Alecia Stuaan: Hello and welcome to the Parallel Path. The Parallel Path is a monthly podcast from the marketing team at Parallel Ag, bringing real conversations from across the agriculture industry. In each episode, we will sit down with equipment experts, service professionals, industry leaders, and farmers to talk about the challenges, innovations, and decisions shaping modern agriculture. From iron and uptime to technology and market trends, the Parallel Path focuses on the people and ideas that keep farms moving forward. Today's episode is all about precision. Precision technology is changing faster than just about anything else in ag. And it can be tough to know what actually matters for your operation versus what just sounds good. We're sitting down with our new director of precision technology, Fresh off his time with AGCO's PTX team to talk about where the industry he is headed, what he's building with the precision with the parallel ag precision team, and what customers should really be paying attention to right now. Shawn Thank you so much for joining us today. But before we dive into any of the precision stuff, can you give us a quick version? Who are you? Where did you grow up and how did you end up in Ag?
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so my name is Shawn Meyer. as she said, I'm the director of Ag Technology here at Parallel Ag. started out, born raised in Kansas, still live in Kansas, central Kansas to be exact. grew up kind of in a small farming community, helped out on the farm in the summers. actually went to college to be a mechanic. worked on trucks for four years before I came back into the ag world with ag co but so kinda been around ag my whole life. worked on it. harvest corn, you know. Not as not as popular in Kansas as you can imagine. It's kinda dry down there. But kinda just grew up with the agriculture world and went in the trucks for a little bit and decided I loved it so came back.
Alecia Stuaan: There you go. So did you dry land corn, would it have been on pivots or did you have more wheat? What was your area like down there?
Shawn Meyer: We did a lot more wheat than anything. typically in Kansas we're seeing some more dryland corn, but typically if you were putting corn in you were probably gonna have it under a pivot.
Alecia Stuaan: Okay.
Shawn Meyer: To make sure you get some get some bushels out of it actually.
Alecia Stuaan: And precision specifically, did a door just open up for you at AgCo or did you just plan for that?
Shawn Meyer: So I actually w went to college and I told my college teachers that I was never gonna work in the ag world again. so I went out and worked on trucks for four years and then an opportunity my friend actually worked for Ag Co opportunity opened up and Came back into the ag world there, started out with agco actually in TSS, actually answering phone calls and advising technicians on what to check, what to work on, or what to look at when they had problems. So actually started there with agco at TSS and helping technicians resolve issues on machines. So
Amber Stanik: So what pulled you to Parallel Ag? Because you had options.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so it's been a long time with AgCo and PTX. I was actually there for nine years. when I took the PTX role for the field focus region manager was my title there. I actually worked with the parallel team. I was actually their rep for PTX. so worked closely with the parallel team and the guys on the that now work with me in the precision technology world and just got to know the team really well. They're a lot more local to which is weird for me to say I'm in Kansas and we go from the panhandle of Texas all the way up in the northern Illinois, but compared to my territory at AgCo, they were a little bit more local for me. like the idea of kinda getting out of the more corporate world and coming back into a little bit smaller company, a little bit more personal and being able to work directly with customers again. So
Alecia Stuaan: So let's talk PTX. I'm very familiar with the Ag Leader world. I can't that's the area that I grew up with. But for anyone who doesn't know, talk us through what PTX is and what your role there looked like.
Shawn Meyer: So PTX is actually a pretty new venture for AgCo. I say new, the name is new. The technology inside of the name is not new. so PTX is AgCo's aftermarket. branch of the Ag Cool Corporation. And what's underneath there is essentially your precision planting and tremble technology. So they brought precision planting and tremble, put underneath the same branch, and PTX main focus is for aftermarket installations for any brand of machine you want to put it on. that's kind of the aftermarket. So when I was there working for them, I was what they call the field focus region manager. So my job is or my job was, I had dealerships, I covered Colorado South over to Florida was my territory with them. But essentially I was the main contact for any of the PTX dealers in that region to get a hold of if they had questions on invoicing, if they had questions about voting machines, you know, how a certain technology worked, I was the I was the main contact for them to reach out to to try to get an idea of how a new technology worked or like I said, any of their invoicing issues or maybe help with quoting machines and what to put on So
Alecia Stuaan: What was the coolest thing you got to work on while you were there?
Shawn Meyer: Boy.
Alecia Stuaan: Ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: I do a lot of cool stuff. PTX side specifically. Outback was pretty cool. or not, sorry. not Outback, Out Run. Outrun is their autonomous grain cart solution. So being able to put that on a machine and actually go out and control the grain cart without anyone in the cab, put it under the combine, unload it. It's pretty cool c technology and then as I was leaving PTX was when the autonomous tillage is starting to really pick up now. So being able to see those technologies go out, actually operate, work without someone in the tractor and being able to control it from your phone or tablet was that's pretty cool project.
Alecia Stuaan: Cool, but it's also freaky.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: It it can be a little freaky when you're looking in your mirror and a machine's pulling up underneath your auger to unload and there's no one in the seat. It's it's definitely a strange experience.
Alecia Stuaan: I can imagine. from the OEM C, what were customers asking for that genuinely surprised you?
Shawn Meyer: From the OEM side, I think the big push with them was always integration. customers, you know, when technology was first picking up, we would you could have three, four monitors in the cab of a tractor.
Alecia Stuaan: Mm.
Shawn Meyer: And I think the modern the modern OE modern manufacturers really looking to push that down to get you into one, probably two displays in the cab at a max. so with that, with the integration of a lot of ISO functionality of the implements, you know, you used to have to have your own monitor for an implement if it was pulled behind you so you could control the implement, and then you had a guidance screen and then you had the factory display. So really trying to combine those solutions and make sure you can operate it out of one screen instead of having to have three or four different screens. in the cab is one of the big pushes from a OE perspective.
Alecia Stuaan: I mean I've been in those tractors that have, you know, the five screens and you've got one that probably is an iPad that's streaming something. But I've been in there. I've I've sat in there and I cannot just that whole wall of monitors is insane.
Shawn Meyer: wall of monitors is what we called it. And you know, it might not have been bad when we first came out 'cause you know, you were operating five, six, seven inch
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: monitors, but, you know, from precision planning, you know, we got a sixteen inch monitor, you can put it in a cab now. So the monitors are getting bigger, the technology's getting better and just trying to bring all of that into a more seamless solution where, you know, you're only operating out of one or two screens.
Amber Stanik: Here's what I'm curious about. What does the OAM side get right and where do dealers have to fill in the gap?
Shawn Meyer: So OEM, the biggest thing they do right, is integration, right? You buy a machine with OE guidance in it, it feels like it's meant to be there. It's works in their screen, it works with the hydraulic functions, and like I said, it's just it's all integrated, it all works well. the biggest thing that we fill the gap in when you're talking about a aftermarket precision solution is A lot of the OEs have great options for, you know, your guidance. They got headland turn. They have a lot of the features that you the standard person would need. But as you start looking into, say, maybe an implement guidance or water management or some of the more advanced features like Outrun and things like that, that's when we step into that more aftermarket world where those guys are a lot more flexible to go and try those things, go and do things that from an OE perspective, it will get there. The OEs will get there and it'll be integrated eventually. But right now it's you know it's that aftermarket solution for a lot of that autonomous options and like I said, your water managements, your implement guidances. and even some of the OEs already have implement guidance coming out on
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: their sheets. so there all that integration is happening, but as that integration is happening also the aftermarket technology is pushing the boundary of what we're doing with autonomous solutions and things like that. So there's always more coming out on the aftermarket side than the OE.
Alecia Stuaan: So jumping into parallel, what was the first thing that hit you when you actually walked in to join the team here?
Shawn Meyer: So how different well and granted I kinda knew how different the territory was just from one end to the other, just because I had such a large territory at agco or PTX, but jumping into parallel just seeing how truly different after you actually get in and talk to the customers and you get to go out and see what they're doing in the field, how different it actually changes when you go from Illinois to Texas. there is a giant flip in technology, tech preferred technology brands, preferred ways of operation. It's just you know, got a lot more swathers down south than we do up in Illinois. just how much the practices and everything changes when you go from the south to the north.
Alecia Stuaan: So what in that footprint that shocked you besides the difference in technology?
Shawn Meyer: So I would say d as you head farther south, you know, they're not they enjoy accuracy. you have guys that are running RTK. Or you could have a guy that's asking me for a light bar down south. Whereas
Alecia Stuaan: Really?
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, I had I have had so many questions about light bars the farther I move south, which to someone from the Northern Territory is you know, we don't do light bars anymore, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm. Nope.
Shawn Meyer: It's gotta be RTK, it's gotta be subinch accuracy, we're planting implement guidance, like the technology up north is almost mandatory. Whereas when you head down south where it gets a little flatter, a lot of those technologies, though accuracy is important to a whole bunch of guys down there, I don't want to say that I mean, they have a big R T K base station down in Texas too. So we have a lot of guys running R T K with cotton and things like that. But just realizing and seeing that there are still a lot of guys out there that you know, they're still using light bar guidance and a lot of the old tremble systems and agbeater systems that come in that are like, well, I don't really want to update it 'cause this works and I know it, right? So
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. The good old Integras.
Shawn Meyer: Yes. The good old good old Integras, easy guy five hundreds, you name
Alecia Stuaan: So
Shawn Meyer: it.
Alecia Stuaan: not gonna age myself, but gonna age myself. The first
Amber Stanik: Ha ha
Alecia Stuaan: yield monitor that my parents had was a PF advantage. And you had the little dial to adjust everything. When I was a tech,
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, it's cool.
Alecia Stuaan: I still had guys that was when so it was when integrers were just getting replaced with in commands. There were still guys that I would go see that had one of those PF advantages in central Iowa. It's it's crazy to see the difference in technology. And then finding the card readers so you could actually print off those maps.
Shawn Meyer: It's always fun. Either that are getting the receipts from some of the older Glinger combines actually had receipts where it would print.
Alecia Stuaan: Hm. Interesting.
Amber Stanik: so where do you see the biggest opportunity and what made you say yes to this?
Shawn Meyer: So I think the biggest opportunity is technology is always growing. I mean you see it in computers, you see it in your cellphones, you see it in trucks. Technology isn't going away. we're just growing and getting better and offering more. So some of the biggest advantages or biggest opportunities for us is we have, you know, we offer Ag Leader, we have Raven, we have Trimble, we have Precision Planning, we have so many options for technology that when you come to parallel for your technology needs, what we're looking to do is come alongside you and help you make a decision of what technology is gonna work best for you. a lot of dealers, you know, will they have one option, two options, and they're trying to talk you into one of those two options. Where with us, you know. We're here to help you make a decision, but we also want to make sure it's the right decision for your farm. We want to make sure that you're comfortable with the technology you're putting in your tractor and also that it's going to work with the fleet you already have. Because like we talked about with OE integration, that's also important when you're running more than one brand of tractor, right? So being able to get all that information back into one spot so that you can decipher what happened during the year and make decisions based upon that.
