RECAP — TechBrew:AM w/ Jim Ryken
At TechBrew: AM in April, we welcomed Jim Ryken, Co-Founder and COO of BarnTools and a member of the 2024 Iowa Technology Leadership Institute (ITLI) cohort. Jim shared his journey from growing up on a hog farm in Oskaloosa, IA, to founding BarnTools.
Jim began his career in agriculture engineering, spending 24 years at Danfoss Power Solutions in engineering and operations. His co-founder later approached him to start BarnTools, an organization focused on transforming data in animal agriculture. As COO, Jim now oversees the day-to-day operations and strategy implementation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR CONVERSATION WITH JIM –
1. Data Transformation in Animal Agriculture
We asked Jim to explain BarnTools’ purpose, and he described it, simply put, as creating an alarm system for pig and chicken farmers. While insurance requires such a system for all animal agriculture, BarnTools goes further by developing a modern IoT device that provides data analytics accessible to farmers.
Jim noted that while data has transformed many agricultural sectors, animal agriculture has fallen behind. To illustrate this disparity, he shared that his father, still a hog farmer, gets out of his high-tech tractor and manually tracks the water usage of his animals. BarnTools aims to bridge this gap by revolutionizing animal agriculture with data. Jim also stressed the potential for data to enhance animal health, conserve resources, and increase food traceability, addressing consumer demands for transparent food sourcing.
2. Rural Connectivity
Jim discussed the challenges of cloud-connected devices on rural farms, highlighting the importance of reliable connectivity. The device is designed to connect to the strongest cell tower in the area, ensuring constant internet access for the alarm system with built-in multi-carrier connectivity.
Maintaining connectivity is crucial for providing customers with peace of mind and ensuring 100% uptime, especially as major cell carriers phased out 3G networks, leaving many farmers without connectivity. BarnTools capitalized on this opportunity by making their product compatible with modern networks.
Jim emphasized their commitment to forward-thinking, aiming to future-proof their products. He noted that cellular technology is likely to evolve significantly in the next 25 years, and they are prepared to adapt to new data-sharing methods.
3. Farm IoT
BarnTools creates IoT devices that connect and exchange data with other devices, providing farmers with robust data. These devices collect various data, such as temperature and water usage, which would traditionally require manual collection.
Jim explained that the current data collection is reactive, responding to events on the farm. To enhance customer service, BarnTools aims to implement AI and predictive analytics to anticipate events before they occur.
4. Establishing Cultural DNA
While at Danfoss Power Solutions, Jim observed a cultural transformation that influenced his approach to developing effective teams and organizations. As a co-founder of BarnTools, he prioritized intentionally shaping the organizational culture from the outset, drawing inspiration from past organizations and leaders.
Jim likened organizational culture to DNA, unique to each organization. He emphasized that culture is a direct reflection of its leaders. Through the Iowa Technology Leadership Institute (ITLI) 2024 Cohort, Jim highlighted leadership lessons such as polarity management and avoiding simplistic views of problems. Employees would describe him as engaging, encouraging, and caring—the cohesive force within the team.
As the event concluded, Jim shared an important message on the power of relationships:
“We can talk about tech, we can talk about starting a business, but the relationships that you build… those are really critical.”
He encouraged the audience to embrace and leverage these relationships to support each other’s success.
Join us for the next TechBrew:AM on May 9th with Emily Schmitt, Chief Administrative Officer for Sukup Manufacturing Co.
