatial files, meaning georeferenced files. So if you think of a yield file, we were starting to be able to, you know, tie the yield monitor outs to a GPS receiver and So, and then soil sampling and variable rate nutrient activity was going on. So it was just all these, all these, all this agronomic data that now could be georeferenced to a spot in the world. And so it's just kind of born out of that idea of being able to tie it all out and build a database file. There is georeference for each field each year. Be able to analyze the results and provide insights and turn that into action the next year. So a lot of, you know, company does just a lot of variable rate activity. Just believe that the right rate changes within a field boundary.

And so just that's kind of how we got started. And I'll let Brenton go from his perspective.

Brenton

Rossman: Yeah, thanks. Brenton Rossman. I've been with Premier Crop Systems for 5 years now. Started with the company right after college. Primarily work with our retail partners in delivering our program through the retail channel. Also, so I live in northwest Iowa, which is where I grew up, and have the opportunity to help on my family's farm. So enjoy getting to utilize our tools and get firsthand use with them on our own operation as well. So happy to be visiting with you today.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, that's great. When it comes to that georeferencing that you were talking about, Dan, you know, I recently read a report that anywhere from 62 to 70% of farmers across the United States are utilizing some form of yield mapping systems or variable rate applications. How have you seen the adoption of these technologies change over the last decade or so, particular, I guess, through the Midwest here where we're generally located? And what do you think that opportunity looks like in the future?

Dan

Frieberg: I think it— I think when we went through a period of high commodity prices the last time, the equipment companies really were one of the beneficiaries of high commodity prices. So there's a whole bunch of people upgraded equipment and Every time that happens, they upgrade technology as well. And, and then that means that the technology they were using passes to the next buyer of that equipment. So there's kind of this ripple effect of more and more technology, you know, in the, you know, so just that, that's, but that's, I think that's why, you know, surveys come back like that. But what we find is a lot of people aren't really utilizing the data the way we think it's possible. So You know, yield monitor can become Harvest TV, you know, where it's just, it's something, you know, it's almost like an expensive moisture sampler.

And which is great because you're able to direct grain to the right spot for drying and things like that. But we think there's so much more, so many, so much more possibility to use your yield file as a way to measure agronomic and economic success.

Shay

Foulk: You better be careful, Dan, I might steal that Harvest TV and make a YouTube channel out of it. That's pretty, I like that term. But, you know, Brenton, from your perspective as the farmer and just the background that you've had with your family operation there, how long have you had some of this technology in the farm operation and where do you see advancements from the farmer perspective moving forward?

Brenton

Rossman: Yeah, I would say my dad has been a fairly early adopter to the hardware side of the technology. Variable rate drives on our planter, probably the last 12 years at least, I would say. Collecting yield since the '90s. So we've been early adopters on that stage of the conversation. But as far as taking that information that we've been collecting, you know, if you go into my dad's office, he's got notebooks and binders full of maps, all of this information. But now we'll be able to use the data behind that information. So where I see it going is just the ability to collect, analyze more of this machine data and information, have it stored in one location, and then utilize the power of, of computers and software to then look at it in different ways so we can make decisions going forward.

Shay

Foulk: I think how you phrase that is a great segue into the next question that I have. I know some of what you deal with, with Premier Crop Systems, is looking at yield efficiency and how are we taking these variables and making really good decisions with it. So Dan, I was wondering if you can kind of talk on some more specific things that Premier Crop offers to the farm operations that they're working with. You know, what does that look like today if someone was interested in finding out more about what you all do?

Dan

Frieberg: Yep, gladly. So we— Shay, a lot of times we use the phrase everything agronomic is economic. And so we're all about tying the economics to the agronomic. So, which just means when we're, you know, when we're adjusting nutrient rates and plant seeding rates and decisions about what we spend in different parts of the field, we're tying that out at the end of the year. So, so we're, you know, we're capturing that spatially, you know, so we're— that, that cost, that cost is tied to the file. So if we, if we recommend and encourage you to plant more seeds in the best part of what we think is the best part of the field, you know, we're capturing that additional seed cost as an input cost. So we can take— we can map it all the way to breakeven cost per bushel, and that would include land and management costs.