Alecia Stuaan: Alright, so where does the parallel precision seam stand right now and where do you want it to be in a year?
Shawn Meyer: So right now my team consists of I have six guys underneath me. I have two looking for probably a third from an open position standpoint. looking to continue to grow this team and expand this team as we go forward. But from a precision team standpoint, what I'm looking to do is grow this team so that like I said, we can be an advisor more than you know, we sell trembles, so that's what you're gonna buy, right? I want to come along Alongside our farmers, and I want to say, okay, perfect, you're running Ag Leader, that's fine. We have that as an option. Here's our options. Or, you know, even the guys that are running John Deere, right? We got John Deere. Well, we're a soul steer. We can do soul steer, we can do Rycart, we can we can integrate your John Deere guidance into our machines, and that way everything still ports into your op center. So really wanting to build a culture here that more of a partner with you trying to make sure we get you in the right technology more than we're just trying to sell you a a brand that we support, right? So really trying to keep that open and then expand the team, you know, a lot of Or some companies have started to minimize their precision teams. And I think a lot of that comes from just not growing with the technology, right? So precision teams when they first came out, we were A B lines. We were gonna control your guidance, like that was all technology was. Where to me now technology has expanded to not so much the A B guidelines anymore because it's so integrated into a machine. We've had it for ninety six probably we've had you know guidance the early nineties so it's not so much the A B lines anymore as it is hey I got my harvest data I got my planning data and I got my spraying data I want to put that into a program and I want to see what actually worked right
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: I want to see that I applied this chemical and my bushels actually went up. Right? So proving out the tech or proven out what we're doing in the field by getting that data and pulling it into a farm engage or you're John Deer Ops, a lot of guys are running. SMS, you know, Digi F or not DigiFarm.
Alecia Stuaan: What is the
Shawn Meyer: Climate. That one. There's a lot of different options out there, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: And precision planning has theirs also. but being able to bring that into one program, put all that information in one spot so we can start to dissect what actually happened during the season and then make decisions based upon that to produce more crop next year.
Alecia Stuaan: That you're speaking to my data mind right there. That was actually my bread and butter when I was in precision technology. In fact I still help manage about ten thousand acres. and that is literally the root of where I think precision needs to be headed because you're really able to help people identify their cost and income per acre. And that's where,
Shawn Meyer: Mm-hmm.
Alecia Stuaan: especially in today's market, you're gonna wind up finding where your profitability actually is.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. And I think it's a big or it's not a big scare, but you have a lot of guys out there that they'll buy one brand of machine because They want it all to come in on, you know, like for example, an op center, or you have an AgCo guy that or a Tremble guy that's running Farm Engage now, used to be Tremble agriculture software before Agco purchased it. But you have guys that almost get married to a brand because they want that data. Whereas with where technology is today and where farming gauge has come and all of the other programs out there where, you know, we can run a fence sprayer with Raven Technology on it, and I can slingshot that. That data and put it into a farm engage for or op center for you. I can put it in the farm and gauge. So just trying to make sure that we understand also that just because we're in a brand doesn't mean we have to stay there. We can port this data over. We can get all the data you need into any program you're running. And like I said, if you're running op center, we're more than happy to work with you and help you get your data in op center so that you can see that same kind of breakdown that you would see in a farm engage program. So really like I said, just try to make sure that we come alongside you, get you in the right tech and get the data where you need it so you can make those decisions.
Alecia Stuaan: Are customers already seeing that change or what change do you think they're gonna see first?
Shawn Meyer: I think from a northern perspective, I think we have a lot of guys that are really, you know, they're logging the data, they wanna see what happened, they wanna see population, they wanna see harvest data, and they wanna put that all together so they can see how many bushels an acre they got based upon what they did in the field. I think you're only gonna see that trend grow. you're gonna see that trend continue to head farther south as the technology becomes more normal. or with technology as it comes out, as you know, as it ages, it becomes more affordable. So as it becomes more affordable, it's gonna become a more feasible option for guys that are outside of the two hundred and fifty bushel an acre corn world to, you know, start getting into that technology and starting to see the benefits there. 'cause a lot of the benefits of the technology is being able to decipher what you did and what actually worked and what actually did it.
Alecia Stuaan: Exactly. So when we're thinking about support and response time, how do you how are you planning on handling those challenges for the team? 'Cause when something goes down, it's down bad. It's never something quick and easy.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. So one of the big things that we're really starting to get into here and I'm starting to try to push my team into and also our service teams is remote support capabilities. a lot of our most of our third party monitors, if not all of the third party monitors, have remote support capability. So being able to use that capability to actually look at your machine and say, Okay say you have a GFX 1060 or 1260 in your display and you're having some guidance issues or something like that. Well let us remote in before we drive an hour or two to your farm to come look at it. Let us remote in and see what's going on and maybe that'll give us a better idea of a part we need to bring, right? So trying to be able to make sure we utilize time and utilize those remote support tools. to prevent your downtime because yes, you gotta hook it to Wi Fi and we have to remote in and that might take us forty five minutes, but me my guy driving two hours to you, not having the part, and then driving two hours back to the shop and driving back takes more time. So trying to Make those processes as simple as possible and try to work on the front side to gather that data so that when we do come to you we have the s we hopefully have the solution on our truck to get you back up and running.
Alecia Stuaan: So optimal customer experience, what do you think it is?
Shawn Meyer: Well, everything just works and it never breaks and you never
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: have to talk to me again.
Alecia Stuaan: Well, ideally
Amber Stanik: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: Ideally that's how everything would work, right? But our ideal experience is like I said, you come talk to us, we're your partner. We want to put you in the technology that's gonna work best on your farm, whether that be a solution that helps integrate into John Deere Ops, that's a solution that you know Goes to Farm Engage or the Trimble software if you have all the Trimble displays on your farm, or even Ag Leader, right? any of those brands, just making sure that we're able to come along and partner with you and put you in the right technology. But even after that, after we put you in the right technology piece, we have programs or promotions that we put out there for remote support or PTX support where you can buy into a plan and hey, we cover all of this and that cost you so much a year, right? Trying to get to the point where we can give you a cost of what the service is gonna cost. And then like I said, utilizing When you're down having a response where, hey, perfect, I know it's not working, let me remote in. Let me look at it. See what's going on. Maybe it's something I can fix remotely and I don't even have to come see you. Or worst case scenario, hey, perfect. This is probably the issue. I'll make sure I grab one before I come out to you, and then we can do a little bit more research on the front side to get you up and running faster.
Amber Stanik: So how do you actually measure whether precision is paying off for a customer?
Shawn Meyer: So the big thing with precision is it really depends on where you are in the technology scope to say if something is paying off, right? So If we upgrade your planner and say we put you in a precision planner with downforce, all of that, you're really gonna have to get the data back or we have to go out in the field and we're gonna have to do our surveys and our scouting to see, yes, we did have an improved stand, yes, we got improved bushels, right? But if you're really high in the technology world or you got a you know, the planner with exact eMERGE, any of that kind of technology on it, that data coming back in is gonna be very important to determine. what technology might be working and what maybe, you know, we didn't need to do. if you're a guy that, you know, like I got guys out there that are just driving a light bar, if you're out there just using a light bar, I think the first step is you get into a machine that drives for you. And I think the biggest thing you're going to see from that is A, you're not as tired at the end of the day. I am as against self-driving vehicles as anyone else, trust me. I have a 2006 Silver Auto. That's my truck. That's
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: I will never get rid of it, right? That's my baby. But also I have a 2025 Silverado that's got, you know, the lane assistant and adaptive cruise on it. I can tell you after driving seven hours in that truck compared to seven hours in my 06, I get out of that twenty-five and the technology that is in it. just takes so much off of me that you feel a lot more energized at the end of the day. And I think that's where a lot of guys are gonna see the benefit if they are running a light bar out there still or even a guidance system that, you know, maybe it's time to upgrade, you know, but it just takes so much off of you as the operator that at the end of the day you just feel better.
Alecia Stuaan: So let's talk to the customer who might feel like they're behind. They know they should be doing more with precision, but they don't know where to start. What should we tell
Shawn Meyer: So the biggest thing is, like I said, it really depends on where you feel you're behind. Are you behind that I don't even do auto guide? Are you behind that, you know, I have auto guide, but I want to step up and do a you know, maybe that data management and start collecting that data? And the biggest thing is, I mean, the hardest part is just starting and obviously getting into a program. And it doesn't have to be the fanciest program there is. you know, we do from Trimble's side, we still do the easy steers, which is a foam roller that clamps up against your steering wheel and it just spins, right? So we have options to get you into a steering system that's very affordable just to get you in it so you can see the benefits of it, right? But that would be the main thing is just getting started and then like I said, coming to us and just have the conversation with us about where you're at and where you want to be. 'cause more than likely we got a solution that, yeah, like I said, you might not need down force and speed tubes and all of that on your planner, but you know, maybe we can get you into a V drive system and start getting you some of those advancements and we can build upon that. that's one of the great things about Aftermath. market technology too is it's not all or nothing, you know, we can start at the bottom and then we can build on that year over year to get you caught back up.
Alecia Stuaan: So what is a difference between what we see a flashy stuff on a spec sheet and the stuff that actually moves on the operation? 'Cause there's lots of fancy options out there right now, and I'm saying that just because of the advancements that I've seen in the last five years. But what actually if it goes back to where do they start? What is the one thing that you would have someone start with versus all of the flashy stuff?
Shawn Meyer: So if you're looking for something basic just to start with, any kind of monitor if well, then you're coming back to what machine brand what machine are we in? Are we in a sprayer, are we
Alecia Stuaan: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: in a planner, are we in a tractor just pulling tillage,
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: right? for a guy that's just got a tractor pulling tillage, maybe he's still good guiding by hand or a lot of those guys anymore are on lost systems. but a lot of that where would you start? Like said, it's really starts with a conversation with us and just to see what options are out there for ya. because we gotta understand where you are to advise, right? Now there's a lot of features out there, you know, I talked about implement guidance a little bit at the beginning. You know, we got water management, things like that. But most people aren't gonna be running that. And also it depends on the territory you're in. You're down south where it's nice and flat and you probably don't need implement guidance. Whereas if you get into the hills up farther north, you know, implement guidance is nice to make sure all your rows are right and you're keeping them implement where it's supposed to be on that hill instead of the tractor. So Then I think that's another fun thing about precision technology and what gets me excited, especially with the territory we cover, is there are so many different options out there. So many different guys that are operating in different conditions that, you know, unfortunately there's not a one size fits all solution in technology. It all depends upon the operation and what you're trying to run.
