Step 1 The questr walk & Listen Checklist: How farmers can help us determine what needs automating

By Dave Oberting, Questr Automation LLC, [email protected], 304.679.1889.

You know that feeling when someone walks onto your farm and immediately starts pitching you the latest gadget? That's not what we do. When Questr comes to your operation for our Walk & Listen assessment, we're not there to sell you anything. We're there to understand your operation first.

As I often say, "You can't automate what you don't understand." When we walk your land, we're conducting what I call a forensic audit of your time and energy. We're looking for the specific friction points that, if removed, would give you your life back and improve your margins: while keeping you in full control of what actually gets implemented.

Here's exactly what we're evaluating during that assessment, and how you can help us identify what needs automating most.

The Reality of Farm Assessments

Most farm visits are sales calls in disguise. A rep shows up with a predetermined solution and tries to make your operation fit their product. That's backwards thinking.

Our Walk & Listen is different. We come with a checklist, not a catalog. We're looking for patterns of inefficiency, not opportunities to sell equipment. Every recommendation we make has to pass one test: Will this give the farmer measurable time back or cost savings within 12 months?

You maintain full authority over what gets implemented. Our job is to identify opportunities: your job is to decide what makes sense for your operation.

The 10-Point Questr Assessment Checklist

1. High-Frequency, Low-Skill Repetition

We're hunting for drudgery: the tasks you do every single day that require physical effort but very little management strategy. If you're moving something from Point A to Point B by hand multiple times per day, we note it.

Example: Walking feed to animals, manually opening and closing gates, moving equipment that could be stationary. These tasks might only take 10 minutes each, but when you multiply by 365 days, you're looking at 60+ hours annually per task.

How you can help: Keep a rough mental tally of how many times you repeat the same physical task in a single day. The higher the frequency, the better candidate for automation.

2. Feed and Water System Checks

We measure time spent manually checking lines and systems. In poultry operations, feed and water checks can consume up to 4 hours per day: that's nearly 1,500 hours annually.

We look for opportunities to install sensors that monitor consumption and detect outages automatically. Smart sensors can alert you to problems via text message, eliminating the need for constant manual checks.

How you can help: Time yourself during your next feed and water check routine. Note how long it takes to walk the entire system and what you're actually checking for: most of it can be monitored remotely.

3. Product Collection Bottlenecks

We evaluate your harvest or collection process with fresh eyes. For poultry farms, manual egg collection can take 2.5 hours every day. We look for where automated handling systems could save you over 600 labor hours annually per house.

The math is simple: 2.5 hours × 365 days = 912 hours per year. Even if automation only eliminates half of that, you're saving 450+ hours of manual labor.

How you can help: Track your collection process for a full week. Note peak times, bottlenecks, and any products that get damaged during manual handling.

4. Input Waste (Feed, Water, Fuel)

We look for physical waste that's costing you money. Are you over-spraying crops? Is there feed spillage? Are you running diesel pumps when solar could do the job?

We aim to reduce input costs by up to 30% through precision application and waste elimination. A farm spending $50,000 annually on inputs could save $15,000 per year: that funds a lot of automation.

How you can help: Walk your operation and look for spillage, overspray patterns, or equipment running when it doesn't need to be. Take photos of waste areas: they tell the story better than words.

5. Biosecurity and Sanitation Risks

Manual barn cleaning is exhausting and hazardous. We assess if autonomous cleaning robots could take over consistent sanitation tasks, potentially reducing manual cleaning labor by 80% while improving biosecurity.

Poor sanitation doesn't just cost labor time: it costs money through increased mortality, medication costs, and production losses.

How you can help: Document your current cleaning protocols. How long does each cleaning task take? What safety equipment do you need? Which areas are hardest to clean consistently?

6. Crop Scouting and Field Analysis

Are you walking fields to check for pests or drought stress? We evaluate if autonomous drones could replace manual scouting, providing precise data on exactly where you need to spray or irrigate rather than treating whole fields.

Precision application can reduce chemical costs by 40% while improving effectiveness. On a 500-acre operation, that could mean saving $20,000+ annually on inputs.

How you can help: Keep track of how often you scout fields and what you're looking for. Most scouting tasks can be done more accurately and consistently with sensors and drones.

7. Environmental Control & Air Quality

We check ventilation and air quality management systems. We listen for fans running inefficiently and look for ammonia issues. Smart sensors can better manage ammonia levels and airflow, reducing energy costs by 15-30%.

Energy costs are rising, but automation can help you use power more efficiently. Better environmental control also means healthier animals and improved production.

How you can help: Note any areas with poor air quality, fans that run constantly, or temperature control issues. These are prime candidates for automated environmental controls.

8. Data Gaps (The "Guesswork" Factor)

We listen for phrases like "I think" or "usually." We want to know where you lack hard data for decision-making. Automation provides better data, replacing guesswork with real-time analytics on soil moisture, inventory levels, and animal health.

Good data leads to better decisions. Better decisions improve profitability. It's that simple.

How you can help: Be honest about what you're guessing at versus what you know for certain. Where do you make decisions based on gut feeling rather than hard data?

9. Physical Safety Hazards

We look for dangerous tasks: handling large animals, chemical exposure, working at heights, or operating heavy machinery solo. Automation can improve safety while maintaining productivity.

Worker's comp claims and medical bills are expensive. More importantly, keeping you and your workers safe is the right thing to do.

How you can help: Point out any tasks that make you nervous or that you wouldn't want a new employee doing alone. These are often good candidates for automation or safety improvements.

10. Labor Reliability & Succession

Are you working 70-hour weeks because you can't find reliable help? We assess which tasks are hardest to staff for, aiming to create a high-tech environment that's more attractive to the next generation.

Farm labor shortages aren't going away. Automation can help you do more with fewer people while creating more interesting, higher-skilled jobs.

How you can help: Be frank about your staffing challenges. Which positions are hardest to fill? What tasks require the most training? Where do you spend most of your personal time?

Preparing for Your Assessment

The more prepared you are, the better recommendations we can make. Here's how to get ready:

Track your time for one week. You don't need to be scientific about it: just rough estimates of how you spend your day. Most farmers are surprised by where their time actually goes.

List your biggest frustrations. What tasks make you dread getting up in the morning? What would you automate first if money weren't an issue?

Gather your input costs. Know roughly what you spend on feed, fuel, chemicals, and labor. We need this baseline to calculate potential savings.

Think about succession. Would a 25-year-old want to do your job as it exists today? If not, what would need to change?

The Bottom Line

Automation isn't about replacing farmers: it's about giving you your life back while improving your bottom line. The best automation solutions eliminate drudgery so you can focus on management, strategy, and the parts of farming you actually enjoy.

During our Walk & Listen, we're not trying to sell you the most expensive system. We're trying to find the automation that will have the biggest impact on your specific operation. Sometimes that's a $500 sensor. Sometimes it's a $50,000 system. The right solution is the one that pays for itself quickly and solves a real problem.

Remember: you stay in control. Our job is to show you what's possible. Your job is to decide what makes sense for your farm, your family, and your future.

Ready to see what automation could do for your operation? The Walk & Listen assessment is free, and there's no obligation beyond an honest conversation about your farming challenges. Because you can't automate what you don't understand: and we can't understand without listening first.