Digital Solutions in Australian Agriculture

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Tony Kramer: Hi, I'm Tony Kramer, your host of the Agriculture Technology Podcast. I'm sitting down with agriculture technology and equipment experts to help you enhance your operation for today, tomorrow, and into the future. In this episode, I talk with Andrew Speed about some of the digital solutions that RDO Australia is bringing to the table. With that, let's dive into the show. As I mentioned, we have an episode here with RDO Australia.

Andrew Speed was gracious enough to join us, taking some time out of his day to talk about some of the unique digital solutions that RDO Australia is bringing to the table for our customers and the ag industry within Australia. Before we get started, Andrew, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself, tell our listeners a little bit about who you are, where you come from, and how you got to where you are today?

Andrew Speed: Thanks for having me on your podcast. I guess I'm just going back a bit here, probably giving my age away, but after I left school and ag college in the late 80s, I went home on our family grain and cotton farm on the Black Soil Plains of the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. Spent 22 years farming with the family. Decided for a change. Was going to actually do an electrician's apprenticeship, but then was offered this job at our local John Deere dealership, Vanderfield, in Precision Ag team.

RDO bought 50% share in about 2012, and just after I started, probably about four or five years ago, bought the remaining shares. I've been with the Precision Ag Department now for about 12 years, various roles, but currently, my role is business development manager in digital.

Tony: Wonderful. Again, great to have you on the show. I know we've got some very interesting, very unique talking points to go through in this episode. We're going to dive right into it, Andrew. I found what you guys are doing in the cotton industry very unique and helpful to the cotton industry in general. Let's talk a little bit about how that has progressed over the years from not being able to track anything, or the traditional way that growers would track cotton, to what they're doing today, and how we as RDO Australia, as well as other John Deere dealers around the world, are able to provide solutions with tracking the cotton and everything they do there. Give us a little history on the cotton.

Andrew: I guess the Australian cotton industry has certainly probably been the responsible industry for a huge uptake of data. As a previous cotton grower, when we first got round bale cotton pickers, now they've been around for probably, I don't know, 15, 16 years, we had to go around every round bale, and with a permanent marker, write our grower number on that bale. Then we started getting these sticker books where you'd go around and put a sticker with your grower number on the round bale. With John Deere technology, they brought in this application controller.

It was called Harvest ID Cotton. In the screen, it created a text file that recorded all the information. Every wrap of the round bale has an RFID number tag in it, and there's an RFID reader on the cotton picker. Basically, just with progression, we've created this text file that has the Latin long, the client farm field, and all that information, the serial number of the machine, and all that. That was initially on the 7760s, and these days with the newer CP cotton pickers, there's now weight and moisture content and all that added into that file. That file, you used to then get it, pull it off the screen with the USB, and email it to the cotton gin.

Probably about eight or nine years ago, we worked with one of the cotton ginners, Louis Dreyfus Cotton. They own three gins in Australia and soon to be more. They created an API to go into the op center. Basically, if a grower is partnered with their account through the normal partnership deal in the op center, the Louis Dreyfus computers basically at cotton picking time go into the op center account of the grower and just pull all that data down automatically. Just logistically, it just saves a stack of work. It's just an automatic process. Their computer systems now know what bales have been produced on a farm and what bales are about to come into the gin yard.

They can now see what the moisture content is of those bales. When a truck rolls into the cotton gin over the weighbridge, they also have RFID readers so they know exactly which bales are on the truck. If there's a wet bale, they might want to stage them in the gin yard somewhere else for fire risk or they might want to gin them first. It's just really changed the logistics of that industry.

Tony: In cotton, the tracking of the bales, the modules, whatever it is, it's very specific. They want to know where they were coming from, the growers. Like you said, when back prior to all of this data collection, you were writing your grower number on the side of that cotton bale. Really adds to a smooth transition of moving from field to gin to processing, being able to collect that data. I find it really cool that you talk eight to nine years ago, partnering with a cotton gin to create that API within the John Deere Operations Center for them to now pull that data.

You and I are well aware that there's tons of API solutions out there within the John Deere Operations Center for this one to be in cotton and to have been created that eight or nine years ago is great to hear. Now I know you guys are just starting to work on another solution that's going to be another cotton grower software solution out there in partnership or through John Deere dealers. Tell us a little bit about that solution.