Amber Stanik: What's a misconception you hear from growers all the time?
Shawn Meyer: Depends on the territory. So a lot I hear, you know, kind of in the Illinois, I get the feeling a lot of the times, you know, you put w you put tile in, you go out with any planter, you put seed in the ground, it's gonna grow two hundred fifty bushel core. Which you know, eighty percent of the time, ninety percent of the time, you're probably right. You'll probably get two fifty out of it. But if we upgrade that technology and we make your planter get your spacing better, get your depth right on your corn seed. Do we take that 250 and bump it to 255? Do we bump it to 260? So the conversation becomes less about, well, I just need to make two fifty bushel corn and it becomes, okay, well, let's capitalize on the dollars you're putting in the ground and upgrade and get you better space and get you better emergence, get you better all of that, and let's start increasing your bushels. I two fifty doesn't need to be the limit. Let's push for three hundred.
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: Let's keep let's keep growing this and utilize every dollar you're putting in the ground and push more bushels out of it.
Alecia Stuaan: Speaking of different products, what's available right now that customers should know about?
Shawn Meyer: So the PTX team is putting a lot of work in, and that's precision planting and tremble from implement guidance and then we talked about outrun, the autonomous grain cart solution, autonomous tillage, being able to run a lot of those things. those are really cool technologies that are coming out that I think are gonna be are eventually gonna become mainstays. But now I'm spacing.
Alecia Stuaan: You're fine. I just space two, so
Shawn Meyer: Ha ha ha.
Alecia Stuaan: are there any promos right now that the precision team is running that guy should be jumping on?
Shawn Meyer: So we have a lot of promotions out there. Actually, a lot of our manufacturers from Ag Leader, Raven, Trimble are running technology trade-up programs right now. so really, there really hasn't been a better time for if you're looking to get into a newer system to bring me your old technology or you don't have to bring it to me, but take a picture, say, hey, this is what I have in my tractor, what's it worth? You know, we got trade-up programs that are running up to five, six grand on used. Technology that hey we'll trade you into a new system. and that's a good opportunity to get you into some of that newer tech. get you into a newer receiver that might have some ionic guard on it, which protects you from solar activity. We've all experienced some of that where you know we lose connection due to a solar flare or something like that. So a lot of these newer technologies they're starting to compensate for that now and starting to build in guards to help keep you guided. Longer when something does happen. That's not to say if we get a really bad solar flare, it's gonna shut everything down. It's just how it works.
Alecia Stuaan: It is. Yep.
Shawn Meyer: But we can keep you good we can keep you in the field longer than you would be with some of those older receivers and older technology. So and then like I said, just being able to see the advancements, you know, of technology and put you in a system that Yeah, you might just be doing a guidance system now. Maybe we trade you up and we get you in a guidance system, but you know, two years from now you decide you want to do implement guidance. Well, perfect. You got a new system. You traded up two years ago. Now all we have to do is add this, this, and this to get you to implement guidance or to water management or to you know, the upgrade ability of the new systems is great also because once you get With technology, you know, as it ages, you get to a point where it works, but you can't really upgrade it, right? You can't really get into the new tech, you can't really get into the new programs, the new widget. So just being in a current guidance system gives you those abilities that you might not have with that older system. But yeah, I think I think right now every one of our manufacturers is running some kind of trade up program. So If you're like I said, if you're running old technology out there and have thought about upgrading, now's the time to bring it into us and see what it's worth. Or or like I said, you don't have to bring it to me, but bring me a picture, bring me a at least know what's on the machine so we can get you an accurate trade in value on it. I don't want you to uninstall your guidance system from your machine to bring it to me, right? So
Alecia Stuaan: No thank you. We don't want to have to go back out and reinstall that.
Shawn Meyer: That's right. I don't want to have to go put it back. I don't want you to have to go put it back. So but like I said, at least know the model of your screen and your receiver and we can pro we can get you a value of what it is worth on these trade up programs.
Amber Stanik: Is there anything new releasing that you're excited about?
Shawn Meyer: so one of the things that well, there's a lot releasing that I'm excited about. I'll take a moment to talk about PTX 'cause One of the things they just came out with is AeroTube, which is actually orientating the seed and putting it in the trench a proper way so the leaves sprout row to row instead of over the top of each other. So that's a real cool technology. Outrun, other technologies like that with the autonomous guidance, autonomous tillage capabilities. You know, there's there's just a lot happening in the precision world and what they're pushing now, that you know, five years ago we would have never thought of. But now, you know, we're breaking those boundaries and it's gonna become it's gonna become common practice before we know it.
Alecia Stuaan: That's the thought of orienting the seed in the row, number one, blows my mind. But then you can also think about it and think about the benefits that that's gonna have because it's gonna have your row coverage, which means you're not gonna have to go in and do as much chemical spray on weeds and there's that's that's mind blow like I in a million years would have never thought that that was something that we could solve.
Shawn Meyer: yeah. Well and it's I mean it's it's pretty amazing technology that they got coming out of there. And like I said, just to be able to orientate that seed, put it in the trench properly, but also position it properly so
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: I forget the word, but it's pointed down so your emergence is faster. And then Most of the time your leaves grow a certain way, depending upon how you orientate that seed in the ground, to make that go row to row. so faster emergence. It's gonna get more sun on your crop. And the more sun you get, the more water you get, the more bushels we produce. So
Alecia Stuaan: Yep. Yep.
Shawn Meyer: yeah, just what they're doing in that space is it's pretty impressive.
Alecia Stuaan: More impressive to me than autonomous tractors, to be honest. So if anyone's listening and wants to take a actually take advantage of any of these programs, what do they do and who do they call?
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so you can reach out to any of our stores. Talk to them what's gonna happen. I have like I said, I have six guys right now, so the store will probably direct your call to one of my precision team or they will send us a note and then we will reach out to you and talk to you about the options you have and what upgrades we can do and any of that kind of stuff. But yeah, just get a hold of any of our stores, any of our locations. tell Hey, I'm interested in possibly trading in some of my technology and they'll get you a hold of my team and We'd be happy to talk to you and like I said, be a part be a partner with you and try to put you in the best solution for your farm.
Alecia Stuaan: Right, I feel like we kind of have covered this, but I'm just gonna go ahead and ask it again. zooming out, what are trends that w you're watching in the industry right now?
Shawn Meyer: Biggest trends in the industry, I would say it's kinda hard to answer that. But like I said, precision depends so much on what you're doing as an operator that my trend up here might be different than my trend down south, but I think the biggest trend start to be the adaption of technology and actually utilizing your data. I think as we start to realize the gains of being able to see how we planted, the chemical we applied, and then what happened at harvest with the bushels and being able to take those three data points and look into it and decipher how we need to change going forward to produce better crop. I think you're only gonna see a rise in arise in the need for that and the importance of that. you know, we got a lot more farms today that are talking to agronomists than we ever had before. And it's a trend that's only gonna continue as we continue to update technology and re like I said, take that data in so we can make better decisions, right? We're only as good as what we know. So if we don't know what we're doing in the ground and what we're getting out of it and what we're doing, then who's to say that it's actually helping?
Alecia Stuaan: Amber Europe.
Amber Stanik: Sor yeah, my bad. I spaced. My bee. autonomy, real answer. Are we closer to self driving tractors or flying cars?
Shawn Meyer: Self driving tractors. Well, I guess it depends on how you say that too. I think with I think the thing we're a lot closer to self driving tractors. I think when you talk about flying cars, the biggest the biggest hang up you have there is there's a lot more population of cars than there are tractors. Right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm. Yes.
Amber Stanik: Yes.
Shawn Meyer: and we have the we have the s solutions for autonomy now. fence working real hard on making autonomous tractors. you already have robots out there doing w weed work in some fields. we got drones that are out there spraying. So I think autonomy in the agriculture world is coming on a lot faster than the flying car wish. There are flying cars
Alecia Stuaan: I wish.
Amber Stanik: Right?
Shawn Meyer: out there. I think the logistics of actually putting that in practice with just how many cars and people are out there compared to tractors
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: gonna be the hang up.
Alecia Stuaan: So what do you think Ag is gonna look like in five years?
Shawn Meyer: I think you're gonna see a lot more, like I said, a lot more data collection, a lot more soil sampling. You know, I've seen a lot more guys coming in and doing a lot more soil sampling than we ever have before just to try to make sure we're putting the right product on there. as you continue to grow, you see our input costs going up from a sprayer standpoint, see and spray. you want to call it that or any of those any of the camera systems of hey, we're just gonna spray this on the weed to save you chemical. I think you're gonna see probably continue to see an uptick in those technologies just because it saves you money at the end of the day and you're only taking care of what you need to, which is to spray the weed. So lot of the broadcast spreading or spraying and stuff like that, I think you're gonna see a continued growth and adoption of technology to try to reduce our input cost like I said, the f fertilizer and the weed killers and all of that is it's getting really expensive. And
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: the more we apply that, the more that weed becomes resistant to it. So being able to put less of that product on s to maintain its effectiveness is also gonna be important.
Alecia Stuaan: Yep. Alright. I don't know if you've watched or listened to any of the episodes, but we always wind them out with a series of rapid fire questions and we just rattle off and Amber, you're up.
Amber Stanik: Yes, so these are just quick answers, okay? RTK signal drops mid film midfield when striptiline. Panic level one to ten.
Shawn Meyer: nine, ten, twelve.
Amber Stanik: Fair.
Shawn Meyer: Definitely on the top of the scale there.
Amber Stanik: All right, one precision tool every farmer needs but doesn't know it yet.
Shawn Meyer: I mean a auto guide system.
Amber Stanik: What's one buzzword in precision you're tired of hearing?
Shawn Meyer: Buzzword. boy. No. Wasn't ready for that.
Amber Stanik: Did you not read through the document when it was sent to you? true.
Shawn Meyer: Did read through it. I did.
Alecia Stuaan: We don't send the rapid fire questions, Amber.
Amber Stanik: That's true, never mind.
Shawn Meyer: I was gonna say I don't remember seeing that. Buzzword, buzzword. I think it's not really a word but a conversation is satellite versus R T K base stations, right? you know, there's always a lot of worry that the R T K base stations are gonna go away and in some circumstances, some places they are, but in other places they're growing. So I think when you're talking about R T K to satellite, I think it's a bigger conversation than you know, you just have to be on satellite. I think You know, a lot of states are starting up Coors Networks, which is government funded base stations, and then you have other states that still have privately held and you have companies that have owned base stations that went out of business and Well, the farmers were all they lost all their signals. So I think that's one of the biggest things there is if you're talking RTK to satellite is truly understanding what's happening in your region and whether RTK is a reliable solution for you or whether we do need to start pushing towards satellite.
