WHIN for the farmers

Shay: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ag U-Pitch. Today you have Shay Foulk and Josh Parshin. Josh, how are you today?

Josh

Parshin: Doing well, Shea.

Shay: Josh, you're with the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network and I thought that after a meeting we had 2 weeks ago, it might be good for us to hop on and do a podcast. I think the work that you're doing is, is very interesting. Can you give the listeners an overview of what the WIN program Yeah, absolutely.

Josh

Parshin: And thanks for giving me the platform and the time to share what WIN is doing in the north central part of Indiana. The Wabash Heartland Innovation Network was started around 7 or 8 years ago, and the whole premise was how do we increase and accelerate the adoption of technologies, specifically in manufacturing and farming. Everything we talked about in agriculture is actually mirrored on the manufacturing side, just with different technologies. But the whole point of the program is regional prosperity and really just making farms and farming operations more efficient, more productive, more proficient, all of those words that we all like to be. But it's, it's actually really hard to get started sometimes. And one of the avenues that it is really hard to get started is finding, vetting, and implementing and adopting new technologies.

These technologies that everyone knows will help their operation, but farmers don't have time. They don't, they don't have 3 or 4 hours a week or a day or sometimes even a month to sit down and look for these technologies that may or may not exist, may or may not work in their specific operation or fit their specific needs, or may or may not be something they can or even want to afford. And so that's where WIN comes in. The WIN staff will— we will go out and find all these technologies, and we find them either through our farmers directly, through their recommendation, simple Google searches, recommendations and referrals from other companies that we're working with.

The WIN team will go out and enter into conversations with all of the appropriate staff— CEOs, salespeople, engineers, scientists, and even their customers— and we'll find out if this technology is relevant impactful and worth its salt. And if we, if we think we're confident in what we are hearing and reading and seeing, then we take it to phase 2, which is real-world practical application, a pilot study with our farmers. What I tell these companies from all over the world is, you know, this all sounds great, but I don't really care how a sensor works in a lab out in California. I want to know how this if technology is going to work on Bob's farm on a Tuesday in July in this part of Indiana. That is the most relevant thing that I need to know, because if it's not going to make an impact or have ROI for, for my 70-plus farmers in this region of Indiana, then, then what's the point, right?

Mm-hmm. So once the pilot studies go well and we're confident to take the next step towards partnership, we will negotiate discounts and subsidies to drive that price down as far as we can to help accelerate the adoption. And then it's turned over to me where I go out and I know all of my farmers, you know, up to a certain point. I know their operation, I know their goals, the main points of emphasis. I'll call everyone I think is going to like this and then eventually everyone anyway and say, hey, we have this new technology and based on what I know about you and where you want to go, I think you should give this a look. And then I bring everyone to the table. I bring the farmers to the table, I get the tech partner to the table, and then, you know, they enter into a normal business arrangement. And then I'm kind of an advocate for both sides.

And then we, we sit back and we watch— well, we don't really sit back, but we watch. We stay in pretty constant contact with our farmers throughout the year, and we make sure that, you know, the value that we're presenting is the value that they're getting out of it. And, and, and it's, it's been a lot of fun. These last 5 years have been incredible, not only just meeting all these farmers but learning all these unique operations and the individual preferences and facets of every farm is so different. And the farmers are great. I love all my guys. They're super fun to work with. So at a high level, that's, that's kind of what Wynne has been up to over the last 5 to 7, 8 years.

Shay: And I guess I'm going to start with a sticky question that I already know the answer to. But sometimes farmers get tired of the companies that are farming the farmers, or that's what it feels like, you know, we want to extract value from the farmers, whether that's data or dollars or whatever it may be. Talk a little bit about how WIN operates. Is there dollars involved there? What does that look like? Or how has the network existed up to today?

Josh

Parshin: Yeah, and I often joke about it because it's very real. I don't like being a salesman. Unfortunately, I'm good at it, but I I am very much about building relationships and helping the farmers. And I get to say that as a nonprofit. I usually tell my guys, I didn't drive my Ferrari here, and I don't get commission if you sign up. Yep. We're just here presenting resources. We really just want to help you. And so even there, some of our farmers use 1 or 2 or even 3 technologies at a time. Some of them don't use any because they're just waiting for the right technology to come out. And that's okay. We want them to be confident in whatever technology they choose. So because I get to say those things like I don't get commission, you know, Wind does have to be strategic with how we survive because it is hard to survive just off of grant money alone.

