A great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand.

GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand their customer better to be able to service them better,” says Lance Rupert, GROWMARK Agronomy Marketing Manager.

The tool allows crop specialists to create personalized proposals for farmers based on their specific needs. “It is exported to an app on an iPad so when they go see a grower they can walk through it with them face to face,” Lance explained. Connected with that is a scenario calculator which allows the specialist to work with the farmer using different variables to help them determine what is best for their particular situation. “It runs different profit-loss scenarios,” he said. “That’s really important now with crop prices coming down a little.”

Lance says FS Sales Lens also has a scouting app, which allows the specialist to go through a field and check for insects, diseases and weeds. “He can track his movements in a field through GPS, drop a pin or highlight the area where the issue is … take pictures, attach it to a report, and then be able to communicate those issues to the grower,” said Lance.

The FS Sales Lens tool is brand new for this season, after being field tested last year, so growers can expect to see it in use by their FS crop specialists. In addition, Lance says they plan to build on the functionality of it as growers and crop specialists come up with new ways it can be utilized.

Find out more in this interview with Lance Rupert: FS Sales Lens interview