Premier Podcast

This week on the Premier Podcast, we are talking with Bethany Bielecki from Greene Crop Consulting. We discuss the situations she's experienced while getting Greene Crop's Pay Dirt program off the ground. 

About Bethany: Bethany graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Agribusiness in May 2019 with a focus in Finance. During her time at Purdue and immediately following graduation she worked at Indiana Packers Corporation working in Food Safety and Quality Assurance focusing on research and development. Bethany is currently pursuing her Juris Doctorate at IU McKinney School of Law with a focus in Agriculture Law. Bethany is passionate about the business challenges facing producers across the agriculture industry and is dedicated to protecting the entity, increasing profitability, and balancing smart agronomic choices. Her primary focus at Greene Crop Consulting will be to serve as the team’s Precision Crop Advisor spearheading our new Pay Dirt Program. We are excited about this new opportunity and the value it can bring to our clients.

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In this episode, we speak with Josh Sponheim, Agronomic Advisor in the North Central Iowa region with Premier Crop. Josh digs in on the topic of fall tillage and whether or not to use cover crops on your operation. 

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Sarah Windhorst is the VP of Data Services at Premier Crop. With over a decade of experience in ag data, Sarah digs in to some of the main areas to focus on with data on your operation. We cover the topics of yield efficiency, group data, and benchmarking to track improvement.  

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Kevin Kruize, Strategic Account Manager for the Northern Region at Premier Crop Systems discusses Variable Rate Fertilizer and the options growers have to utilize it on their operation. 

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Today we will be discussing variable rate seeding pays to get growers better results and return in their operation.

Matt Bowers - Strategic Account Manger for Premier Crop Systems in Ohio. Matt has been with PCS for the past year and previously worked in the seeding industry.

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Today we are talking with Darren about the future of ag data and our plans for the next few years as a company. We also cover emerging technologies, trends, and what to expect as a farmer in 2021 and beyond.

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

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This week, we talk about data and profitability with the folks from Greene Crop Consulting. Greene Crop works with growers to maximize profit and crop production on their operations.

About Danny: Danny founded Greene Crop Consulting in 2006. He has a Masters Degree in Agronomy from Purdue University.  He also has experience as a Research Agronomist at Purdue where he focused on forage and crop performance. In addition, he worked as an Information Manager with Pioneer Hi-Bred International specializing in agronomy support. Danny is a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) and a licensed federal crop insurance agent. In 2014, Danny became a board member for the Indiana CCA and among the first in the state to obtain the “4R Nutrient Management Specialist” designation. He currently serves on the boards for the Indiana CCA, Amplify Consultant Network, and IN 4R Nutrient Stewardship Council. Danny resides in Franklin with his wife and children.

About Bethany: Bethany graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Agribusiness in May 2019 with a focus in Finance. During her time at Purdue and immediately following graduation she worked at Indiana Packers Corporation working in Food Safety and Quality Assurance focusing on research and development. Bethany is currently pursuing her Juris Doctorate at IU McKinney School of Law with a focus in Agriculture Law. Bethany is passionate about the business challenges facing producers across the agriculture industry and is dedicated to protecting the entity, increasing profitability, and balancing smart agronomic choices. Her primary focus at Greene Crop Consulting will be to serve as the team’s Precision Crop Advisor spearheading our new Pay Dirt Program. We are excited about this new opportunity and the value it can bring to our clients.

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Today we are talking about making fungicide decisions by analyzing data. We are joined by Pat Mai, Account Manager for Ag Partners and Clint Sires with Ag Partners. 

About Pat: Account Manager for InSite CDM. He assists the  western territory of ag partners. Focusing mainly on CDM management, setting up zones, making recommendations on his findings based on that data to growers.

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Tractor Talks is a mini series here on the Premier Podcast where we join growers in their tractor cabs during the spring and hear candid thoughts on precision ag.

Tractor Talks is a mini series here on the Premier Podcast where we join growers in their tractor cabs during the spring and hear candid thoughts on precision ag.

