Join Our Upcoming Communities of Practice on Advanced Analytics and AI
Exciting news! AnalytiXIN is launching a series of Communities of Practice (CoPs) designed to upskill employees, foster valuable relationships, and collaboratively tackle shared challenges across Indiana industries. These CoPs are interactive sessions where professionals come together to share knowledge, discuss real-world challenges, and develop innovative solutions.
Details: Managed by Indiana University, this session will demo powerful Gen AI tools to transform your operations and boost productivity, followed by a collaborative discussion on best practices for effectively using these tools in your business. Come to learn about tools that can benefit your organization and share how you’ve been using Gen AI tools at your organization for others to learn from your experiences.
Details: Led by Notre Dame and Purdue, this session features a presentation by the State of Indiana’s Chief Privacy Officer team on creating AI Systems Policies and Standards, followed by real-time Q&A and interactive discussions on best practices for responsible AI guidelines. Come to hear about how the State of Indiana created their responsible AI policy, share more about where your organization is at with similar policies, and work together on creating a standard that your organization can use as a starting point if you don’t have one already.
Details: Led by Purdue University’s top data decision experts, this session will tackle a real-world data challenge faced by one of our industry partners: turning a lot of unstructured data like emails, phone calls, and documents into useful information using advanced AI/ML technology. This requires spending time and money to set up the right data systems, which is hard to get approval for. We will present practical solutions and strategies, followed by group discussions to explore additional perspectives and innovative approaches.
Sessions in July and August
AI and Cybersecurity
AI in Banking, Finance, and Marketing
AI and Talent
AI and Manufacturing
Don’t miss out on these valuable opportunities to upskill your team and strengthen your professional community.
Food and Drug Administration confirms Bovaer meets safety and efficacy requirements
Elanco expects product launch and added carbon credit value to producers beginning in the third quarter
Elanco announces agreement with dsm-firmenich to expand distribution of Bovaer across North America, adding both the Canada and Mexico markets
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its comprehensive, multi-year review of Bovaer® (3-NOP), a first-in-class methane-reducing feed ingredient, and determined the product meets safety and efficacy requirements for use in lactating dairy cattle.
“This monumental announcement has the ability to accelerate the opportunity for climate-neutral dairy farming while creating a new revenue stream for dairy farmers across the country,” said Jeff Simmons, President and CEO, Elanco Animal Health. “We appreciate FDA’s commitment to maintaining high standards for science-based review, while balancing the need to quickly bring solutions to the market. Bovaer represents another example of Elanco being a partner of choice in animal health, where the capabilities of our talented R&D, regulatory and commercial teams are delivering significant value.
Simmons continued: “As global temperatures breach new thresholds, consumers demand more sustainable products and the farm economy battles profitability challenges, we are excited to bring Bovaer to the market as a potential solution. Bovaer will create value for farmers, while helping food companies meet consumer demands and deliver on their sustainability commitments. As animal, human and now environmental health continue to converge, Bovaer is one of the most significant innovations that considers this intersection and provides consumers, farmers and society what they want for our future.”
Bovaer represents another blockbuster potential innovation in Elanco’s portfolio and further accelerates livestock sustainability, the next billion-dollar plus market in animal health. This innovation is expected to accelerate market development and increase innovation in this space.
Bovaer works by suppressing the enzyme in the cow’s rumen that forms methane. Feeding one tablespoon of Bovaer per lactating dairy cow per day can reduce methane emissions about 30% or about 1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions annually, while creating opportunity for dairy farmers to be financially rewarded for reducing their dairy’s carbon footprint.1 Feeding one million cows Bovaer would reduce emissions equivalent to removing more than 285,000 cars from the road for a year.2 Feeding Bovaer to cattle has proven to be safe for animals, producers and consumers.
Expanding Access Across North America
Elanco and dsm-firmenich have agreed to expand Elanco’s commercialization of Bovaer across North America. In addition to the U.S., Elanco will also now have the right to market Bovaer in Canada and Mexico, where the product is already available for use in beef and dairy cattle. This expanded agreement can accelerate the opportunity to make climate-neutral cattle farming in North America a reality this decade.