Andrew: Yes. Okay, Tony. Yes, Precision Cropping Technologies. They're based in Australian software company in Precision Ag, but they have a presence in the US as well. They've just released a dealer-only tool in the last 12 months called Linked Cotton. Again, I guess we're getting the yield data off the cotton pickers. We're having the harvest ID data to know where those round bales were dropped in the field or produced and dropped. Then also with that, with the classing data, if it correlates to round bales, we can then create these yield quality maps.

We've had yield maps forever. We can look at a color map or-- Cotton is generally classed in color, strength, micronaire, staple length, and uniformity. It's just producing maps for those. It's only in the start, very infancy of that. I guess we need a few years data to see how it's going to work. The few demos we've done this season, most growers are pretty excited.

Tony: We're bringing solutions to the table, different options for the growers to utilize. Great to hear within the cotton industry in Australia. Now, another thing you guys are doing, or the growers I should say are doing, and we or you as a John Deere dealer are helping with it, is some best management practices within cotton as well as sugarcane. Tell us a little bit about what growers are doing for the best management practice scheme and how they're utilizing the data and the John Deere technology to carry that out.

Andrew: It revolves around a lot of that data that we're collecting. There's fuel data, fertilizer usage, seed, all that stuff. A lot of that data is required as part to get BMP accreditation. If you're collecting that data, it just helps us along the way. I guess at the moment we're looking at working with Cotton Australia, being the industry body, to look at possibilities to creating, again, another API to pull that data out to help in the process for BMP accreditation. A grower can download those reports and fill out the necessary paperwork now just from all that stuff that's collected on the op center.

It certainly revolves around obviously good data ins, good data out. That's one thing with the cotton industry. Most of the cotton grown in Australia is genetically modified GM cotton. Again, when you grow that, you've got to provide maps to Bayer to show how many acres have been planted, is it GM, is it not, and that sort of stuff. Again, if we're recording that data at planting time, it just helps in that process to know all those exact numbers for that reporting. Similarly, in the cotton industry, they have a BMP program. Now, most of the sugarcane is grown up the east coast of Queensland and New South Wales, and that's in-- The east coast of Queensland's in the catchment for the Great Barrier Reef.

Governments have put certain caps on the amount of fertilizer that can be used basically to stop runoff making it to the reef. From that point of view, growers need to create what's called a nutrient management plan. There's options there to take the data out of op center. If you're recording it properly either from manual documentation or using a rate controller and you have the actual applied maps, you can start to pull that data out again to use it in that process in the nutrient management plan, but also just for their BMP scheme to be able to tick a lot of boxes there to become a BMP accredited grower.

Tony: With the BMP accreditations, you had touched on it, I think, when we were talking on the cotton side. If a grower wants to seek accreditation or if they need to give Bayer any reports, today it's all a manual process, correct? We do not have any digital connections there?

Andrew: No digital connections currently from Cotton with Bayer. We're in talks with them to see how we can maybe create an API to be able to get that data out. At the moment, a grower can either print out a map and the data there, or again, our agronomists and ag retailers can actually produce maps, just shape file maps with some other software and present that to Bayer to tick the boxes. It is definitely at this stage a manual process. Would love to automate it.

Tony: I was going to say I would assume that the Australian growers would love to see this ball continue to roll forward to make that API connection. The more of these digital connections we can have, the easier it is with the flow of data and getting it to where we want to get it.

Andrew: I guess that's why the op center is an open platform. There's that whole website developed with Deere to create APIs. We can pull data in and push data back as well. All that data, there is lots of it collected these days. Obviously from John Deere's point of view, the owner of the machine owns the data and there's a whole lot of data privacy issues, but we cover all those off. A grower only will partner with a certain person and with all that in mind with data privacy. It's all pretty well-protected.

Tony: Yes, you bring up a really good point that the Operation Center being open platform and this isn't just Australian agriculture, this is around the world. We have it in the United States too, but anybody, any software company, whether they're inside agriculture or not, they can create that website you mentioned, developwithdeere.com. These software companies can create programs to connect digitally with the Operation Center.

Andrew: I'd love to learn computer coding, but I think I've left that a bit late. [laughs] It would be fantastic. There's so many opportunities there for different little solutions.

