McPherson Crop Management, INC

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McPherson Crop Management (MCM) was established in 1993 by Bernie Paulson and his wife Pat. MCM began as a private crop consulting business with the emphasis on grid soil sampling, crop scouting, herbicide and fertilizer recommendations. The focus was south central Minnesota in Waseca and Blue Earth Counties. Precision Ag was in its infancy with the promise of it growing into a mainstream practice in just a few years.

A few years turned into more than a decade and Precision Ag is still in its infancy. Despite that, McPherson Crop Management has passed the ten-year mark. The original crop production emphasis is still the core of their business. However, since 1995, GPS technology has allowed them to broaden their sales and service programs. Today, those experiences and technology are evident in all aspects of the company.

In addition to Bernie, MCM has 2 year round employees. Andy Dimmel, GIS Mapping Specialist, joined the team after college graduation in June of 2000. Andy majored in Business Management with a GIS minor at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter. Andy and his wife Heather live near Janesville on the Dimmel Farm where he is also farming.

In December of 2000, business was looking good, so Bernie and Andy decided the next step was to bring in some administration expertise. Two farm boys who want to make maps and dig dirt are not necessarily the best office managers. After a few months of searching, Lori Michels joined their team in April of 2001. Lori brought with her a degree in Office Management and several years of experience. Her organization skills and efficiency are important to McPherson Crop Management and their clients. They also employ 2 Agronomy Interns for summer crop scouting and nutrient sampling.

With that bit of background, they are now looking forward to 2004 and beyond. This is the exciting part!!!! Earlier, I mentioned that Precision Ag is still in its infancy. Some may choose to argue that, however, Bernie has a unique perspective on that. In 1997, Bernie and two other crop consultants joined forces and started the first "Information Lab" known as GeoFARM. The concept of pooling data is a great idea, hundreds of farmers with thousands of acres pooling information, and more information means, better decisions. The concept sure looked good on paper!!!! Well, no one in Minnesota drowned in it anyway. I will let it suffice to say that being "first" in the technology arena may not be a very intelligent move. It did demonstrate one thing though, there is truly very little information out there to pool.

Where was the data? Why wasn't Precision Ag/GPS taking off? What was keeping the farmers from using yield monitors, GPS systems, and variable rate applications? Bernie believes we can trace it back to just a few things. First, up until the past 10 years most farmers never learned how to type and knew even less about computers. Second, the tools the farmers were working with were in the "testing" stage. Third, the farmers were not getting enough support from the companies. Bernie sums it up by saying" If you start with a 40 to 50 year old farmer, with fingers the size of a bratwurst, who cannot type, add to that, expensive hardware and software that changes before you even get started, and support that is almost nonexistent, and you have the recipe for frustration that kept a lot of people out of the game."

After seeing the real challenge to adoption of Precision Ag, Bernie realized
Farm Works had exactly what Agriculture needed &
Agriculture needed what Farm Works had!

So what should McPherson Crop Management do?????
Become a Farm Works software dealer!!!
In a modern farm business, a few thousand dollars for software and hardware may not be an issue, but the Adoption and Integration can be the real expensive part!

Bernie and Andy have spent the last four years using the software on their farms, selling the products in four states and Canada, and training as many customers as they can. At trade shows, they have come across several farmers who purchased Farm Works Software and never did take the time to put it to use. They have one customer that lives 5 miles from Bernie's farm that has had the software since 1996 and never got past the initial setup because there was no one that could come and help them get started. Now they have V9.1 up and running and realize all they have missed.

They believe that it is very important to offer their customers the initial setup and support so they can get the most from the dollars invested in the software. They offer hourly training and consulting over-the-phone, at clients' locations, at their office, and in classroom settings. Bernie Paulson and Andy Dimmel of McPherson Crop Management will help you purchase the modules that make the most sense for your business. Then they will help you get the most from that purchase. One step at a time, they are there to make sure that their clients feel like they are ready to move forward on their own.

Farm Works Software and McPherson Crop Management,
Partners for the life of your business