“We congratulate Elanco and the U.S. dairy sector, on this important milestone, and will support Elanco by providing initial supplies from Europe,” said Dimitri de Vreeze, CEO at dsm-firmenich. “This strategic collaboration exemplifies how we can accelerate the expansion and adoption of Bovaer in North America to significantly decrease methane emissions on a large scale, and thereby support global efforts to combat climate change. Bovaer holds the key to a transformative shift in the global dairy sector, and launching this feed ingredient in the U.S. after years of dedicated research, trials, and industry collaboration is a testament to its global potential.”
Simmons said, “We appreciate the work dsm-firmenichhas invested in this revolutionary product and are pleased they’ve recognized Elanco as the global farm animal health leader and the right partner to bring this solution to farmers across North America.”
Why Methane Matters
This announcement comes at a pivotal time. According to the United Nations, the world’s population has until the year 2030 to curb greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) or deal with irreversible impacts to the planet.3 In response, about two-thirds of all Fortune 500 companies have set significant climate commitment goals.4 Reducing enteric methane emissions from cattle—naturally generated through the enteric fermentation process—represents a key opportunity. Methane lasts about a decade in the atmosphere and is 27x more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat—so smaller reductions create greater impact on temperature.5 By mitigating methane, the livestock industry can reduce the rate of climate warming and allow food companies and retailers to make meaningful progress toward their Scope 3 emissions goals.
“Reducing enteric methane is critical if we are to reach our climate goals,” said Dr. Frank Mitloehner, CLEAR Center Director and University California Davis Professor and Cooperative Extension Air Quality Specialist. “It’s exciting our farmers will have an important tool to do that, in Bovaer.”
Creating New Revenue Streams for Farmers
Feeding Bovaer to cows provides a scalable and credible way for dairy farmers to benefit from being good stewards of the environment by being financially rewarded for implementing on-farm sustainability interventions.
“At an added cost of a few cents a gallon of milk, Bovaer can help food companies meet their climate commitments and consumer desire for more sustainable dairy products,” said Katie Cook, Vice President, Livestock Sustainability and Farm Animal Marketing at Elanco. “Meanwhile, by engaging in voluntary carbon markets and securing USDA and state conservation programming, dairy producers have a scalable sustainability practice with the potential to create an annual return of $20 or more per lactating cow by feeding Bovaer6. Our goal is to make this opportunity a reality starting this summer, while creating a self-sustaining carbon inset market for American agriculture.”
Dairy farmers incorporate Bovaer into their rations and quantify the effect using carbon market-friendly tools like UpLook™ by Elanco, an insights-based engine designed to quantify greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The tool utilizes on-farm data and peer-reviewed science to identify key drivers of an operation’s carbon footprint and track the progress of sustainability efforts. UpLook connects seamlessly to Athian, the first-of-its-kind livestock carbon inset marketplace. This seamless process allows farmers to quantify their emissions reduction efforts and certify carbon credits for sale. In addition to the carbon marketplace, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $89 million in funding to support farms using technologies like Bovaer to reduce their methane emissions.7
“Products like Elanco’s Bovaer will allow U.S. farmers to be rewarded for participating in voluntary, producer-led sustainability efforts,” said Gregg Doud, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation. “Consumers around the world are demanding lower-carbon foods. Bovaer is an innovation that can help U.S. dairy farmers remain globally competitive and maintain their role as leaders in more sustainable dairy production.”
Greg Bethard, a dairy farmer from Kansas who has used UpLook to quantify his greenhouse gas emissions, expressed his excitement around today’s announcement.
“Dairy producers have made great strides improving the sustainability of our operations,” said Bethard, High Plains Ponderosa Dairy. “Today’s announcement provides access to a product that has been extensively studied and shown to reduce emissions from dairy cows. Bovaer is a value-creation opportunity for dairies—it’s about helping us provide product in a manner most of our consumers are wanting—a lower carbon footprint food.”
