SWAT Agronomy

• SWAT 022: Catching Up On Precision Ag With Chris Hawkins

  In this episode of the SWAT Agronomy podcast we feature Chris Hawkins. Chris is the sales director at Croptimistic Technology based in Saskatchewan. In that role he serves both farmers directly as well as the partners that Croptimistic works with. He’s also responsible for the partner services side of the business, so one of his key objectives is to help their partners grow their businesses. Chris tells host Tim Hammerich talk about his path from the family farm to farm machinery to now ag tech. They also talk more about his experiences working with SWAT MAPS customers, why they don’t have a big sales team, and the path forward for precision agriculture.“ When we can build a zone map for our farmers that is built on those stable properties, and they can count on that map being accurate year after year after year. Then they realized that they can manage those zones better than they could ever do in the past.” - Chris HawkinsFollow Chris on X: @SWATMAPSHawkKey Moments: 00:00 Introduction to SWAT Agronomy 00:48 Guest Introduction: Chris Hawkins02:10 Chris Hawkins' Career Journey03:43 Understanding Precision Agriculture08:44 Challenges and Solutions in Agronomy13:52 Partner Services and Growth21:48 Future of Agriculture Technology24:21 Conclusion and FarewellLearn more at SWATMAPS.com.

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• SWAT 021: Farmer-Led Science With Brett McArtor

  Brett McArtor joins the show to talk about how he using SWAT MAPS in his role as senior research associate at Corteva Agriscience. Since graduating from Iowa State, Brett has remained focused on working directly with farmers to perform trials and research projects on their operations. His work has always involved farmer-led science to determine how new products fit into management systems and how they affect the bottom line. “What does variability within a field mean? I mean, every field has variability, but to what degree is that variability? And is it yield limiting? Is it something that we need to make a decision on? And that's where that boots on the ground part comes in, where we're, we use that SWAT data to go back out, identify what's actually going on in that field.” - Brett McArtorBrett dives into why and how a company like Corteva Agriscience is using precision ag technology, and why SWAT MAPS in particular. 00:00 How Brett thinks about field variability00:32 Assessing the degree and relevance of variables in a field00:36 Impact on yield and decision making00:40 Field analysis with SWAT dataLearn more at SWATMAPS.com

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• SWAT 020: Population Trials with Paul Sullivan of P.T. Sullivan Agro

  Paul Sullivan (Twitter/X) joins the show to talk about the challenges he and his farmers are dealing with in his area of Eastern Ontario. We discuss some really interesting population trials that he’s doing, fertility issues coming off years of high fertilizer prices, and what difference SWAT MAPS has made for him and his farmer customers. “When we look at yield, yield is a component of kernel number times kernel weight, and that gives us basically yield per acre. So with the definition of the SWAT MAPS we feel those yield components, we can kind of connect the genetics with the water supplying capacity in addition to the management of the farm.” - Paul SullivanPaul is a certified crop consultant and agronomist in Eastern Ontario. He has operated his agronomy services firm, PT Sullivan Agro, since 1997, and started using SWAT MAPS in recent years. His area of the province, which is just outside of Ottawa, is mostly corn, soybeans and wheat. Paul’s work focuses on developing crop plans around nutrient management, pH, pesticides, and some genetic recommendations as well. Before starting the business, Paul spent eight years as a soil and crop advisor with the ministry of agriculture and food covering three counties with the provincial extension group there. So he has a long history of working directly with farmers to solve agronomic problems. 00:00 Welcome to SWAT Agronomy Podcast00:26 Introduction to Today's Episode00:55 Meet Paul Sullivan02:23 Paul's Agronomy Journey02:49 Early Challenges and Solutions04:48 Soil and Fertility Issues06:18 Managing Crop Residue08:28 Adopting SWAT MAPS14:47 Population Trials and Hybrid Management21:03 Impact of SWAT Maps on Business23:20 Conclusion and FarewellLearn more at SWATMAPS.com

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• SWAT 019: Developing and Scaling Precision Agriculture Tools with Derek Rude

  In this episode of the SWAT Agronomy podcast, Derek Rude, VP of Research and Development at Croptimistic Technology, discusses the evolution of precision ag technologies like SWAT MAPS and SWAT CAM. The conversation touches upon the development of precision agriculture tools, advancements in soil mapping, challenges in scaling SWAT MAPS, the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning models, and the introduction of SWAT CAM for crop and weed imaging. Derek highlights the importance of data integration, higher resolution soil sampling, and future improvements using AI and autonomous technologies to enhance efficiency and agronomic decision-making.“The real value is tying that data back to the SWAT zones. Because we know all of these critical properties: the soil properties, the water properties of these SWAT zones. So now we can really better explain what the SWAT CAM data is telling us, because we have that foundation, that SWAT foundation. So we can go take some pictures of some fields and show some variability. That's cool. But until we tie it back to the SWAT foundation, it doesn't have that big value that it does now.” - Derek Rude00:00 Welcome to the SWAT Agronomy podcast00:33 Introduction to Today's Episode01:49 Meet Derek Rude: Background and Experience02:37 Challenges and Innovations in SWAT Technology03:24 The Evolution of SWAT BOX04:21 SWAT BOX Features and Advancements07:24 Integrating AI and Machine Learning10:48 SWAT CAM: Crop and Weed Imaging12:07 Future Directions and Challenges18:12 Adoption and Feedback on SWAT CAM22:19 Autonomous Soil Sampling and Ground Truthing28:56 Final Thoughts and Contact InformationLearn more at SWATMAPS.com

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• SWAT 018: Prairie Legend Les Henry

  We have a really special episode for you as we sit down with Les Henry. Retired in 1996, Les is a professor emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan, a private consultant, and farmer. He is a renowned soils expert and in 2010 he released a lighthearted book about his passion for soils titled “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water”. He has taught and mentored many farmers, agronomists and ag professionals over the years, and his impact on the industry cannot be overstated. In today’s episode, Les reflects on his career milestones including conducting soil surveys, helping farmers solve problems like soil salinity, teaching and research he has done both in Canada and abroad, his 48 years of writing, his views on farmer-led research and extension and much much more. “At the end of the meeting, a farmer got up and said, 'you told us what we already knew in language we couldn't understand and took all day to do it. And he was right! So on the way home, I said to my department head, we have to do something different here. That was something I'll remember forever.” - Les Henry1:56 Henry’s background and how he started his career3:06 Working on soil surveys and getting started in teaching4:12 The importance of listening to farmers6:30 Henry’s work on salinity12:24 The five years Les spent on soil surveys13:44 Work in soil fertility15:44 What’s different from what he used to teach about soils?19:36: Writing “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water”23:15 The top takeaway from Les’ writing25:18 Research needs to start with a real problem26:00 Recent writing on cover crops28:00 Variable rate and SWAT MAPS34:03 Government interference35:36 What Les is most proud of37:50 Doing things “My Way”Purchase a copy of “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water” Learn more at SWATMAPS.com.

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