But we describe yield efficiency as kind of a return to land and management at a benchmark selling price. So the user interface lets the grower set their own selling price, and then it kind of, you know, so it's calculating revenue minus what you invested in nutrients, crop protection, protection, seed, and field operations. We wanted a way, Shay, we wanted a way to take land cost and management cost out of the benchmarking nature of it. So we found that land cost can really be a distort, a real distortion when you're trying to benchmark across operations. So, but, so it's really that same message is like if we adjust inputs, we're tracking the cost either up or down. Um, and then we're, so we're able to, at the end of the year, to show whether, whether that was the right decision or not.

Shay

Foulk: So I was talking with a really good operation here in Western Illinois, uh, about 30 minutes before we're recording this podcast here. And, you know, he made the comment of you kind of have to have 3 to 4 years of good information to make decisions off of it. And of course there's low-hanging fruit Year 1, you're going to see some things that are pointed out. Variable rates quickly identify issues, particularly when it comes to soil sampling or plant tissue sampling, and learn more about your operation. You use the term benchmark there, and, you know, with, with some of what we do, we're very careful with benchmarking from a standpoint of no two operations are the same. But I think what sometimes people get confused with is benchmarking doesn't have to be against other farm operations.

You know, benchmarking against your own operation And like you said, that land cost can throw such a wrench in, in understanding how that ties into an overall system and what management decisions you can be making out, making out of that. But I'm sure that information is extremely powerful once you have 2, 3, 4 years worth of information at your own benchmark and then making decisions for your operation moving forward. Do you have any comments on that?

Dan

Frieberg: Yeah, I think it's the most— I think the internal, for me, the internal benchmarking, like you say, is by far the most powerful. But, you know, amazingly, the growers love to benchmark against each other. So it's— I don't— I don't— sometimes I don't understand why, but they love to be able to see beyond their own operation. So whenever they look beyond their own operation, it's anonymous, you know, they can, you know, they don't know who they're benchmarking against, and it can be extremely local or regional or, you know, fairly good-sized group. So benchmarking is, you know, growers love that piece of it, and they love the economic piece too. Me personally, I think the most powerful is within your own operation, just, you know, field by field, and then drilling down within a field by management zones.

Shay, the one thing The one thing I would tell you is we've come up with a way to start making decisions even quicker. In 2005, we started putting check blocks inside prescriptions and we trademarked that as learning blocks. But so learning block is just a comparison area. It's like introducing an experiment into the field and we've just automated the process. So, you know, that's kind of what software is really good at is, automating processes. But, but what it does is it lets you, in a single year, it lets you go to school on areas of the field. So you can— it's really, really popular. You know, if I, if I suggested you plant 39,000 in the best part of the field, you know, you'd have anxiety about whether that was too much or not, or whether it was worth the seed investment.

But you'd try an acre, you know, like you would try an acre of 39,000 in a heartbeat just to see if it worked or see if it paid. And And so learning blocks and just adding, and now we've added it, you know, more to that to where you can do replicated trials. So you can do multiple rates and have it be replicated, but it's really opened the door to how do I get there quicker? You know, so it's like, how do I get on that journey of making decisions and getting this constant feedback? You know, every year is different. So what you said a little bit ago is exactly right. 3 or 4 years data is way better than 1 year. But you can get started really quick.

And just, we've had, we've had people start where, like on variable rate soybeans, they were so unsure of what to do that they, you know, they just seeded the field at the normal rate and they put a bunch of learning blocks in just, just to experiment with, you know, with different rates.

Narrator: This is Alyssa with the Ag View Solutions team. Here at Ag View Solutions, we work with farms and ag businesses all across the country on cost of production, business decision-making, collaboration opportunities, farm and ag business structuring, and transition planning. We work with operations of all sizes to help you with the important decisions that need to be made in your business. If you have questions or would like to learn more about how we can help your farm and business, please email us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com, and thank you for listening.

Shay

Foulk: One, one thing I want to go back to on the benchmarking too is a reason a lot of farm operations that we work with like that exterior benchmarking. And I'm not saying benchmarking is bad, so I don't want that to be misconstrued here. But the reason they like that additional benchmarking is sometimes as farmers, we are the CEOs and the shareholders and the managers and the laborers all in one. You know, not every operation is a collaborative opportunity amongst different farmers. Not everybody has a community infrastructure where they can ask questions and look at economics in comparison, or maybe they don't even have a family member to rely on, you know, anywhere from first-generation farmers to someone that has just had to take on a lot of responsibility.