It’s May in Indiana and major headlines abound as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing coupled with the Global Economic Summit (GES) put the state on the world’s stage – for racing spectators and innovators alike. Today, Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap the month including major news in the agbiosciences from Elanco, Purdue, Elevate Ventures and Traction Ag.
Elanco and Purdue announced a OneHealth Innovation District as part of the company’s new campus west of downtown Indianapolis. The facility is designed to deliver and scale up innovation where industry and academia can collaborate including office, wet lab and incubator space. Elanco plans to also contribute up to $2M of initial funding to jumpstart a new Animal Health Ventures Fund to support early-stage innovators, in close coordination with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), to take advantage of available tools and programs that support startup activity in this space.
From GES it was also announced that Elevate Ventures will launch a new $100M fund focused on cross-sector innovation driven growth stage companies with a $500M total addressable market (TAM) or greater. The fund will commence formation in late Q2 with targets to make first investments in 2025.
Traction Ag also announced a $10M Series A round led by Cooperative Ventures and joined by Plymouth Growth and existing investors. The investment was designed to support platform development and business growth.
The year 2024 is where AI moves from hype to help in agbioscience. Today’s guest is bringing that prediction to animal health. Ben Allen, CEO of BinSentry, joins us to talk the biggest challenge facing animal producers; one that can be controlled? Feed. Specifically, how do you get the right feed to the right place at the right time?
With feed as a gigantic expense to producers, Ben gets into BinSentry’s technology creating economic efficiency and how better data allows farmers to see things they might not see coming. He also explains BinSentry’s tech platform and being able to manage variables they’ve not been able to before, ultimately impacting their bottom line.
How does BinSentry think about the next evolution of AI? Ben talks about the full automation of logistics and planning – and he says we are much closer to that than anyone thinks.
Governor Eric J. Holcomb, Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and CEO of Elevate Ventures Christopher Day today announced a new $100M fund focused on cross sector innovation driven growth stage companies with a $500M total addressable market (TAM) or greater. The fund will be anchored by a $25M commitment from the returns achieved by Elevate Ventures investments and Elevate plans to raise an additional $75M through the private market to continue fueling Indiana’s venture capital. The new growth fund will be called the Elevate Ventures Growth fund.
“Today’s launch of Indiana’s first Growth Stage fund adds to an already powerful toolkit putting the world’s capital to work including the $250M Next Level Fund we created in 2017,” Gov. Holcomb said. “This new $100M fund anchored by a $25M initial investment from Elevate Ventures will provide even more opportunities to invest and grow innovative businesses at the later stages of their development. I want to thank Toph Day and for his drive and vision to reach this point as well as Secretary Rosenberg and the IEDC board for putting it originally into motion.”
Indiana surpassed the $1 billion mark for venture activity in 2021 and 2022, with Elevate Ventures ranking no. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, no. 8 in the United States and no. 17 globally as the most active venture capital investor per Pitchbook 2024 Q1 League Tables. Investing state dollars from the 21st Century Research & Technology Fund and federal dollars from the State Small Business Credit Initiative, Elevate Ventures committed $21.7 million in capital to Indiana startups in 2023.
“We are the state that innovates. Our long relationship with the IEDC is an incredible example of one of the nation’s most successful public private partnerships. Having a growth equity fund headquartered here in Indiana, to participate with investors from across the globe, will help our innovation driven companies scale more efficiently and move from being acquirees to acquirors, helping to drive a more robust entrepreneurial ecosystem with high paying jobs. Indiana has the critical ingredients including infrastructure, talent, mission critical industries, technology, cost of living, lifestyle and regulatory environment to power the productivity boom,” said Christopher Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures Christopher Day.
Elevate Ventures is planning to commence fund formation in late Q2 and targeting to make first investments in 2025. In August of this year, innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors from across the world will gather in Indiana for the 2nd annual Rally, a global cross sector innovation festival and $5M pitch competition, one of the world’s largest. More details can be found here.
“In 2024, Forbes ranked Indiana as the second-best state to start a business. We have incredible momentum in Indiana with multiple billion-dollar investment announcements and a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg who also leads the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “The IEDC is constantly seeking the input of our innovation ecosystem and how we can better support entrepreneurship to drive more high paying jobs and prepare our workforce for the modern economy.”
Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced today that Purdue University will partner with Elanco Animal Health and become the newest addition to Indiana’s newly-created OneHealth Innovation District. The announcement was made at Indiana’s 2024 Global Economic Summit after Purdue President Mung Chiang and Jeff Simmons, Elanco CEO, signed a shared memorandum of understanding with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to establish a globally recognized research innovation district dedicated to optimizing the health of people, animals, plants and the planet.
Purdue and Elanco have committed to develop a new shared-use facility on three acres in the OneHealth Innovation District near the future Elanco Global Headquarters on the western edge of the White River. The facility is designed to deliver and scale-up innovation where industry and academia can collaborate including office, wet lab and incubator space. This is in addition to the nearly complete 220,000 square foot corporate headquarters of Elanco Animal Health, with an expected opening date in the second quarter of 2025. Elanco also announced its commitment to purchase an additional 12 acres from to the north of its existing footprint for future expansion and the development of the Epicenter for Animal Health.
“The research facility will propel the state’s vision to anchor our regional technology hub as a key addition to the One Health Innovation District aimed at accelerating collaborative innovation in our life sciences,” Gov. Holcomb said. “The partnership marks a rare and noteworthy move wherein a global health company, a university and a government come together with a shared vision. The district will create an ecosystem that is focused on talent, applied research and innovation that can be sustained for generations to come.”
Developing the OneHealth Innovation District surrounding the new Elanco Global Headquarters presents a unique opportunity to enable a coordinated partnership between public, private, government, university and community that will attract and retain top talent and drive growth and development for downtown Indianapolis. One Health is recognized by scientific institutions including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being a preferred approach to solving for health issues where the interconnection between human, animal and plant science can help solve complex global health problems.
Elanco also announced several commitments to accelerate the OneHealth Innovation District, including a commitment to share technology development capacity in its current Indianapolis facility and eventually in the OneHealth Innovation District. Technical development facilities to bring an idea from proof of concept to pilot manufacturing and then to scale is a unique feature not offered in other animal health development areas and is often a major roadblock in bioscience innovation. Additionally, Elanco plans to contribute up to $2 million of initial funding to jumpstart a new Animal Health Venture Fund to support early-stage innovators, in close coordination with the IEDC to take advantage of available tools and programs that support start-up activity in this space.
“For life-changing innovations to move from idea to reality, they must grow in the right environment,’” said Jeff Simmons, Elanco President and CEO. “The many partners in the Indianapolis’ OneHealth Innovation District will set Indianapolis apart as an area where innovators will find a vast ecosystem of support, including one of the world’s leading universities, funding, lab space, collaboration with many other innovators and companies and most significantly shared technical development and pilot plant facilities to manufacture and scale innovations. We believe connecting innovators with access to world-class, state-of-the-art resources will help bring solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues facing people, animals and the environment. This is a key milestone in bringing to life our goal of creating an Animal Health Epicenter to reach the world’s animals from our new global headquarters in the heart of Indianapolis.”
The unique partnership is designed to increase the ability to prevent, predict, detect and respond to health threats. One Health integrated approaches are widely recognized as the new frontier in biosciences.
“Totality of Purdue to the totality of Indianapolis – that’s our pledge as the Indianapolis part of Purdue’s main campus officially launches on July 1,” said Purdue president Mung Chiang. “In the coming years, all programs at Purdue will find homes throughout our state’s capital city. Today’s announcement carries a special excitement for the partnership and the location. Purdue is excited to partner with Elanco and other collaborators to build out the ecosystem of OneHealth Innovation District, starting from the building announced and expanding to an entire district. Human health, animal health, plant health will be jointly advanced by the nation’s leading company and our state’s top ranked university.”
The facility will help extend Purdue’s substantial research arm into the heart of Indianapolis, coinciding with the launch of the university’s urban extension, Purdue University in Indianapolis, on July 1. Research interests will include understanding of the microbiome, antimicrobial resistance, computational biology, comparative genomics and livestock sustainability, among others. Indianapolis is home to the biotech companies that are on the cutting edge of the revolution in animal health (Elanco), human health (Eli Lilly & Company) and plant health (Corteva).
