Everyone has defining moments in their life. The day you graduated. The day you got married. The day your first child was born. In fact, if you want your mind blown, the most defining moment in your life happened completely beyond your control. It was the day your parents met. Had that defining moment never happened, you would not exist.
There was a defining moment recently in, of all places, one of the most beautiful areas in this country – New Haven, Kentucky.
For years, everybody has been talking about autonomy reducing labor. We’ve been telling the world it has more to do with reducing capital expenses. The math always worked. The spreadsheets looked great. But deep down, I knew the real test would come when someone was willing to fundamentally change how they farmed because of it.
That moment arrived when one of our farmers, Quint Pottinger, planted his entire corn crop autonomously. The remarkable part wasn’t that he planted it without an operator. The remarkable part was what happened beforehand. Quint sold two John Deere 8R tractors and two 40-foot planters. In their place, he downsized to a John Deere 6135E pulling an 8-row planter.
Why? Because Quint realized something profound. Every dollar tied up in excess iron was a dollar that couldn’t be invested elsewhere. Instead of parking capital in depreciating equipment, he’s redirecting it into cattle – an asset that actually generates revenue. Imagine that – a farmer wants to farm and make money.
I knew this day would come. I knew someone would eventually look beyond autonomy as a labor tool and see it for what it really is: a capital allocation tool. Safe to say, Quint is the talk of the town in New Haven.
More interestingly, the bankers couldn’t help but notice. And that’s the most important part of the story. When bankers start paying attention, the conversation has moved beyond technology and into economics.
Looking back, Quint planting his entire corn crop autonomously wasn’t the defining moment. Selling his tractors was. I’ve been waiting for someone to do it. The day it happened, I knew the black flag had been raised – and it’s not being lowered.
-Craig
