Why Are Farms Still Flying Blind on Their Own Numbers?

from Growing the Future · host Evan Shout, Dan Aberhart

Every farm already has the data. Almost none of them are using it. Evan Shout, CFO of Hebert Grain Ventures and Maverick Ag, joins the show live from Farm Forum to make the case that agriculture is sitting where Blockbuster sat in 2003, comfortable with the old model, right before it stopped working. He breaks down how one operation turned tax returns, sprayer logs, and combine hours into real financial decisions. What's Inside - The Blockbuster and Netflix comparison he uses to explain where agriculture actually sits on the technology adoption curve - How tracking sprayer working percentage and auto-steer engagement uncovered thousands of dollars in lost efficiency - The top-dress story where trusting the data over gut instinct returned seven dollars for every one spent - Why replacing a key employee costs roughly twice their annual wage once hiring, training, and lost productivity are counted - His case for stress-testing a farm's finances before a bad year forces the questionResources MentionedMaverick AgHebert Grain Ventures Connect with Evan Shout: Maverick AgConnect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future  Subscribe to the GTF Podcast so you don't miss what's next, and register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 23, 2020

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What this episode covers

Evan Shout, CFO of Hebert Grain Ventures and Maverick Ag, joins the show live from Farm Forum to explain how a large Saskatchewan operation turned ordinary farm records, tax returns, sprayer logs, combine hours, into a real decision making system. He walks through the strategic pillars Hebert Grain Ventures built its operation around, from labor culture to equipment utilization to stress-testing the farm's finances before a bad year hits. The tension is that most farms already generate the data they'd need to make better decisions, they just never look at it, defaulting instead to gut feel and habit. Producers walk away with concrete examples of what that data actually found, and a clear-eyed argument for why trusting it beats trusting the tank.