Denise Hockaday
Climate Business Lead – Canada, The Climate Corporation
Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Canadian economy, contributing more than $100 billion to it annually. Domestic farmers produce a wide range of field crops, ranging from flax and soybeans to corn and wheat. Around everything they grow, choices must be made about key issues like the optimal time to plant, and how much seed, moisture, and fertilization are needed for healthy crops. Farming is a complex business with a multitude of moving parts.
To manage all of them, FieldView, an advanced agricultural software platform, can help. It has been a game changer for farmers across Canada and is transforming how they farm. “What it does is gather information from the fields about what’s happening there. It monitors in real time things like biomass, environmental conditions, and rainfall,” says Denise Hockaday, Climate Business Lead at The Climate Corporation. “The software keeps track of what was planted, where, when, crop yield, and moisture. Many farmers historically had different ways of keeping track of those things, but it was manual, clunky, and not automated. If they did use technology, different software types were unable to talk to one another and the necessary data couldn’t be compiled all together.”
Managing fields with intuitive software
FieldView is able to gather a wide range of data in one place. That’s essential when, as Hockaday points out, farmers need to make 50 to 60 decisions about multiple fields each and every year. The software was created for farmers, with input from farmers, but not exclusively for them.
“It can also be used by those they work with — a retailer, an agronomist, or an advisor,” explains Hockaday. “It allows for collaboration with everyone being able to read the data being recorded. Not only does it save on the manual work of collection, it happens immediately. You can have much more robust management and measurement. We use technology to our advantage to enable that. Real-time data is powerful.”
With an accurate, up-to-date picture of what’s going on with their crops, farmers can make better decisions and modify them right away as needed. Even as they move their tractors down the rows, the data is captured live and is accessible while they sit in the cab. The information can be retrieved from the cloud-based software platform from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone from anywhere, whether farmers are nearby or travelling. They can manage the logistics of their farm without physically being there.
Sustainability has been at the core of agriculture forever.
Denise Hockaday, Climate Business Lead at The Climate Corporation
Saving time and boosting efficiency
The software has been designed to be easy to use. Farmers who invest a bit of time upfront will reap the benefits with time saving and more efficiently running businesses moving forward. “We hear on a regular basis how intuitive our platform is to use,” says Hockaday. “We help people understand what it can do for them, and then we actually provide support to help people get up and running. Someone will visit the farm to set up the equipment, if needed. They can see their information and get assistance with mapping any field right away.”
FieldView also helps to ensure agriculture sustainability with efficient production and quality product. “Sustainability has been at the core of agriculture forever,” Hockaday notes. “This is a farmer’s livelihood. They’re in it for the long haul. They’re stewards of land that may have been passed down through their families. FieldView can provide more insights on how to continue to be sustainable or to be more informed about sustainability practices.”
