Moving Forward: From Humble Beginnings to Cutting-Edge Technology
August 12, 2019
When my dad and his brothers started farming back in the 1970s, they started from nothing. The equipment they used back then is completely different than what we use today, and the technology to save and analyze data consisted of hand-written notes. Over the years our farming operation has grown to more than 7,000 acres - these days we need a lot more than pen and paper to keep our records or we’re going to get left behind. I’m all about moving forward and changing things up, and the tools I get from FieldView enable me to do that. From the moment we made FieldView a part of our operation, we started gaining efficiencies, and we view it as key to helping us continue to increase production.
Lessons Learned From Family and Partnerships
When I started farming with my dad and his brothers back in 2011, I had a lot to learn. To see what they’ve accomplished and to have them be there to help me along, I saw it as a huge opportunity to learn from them and continue to grow what they built. And now with the digital technology from FieldView being a big part of our operation, I feel like they’re learning something new from me and have become very accepting of this newer technology. It allows us to see data we’ve collected on inputs over the past year as well as prior seasons, and makes it easy and efficient to review and analyze that data.
Our scouting and crop consultant Shawn Kand is key to our success when analyzing data throughout the season. He’s out there in the field scouting our crop, which allows us to stay focused on other things. A big part of what Shawn does for us is flying drones and incorporating those imagery maps. It’s easy for him to import his NDVI drone imagery into FieldView, and from there we overlay those maps onto seed prescription maps or variety selections. Being able to see that type of crop performance information all together helps us make better decisions for next year.
None of what Shawn does would be possible though without the sharing tools FieldView has to offer. We can share our entire operation with him or our seed dealer - who just happens to be my sister Jordan - or allow them access to individual fields. They’re basically another set of eyes for us, and in some cases they might see something in our fields that we don’t. This sharing capability becomes invaluable to us in these instances because it helps us get out ahead of an issue and take action to help protect yield.
With the information we’ve seen in FieldView this year, we’re already starting to make decisions for 2020. These decisions are discussed as a family. We sit around the breakfast table most mornings, and it’s always lively. Even though we’re often arguing our respective points, there’s also plenty of laughing. We may be coming from different perspectives, but ultimately we’re bonded in our goal to take every opportunity to make Beyke Farms as successful as we can. It’s our livelihood, our life and our legacy. And we want to leave it better than we found it for the next generation.
About the Author
Logan Beyke is a third generation farmer with Hubert Beyke & Sons in Whitesville Ky. Logan farms alongside his dad, uncles, brother in law, and cousin, raising corn and soybeans.
