S1: Ep4 – From data to traceability

Farmobile editors | December 23, 2019

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Editors note:  Andrew Gladden, chief information manager for Luckey Farmers Co-op, is an ex-marine turned agtech specialist. With a focus on stewardship, the Ohio cooperative is enrolled in the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification program. “4R” is a voluntary nutrient management program centered on best farming practices that are Right Source of Nutrients at the Right Rate and Right Time in the Right Place. 

Here are three Farmobile takeaways from Jason’s  road-trip with Andrew Gladden:

1 – Harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie (bordering Ohio) and other bodies of water have been on the rise the past five years, leading to increased water treatment costs and negative impacts on fishing and tourism. Farmers in many of these watersheds are working hard through stewardship practices and voluntarily taking extra measures to improve soil health, reduce fertilizer runoff and prevent nutrients from leaving fields and entering streams and lakes.

2 – The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification program is a volunteer program to ensure best practices. The 4R’s approach provides a framework to achieve cropping system goals by applying; Right Source of Nutrients at the Right Rate and Right Time in the Right Place.

3 – There is no single technological solution to address 4R’s certification process. Luckey Farmers Co-op uses several different technology platforms in order to be 4R-certified. What Andrew likes most about Farmobile, besides the data collection, is the ability to export data and ingest it into other systems and software. Luckey Farmers utilize Ag World for their financial management system; the data flow between Farmobile and Ag World easily allows Luckey Farmers to see profit and loss and make adjustments.

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SPECIAL THANKS to Andrew Gladden and Luckey Farmers for coming out on the road with us! To learn more about them, visit their website here.