Farmers Don't Need More Data — They Need Answers: The Power of Actionable Farm Data
- Xavier Hébert-Couturier
- 36 minutes ago
- 7 min read
How the LENS Became Ag Retail’s Answer Machine
Picketa Systems, Xavier Hébert-Couturier – July 4, 2025
Farmers today are flooded with data—from sensors, satellite maps, and drones to farm information systems and research articles. Yet a 2023 Purdue University survey revealed a striking gap: while over 70% of growers collect agronomic data, fewer than 30% use it to guide in-season decisions. Despite the tech stack, most growers still rely on instinct and experience. In many cases, the tools have changed, but the approach hasn’t.
The LENS was built to change that, inspired by our own experience growing potatoes on the East Coast of Canada where we were tired of waiting until next season to get fertility right. We needed a faster, more practical way to understand what the crop needed while there was still time to respond.
Instead of tissue analysis acting as a yearly report card, the LENS turns it into a real-time cheat sheet. It gives growers immediate, field-specific answers about what the crop needs and when it needs it so they can take action before it’s too late to maximize yield.
But solving this problem takes more than just mimicking lab tests. The last thing growers need is another spreadsheet, PDF report, or unanswered questions. Real impact comes from clarity, not more complexity.
As I’ve shared before, the traditional lab model doesn’t meet its own recommended sampling frequency. Meeting that standard for corn would require a 13,608% increase in lab capacity. Today, fewer than 1% of broadacre growers use tissue testing because it’s slow, expensive, and logistically impractical.
The LENS isn’t built for the 1% of researchers and high-yield growers already testing. It’s built for the 99% who don’t but stand to benefit massively.
We’re building this future alongside industry leaders by partnering with forward-thinking ag retailers who see the future of crop nutrition as instant and precise. The LENS isn’t just a new product. It’s the Answer Machine for agriculture’s most important fertility questions.
Taking the Guesswork out of Fieldwork
Most nutrient decisions, especially in row crops, are made before the season starts and rarely revisited. Even when issues arise in mid-season, it’s often too late. Lab results can take days or weeks to return, and by then, the window to act may be gone.
The LENS breaks that cycle by delivering real-time insights directly into the hands of agronomists and their growers — field by field, week by week. No shipping. No waiting. No second-guessing.
It builds trust, not just in the data, but in the person delivering it. Retailers using the LENS aren’t just offering a service; They’re providing answers. They help growers make smarter decisions, reduce waste, and improve outcomes. That’s how you earn loyalty. The result? Higher program adoption. Stronger customer retention. And a clear edge over competitors still relying on mailed-in samples and delayed reports.
From Data to Decisions
The LENS isn’t just a faster way to get lab values: it’s a better way to use them.
Nutrient values alone don’t drive decisions. They need context: crop type, genetics, growth stage, weather, prior management, and more. The LENS doesn’t replace agronomic expertise; it supercharges it. With faster results, you can spend less time identifying problems and more time solving them.
Every scan compares the full spectral profile of the leaf against thousands of reference samples across crops, growth stages, and regions. It shows the absolute value for every nutrient, indicates where those values fall within the crop’s sufficiency range for the growth-stage, and even supports custom critical levels for deeper insights.
That’s why the LENS transforms every scout into a high-powered, in-field diagnostic tool. It fits seamlessly into existing scouting routines and helps make immediate, confident recommendations.
Take chlorosis as an example — those familiar yellowing leaves. It’s often assumed to be a nitrogen issue, but the real cause could just as easily be sulfur, magnesium, iron, manganese, or zinc. These nutrients all play a role chlorophyll production or nitrogen uptake. Guess wrong, and you waste time, money, and yield.
With the LENS, there’s no need to guess. It shows exactly which nutrients are truly low. That clarity prevents mistakes, supports better recommendations, and strengthens trust between the agronomist and the grower.
“If we have a tissue sample showing a manganese deficiency, the farmer has a 75% chance to act and buy the fertilizer—versus 0% if they didn’t have the LENS.”
Real Questions, Real Answers
Chlorosis is just one example. Across every crop and every field, agronomists are asked to solve complex problems with limited clues. The LENS brings clarity to those conversations by providing instant answers that go beyond what the eye can see. Here are just a few of the questions agronomists face, and how the LENS helps answer them:
“Why are my leaves curling or cupping?” This could be a sign of calcium or boron deficiency, drought stress, or even herbicide damage. The LENS helps rule nutrient issues in or out instantly, showing whether calcium or boron is truly limiting, before time and resources are wasted on a misdiagnosis.
“The crop looks stunted—should I apply more nitrogen?” Sometimes nitrogen isn’t the issue. Uptake might be blocked by sulfur or magnesium deficiencies. The LENS reveals the real limiting factor, preventing wasteful or ineffective applications.