Tony: Let's move on. Another piece, so actually, we bring up the operation center and the connections and working with our growers, our customers, but you guys are also working with mutual ag retailers, where you and the local ag retailers have obviously mutual customers. What is RDO Australia doing to help bridge that gap between the growers, the retailers, the John Deere dealer? What are you guys doing to help continue move that forward with digital agriculture?

Andrew: Yes, Tony, it's probably only in the early days, but we've started approaching the ag retailers, so both private and corporate firms. Just as you said, there's a lot of mutual data or we have mutual customers. Our growers that have John Deere machines potentially have an agronomist from one of these firms. We're collecting all this data. Let's make full use of it. We started reaching out to the ag retailers and looking at doing training days just to show them the op center and to get them engaged so that it helps them in their business.

We just had a session the other day with a few, I think there were eight agronomists, just to show them you can go into the op center and see was that field sprayed today or what day was it sprayed. Was it the correct rate? What was the weather at time of spraying? If they go back and see that it failed, they can go into the op centre and have a look at the weather conditions because most of our boom sprays have mobile weather on them and look at stuff like that. Now with the see and spray select we have in Australia, you look at the actual weed maps.

Is there a patch of the field, an area of the field that they may need to look at more because they can see there's been a heavier concentration of spray on that area? There's just so much data in there that we just want to show those agros, agronomists what there is available and how it can help their business, which will then in turn help the grower.

Tony: Yes, I know we see a lot of the same in the United States and again, mutual customers with the ag retailers and the growers that we work with. We are doing the same thing, trying to push that information out there. It's awesome to hear that you guys are having training sessions or information sessions with the ag retailers and agronomists in Australia to bridge that gap, make that connection of, "Hey, we as the John Deere dealer, the customer, our mutual customers are collecting that data. It's not only data that the customer can utilize, but it's also data that their agronomist can utilize as well."

An awesome, awesome tool to be able to make those connections, build those teams out in the operation center, and grant permissions to the parties that need those permissions in order to see that information. An awesome tool to be able to utilize.

Andrew: Oh, definitely. As a trusted advisor, whether it's an agronomist or whoever, it's partnered data privacy, it ticks all the boxes.

Tony: You guys have recently gotten into the Grain Research Development Corporation down in Australia, has forwarded some money or put some money down to really engage the adoption of technology. Tell us a little bit about that program and what you guys at RDO Australia have going on looking into the future here.

Andrew: Yes, the GRDC, Grain Research Development Corporation, a grower body government funded. Yes, we've just recently become a part of a project they've got called Grain Automate. Basically, it's pathway to autonomy. Over the next two years, we're just doing a few things which go from demonstrations to trial work, as well as holding some training sessions. This winter crop season, which is pretty well just wound up, we've had a couple of the new combines with predictive ground speed automation. Australia got 10 of those LPBs this year, and we've been running two.

Just trying to do some trials, collecting some data. The project is all about just getting growers ready for autonomy. We know it's coming. Let's get our digital twin or our boundaries and everything set up in the op center. Also, let's demonstrate and through demos and trials, that this technology can do just as good a job as existing gear. It's going to keep us very busy for the next 12 months or actually two years with different things like that.

Tony: The road or pathway to autonomy, being able to utilize the technologies that are out there, preparing ourselves for autonomy and automation in the future. It's great to hear that you guys have a project revolving around the technology demos and trainings and whatever ways you guys will carry this out. It's cool to hear that there is an elevated focus on all of that with funding and partners and all of that stuff.

Andrew: Yes, that's right. A lot of that technology, whether it's machine sync or turn automation, it's coming in base in machines these days. We need to demonstrate that it works well and how it works so that customers have faith in it and will turn it on and use it.

Tony: Andrew, I just want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk with me about some of the digital solutions you guys are offering or bringing to the table within Australian agriculture, whether it be that cotton solution, getting the cotton tracking and logistics digitalized, or it's partnering with the ag retailers down there in Australia. I know you guys are putting in a lot of hard work and doing a lot of great things for Australian agriculture and the growers that you guys work with. Thanks again for talking with me today. Really appreciate it.

Andrew: Yes. Thanks for having me, Tony.

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