A software tool being demonstrated on EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert helps to digitize crop records and optimize farm management practices.
AgExpert Field is a software that captures crop rotations, inputs and yields to help producers make informed decisions over time. Over the 2023-2025 seasons, EMILI imported years of operation data from John Deere Operations Centre into AgExpert Field to gain insights into how these technologies work together.
“The value of working with EMILI’s Innovation Farms is that it allows us, as AgExpert, to see farm data and to better understand outcomes that producers would use,” said Neil Wagner, senior product owner with AgExpert.
“Our partnership allows us to work with Innovation Farms and see how it’s being operated to improve our software.”
Wagner explained that the software is designed to simplify field records by bringing records that were once logged in notebooks or spreadsheets together in a central, digitized place. The software brings data from various machinery on the farm to a single location.
“A specific example is John Deere Operations Centre. This is machine-level information, and we’re able to bring that machine-level data into the software. Instead of manually inputting all of the field records or activities – spraying, seeding, that type of thing – it automatically brings that in from those two connected pieces of software. EMILI’s Innovation Farms was really helpful for demonstrating how to do that, and we learned an awful lot,” said Wagner, adding that he constantly reviews how EMILI’s team has entered and logged information.
“I’m able to see how they’re using it, and that brings more ideas to the product team on how to improve certain processes. It’s a pretty invaluable piece.”
AgExpert has about 26,000 users altogether, and AgExpert offers different modules that can be purchased and added to the base software. One such module is AgExpert Sustainability, which EMILI has demonstrated at its Grosse Isle site over the past three years. EMILI recorded farm activity in AgExpert Field Sustainability throughout the 2023-2025 seasons to analyze outputs that estimate on-farm sustainability, including carbon sequestration, carbon dioxide emissions, and nitrous oxide emissions.
“By entering data on fuel usage and field practices into AgExpert Field, we were able to model greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestered through the growing season to gain a better understanding of the sustainability footprint at EMILI’s Innovation Farms,” said Leanne Koroscil, EMILI’s Innovation Farms manager.
During the 2026 season, EMILI will use AgExpert Sustainability to measure soil health. The EMILI team will collect plant tissue from three crop types throughout the season as well as soil samples at two points in time. This information, along with agronomic practices and historical farm data, will help to determine biological activity and soil health to create a framework that can lead to improved decision-making, optimized nutrient investment, and enhanced grain quality.
“I think one of the most important things about [AgExpert] Sustainability is that complex things don’t necessarily have to be abstract or burdensome,” said Wagner.
“We can input our data into the software, and it’s something that anybody can do. You don’t need a PhD or a certain type of academic [degree] to be in there.”
Visit EMILI’s Innovation Farms to learn more about this project and other activities. EMILI hosts field tours and demonstrations on Innovation Farms throughout the season to showcase new agricultural technology, expand innovation opportunities, and increase understanding and adoption of digital tools.