Precision agriculture on a whole is a varied industry. Some components have been very highly adopted (like autosteer), while others have significantly lower adoption rates. One of the areas with lower adoption rates is precision fertility and seed placement. The team at FieldReveal feels that understanding fertility and seed placement is integral to farming and is working to close the adoption gap.
Matt Hesse, CEO of FieldReveal, is working on a mindset shift in precision agriculture. They have a three pronged approach, to move precision ag from a product to a process. First, as the account managers mentioned in episode 38, they are agronomy first. Secondly they aim to be a progressive partner that can help set up growers and accounts for the challenges of the future. Finally, and where we spent most of our conversation, was on moving away from our old conversations around seeding and fertility rates altogether.
In Matt’s experience, growers would often say that they would flat-rate applications because it was easy and familiar. In addition to adding complexity, variable rate applications inherently have additional costs. Matt’s team is working on breaking down that conversation and stair-stepping the process to make initial precision ag placement more accessible.
“So that's what we're trying to drive, is remove a bunch of costs to start with a low, medium, and high environment, which is what our MZB Lite product is,” started Matt. “It takes in imagery, yield potential imagery plus elevation, which is a key factor. And then it allows us to go up to our MZB map, which then introduces electroconductivity (EC) or electromagnetic mapping (EM) data to really give us and fine tune the soil characteristics. As well as, on top of, lowering the upfront costs to do it.”
Matt also tackled how to manage field variability in our conversation. Many people initially wanted to use precision ag to make fields more uniform. In reality we see some very successful precision agriculture processes highlighting variability to better manage it, rather than get it to perform the same.
“That yield that's single on a whole field really doesn't make sense. That's where introducing low, medium, and high to understand,” said Matt. “The high potential areas are probably pulling down nutrients, and you're actually not feeding enough. That's really what we see in our dataset is any of our zones that are highly classified into different areas tell us that most of those areas, the test results are really low because the production opportunity is high.”
To many of our recent sustainability efforts, data management is key. Matt shared how precision ag as a process can also help move the mark on sustainability.
“So what's happened is from a sustainability standpoint, if you just think about it, we're built for nitrogen to begin with. So we manage the nitrogen use efficiency really, really well.” Matt shared. “We can pair that up with either doing population with seed super easy, or even getting into multi hybrid, multi rate seeding as well to match it up better with that zone. Then it leads to a better NUE, nitrogen use efficiency, which plays into sustainability.”
Once growers have an opportunity to see the difference a high, medium, low management strategy can have on their overall field management, Matt believes they will better believe and understand the impact of additional management on their fields. That's where the adoption may start increasing as they remove some of the hurdles for getting started. You can learn more about Matt and his work at FieldReveal here, or tune into our full episode.
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Host: Morgan Seger
Morgan Seger grew up on a small farm in northwest Ohio before studying agriculture at The Ohio State University. She spent 10 years working with ag retail – specifically in ag tech – prior to hosting the Precision Points Podcast. She lives and farms in western Ohio with her husband Ben and their four children. Morgan has her own blog, Heart and Soil, where she talks about her experience farming, gardening, and raising her family.
Guest: Matt Hesse
Matt Hesse is an agribusiness leader with 20 years of experience in ag retail and precision agriculture. He most recently served Winfield United as senior manager of the retail technology field team with responsibilities for strategic planning and sales management.
Prior to Winfield United, Hesse spent 10 years with Trimble in the Trimble Agriculture division. Hesse began at Trimble as a regional sales manager, moved to a business sales segment manager role for Trimble Worldwide, and then to director of sales for the North and South America segments of Trimble Agriculture.
Before joining Trimble, Hesse served four years in Global Technologies by AGCO, managing precision ag software programs. He started his career as an agronomy productions specialist with Agriliance in Sibley, Iowa, U.S., where he managed fertilizer, seed and chemical recommendations and implemented precision agriculture programs.
Hesse is a graduate of the Land O’Lakes Executive Agribusiness Program (LEAP) and has an ag-business associate’s degree from Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota.
Transcription:
Host: Morgan Seger
Guests: Matt Hesse
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Precision Points, an ag-tech podcast, where we plant seeds of innovation to inspire informed decisions about precision technology and its impact for growers like you. We explore precision ag tools and technology from the soil to the sky with your host Morgan Seger.