Amber Stanik: All right, next question. What's the coolest piece of ag technology you've ever seen?
Shawn Meyer: It's a toss-up between probably autonomous tillage and or aerotube from PTX. Those two pieces of technology are pretty cool. When I can put a tractor in a field with a t tillage tool behind it and tell it I want you to do this and drive away from it and it come back and it's done. That's that's pretty impressive. But at the same time orientating a seed and placing it in the trench properly is equally probably as impressive. So I
Alecia Stuaan: Very much so.
Amber Stanik: Okay.
Shawn Meyer: would say probably one of those two from what I have personally seen.
Amber Stanik: All right. best precision decision a farmer can make with a very small budget.
Shawn Meyer: very small budget. Like I said, it really depends on where you are in the world of precision, if you have guidance or not. But I mean if you're still out there operating without guidance, it's just getting any kind of guidance system on it. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. you know, there's so many options, even from just a guidance standpoint. There are so many manufacturers and options out there that even you could put on yourself. You can put any of our systems on yourself. Happy to sell them to you. but just bite bullet and do it on one machine. And then as you start to see the benefits, you'll start to realize you need it on everything.
Amber Stanik: All right, auto stare or kicking it old school planting by the telephone po post.
Shawn Meyer: Auto steer all day.
Amber Stanik: What's the check engine light of precision ag the warning every w the warning nobody talk takes seriously enough?
Shawn Meyer: Well, the hard thing is in precision is typically if it's broken, it's broken. It there's not really a warning for it. It's just broken. So all of are equally important. I think the biggest thing that I get a lot of people that feel is we're planting and maybe their signal drops out, right? And for a lot of guys that that feels like it's a planter down, I can't plant, I don't know what to do. Well, you know, not to say that we wanna plant all ten thousand acres with the wing and putting a mark in the ground, but Markers worked for a long time. It'll still work to get you by in a pinch. So the idea that, you know, guidance goes down and I just we can't plant anymore. Like I said, I know you don't want to plant obviously you don't want to plant as little as possible that way, 'cause I also told you auto guidance and necessity when planting, right? Just the last question. But you know, just being able to realize that, you know, we can still do a little work even if the guidance is down. It's not It's not the end of the world.
Amber Stanik: Okay. What pe or favorite piece of precision tech you wish every customer had?
Shawn Meyer: Every customer had auto guide. I like I said, you know, when I first came into the PTX when I first came into the PTX world, like I was I was with Agco for nine years. I know there's older tractors out there and there's enthusiasts and we got hobby farmers that just like to go out and they farm. But the amount of farmers that are actually farming, you know three to six thousand, seven thousand acres that are still doing light bar or
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: no auto guidance. That was a that was that
Alecia Stuaan: It's
Shawn Meyer: was eye opening to me.
Alecia Stuaan: One hundred percent.
Shawn Meyer: And like I said, you know, I I I would consider myself a hobby farmer at this point. None of my machines have auto guide on But, you know, I'm planting a hundred and sixty acres just for fun. I don't I don't need a system for a hundred and sixty acres and it's all
Amber Stanik: Mm.
Shawn Meyer: for fun. So I know, I would put it on. I know. Trust me. Well, you know, I'm breaking my
Alecia Stuaan: But you just said everybody needs auto guide.
Amber Stanik: Yeah. You're everybody.
Shawn Meyer: own. maybe I have to buy one.
Amber Stanik: Yes. We
Alecia Stuaan: We just sold them. Can I get commission on this sale please?
Amber Stanik: can fold them. Yes. Me too. Okay,
Shawn Meyer: There you go. Yeah.
Amber Stanik: rank. Coffee, hot spot or GPS. Which one gets cut first?
Shawn Meyer: Sorry, what was that?
Amber Stanik: rate or rank coffee, hot spot or GPS. Which one gets cut first?
Shawn Meyer: Hotspot or GPS? Or coffee. Woo.
Amber Stanik: Or coffee. Which one do you cut first? Yes. I would say coffee. I'm not a coffee person.
Shawn Meyer: Depends on the day. Coffee coffee's a necessity on some days.
Amber Stanik: Ooh. I drink it like once a year when I'm watching Law and Order.
Shawn Meyer: It would probably be coffee for me too. I it's not as I've gotten off of it here in the past few years, so I don't drink near as much coffee as I used to.
Amber Stanik: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. My coffee is like t like
Alecia Stuaan: Not me. Coffee all day every day.
Shawn Meyer: Just
Amber Stanik: twenty things of sugar packets and like a lot of milk. It's literally
Alecia Stuaan: It's disgusting. I've seen her.
Amber Stanik: like super tan. Like light tan. It's not coffee at all actually. Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: The same as mobile.
Alecia Stuaan: Like the color of my wall behind me.
Shawn Meyer: See same as my wife. I always ask her if she wants coffee with her sugar, so
Amber Stanik: Yeah. Yeah, no, I don't like coffee, so all right. What's the most common precision myth you hear?
Shawn Meyer: Precision myth? I would almost I would say that satellite is not as accurate or the higher satellite is not as accurate as RTK. now you're gonna have people out there that that really depends because if you are doing a water management, you really need to be on a base station RTK because obviously height is different from a satellite to a physical station on the Earth. So there are instances where RTK is what you have to run. and not dispersing that out there, but I have a lot of guys that feel like they have to be on the RTK system to plant. And not to say that i R T K is fine, but our high level satellite corrections are so good now that You can do just as good a job with a satellite RTK cur or RTX subscription as you can with an R T K base station. Now, like I said, not to discount the guys out there that have to run RTK, I get it. There's you know, you're planting hills or you're doing any kind of hill planting. like I said, w water management's a big one. Like you have to be on a base station just for the
Alecia Stuaan: The height control for your yep.
Shawn Meyer: The height can right. But for the guys out there that are just planting and you know, you are worried about your RTK base stations going out, or you're in one of those situations where, like I said, the RTK base station is not what it should be, you know, give satellite a try. It pass the pass accuracy if you're on the high level is just as good as your RTK. now Granted, don't do it in the middle of the season. I'm not out here advocating for that because the other
Alecia Stuaan: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: thing I hear a lot is I went from R T K to satellite and my lines moved. Well, they are gonna move. The biggest thing
Alecia Stuaan: They're gonna move.
Shawn Meyer: Biggest thing you talk about when you're talking RTK to satellite is RTK is base stations on the Earth, right? That GPS position is different when you change the source of where you're getting it from. So if you're getting your bait your GPS position from base stations, it's gonna put you at one place on the earth. Whereas if you get it from the satellite, it might be two inches over, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: So if you are gonna make a change from like an RTK base station to a satellite correction, do it at the end of the year. when you're rolling into the next year before you've put anything in the ground. That way your lines line up because if you change like if you're on RTK and you plan on RTK and then you change the satellite to go harvest, it's not gonna line up. Now we can recenter and we can we can fix it. Right? You can recenter your lines and you can nudge them and we can make it work. But you will see when you go from RTK to a satellite correction, you will see a little bit of change there in your line. And that's like I said, that's just part of changing where you're getting your GPS location from.
Amber Stanik: All right. would you rather your auto steer randomly cuts out once a day or your radio only plays one song all season? Like depends on the song.
Shawn Meyer: Man, yeah, what's the song that I got on? I would probably say my radio because can I turn the radio off or do I have to listen to it? boy, yeah it's
Amber Stanik: You have to listen to it. And it's like the song you hate the most.
Shawn Meyer: yeah. Well prob I'd probably steer by hand though.
Amber Stanik: Ha ha
Alecia Stuaan: But it only cuts out once a day, so you you don't know how long it's gonna be.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: That's true.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. I'd probably get rid of the radio.
Amber Stanik: Hmm. Fair. All right. auto steer or cruise control. Which which one do you trust more with your life?
Shawn Meyer: That's hard. because you can I don't really auto steer on the road, right? I definitely don't crust trust cruise control because if you don't pay attention to cruise control, you're gonna hit something. Whereas a tractor with auto guide it's steering for you, right? So and it's gonna beep at you before you run outside your field if you have it boundried. So it's gonna warn you before things happen.
Alecia Stuaan: Technically, if all goes well.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. If you're having boundary on your field and it's set up, it will beep at you and you didn't turn the volume down because you got tired of hearing the the bite beeping.
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Alecia Stuaan: And then you're gonna drive through the boundary
Shawn Meyer: So I've done that.
Alecia Stuaan: into a ditch and then it's
Amber Stanik: Mm-hmm.
Alecia Stuaan: gonna be a whole deal.
Shawn Meyer: But I'd rather drive into
Amber Stanik: A home mess.
Shawn Meyer: a ditch than the back end of another car.
Alecia Stuaan: True. So auto seer is your answer. I feel like auto seer has been your answer for every question.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Alecia Stuaan: Takeaway. Shawn says we need auto steer.
Shawn Meyer: There you go. You need auto steer. And like I
Amber Stanik: Yes.
Shawn Meyer: said, I mean, every day the percentage of people that aren't running autosteer gets smaller. You're high majority of farmers out there are running some kind of auto steer system already. So, you know, most people that are probably listening are, well, I already do that. Well, it's very true. And you are part of the majority if you're running autosteer at this point. So
Alecia Stuaan: Alright, did we miss anything that you wanna touch on? That wasn't in the notes.
Shawn Meyer: no, but I just I I think I'll go out and reiterate, you know, the trade up programs that I have right now from like I said, basically every manufacturer that we support. They're very competitive. they want to see you guys come into the new technology so you can upgrade and get into the twenty first century of technology, as we would say. So, just a lot of encouragement there, just to even reach out and see what we got. All right. There's no no commitment, right? You can we'll price you anything you want, without a commitment. So just Reach out, see what that old stuff's worth and maybe we can maybe we can get you into a new technology system because like I said, a lot of the prices I'm seeing on these trade up programs are very competitive. And that even goes for like eighty three, eighty two. Agco just end of life there. And they have a trade up program to get you into a four eighty two receiver. So even if you have a factory guide machine from AgCo or Fent that, you know, has an older three eighty two receiver on it, I I got a trade up program for that to get you into a four eighty two. So like I said, there's a about every single option out there right now. They're they got trade ups. So
Alecia Stuaan: Good to know. As we talked about today, precision technology isn't just about the newest equipment or the flashiest feature. It's about having the right people behind it and knowing what actually moves the needle for your operation and having a dealer team that can support it when it counts. That wraps up this episode of the Parallel Path. Thank you for spending some time with us today. If you enjoyed the conversation, make sure to follow the podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss the next episode. And if there's a topic or guest you'd like us to cover, we'd love to hear from you. We'll see you next time on the parallel path.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so my name is Shawn Meyer. as she said, I'm the director of Ag Technology here at Parallel Ag. started out, born raised in Kansas, still live in Kansas, central Kansas to be exact. grew up kind of in a small farming community, helped out on the farm in the summers. actually went to college to be a mechanic. worked on trucks for four years before I came back into the ag world with ag co but so kinda been around ag my whole life. worked on it. harvest corn, you know. Not as not as popular in Kansas as you can imagine. It's kinda dry down there. But kinda just grew up with the agriculture world and went in the trucks for a little bit and decided I loved it so came back.
