Seth Crawford is senior vice president and general manager of Precision Ag and Digital at AGCO Corporation in Duluth, Georgia. Wearing another hat, he also keeps a hand in his family's corn and soybean farm back in Rock County, Minnesota, which was established in 1872 -- 14 years before Progressive Farmer was born.
Due to his professional responsibilities at AGCO, Crawford lives in that intersection where technology platforms written by coders are tested against expectations and harsh field environments common to farming. Do technologies make farmers more efficient and more productive, add value and make farms more sustainable?
"I have a vision," Crawford once told DTNPF, "That in my lifetime, we eliminate unplanned downtime by way of (quickly deciphering) the thousands and thousands of data points we collect going through the field. Because unplanned downtime is super frustrating to the farmer. It can create a snowball effect of things going wrong."
And so, we spoke again Thursday with Crawford, this time during the 2024 Commodity Classic where a record number of farmers and exhibitors -- 10,856 attendees at last count -- would see AGCO's portfolio displayed down machinery row in Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center. Tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, haying tools -- all delivering full-season "solutions" by way of AGCO's Fendt and Massey Ferguson brands with its Precision Planting arm in the center of the display. Not yet on display at Commodity Classic, but coming soon as final papers are signed, are the fruits of AGCO's $2 billion joint venture with Trimble.
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Categories: Iowa, Rural Lifestyle