"But how do I know if what I am seeing in my data analysis is real?"

There is a popular reminder used in crop production to spur a sense of urgency. It goes something like this: "You only get to plant a field 40 times in your farming lifetime. If you rotate crops, you might only get 20 chances to get it right with soybeans or corn."

When we look back to 2012 it was historically dry, and 2013 started out wet and then turned dry. As some growers in the Midwest face yields below expectations, they're finding new and different ways to learn from their data.