And so I can see that benchmarking being a very valuable tool, and then taking that information, like you said, with these learning blocks and applying that as quickly as possible. You know, Brenton and I were talking here offline, one of the challenges with the learning process with some of this data is when it gets to variety or hybrid specific, you know, crop analysis, because in the industry, I mean, 3 to 5 years is about the lifetime that we're seeing in these, and you can't always make good decisions about the time you learn what a hybrid does or how it responds aside from the information that you're getting from the seed companies Right when you get comfortable with it, there's something else new out and you have to take advantage of that because of the genetics and because of the advancements that we're seeing in chemistry and herbicide resistance and things like that.

So I guess, Brenton, can you talk about that a little bit on from a farmer perspective? It sounds like there's other things that we can quickly learn and then, and as we learn these products, the variety and hybrid-specific products, we can continue to make good decisions off of that, correct?

Brenton

Rossman: Yeah, and that's one thing, a passion of mine is on-farm trialing, learning, you know, as much as I can, trying to put data into practice on our own farm to make the next step faster with a hybrid in year 2 or year 3 if this was its first year in season. So it's, it's what can we learn about all the different agronomic situations or scenarios on our own farm. How do hybrids perform differently, you know, lighter ground, heavier ground, high soil test P and K versus low soil test areas. So in just some of the, we've done a lot of population trials on our farm. And it's interesting and definitely not bashing seed companies or anything, but if, you know, we've done trials where we plant a certain hybrid at, you know, 35,000, that those may be the suggested rate, and on a certain soil type in a certain environment on my own fields, we see the highest return at 31,000 seeds per acre.

So a lower seeding rate, and just having the ability to do some of this testing on our own farm, learning about the local environment, you know, I'm going to trust the data from my own farm and use that for making decisions going forward.

Shay

Foulk: Well, and Dan, you know, you said it really well at the beginning of this podcast, is you have variability within your field boundaries, you know, whether it's a 10-acre field, a 40, 400-acre field, it doesn't matter what size it is. There's variability, and farmers know how to manage that instinctively, especially as you get time and experience in there. But if we can take that information from Learning Blocks or Farm Management Zones and make better decisions off of it, hopefully we can learn quicker and hopefully we can save money, right? You know, are you guys generating profit maps at this point?

Dan

Frieberg: Yeah, we do. It's caught— right now it's breakeven cost per bushel. Okay, so we kind of focus that way. It's, you know, and it goes back to that, you know, not wanting— we want to deliver, we want to deliver the map the second the yield file hits, you know, versus when the crop is marketed. You know, a lot of growers would, you know, they sell over a 12-month period. So, you know, they don't actually know they're selling— I mean, they don't actually know their selling price a lot of times until, you know, months, months after harvest.

Shay

Foulk: That's where the marketing decisions can be key though on knowing that cost of production and having it dialed in. And of course that's what, you know, we spend a lot of time working with growers on. And, and Chris and I will be the first ones to tell anybody out there, we run a system called Profit Manager. And you don't have to use Profit Manager, you can use university systems, you can use any number of programs that are out there. But knowing that cost of production And then how it ties back into the whole operation is key.

And I think looking at it at a breakeven cost, if, if I know as a farmer instinctively what my cost of production is, if I have that dialed into the penny, and for me let's say it's $3.72 or whatever it is on corn, and I'm looking at an area of the field that it's saying, hey, your breakeven's, uh, $5.43 here, you know, that's pretty eye-opening because we market, we market in bushels. We're not marketing off of dollars revenue per acre most of the time. Some operations do it that way and they are successful at that, but it can be a pretty easy way to look at that. So I think that's interesting from the profit mapping perspective. How long have you been doing that?

Dan

Frieberg: We actually started doing that at the very beginning. Almost killed the company in '99 by doing it because what we ran into when we rolled it out is it was First of all, back then there was a lot of disorganization among growers. So you would ask a grower, you know, for the cost information and they would hand you a folder full of seed invoices and say, I don't, you know, here you sort it out. And so, so it's just a lot of, back then there was just a lot of growers who weren't super organized. I mean, you know, we've transitioned a lot in the last 20 years. But the second thing, Shay, is it really ratchets up the trust level between the grower and the, you know, so growers are just, you know, like when you're starting to track, when you really are getting to break-even cost per bushel, that's the most private information.