So our leadership team is, is really smart. They're entrepreneurs, they're engineers. They've been around businesses and startups all over the country, and they implemented revenue sharing for income streams. So whenever our tech partners have a sale, so to speak, with a Wynn farmer, a certain percentage of that is given back to Wynn. So we do that, one, because we know a lot of startups, cash is king, and we don't want to overburden the tech startup just so we can make a couple extra bucks. That defeats the purpose as well. So we do say whatever sales you have in this region with our farmers is— excuse me— is what the revenue sharing will come out of. If you don't make any sales, then you don't owe us anything. So it makes it— makes it a little easier.

You know, one of the— one of the themes or mottos or sayings that we have been saying since the beginning is we wanted to make this area of Indiana the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. We want to bring all of these tech startups here in Indiana. So don't go to California, don't go to the Research Triangle, don't go to Chicago or Indy, stay here in the Lafayette region, you know, in this part of Indiana, and we will work with you. We'll help you get involved with professors. So we want these tech partners, these technology companies, to come and set up shop here in our playground. And so there's, there's a lot of incentives for tech companies to come out. And then because of that, it helps when the money gets passed back and forth. And that's what helps keep the lights on with Wynn.

Shay: And for any farmers that are listening to that, and we're in a tough economic environment for a lot of row crop producers right now, I don't want anybody to listen to that and be a stick in the mud and say, oh, well, they're charging margin and blah, blah, blah. But of course they are. You know, businesses have to work in all facets. It has to work for the innovation company. It has to work for when and it has to work for the farmers. And really what we always encourage on, on the Ag View Solutions team is look at what your return on your investment is going to provide to you. And I'm sure you're having those same conversations too of let's do the analysis, let's, let's make sure that these technologies are helping drive better decisions or increase yield or give you more time in your operation, whatever it is. And all of those things have value.

And should have dollars associated with it. And so I think, I think the premise and how WIN is operating is phenomenal. I think it's a tremendous resource to farmers. And I guess what I was wondering is if you could maybe just give a few examples of some technologies that you're either currently implemented or are excited about as you move into the future through WIN.

Josh

Parshin: Yeah, so we try to onboard 1 to 2 to 3 tech companies a year. Sometimes that's easy and sometimes it's really hard. Part of it is because Wynn has a very strict vetting process, and a lot of companies get upset with us, to which I respectfully say I don't care. I mean, I'm here for the interests of my farmers. I don't— I'm not, you know, we're not trying to rush this and put out something that is not favorable. So it takes a little while. You know, I can't say 2 years ago we didn't put out any new technologies because we had 3 going at once and their pilots needed a little more research, a little more time, and when everything came to a head, we actually introduced 3 that following January. So we try to bring in new technologies, we try to keep the menu expanding and fresh.

Some of the new technologies that we're really excited about, you know, one of them, it's, it's one of the simplest ideas and every farmer I've talked to says, "Yeah, I wish I would have thought of that." It's a It's a rock picking service that is done with drones mapping your field, and with their, with their special software and cameras, they identify the crowns and the heads of rocks sticking up. And it even works in no-till, which was my first question. And, and they will present maps to the farmers saying, here are all your rocks. You can pay for the map service to where you get the map, and then you go and pick the rocks, or you can actually have them come and pick it. And they also, on their maps, they also have a fuel efficiency plan.

So, you know, if you and I were to go in the field and hop on a Gator, we would go up and down and up and down combing the field because we don't want to miss anything. This technology shows you, go here, go here, go here, up, down, left, right, you know, because this is going to be the most fuel-efficient and time-saving aspect using those maps. So a handful of farmers, depending on the region, because again, these technologies, they have to fit. If they don't fit, I'm not going to push a square peg in a round hole. But we have a lot, we have a pretty large river that runs right through it. That's where the name came from, the Wabash Heartland, because the Wabash River runs through it and that connects down to the Ohio in southern Indiana. And then the Wabash has a ton of creek systems, the Wildcat Creek, and then there's the Tippecanoe River.

