SST Development Group, Inc. happens to sell and develop precision ag software, but to be accurate, they are not just a software company.
"The whole purpose of SST is to process and manage data for service provider organizations. We take data and produce meaningful information products that in turn can be provided to farmer-customers. We sell software, but that's not all we're about," says David Waits, SST CEO.
With the release of their Web-based SST FarmRite standardized data program, the company can no longer be "pigeon holed" as a company that only sells software. "We're turning more into an information services company. Clients give us order specifications, and we will create their maps and reports and immediately send it back to them. So its like users doing it themselves but not actually doing button pushing; they tell us what they want, and we pop it right back to them." says Mark Waits, SST marketing manager and David's son.
In becoming an information management company, SST has seen its business concept do a full circle from centralized data management to decentralized and back to centralized. Originally, the goal of the company was to process site-specific data for growers using already existing GIS software. "Our idea was to process collected data into deliverables or information products agriculturists' specify and then send it back to them," says David Waits.
"In the early years, as SST attempted to sell information services to big corporate farmers, it became more and more apparent that generic software was too difficult to be used for agricultural applications," says Mark Waits. Realizing the need for software adapted to agricultural needs, the company began transitioning to the development of agricultural GIS software. During the mid to late 1990's, SST's focus was on developing desktop software and training customers to process data themselves.
David Waits developed an interest in GIS and merging geo-techniques with production agriculture while attending graduate school. He had previously spent 10 years farming in western Kansas in the 70s and early 80s and decided to do something different. In 1994, he opened SST in Stillwater, Okla. after spending five years on faculty at Oklahoma State teaching GIS and remote sensing.
The GIS desktop software, SSToolbox, was unveiled in 1996. SSToolbox proved to be an early success, and it still is one of the most extensively used GIS software programs for production agriculture. The company has expanded its workforce to 37 employees, and to better service their customers in the North Central Midwest, a service center has been opened in West Lebanon, Ind.
In 2005, the SST FarmRite Network was released after years of development, and it completes the circle for SST being a centralized data management company. "It turns out our original thinking was the right thinking," says David Waits. By collecting and standardizing data, large amounts of information can be exchanged seamlessly on the Web and not transferred one file at a time. "Large service provider organizations like our approach because when they have multiple retail locations, they want everyone in the organization doing things the same way," says David Waits.
Foresight has allowed SST to envision and understand upcoming trends in the highly competitive and evolving technology sector. The senior Waits says, "We've been very adaptable to the marketplace. We've done a good job of seeing the trends and getting positioned to meet demands that may not be there for two or three years."
Farming is information intense. So intense, companies have now built successful businesses providing agricultural information management systems.
One such company is SST, based out of Stillwater, Okla.
Incorporated in 1994, SST has developed software and methods to help agribusinesses and farming operations gather, store and organize information. The company works primarily with crop consultants and crop input companies who, in turn, work with growers to collect consistent data and make smart precision farming decisions.
“SST creates efficiency and it does that by centralizing data processing, data storage and product definition,” said Matt Waits, SST operations manager.
The problem
If you are a large agronomy company or cooperative with 40 locations that wants to offer precision agriculture:
- Do you hire, train and pay a skilled Global Information Systems (GIS) specialist for each location?
- Does every farmer working with a specific location use the same precision agriculture software and equipment? How do you get computers to read all those different types of software and information collection systems available?
- How do you make sure that precision agriculture data collected on each farm is getting backed up?
“You can easily end up with a bunch of independent data bases out there, with no way to communicate between locations, no way to communicate to management, and no way to communicate with the grower,” said Waits.
SST solution
The company developed several products to help agronomists and companies better serve grower-customers while increasing efficiency and profitability for their farming enterprise.
SST promotes data consistency, standard formats, and seamless integration of its products with other hardware, software and equipment in the ag industry.
Their tools include:
- SST FarmRite Network that creates efficiencies by allowing agronomists to access all of the capabilities of a GIS, saving the agronomist the time, the investment and the learning curve of developing a data processing system.
The Network offers web-enabled data sharing and an information product ordering system. Using secure Internet access, customers have the ability to view their spatial data and information products, and query a user-defined data pool.
- SST Summit Plus & SST Stratus offer crop planning, recordkeeping and scouting software for both agronomists and farmers. The software is designed to use on a desktop or handheld computer for complete GPS mapping, intensive recordkeeping, detailed reporting, crop scouting and seamless data transfer.
Using the SST software, crop consultants and growers can make a map of a field showing areas of profitability and loss.
The agronomy team can review price scenarios for applying a product at a straight rate vs. a rate by management zone vs. a variable rate application to find out how to get the most value.
The grower can also receive a map and a report by email from a crop scout detailing observations from earlier in the day.
The crop consultant can provide information regarding assessing average yield by soil type. They can also quickly create reports that describe in words and with maps what chemical applications were made, including the applicator's name, the chemical names, the field location, when the chemical was applied and what quantities and methods were used.
“What you end up with is less focus on technology, and more focus on the core competencies such as agronomy and sales and customer service,” said Waits.
Example
A large portion of precision agriculture focuses on variable rate technology.
Using SST technology, a crop consultant or agronomy agency could use the SST Summit software to create digitized field boundary maps using online imagery.