Investment designed to support platform development and business growth
Cooperative Ventures has announced an investment in Traction Ag, Inc., a leader in farm accounting technology and developer of the first cloud-based accounting software delivering solutions to farmers across the United States. A joint venture between two leading farmer-owned cooperatives, CHS and GROWMARK, Cooperative Ventures focuses on developing mutually beneficial commercial relationships between startups and cooperative partners. Traction Ag’s $10 million Series A round was led by Cooperative Ventures and joined by Plymouth Growth and existing investors.
Traction Ag provides farmers and ranchers with the functionality and data they need to make critical decisions on the farm. The company’s cloud-based accounting software, coupled with robust data integrations, equips farmers with meaningful insights that can improve farm profitability through better decision-making. The company has experienced success through organic growth, strategic investments and partnerships over the past year. Recently, the company acquired and integrated solutions from Granular and Conservis. These acquisitions are accelerating the build-out of premium and enterprise features within the Traction Ag platform.
“From the very beginning, our priority at Traction Ag has been to deliver value to farmers and give them peace of mind when making decisions,” said Traction Ag CEO Dustin Sapp. “This round of funding will enable us to scale faster, reaching even more farmers with our decision-making solutions that drive real value at the farm gate.” Traction is currently focused on enhancing its business platforms, increasing service offerings and building partnerships in the agriculture industry.
Traction Ag fits in Cooperative Ventures’ farm business enablement focus area. This sector includes tools and technologies, which help farmers manage their complex business operations. “Traction Ag is a compelling investment for Cooperative Ventures,” said Heather Thompson, director of innovation at GROWMARK. “We believe the company has a strong foundation to build upon. Also, the company’s mission to empower financial decision-making and operational profitability is very closely aligned with the missions of both CHS and GROWMARK, making it a natural fit for Cooperative Ventures to support.”
The investment from Cooperative Ventures and Plymouth Growth is a testament to the strength of Traction’s readiness to scale and track record of strong growth. “Traction Ag and its existing investors have built a deep and proven team and a board of directors with strong commitment to and experience in the agriculture sector,” said Plymouth Growth Partner Brook Critchfield. “Plymouth Growth is thrilled to bring more than 20 years of experience in growing category-leading software companies alongside the industry leadership of CHS and GROWMARK in order to help drive Traction’s next phase of growth.”
Through this relationship, Traction can create valuable connections within the vast network of CHS and GROWMARK farmer-owners and customers. “Together with GROWMARK, we believe this investment will equip our owners and customers with essential tools for their businesses,” said Ben Van Straten, CHS innovation director. “Cooperative Ventures was created to focus on innovative solutions and emerging technologies that positively impact agriculture and we believe that Traction has the ability to do just that.”
The bioeconomy – where feedstocks from agriculture are transformed into new products – is poised to surge to more than $30 trillion dollars over the next two decades. The White House calls its potential “enormous,” and there’s an organization leading the effort to create infrastructure around this opportunity. Today, BioMADE Chief Technology Officer, Melanie Tomczak, joins us to tell us 1) what exactly the bioeconomy is, 2) the role of BioMADE in its growth and 3) the unique connection between people, plants and animals.
Where are the greatest opportunities for growth in bioinnovation? Melanie talks cross-sector collaboration and pushing things from early-scale to commercial scale – getting entrepreneurs out of the “Valley of Death.” She also gets into creating resilience and sustainability in U.S. supply chains in a post-pandemic world is also experiencing political unrest and geo instability.
What’s ahead? BioMADE recently named six states (Indiana being one) to a short list of geographies that could fill a need that doesn’t exist in the US today: allowing innovators to start the scale-up process without the investment into new facilities, allowing for emerging technologies and products to flow through the U.S. more quickly.
May 8, 2024 – 40 years ago, March 1984, a little-known startup called “The Venture Club of Indiana” was formed!
