Even in today's technology-driven world, the NASA program that landed men on the moon and brought them back safely remains one of the most remarkable accomplishments in American history. Achieving that, however, didn’t come without a lot of trial and error. Jeremy Jack believes the same is true of technology in farming.
“Like the Apollo missions, we may not be successful the first time, but we learn from our failures and try again,” says Jeremy, who is in charge of the day-to-day operations at Silent Shade Planting Company in Belzoni, Mississippi. “Sometimes you have to have epic failures to figure a technology out.”
In NASA’s case, every aborted rocket launch and experiment that didn’t work as expected reminded the agency’s scientists and engineers that space was hard to master. Because it is on the forefront of technology, Silent Shade Planting Company has come to a similar conclusion about technology in agriculture. Through relentless determination and bold imagination, the family has plowed through technical glitches, a steep learning curve, the lack of interoperability, and more as it searches for better ways to produce cotton, corn, rice, and soybeans.
“Our first variable-rate planter was the most difficult piece of technology we ever ran. I can remember going back and forth to the office about five times because I couldn’t get the prescription to work. We spent about six hours trying to figure it out, and the planter still wasn’t moving,” Jeremy recalls. “There were probably 15 different companies involved in that project. Whenever something went wrong, it was always somebody else’s fault. It was frustrating.”
Despite the roadblocks, significant progress has been made. “Most growers realize technology is the future of agriculture, but embracing it is not easy. It takes some trial and error, and adoption doesn’t happen overnight,” says Wade Litton, general manager at Wade, Incorporated, a Mississippi Delta region John Deere implement dealer. “Compared with even a few years ago, the ability to seamlessly integrate technology into an operation has made great strides. The speed of technology doubles every two years. It’s going to continue to get faster, better, and easier.”
While on-boarding technology involves a lot of hard work, Jeremy says it is necessary to make their operation more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable. Whether for site-specific soil sampling or auto steering, employing technology is the bedrock on which his father, Willard Jack, built the business when it was created more than 40 years ago. It is also what Willard taught Jeremy and his sister, Stacie Koger, to continuously improve the operation.
Since their return to the farm, the second generation – which includes Stacie, Jeremy, and Jeremy’s wife, Elizabeth – has accelerated that undertaking.
“Jeremy is always on the cutting edge of technology, continually wanting more. He is one of those guys who will keep you on your toes,” says John Marshall, integrated solutions manager, Wade, Incorporated. “Every decision that is made, Jeremy has the data to back it up.”
An evolving and ongoing process, ingraining technology into every aspect of daily operations is also a major step toward ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to carry on the family legacy. Today, the family’s tailored approach is based on need rather than want when managing the farm’s roughly 12,000 owned and rented acres.
“Because it’s an investment of both time and money, having technology just to have technology is never a good idea,” Willard says. “We have to ensure that any technology we adopt is going to give us a positive return.”
Although they may not try everything that is brought to their attention, many are considered.
“If we can see where it’s beneficial to us, even if it’s not right off the bat, we will go down some of those paths. It’s a little bit of a vision of picking out what works for you and what fits your operation,” Jeremy says, adding that even though it’s impossible for one tech company to meet all the farm’s needs, the list has been narrowed to a select few that work closely with one another. (See “Six Technology Favorites.”)
Like the advances that put man on the moon, each breakthrough at Silent Shade Planting Company must come with
follow-through.
“A company may have a farmer’s ear, but it all comes down to trust and developing those relationships,” says Parker Barrett, general manager at Wade, Incorporated. “It’s the primary building block of moving technology adoption forward.”
“Technology is constantly changing,” Jeremy says. “This is a journey we can’t take alone as we work to sustain the operation for our sons and daughters.”
Six Technology Favorites
Through the years, myriad variations of software and hardware have come and gone as Silent Shade Planting Company pushes the limit to get the most out of the diversified row crop operation.
“If we choose something that isn’t perfect for the farm, we talk through what we did and didn’t like about the system, so we know what to look for going forward,” says Elizabeth Jack, who manages human resources, compliance, safety, and public relations for the family’s Belzoni, Mississippi, operation.
Below are six technologies currently in its toolbox.
Granular farm management software -2015
The farm planning and budgeting software provides tools that help better manage grain inventory, financial performance, and agronomic inputs.
During harvest, scale-ticket information used to be entered manually into a spreadsheet. “It was time-consuming, and we were getting to the point where we needed part-time help to keep up,” says Stacie Koger, who handles financials and crop marketing.
By equipping its truck drivers with the Granular mobile app, data are now recorded when a load is delivered to the elevator, eliminating the need for tickets. Because the elevator uses a cloud-based system, Koger is also able to track what’s being delivered, when it’s delivered, how much is delivered, and how it was graded.
“Everything is in real time, which is very beneficial that time of year,” she says. “Before we used Granular, there would always be a couple-day lag while we tried to get through all the information. I now know – by the minute – how much is going into on-farm storage and how much is being distributed to the elevator.”
Because harvest numbers are updated daily, they are also able to take advantage of a market rally. “Prior to harvest, we used to have an idea of our harvested bushels to market, and we would update those numbers at the end of harvest,” says Jeremy Jack, who is in charge of the day-to-day operations. “With Granular, we know instantly what our total bushels to sell will be if the crop is bigger than expected.”