Morgan Seger (00:22):
Welcome back to Precision Points, an ag-tech podcast from precisionagreviews.com. I'm your host, Morgan Seger, and in each episode, we strive to bring you unbiased ag tech information and ideas. Today on the show, I am joined by president and CEO of Field Reveal, Matt Hesse. At Tech Hub Live this year, he gave a talk on precision ag as a process, not a product. And today he elaborates on what that means for ag retailers and growers that are working to drive adoption in precision ag. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Matt.
Morgan Seger (00:57):
Welcome back to Precision Points. Today on the show I'm joined by CEO and President of Field Reveal, Matt Hesse. Matt, welcome to the show.
Matt Hesse (01:06):
Thanks, Morgan.
Morgan Seger (01:07):
Hey, so I'm excited to dive into our conversation today about precision ag, really looking at the industry as a whole. Before we get into specifics, I was wondering if you could kick us by just introducing yourself and sharing your background.
Matt Hesse (01:21):
Sure. Been in the precision ag business since about 1997. Got started in ag retail and really started getting behind the whole precision ag concept. And what did that mean? I mean at that time it was basically VRT, and as GPS was just starting to come to the market. If people get back into those days, they can think of all the challenges that we had with just technology in general.
Matt Hesse (01:48):
And so through that, I've had many opportunities of growing into other areas, getting to see world business and how things are conducted other than just in the Midwest where I'm located, and just seeing other ways that we can change things as we move forward. And so that led into a couple different roles. Spent some time with Trimble Navigation, got to really hit the high marks of getting into the whole GPS auto steering market, which then became highly adopted really quick. And then some opportunities back into the distribution world with WinField United. And then in 2017 when Field Reveal, the new company was formed out of MZB Technologies, had the opportunity to become president and CEO.
Matt Hesse (02:38):
And through those lessons, we've been trying to apply what we know today, and where we were 20 years ago, and how we can continue to progress, and looking at technologies that have adopted quite rapidly, and looking at reasons why certain technologies haven't when we know those opportunities are there.
Morgan Seger (02:59):
Sure, sure. So I actually think our paths might have crossed, but not officially. So I was part of the WinField United team also, but I think during your tenure, I was maybe on maternity leave for part of that. So I'm not sure if we ever actually crossed paths in person. But interesting background. With being in this industry since 1997, the technology has, like you said, evolved pretty rapidly. Is there anything that kind of sticks out to you as one key improvement that really had a big benefit?
Matt Hesse (03:33):
Well, that comes back to, I think the ROI piece of what can be seen pretty quickly. And there's no question, probably the biggest one at the moment in between that in that era has definitely been the auto steering market and the rate control market, and obviously getting much better at controlling the inputs and where they go, less overlap all across the board. And that's just easy to get your head wrapped around from that standpoint.
Matt Hesse (04:03):
And so what's interesting is the first thing that happened I remember coming into the market was just a lot of talk about yield and yield monitors. And there wasn't a lot on the market at that time, but it was, hey, we need to start collecting data for XYZ reasons, and you would start to see the adoption of the monitor. It didn't have GPS, so you're asking questions, well, why are you doing that? And not capturing the data. And it just came back to, again, to the value standpoint. And what's interesting why I see something that's adopted pretty well pretty quickly, you start to look back, you're going, okay, why hasn't the yield side or why hasn't the data side, or why hasn't the VRT side really grown a mass adoption standpoint? And short answer is, is it's hard. And so we're just looking at ways that we can find the next avenue that's going to really show the ROI. And if the ROI is definitely there, it's a conversation that turns into why am I not doing it?
Morgan Seger (05:10):
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I can see the rate controller and GPS is one that a lot of people say, that's their default answer, is when we're talking to growers, that's had the biggest impact. And I think it's because, like you were saying, some of this other stuff is really hard. So as we are diving into our conversation here around precision ag specifically, in Episode 38, we had the account manager team on from Field Reveal, and they gave us an overview of the general business. And they had mentioned a concept that you've been sharing, I know you introduced it at Tech Hub Live, but it's precision ag as a process, not a product. Could you share more about that?
