James River Blog

Friday, April 8, 2022

Midway Farms | JRE Presents

Scott Mundie, owner & operator of Midway Farms Inc., lives in Warsaw, Virginia on about 3,200 acres of corn, bean, and wheat fields. Before 2001, when Scott came back to the farm, they were still farming in the traditional ways - without precision Ag technology.  But once they began utilitzing precision Ag, their farm took off and hasn't stopped since.

Caleb Foster, the machine operator for Midway Farms, remembers the time before they started using precision ag technology as well.

"We didn't have hardly any technology. It was all drive-by-eye. The earliest thing I remember was a drag-chain on the front dragging in the dirt before we even had the row marker," Caleb said.  "But compared to what we have nowadays, I guess it'd be very primitive to what we do now."

Scott purchased a 9770 John Deere combine in 2021 that had a yield monitor in it, and that is when they got their first look into what precision ag technology was really about.

"We recognized the potential just from that one piece of equipment, and it's just grown from there," Scott said.

Marcus McDonald, James River Equipment's Integrated Solutions Manager, says the biggest hurdle for getting into precision ag is often just trying to figure out where to start.

Instead of jumping into precision ag head first, they progressively started upgrading their equipment with the proper technology - and Marcus was there every step of the way.

Marcus and the Integrated Solutions Team is always looking for answers to key questions, including:

  • What is the best bang for your buck?
  • What can you invest money into that will give you the biggest and quickest payback?
  • What is going to help you become more efficient on your farm?

Scott explains, "I'm doing my job and I’m doing it the best I know how. And part of my job is to learn how to do it better. Information is the cornerstone of that effort. What we have evolved into is the use of precision ag technology to collect that information to make those decisions easier and probably more accurate."

MyOperations Center

The MyOperations app from John Deere gives you visibility of your field's information right on your phone. When Scott is done planting the field, he can pull the MyOperations app up on his phone and see how well he did, how fast he went, what areas he planted, and much more. Alternatively, if there was a problem, he could pinpoint that location on the map on his phone, and then he can go to that area in the field and begin to diagnose what is going on.

Scott describes, "As soon as we plant the crop, we want to go see what’s going with it. We want to go back to specific areas but I need to be able to know exactly where I did that without having to get out and put a flag down every time."

That is where MyOperations comes in. It puts that important field information in the palm of your hand.

James River Equipment Service

When it comes to service, James River Equipment monitors machines 24/7, and we are just a phone call away.

Caleb explains, "Now if I have an error code in say the combine or the sprayer, it's sent directly to them (James River) also so sometimes they’re aware of it at the same time I am, or sometimes before I am. [And] they’re able to help troubleshoot it, correct the problem, and I can go right on working without having to pay for a service fee or somebody to come out."

What separates James River Equipment from other dealers is our unrivaled support.

Marcus goes on to explain, "You can go down the road buy the same model combine from another dealer. [But] where the rubber meets the road is when that machine is broken down and they’re sitting there waiting. So we try to provide the tools and support we can to keep those growers going."

Scott said, "We focus on producing the crop. That's our specialty. But we have to call on James River Equipment for service and technical assistance. We get excellent support from James River; I can't deny that."


Resources:

Integrated Solutions
Precision Ag Technology - John Deere
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