Will Farmers Start Hiring Ag Programists?

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

Agronomists are essential advisors for farmers trying to get the best possible return on investment from every crop. Eric Dinger, CEO of LandOption, sees a new type of expert on the horizon. He thinks program specialists, or programists, will become just as critical as agronomists by helping farmers make decisions on how to match their land to conservation programs.

Dinger… “ My dad studied agronomy in college and at one point farmers didn't have agronomists—then hybrids, and varietals, and fertility questions and it just became really complicated to keep up with all this stuff changing on the input side of the business. So the concept of farmers having agronomists in their lives was new and a bit of a change at one point. We think the time has come where farmers will also have a programmist. Somebody who, in addition to their agronomist, is helping make decisions about how to play the program side of the landowner or farm business because these programs are becoming less of a ‘nice to have’ and less of a ‘I'll try it once in a while’ with corn being $3.70 cents a bushel. These are the risk management tools. These give farmers the ability to pay down their note. So it's not as much of a convenience anymore to have agronomy help, and I think it won't be a convenience in the future. I think it's going to be a necessity for producers and landowners to have a programmist in their lives.”

Once again, that’s Eric Dinger with LandOption.