Fieldwalker Ag: From SWAT MAP to Recommendation to Results

A more tangible approach to digital ag service offerings is at the core of Fieldwalker Agronomy’s business model. Walking fields is where the capturing, mapping, and measuring of differences is found at face value, explains owner Jonathan Zettler.

“The conversations we have with customers is based directly on validating what we see in the field,” says Zettler. “That’s why we call ourselves Fieldwalker; we validate the rates being used in the field by being out there and seeing it for ourselves.”

Fieldwalker Ag was founded in 2018 with a goal of providing profitable advice to clients through three service offerings that focus on the 10,000, 1,000 and 10 foot levels: The Cropwalker Newsletter, crop management services, and SWAT MAPS, the world’s only all-in-one soil foundation map. Located in the corner of Huron, Bruce, Grey and Wellington Counties in Ontario, Zettler has found the area to have high soil pH across many landscapes, which drills down the need to assess the rates in a more practical and economic way for the farmer using informed decisions.

“In order to make informed decisions you need a base layer. That’s why we’re working with Croptimistic Technology and their product SWAT MAPS. Once you have the data you can make the judgment call,” says Zettler. “The maps seem to work well on almost any soil type to help identify field variability and response to crop inputs.”

A Background of Expertise

Zettler has spent hundreds of hours understanding genetic response to landscape position, which is key in understanding crop behaviour when establishing good seeding scripts. Zettler also has significant operations experience combined with agronomy knowledge, so when it comes to having equipment run seamlessly with the maps, it’s easy to talk about what’s most practical.

Fieldwalker Ag structures their services by building a database of the field history. Even without that initial historical data, using SWAT MAPS they can quickly determine where input adjustments are needed across the field, and where flat rate can stay.

“Our clients are looking for the whole agronomy package, and SWAT MAPS helps us deliver that,” Zettler explains. “My goal is to provide profitable advice to my clients, not make work for them.”

Assisting with the Adoption Process

With clients growing a large variety of crops such as edible beans, corn, soybeans, winter wheat, and some even dabbling into forages, Zettler has found use for SWAT MAPS in multiple applications. A highlight noted for Zettler was the ability to take the grower’s journey from taking the SWAT maps order to helping the clients getting the recommendations in the monitor; and it's all done in-house.

As farms continue to upgrade to variable rate planters and drills, Fieldwalker Ag is looking ahead at how they can bring their expertise to farmers looking to take their operation to the next level or begin the adoption process from the get-go.

“We’ve seen a lot of big ‘aha’ moments that is helping drive adoption, as each step of the process has the friction reduced for the client to make it happen,” he says. “Croptimistic is building an entire ecosystem from data collection, recommendation, rate controller to field evaluation. Many programs only complete one step of the process and are unable to tie it all together. This seems to be the missing link to making it all work.”

The SWAT MAPS Team is proud to work alongside passionate, independent agronomy service providers like Fieldwalker Ag. Learn more about their business and what’s happening in their corner by following them on social media or visiting their website:

Twitter: @FieldwalkerAg

Website: https://fieldwalker.ca
Contact:
Jonathan Zettler
519-323-7505
jz@fieldwalker.ca

Farmers: visit https://swatmaps.com/partner-locator/ to find a SWAT MAPS Service Provider near you.

Service providers: Contact us for partnership opportunities.