4 Ways to Get More Value Out of Agriculture Equipment and Technology
Uncertain. Challenging. Or the one we continue to hear the most, unprecedented.
Even as companies are trying to show empathy with all the chaos COVID-19 has caused, these buzzwords have started to fall on deaf ears as we are inundated with corporate placations on struggle and fear, writes Erin Hightower at CropLife. Although we may be tired of hearing them, the root of the words have truth: economically, things are tricky right now.
While farms are considered essential businesses and haven’t been shut down during the pandemic, to say growers are operating under “a business as usual” philosophy couldn’t be further from the truth, especially when it comes to equipment and financial management strategies.
Investing in the Existing
Growers’ equipment that was slated for a sale or trade-in at the local dealership may now have to remain fixtures in the fleet for another year, or two, or even more. New technology solutions they hoped to add this year may have to be put off for the time being.
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But this isn’t a bad thing. Buying new machines and technology are not the only ways we can advise growers to invest in their business and remain profitable.
It’s always good advice to help growers get the most out of what they have but in these uncertain times (there, I had to say it), this advice becomes crucial. How can we help keep those older pieces from deflating in value faster than necessary? How do we advise keeping those used items valuable for the operation instead of feeling old and slow?
Looking ahead to this winter and with a little forethought, we can make the most out of the tagalong equipment and technology that may be around for another year or two – or more. Agronomic and technological tools are often thought of as too expensive or inaccessible, but there are many ways to upgrade equipment without buying brand now.
With the economic road ahead still unclear, here are four ways growers can invest in their existing equipment and technology.
1. Utilize the Under- (or not at all) Utilized
A seasoned piece of equipment may have new value by properly utilizing its features fully, particularly when it comes to technology. Too often, growers fear technology, seeing it as something unknown they have to learn. However, in many cases that “new” technology isn’t necessarily that new, it’s been there all along, and fully-utilizing it may mean increasing productivity, and reducing cost and time spent.
Story from the Field
I was recently calling on hundreds of growers that needed to accept terms and conditions on agronomic software through our equipment partner, John Deere. I learned, not only were many of them not using the software, they were not even aware of it and what it was capable of doing for their farm management. More importantly, they did not know how much value they were leaving on the table by not using the technology and John Deere Operations Center, an account which they already had access. In fact, a couple of them thought I was trying to sell them the program, not simply encourage use of a software they already had.
As a follow up, one grower asked me to come out and show him how to use the Operations Center. As I was going through the different tools, he was engaged in the opportunity and asked if needed to upgrade from his old display and GPS equipment to utilize the software.
The answer? No upgrades were needed! What was even better, the software was 100% free.
He will now be saving money with map creation next spring – a task which he had paid for and relied on from his seed dealer – as well as saving time with his sprayer record-keeping – which he could have been utilizing with his rate controller – among other things.
Total extra cost to this grower? Zero dollars.
Added benefit of fully utilizing technology already purchased? Priceless.
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