Should You Stay with Your DMS Provider … Or Is It Time to Walk?

Jan 02, 2025

Every 3-5 years, you should sit down and evaluate your DMS. Based on this evaluation, you will either decide to stick with your provider, or you will start laying down the building blocks to make a necessary change.

After all, depending on the size of your business, it can take 3 years to get all the pieces in place to switch to a new system. Whether or not to switch systems is not an easy decision to make. That’s why you should come to your meetings with DMS providers equipped with these key questions to help you determine who the right fit is.

1. Is your DMS provider in it for the long haul?

You want your business system provider to be stable and reliable. But in a market where consolidation keeps changing the landscape, that isn’t always a guarantee.

There’s a tendency these days to bring in venture capitalists, investment funds, and publicly traded companies. With the growing size and footprint required by a DMS dealer to serve its customers, you need to ask yourself: is the DMS provider just somebody's investment, or is it their commitment?

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Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.