Star of the West partners with Improvin’ to operationalize grower programs.
See the news on Star of the West’s website.
-
Star of the West Milling Company, the 9th largest miller in the US, is partnering with Improvin’ to launch a new digital platform to support its pioneering work with grower programs and sustainability data management.
The new platform will streamline growers' participation in multiple programs and support operationalizing Star of the West’s new Sustainable Tracking of Agronomic Resources program (STAR), focusing on wheat in the Maumee watershed area during the launch year.
Pioneers with a rich history.
Star of the West, headquartered in Frankenmuth, Michigan, has a rich history of more than 150 years. Today, the company operates five mills, six bean processing facilities and over 30 locations sourcing wheat, dry beans, and soybeans, among other commodities.
Star of the West has a long legacy of fostering sustainable agriculture and supporting its growers in producing high-quality commodities.
“Our mission is to partner with food producers and processors to feed the world. We want to do that sustainably,” states Lisa Woodke, Sustainability Director at Star of the West.
“This partnership with Improvin’ represents a significant milestone in our commitment to support our growers with the best tools to drive positive impact in the industry,” she continues.
Simplifying data entry for growers.
Star of the West is offering its growers the opportunity to participate in several programs, including a USDA program.
The new program offers financial incentives to growers for tracking and reporting farm-level data and for adopting practices, such as reduced tillage, improved nutrient management, and the use of cover crops.
Growers delivering to Star of the West can participate by adopting one or several practices, with flexible year-to-year commitments. The program rewards both growers who have already adopted specific practices and those who are newly implementing them.
Star of the West’s new platform simplifies the data-tracking process for growers participating in the program and streamlines the program management.
Lisa Woodke: “Improvin’ was the first system provider that truly understood the food supply chain and the pain points our growers face with data tracking. The platform felt tailored to our needs and our operations.”
The new platform will act as digital labor, enabling Star of the West to streamline grower operations, automate repetitive tasks and enhance decision-making.
The platform combines modeled data, from sources such as satellite imagery, with farmer validation. This allows farmers to confirm mostly pre-populated information rather than manually entering all details. In addition, growers get valuable feedback on their performance.
“Much of the critical information we need from our growers is scattered across various systems, paper files and handwritten notes. This platform automates the tedious data entry work, saving us and our growers valuable time,” Lisa Woodke continues.
To ensure a smooth onboarding process for growers, a dedicated Star of the West advisor will also provide personalized assistance for each farm. In addition to the platform’s grower-validated data, on-farm soil sampling will be conducted to track soil health scores.
Operationalizing a new wheat sustainability initiative in the Maumee River watershed.
Equipped with the new technology, Star of the West is also launching their new STAR program (Sustainable Tracking of Agronomic Resources). This is their first wheat sustainability program focused on the Maumee River watershed, a critical agricultural region encompassing parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Southern Michigan.
The new program focuses on baselining and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) through data tracking and the introduction of practices like split nitrogen application, nitrogen stabilizers and cover crops.
The program engages the entire value chain, including sponsoring food companies, to ensure fair grower compensation.
The new platform will be instrumental in operationalizing the program, providing valuable insights into practice implementation and enabling Star of the West to track, quantify and share the program’s progress and results with participating companies.
“We’re thrilled to launch this initiative. Optimizing nitrogen efficiency is an important factor in improved water quality,” Lisa Woodke says and continues:
“I'm also personally excited to see the progress and share key data points with the participating food brands. This is the first time we'll have real-time dashboards for this type of work, giving us invaluable insights into the program's effectiveness.”
"We're incredibly proud to partner with Star of the West to empower their growers with the tools they need to thrive," says Niklas Wallsargård, CEO of Improvin’. "Our platform reduces the administrative burden in data tracking and program management, allowing both growers as well as Star of the West to focus on producing high-quality food more sustainably."
