Farm Employee Culture and Technology Adoption

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

Agricultural technology has to be user friendly, but even then it may or may not be adopted on the farm. Todd Kirwan says when he wanted to implement AgWorld software in the farming operation he managed, he could see exactly when they went from skeptical to excited.

Kirwan… “ What really sold the guys was that as they used it at the end of the year, showing them what they did and allowing them to see, oh, this is how it translated into the crop. This is how it translated into my different yields, and them seeing all the decisions they made throughout the year translated into our return on the crop and here's why we think this happened, and being able to lay it out like that. That was the biggest gain. That was the sale, right? Wow, look, I made these decisions and I know what time I did them, what time of the year, and we've got the pictures from the scouting reports to see where the crop was at. And so after that point it was, it was an easy adaptation.”

Kirwan said once the culture and mindset shifted, it was just a matter of time before they found the right technology.

Kirwan… “ The biggest lessons learned was to be adaptable. To not just say, okay, this is the tool. Go out and find the right tool for your team, rather than, ‘Here's our tool team, jump on board.’”

Kirwan has used AgWorld to transform multiple farming operations, and now consults with farmers and agribusinesses.