Tractor Talks is a mini series here on the Premier Podcast where we join growers in their tractor cabs during the spring and hear candid thoughts on precision ag. This is Part 2 of 2 in our conversation with Mike Berdo. Check out the first half of the conversation in episode 030. 

Tractor Talks is a mini series here on the Premier Podcast where we join growers in their tractor cabs during the spring and hear candid thoughts on precision ag.

Tractor Talks is a mini series here on the Premier Podcast where we join growers in their tractor cabs during the spring and hear candid thoughts on precision ag.

Today we are talking with Dan and Renee about the significance of using yield efficiency in your farm operation.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are joined by Mike Manning (aka @datamanning on Twitter) and Renee Hansen as they discuss having a nitrogen strategy for your fields.

Mike is an agronomic information advisor in the state of Nebraska. He's a western Nebraska farm kid from the panhandle. Mike has been working closely with growers throughout most of Nebraska for the last eight years, with a wide range of precision and agronomic experience.

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Today, we are talking with T.J. Masker, Senior Product Manager at Tractor Zoom, headquartered in Urbandale, Iowa. They are focused on helping bring price transparency to farm equipment and valuations for farmers, bankers, equipment dealers and insurance companies. T.J. has a lot of experience and knowledge in the precision ag space, and today, I asked him questions on how to unlock new insights to your farming operation using precision ag.

"I was covering a territory in south-central Iowa for one of the major seed brands. And I had farmers who kept asking me, like: ‘What can we do with this data? How do we start to think about how we utilize it more?’ This was almost eight years ago, and I literally Googled, like, ‘farm data’ something or another, and it led me, ironically enough, to Premier Crop and filled out the ‘contact us’ button. Then, I think it was Tony or Ben or somebody who reached out to me about: ‘Hey, we'd love to talk to you, understand where you're coming from.’ And that ultimately led me to working with Premier Crop about seven-and-a-half years ago and doing direct advising with farmers in central Iowa. And many of those farms that I worked with back in the day, I'm still really close with today as I'm trying to solve new and unique problems, but I think, at that time, I had zero experience with precision ag. So, I had to learn how to set up the monitors, what Ag Leader SMS was, what software was to make better decisions. It was also my job to go out and recruit farms and help their operation. So, I think, over that time, I had to learn a tremendous amount about precision ag, what it was capable of. But, ultimately, I think for me, what it came down to is there's so much value in this data and what we can get out of it if we're measuring things correctly. And I think one of the things I experienced, even with the farms that have been collecting data for 15 years, was that, man, if we get this data structured in a way, it's going to allow us to unlock so much potential. And whether that be if you're using Climate FieldView or using John Deere Ops Center or using Granular, where I was at. It doesn't matter unless the data is structured in a way that you can get the results out of it. And that, to me, was always the biggest ‘light bulb moment’ for a lot of the farmers"

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Hear our interview with Shay Foulk at Ag View Pitch Podcast as we talk about all things ag data and how Premier Crop is uniquely positioned to help farmers collect and understand their data to drive decision making. 

For this interview we have Dan Frieberg (Founder), Renee Hansen (Marketing Lead), and Brenton Rossman (Account Manager) as they field questions from Shay for his show. 

Make sure to subscribe to his show, 'Ag View Pitch' wherever you listen to podcasts. Enjoy the show!

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In this episode of the Premier Crop Podcast, we listen in on a year end grower meeting with one of our partners, SciMax. These meetings are often done in a grower's home at the kitchen table to plan for the upcoming year ahead.

On the call today we listen to Peter with SciMax Solutions and his grower, Landon Aldinger, a 4th generation farmer in northern Iowa, as they discuss year end results within their row crop operation using data to drive results.

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Today we are talking with Dr. Jerry Hatfield on the topic of carbon sequestration. Also on the show are Dan Frieberg and Renee Hansen from Premier Crop. 

