Know more samples: On sampling and subjectivity

Ground Truth Ag is solving the problems of sampling and subjectivity.

KNOW MORE SAMPLES: On sampling and subjectivity

Chief Operating Officer Divyesh Patel described the problem Ground Truth Ag is solving for farmers at the Ag Tech Accelerator’s Demo Day at Canada’s Farm Show this June.

“Imagine that you are a farmer. You have loaded up your grain truck and are driving to the elevator."

"You’ve been told that your grain is number one – but you don’t really know what price you’re going to get until you make that transaction at the elevator,” he described to the audience. “Or imagine you have multiple buyers for your grain. You’ve sent your samples to three different buyers – and you received three different results back.”

Ground Truth Ag recognizes that there is no small amount of uncertainty in this process - and most of that uncertainty is outside of the producer’s control. The company’s solution for this uncertainty comes down to addressing the two main reasons they believe are impacting current grain grading processes - sampling error and subjectivity.

“Farm operations are a lot larger than they used to be. Each 30,000 bushel bin represents about 400 football field’s worth of grain –and that whole bin’s worth of grain is graded based on a sample about the size of your kitchen table,” he notes.

“Subjectivity is also a very real challenge. Take Canadian Western Red Spring wheat which has about 40 visual grading factors. When you try to set boundaries for those visual factors, and you have a sample that’s really tight across a number of factors, that’s when you can see a variation in your results.”

Ground Truth Ag is developing two different solutions for both grain buyers and farmers. The company’s benchtop unit, which is now available on a limited pre-order, addresses subjectivity. “It provides consistent results in a high throughput manor with a comprehensive view of all the grading factors that you are looking at for your grain,” Divyesh explains.

In 2025, the on-combine version will also be available and will do all of the things the benchtop unit can while also providing a continual sampling of your grain. “As you are driving through your field – you will know more samples.”

Stay tuned for our next article in the KNOW MORE SAMPLES series where we talk about the technology behind the two versions and how it all works.