Changing The Farm Takes More Than Technology

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

Farmers invest in new technology with the goal of improving how their operations run. But those tools can't drive growth if they're not put in the hands of the people responsible for change. Patrick Smith, founder of ag-based AI software Oxrow, says getting the most value from technologies like AI starts with giving the right people both the tools and the authority to make changes.

Smith… “ So the key on anything like this, it's not just the tool. The tool, whether it's what we're building in Oxrow or anything else that a farmer may use, a tool on its own is—it has limited value. There's also the change management component, and the knowledge of how to get the most value out of that tool, whatever it is—whether it's software tool or piece of equipment that you use in the field or whatever, right? And so the key unlock for us there was, I would say, kind of matching the tool with the change management, and then giving a person in the organization the responsibility and the authority to change the way that we do things.”

Smith reports identifying $1.3 million in operational waste through properly implementing Oxrow on his own operation.