Matt Hesse (05:54):
Yeah. So that leads up to where I was just leaving off there with just the adoption of precision ag in general. And precision ag is a big bucket, and so if I boil it down into what our core is, our core is fertility and seed placement. It's just interesting, one, we still run into areas that have very little adoption, or in some cases aren't even doing anything. And some areas are heavy on maybe fertilizer VRT, or they're heavy on seed placement. And our whole focus has been okay, what is happening and why are we still sitting here at this? If you poll people, probably about the average that you're going to come up with in the US market is about a 30-40% adoption in variable rate technology.
Matt Hesse (06:46):
And I look back saying, okay, we knew the opportunity was there 20 years ago, so what's holding us back? And I think what we see is there's these conversations that take place of, well, I'm just going to do my normal flat rate application, because one, it's just easy and that's just something that I do. Plus there's all these costs that come in from soil sampling to higher application costs. And there's usually prescription costs and so on and so forth. And so we basically a couple years ago just said, okay, time out, what is causing, we already know what's causing, so how do we fix that?
Matt Hesse (07:31):
And so what we've said is it took a two prong approach or three prong. One is we're agronomy first, which the account team mentioned in the last episode. Then we're also a company that wants to partner and move that needle, because we know at the end of the day, not only is it beneficial to the grower today, but it's probably going to become even more beneficial as we move forward into whatever happens with... Obviously we've got high, prices at the moment, input costs. Secondly, there's going to be more regulation that will happen. So how do you get better positioned for that?
Matt Hesse (08:07):
And so what we wanted, the whole phrase is about removing obstacles to then just say, let's not have a flat rate conversation anymore. Let's start with more of a low, medium, and high conversation. What's really interesting is the last couple, three years, listening to different people talk about their yield maps, for example. And what's interesting is they say, well, my yield map is all green. And I said, well, is that what you've been striving for? Yeah, we've been trying to take variability out of the field. And I said, do you believe that's the right strategy? And their question is, well, yeah, I have a green map. And so our pushback to say is, you're telling us that there is not a low, medium and high end production environment. And first thing is, yes, but I didn't really think of that.
Matt Hesse (09:02):
So that's what we're trying to drive is remove a bunch of costs to start with a low, medium, and high environment, which is what our MZB Lite product is. It's different than just, it takes in imagery, yield potential imagery plus elevation, which is a key factor. And then it allows us to go up to our MZB map, which then introduces EC or EM data to really give us and fine tune the soil characteristics. As well as, on top of, lowering the upfront costs to do it. When you look at grids, in some cases our grids, a lot of systems can do that. But we're, again, back to step two, which is we want those partners that we can help take the conversation to just start leading it with basically VRT instead of flat rate. And I think at the end of the day, our focus today will change that in the next five years. And we're starting to see that with the way that we've gone to market to our customers, which then allows them to go to their customers differently.
Morgan Seger (10:09):
Yeah, sure. I actually find this kind of familiar, because it feels like 10 or 15 years ago in precision ag, that was the conversation, was let's make this field more uniform, and always trying to fix the bad spots or manage for the bad spots. And it felt like we were leaving so much on the table for just maximizing those good spots. So for the people who are doing it effectively, what type of results are you seeing, or how are they changing their mindset to manage those fields?
Matt Hesse (10:40):
Well, seeing is believing, always. And so two things that we help to do with our customers is... Because again, process change is not easy. It's not easy for an ag retailer, and it's not easy for a grower. You don't get many times to make it right. And so you don't want to go backwards. And so what we do is basically what I did 20 years ago. People would tell me, I've got fields as flat as my desk. And I'd say, so you're telling me there's no variability? Nope. So, okay, well, let me go... At that time, we were doing two and a half acre grids. Let me just show you the variability difference. And so that was easy to get your head wrapped around just on variability. Which is then, okay, I'm going to move some product from over here to over here because my soil tests are high here, low here. That was really the conversation.
Matt Hesse (11:32):
In some cases, still driving, it was a 175 yield goal back then now we're at 200, 250, 300. But that yield that's single on a whole field really doesn't make sense. And that's where introducing that low, medium and high to understand, okay, the high potential areas are probably pulling down nutrients, and you're actually not feeding enough. And that's really what we see in our dataset, is any of our zones that are highly classified into different areas tell us that most of those areas, the test results are really low because the production opportunity is high.