So if you're in the right geography, TerraClear, the rock picking service, will be of tremendous help to you. If you're not, then, you know, it's my job just to present information. I can't, I can't make you drink. I just show you where the water is. Another technology is Selimptek. Selimptek is actually one of our older tech partners. They've been around for a while with us, but they, they have a new platform called the Solex autonomous spraying robot. And if you're anywhere in central, north central Indiana, you probably have seen these floating around the fields. It's an autonomous see-and-spray weed-killing spot spraying robot. It's solar-powered with a battery backup and about a 40-gallon payload with a 40-foot boom.

And the vision system on the boom identifies the individual weeds, green on brown, in bean and corns— beans and corns— and it will identify the weed and spray it dead right then and there. It goes at a whopping 1 mile an hour and covers anywhere from 350 to 450 acres a week, maybe 500 if your field's in good shape. But 350 to 400 is probably the range. You work with the LymphTEK to get your field maps and your boundary lines, and then they bring it out to you. You flick— you do your own mixing, your own chemistry. You flick the switch and you walk away. So it's a dramatic time saver and cost savings. You know, 80 to 90% input cost savings is what they're— what they project and what our pilots have actually proved out. So it's, it's a really interesting solution if your operation calls for it.

If you're in the need for a broadcast sprayer because you got 8,000 acres, then this isn't the robot for you. But no matter what size your operation, if you have— you have to view your fields to one of two different ways. The field's either in really good shape, so I'm going to put the robot out there and it'll take care of it and I don't have to worry a single thought about it. Or I have this one field over here that is a disaster every year and waterhemp's killing me. Then I'm going to put the robot in there for a little extra TLC. And either way, it gets you across the finish line with a whole lot less burden, overhead, and headache. That's awesome. So now the cool thing about this, this is, this is kind of the feel-good story of Solumtec. They are, their world headquarters are out in Brazil, South America, where they worked on million-acre sugarcane farms and they had 300 implements.

They came up to North America and specifically Indiana and West Lafayette because they know that farming is king in the Midwest, in North America, and why not settle shop with a world-renowned agriculture and engineering school in Purdue University. So they actually moved their world headquar— they moved their North American headquarters to West Lafayette, Indiana. And then another part of, another part of that, they were looking for a little help on the fabrication and manufacturing side of things, so they called WIN because of our relationship that we have with them. And we put a note out to 40 of our manufacturers from the Manufacturing Alliance and we said, hey, this is Solyntec, one of our ag tech partners. They need this, this, and this. Who would like to take a tour and come put some bids in?

And we had 3 or 4 companies show up and they ended up partnering with Stillwater Manufacturing down in Montgomery County, about 45 minutes south. So now in extreme rural Indiana, you have a manufacturing facility partnered with a world-class agriculture technology, and you see these robots roaming the fields in extremely rural Indiana. And it's just kind of the whole premise of WIN. We want to bring solutions to people, we want to bring companies to the region, and then not only that, we partnered companies together to make them even stronger. So we're, we're really proud of that scenario and just that we had a part to play in it, you know, just that we could see it unfold. That was really neat.

Shay: So Josh, I guess there's people listening to this that are saying this is great, but I don't live in Lafayette region of Indiana. Does WIN have any aspirations to extend beyond that geography, or are there other similar programs that exist across the country that maybe some of the listeners are able to take advantage of?

Josh

Parshin: Yes. The answer is yes to both. There are similar entities like Wynn. I can't say with 100% confidence that we're the only Wynn in the world, but we have seen that there aren't a whole lot of places that do what we can do with the, the strategy and horsepower that we can do it in. But we have been approached, you know, these last year, year and a half have been really interesting for when, you know, funding has terms and lengths, and when funding comes and funding goes, you have certain guardrails put up. And it's called the Wabash Heartland, those 10 counties that surround Purdue, because the original grant, they said, this is your sandbox, this is where you get to play, we're going to start small and see what happens. When that funding changed, my guardrails went down, and now I can go anywhere I want. I can talk to farmers anywhere we want.

So We have been talking with entities in Canada about duplicating the WIN model in Canada and the provinces up there. We've talked with the Heartland Forward Foundation, which is backed by the Walton family out in Bentonville, Arkansas, about duplicating models out in Arkansas. And then just recently, this was kind of fun, we had a conversation with COXUPE, which is the world's largest coffee co-op. And they, they provide like 30% of the beans to Starbucks and they want us— we're having conversations with them about what it would look like to have Wynn in Brazil, South America. So it is exciting. A lot of things are expanding and changing and Wynn is evaluating all of these options and taking it slow because again, we got to make sure that we are able to provide the impact to the region. And it's got to be set up well. So we are looking to expand.

