7 minute read
Expert Opinion: John Raines President, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods
John Raines President, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods
Ana Paula Montanha, Editor-in-Chief and John Raines, President, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods
Farmers and ranchers around the world are having to adapt to changing climate conditions to continue producing enough food to feed the growing global population, support their own livelihoods and their communities. How do we solve these challenges?
Farmer’s work everyday to be great stewards of our natural resources as they produce our food, feed, fiber and fuel every day, but at least one third of all of the food produced globally is lost or wasted. Countless goods end up in landfills before they even reach consumers because of inadequate demand forecasting, quality assurance protocols and other issues. This, in turn, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of resources used to make what goes to waste. It’s all interrelated. There are clear inefficiencies in the production and distribution of food and consumer goods due to the size and complexity of supply chains, and at TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, we feel that data is key in addressing those challenges. Data insights, more precisely, allow participants from one end of the value chain to the other to more effectively anticipate how, where and when to move products, generating value for the entire system and for consumers.
We are investing in and delivering digital technologies that will help unify the value chain by connecting producers, trusted advisors, retailers and manufacturers. We offer solutions to the entire consumer goods value chain, allowing all of the players to make more informed, data-driven decisions with software that provides information in real time. On the agriculture side, our solutions help agriculture retailers and farmers make better agronomic decisions and be site-specific with their application of fertilizer as well as crop protection products for insects, weeds and disease, at a time when input prices are especially high. By being more predictive and prospective, farmers can reduce purchasing costs, improve their business over time, and savings can get passed down the value chain to consumers. On the animal health side, we capture data from birth through every subsequent event in an animal's life, allowing cattle producers and feedlots to raise beef much more efficiently while ensuring the animals are in optimal health.
What do you think would be the most impactful innovation (s) in agriculture in the next five years?
While 5G is being rolled out across most countries, we haven’t seen its full potential yet. It will unleash the power of AI and IoT, and propel precision agriculture. Autonomous vehicles and automated, connected devices, powered by 5G, will usher in a new era in farming and certainly raise operational efficiency, while relieving the pressures of certain challenges like worker shortages. It’s estimated that the next generation of mobile networks will support as many as one million connected devices per square kilometer in the future.
As tech and data collection improve, it’s easier to look at the details and measure key performance indicators (KPIs). In agriculture, this means tracking the use of resources like inputs, such as chemical and feed, and evaluating production potential (liters per cow, bushels per acre) plus using ratios and other analytical tools to monitor and assess financial performance. How much value do you think KPIs bring specifically in this industry?
KPIs are essential to the success of the industry. Growers have always collected data about weather and field conditions, and their operations, in an attempt to maximize production and their farm’s profitability. They historically captured production information in notebooks, but they didn’t have the capacity to analyze data over an extended period of time, or to cross data from meteorological models and geospatial locations, for example. Digitization and the functions that can be performed now thanks to advanced analytics software provides them with an unparalleled level of knowledge about how their crops are faring at any given point in time, and how certain factors and actions affect their condition. Thanks to digital farm management records, they can also have a much more detailed, accurate view of their financials and proactively mitigate risks.
Farmers work every day to build a stronger agricultural economy for future generations, improve both domestic and international markets, and create new income opportunities, namely through the use of renewable energy. A new farm or ranch business relies on good planning. A good farm business plan is your roadmap to start-up, profitability, and growth, and provides the foundation for new farmers. What advice (s) would you give to beginning farmers and ranchers?
Much like a team sport, farmers and or ranchers benefit greatly from the insights and experiences of others. It’s critical to develop strong, trusting relationships with fellow members of the community, with a good agronomist, a financial advisor, local associations, and other support experts. They need to attend industry meetings and events to network, make connections, and also seize the opportunities to interact with customers and consumers, whenever possible, to fully understand their needs, wishes and concerns. Their bottom line depends on being able to adapt to evolving market trends, including the desire for greater transparency and traceability.
Strengthening and expanding markets for American agricultural products not only helps U.S. farms and businesses thrive, but it also helps improve the quality and variety of foods available to consumers around the world. What are the major milestones in terms of infrastructure you would like America to accomplish in the next five years, so that the industry can thrive?
The number one barrier to the adoption of new technologies in the agriculture industry is poor connectivity. According to the Ag Economy Barometer maintained by the CME Group and Purdue University, about one-third of top tier American farmers and ranchers report having no internet or a deficient connection. And this situation is not unique to the United States. McKinsey estimates that, “if connectivity is implemented successfully in agriculture, the industry could tack on $500 billion in additional value to the global gross domestic product by 2030.”
We see a series of evolutions and improvements in this industry, but how has it shaped the talents, skills, and professionals you need for the future of your organization?
The skill sets needed to serve our customers continue to evolve, as we help the industry digitize. With increased digitization, we are able to provide customers with more prospective, data-driven services and insights. In order to support this evolution, and to offer market-leading platforms, we have seen a rapid growth in our need for data professionals. We also use technologies such as AI/ML in support of the data challenges in the industry. Data Scientists are in high demand across technology companies, including at TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, and one of our challenges is finding data scientists with some domain expertise in the agriculture and consumer packaged goods industries. We also invest heavily in Information Security resources, and as custodians of our customers’ data, we seek top talents in this area to ensure that we protect it with rigor. Data-driven insights is the new frontier in transforming the food and consumer goods supply chain and TELUS Agriculture & Consumers Goods is at the forefront of creating new value for our customers in this space.
John Raines, President, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods
