As an increasing number of growers seek cost-effective solutions to optimize crop production, dealerships are expanding services and cultivating strategic new revenue streams. A connected-farm strategy is the new holy grail. By offering modern digital solutions that are quicker, more precise, and deliver measurable results, dealerships are better able to retain and upsell customers, sell into competitive farms and evolve with the times.
Farms are data-rich and rely heavily on real-time connectivity—it’s no longer good enough to view data after the fact. Data, decision-making, and profitability are intertwined and are fueling the rapid growth of the precision agriculture market, which is expected to surpass $9 billion by 2023.
“At the dealership level, we are solutions providers. It’s no longer just about iron sales,” said Billy Lawson, president and principal dealer at Lemann’s Farm Supply, operating in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. “Dealerships need to be a one-stop shop or you will get squeezed out of the market. We’ve survived for 175 years because we are always offering something new to add value to our growers. Sure we sell tractors, but we also sell precision agronomy technology, and this technology also gives us a reason to go on a competitive farm and show them what we can do for them.”
Farmers optimize crop yield and their profits through real-time analytics of a growing array of big data sources, including high-resolution satellite imagery, in-field weather stations, soil moisture probes, inversion towers, telematic devices, scouting applications and soil sampling. Now precision agriculture is moving to “decision” agriculture through the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and new predictive models.
Dealerships are benefiting from this shift with predictive purchase awareness and predictive service awareness, culled from knowledge of relative producer income, detailed insight of field operations, and when a grower adds fields or new jobs and requires additional equipment or services. Connectivity to competitive machines and insight into their performance can serve as a predictor for new sales opportunities as well.
“Lemann’s offers digital solutions from Farmers Edge, which have made my growers more powerful, more profitable, and they spend more on my equipment. It’s a virtuous cycle,” said Lawson. “I never get tired of hearing from customers that the technology has given them their life back by enabling them to manage operations and check on their guys in the field right from their mobile phone or tablet.”
Combining equipment with agronomics, AI and real-time analytics, the collaboration between CNHi/Case IH/New Holland and Farmers Edge provides the opportunity to create and leverage digital connectivity with existing growers and attract new ones. In a tiered approach, customers will be able to choose a solution with a transparent per-acre pricing structure that best meets their operation’s specific needs. This collaboration will help dealers gain access to a myriad of resources focused on partner success, along with innovative tools, real-time insights and predictive intelligence that deliver unprecedented value to dealers and their customers.
Farmers Edge is a global leader in decision agriculture, servicing over 24 million paid product acres worldwide with precision digital solutions. Combining AI, IoT, and predictive analytics with new levels of global connectivity, Farmers Edge offers the most comprehensive digital solution in the industry. From planning the season to analyzing results and everything in between, Farmers Edge gives you the complete story of your customers’ fields. This integrated approach is vital to delivering an effective solution to your customers together with the value and ease-of-use that helps growers implement the technology and improve their farming operation.