Alecia Stuaan: There you go. So did you dry land corn, would it have been on pivots or did you have more wheat? What was your area like down there?
Shawn Meyer: We did a lot more wheat than anything. typically in Kansas we're seeing some more dryland corn, but typically if you were putting corn in you were probably gonna have it under a pivot.
Alecia Stuaan: Okay.
Shawn Meyer: To make sure you get some get some bushels out of it actually.
Alecia Stuaan: And precision specifically, did a door just open up for you at AgCo or did you just plan for that?
Shawn Meyer: So I actually w went to college and I told my college teachers that I was never gonna work in the ag world again. so I went out and worked on trucks for four years and then an opportunity my friend actually worked for Ag Co opportunity opened up and Came back into the ag world there, started out with agco actually in TSS, actually answering phone calls and advising technicians on what to check, what to work on, or what to look at when they had problems. So actually started there with agco at TSS and helping technicians resolve issues on machines. So
Amber Stanik: So what pulled you to Parallel Ag? Because you had options.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so it's been a long time with AgCo and PTX. I was actually there for nine years. when I took the PTX role for the field focus region manager was my title there. I actually worked with the parallel team. I was actually their rep for PTX. so worked closely with the parallel team and the guys on the that now work with me in the precision technology world and just got to know the team really well. They're a lot more local to which is weird for me to say I'm in Kansas and we go from the panhandle of Texas all the way up in the northern Illinois, but compared to my territory at AgCo, they were a little bit more local for me. like the idea of kinda getting out of the more corporate world and coming back into a little bit smaller company, a little bit more personal and being able to work directly with customers again. So
Alecia Stuaan: So let's talk PTX. I'm very familiar with the Ag Leader world. I can't that's the area that I grew up with. But for anyone who doesn't know, talk us through what PTX is and what your role there looked like.
Shawn Meyer: So PTX is actually a pretty new venture for AgCo. I say new, the name is new. The technology inside of the name is not new. so PTX is AgCo's aftermarket. branch of the Ag Cool Corporation. And what's underneath there is essentially your precision planting and tremble technology. So they brought precision planting and tremble, put underneath the same branch, and PTX main focus is for aftermarket installations for any brand of machine you want to put it on. that's kind of the aftermarket. So when I was there working for them, I was what they call the field focus region manager. So my job is or my job was, I had dealerships, I covered Colorado South over to Florida was my territory with them. But essentially I was the main contact for any of the PTX dealers in that region to get a hold of if they had questions on invoicing, if they had questions about voting machines, you know, how a certain technology worked, I was the I was the main contact for them to reach out to to try to get an idea of how a new technology worked or like I said, any of their invoicing issues or maybe help with quoting machines and what to put on So
Alecia Stuaan: What was the coolest thing you got to work on while you were there?
Shawn Meyer: Boy.
Alecia Stuaan: Ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: I do a lot of cool stuff. PTX side specifically. Outback was pretty cool. or not, sorry. not Outback, Out Run. Outrun is their autonomous grain cart solution. So being able to put that on a machine and actually go out and control the grain cart without anyone in the cab, put it under the combine, unload it. It's pretty cool c technology and then as I was leaving PTX was when the autonomous tillage is starting to really pick up now. So being able to see those technologies go out, actually operate, work without someone in the tractor and being able to control it from your phone or tablet was that's pretty cool project.
Alecia Stuaan: Cool, but it's also freaky.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: It it can be a little freaky when you're looking in your mirror and a machine's pulling up underneath your auger to unload and there's no one in the seat. It's it's definitely a strange experience.
Alecia Stuaan: I can imagine. from the OEM C, what were customers asking for that genuinely surprised you?
Shawn Meyer: From the OEM side, I think the big push with them was always integration. customers, you know, when technology was first picking up, we would you could have three, four monitors in the cab of a tractor.
Alecia Stuaan: Mm.
Shawn Meyer: And I think the modern the modern OE modern manufacturers really looking to push that down to get you into one, probably two displays in the cab at a max. so with that, with the integration of a lot of ISO functionality of the implements, you know, you used to have to have your own monitor for an implement if it was pulled behind you so you could control the implement, and then you had a guidance screen and then you had the factory display. So really trying to combine those solutions and make sure you can operate it out of one screen instead of having to have three or four different screens. in the cab is one of the big pushes from a OE perspective.
Alecia Stuaan: I mean I've been in those tractors that have, you know, the five screens and you've got one that probably is an iPad that's streaming something. But I've been in there. I've I've sat in there and I cannot just that whole wall of monitors is insane.
Shawn Meyer: wall of monitors is what we called it. And you know, it might not have been bad when we first came out 'cause you know, you were operating five, six, seven inch
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: monitors, but, you know, from precision planning, you know, we got a sixteen inch monitor, you can put it in a cab now. So the monitors are getting bigger, the technology's getting better and just trying to bring all of that into a more seamless solution where, you know, you're only operating out of one or two screens.
Amber Stanik: Here's what I'm curious about. What does the OAM side get right and where do dealers have to fill in the gap?
Shawn Meyer: So OEM, the biggest thing they do right, is integration, right? You buy a machine with OE guidance in it, it feels like it's meant to be there. It's works in their screen, it works with the hydraulic functions, and like I said, it's just it's all integrated, it all works well. the biggest thing that we fill the gap in when you're talking about a aftermarket precision solution is A lot of the OEs have great options for, you know, your guidance. They got headland turn. They have a lot of the features that you the standard person would need. But as you start looking into, say, maybe an implement guidance or water management or some of the more advanced features like Outrun and things like that, that's when we step into that more aftermarket world where those guys are a lot more flexible to go and try those things, go and do things that from an OE perspective, it will get there. The OEs will get there and it'll be integrated eventually. But right now it's you know it's that aftermarket solution for a lot of that autonomous options and like I said, your water managements, your implement guidances. and even some of the OEs already have implement guidance coming out on
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: their sheets. so there all that integration is happening, but as that integration is happening also the aftermarket technology is pushing the boundary of what we're doing with autonomous solutions and things like that. So there's always more coming out on the aftermarket side than the OE.
Alecia Stuaan: So jumping into parallel, what was the first thing that hit you when you actually walked in to join the team here?
Shawn Meyer: So how different well and granted I kinda knew how different the territory was just from one end to the other, just because I had such a large territory at agco or PTX, but jumping into parallel just seeing how truly different after you actually get in and talk to the customers and you get to go out and see what they're doing in the field, how different it actually changes when you go from Illinois to Texas. there is a giant flip in technology, tech preferred technology brands, preferred ways of operation. It's just you know, got a lot more swathers down south than we do up in Illinois. just how much the practices and everything changes when you go from the south to the north.
Alecia Stuaan: So what in that footprint that shocked you besides the difference in technology?
Shawn Meyer: So I would say d as you head farther south, you know, they're not they enjoy accuracy. you have guys that are running RTK. Or you could have a guy that's asking me for a light bar down south. Whereas
Alecia Stuaan: Really?
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, I had I have had so many questions about light bars the farther I move south, which to someone from the Northern Territory is you know, we don't do light bars anymore, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm. Nope.
Shawn Meyer: It's gotta be RTK, it's gotta be subinch accuracy, we're planting implement guidance, like the technology up north is almost mandatory. Whereas when you head down south where it gets a little flatter, a lot of those technologies, though accuracy is important to a whole bunch of guys down there, I don't want to say that I mean, they have a big R T K base station down in Texas too. So we have a lot of guys running R T K with cotton and things like that. But just realizing and seeing that there are still a lot of guys out there that you know, they're still using light bar guidance and a lot of the old tremble systems and agbeater systems that come in that are like, well, I don't really want to update it 'cause this works and I know it, right? So
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. The good old Integras.
Shawn Meyer: Yes. The good old good old Integras, easy guy five hundreds, you name
Alecia Stuaan: So
Shawn Meyer: it.
Alecia Stuaan: not gonna age myself, but gonna age myself. The first
Amber Stanik: Ha ha
Alecia Stuaan: yield monitor that my parents had was a PF advantage. And you had the little dial to adjust everything. When I was a tech,
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, it's cool.
Alecia Stuaan: I still had guys that was when so it was when integrers were just getting replaced with in commands. There were still guys that I would go see that had one of those PF advantages in central Iowa. It's it's crazy to see the difference in technology. And then finding the card readers so you could actually print off those maps.
Shawn Meyer: It's always fun. Either that are getting the receipts from some of the older Glinger combines actually had receipts where it would print.
Alecia Stuaan: Hm. Interesting.
Amber Stanik: so where do you see the biggest opportunity and what made you say yes to this?
Shawn Meyer: So I think the biggest opportunity is technology is always growing. I mean you see it in computers, you see it in your cellphones, you see it in trucks. Technology isn't going away. we're just growing and getting better and offering more. So some of the biggest advantages or biggest opportunities for us is we have, you know, we offer Ag Leader, we have Raven, we have Trimble, we have Precision Planning, we have so many options for technology that when you come to parallel for your technology needs, what we're looking to do is come alongside you and help you make a decision of what technology is gonna work best for you. a lot of dealers, you know, will they have one option, two options, and they're trying to talk you into one of those two options. Where with us, you know. We're here to help you make a decision, but we also want to make sure it's the right decision for your farm. We want to make sure that you're comfortable with the technology you're putting in your tractor and also that it's going to work with the fleet you already have. Because like we talked about with OE integration, that's also important when you're running more than one brand of tractor, right? So being able to get all that information back into one spot so that you can decipher what happened during the year and make decisions based upon that.
Alecia Stuaan: Alright, so where does the parallel precision seam stand right now and where do you want it to be in a year?