The digital platform also is able to track expenses. “On any given day, Stacie can tell you how much money we have invested in each field, so we can figure out which fields are and aren’t profitable,” says Willard Jack, who founded Silent Shade Planting Company in 1979 with wife Laura Lee.
Before switching to Granular, the family actually tested another platform for a year. Ultimately, Granular was a better fit for the operation.
ExactApply nozzle control system -2020
ExactApply allows operators to control droplet size, spray pressure, and individual nozzles to minimize skips and overlaps and maximize accuracy.
“I used to think we were really good at accurately spraying, then ExactApply came out,” Jeremy says. “This technology has blown my mind. We’re not just close anymore; we’re exact. We have seen a consistent 10% reduction of chemical application with this technology.”
ExactEmerge planter -2017
Productivity, efficiency, and yield potential are maximized because John Deere’s ExactEmerge planter improves accuracy and increases speed.
“We used to run four regular planters, but we moved to two ExactEmerge planters in 2017,” Jeremy says, adding that the switch not only allowed them to cut equipment in half but also labor.
While the ExactEmerge planters do the majority of the planting, a smaller planter was later added to help with timing due to weather. For example, if they need to start planting cotton but still have some soybeans to plant, the two ExactEmerge planters will tackle the cotton while the smaller planter finishes the soybeans.
Combine Advisor -2019
Designed to bring more automation to harvest, this technology eliminates some of the need to make manual adjustments on the fly.
“A lot of the decisions that used to be made by the person driving the machine are now being made by the machine. Technology like Combine Advisor gives us peace of mind when we put someone in the combine who may not have the years of experience my father-in-law, Willard, or my husband, Jeremy, do,” Elizabeth says.
John Deere Operations Center - 2015
The cloud-based data management platform helps connect the members of Silent Shade Planting Company to machines, fields, and operators.
“MyJohnDeere allows us to track all of our equipment,” Jeremy says. “We record everything that goes through the tractors or combines – speed, fuel use, etc. It’s incredible the decisions we can make based on this data.”
For example, by breaking down the horsepower usage in the combine by crop, Jeremy knows what size combine they need for each crop to run at 100% efficiency. “We might need a bigger header if we are not using enough horsepower,” he says.
The cloud-based technology also enables information to flow freely from one piece of equipment to another. For instance, two combines in the same field are able to see one another’s yield monitor.
“Cloud-based tracking, JDLink Connect with Wireless Data Transfer, and Remote Display Access allow us to be on any part of our operation instantly, even if we are states away,” Jeremy says.
T3RRA CUTTA - 2012
This in-cab land forming system, in conjunction with John Deere’s iGrade, enables users to survey, design, optimize, and implement dirt-moving operations.
Having the ability to create numerous grades in a field promotes even and efficient irrigation, improves drainage, and stops soil erosion. “On average, we have also been able to cut our dirt-moving cost in half by using this technology,” Jeremy says.
Showcasing Technology in Ag
When people think of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), or even the technology space in general, they don’t typically think of agriculture. As an exhibitor at the world’s largest technology event for the past three years, John Deere is working to change that perception as it continues to build technology into its DNA.
“It’s important for Deere to be a part of CES to showcase the technology in agriculture because it is a very well-kept secret. We have to help educate the public about how technology influences agriculture and brings food to their table. It’s a really important message and one we feel compelled to tell the world,” says Jahmy Hindman, who was recently named the first John Deere chief technology officer.
For the 2019 event, the company focused on harvest and the technology in the combine.
“We talked about tools like Combine Advisor and how we’re adding sensors and capabilities to a combine that make it smarter, so no grain is left behind,” says Than Hartsock, global director of corn and soybean production systems for John Deere. “In 2020, we talked about smart spraying and how Blue River’s See & Spray technology, with its cameras and artificial intelligence, will drive plant-level management.”
That same year the company invited Jeremy and Elizabeth Jack (Silent Shade Planting Company) and Wade Litton (Wade, Incorporated) to share how food is produced and the important role technology plays, and will continue to play, in growing and harvesting food. By having farmers and a John Deere dealer in the mix, CES attendees were able to hear firsthand how agriculture benefits from technology. “There is so much technology in farming today, and we were at CES to tell people how it works in our day-to-day life on the farm,” says Jeremy, the second generation to work the family’s farm.
Located in Belzoni, Mississippi, the family has been recognized for its forward-thinking agricultural practices and its focus on sustainability.
“My father and grandfather were always big on technology and were very visionary on what technology would allow us to do in our operation,” Jeremy says. “Our being at CES also gave us the opportunity to see what could be coming in the future, so we can try to wrap our heads around it and make plans for it.
Raising the Bar
As technology continues to advance, venture capitalist Arama Kukutai believes ag tech companies will need to meet an even higher bar before farmers are willing to change how they operate.
“Given the longer adoption timelines, ag technology players will need to actively incentivize corn and soybean farmers to minimize adoption risk,” says Kukutai, cofounder and partner at Finistere Ventures. “Innovation in-field or in the supply chain usually involves time, investment, and risk-taking – all of which become greater barriers in a situation where people cannot interact freely and may also be facing supply chain pressures of their own.”
