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Farmers crucial to advancing sustainability innovation

The CEO of an ag insights company says farmer input is playing a critical role in the advancement of many ag products designed to improve environmental sustainability.

Randy Barker is with INTENT. INTENT is a technology and insights company that helps ag companies advance innovative products through its field trials and data collection.  “They’re dealing with environmental or market changes,” he says.  “Not just weather, but prices, economics, and interest rates.”

He tells Brownfield farmer farmer-generated data has also played an integral role in development. “We’ve built software and analytics to help understand how their data can inform innovation,” he says.  “Farmers are always at the center of what we’re doing and ultimately for the innovators.”

Barker says a product has to make sense for farmers. “They’re the reality check to see if sustainable products or practices are going to meet that economic and environmental sustainability goal that everyone’s looking for,” he says. 

He says INTENT also uses its technology and practical experience to connect agricultural companies with farmers to find the best fit for an innovation.

AUDIO: Randy Barker, CEO, INTENT