You know, if you put your actual land and management costs into it too, that's really private information. So it's the P&L for the field. So It's super private. So it's, you know, we kind of walked our way into it now. I mean, we— a lot of times people start out and it's, you know, that's kind of— they, you know, they keep, you know, we're— it's, it's a faster transition now than it was back then, but they kind of have to get confidence before they're really willing to share every detail about their operations.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, and I understand that. I mean, farmers have a certain level of, of independence that they like, and there's a reason sometimes that they're in the industry because they they're their own boss. They can make the decisions. They can choose who they share the information with. But so many operations we've seen have taken the understanding of, you know, maybe I can't do all of this as effectively as someone else can by helping me. And, you know, I talk with people all the time on that when it comes to the reservation of sharing numbers. You know, folks like us with the consulting side or you all with the data management, We, we don't care personally what John Farmer's numbers are in north central Iowa or southwest Indiana. I mean, we don't have the capacity to do anything with that information, nor would, nor would we want to. You know, we keep that wholly private.

And having conversations with you all offline too, I think, is one of the reasons I wanted to conduct this podcast, is just understanding that anytime you can get linked in with a company that that really truly values what the farmer is looking for and providing the value in that relationship and ensuring that they have that privacy and that the numbers aren't gonna be shared and you're just here as a provider to help them grow, that's an excellent business model and I really appreciate it from that perspective. So Brent, I'm gonna pick on you. Go ahead, Dan.

Dan

Frieberg: Che, when you were talking about the high-cost areas of fields, you were talking about breakeven cost per bushel and then you said, But what if I have an area that's 542 or whatever? It's like that happens, that's real. So it's like, you know, and we typically don't tell any grower that we're gonna save them money because a lot of times, a lot of times if we save money on one part of the field, we invest it, you know, in another part of the field. But there are parts of fields where not investing as much is the, is the only way you can lower your breakeven cost per bushel. You just can't, you just can't continue to invest the same in those parts of the field. It's just, you have to manage, you still have to farm them.

You know, you still have to farm them, but you just, you know, it's for us, it's all about making sure that the investment in, in crop protection and nutrients and seed is right for that area of the field. And And sometimes those are the best success stories is just learning to manage your investment in those poor producing areas. So, you know, it's again on a per acre basis, you're going to spend that money in the best part. But saving, you know, investing less in the worst part of the field sometimes is the only way to lower your breakeven.

Shay

Foulk: Brenton, I'm going to pick on you for a couple of minutes here. So, you know, Dan having tons, you know, decades of experience here and starting the company. For you with the, you know, and I'm not saying Dan doesn't, but having the real boots on the ground and talking with farmers all the time and having these conversations, you know, what would you say makes Premier Crop Systems different from others in the industry that are doing some of this? And what do you think the future of this type of business is? You know, how do you see it continuing to provide value to farmers?

Brenton

Rossman: Sure. You know, I think the first thing that partners I work with or growers I come into contact with is they appreciate our independence as a company. Not tied to any input sales. We sell our service and our solutions. So, you know, that's important to me and I think that's important to a lot of our customers as well. And also having a system that is not a canned output. You know, output from our system changes based on the grower's goals. You know, advisors have the ability to customize their delivery. Maybe, as you know, Farmer John, for example, has a real interest in dialing in his fertility rates and maximizing his efficiency with that aspect of his operation, but Farmer Tom down the road is much more interested in the seed side of things. So just the ability to have a holistic solution that, that is completely customizable.

And I just think that business model or that mentality going forward will just continue to have success as, you know, the farmer of the future continues to evolve and, you know, the younger generation like myself becomes more involved and wants to make decisions from data, has questions, and really wants to dive into this information.

Shay

Foulk: One thing I would add to that is, you know, you said it there in a little bit of a different way, but even though we're moving towards making better management decisions, it doesn't make things less complex necessarily. And there's more and more high management situations and high management decisions to push the yield or to push the yield efficiency in some cases too. And I think as we start experimenting and working with more of these things, whether you're putting liquid in your planter or you're having a multi-pass nitrogen system, or you're trying any number of biological products or a lot of the great programs that are out there right now, I think it gets even more important at that level of managing that information because not only on a cost of production side, but from an information overload side, you know, is what I'm doing really working?

Is what I'm doing really having the yield efficiency outlook that I want and providing the revenue back based on the time, effort, money, and management that I'm putting into it? And so I think as we gain the complexity in these operations, You have to have some sort of data management system that reports back to you, or that you can take those numbers and do something with it, because it has to be actionable. And Dan, I think you hit on this early on, is, you know, we've had this yield mapping information for 20 years or more at this point. We've had variable rate planting information, and yet today I still get questions probably once a week on, well, where are your soybean planting rates at? Or what are, what are other farm operations doing for nitrogen and fertility management?

