By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

NORMAL, Ill. — With the right technology and corporate partnerships, farmers may be able to boost their income. Consumers want more transparency in where their food comes from and they are often willing to pay extra for it. In order to provide this information, farmers need technological platforms that confidentially record and confirm production practices. They can then enter into contracts with corporations such as McDonald’s and Anheuser-Busch.

How to accomplish this was the topic of the morning session of the WILL Ag TV-Radio 2018 Illinois Farm Assets Conference, held Nov. 20 at the Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center on the Illinois State University campus. Included in a panel discussion were Angie Slaughter, vice president of procurement for Anheuser-Busch InBev, Ken Dallmier, president and COO of Clarkson Grain Company, and Brad Allen, AgirEdge specialist with Syngenta. The panelists discussed their varying roles in the supply chain, along with their companies’ visions of farmer profitability over the next five to 10 years.

The overriding message brought forth by the panelists: in order to enter into production contracts with a growing number of companies, producers must embrace “smart agriculture” and establish field data integration with their end users in order to provide transparency in production practices and prove adherence to their production standards.

“To put the importance to producers to have large corporations reaching across the supply chain to work one-on-one together in perspective, consider this: 10 percent of all beef produced in the U.S. is purchased by McDonalds, but only from their contracted production partners,” said Todd Gleason, WILLAg FM farm broadcaster and emcee of the Farm Assets Conference.

InBev rice and barley growers must practice smart agriculture in areas including water stewardship, climate action and “circular” packaging, according to Slaughter, who works with around 1,000 U.S. producers currently contracted by the company.

 “Smart farming is tailored to a producer’s local environment, in order to improve their agronomic, operational and environmental performance. We have over 100 agronomists on our team who work day in and day out to ensure we are having the right conversations about technology, that we are ensuring that our growers continue to be long term, sustainable growers in our family,” said Slaughter. “A connected grower leverages technology and insight to (document) our performance standards through digital solutions. This is how we are making sure our farmers are connected to each other and have the right production tools, through our Smart Barley and Smart Rice programs.”

The technology behind Syngenta and other companies’ farm data solution technology platforms is ultimately driven by consumers — the ultimate end users — Allen said. “They want to know what’s in their bag of Fritos, or in their milk, and stewardship is becoming more and more important to this. We are providing a way for farmers to track their stewardship.”

Farmers and ranchers must have innovative technologies in and out of the combine that interact and share field and production data with companies such as InBev and McDonald’s in order to become contracted producers. But where do they turn to acquire the technologies that interface with the software used by these companies? Syngenta’s Allen explained that his company’s AgriEdge Excelsior platform, a land db program which operates on any Windows 7 or newer operating system and most mobile devices, can communicate production and field data directly to InBev, at a cost that allows producers a rapid return on investment.

“Field profitability is what this is about, return on investment at a field level,” Allen stated. “You can provide your end user with field-to-market data on your sustainability, stewardship and other data required by your end user.”

Companies usually pay a premium for grain and other commodities produced using higher production standards and supported by data solution technology, noted Dallmier of Clarkson Grain, a specialty grains merchandiser based in Cerro Gordo, Ill. Clarkson Grain specializes in identity-preserved crops and handles specialty grain for many contractors, or companies who contract with area growers.

“New market forces include a growing global middle class, the influence of social values, pollinator-friendly production demands and product transparency,” said Dallmier. “Adapting these social values accelerates brand growth. Millennials and iGens support brands that support their social values. Defining your product increases market share, and product transparency drives opportunity.”

Clarkson Grain is currently offering two-to-threefold higher prices for organic corn and soybeans, prompting many new farmers to lean towards organics and specialty crops on at least a portion of their land. Non-GMO corn should remain 10 to 70 cents above the value of GMO commodity cash prices, he added.

“Why? Because that is what our customers are demanding. My advice is to diversify your operation to take advantage of these opportunities to prosper in the next five to 10 years,” Dallmier said.