been using a Micasense Altum on a Matrice 300 for going on two years now doing NDVI and thermal passes for a handful of growers in my area. the data looks great, the maps look great, clients love seeing the variability zones. but im starting to wonder how many of them are actually changing their VRA prescriptions based on what we give them versus just kind of nodding and then doing what they were gonna do anyway.

had one guy last fall who had this really obvious stressed area in his corn that showed up clear as day in the NDVI ? turned out to be a compaction issue from where an old fence line was. we caught it early enough that he could have done a variable rate nitrogen application to compensate a little. he didnt. just said 'yeah thats always been a problem spot' and moved on. so like, what are we actually providing here beyond confirmation of stuff they already knew.

im not being cynical i genuinely want to know if other people doing ag mapping work are seeing real on-farm decisions being made from the data or if its more of a 'nice to have' service that growers pay for but dont fully integrate. because if its the latter i need to think about how im presenting the analysis differently

this is the real question and honestly it depends entirely on the agronomist relationship. the data by itself doesnt do anything ? ive seen the same situation you're describing over and over. grower looks at the map, says yep thats the wet corner, pays invoice, nothing changes. but the operations where theres an agronomist in the loop who actually builds out a prescription from our deliverables, those are the ones where stuff actually happens. i basically stopped selling to growers direct and now i go through co-ops and crop consultants because they know what to do with the output. margins are a little thinner but the work actually matters.

i mean i get what your saying but also just because a grower doesnt change something immediately doesnt mean the data isnt useful. sometimes its documenting a problem over multiple seasons that eventually justifies a drainage tile investment or a soil remediation decision. its more like a long game thing. though i will say the VRA integration piece is still super fragmented depending on what equipment the grower has ? if theyre not running a newer john deere or case setup with section control its kind of a moot point anyway