Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
February 18, 2016

BASF introduces Compass™ Grower Advanced, the next generation in farm data management, to address Canadian growers' need for a comprehensive system to improve decision making, profitability and address consumer-driven food trends.

"Today, farming success requires the management of an increasing number of factors, and a comprehensive data management system is imperative as traceability, sustainability and other consumer-driven demands on food production increase," said Andrew Elgersma, Grower Services Manager, with BASF.

BASF and Affinity Management, a software and business solution provider, developed Compass Grower Advance in response to customer's requests for a one-stop, fully-integrated farm data management system that allows growers to plan crops, test profitability scenarios and improve decision making on their farm. This is confirmed by the findings of a November 2015 survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs of 500 large to mid-sized Canadian growers.

Key findings of the Ipsos survey on farm data management include:

• Only 42 percent of Canadian growers currently use a data management system
• Two-thirds of growers without a system rely on pen and paper
• Eighty-four percent of growers surveyed say a fully integrated data management system would be valuable
• Growers rated the following as the top reasons that a farm data management system is valuable:
  (Note: those surveyed could provide more than one response, meaning totals do not add up to 100 percent)
  • Profitability scenarios – 41 percent
  • Improved decision making – 39 percent
  • Crop planning – 37 percent
  • Organizational efficiency – 30 percent
  • Benchmarking performance compared to past years – 28 percent o Traceability – 21 percent
• Seven in ten growers would like a farm data management system that has mobile and integration capabilities

"Compass is a unique market offering as it is truly responsive to the needs of the market," said Elgersma. "Developed with extensive input from customers, the tool is continually being modified to better reflect on-the-farm needs that our customers relay back to us."

Based on the Microsoft® platform, Compass Grower Advanced is fully mobile and integrates accounting, crop plans, grain inventories, crop input applications, soil sampling, yield maps, contracts and more into one comprehensive system.

Always read and follow label directions.

Compass is a trade-mark of Affinity Management Ltd.; Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in Canada; all used with permission.
© 2016 BASF Canada Inc.

Ipsos Public Affairs conducted a survey between November 18 and November 28, 2015 on behalf of BASF Compass, sampling 500 growers of row crops in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It is accurate within +/- 4.4 percent.

Website: https://agro.basf.ca

Published: February 18, 2016