And there's nothing wrong with asking those questions, but in order to take that next step in the farming operation, we have to take actionable information and do something with it. So Dan, I don't know if you have any other comments on that.

Dan

Frieberg: No, it's just everything you said is just right on. So So exactly. So it's also like what you were talking— it's before the podcast, I was asking you about your experience with COVID crops, because it's like, that's a big one we get, you know, it's like there's, there's a lot of growers have never done anything with COVID crops. And so they're, you know, they're wanting, you know, they're wanting insights, they're wanting to know the economics. And, you know, we're constantly trying to figure out how we help prove it out quicker. So that, that, you know, it's exactly, exactly why I was asking for your experience, because it's just a lot, a lot of attention right now on cover crops.

Shay

Foulk: Absolutely. You know, is there, is there anything that I'm not asking, or anything that you'd want the listeners of this podcast to, to keep in mind as we move forward? You know, this, the podcast is distributed all over the United States and Canada. Farm operations of any shape and size, what message would you want to leave the listeners of this podcast with as we kind of wrap up here?

Dan

Frieberg: I think, you know, agronomy is local. You know, what matters in one part of the country sure doesn't in another part of the country, or it's different. So, you know, nitrogen management would be a great example where, you know, what strategy you use really changes based on where you are. You know, there's east-west, really east, major east-west differences. There's big north-south differences. And so, so, you know, just being able, that agronomy local message is really key. You know, when you were talking about benchmarking and we were talking about sharing data, it's like one of the reasons growers love to be part of, they love these aggregated datasets that we talk about, you know, where you're anonymously comparing to other operations, is it lets you see It lets you see hybrids and varieties that you didn't get to plant.

You know, you probably had 30 or 40 elite numbers pitched to you and you might have planted 10 of them, but at the end of the year you'd kind of like to know how the other 30 that you passed on did. And, you know, it's just all part of that learning faster, you know, just how do we, how does everybody learn faster? And it's just, and, you know, just having a data platform to help to help growers learn faster is just a big piece of where we, our hearts are at and, you know, where we believe, you know, our future's at.

Shay

Foulk: And from your point there, Dan, too, I want to bring in a point from Brenton and I's conversation here a week or week and a half ago, whenever it was, of that independence, right? You're not tied to a seed company, you're not tied to a chemical company. And so regardless of which of those top 40 hybrids did best or varieties, or maybe it wasn't even one of those that was pitched to you that just had a fantastic year, you know, being able to learn from that information and seeing it and having it available and understanding how it might fit into your management zones on the farm operation, it can make some of those decisions a little bit easier.

And the other thing that's really unique about this is not only with it being non-identifiable back to a particular operation or not being able to see anybody's particular numbers, is when it comes to managing those decisions, if you have 40 products in front of you, it can be really overwhelming. But being able to take that and make those decisions faster, I really appreciate that perspective. You know, I'm going to turn to you, Brenton, on this. If someone's listening to this and wants to learn more about Premier Crop Systems, how do they get a hold of you guys? How do they ask some of these key questions and see, you know, what your services look like?

Brenton

Rossman: Yeah, I'd say the best way to get a hold of us would be to just visit our website, and from the website premiercrop.com, there'll be a link on there for contacting us, and then we'll get you in touch with the right person.

Shay

Foulk: Absolutely. Dan Freeburg and Brenton Rossman, I really appreciate the time today, guys, and hopefully those listening to the podcast got some value out of this and You know, whether you choose to talk to someone at Premier Crop Systems or just taking the information that you've learned here and maybe thinking about it as a different way, you know, we have an exciting new 2021 season ahead of us and we all get opportunities to make good decisions. And the farmer is the eternal optimist, right? So getting linked in with some of these people that can help your operation and take it to the next level, I think is so important to hear more about. Those of you in the industry who are doing some of these things. So Dan and Brenton, I really appreciate the time.

Dan

Frieberg: Thank you, great to be with you.

Brenton

Rossman: Yeah, thank you, Shane.

Shay

Foulk: Thanks to Renee and Molly for getting us linked in. Really glad that we could do this. And most importantly, thank you to everyone on the Ag View Pitch for tuning in to another podcast, and we will catch you next time.