Three analysis and management tips to do after performing field operations

In 2023, Brazilian agribusiness should register the highest growth in six years: the sector's GDP will increase 8%, according to the Brazilian Institute of Economics, of Foundation Getúlio Vargas (FGV-Ibre). If the projection is confirmed, this will be the highest growth since 2017. However, for the good results to be confirmed, and for agribusiness maintain its leading role as an economy lever, field activities need to go beyond the cycle of soil preparation, planting, management and harvesting. Results analysis and management strongly influence the sector's progress, ensuring more efficiency and, consequently, greater productivity in the next harvests. 
Currently, technologies have helped to determine whether the results were positive or negative, doing so through reports and views with aggregated data that allow comparing what was planned with what was done. According to Alexandre Alencar, Director of Research & Development at Hexagon's Agriculture division, a company that develops and provides digital agricultural and forestry solutions, this phase is essential to reduce costs and make investments that are more objective and safer. “By analysing the post-harvest operation, the producer can evaluate the work carried out based on reliable and accurate data and reports. This information is valuable for correcting errors and investing to increase operational efficiency,” he explains. Below, Alexandre points out three tips to improve this process phase:

1. Reliable data extraction
The first step is to integrate in field operation — whether in planting, handling or harvesting — equipment that record information during its execution. Using technologies such as sensors and onboard controllers integrated into the machinery, it is possible to collect data in real-time and store it for future analyses, which are carried out with integrated tools and accessed via Internet. HxGN AgrOn BI, for example, is a service to configure customised dashboards, reports and data extraction. “The technology provides graphical data visualisation with filtering and grouping capabilities directly to the user. And that can be easily accessed through a smartphone or tablet, for example. It also allows developing and implementing new reports at runtime, with no need to code or give greater power to the client”, explains Alexandre. 

2. Information Integration
Just having reliable data is not enough if it cannot be used in an integrated way. According to a survey by Inmarsat, which included corporations in the agricultural sector, about 86% of the companies are unable to effectively share and analyse data obtained through technological devices. To face this problem, Alexandre suggests using tools such as HxGN AgrOn Data Integration, which collects information available in different systems used in agricultural companies and, adding technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), transforms them into intelligent information that interconnects the company's systems and processes automatically.  “A major challenge of digital revolution is making new technology work in an integrated manner with agricultural management systems. It is not possible digitally transforming everything at once. That is why it is necessary to ease the transition and integration of legacy systems to new technologies, allowing everything that already exists in the company to work together and synchronised”, he analyses. 

3. Management of data obtained
After collecting and integrating data, the producer must be able to manage the information obtained. “Some technologies, such as the HxGN AgrOn Operational Management Software, can help identifying anomalies in operations, and even generating comparative indicators on the inputs application in relation to the planned recommendation with an accuracy of centimeters”, Alexander explains. With automated processing, the product collects telemetry data from the displays installed on the machines and makes reports, maps, graphs and exportable tables available on an online platform. “This enables corrective action for uncalibrated machines and can be used to help verifying work area and quality performed by third parties or by the team itself”. According to Alexandre, it is almost impossible being completely free of unforeseen events, but with all this information in hand, the chance of occurrence is drastically reduced. "Companies and producers today can execute a much greater control of their activities, modernising processes and making them much more efficient".