Shawn Meyer: So right now my team consists of I have six guys underneath me. I have two looking for probably a third from an open position standpoint. looking to continue to grow this team and expand this team as we go forward. But from a precision team standpoint, what I'm looking to do is grow this team so that like I said, we can be an advisor more than you know, we sell trembles, so that's what you're gonna buy, right? I want to come along Alongside our farmers, and I want to say, okay, perfect, you're running Ag Leader, that's fine. We have that as an option. Here's our options. Or, you know, even the guys that are running John Deere, right? We got John Deere. Well, we're a soul steer. We can do soul steer, we can do Rycart, we can we can integrate your John Deere guidance into our machines, and that way everything still ports into your op center. So really wanting to build a culture here that more of a partner with you trying to make sure we get you in the right technology more than we're just trying to sell you a a brand that we support, right? So really trying to keep that open and then expand the team, you know, a lot of Or some companies have started to minimize their precision teams. And I think a lot of that comes from just not growing with the technology, right? So precision teams when they first came out, we were A B lines. We were gonna control your guidance, like that was all technology was. Where to me now technology has expanded to not so much the A B guidelines anymore because it's so integrated into a machine. We've had it for ninety six probably we've had you know guidance the early nineties so it's not so much the A B lines anymore as it is hey I got my harvest data I got my planning data and I got my spraying data I want to put that into a program and I want to see what actually worked right
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: I want to see that I applied this chemical and my bushels actually went up. Right? So proving out the tech or proven out what we're doing in the field by getting that data and pulling it into a farm engage or you're John Deer Ops, a lot of guys are running. SMS, you know, Digi F or not DigiFarm.
Alecia Stuaan: What is the
Shawn Meyer: Climate. That one. There's a lot of different options out there, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: And precision planning has theirs also. but being able to bring that into one program, put all that information in one spot so we can start to dissect what actually happened during the season and then make decisions based upon that to produce more crop next year.
Alecia Stuaan: That you're speaking to my data mind right there. That was actually my bread and butter when I was in precision technology. In fact I still help manage about ten thousand acres. and that is literally the root of where I think precision needs to be headed because you're really able to help people identify their cost and income per acre. And that's where,
Shawn Meyer: Mm-hmm.
Alecia Stuaan: especially in today's market, you're gonna wind up finding where your profitability actually is.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. And I think it's a big or it's not a big scare, but you have a lot of guys out there that they'll buy one brand of machine because They want it all to come in on, you know, like for example, an op center, or you have an AgCo guy that or a Tremble guy that's running Farm Engage now, used to be Tremble agriculture software before Agco purchased it. But you have guys that almost get married to a brand because they want that data. Whereas with where technology is today and where farming gauge has come and all of the other programs out there where, you know, we can run a fence sprayer with Raven Technology on it, and I can slingshot that. That data and put it into a farm engage for or op center for you. I can put it in the farm and gauge. So just trying to make sure that we understand also that just because we're in a brand doesn't mean we have to stay there. We can port this data over. We can get all the data you need into any program you're running. And like I said, if you're running op center, we're more than happy to work with you and help you get your data in op center so that you can see that same kind of breakdown that you would see in a farm engage program. So really like I said, just try to make sure that we come alongside you, get you in the right tech and get the data where you need it so you can make those decisions.
Alecia Stuaan: Are customers already seeing that change or what change do you think they're gonna see first?
Shawn Meyer: I think from a northern perspective, I think we have a lot of guys that are really, you know, they're logging the data, they wanna see what happened, they wanna see population, they wanna see harvest data, and they wanna put that all together so they can see how many bushels an acre they got based upon what they did in the field. I think you're only gonna see that trend grow. you're gonna see that trend continue to head farther south as the technology becomes more normal. or with technology as it comes out, as you know, as it ages, it becomes more affordable. So as it becomes more affordable, it's gonna become a more feasible option for guys that are outside of the two hundred and fifty bushel an acre corn world to, you know, start getting into that technology and starting to see the benefits there. 'cause a lot of the benefits of the technology is being able to decipher what you did and what actually worked and what actually did it.
Alecia Stuaan: Exactly. So when we're thinking about support and response time, how do you how are you planning on handling those challenges for the team? 'Cause when something goes down, it's down bad. It's never something quick and easy.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. So one of the big things that we're really starting to get into here and I'm starting to try to push my team into and also our service teams is remote support capabilities. a lot of our most of our third party monitors, if not all of the third party monitors, have remote support capability. So being able to use that capability to actually look at your machine and say, Okay say you have a GFX 1060 or 1260 in your display and you're having some guidance issues or something like that. Well let us remote in before we drive an hour or two to your farm to come look at it. Let us remote in and see what's going on and maybe that'll give us a better idea of a part we need to bring, right? So trying to be able to make sure we utilize time and utilize those remote support tools. to prevent your downtime because yes, you gotta hook it to Wi Fi and we have to remote in and that might take us forty five minutes, but me my guy driving two hours to you, not having the part, and then driving two hours back to the shop and driving back takes more time. So trying to Make those processes as simple as possible and try to work on the front side to gather that data so that when we do come to you we have the s we hopefully have the solution on our truck to get you back up and running.
Alecia Stuaan: So optimal customer experience, what do you think it is?
Shawn Meyer: Well, everything just works and it never breaks and you never
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: have to talk to me again.
Alecia Stuaan: Well, ideally
Amber Stanik: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: Ideally that's how everything would work, right? But our ideal experience is like I said, you come talk to us, we're your partner. We want to put you in the technology that's gonna work best on your farm, whether that be a solution that helps integrate into John Deere Ops, that's a solution that you know Goes to Farm Engage or the Trimble software if you have all the Trimble displays on your farm, or even Ag Leader, right? any of those brands, just making sure that we're able to come along and partner with you and put you in the right technology. But even after that, after we put you in the right technology piece, we have programs or promotions that we put out there for remote support or PTX support where you can buy into a plan and hey, we cover all of this and that cost you so much a year, right? Trying to get to the point where we can give you a cost of what the service is gonna cost. And then like I said, utilizing When you're down having a response where, hey, perfect, I know it's not working, let me remote in. Let me look at it. See what's going on. Maybe it's something I can fix remotely and I don't even have to come see you. Or worst case scenario, hey, perfect. This is probably the issue. I'll make sure I grab one before I come out to you, and then we can do a little bit more research on the front side to get you up and running faster.
Amber Stanik: So how do you actually measure whether precision is paying off for a customer?
Shawn Meyer: So the big thing with precision is it really depends on where you are in the technology scope to say if something is paying off, right? So If we upgrade your planner and say we put you in a precision planner with downforce, all of that, you're really gonna have to get the data back or we have to go out in the field and we're gonna have to do our surveys and our scouting to see, yes, we did have an improved stand, yes, we got improved bushels, right? But if you're really high in the technology world or you got a you know, the planner with exact eMERGE, any of that kind of technology on it, that data coming back in is gonna be very important to determine. what technology might be working and what maybe, you know, we didn't need to do. if you're a guy that, you know, like I got guys out there that are just driving a light bar, if you're out there just using a light bar, I think the first step is you get into a machine that drives for you. And I think the biggest thing you're going to see from that is A, you're not as tired at the end of the day. I am as against self-driving vehicles as anyone else, trust me. I have a 2006 Silver Auto. That's my truck. That's
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Shawn Meyer: I will never get rid of it, right? That's my baby. But also I have a 2025 Silverado that's got, you know, the lane assistant and adaptive cruise on it. I can tell you after driving seven hours in that truck compared to seven hours in my 06, I get out of that twenty-five and the technology that is in it. just takes so much off of me that you feel a lot more energized at the end of the day. And I think that's where a lot of guys are gonna see the benefit if they are running a light bar out there still or even a guidance system that, you know, maybe it's time to upgrade, you know, but it just takes so much off of you as the operator that at the end of the day you just feel better.
Alecia Stuaan: So let's talk to the customer who might feel like they're behind. They know they should be doing more with precision, but they don't know where to start. What should we tell
Shawn Meyer: So the biggest thing is, like I said, it really depends on where you feel you're behind. Are you behind that I don't even do auto guide? Are you behind that, you know, I have auto guide, but I want to step up and do a you know, maybe that data management and start collecting that data? And the biggest thing is, I mean, the hardest part is just starting and obviously getting into a program. And it doesn't have to be the fanciest program there is. you know, we do from Trimble's side, we still do the easy steers, which is a foam roller that clamps up against your steering wheel and it just spins, right? So we have options to get you into a steering system that's very affordable just to get you in it so you can see the benefits of it, right? But that would be the main thing is just getting started and then like I said, coming to us and just have the conversation with us about where you're at and where you want to be. 'cause more than likely we got a solution that, yeah, like I said, you might not need down force and speed tubes and all of that on your planner, but you know, maybe we can get you into a V drive system and start getting you some of those advancements and we can build upon that. that's one of the great things about Aftermath. market technology too is it's not all or nothing, you know, we can start at the bottom and then we can build on that year over year to get you caught back up.
Alecia Stuaan: So what is a difference between what we see a flashy stuff on a spec sheet and the stuff that actually moves on the operation? 'Cause there's lots of fancy options out there right now, and I'm saying that just because of the advancements that I've seen in the last five years. But what actually if it goes back to where do they start? What is the one thing that you would have someone start with versus all of the flashy stuff?
Shawn Meyer: So if you're looking for something basic just to start with, any kind of monitor if well, then you're coming back to what machine brand what machine are we in? Are we in a sprayer, are we
Alecia Stuaan: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: in a planner, are we in a tractor just pulling tillage,
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: right? for a guy that's just got a tractor pulling tillage, maybe he's still good guiding by hand or a lot of those guys anymore are on lost systems. but a lot of that where would you start? Like said, it's really starts with a conversation with us and just to see what options are out there for ya. because we gotta understand where you are to advise, right? Now there's a lot of features out there, you know, I talked about implement guidance a little bit at the beginning. You know, we got water management, things like that. But most people aren't gonna be running that. And also it depends on the territory you're in. You're down south where it's nice and flat and you probably don't need implement guidance. Whereas if you get into the hills up farther north, you know, implement guidance is nice to make sure all your rows are right and you're keeping them implement where it's supposed to be on that hill instead of the tractor. So Then I think that's another fun thing about precision technology and what gets me excited, especially with the territory we cover, is there are so many different options out there. So many different guys that are operating in different conditions that, you know, unfortunately there's not a one size fits all solution in technology. It all depends upon the operation and what you're trying to run.
Amber Stanik: What's a misconception you hear from growers all the time?