Matt Hesse (12:12):
And so that's where our focus has been, is to show that. And once we zone a field, we give the grower the opportunity to load it up on their phone. And as they're growing through the field, most of the cases, the seeing to believe happens right there, to say, all of a sudden, they see their yield monitor change from this to this, and it lines up with the zone. And they're like, okay, now I'm hooked. And I get it that this is different than just a soil type. This is different than just SSURGO data. This is something that's really looking at this particular field, and where my low, medium high production is. And taking that opportunity to change it as we move forward.
Morgan Seger (12:57):
Yeah. And, seeing those changes is a good thing, because that means we're managing the zones for their max potential instead of trying to get the whole field level.
Matt Hesse (13:05):
Exactly. Yep.
Morgan Seger (13:07):
Okay. That makes a lot of sense. So as we talk through some of this data and the process, do you see any connection with how this could impact the sustainability efforts that a lot of people have been talking about lately?
Matt Hesse (13:21):
Yeah, absolutely. So we probably didn't see this happening. When the MZB technology was built by our founder, Glenn Hanson, he joined up with NDSU with Dr. Franzen to figure out, one, better ways to manage nitrogen. That is where our tool set started, was to better manage nitrogen. Meaning in some areas they will test every couple years for nitrogen. And I think that's going to become more of the standard as we branch out with all this, one, higher prices, and two, more standards. That does come right into the sustainability part, which is for example, to my knowledge, we're the only system that has classified from day one since 23 years ago, 12 different zones. And those zones are highly defined, meaning zone one is our hilltops, our zone three is our depressional areas. And all of those start to give us a better picture of what is happening.
Matt Hesse (14:29):
So what's happened is from a sustainability standpoint, if you just think about, again, we're built for nitrogen to begin with. So we really manage the nitrogen use efficiency really, really well. We can pair that up with either doing population with seed super easy, or even getting into multi hybrid, multi rate seeding as well to match it up better with that zone. Then it leads to a better NUE, nitrogen use efficiency, which plays into sustainability. And then it also plays into we've had an area that some extensions, universities, come out with programs. And usually the program is a good idea. The problem is you don't know where to go look or hunt for the opportunity.
Matt Hesse (15:18):
And so in this particular case, the state is looking at production areas that are low, and is it a production area that is so low that it doesn't make sense to really farm it anymore. So can we put in a program that can offset that to encourage maybe those areas to be taken out of production. In this particular case, this answer was absolutely. In this area, the zone three is the problem, and it's just because it's high salts and different things happening. And they basically said, well, how many acres do you have of that? And we said, here you go. And the retailers said, we have this many acres in the system, and they come back and said, we didn't think anybody could give us that kind of number and tell us exactly where those, in this particular case, a zone three is.
Matt Hesse (16:07):
And so that's what we're starting to see is, is it really starts to classify the soil characteristics, as well as beyond. That's why I always say it's beyond just the soil type, because the characteristics are much more than just a soil type. And oh, by the way, in some areas they've done some land leveling, which then throws out soil types. And so when you start looking at that information, we can now serve up to say, because we did not waiver on what our zoning definitions are, we can flat out say, you want to look at what a zone 11 is and what the characteristics are, is it increasing organic matter? Is it decreasing? What is all happening there? Oh, by the way, because that's a zone that's a high production area you're probably going to need more potentially products.
Matt Hesse (16:55):
But what's interesting is we could actually have a lower nitrogen use efficiency rate, but yet produce even more. And potentially add stabilizers to it. And things that in most cases, a company wouldn't be able to know that across the board, because it just looks at greens, yellows, and reds, and that doesn't mean anything at the end of the day. Where in our case would be, yeah, you're going to have a zone one in Washington state. It's going to be different than a zone one in Indiana or Ohio or anywhere else, but it's relative to that field in that area. So it makes sense across the board, and it also just really helps to drive a better cost up front that's different than just doing your normal way.
Morgan Seger (17:40):
Sure. So these zones, are they all within the field boundary? Like is it relative within the field boundary, or is it relative within a larger area than that?
Matt Hesse (17:50):
It can be both.
Morgan Seger (17:53):
Okay.
Matt Hesse (17:53):
I mean, it's always to the field, but if you were to have field A surrounded by the other fields, most likely if you did the same thing, you would see that those areas would continue into other parts of the field, it could be a neighbor's field or whatever. So you would see that happen, but we zone it to that particular field. And then if another field is added or bought or whatever, what we do is we can group those things together and then it becomes just one field, manages one without having to up the cost a second time.
