A few clients and friends who stopped by the winter 2024 trade shows.

Dear Friend,

We really enjoyed meeting clients, friends, and prospective clients at the National Farm Machinery Show and Commodity Classic.  Special thanks to Bernard and two Brians from MASA who helped man the booth and meet the public

In this month's news:

• March MASA Interim CEO update.
• The Yellow Brick Road of agtech (video). 
• Q&A: Import options (video).
                                                                             SDG

Interim CEO Update Building the Best Solution for Your Operation If you follow the news about Agtech, you see a repeated story about supposedly great new technologies that will make farming more profitable that end up not gaining traction and leaving users disappointed and investors counting their losses. The farming operations that use FBS software and own MASA have all had similar experiences with new technology.  And FBS faces some of these same challenges, notwithstanding the fact that it has endured for 44 years and ably met the needs of many users to better manage their finances.  Still, many FBS users are not taking advantage of the full capabilities of the software to illuminate what drives cost in their operations.  With the decision to purchase FBS, MASA has made investment in customer service and implementation support one of its highest priorities. These are early days, but MASA is evaluating additional customer “Help” tools and technologies, additional support resources, and working with third parties to supply implementation consulting.  One factor that can significantly enhance customer support is moving data and applications to the cloud.  The ability to manage versions and the code base, to immediately see and understand what the customer is experiencing and monitor performance in real time are critical to excellent support productivity and user experience.   MASA is now exploring upgrades to our cloud-based solutions that will provide security and flexibility that is superior to on-premises installations.   With the release of version 12.1, we intend to confer with each of you individually to find the best solution for your operation. We look forward to the discussion! Brian Watkins MASA Board Member and Interim CEO feedback@fbssystems.com

MASA's Journey On the Yellow Brick Road of Agtech Capital

"I think what you're doing is so cool."

Jordan Lambert, Director of Agricultural Innovation and Partnerships, Colorado State University, shares her experience and insight in the world of agtech capital with the Mutual Agricultural Software Alliance members in this recording from the Boost/23 Conference on November 14th, 2023.

Her best practices recommendations for MASA's farmer-owned technology:
•    Say what you need
•    Support the prioritizer
•    Create a barn-building culture

According to Lambert, "Software is a living, breathing thing.  The choice of a CEO is particularly important; they need decent product management experience."
Farmer working with product managers need to:|

1. Say what you want to accomplish in concrete terms.
2. Know how much you're willing to pay for it.
3. Find out how complicated it is to deliver.

In turn, the product manager/CEO needs to tell investors and customers what that road map needs to look like and be in conversation with the board.

"You guys are in an enviable position where the customer is the investor...probably the most innovative thing to happen in software or in agriculture in many decades," observes Jordan.  "To think of this as a cooperative model and to work together as a  group to create a product that is truly driving value for you guys is going to be the hard work, but if you can do that well you'll be in a really good position and frankly, unstoppable. Being laser-focused on the features that drive the most value for the membership is what's going to serve you guys well."

Click here to watch the video,