Shawn Meyer: Depends on the territory. So a lot I hear, you know, kind of in the Illinois, I get the feeling a lot of the times, you know, you put w you put tile in, you go out with any planter, you put seed in the ground, it's gonna grow two hundred fifty bushel core. Which you know, eighty percent of the time, ninety percent of the time, you're probably right. You'll probably get two fifty out of it. But if we upgrade that technology and we make your planter get your spacing better, get your depth right on your corn seed. Do we take that 250 and bump it to 255? Do we bump it to 260? So the conversation becomes less about, well, I just need to make two fifty bushel corn and it becomes, okay, well, let's capitalize on the dollars you're putting in the ground and upgrade and get you better space and get you better emergence, get you better all of that, and let's start increasing your bushels. I two fifty doesn't need to be the limit. Let's push for three hundred.
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: Let's keep let's keep growing this and utilize every dollar you're putting in the ground and push more bushels out of it.
Alecia Stuaan: Speaking of different products, what's available right now that customers should know about?
Shawn Meyer: So the PTX team is putting a lot of work in, and that's precision planting and tremble from implement guidance and then we talked about outrun, the autonomous grain cart solution, autonomous tillage, being able to run a lot of those things. those are really cool technologies that are coming out that I think are gonna be are eventually gonna become mainstays. But now I'm spacing.
Alecia Stuaan: You're fine. I just space two, so
Shawn Meyer: Ha ha ha.
Alecia Stuaan: are there any promos right now that the precision team is running that guy should be jumping on?
Shawn Meyer: So we have a lot of promotions out there. Actually, a lot of our manufacturers from Ag Leader, Raven, Trimble are running technology trade-up programs right now. so really, there really hasn't been a better time for if you're looking to get into a newer system to bring me your old technology or you don't have to bring it to me, but take a picture, say, hey, this is what I have in my tractor, what's it worth? You know, we got trade-up programs that are running up to five, six grand on used. Technology that hey we'll trade you into a new system. and that's a good opportunity to get you into some of that newer tech. get you into a newer receiver that might have some ionic guard on it, which protects you from solar activity. We've all experienced some of that where you know we lose connection due to a solar flare or something like that. So a lot of these newer technologies they're starting to compensate for that now and starting to build in guards to help keep you guided. Longer when something does happen. That's not to say if we get a really bad solar flare, it's gonna shut everything down. It's just how it works.
Alecia Stuaan: It is. Yep.
Shawn Meyer: But we can keep you good we can keep you in the field longer than you would be with some of those older receivers and older technology. So and then like I said, just being able to see the advancements, you know, of technology and put you in a system that Yeah, you might just be doing a guidance system now. Maybe we trade you up and we get you in a guidance system, but you know, two years from now you decide you want to do implement guidance. Well, perfect. You got a new system. You traded up two years ago. Now all we have to do is add this, this, and this to get you to implement guidance or to water management or to you know, the upgrade ability of the new systems is great also because once you get With technology, you know, as it ages, you get to a point where it works, but you can't really upgrade it, right? You can't really get into the new tech, you can't really get into the new programs, the new widget. So just being in a current guidance system gives you those abilities that you might not have with that older system. But yeah, I think I think right now every one of our manufacturers is running some kind of trade up program. So If you're like I said, if you're running old technology out there and have thought about upgrading, now's the time to bring it into us and see what it's worth. Or or like I said, you don't have to bring it to me, but bring me a picture, bring me a at least know what's on the machine so we can get you an accurate trade in value on it. I don't want you to uninstall your guidance system from your machine to bring it to me, right? So
Alecia Stuaan: No thank you. We don't want to have to go back out and reinstall that.
Shawn Meyer: That's right. I don't want to have to go put it back. I don't want you to have to go put it back. So but like I said, at least know the model of your screen and your receiver and we can pro we can get you a value of what it is worth on these trade up programs.
Amber Stanik: Is there anything new releasing that you're excited about?
Shawn Meyer: so one of the things that well, there's a lot releasing that I'm excited about. I'll take a moment to talk about PTX 'cause One of the things they just came out with is AeroTube, which is actually orientating the seed and putting it in the trench a proper way so the leaves sprout row to row instead of over the top of each other. So that's a real cool technology. Outrun, other technologies like that with the autonomous guidance, autonomous tillage capabilities. You know, there's there's just a lot happening in the precision world and what they're pushing now, that you know, five years ago we would have never thought of. But now, you know, we're breaking those boundaries and it's gonna become it's gonna become common practice before we know it.
Alecia Stuaan: That's the thought of orienting the seed in the row, number one, blows my mind. But then you can also think about it and think about the benefits that that's gonna have because it's gonna have your row coverage, which means you're not gonna have to go in and do as much chemical spray on weeds and there's that's that's mind blow like I in a million years would have never thought that that was something that we could solve.
Shawn Meyer: yeah. Well and it's I mean it's it's pretty amazing technology that they got coming out of there. And like I said, just to be able to orientate that seed, put it in the trench properly, but also position it properly so
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: I forget the word, but it's pointed down so your emergence is faster. And then Most of the time your leaves grow a certain way, depending upon how you orientate that seed in the ground, to make that go row to row. so faster emergence. It's gonna get more sun on your crop. And the more sun you get, the more water you get, the more bushels we produce. So
Alecia Stuaan: Yep. Yep.
Shawn Meyer: yeah, just what they're doing in that space is it's pretty impressive.
Alecia Stuaan: More impressive to me than autonomous tractors, to be honest. So if anyone's listening and wants to take a actually take advantage of any of these programs, what do they do and who do they call?
Shawn Meyer: Yeah, so you can reach out to any of our stores. Talk to them what's gonna happen. I have like I said, I have six guys right now, so the store will probably direct your call to one of my precision team or they will send us a note and then we will reach out to you and talk to you about the options you have and what upgrades we can do and any of that kind of stuff. But yeah, just get a hold of any of our stores, any of our locations. tell Hey, I'm interested in possibly trading in some of my technology and they'll get you a hold of my team and We'd be happy to talk to you and like I said, be a part be a partner with you and try to put you in the best solution for your farm.
Alecia Stuaan: Right, I feel like we kind of have covered this, but I'm just gonna go ahead and ask it again. zooming out, what are trends that w you're watching in the industry right now?
Shawn Meyer: Biggest trends in the industry, I would say it's kinda hard to answer that. But like I said, precision depends so much on what you're doing as an operator that my trend up here might be different than my trend down south, but I think the biggest trend start to be the adaption of technology and actually utilizing your data. I think as we start to realize the gains of being able to see how we planted, the chemical we applied, and then what happened at harvest with the bushels and being able to take those three data points and look into it and decipher how we need to change going forward to produce better crop. I think you're only gonna see a rise in arise in the need for that and the importance of that. you know, we got a lot more farms today that are talking to agronomists than we ever had before. And it's a trend that's only gonna continue as we continue to update technology and re like I said, take that data in so we can make better decisions, right? We're only as good as what we know. So if we don't know what we're doing in the ground and what we're getting out of it and what we're doing, then who's to say that it's actually helping?
Alecia Stuaan: Amber Europe.
Amber Stanik: Sor yeah, my bad. I spaced. My bee. autonomy, real answer. Are we closer to self driving tractors or flying cars?
Shawn Meyer: Self driving tractors. Well, I guess it depends on how you say that too. I think with I think the thing we're a lot closer to self driving tractors. I think when you talk about flying cars, the biggest the biggest hang up you have there is there's a lot more population of cars than there are tractors. Right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm. Yes.
Amber Stanik: Yes.
Shawn Meyer: and we have the we have the s solutions for autonomy now. fence working real hard on making autonomous tractors. you already have robots out there doing w weed work in some fields. we got drones that are out there spraying. So I think autonomy in the agriculture world is coming on a lot faster than the flying car wish. There are flying cars
Alecia Stuaan: I wish.
Amber Stanik: Right?
Shawn Meyer: out there. I think the logistics of actually putting that in practice with just how many cars and people are out there compared to tractors
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: gonna be the hang up.
Alecia Stuaan: So what do you think Ag is gonna look like in five years?
Shawn Meyer: I think you're gonna see a lot more, like I said, a lot more data collection, a lot more soil sampling. You know, I've seen a lot more guys coming in and doing a lot more soil sampling than we ever have before just to try to make sure we're putting the right product on there. as you continue to grow, you see our input costs going up from a sprayer standpoint, see and spray. you want to call it that or any of those any of the camera systems of hey, we're just gonna spray this on the weed to save you chemical. I think you're gonna see probably continue to see an uptick in those technologies just because it saves you money at the end of the day and you're only taking care of what you need to, which is to spray the weed. So lot of the broadcast spreading or spraying and stuff like that, I think you're gonna see a continued growth and adoption of technology to try to reduce our input cost like I said, the f fertilizer and the weed killers and all of that is it's getting really expensive. And
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: the more we apply that, the more that weed becomes resistant to it. So being able to put less of that product on s to maintain its effectiveness is also gonna be important.
Alecia Stuaan: Yep. Alright. I don't know if you've watched or listened to any of the episodes, but we always wind them out with a series of rapid fire questions and we just rattle off and Amber, you're up.
Amber Stanik: Yes, so these are just quick answers, okay? RTK signal drops mid film midfield when striptiline. Panic level one to ten.
Shawn Meyer: nine, ten, twelve.
Amber Stanik: Fair.
Shawn Meyer: Definitely on the top of the scale there.
Amber Stanik: All right, one precision tool every farmer needs but doesn't know it yet.
Shawn Meyer: I mean a auto guide system.
Amber Stanik: What's one buzzword in precision you're tired of hearing?
Shawn Meyer: Buzzword. boy. No. Wasn't ready for that.
Amber Stanik: Did you not read through the document when it was sent to you? true.
Shawn Meyer: Did read through it. I did.
Alecia Stuaan: We don't send the rapid fire questions, Amber.
Amber Stanik: That's true, never mind.
Shawn Meyer: I was gonna say I don't remember seeing that. Buzzword, buzzword. I think it's not really a word but a conversation is satellite versus R T K base stations, right? you know, there's always a lot of worry that the R T K base stations are gonna go away and in some circumstances, some places they are, but in other places they're growing. So I think when you're talking about R T K to satellite, I think it's a bigger conversation than you know, you just have to be on satellite. I think You know, a lot of states are starting up Coors Networks, which is government funded base stations, and then you have other states that still have privately held and you have companies that have owned base stations that went out of business and Well, the farmers were all they lost all their signals. So I think that's one of the biggest things there is if you're talking RTK to satellite is truly understanding what's happening in your region and whether RTK is a reliable solution for you or whether we do need to start pushing towards satellite.
Amber Stanik: All right, next question. What's the coolest piece of ag technology you've ever seen?