I would say that if you're anywhere in Indiana or even Illinois, you know, maybe, maybe the eastern part of Illinois, I'd be happy, more than happy to talk with you. We are expanding the region and the radius and not exactly sure what that looks like, you know, in concrete. But if you're listening and you're from eastern Illinois or anywhere in Indiana, give us a call. And then also, we do have a big event coming up that might make it easy for non-wind farmers to kind of get the lowdown on what this is all about. We have our annual Ag Summit, which is August 12th. It's, it's going to be from about 1 to 5 in the afternoon. It'll be at the Beck Center in West Lafayette, Indiana, and there it's going to be a combination of field day, demo day, panel discussions, expos, you know, some sprayers and combines. TerraClear will be there with their Rockpicker.

They're going to be, you know, roaming around the grass outside. We're going to have panel discussions with our farmers, some Q&A about the good, the bad, and the ugly about everything that happened last year or currently with our technologies. It's very transparent, very open. We have nothing to hide, and we want everyone to know you know, what's going on with these technologies. So either A, we can help steer farmers to them, or B, we can bring that back. Our tech partners are there, they're at the meeting too. They love it because sometimes they get the hard truth that some people don't always tell them because they feel awkward about it. So it's, it's a really beneficial time of experience sharing, introducing new technologies, getting a feel for what people think about the technologies we're looking at. We're very farmer-driven.

There's not a whole lot of decisions that we just make without thinking about the farmers, consulting with them first, you know, really getting their opinions. They are the subject matter experts, and I do not take that for granted. So, you know, if there are certain technologies— if there are certain technologies that we want to look at next year, we reach out to a handful of farmers that we know can give us good, solid insights on where Wynn is to go. And a big part of that is is coming to the Ag Summit.

Shay: Great. So check out the Ag Summit there, August 12th at the BEX. Is that BEX Innovation Center or what's the name there?

Josh

Parshin: I think it's BEX Agricultural Center. Okay. It's off US 52 in West Lafayette.

Shay: Okay, great. Well, folks can check that out. And then to wrap up here, Josh, I guess the last two questions I have for you is if someone is interested in what you guys are doing, maybe they are in that Indiana, Illinois area. What's the best way to reach out? And then the parting question that I have for you is, you know, what's your vision or where do you feel that the future of WHIN could go and what are you most excited about?

Josh

Parshin: So if anybody has questions or wants to reach out to me to learn more, it's a very simple email address, josh@whin.org. So josh@whin.org. And I'm pretty, pretty connected to my email. So shoot me, you know, reach out to me anytime you can and I'll respond as soon as I can and we'll have some conversations. I think with the most exciting thing coming up is, is really just the potential expansion of wind. And it's not so much because I've talked to every single farmer in the region or we've exhausted all opportunities here. It's not about that at all. It's— there's something— there is something special about this. And because we're a nonprofit, everyone who works there is completely bought into this actually could work, it is working, and this could be a huge help to people. And that's not just a sales little quip. I mean, we all believe that.

And so trying to get this model out to other regions in the country or in the state is only going to be a good thing because it's just going to help. It's just going to bring more resources to the people who, who are helping us and know and, you know, rarely get thanks for it. So talking to farmers from different parts of Indiana, different parts of the state, talking to different, you know, municipalities and foundations that want to work with us, it's really exciting and it's just validating, right? It kind of just supports what we've been trying to do for the last 5 to 7 years, and people see it, and they appreciate it, and they want to do it. So I think that's what we're most excited about, just seeing where, you know, the looking out over the horizon and seeing what's out there.

Shay: That's awesome. The forward look is always fun. Josh, I'm glad we got connected here. I'm glad we met up here a couple weeks ago. I look forward to the listeners reaching out and giving an opportunity to see what all you guys have going on. But love the work that you do and just Thank you for your time today.

Josh

Parshin: Hey, much appreciated. Thank you for all that you do. You know, I listen to you and I love listening to your presentation as well. So thank you for how you help the farmers and thank you for the opportunity just to come and yak a little bit about WIM.

Shay: That sounds great. Well, hey, thanks everyone for listening to another episode of the Ag View Pitch and we will catch you next time.