FoA 234: What Data do Farmers Trust? In10t Series Finale

This is the series finale of exploring agtech adoption with In10t. Co-founder and COO Kevin Heikes joins as co-host to setup this episode which features Josh Miller and Elizabeth Blessum from BASF. 

Make sure you listen to the other three episodes in the series: 

• FoA 226: The Problem with Farm Data
• FoA 215: Bridging the Gap Between Farmers and Agtech
• FoA 194: Accelerating Agtech

Kevin reflects on the journey of founding In10t and what we’ve covered in these episodes as well as in his first two Future of Agriculture appearances on FoA 028 and 062.

“When technology gets in the way of innovation, no one is happy.” - Kevin Heikes

Josh Miller is a technical market manager for plant health at BASF. He describes the thousands of farmer trials that have been a part of bringing their Revysol brand fungicides to the market. He emphasizes the importance of trust and transparency when performing on-farm trials. 

“I think (on-farm trials) is becoming part of our DNA. It’s not just about the data. It’s about the experience, and it’s about where the data comes from. That’s really the critical part.” - Josh Miller

Elizabeth Blessum worked with Josh on the Revex platform (short for “Revysol experience”) as part of her professional development program at BASF. She is now an Agronomic Solutions Advisor with the company. 

“I think it comes down to believability. I’m a visual learner - I like to see things myself. So I have better luck selling a product that I believe in, and that I’ve been able to see in the field...being able to see things first hand has helped myself believe, and then ultimately help other believe in the product as well.” - Elizabeth Blessum

Josh also emphasized the importance of not only data transparency, but also data privacy. Knowing how to handle this with integrity is of the utmost importance in the trialing process. 

“Farmers have their factories out in the public domain. Everything they do is proprietary to some degree: what products they choose, what seed varieties they choose, how they do things. And it’s all out there. And I think that it can’t be taken for granted if a farmer shares that data with you. That’s a huge amount of IP that they’ve shared with us, and we need to treat it with the respect that it deserves.” - Josh Miller

Be sure to visit In10t at www.In10t.ag and www.FarmerTrials.com. 

Please also thank them on social media for their efforts to make this important series happen. I would have never had access to people like Josh, Elizabeth, or any of the other guests on previous episodes without In10t’s support!