Shawn Meyer: It's a toss-up between probably autonomous tillage and or aerotube from PTX. Those two pieces of technology are pretty cool. When I can put a tractor in a field with a t tillage tool behind it and tell it I want you to do this and drive away from it and it come back and it's done. That's that's pretty impressive. But at the same time orientating a seed and placing it in the trench properly is equally probably as impressive. So I
Alecia Stuaan: Very much so.
Amber Stanik: Okay.
Shawn Meyer: would say probably one of those two from what I have personally seen.
Amber Stanik: All right. best precision decision a farmer can make with a very small budget.
Shawn Meyer: very small budget. Like I said, it really depends on where you are in the world of precision, if you have guidance or not. But I mean if you're still out there operating without guidance, it's just getting any kind of guidance system on it. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. you know, there's so many options, even from just a guidance standpoint. There are so many manufacturers and options out there that even you could put on yourself. You can put any of our systems on yourself. Happy to sell them to you. but just bite bullet and do it on one machine. And then as you start to see the benefits, you'll start to realize you need it on everything.
Amber Stanik: All right, auto stare or kicking it old school planting by the telephone po post.
Shawn Meyer: Auto steer all day.
Amber Stanik: What's the check engine light of precision ag the warning every w the warning nobody talk takes seriously enough?
Shawn Meyer: Well, the hard thing is in precision is typically if it's broken, it's broken. It there's not really a warning for it. It's just broken. So all of are equally important. I think the biggest thing that I get a lot of people that feel is we're planting and maybe their signal drops out, right? And for a lot of guys that that feels like it's a planter down, I can't plant, I don't know what to do. Well, you know, not to say that we wanna plant all ten thousand acres with the wing and putting a mark in the ground, but Markers worked for a long time. It'll still work to get you by in a pinch. So the idea that, you know, guidance goes down and I just we can't plant anymore. Like I said, I know you don't want to plant obviously you don't want to plant as little as possible that way, 'cause I also told you auto guidance and necessity when planting, right? Just the last question. But you know, just being able to realize that, you know, we can still do a little work even if the guidance is down. It's not It's not the end of the world.
Amber Stanik: Okay. What pe or favorite piece of precision tech you wish every customer had?
Shawn Meyer: Every customer had auto guide. I like I said, you know, when I first came into the PTX when I first came into the PTX world, like I was I was with Agco for nine years. I know there's older tractors out there and there's enthusiasts and we got hobby farmers that just like to go out and they farm. But the amount of farmers that are actually farming, you know three to six thousand, seven thousand acres that are still doing light bar or
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: no auto guidance. That was a that was that
Alecia Stuaan: It's
Shawn Meyer: was eye opening to me.
Alecia Stuaan: One hundred percent.
Shawn Meyer: And like I said, you know, I I I would consider myself a hobby farmer at this point. None of my machines have auto guide on But, you know, I'm planting a hundred and sixty acres just for fun. I don't I don't need a system for a hundred and sixty acres and it's all
Amber Stanik: Mm.
Shawn Meyer: for fun. So I know, I would put it on. I know. Trust me. Well, you know, I'm breaking my
Alecia Stuaan: But you just said everybody needs auto guide.
Amber Stanik: Yeah. You're everybody.
Shawn Meyer: own. maybe I have to buy one.
Amber Stanik: Yes. We
Alecia Stuaan: We just sold them. Can I get commission on this sale please?
Amber Stanik: can fold them. Yes. Me too. Okay,
Shawn Meyer: There you go. Yeah.
Amber Stanik: rank. Coffee, hot spot or GPS. Which one gets cut first?
Shawn Meyer: Sorry, what was that?
Amber Stanik: rate or rank coffee, hot spot or GPS. Which one gets cut first?
Shawn Meyer: Hotspot or GPS? Or coffee. Woo.
Amber Stanik: Or coffee. Which one do you cut first? Yes. I would say coffee. I'm not a coffee person.
Shawn Meyer: Depends on the day. Coffee coffee's a necessity on some days.
Amber Stanik: Ooh. I drink it like once a year when I'm watching Law and Order.
Shawn Meyer: It would probably be coffee for me too. I it's not as I've gotten off of it here in the past few years, so I don't drink near as much coffee as I used to.
Amber Stanik: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. My coffee is like t like
Alecia Stuaan: Not me. Coffee all day every day.
Shawn Meyer: Just
Amber Stanik: twenty things of sugar packets and like a lot of milk. It's literally
Alecia Stuaan: It's disgusting. I've seen her.
Amber Stanik: like super tan. Like light tan. It's not coffee at all actually. Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: The same as mobile.
Alecia Stuaan: Like the color of my wall behind me.
Shawn Meyer: See same as my wife. I always ask her if she wants coffee with her sugar, so
Amber Stanik: Yeah. Yeah, no, I don't like coffee, so all right. What's the most common precision myth you hear?
Shawn Meyer: Precision myth? I would almost I would say that satellite is not as accurate or the higher satellite is not as accurate as RTK. now you're gonna have people out there that that really depends because if you are doing a water management, you really need to be on a base station RTK because obviously height is different from a satellite to a physical station on the Earth. So there are instances where RTK is what you have to run. and not dispersing that out there, but I have a lot of guys that feel like they have to be on the RTK system to plant. And not to say that i R T K is fine, but our high level satellite corrections are so good now that You can do just as good a job with a satellite RTK cur or RTX subscription as you can with an R T K base station. Now, like I said, not to discount the guys out there that have to run RTK, I get it. There's you know, you're planting hills or you're doing any kind of hill planting. like I said, w water management's a big one. Like you have to be on a base station just for the
Alecia Stuaan: The height control for your yep.
Shawn Meyer: The height can right. But for the guys out there that are just planting and you know, you are worried about your RTK base stations going out, or you're in one of those situations where, like I said, the RTK base station is not what it should be, you know, give satellite a try. It pass the pass accuracy if you're on the high level is just as good as your RTK. now Granted, don't do it in the middle of the season. I'm not out here advocating for that because the other
Alecia Stuaan: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: thing I hear a lot is I went from R T K to satellite and my lines moved. Well, they are gonna move. The biggest thing
Alecia Stuaan: They're gonna move.
Shawn Meyer: Biggest thing you talk about when you're talking RTK to satellite is RTK is base stations on the Earth, right? That GPS position is different when you change the source of where you're getting it from. So if you're getting your bait your GPS position from base stations, it's gonna put you at one place on the earth. Whereas if you get it from the satellite, it might be two inches over, right?
Alecia Stuaan: Mm-hmm.
Shawn Meyer: So if you are gonna make a change from like an RTK base station to a satellite correction, do it at the end of the year. when you're rolling into the next year before you've put anything in the ground. That way your lines line up because if you change like if you're on RTK and you plan on RTK and then you change the satellite to go harvest, it's not gonna line up. Now we can recenter and we can we can fix it. Right? You can recenter your lines and you can nudge them and we can make it work. But you will see when you go from RTK to a satellite correction, you will see a little bit of change there in your line. And that's like I said, that's just part of changing where you're getting your GPS location from.
Amber Stanik: All right. would you rather your auto steer randomly cuts out once a day or your radio only plays one song all season? Like depends on the song.
Shawn Meyer: Man, yeah, what's the song that I got on? I would probably say my radio because can I turn the radio off or do I have to listen to it? boy, yeah it's
Amber Stanik: You have to listen to it. And it's like the song you hate the most.
Shawn Meyer: yeah. Well prob I'd probably steer by hand though.
Amber Stanik: Ha ha
Alecia Stuaan: But it only cuts out once a day, so you you don't know how long it's gonna be.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: That's true.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. I'd probably get rid of the radio.
Amber Stanik: Hmm. Fair. All right. auto steer or cruise control. Which which one do you trust more with your life?
Shawn Meyer: That's hard. because you can I don't really auto steer on the road, right? I definitely don't crust trust cruise control because if you don't pay attention to cruise control, you're gonna hit something. Whereas a tractor with auto guide it's steering for you, right? So and it's gonna beep at you before you run outside your field if you have it boundried. So it's gonna warn you before things happen.
Alecia Stuaan: Technically, if all goes well.
Shawn Meyer: Yeah. If you're having boundary on your field and it's set up, it will beep at you and you didn't turn the volume down because you got tired of hearing the the bite beeping.
Amber Stanik: Ha ha ha.
Alecia Stuaan: And then you're gonna drive through the boundary
Shawn Meyer: So I've done that.
Alecia Stuaan: into a ditch and then it's
Amber Stanik: Mm-hmm.
Alecia Stuaan: gonna be a whole deal.
Shawn Meyer: But I'd rather drive into
Amber Stanik: A home mess.
Shawn Meyer: a ditch than the back end of another car.
Alecia Stuaan: True. So auto seer is your answer. I feel like auto seer has been your answer for every question.
Amber Stanik: Yeah.
Alecia Stuaan: Takeaway. Shawn says we need auto steer.
Shawn Meyer: There you go. You need auto steer. And like I
Amber Stanik: Yes.
Shawn Meyer: said, I mean, every day the percentage of people that aren't running autosteer gets smaller. You're high majority of farmers out there are running some kind of auto steer system already. So, you know, most people that are probably listening are, well, I already do that. Well, it's very true. And you are part of the majority if you're running autosteer at this point. So
Alecia Stuaan: Alright, did we miss anything that you wanna touch on? That wasn't in the notes.
Shawn Meyer: no, but I just I I think I'll go out and reiterate, you know, the trade up programs that I have right now from like I said, basically every manufacturer that we support. They're very competitive. they want to see you guys come into the new technology so you can upgrade and get into the twenty first century of technology, as we would say. So, just a lot of encouragement there, just to even reach out and see what we got. All right. There's no no commitment, right? You can we'll price you anything you want, without a commitment. So just Reach out, see what that old stuff's worth and maybe we can maybe we can get you into a new technology system because like I said, a lot of the prices I'm seeing on these trade up programs are very competitive. And that even goes for like eighty three, eighty two. Agco just end of life there. And they have a trade up program to get you into a four eighty two receiver. So even if you have a factory guide machine from AgCo or Fent that, you know, has an older three eighty two receiver on it, I I got a trade up program for that to get you into a four eighty two. So like I said, there's a about every single option out there right now. They're they got trade ups. So
Alecia Stuaan: Good to know. As we talked about today, precision technology isn't just about the newest equipment or the flashiest feature. It's about having the right people behind it and knowing what actually moves the needle for your operation and having a dealer team that can support it when it counts. That wraps up this episode of the Parallel Path. Thank you for spending some time with us today. If you enjoyed the conversation, make sure to follow the podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss the next episode. And if there's a topic or guest you'd like us to cover, we'd love to hear from you. We'll see you next time on the parallel path.
