Ag Uncensored with Nathan Faleide

OpenFMIS, a new concept in Agriculture

In this episode, I finally lay out what I’ve been hinting at—a new direction built from something very real. After 30 years in AgTech, growing up inside it, building it, watching where it works and where it fails, I’ve decided to take a copy of our Satshot GIS engine and turn it into something new.
Something open. Something others can build on. I’m calling it OpenFMIS. An open-core geospatial framework for agriculture. This isn’t another platform trying to lock people in. It’s a foundation. A base system that handles the core stuff everyone keeps rebuilding—field boundaries, users, layers, roles, and connections to things like imagery, weather, prescriptions, and more.
The point is: we’ve been missing trust, structure, and a common way to actually build this all that fits how farming works, not the other way around. I talk about what’s broken, what I’ve lived through, and why I’m not doing this just to shake things up. I’m doing it because I believe we need something different. Something that gives farmers control over their digital world. Something developers and ag companies can actually build on together, without having to start from scratch.
This is my Hail Mary, but it’s not just hope. It’s action. I’ve got the tech, the vision, and the scars and understanding to back it. I just need the right people to join in. So if you’ve ever felt like we’re missing the mark in this industry, this episode and concept is for you. Let’s build something better together.

AI is missing something in Ag

We can talk and talk about all the great and weird things AI can do in Agriculture and yes it's real and not going away, but there is also a lot more to it then just what it is capable of doing. We have to trust it and feel comfortable using it much like the internet itself. There is more emotion tied to it though than I think most think. That's what I'm talking about in this episode.

Vaporware in Ag: Chasing a Dream

We often all have great ideas to solve big problems and Ag in no different. When we bridge tech in the mix it gets fun as you can fake it make it sort of a lot easier than say making a tractor. Well, let's talk about it then...

AgTech took the Human out of Farming

The title says most of it, but more or less farming is about the senses and it doesn't make sense to most farmers using software the way it's been built. Maybe we need to talk to it, get it to react to the way Ag thinks and acts. Maybe GenAI is the answer. Anyway, more on that here. 

AgTech is in a Toxic relationship with Farmers

There’s this constant tension building between the people who use AgTech stuff and the people who build it. Farmers versus programmers. Agronomists versus developers. Call it what you want—but it’s everywhere now, and it’s getting worse. I dive into that and a little more in this episode. 

Peculiar Precise Precision Problems

In this episode, I talk through the chaos and realities of AgTech during the busy season and where all the flashy features and promises don’t mean a thing if the tools don’t actually work when farmers need them most. I dig into why data resolution often gets oversold, especially when your equipment can’t even apply changes at that scale, and how we keep falling into the trap of complexity over practicality. 

Rethinking Tech in Equipment and Software

This week I talk through a write up Ben Voss did about what's going on with tech entrenched in OEM Ag Machinery and how that relates to the AgTech software world with FMIS. Also, another pickup ride which I think I'm staying with. Enjoy!

The Shifting Norms and Limits in AgTech

Alright, so this one’s a bit of a mobile ramble—I’m in the pickup, no dogs, just rolling through the wind and rain, thinking out loud about how tech is driving equipment decisions more than the machines themselves. I talk about how OEMs are fumbling or thriving based on how seamless their tech works, and how farmers—especially bigger ones—are buying based on that. But I also dig into why smaller farms aren't jumping on the robot bandwagon, and how a lot of AgTech folks miss the whole point because they’ve never actually done the job they're trying to replace.

A Grand Inquisition: Secretary of Ag visits ND

Well some big government officials and politicians are in ND to talk about Ag. I talk about this on a drive with my dogs in the country side where they also will be visiting nearby my home at the Grand Farm an AgTech testing farm and facility. I get into my thoughts on how the USDA can do better with digital data and processes. There is a lot to talk about and I hope the people around them today and beyond can get the right messages across. This is how I'm doing it. Enjoy!

The Masters and AgTech...yeah it's a golf thing

In this episode, I went off on kind of a fun tangent—comparing the Masters golf tournament to AgTech and farming. It might sound like a stretch, but hear me out. Golf is this game where most people just want to play and enjoy it, not win a championship. Same goes for most farmers. They’re not trying to be the top yield winner, they’re just trying to make things work with the tools they’ve got.
I talk about how the media and industry are obsessed with the latest shiny ag tech—like we’re all supposed to buy the $600 driver just to be better. But that’s not how it works. Most farmers, like most golfers, aren’t using all the fancy new stuff. They just want things that make sense for their setup. So yeah, this one’s a little different—more of a perspective piece.
AgTech doesn’t need to be a game only for the pros. We’ve got to understand who’s playing and what clubs they already have before we try to sell them a new driver. Hope it makes you think a bit differently about adoption, investment, and why some tools never really take off.