A John Deere Publication

Two adults and two children in front of a crop and tractor

Dillan and Maggie Smith along with the next generation—their children Monica and Charlie.

Agriculture, Ag Tech November 01, 2024

Tech@Work

Managing a legacy.

A legacy is a sacred thing for farmers. Smith Family Farms' legacy began in 1884 and continues today. Dillan Smith is a 5th generation farmer and together with his wife Maggie, brother Brendan, and father Jeff, they work to uphold that legacy on the same land where it all started.

As Dillan takes on more responsibility he's already thinking towards the future. "You build something, you take care of it, it's going to last longer than you," he explains.

For Dillan, farming is a cycle of continuous learning. With a dream to pass the legacy down to his two children, it's not enough to just maintain the farm; he seeks to actively improve it. To help him further understand the impacts of his decisions he spends time analyzing the data he collects in the field.

It started with a strip-till practice to improve soil health, but planting off the strip reduced their yield so they implemented AutoTrac™ to plant more precisely. They have continued to test different practices, inputs, and John Deere technology with the goal of constantly improving. To help him determine the right practices he brings all their data into John Deere Operations Center™. From there he can use the Analyze function to compare variables to help him understand and validate his decisions.

In farming, you can't control every variable but using Analyze, Dillan can let the data drive his decisions, allowing him to spend more time focusing on the things he loves. For him, those things are faith, family, and the land.

There is a lot of responsibility in knowing this legacy is only yours for a little while, watching over it and preparing it for the next generation. You do all you can to learn from your mistakes, make the right decisions, and have faith that you give the best possible piece of yourself to your children. "Do what you think is right, and then go to church on Sunday morning, and pray that it rains when you need it," says Dillan. ‡