Episode 3 - Objective Decision Making in Agriculture

Scott Jackman from Deveron talks with Aaron Breimer from Veritas Farm Management about objective decision making in agriculture.  They discuss how precision agriculture seeks to increase objective decision making.

Over the next couple episodes, we will be talking about decision making.  There are two broad types of decision making. Subjective decision making - which relies of experience and gut feeling. And objective decision making - which relies on quantifiable data and facts.

Both types of decision making are used in agriculture. Traditionally, growers have used subjective decision making relying on their experience and their gut feeling to make decisions.  This is ok.  And it has gotten growers to be able to produce food and survive in up and down markets.  However, precision agriculture seeks to bring more objective decision making by mapping and recording data to enable decision making.

And for a completely different perspective, I will be talking with COL retired Jim Greer from the US Army to discuss subjective decision-making in a future episode.

Outline

Defining objective and subjective decision makingWhat are some differences?Gut & Experience vs dataRepeatable with a high level of confidenceWhy is important to know about these differences?Helps us recognize preconceived notions about our operationHelps us recognize where we may be making a decision based off of experience as opposed to the data that is right in front of us.What is the value of objective decision making?In what ways is it useful to improve agriculture?Small ball wins - from Money BallWhat opportunities are easily adaptable with little to no investmentWhy is it difficult to do objective decision making in agriculture?InteractionsSoil has physical, chemical and biological components that all interact with each otherIt is a different way of thinking - emotions come into playEvery field is unique Farmers who comment - that is interesting, “but that isn’t my field”Advanced statisticsThis is not easyWhat is more important - yields or economicsHow do we incorporate this type of decision making into agriculture?Step 1 - need to have a willingness to do betterStep 2 - start analyzing your dataLay out a strategyMake a decision and start making improvements - Be willing to take a risk.