As farm equipment continues to become more automated, tracking up- and downtime to the hour — especially with leased machinery — can have a significant economic impact. For ag input retailers that offer custom application services and lease fleets of sprayers, spreaders and floaters, the ability to monitor machine hours, fuel costs and labor time allows for an accurate analysis of return on investment.

At InfoAg 2017 in St. Louis, finding effective and lucrative avenues for billing precision support and streamlining delivery of data management services, were among the trending topics discussed by dealer attendees and speakers during the 3-day event.

InfoAg 2017 will feature a diverse blend of precision farming topics, highlighted by practical discussions on how the Internet of Things (IoT) is reshaping agriculture.

As the dust settles on the dissolution of John Deere’s planned acquisition of Precision Planting, there is plenty of speculation and rumors on who will emerge as the next viable buyer.

“If there’s one mistake those of us in the precision ag business make, it’s falling into the trap of thinking there’ll always be something new and better to sell tomorrow — the ‘next big thing.’"

Choosing a practical entry point into delivery of data management service is a mystery for many farm equipment dealers. Figuring out a method for making it a profitable part of their business is even more of an enigma.