Back to the roots of FarmSimple with Co-Founder, Katlin Lang

We had the opportunity to sit down with Katlin Lang, co-founder of FarmSimple, and a recent graduate of the Agtech Accelerator program. The questions were flowing! Learn more about Katlin and his journey as a co-founder and his experience at Cultivator…

For those who are not familiar with FarmSimple give us a little background on your company.

FarmSimple’s mission is to save livestock producers time, money, and loss associated with the operation of livestock water supplies. Specifically, water level and temperature monitoring to prevent water depletion and/or freezing in the winter. FarmSimple’s flagship product is the Herd Hand monitor. We started FarmSimple with the idea that technology could solve a common problem producers face every day.

When did you first come up with the idea for FarmSimple and how were you inspired to start your company?

My brother, Dustin, and I grew up on the farm near Francis, SK. We also have two other brothers: Linden and Derian. We all had our fair share of raising cattle from the day we could walk.

Initially, the idea of FarmSimple was simply to help farmers use technology to solve their problems, whether that was internet connectivity, networking solutions, or custom monitoring projects. FarmSimple became focused on water monitoring technology when approached by my friend, Mike.  He asked if we could build a water monitoring system that would send him a text message if the water went low when he was away at the lake. That was back in 2018, and in reality, FarmSimple just became a hobby that we would work on with a few one-off projects a couple of times a year. Things only started to get serious for us in December 2020. We decided to focus on FarmSimple and take our water monitoring technology from a prototype to a commercial-ready product for anyone to purchase.

What has been your role within FarmSimple?

I am the co-founder of FarmSimple along with my brother Dustin Lang. But to give me an official title, I will have to wait as there are 101 different positions to handle in the start-up phase. Most importantly, I am a husband to my beautiful wife, Katlin — Yes her name is spelled the exact same as mine! We have two boys Dexon and Cade who just turned 4 and 2 in June.

How does FarmSimple differentiate itself from any other existing or similar products in the market?

Traditional methods of water supply monitoring require a physical examination of the water supply source by the producer.  FarmSimple technology monitors water supplies 24/7 and alerts the producer when there is a problem.  That way, the producer doesn’t have to search for the problem, they will simply be notified when things aren’t quite right.

FarmSimple entered Cultivator’s START program in Cohort 5…What was the experience like going through the START program? What advice do you have for others that are looking to get into the START program, or are going through the START program?

START Cohort 5 was a great intro to the Cultivator program and the Cultivator community continues to provide value every day.  If you have no idea where to start your tech company, the START program is a tremendous resource that you need to check out.

Since being accepted into the Agtech Accelerator and taking part in the programming, what have been some of your biggest takeaways? What connections/sessions have you valued most?

Honestly, we find it hard to come up with the right words to describe the Agtech Accelerator program.  The program has exceeded our expectations 10x or more.  The network opportunities and all of the programming put together by the Agtech crew is amazing.  From other founders, investor opportunities, and mentorship from established Agtech companies, the experience has been invaluable.  We certainly cherish the 1:1 mentorship we have received.

What’s it like to be part of the Cultivator community? Tell us a bit about your experience and how Cultivator has had an impact on FarmSimple’s journey as you establish your company?  

It’s wonderful to be a part of the Cultivator community.  The level of energy and excitement within the community is top-level every day.  Cultivator continues to help us develop a network and skill set through programming and networking.

What are some of the biggest challenges you foresee in the future for FarmSimple?

In terms of agriculture, what comes to my mind first is continuing to solve the ever-evolving challenges that producers face.

For FarmSimple, we truly hope, the biggest challenge for our future will be racing to keep up with the demand.  That would be a good problem for us to have.

Where do you see FarmSimple a year from now? What excites you about this?

In a year from now, we would like to see the core FarmSimple team working full time and growing with more team members as we start to scale the business.  The exciting part is, we don’t actually know what this would look like yet. One can only dream.