Morgan Seger (18:28):
Sure. So where, for that example you shared about possibly taking acres out of production for sustainability reasons, would you see that within a field? Or is it a field that's predominantly a zone three would have been a candidate for something like that?
Matt Hesse (18:43):
It's usually areas in the field.
Morgan Seger (18:46):
Okay.
Matt Hesse (18:46):
And so it's usually... What we will find is, so an MZB Lite map, we have a low, medium, and high, and then we have the opportunity to look at the elevation with it. So it's those two layers of information. And so what we see is depressional areas, there's water runs somewhere all the time. And so the water takes nutrients with it, and so usually you'll see the depressional areas will have a much higher something going on at the end of the day. There's things that you could... you could obviously introduce tile to it if you haven't done that. Or if you just can't do something about it, you might say, well, we just need to take that area out of production. And so we'll see a field in MZB Lite, usually is about three, four zones, maybe five because of the elevation. In MZB, while we have 12 different zones, usually isn't, a field usually doesn't have more than probably somewhere between six to eight zones, just on how it's classified and if it actually exists in the field.
Matt Hesse (19:57):
So we won't force. If it doesn't exist, we're not going to put 12 zones in a field where it doesn't exist. It's going to be managed down to that sample. So then once the next step happens is, if you have 160 acre field, for example, that you normally grid it on two and a half acre grids, you can take 160 divided by two and a half, that's how many samples get sent to the lab, which is a cost. Whereas what we're doing is because we're seeing the top and we're seeing with EC or EM data, below the surface and what that characteristic is, we're basically saying a field, most likely, if it's got six zones it's going to have six samples that go to the lab. So right there, you've already lowered your costs of sampling, but yet you have a much higher resolution and accuracy of what that field actually represents, if that makes sense.
Morgan Seger (20:53):
Yep. That makes sense. When you were talking about nitrogen testing, I had some questions. So for the growers that are listening, what does that look like? Is that stock nitrate test, are you doing in-season testing, or how are you keeping an eye on that nitrogen?
Matt Hesse (21:10):
Well, it comes down to how the retailer and the grower manage it. And so we don't come back and say, this is the preferred method because we just... Well, one, it's local agronomy and we don't want to step into areas that whatever the retail and grower believe in, but it is both those methods. One is it is taking nitrate tests in the soil and seeing what's changing from the cropping rotation, or it is a combination of taking tissue samples or sending in for nitrogen testing at that standpoint.
Matt Hesse (21:47):
So what we do know is if we can get the foundation right, this is what we really harp on, is you aren't going to go build a house on a foundation that's pretty shoddy, right? You're going to do it right. And so if we can get the foundation right, which is what we do with our process, then anything else you do through that process, you can use the proper zone map with it. So the example is you can then find your high production areas, probably see you need to do things a little bit differently potentially, and find the right balance in pushing those that were maybe 200, and maybe they're actually saying, I can give you 250, but what is it going to take to get to that? It doesn't always mean it's more inputs at the end of the day, but it's just managing a little bit differently.
Matt Hesse (22:36):
So then that leads into, okay, I get into in-season. We don't do the in-season, so we would hand that off to an in-season application tool. But we would then say, here's that zone, here's your high production area. You probably need to look at, if you're doing split application of nitrogen, if this is an area that you might manage just a little bit differently than you were in the past, instead of just doing a flat rate across the field.
Morgan Seger (23:00):
Gotcha. So it kind of ties back to the partnership piece that you mentioned earlier, because I was thinking, lots of times that nitrogen use efficiency really is determined by the in-season factors, what cards that field is dealt in addition to how it's been managed up front, but the weather and different things can impact that so much. So it makes sense that you then just partner with the local retail to help them manage that with the grower.
Matt Hesse (23:26):
Correct. And we'll see on our NUE part, okay, a field's got six different zones, you're going to have the potential to define six different nitrogen use efficiency factors, and how many pounds of N is it going to take to raise a bushel. And you'll see areas that are 1.2. I think the lowest we've seen is about a 0.75, but that's the opportunity to manage at that direction. And in some cases that 0.75 ends up on a high production area, just depends on what's happening in that particular field in that area, and they're gaining more bushels out of it. And some of it does come back to that they started doing different applications of in-season split application of nitrogen and things like that, which obviously we encourage, just from a standpoint to be better than it was in the past.
