Concept History

     To best fit the wide ranging needs of their customers, Croplan Genetics® has accessed a large and diverse lineup of excellent hybrids and varieties.  With that diversity there was a need to communicate strengths, weaknesses, and proper positioning of their lineup. In the summer of 2001, Croplan Genetics® came out with a seed catalog that introduced the concept of assigning hybrids and varieties to soil categories.  It appeared to be a perfect fit to our emphasis on soils and soil characteristics.  Only a few years earlier we began educating our agronomists and customers about management problems associated with some soil types.  To that end we at New Vision Co-op had created a soils spreadsheet that listed characteristics of every soil type in our trade area.  We also went through the process of assigning the same series of color-codes to all soil characteristics and all other GIS map layers such as soil test fertility maps and yield maps.  These color-codes carried the same general theme throughout all map legends.  We knew seed positioning maps had to be a visual that carried that same color-coded theme.  All we had to do was merge their list with our list.  It sounded easy and simple but was difficult and complex.

     With time out for a busy fall, it took six months to work through the complex logic to create the soybean seed/soil categories.  It took another two months to create a logical, science-based series of hybrid seed/soil categories. Registered Copyright detailing this accomplishment was granted in early spring 2002.

     Insight to the key consideration for the corn hybrid categories came from a comment made by Bob Schoper, Agriliance, at a training seminar on corn management.  Bob is a very highly regarded agronomist and soils expert.  He also generously shared his valuable time to review our work and suggested inclusions offered in the final product.

     Early on, we shared what we were doing with Gary Olson, Croplan Genetics.  With his intense drive and contagious focus on seed, he quickly recognized and pointed out the commercial possibilities once it was perfected.  That point stayed in the back of our minds.

     The next task was assigning seed placement categories to every soil type in our soils spreadsheet.  Our trade area had increased in size.  That required adding many more soils to our dataset.   Most of the counties in our area have digitized soil maps but the columns of data we needed had to be pulled in by reading through the soil surveys and manually entering characteristics into an Excel® spreadsheet.  It was a tiresome endeavor.

     Late summer 2002 we sent a detailed eleven page set of questions to our seed suppliers.  In that letter we listed the soil characteristics in our categories and asked them to place their hybrids and varieties accordingly.  This was a new concept and it was very difficult to get a timely response.  The one exception was an immediate detailed reply from Dan Bjorklund, Croplan Genetics.  It was quite apparent he knew his soybean lineup, inside and out.

     After harvest 2002 we launched our precision ag seed placement service.  At the time we only had GIS capabilities at our Heron Lake location and we encouraged our agronomy salesmen to bring prospects there for their seed placement.  It was cumbersome but very successful if we could get the farmers in the door.

    Word of mouth led to inquiries from other coops.  We had devised this for our own seed selling program but quickly found there was a demand for this capability, as Gary Olson had predicted.

     Inquiries from coops in both north and south areas of the loess soils in western Iowa led to including some important seed placement sub-categories.  A pilot version of EnVision® was placed with a progressive co-op in the loess region of Northwest Iowa.  Although they received it late in their seed selling season, we both learned a lot from the opportunity.   

     After exploring numerous options and marketing scenarios, we contracted with SST Development Group, Stillwater, Oklahoma, to produce EnVision®.   They are the premier ag GIS company in the world.  They have the expertise, market presence, and product delivery mechanism that will produce and offer a top quality product.

     The Wal-Mart® pricing philosophy offered the most advantages to both us and our potential customers.   We take a low margin and offer EnVision® at a low price. This should encourage large acre participation.

     As with many new ventures – timing is everything.   It is serendipitous that there is a developed product ….. that relies on newly/shortly available NRCS data …. that will be delivered by the top ag GIS company in the world on their newly developed, easy to use GIS platform ….. via their new national “ag GIS standard framework” – SST FarmRite Network™.                

     We had three things in our favor that led to the creation of EnVision®:  1) We are a large cooperative and therefore could justify a precision ag department; 2) We have a supervisor that encourages innovation; and, 3) The Croplan Genetics® concept was a challenge that fit the talents and passion of our employees.

For more information about New Vision Co-op, go to www.newvision.coop