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, The Venture Club of Indiana began as a humble startup. Visionary leaders in the community came together to create the first “Venture Club” in the United States with the ambition to provide resources and guidance to the Indiana startup and venture capital community. Since then, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and leaders have graced the meetings, connections, and resources of The Venture Club.
No longer is Indiana known as just another “fly over” state. Now we stand as a hot bed of entrepreneurial talent and the resources to support founders from initial launch to scale.
The Innovation Showcase will feature a great Indiana founder’s story as we welcome Max Yoder, former CEO of Lessonly who will share his journey from a High Alpha studio company to acquisition by Seismic in 2021. His insights promise to inspire and enlighten attendees about the highs and lows of the Lessonly journey and the successful exit.
Hundreds of entrepreneurs have been on the Innovation Showcase mainstage, all striving for that successful and innovative journey – be it an IPO, a merger with another company, or just long-lived success in Indiana. Truly this stage is “Where Capital Meets Innovation.”
The 2024 Showcase will be no different. In its 16th year, The Innovation Showcase, Indiana’s premier pitch event for Indiana startups, is thrilled to announce the lineup of 22 pioneering companies that will compete in the highly anticipated pitch competition on June 5th at the Indiana State Museum. Representing a diverse range of industries and groundbreaking technologies, these companies are poised to showcase their innovative solutions and contend for recognition and support from industry leaders, investors, and the entrepreneurial community.
“This year’s Innovation Showcase Pitch Competition will bring many new companies with their game changing potential to our mainstage,” said Sandy Wilcox, Program Chair. “We are thrilled to welcome such a diverse, innovative group of companies, who will pitch to a room full of investors looking for the next opportunity to invest in high-potential, Indiana-based startups. The judges will certainly be challenged to pick our winners.”
John Hanak, a founding member of the Innovation Showcase previously involved in organizing and supporting the event, is now participating as a pitch company with VinSense. This marks a unique milestone for Hanak, who reflects on the journey with a mix of irony, humility, and pride.
“Having been with the Innovation Showcase since its inception is kind of ironic for me now that I will be presenting a company – VinSense – there,” said Hanak. “It’s also somewhat humbling as I can clearly see how much effort the presenting companies put into this. Irony or humbling – the fact remains that I am very proud to be among the incredible companies that have been nominated to showcase their wares here. I am looking forward to being a part of it again…this time from a different perspective.”
Hanak’s transition from event creator to pitch company participant underscores the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship and innovation. His long experience and dedication to the Innovation Showcase and Venture Club of Indiana community brings a valuable perspective to the stage.
On June 5th, these 22 companies will have the opportunity to pitch their ventures to a panel of esteemed judges and a captivated audience. In addition to the pitches, the event will feature keynote presentations from Disruptive Innovation leader ARK Invest and TechPoint Mira “Tech Company of the Year” Authenticx. Panel discussions, Entrepreneur’s Exposition, and networking are other opportunities for insight and connection.
The pitch competition consists of four sessions scheduled throughout the day. Each startup presenter will have three minutes to present their case. The winners will be announced at 5 p.m., with a total of $30,000 in prizes awarded to the top finishers across three categories: Digital Tech, Hard Tech/Agtech and Life Sciences. Additionally, all pitch competitors will have the opportunity to engage with investors throughout the day one-on-one.
The judging panel for the Pitch Competition comprises Susan Batchelder, Clinical Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Kelley School of Business; Christopher “Toph” Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures; Vince Wong, CEO and President of BioCrossroads. Nominated companies represent the portfolios of Elevate Ventures, Boomerang Ventures, gener8tor, Render Capital, Purdue, Flywheel Fund, VisionTech and Biocrossroads. The judges must evaluate these companies pitching in the Innovation Showcase:
New for the 2024 crop season, GRAINCO FS is offering myFS Agronomy as its latest digital agronomic tool for on-farm data-driven decision-making for its farmer customers in Kendall, LaSalle, and Grundy counties in Illinois. The new digital platform and app, developed with Intelinair, provides in-season and postseason actionable insights and analytics for improved operational efficiency and return on investment. For years, GRAINCO FS has been at the forefront of providing innovative digital solutions to its customers. The recently launched app available now brings new features and functionality for an improved experience.