Morgan Seger (24:17):
Mm-hmm (affirmative) Sure.
Matt Hesse (24:20):
Which then ties into your sustainability part as well.
Morgan Seger (24:24):
Yeah. So for these areas that have very low adoption of precision ag, do you have any advice or tips for, if we're talking to ag retail, how they can help drive that message home with the customers they're working with?
Matt Hesse (24:41):
We do it, again, from that partnership standpoint and say, we'll help you take our years of experience in helping you show the need of what is happening in your particular area that might be not looking to adopt it at that, or has adopted it, I should say. Seeing is believing, and I mentioned that before.
Matt Hesse (25:03):
So demo acres go a long way, especially when you go into, when we do the MZB map, which then takes in that EC or EM data to give us what is zero to 12 and what's 12 to 36. And that's basically a big difference. There's plenty of fields that something zero to 12 will show versus a 12 to 36. But what we'll do first time is, okay, we encourage them, get the zone built. We'll give you the target sample points to go to, take a bigger core when you get to each of those zones, and actually show the profile of at least 12 inches, and show that what was built here is lining up with this, and there lot of light bulbs that go off going, I didn't even really think about what the impact a foot down is doing. And so right then when we do that, it basically says, okay, we're in on this thing and let's go.
Morgan Seger (26:06):
Yeah. Yeah. I like that. In a couple of episodes, I had Tim Hammerich on from The Future Of Ag podcast, and he talked about the importance of small wins. And I think it lines up with that too, because getting some exposure will help build your confidence. Because some of these things can feel a little hypothetical, like, oh, well it works in theory, but might not work for my operation, or there's too much data to manage. So I appreciate the approach of the Field Reveal Lite to get that exposure and start building that confidence.
Matt Hesse (26:39):
And you said it right. So Field Reveal is a platform, and our product is inside of it is MZB Lite.
Morgan Seger (26:46):
Okay.
Matt Hesse (26:46):
[crosstalk 00:26:46] So you have it right. And that process change is the first thing to really understand. You just don't change overnight, and that's just the way it works. And so with that expectation, well, we have the right expectation to say we're going to help you through that process. It won't be easy, but what we do know is if you stick with it, the opportunity that you'll bring from ag retail to a grower will be that much more beneficial at the end of the day. Taking it is really, there's enough information to say it's going to be pretty low risk to go backwards.
Morgan Seger (27:25):
Yeah. And if I remember correctly from my conversation with the account managers, it sounds like the customer service team is exceptional, and really good at helping work through some of those things that I think are our biggest hurdles, like managing the data and working through the processes. So I appreciate your approach there, because that takes some of the risk of it failing away.
Matt Hesse (27:49):
Yeah, our team is phenomenal. We're a small team, but it's really highly focused. And again, the customer service standpoint, we want to ensure that... We know there's challenges in the industry, we know know there's a turnover rate that takes place. Those are probably headwinds that we can't change, but what we can actually bring and what our mapping center and our account team bring to the table is the consistency. So when there is an agronomist that leaves that might have been there for two years, or somebody that's been 20 years, when the next one comes in, we're able to help them just really pick it up and run with that standpoint, because we try to drive the consistency, which then is leading to what we're adding into those data services.
Matt Hesse (28:37):
So we do mapping really well. We've done it for 20 plus years really well. That is a service that we provide the consistency with, we know how to do it. Now we're just going to take that knowledge and we're going to build it into saying, you want to bring those yield maps in, send them in to us. There will be a little cost to it, but we're able to help bridge that gap of moving the needle and progressing the adoption at the end of the day. And we feel that as an opportunity together with the ag retail will just ultimately benefit the grower in the end.
Morgan Seger (29:08):
Yeah. To me, it feels like you're taking away some of those things that are hard, right? That's the hard part for a lot of us. So it's an interesting approach, and I think there's a lot that we can benefit from it. Is there anything else, as we wrap up this conversation, on the precision ag process that you want to make sure we touch on?
