Overwhelmed by data? Optimize your farm’s potential with expertise and solutions from Wilbur-Ellis
Overwhelmed by data? Optimize your farm’s potential with expertise and solutions from Wilbur-Ellis
Since the introduction of personal computers in the 1980s, produce growers, vintners and fruit growers have been accumulating crop production and financial information in digital form to track, measure and report everything from input applications to labor information.
Today, digital technology tools gather and provide a myriad of environmental and crop production details from windspeed and evapotranspiration rates to soil nutrient levels and crop growth to pest-pressure captured through imagery and forecast models.
The data further add depth and value to inform decisions, improving crop quality, yield and profitability. In many cases, the information is used to document field-by-field and block-by-block practices needed to meet regulatory compliance.
However, this wealth of digital detail can be difficult to manage and use efficiently.
The right digital solutions and tools can make all the difference. Yet, who has time to evaluate the technologies available, then test and implement them?
Sorting the solutions, combining the applications for you
“Choosing and testing the many digital options available is expensive and time-consuming for growers,” says Steve Sinkula, vice president of Digital Solutions at Wilbur-Ellis. “Our field technology specialists work hand-in-hand with our agronomists to take the guesswork out of this process. We make it easier for growers to find the right digital solution to fit their needs, and then we help them use it successfully.
“We can also build a portfolio of Ag Tech solutions, validated to drive a positive ROI for growers by crop type,” Sinkula adds. “Our approach is different from companies that have only one solution.”
Using digital solutions effectively is the gateway to sustainable success
At Wilbur-Ellis, the use of digital technologies isn’t a short-term offering. It is a launching point for continual improvement of farm-level practices striving for long-term sustainable success of the operation.
“We don’t sell you a solution, install it and walk away,” says Caesar Garcia, go-to-market lead for Digital Solutions at Wilbur-Ellis. “Our team supports you in every step of the process with a detailed customer strategy that fits your production needs and business goals.”
Thorough user training and onboarding ensure the operation’s data management pain points are addressed. On-going check-ins and support solve challenges as they appear.
Driving success with on-going support and expertise
The Wilbur-Ellis team handles installation, maintenance and data integrity of relevant technologies like the Wilbur-Ellis Probe Schedule® irrigation management platform. They make sure soil moisture probes are calibrated, function properly and send high-quality data. This information, along with data from platforms such as the SoilOptix® soil and mapping system is used to help you manage nutrients and improve crop quality.
The CropSights® digital platform captures and tracks your applications and costs, enabling growers to make in-season decisions based on real-time and historical information. With its ability for shared access, CropSights is also a go-to source of information for your entire team — fostering communication and collaboration among Wilbur-Ellis technology advisors, agronomists, water management specialists and your other crop production partners.
“CropSights creates a holistic view of all your data,” says Garcia. “Open the app and everything you and your team need to make management decisions is right there on your device without opening multiple platforms.”
With these tools, growers and agronomists predict and remedy problems before they become critical as well as avoid unnecessary pest control applications, saving money and minimizing product use.
“At the end of the day, we want to see growers succeed with their digital solutions,” says Garcia. “Our individualized customer success strategy allows growers to adopt and use their solutions to unlock the value of the technology.”
Ending pain points with customized solutions
A big part of Wilbur-Ellis support strategy is continuing to ask, ‘What pain points do you have?’ and finding tailored solutions when needed.
For example, the team created a solution to integrate labor data into CropSights — replacing the pen and paper tracking of each employee’s hours for the grower. They created a template to allow data to be bulk uploaded into CropSights. The result saved time by cutting manual data entry and providing better records for expenses.
Monitoring and management of real-time crop health is only the beginning
With information collected and monitored by digital solutions from Wilbur-Ellis (and combined in CropSights for operations that want everything in one place), you and your advisors can easily see and compare critical management needs.
The tools make it simple to evaluate key parameters like soil moisture, tissue and soil nutrient analysis results and pest and disease level scouting data to manage irrigation, boost crop nutrients and evaluate the need and timing of pest-control applications.
In Michigan and the Pacific Northwest, for instance, tree fruit and vegetable growers are using Probe Schedule soil moisture monitoring to avoid the damaging effects of overwatering.
“Soil moisture monitoring technology provides growers with insights to their soil’s plant-available water, so they can in turn manage the length and frequency of irrigation events, conserve rootzone nutrients, grow healthy trees and optimize numbers of marketable fruit,” says Ryan DeMorrow, go-to-market specialist for Digital Solutions.
“SoilOptix provides high-definition nutrient and soil texture maps of the soil’s physical properties—clay, sand, silt, loam and organic matter—as well as the nutrition levels, available plant water and fertility,” says DeMorrow. The physical properties help define how well the soil pulls water and holds nutrients while the nutrient maps help growers find weak or under-performing areas that need improvement.
Learn more about how Wilbur-Ellis technology advisors are working with growers to revolutionize the nutrition side of the apple business.
Documenting field activities and regulatory requirements made easier
With the pest control and fertility recommendations provided by your Wilbur-Ellis agronomist through the AgVerdict system, you have the information needed to generate an application summary report for your farm or a single field. With CropSights, which seamlessly pulls data in from AgVerdict, you’ll be able to effortlessly display a timeline of planned and completed applications.
This information can be used to:
- Track inputs
- Check real-time REI/PHI (re-entry interval and pre-harvest interval) status at the block level for improved worker safety
The Wilbur-Ellis digital solutions team and technology experts can also help you stay on top of compliance requirements and prepare the necessary reports. With your information captured in AgVerdict, you can find the information needed to navigate the regulatory environment. In addition, CropSights features a robust Regulatory Support module that can provide you peace of mind thanks to:
- Real-time collaboration with your Wilbur-Ellis regulatory expert
- Remote verification and status updates
- Audit reports printable on demand
Ultimately, with help from your trusted Wilbur-Ellis technology advisor, there are unlimited possibilities for incorporating new digital technologies into your operation and streamlining access to the data for continual improvement of farm-level practices that will ensure long-term sustainable success of your operation.