GrainsWest Fall 2019

Tech 2019 Grains West 20 management. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve,” said Schmaltz. “To be able to measure it, you really need to be able to digitize what you’re doing.” Cluny-area farmer Jay Anderson is one of those people who wanted more. He has been a Decisive customer for seven years and has seen its variable-rate focus deliver positive results at his 4,000-acre operation. One aspect of Decisive’s program Anderson likes is how he’s not necessarily using more inputs, but allocating them in a more logical, data-driven way. “We might use the same amount of fertilizer, but in different amounts all over the place,” he said. “On the low end, it could be 70 pounds of nitrogen and 180 pounds on the high end. It’s the right amount in the soil zone.” Anderson said many people get caught up comparing stalks and stems, whereas his focus is on the heads because that’s where the production comes from. “On July 1, they aren’t the prettiest stalks and stems, but I’ll put my heads against anyone’s in September come harvest,” he said. Anderson sells his wheat into a specialty market and said without Decisive, “we wouldn’t be able to continually meet their needs.” The prescription maps at Decisive have helped Anderson, but it’s also helped the company since the farmer feedback drives even more technological innovation. This data distillation is further encouraged by the company’s grower advisory panel spread across multiple soil zones and growing regions. “We have a really strong group of growers that are our customers, but honestly, they’re our business partners,” said Schmaltz. Schmaltz has seen the benefit of technology partnerships, and to date, Decisive has 12. The company just joined forces with DTN, one of world’s largest ag weather networks, to give its clients yet another tool for success. “Our systems are going to continue to get smarter and more intuitive for our clients,” said Schmaltz. “It will help us make very proactive decisions.” SUPPORT SYSTEMS Much like the name suggests, the company Dave and Jenny Crompton began 35 years ago focused on a system—a grain storage and monitoring system to be exact. It started simply enough, as well. OPI Systems’ flagship invention was the OPI 1 in 1984, a handheld analog controller with an LED display. As basic as it was, it sold into the western Canadian marketplace, causing people to begin thinking differently about grain storage and monitoring. “From there, we expanded into commercial markets, extended capability and moved into automation,” said Crompton, adding that the art and science of grain storage has been taken for granted in Western Canada. A huge moment for the company was in the late ’90s with the release of its PC-based desktop monitoring and control system for grain, OPGIMAC (later renamed Integris). The technology put OPI on the global map, given the software could be applied to a broad range of farm and commercial grain storage applications. By 2014, the company moved into cloud-based solutions through OPI Through its online management tool, Decisive Farming is one of many companies that offer digital solutions to the analog nature of farming. FEATURE