The one phrase that has stuck in my mind from all the industry meetings I’ve attended this summer was one I heard while moderating the first-ever Data and Innovation Summit held in conjunction with the National Holstein Convention in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. One of the presenters mentioned during their presentation that, too often, he’s seen producers essentially hand over their dairy’s data for little more than pizza and a beer. He urged producers to consider their data more valuable than that.
I concur and urge you to consider your data like any other valuable commodity on your farm.
Your data, just like any other raw commodity, will need quality assessment, refinement and processing to have increasing value.
That crop in the field is only worth so much until it’s harvested and stored, right? The same goes for data generated from all aspects of your operation. There will be an increasing number of providers who will offer to help harvest and store your growing volumes and varieties of data. Just like a custom harvester or a grain elevator, they will charge you something for their help but then leave you with a more marketable commodity – and data infrastructure – that allows you to still own the final product. Just like with other commodities, the choice you will need to make is if you want to harvest your own data in-house or employ a custom operator to help make it salable and more valuable, which will both have trade-offs.
Thankfully, unlike that conventional crop in the field that, if not harvested, decays and becomes unusable, your dairy’s data crop doesn’t require you to act immediately. It can accumulate over time, generating greater long-term value. In this way, your data is more like a mineral. You hold the rights to it and can mine it when you’re ready, as needed for the specific needs of your business. However, as with most things in life, there is a first-mover advantage to figuring out your dairy’s data strategy – acquiring new skills and bringing data harvesting in-house or outsourcing it.
We’ve published articles in the past about the risks involved from allowing someone to “make a backup” of your herd management system. Beware of those who – knowingly or unknowingly – carry off your data crop on a USB drive. Protect the data you’ve got for your farm like it’s a valuable commodity because, ultimately, that’s what it really is.
Many businesses in other sectors have used their own data, for their own business intelligence, to become some of the most valuable and successful companies in the history of the world. We don’t need to name names. You can probably guess who they are. Dairy farmers can use the same strategy of harvesting their data to become market leaders within agriculture. It’s possible. Believe it’s possible.
Now, from a more nitty-gritty perspective, this issue contains several articles about new technology for your farm.
- Find tips to make the adoption of new technology on your farm easier, read Technology adoption isn't always easy.
- See how herd management systems can help evaluate the ROI of products or practices in use on your farm, read It's time for a dairy technology upgrade.
- Discover the benefits of dairy automation for peace of mind, reduced labor and better cow care, read Is yours working? I know mine is.
- Read about my experience installing Starlink and using it at my rural home in Idaho, read A fast internet on-ramp for dairy operations.
As a dairy futurist, there is no shortage of new technology I am easily distracted by. The pace of technology change continues to increase. One thing is for sure though: All this new technology will only increase the amount of data your farm generates. Don’t be discouraged by it, but rather see it as adding another 100 acres of a valuable crop ready to harvest when you’re ready to do so.