About Jerry: 

Jerry L. Hatfield received his PhD from Iowa State University in 1975 in the area of agricultural climatology, MS in agronomy from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and a BS in agronomy from Kansas State University in 1971 and is the retired Director of the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa.  He worked in California at the University of California-Davis from 1975-1983 as a biometeorologist working a range of different crops, joined USDA-ARS in 1983 at the Plant Stress and Water Conservation Unit in Lubbock, TX where he stayed until his transfer to Ames to develop the research program of the National soil Tilth Laboratory (renamed the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in 2009). His research focused on the interactions among the components of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and their linkage to air, water, and soil quality. His focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and remote sensing methods to quantify field variation. A platform for his research utilizes the genetics x environment x management concept as a framework to work with producers to demonstrate how they can increase their production efficiency, increase soil health, and develop resilience to weather and climate variation as the foundation for food security. His outreach efforts have included participation in the National Climate Assessment as the Lead Author for agriculture for the US and on the IPCC effort on greenhouse gases and climate change. Dr. Hatfield is an accomplished author with 498 refereed publications and 18 monographs and serves as the Editor for Agroecosystems, Geosciences and Environment and Technical Editor for Agriculture and Environmental Letters and ranks in the top 2% of researchers in the world. He edited several volumes including Crop Adaptation to Climate Change and Food Security and Climate Change.  His numerous awards include being inducted into the USDA-ARS Hall of Fame for his research impact and the Hugh Hammond Bennett award along with being a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America and serving as President of the American Society of Agronomy in 2007.

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Today we are talking with Lance Meyer, one of Premier Crop's ag advisors in the Kansas region about the 'why' behind your field map.

About Lance: Lance is a Crop Advisor with Premier Crop, working with growers in Kansas on their operations. A K-State graduate and Kansas native, Lance enjoys helping those around him to improve their operation. 

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In this episode of the Premier Crop Podcast, we listen in on a year end grower meeting with one of our partners, SciMax. These meetings are often done in a grower's home at the kitchen table to plan for the upcoming year ahead. 

On the call today we listen to Peter with SciMax Solutions and his growers, Michael Meyers and Dale Meyers as they discuss year end results within their operation using data to drive results. 

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Today we are talking with Dan, Renee, and Tony about hybrid and variety selection using their field data. 

About Tony: VP of Sales

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we will be discussing the ag industry with ag author, speaker, comedian, and personality - Damian Mason. Damian speaks on topics surrounding business and agriculture to keep audiences up to date with a touch of humor. 

Get Damian's book, 'Food Fear': https://amzn.to/3nc0PVB 

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"Farming is a business. You want to make sure that they money coming in is greater than the money going out so farmers can do it again next year." - Kimberly Beachy

Today we will be discussing some examples of agronomy and economy working together to get growers better results and return. 

Matt Bowers - Strategic Account Manger for Premier Crop Systems in Ohio. Matt has been with PCS for the past year and previously worked in the seeding industry. 

Kimberly Beachy - Agronomist with ProTech Partners in Indiana. She has previous experience in seed production and grew up on a family farm. She also has a Masters degree from ISU.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Renee about the significance of using a yield monitor in the field. 

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we welcome Tanner and David from the Farm for Profit Show. This episode is a section of their show 'What's Working in Ag' featuring our own Dan Frieberg.

Make sure to subscribe to their podcast: https://farmforprofit.com/

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Darren about nutrient planning and its importance during this part of the growing season.

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are joined by Mike Manning (aka @datamanning on Twitter) and Renee Hansen as they travel through Nebraska,  to discuss soil sampling.

Mike is an agronomic information advisor in the state of Nebraska. He's a western Nebraska farm kid from the panhandle. Mike has been working closely with growers throughout most of Nebraska for the last eight years, with a wide range of precision and agronomic experience.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Renee about the importance of Yield Efficiency in farming. Topics covered include yield efficiency, how this effects output, and related subjects.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Darren about the land hurricanes and storms that wrecked havoc on growers and their crops the past week. We also cover why planning matters in agronomy with some key take aways for those looking for a planning strategy

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Darren about going on offense during planning each season. Topics covered include ever changing complexities in the field, using data to plan your planting, and treating different parts of the field differently. 