“We embarked on our ag tech journey nearly six years ago, driven by a commitment to leverage technology to generate the best return on investment for our customers,” said Alan Drake, General Manager of GRAINCO FS. “Partnering closely with our farmers, we recognized the immense potential of data-driven decision-making and continue to enhance our program to support their operations. Our strategy remains focused on an ever-evolving omni-channel where our growers can connect anytime and anywhere with all aspects of doing business with GRAINCO FS. We are striving for a seamless experience where growers can monitor the health of their fields, pay off a bill, view an open contract, chat with our team – the list only continues to evolve with what our customers need. As we navigate the challenges posed by fluctuating commodity prices this growing season, tools like myFS Agronomy will focus on decision-making that will maximize returns on every acre.”
GRAINCO FS uses the tech platform to analyze the crop on every acre across their entire trade territory to ensure their crop specialists are given the best data to make the decisions during the season to maximize the crop and to understand what seed, inputs, and practices will bring the highest ROI for each acre and in each situation postseason. All of this being built on real, local data gives their customers access to information they have never been able to see.
Cal Mason, Farm Data Manager for GRAINCO FS, said, “Our mission is to do what is best for our farmers. Using myFS Agronomy, we are able to take an unbiased approach, find what works and bring this information to our customers. Whether it’s helping them decide whether or not to replant and making sure their fields are clean or helping them select the best seed and where to plant it, we have taken a 360-degree in-season and postseason approach to partnering with our customers.”
Having several years of experience with this technology, GRAINCO FS has found that providing support to help their customers learn and utilize the product is critically important to their success.
“When a grower decides to partner with us, we make sure we are with them every step of the way ensuring they get the most out of the technology. From training them to use myFS Agronomy and interpreting the data, to making sure each field with a problem has boots on the ground so no opportunity is missed, we are there to support them,” said Morgan Picht, Data Management Specialist for GRAINCO FS.
Crop specialists and the data management team members partner with the customer to review and interpret their field data and from there they decide what actions might be taken, if any.
GRAINCO FS Crop Specialist Jason Hamer said, “My customers want to feel exceptionally confident that they are making the best decisions possible. With the analytics, I know how to direct my customers to make the most profitable decisions for their farm. Together, we are able to look at the information and make decisions we both feel great about.
“One of the most eye-opening things that we are taking action on this year is corn planting populations. I always thought 34K to 36K was good enough, and the analysis, across an astronomical amount of acres, did not show that. The information showed we needed to push certain hybrids harder. This is one of the easiest things we can do to increase profitability.
This chart illustrates the yield by planting population across tens of thousands of corn acres in LaSalle, Grundy, and Kendall counties.
“Looking forward, what makes me most excited is that as more people get on board in our geography, we are creating a community to drive our territory and our yields forward. Each person that joins, builds this data and the community. We all get better because of it,”added Hamer.
“Our long-term vision with our ag tech journey is to partner as consultants with our growers. We strive to be their go-to farm advisor with a committed emphasis on helping determine the best plan for each field. With the information we now have access to, we can customize a field plan based on various factors, including slope, seed, soil type, and many other historical data points,” added Drake. “This allows us to analyze every input to generate the best ROI for every acre. Our digital journey is not one to replace the salesman/grower relationship, either. With the technology at hand, we are working to only enhance our partnerships with our growers to empower them with data analysis to help them make better decisions.”
Conner Schmidt, National Sales Leader for Intelinair, said, “Our goal is to make technology simple enough that anyone can utilize it with analytics that find the answers to two difficult questions – What is the problem and how do I fix it? Analyze is a big step in that direction that this feature will continue to evolve.
“GRAINCO FS has and will continue to play a large role in this innovation. They are a company that relentlessly pursues better solutions for their customers, and they are not afraid to lead the way in uncharted territory. In the early stages of Analyze, they were the first to embrace the information and bring it to their customers. I was able to watch their team use Analyze to consult their growers to make numerous large and impactful decisions last fall which will pay dividends in this challenging market environment. I look forward to working together with GRAINCO FS to push the envelope further,” added Schmidt.