Matt Hesse (29:26):
The method, I would just mention that kind of wraps it up is, the mantra I take a little bit is just the KIS method: just Keep It Simple. If you try to boil the ocean, it's probably not going to end up being the results that you want. Really look at it from a standpoint that you're most likely, I'm going to say 90% chance that what you introduce into a different process is going to be good, from an ag retailer to a grower standpoint. You're probably not going to go backwards.
Matt Hesse (29:59):
And by the way, if you are somebody that has been doing traditional grids and you're looking for the next step, what we offer is what we call the hybridized grid. And so we can take a low, medium, and high MZB Lite map and overlay that on top of already data that they are using. And basically now create minimally a low, medium, and high yield environment, and just change the yield goals on those different zones. And now you're starting to change the process without introducing something brand new at the beginning.
Matt Hesse (30:34):
So yeah, I just think the way that we've gone to market, and what we've changed in our pricing strategy to give us an opportunity to show that next evolution, it's not nothing that's really new, but it's just something that hasn't been talked about a lot, and doing it in a way that starts with that minimal low, medium, and high environment, and just keep driving it to make the production of the ground the best you can.
Morgan Seger (31:04):
Yeah. Not necessarily new, but something that works.
Matt Hesse (31:07):
Correct. Yep.
Morgan Seger (31:09):
Great. So if someone is listening along and would like to learn more or follow along with your work, where would you suggest they go?
Matt Hesse (31:15):
I would send them right to our website, fieldreveal.com, and right under the about section we've got our... Number one, we've got videos that talk about our process, years and years of knowledge that's behind that. Secondly, there's a map of our regional account managers, easily can get ahold of them and see all the information is in one spot for them.
Morgan Seger (31:40):
Okay, perfect. Well, I'll make sure I link out to that in our show notes. And the final question that we like to ask is, if there is one technology that you are most excited about. And it can be in or outside of ag.
Matt Hesse (31:53):
Yeah. What I'm really excited about, to be actually honest now, is the potential of a new revenue stream for the growers, which is all around this, what I would say, carbon plus market. It's not just the carbon sequester part, it is all of the nitrogen, all of the opportunities that we can see, that most likely this locomotive has left the station and it's going to gain momentum. And I think all the pieces that, and I'm going to tie it right back to what we're doing just simply because 23 years ago, we didn't probably see this opportunity coming. And when the system was built to really hone in on the nitrogen aspect, and then on top of that we've got a set of data that's super beneficial. And all of a sudden we can drive a higher value, a higher credit. And the way we go to market is it would bring it directly to the ag retail, to the grower. And to be honest, I'm really excited about just how we're set up to benefit that opportunity.
Matt Hesse (33:01):
And we're going to partner up with some folks that we feel have the same initiative, and hopefully in a, a short period of time we'll be making some announcements around that, and it will all come together.
Morgan Seger (33:13):
Great. Yeah. I think that's a really exciting one, and the data is going to be the key to unlocking the potential for that. So I think you're set up in a great position for that.
Matt Hesse (33:24):
Yep. Absolutely.
Morgan Seger (33:26):
Very cool. Well, thank you so much for your time today, I appreciate it. And we'll talk soon.
Matt Hesse (33:31):
Likewise. Thank you.
Morgan Seger (33:33):
So if you are a regular listener to Precision Points, you might remember that in Episode 38, we had the account manager team on from Field Reveal. I appreciated Matt coming on the show today to really dive deeper into what precision ag as a process looks like. It really feels like they understand the true value of precision ag, and they're doing their best to help drive adoption.
Morgan Seger (33:56):
If you're interested in learning more, you can go to fieldreveal.com And see their videos and learn more about them like he had mentioned in this episode. I'll also link out to their website in our show notes, that can be found at precisionagreviews.com. While you're there, check out our grower sourced reviews. We work hard to collect valuable insights from growers like you, so you can make better informed decisions around on your precision ag technology for your operation.
Morgan Seger (34:24):
We are so grateful that you have spent this time listening into the Precision Points podcast, and we would love your feedback. Please leave us a rating or review wherever you found this podcast. Until next time, this has been the Precision Points podcast. Let's grow together.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. To hear more podcasts like this, please rate, review, and subscribe to Precision Points. Visit precisionagreviews.com for show notes from this episode, and read expert advice on the blog, share your experience with the precision ag products you use, and check out our network of farmer reviews. Let's grow together.
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