Real-Time Monitoring of Your Farm Equipment

Farmers rely on their equipment everyday to run their farms.  It's imperative to have good data on how each piece of equipment is used and how much it costs to operate in order to optimize machinery to it's fullest potential (read more about machinery optimization in my past post).  

To collect data in real-time, AgCo has developed AgCommand, a device that collects data about a specific piece of equipment and delivers the information via a cellular modem and GPS in the device to the AgCommand website.  The website gives reports that track engine hours, fuel consumption, operator efficiency, equipment health info, and field-specific machine information. Reports can be used to monitor and control operating costs and for planning, billing, and maintenance scheduling.  This kind of information would be very helpful in making decisions on how to best use your machinery.

Figure 1.  Example map of a farmer's land and an AgCommand report on the working time of a piece of equipment.

Another great feature of the AgCommand system is geofencing.  As Farm Industry News describes it, geofencing "allows the user to build a virtual fence around equipment using GPS coordinates. So when equipment leaves the fenced-in area, the telematics system sends a text message or e-mail alert. This can help avert theft, or simply let you know that your planter, sprayer, or combine has finished work in a field and is moving on to the next. Similarly, telematics curfews can alert you when a machine is started after working hours."  

As a farm business owner, have you ever heard of or used the AgCommand system or something similar?  Are you willing to try this new technology?  Of all of the reports and information generated by the system, what is of greatest importance to you?  Can you think of any other data not mentioned here that you would like a system like this to collect?  Are you ready to embrace this new technology?

Guidance for Crop Insurance During the Drought

Much of Pennsylvania is an unwilling participant in the widespread drought that has led to agriculture being a daily national story in the major media outlets. For those farmers who produce crops covered by crop insurance, it may be time to make preparations for submitting a claim. Below is guidance that has been provided by Gene Gants, with the Pensylvania office of USDA-RMA. Maximizing the Benefits of Your Crop Insurance Policy   Your “Summary of Protection” or “Schedule of Insurance” should have arrived within a few weeks of you filed your acreage report. It reflected the information on which your 2012 protection is based.  Compare it to your acreage report to make sure that it is correct.  If there are discrepancies, contact your insurance agent immediately to get it corrected, otherwise it could adversely affect your premium bill and/or claim payment.   Reminder and Guidance on Reporting Damage or Loss:  Crop damage or loss reporting for the insurance policy for most crops requires that written notice be given to your crop insurance agent (by crop by unit (farm)): • Within 72 hours of discovery of damage or loss, • 15 days before harvest begins **, and • Within 15 days after harvesting is completed but not later than 10/20 for corn harvested as silage; 12/10 for grain corn and soybeans. • A pre-harvest appraisal is required for most direct marketed crops • Don’t destroy evidence of damage until a loss adjuster evaluates it!   File timely notice with your county FSA office too, as you may be for some disaster benefits.   **Prior Authorization is Required to Leave Sample Rows for Yield Determination:  If loss adjusting workload does not permit appraising damaged crop acreage before you are ready to start cutting silage, prior authorization must be obtained from your insurance company, through your crop insurance agent, before sample row areas can be left for later yield determination.   For this reason, it’s important that notice of damage be filed with your crop insurance agent as early as you determine that damage occurred so that harvesting is not delayed.     Cutting Damaged Corn for Silage:  If you plan to cut damaged grain type corn for silage, it’s important that the grain content be determined before harvesting regardless of whether you insure on a tonnage or grain yield basis.  If you insured on a grain basis, a loss is determined by comparing the revenue or yield guarantee to the appraised yield (times the October CBOT average price for the December contract for revenue protection).  If you insured and harvest on a tonnage basis and your grain content is significantly below normal (less than 4.5 bushels per ton), the grain content appraisal becomes the basis for quality adjustment which may reduce the amount of silage tonnage that counts against your guarantee.   Additional details are available from a crop insurance agent.

Surveys of mid-Atlantic consumers conducted by Penn State researchers part 8

In previous posts, I discussed research from Penn State about mid-Atlantic consumer food preferences and purchasing behaviors. One particular question asked participants to indicate which category of retailers they believed were more likely to sell fruits and vegetables that are unsafe to eat.

This question brought about some interesting data. Although 30.7% of participants reported that they believed there was no difference in the safety of the produce based on the category of retailer, the remaining majority did indicate categories of retailers that they believed were likely to sell unsafe produce.



Looking at the graph, retailer categories like “Natural Food Store” (1.8%), “Specialty Food Store” (1.5%), and retailers where purchases could be made“Direct from Farmer” (2.4%) were reported to be more likely to sell unsafe produce. As an ag entrepreneur, why do you think consumers feel that natural food stores, specialty food stores, and direct from farmer are the "safest" foods?

As seen in data from previous surveys conducted in 2008, participant belief that a particular category of retailer sells produce that is more or less safe than other categories does not seem to be the deciding factor in where these participants actually purchase fruits and vegetables. Although participants in the previous survey, did (indirectly) report that retail outlets such as specialty food stores, farmer-direct retailers, and natural food stores were less likely to sell unsafe
produce in comparison to other retailer categories, the majority of participants did not choose to purchase fruits and vegetables from retailers they may have believed to have the "safest" produce. As an ag entrepreneur, how do you think you can move consumers to buy from the "safest" produce suppliers? What are your customers saying about this topic?

Research conducted to examine the purchasing behaviors of mid-Atlantic consumers

If you are a mid-Atlantic specialty crop producer, retailer, or wholesaler, you may be interested in checking out www.midatlanticspecialtycrops.com. Under the "Newsroom" tab, you will find multiple news articles summarizing 4 surveys conducted over the past year by Penn State. The surveys explore the produce purchasing behaviors of mid-Atlantic consumers.

1,565 total participants from the metropolitan areas of New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Richmond were surveyed on what types of food products they purchased, where they purchased these products, and what variables may have affected their purchasing behaviors. Issues addressed in the consumer surveys include labeling, children in the household, origin of farmers’ market produce, food safety, snacking, certified-organics, state promotional programs, locally grown, and natural.

Some interesting information gathered:
-The majority of participants (78%) defined “locally grown” as 100 miles or less from their residence.
-29.3% of survey participants selected farmers’ markets/CSAs as their primary source of produce when local produce was in-season.
-The majority of the participants (53.8%) believed that 50-99% of produce at a farmers' market was grown by the market farmers.
-The majority of participants who reported purchasing certified-organic fruits and vegetables either made these purchases 2 to 3 times per month (30.7%) or once per week(29%).

As an ag entrepreneur, how will you use the information from these surveys in your business? Do you regularly look for research like this to learn more about your customers? What other types of research topics would help you become a better entrepreneur and/or strengthen your business?