SMS Certified II Training

On August 9th and 10th, we hosted our first SMS Certified II Training Session at Ag Leader Academy.  We've been offering the SMS Certified I class for several years, but with the constant advances in the precision ag industry we recognize the need to provide ongoing education.

The SMS Certified II course focused on the tools that have been added to SMS over the past three years. During the training, we reviewed the Analysis Tools and gave a sneak peek at the features coming in version 11.5 of the SMS desktop software and 5.5 of SMS Mobile. The attendees were a mix of Ag Leader dealers, CCA's and other industry professionals who had previously completed the SMS Certified I class.  With their extensive knowledge of SMS, we focused less on teaching the basic 'button presses' and more on what the button presses can help them accomplish once the value of data is realized.

With all of the information being collected in the field, such as planting, spraying, harvest, soil fertility, fertilizing and the ever growing list, it raises the very obvious question of WHAT should we be doing with all of this information?  It's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the data sitting in SMS and hearing everyone's own 'unique' strategy about how to make better management decisions and what data you should and should not use.

Should we base next season's management decisions on previous year's yield information, soil sampling results, soil types, NIR imagery, sensor values or any of the other pieces of information we've recorded?  After a great discussion with all the Certified II participants, the one conclusion we came to was that there is no one right answer that is going to work for everyone, but the training revealed tools in the software that make sorting through the data faster and easier. We all recognize that each field is  unique and will  need to be managed differently.

In addition to the Certified II training we also offer many other levels of SMS Software training.  We continue to look for new ways to assist you in making the decisions that affect your bottom line, including helping you with training sessions, online meetings and our dedicated support staff.