In this post, we want to tell you more about how we (the human side of Custom Agricultural Intelligence) thinks, believes, and conduct business in the industry.
Our customers are first. Yes, it’s a cliché and we’re sure you’ve heard this before, but this is not just a slogan we have, not just a plaque we have on the wall, but it is a philosophy woven into the fabric of our young company. This doesn’t just mean good customer service; it means doing the right thing for the customer every time – even if it’s not the more profitable thing.
The role of business is to provide value for its community and be of service and not to take advantage or exploit community members for its gain. If you agree with that statement then it follows that if you provide value for the community, company profits will follow. That’s how we do business.
In providing the best possible service for our community, we have to be innovative and always looking for the best possible solution for our customers – growers of all kind. To do this, we have to constantly ask the question “what if”? What if we looked at plants and crops as being alive and capable of getting sick, and recovering? What if when plants were sick their growers could call a plant doctor and the doctor would prescribe medication. What if there was a pharmacy where you can pick up the medication and take it back to your field and nurse your crop back to health?
The concept of the pharmacy is an illustration of how we view our role in the crop growing industry. Our state of the art technological tools provides the assessment or the “diagnosis” and our protocols provide the “medicine” to bring crops back to life.
The old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure doesn’t just apply to humans and animals, but also to plants. This is why our protocols have a preventative component that will allow your crops to grow strong and minimize crop stress that leads to damage during the growing season.
What if we looked at crop growing this way? We will be able to live up to our “customers are first” belief and provide the best possible service and products for the fertilizer industry.
How can we earn your trust? What if you gave us a try first?
If you want to know more about your crop nutrient needs, contact us – we’d love to chat!
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What is crop health?
Crop growing can be very rewarding work. It can also be hard work. Fortunately, new scientific advancement has made crop growing easier and more accurate than it was in the past. This is mostly thanks to the advancement of technologies and specialized skill sets that help detect crop infestations early and apply treatment before much damage is done. Also, assessment techniques have improved dramatically making crop testing and assessment a crucial component of growing crops today.
Crop Health Assessment
One popular way to assess crop health is the use of remote sensing technology. Optical sensing or VIR (Visible and Infrared Spectrometer) is often used to identify crop stress or damage using infrared waves. This information is then sent to the grower so they are able to quickly take action and begin remediation before sustaining too much damage. The most critical aspect of remote sensing is the ability to get the information to the growers quickly in order to take timely action and prevent crop damage.
Optical (VIR) sensing technology is not a replacement of the growers’ work in the field but it does help provide more targeted and timely evidence of crop disease or damage.
Minimizing crop damage
Once growers have timely information about their crop health they can implement a targeted treatment. This treatment can be the application of custom macro and micro nutrients. In previous posts we’ve described the importance of custom fertilizer application and soil health management.
Conditions for targeted crop health management
There are generally three conditions that necessitate a targeted “custom” approach to managing crop health.
- Variability in the needs of the soil and crops within the field
- Causes of the variability are identified and appropriate treatment options are available
- Treatment can be applied in a timely manner as to have a positive effect on crop health and increase yields and profits for growers.
Many growers partner with experts to identify the variability of their fields and work collaboratively to identify the appropriate treatment for their field. Although some crop experts will charge for their time, analysis and recommendations, in the long run this can turn out to be a good investment for the growers if they realize a higher return on investment (ROI) as a result of increased yields and higher profits.
Custom Agricultural Intelligence Inc. has worked with many growers and is well equipped to support growers as they look to increase their yields. One of the most common complaints we’ve heard from growers is that fertilizer companies are constantly trying to sell them fertilizer “products” – with no evidence that this is in-fact what they need. This is why we have come up with custom “protocols” and work with growers to find the best possible option for their field.
Hopefully you found this post helpful. If you want to know more about your crop nutrient needs, contact us – we’d love to chat!
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What does soil health mean?
Soils across Canada and indeed the world vary in what they are made of and how they interact with the environment around them. The soil type is often influenced by the local climate, organisms, type of sediments etc.
The term soil health generally refers to the relationship that the soil has within itself and with the surrounding environment. For example, soils are made up of biological, physical, and chemical components. All of these components interact together to form the basis for soil health and soil management.
In crop growing, most people can see and refer to the plant as being “alive” but consider that the same things that make the plant a living thing also make the soil “alive”. This means that soil health is extremely important as the interactions of all the soil systems determine the success and eventually the crop yield.
How does the soil system work?
Here are some basic soil functions that could be managed to ensure it supports plants growth;
Regulating water – the type of typography of the soil plays a large role in where water flows and how much is absorbed and made available for plants.
Neutralizing pollutants – the physical and biological components of the soil play a vital role in decomposing and degrading organic material as well as detoxifying inorganic pollutants that may have landed on it.
Physical support – soils “hug” the roots of the plant and provide stability for the plant to grow.
Cycling nutrients – in previous posts we discussed macro and micro nutrients. The soil’s ability to cycle and restore nutrients is an important function. In today’s crop growing systems, soils do not have the ability to regenerate these nutrients as fast as we need them to – this is why fertilizers are used. Find out why custom fertilizing is crucial for growers and the environment here.
Life support – Lastly but definitely not least, soils sustain life. They provide nourishment and foster diversity in plant and for animals.
Balancing these soil components to ensure optimal health for the soil is sometimes referred to as soil health management.
Impact on Growers
As you can imagine soil health has a huge impact on growing crops. Since soil health varies from different areas, it is crucial that soil management practices are developed and adapted to local soil conditions. One of the first steps to doing this is soil analysis. Accurate and reliable soil analysis results will form the foundation of good soil health management.
Hopefully you found this post helpful. If you want to know more about your crop nutrient needs, contact us – we’d love to chat!
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