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Darren about managing what you measure when it comes to your farm operation. Topics covered include ever changing complexities in the field, monitoring your return to land and management, and how to simplify your data to understand it better.

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking with Dan and Darren about big data. Topics covered include how big data can influence the ag industry, data you have access to  in your existing equipment, and the benefits of not only big data, but big local data.

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry.

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Today we are talking about how innovation follows a crisis. Topics covered include how this pandemic will be remembered, keeping an eye on your bottom line during a tight economy, and how farming is like golf.

About Darren: CEO and President of Premier Crop. Fehr joined Premier Crop in 2018 and has successfully led the company in significant growth over the last two years. His passion for mentoring, leading and growing the business will be instrumental in the future of Premier Crop.

About Dan: Founder and current VP of Technical Services. Since founding PCS in 1999, Dan has witnessed many changes and transitions in the ag data industry. 

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Today we are talking about verifying in-season applications and profits in your field. We are joined by Pat Mai, Account Manager for Ag Partners and his grower Shaun Wolf. This is Shaun's first year using a precision ag program. He shares insight he has learned from the past few months and his experience leveraging data in his operation. 

"You can have all the data in the world, but if you don't have a place to  utilize it, there is no point in having it. Obviously every year it will be different, but historically from the InSite CDM program, they are showing every year that it pays for itself." - Sean Wolf

About Pat: Account Manager for InSite CDM. He assists the  western territory of ag partners. Focusing mainly on CDM managment, setting up zones, making recommendations on his findings based on that data to growers.

About Shaun: A grower that farms in Northwest Iowa entering his first year using a precision ag approach to data in his fields.

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Today we are talking about the value of protecting your profits during uncertain times. Listen in as Rodney and Eric discuss variable rate seeding, managing your input costs, using learning blocks to better understand your fields, and other related topics. 

"In tough years, it's even more important to manage your inputs and to maximize profit. Way too often, I hear people want to maximize yield and, obviously, the more bushels you have, the more you have to sell. But if it costs you too much to raise, you might not have increased your profitability by increasing yield." - Eric Marchand

About Eric: Eric farms row crops Southeast of Britt, IA. He was born and raised in Britt and started farming with his dad in, roughly, 1997. He has slowly taken over the farm operation and added to it over the years using ag data to make better decisions in his fields. 

About Rodney: Rodney is with SciMax Solutions, helping growers use their data to make better decisions on their operation. He has been working with Eric for a number of years on his operation. 

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Today we are talking about a grower's experience with farm analytics and precision ag. We are joined by Aaron Seifert, Business Development Manager for Premier Crop Systems.

About Aaron: "I am a lifelong farm kid. I grew up in Southern Minnesota, and my family still farms up there. Livestock, as well as row crop operations. My in-laws farm here in central Iowa. And I have the great opportunity to be able to help out a bunch of different farming operations, which is really fun. And so it keeps me grounded in everything that I do. I have a history in the hardware side of precision ag. I dealt a lot with third-party hardware applications. And now I've shifted more to the software side and have a great opportunity to be a part of Premier Crop and spread the word, so to speak, out west as we expand our territory. So, it's been great to be on board and looking forward to our conversation today."

In this episode we cover:

1. Misconceptions about Ag Data
2. Cutting with Tight Margins
3. Analyzing Good and Bad Spots in the Field
4. The Evolution of Data over the Last 100 years
5. Improving Yields Using Historical Data
6. How Premier Crop Differentiates Through Advising

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Today we are joined by Mike Manning (aka @datamanning on Twitter) to discuss variable rate seeding. 

Mike is an agronomic information advisor in the state of Nebraska. He's a western Nebraska farm kid from the panhandle. Mike has been working closely with growers throughout most of Nebraska for the last eight years, with a wide range of precision and agronomic experience.

In this episode we cover:

1. Management Zones
2. Measuring Performance
3. Success Stories of Growers using Variable Rate Seeding
4. Yield Efficiency
5. How to Start Using Variable Rate with Your Current Equipment

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