Ag Tech News - Taking the next digital step

Starting an Agronomic Advisory business

Some people find their passion for agriculture at a young age, and Vern Johnson is one of those people. After working for a local farmer from age 14, Vern obtained a BA in political science with a minor in agriculture from The University of Arizona. Torn between a career path in law and agriculture - Vern first worked for a local school as an Ag Ed instructor and later as sales representative for local ag retailer, Fertizona. These experiences confirmed Vern's passion for agriculture and he obtained both his CCA and PCA licenses.

In 2017, Vern decided to start Arizona Agricultural Solutions, an agronomic consultancy business, focused on both pest control and crop nutrition, says Vern: “I remained an authorised sales agent for Fertizona after I started my own business, but now I am completely independent. Although, I still recommend Fertizona's products to many of my clients. When I first started Arizona Agricultural Solutions I was using my legacy data platform to write all of my agronomic recommendations, because that is what was most familiar to me - and what I had used in my previous position. However, I quickly found that in order to differentiate my business and fulfil the needs of my clients with a complete agronomic service offering, I needed to find a better software solution to support my efforts.”

Vern continues: “As a specialised agronomic consultancy business, it's not enough to just provide recommendations to growers during the season, they require a more holistic approach that helps them use their records to plan and budget their whole cropping regime. We needed a different digital platform to power our business, as we were struggling to do this all in an integrated way without having to double-enter our data. I happened to speak to an agronomic consultant from California who had been using Agworld for a number of years already at this time, and he recommended that I try Agworld.”

Saving time and improving the service offering

Vern and colleague Tye Housley trialled Agworld, and soon realised that making the switch to the Agworld platform made sense for them, explains Vern: “We're a relatively small business but we're trying to take on as many hectares as possible to allow us to grow, which means that we have to be as efficient as possible with our time. In the old system there is no way to turn a planned activity into a recommendation, which meant that I had to write over 30 recommendations per day. With one recommendation taking around 3 to 4 minutes, and having to write one for each bit of fertiliser or crop protection that gets applied, it's easy to see how much of a time waste this was.”

Vern: “I really like Agworld's workflow as it starts the season by creating a plan for each grower. This allows me to create a good program for each client with indicative pricing included, and the beautiful part of it is that the plan is interactive! When I come in at the end of a long day of scouting crops, all I have to do is 'point and click' to create recommendations from my plan. This means that the bulk of my recommendation writing is taken care of before the season has even started, which saves me a couple of hours each day."

Tye comments: “The usability differences from what we used to Agworld are night and day, especially the ease of setting up budgets for customers and setting up templates. I just wrote 10 recommendations and it's so quick, because I have the templates already pre-written and all I have to do is add some details and send them out - that would have taken me all day previously. Because of the speed alone, I don't see how someone in my or Vern's position wouldn't chomp at the bit and switch to Agworld.” Vern adds: “A digital platform should really make your life easier and help you provide a better service to your clients. Our old platform did this for me for a while, and it helped me get to where we are today, but for our business it was time to take the next step in our digital journey, and Agworld was that next step. The way I see it, creating digital plans is indispensable for agronomic advisors, and having a sophisticated tool at your disposal makes it much easier to achieve exceptional results.”

Agronomy in the High Desert

Arizona Agricultural Solutions services a number of different crops both inside as well as outside of Arizona: from corn, alfalfa for hay, and forage sorghum to pecans and pistachios. Vern: “Most of our clients are based in Arizona and my expertise is in growing crops in the High Desert, which is at a significantly higher elevation than other parts of Arizona - starting from 3,500 feet to above 5,000 feet. Things are done a bit differently in the High Desert, which is why we also work on some projects outside of Arizona. This includes areas of New Mexico and Mexico that have similar climatic conditions.”

Vern continues: “It's interesting working with the same crops but in a different state and a different country - the little differences keep us on our toes and learning each day. For us, this is where Agworld really shows its value as a diversified agronomic services provider: we are easily able to see the history of exactly what we've done in a field and know what the results were. With our own knowledge we can then work out how that translates to a new area, and quickly create our plans in Agworld. Everything in Agworld is quick and easy for us, which makes a difference when you're scouting an orchard in Mexico today and in New Mexico tomorrow. With the efficiencies I gain through Agworld, I am now able to spend my precious time at home with my wife instead of in front of my computer!”

https://www.agworld.com/au/