“I applied fertilizer two weeks ago—why isn’t it working?” Was it leached? Volatilized? Or is something preventing uptake? A quick LENS scan confirms whether the nutrients made it into the plant—or if something else is at play.
“Why is this field performing worse than the others?” From the outside, fields may look similar. But the LENS can compare tissue nutrient levels between fields or zones, revealing differences in uptake that explain yield gaps.
“The crop looks good—do I still need a foliar spray?” Visual symptoms often appear too late. The LENS can detect borderline or trending deficiencies even in healthy-looking plants, helping guide proactive foliar decisions.
“My bottom leaves are yellowing—is that normal or a deficiency?” It could be natural aging—or it could be early-stage nitrogen, sulfur, or magnesium deficiency. The LENS can tell the difference, so you only act when it’s truly needed.
“We’re in a dry spell—how is that affecting my nutrient uptake?” Dry conditions can block nutrient movement, especially potassium, calcium, and magnesium. The LENS shows how drought is impacting crop nutrition in real time, giving you a data-based read on crop resilience.
Lab-Grade Accuracy. Zero Delay.
We ran a blind case study across 10 states in 2024 that tested the system under worst-case conditions: a new region, new fields, unfamiliar varieties, and no prior training data. The goal was to evaluate how well the LENS could perform in a completely new environment, just as a new customer would experience it on day one.
We scanned live tissue samples and compared the results directly to those from accredited commercial labs. In this unsupervised setup, we wanted to see if the LENS could hold its own without any localized calibration.
The outcome? The LENS matched lab results within 10 to 20 percent for key nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium. This is the same range of variability most labs show when testing the same sample twice.
The fact that the LENS performed within lab-level accuracy, without any localized training, highlights its reliability as a scalable, plug-and-play solution for any agronomist.
But unlike the lab, the LENS avoids:
Sample degradation in transit
Handling errors and contamination
Shipping delays or lost samples
The LENS automatically flags outlier scans, leaves with characteristics outside its known dataset, and recommends lab validation. This ensures agronomists are alerted before making decisions based on uncertain or unfamiliar tissue profiles.
As one experienced agronomist told us, “With any sampling program, if you’re unsure about a result, the best thing to do is take another sample.” With the LENS, that’s never been easier as you can double-check in minutes.
Back in 2023, McCain’s Farm of the Future conducted a blind comparison using 250 samples. The LENS was twice as consistent when scanning the same samples. For key nutrients like nitrate, phosphorus, and potassium, the LENS showed significantly less variance than the lab.
With the LENS, you scan a fresh leaf and get results instantly. It’s not just faster; it’s more reliable and far more valuable during the critical in-season window when every day counts.
Not Just Greenness, Real Nutrients
Remote sensing and basic handheld sensors rely on NDVI and simple indices. They really measure greenness, not nutritional status. They don’t consider crop type, variety, growth stage, or field context.
The LENS does.
Each LENS scan is powered by machine learning models trained on thousands of calibrated samples from CROs, university trials, and research farms. And with more spectral bandwidth and resolution than any other system on the market, the LENS detects what others miss.
This is not about color. It’s about measuring nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, and a dozen other nutrients precisely and in real time.
A Proven ROI for Retailers
Retailers using the LENS see:
Higher product adoption from timely, in-field recommendations
Faster decision making that keeps growers engaged
Stronger customer retention built on proven, data-backed service
One crop consultant told us: “We’re closing more in-season sales because we’re solving real problems when it matters—not after the fact.”
What’s Next: Doubling Down on Ag Retail
In today’s competitive ag retail world, proximity to your customer isn’t just about location — it’s about information. Retailers don’t win by offering more data; they win by delivering better answers. The LENS by Picketa Systems was built to do just that. It turns every field visit into a tissue sample and every sample into a decision.
And that’s how you become the grower’s first call — not their last resort.
We built the LENS to bring instant fertility answers to the field—and ag retailers have led the way. This next season, we’re doubling down on that momentum.
If you're an agronomist, advisor, or ag retail leader looking to simplify decision making and drive in-season sales, this is your moment.
We’re opening up unlimited sample trials of the LENS for ag retailers who join our waitlist before December 1st, 2025.
This trial offer includes everything needed to successfully start your own scouting program:
Unlimited scans for top crops (corn, potatoes, canola, soybeans, wheat)
Full training and support for your scouting team
Side-by-side comparisons with your current lab service
Proven ROI with case studies from top ag retailers
Grower-ready insights that drive input recommendations
No labs. No shipping. No delays. Just instant answers delivered by you.
We’re not just building tools. We’re building partnerships with the retailers shaping the future of crop nutrition.
Join the waitlist before December 1st to be part of it. Contact us at picketa.com/contact
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