The consultant and the producer could then name each field and input other identifying information. The field data could be downloaded to a handheld personal digital assistant or laptop.
Using SST Stratus, an individual could collect locations of grid samples, management zones or polygon soil sampling data out in the field. The GPS location where information has been taken from is recorded in the handheld device. That data can be loaded back onto the desktop computer.
“We've made a system here where there's no file management,” said Waits. “The data is just synchronized back and forth.”
The individual sends off the soil samples to the soil test lab, and he gets back the results. The results are imported into the appropriate mapped fields.
The SST FarmRite Network allows the consultant to then ask SST for results regarding the information that has been collected. Depending on what level of service the customer signed up for, SST will provide back information.
First, the SST server in Stillwater, Okla., determines if all data entry fields are filled with appropriate information.
The server then processes the data and within a matter of seconds or minutes, the needed data is available and synchronized right into SST Summit.
The crop consultant can immediately evaluate the recommendation and make edits based on additional information.
Once the crop plan satisfies the crop consultant, the grower/producer and the chemical applicator, the information can be transferred directly to the variable rate sprayer for chemical field application.
After the field is sprayed, the information is available to the farmer, the crop consultant and the agronomy company if appropriate.
“The crop consultant can print and deliver maps to farmers; or they can deliver the maps electronically,” said Waits.
The real value of the SST software comes when the crop consultant and the farmer begin to layer maps, and they can determine the factors that are affecting yield and quality.
“If we get the grower to participate in collecting data - what varieties they plant, what seed rates, what application days - we can end up with aggregate data,” said Waits. “Standardization is the key to surmounting barriers to data collection by creating formal exchange standards and allowing the seamless transfer of data between users.”
Ag professionals are concentrating on their core competencies and leaving the data processing to SST.
For years now, ag professionals have used stand alone GIS software to create yield maps, variable rate recommendations, and other common precision agriculture applications. But as information is transferred between users and these applications are deployed across larger organizations, it is often hard to manage the data appropriately. Problems normally fall into the following categories: efficiency, consistency, standardization, accessibility, and reliability. The SST FarmRite Network makes life easier by solving these problems.
Efficiency - GIS is a powerful and useful technology, but it can be expensive, time-consuming, and difficult for staff to adopt and implement company-wide. SST FarmRite creates efficiency by allowing ag professionals access to all of the capabilities of a GIS, without the time investment and learning curve of doing the data processing themselves. They also stay within their core competency of offering agronomic expertise, while outsourcing the “button-pushing” to SST’s highly-trained staff.
Consistency – By participating in the SST FarmRite® Network, ag professionals are ensured that all information products created are consistent in quality throughout their organization. All products will be generated using their company-specified agronomic equations, procedures, and settings such as logos, legends, and company colors. Of course, users always retain local control as changes are made to rates, products, etc. All farmer-customers will receive consistent deliverables while management gains a better understanding of what is taking place within its organization.
Standardization – SST has surmounted barriers to data sharing and analysis by creating SST FarmRite Network geographic and data collection standards, which allow users to query company-wide information across all farms (with the growers' written consent). By using the extensive SST Reference Database found in SST Summit and SST Stratus, they can rest assured that everyone in the organization is collecting data in the same manner - which is critical for reporting, benchmarking, and advanced analysis. SST’s system of constantly updating the reference database ensures each customer that the data they need will be available in the system.
Accessibility – With authorization, data can be accessed by multiple participants from any Internet connection. With permission granted, a grower, retailer, and crop consultant could all have access to the same data and reports. Users also have full control on which pieces of data they want to share, if any. On the data collection side of things, using SST Summit and SST Stratus, different data elements can be collected by different people on the same field. For instance, a grower can record the variety or hybrid that was planted on the field on a certain day, at a certain rate and certain depth, while a crop consultant records a weed infestation and seamlessly transfers a herbicide recommendation to the grower.
Reliability – The SST FarmRite® Network provides an information management system that will remain steady despite a company’s internal personnel changes. For over 10 years, SST has successfully served technology products and services to the agriculture industry and that service will continue.
Sidebar:
SST Software
SST has been delivering solutions to production agriculture for more than a decade. The company’s offerings include a full line of GIS software: SSToolbox ®, SSToolboxLite ® and SSToolkit ®. In addition, three levels of farm record keeping and field data collection software are available for ag retailers, crop consultants, farm managers, and farmers: SST Summit Professional ®, SST Summit Plus ®!, and SST Summit ®. Contact SST today for a free 30-day demo version of SST Summit/Stratus by calling 1-888-377-5334 or send an email request to sst@sstsoftware.com.
SST's latest product and service, called FarmRite, allows ag professionals to access all the capabilities of GIS without having to do the data processing. SST does the processing, but with each company or professional's agronomic equations, procedures, and settings. Users retain local control as changes are made to rates, products, etc. As a result, farmer-customers receive consistent information, and management gains a better understanding of what is taking place in the organization.
Multiple users with authorization may query the FarmRite Network from any Internet connection; a grower, retailer, and crop consultant may all have access to the same data and reports.
Until FarmRite, ag professionals used stand-alone GIS software to create yield maps, variable-rate recommendations, and other common precision agriculture applications. Managing the data across different applications and in larger organizations has become difficult. The new SST product solves the problems of managing the data.