Smart Storage Systems

Grain is at its highest quality at the instant it comes out of the field, and if that grain is stored it is at risk of significant degradation in quality. Excellence in grain storage management can enable better market opportunities through conditioning of the grain to market standards or allowing the grain to be sold at locally maximal values. Excellence in grain storage management, however, is difficult to maintain. Digital technologies have enabled advancements in grain storage management systems, with modern systems like the OPI Blue which includes functionality like remote bin monitoring, automated fan control, and integrated pest detection. This episode features Dave Crompton, CEO of OPI Systems, a grain storage management company based in Calgary, AB, Canada. Dave has been at the helm of OPI Systems since it was first established 36 years ago out of a simple need to measure the performance of drying systems that Dave was selling. Since OPI Systems was first established, it has grown through experience to be one of the leading grain storage management companies in the world serving over 30,000 private and commercial customers in the U.S., Canada, and 38 other countries. Dave begins this episode by telling the story of OPI Systems' founding and describing the function of OPI's storage management systems. From there, the conversation turns to the cutting edge of grain storage management enabled by digital technologies. Dave shares about how those technologies have revolutionized the landscape of grain storage management specifically for OPI Systems. Additionally, Dave shares about the prospects and technological implementation opportunities surrounding an exciting new partnership with fellow Canadian company FarmersEdge. The partnership seeks to link precision ag data and storage data to enable traceability of sustainable practices and increase grower exposure in high-value plant-based protein markets. As digital agriculture pushes forward, grain storage management technologies are certainly not being neglected, and may well be a crucial part the most critical digitally-enabled improvements in the agricultural industry. "The really cool thing about data is this is one of the rare commodities where the more you use it, the more valuable it becomes. So the more things we learn about the data, the more things we can do with the data." - Dave Crompton, CEO, OPIsystems Inc.