CJ Buzzy
Propagate Team
In this user spotlight, Propagate designer CJ Buzzy walks us through the evolution of his Overyield design work.
In this user spotlight, Propagate project manager CJ Buzzy walks us through the evolution of his Overyield design work since joining Propagate back in 2022. With degrees in agriculture and agroforestry and nearly a decade of vineyard management under his belt, CJ brings a unique balance of theoretical and operational expertise to his designs. He remarked that while his initial projects in Overyield tended towards complex, bespoke projects with uncertain implementation horizons, his more recent Overyield work focuses on quote generation and proposal development for large-scale projects.
Simplified Design
First, CJ showed us one of his early designs in Overyield: a silvopasture project for Black Yard Farm Collective, a diversified vegetable/fiber farm in South Argyle, NY. Multiple rounds of design iteration winnowed down the original design (bottom right) to the final version (top right).
He remarked that the power of Overyield’s design tools can be both blessing and curse: its versatility can tempt the user towards unnecessary complexity, where simplicity might work just as well.
For example, in the pictured images, headlands and roads function to the same effect, but headlands are a more efficient design choice. Since designing this project, the launch of several new features — in-row patterns and snapping options — have streamlined many workflows.
Economic modeling
As CJ’s focus has shifted to larger-scale, deployment-oriented projects, his Overyield design process has likewise changed. Previously, he focused on generating accurate designs at the outset, then began fine-tuning their economics. Now, he views early iterations of a design as inputs into an economic model aimed at generating accurate quotes that can be put in front of a client early on. Once the client moves forward, CJ then begins the bulk of his design work, filling in the nitty gritty details like utility set-backs and septic mounds.
Crop templates are the key to this process shift. CJ and his teammates team have assembled a catalogue of Team Templates — often up to 4-5 for an individual crop — based on real implementation costs derived from historical project data.
Each template’s assumptions vary, with differences based on land-use history (e.g. hayfields vs. corn/soy ground), field prep strategy (e.g. ripping vs. strip tilling, length of cover crop rotation, etc.), operation assignment (e.g. Propagate vs. sub-contractor), and other cost centers. Not every template need be built from scratch: In some cases, CJ leveraged Overyield public templates to build an initial version with universal operations, duplicating this template to begin iterating other versions.
Though it was time-intensive to assemble this template catalogue, CJ noted that this upfront work has paid off: Generating quotes, assembling proposals, and negotiating with clients is now a more seamless and efficient process.
Cross-Platform Communication
& Project Deployment
On top of simplicity and accuracy as design ideals, CJ also stressed the importance of using Overyield in communication with other tools, such as QGIS or Google Earth. Generating contour maps that are more granular than OY’s built-in contours is one example. Another example: CJ sometimes brings OY-generated CLU boundaries into Google Earth, then uses Google Earth’s ground-view tool to revisit the topography or the most recent imagery of a field, in case there are blind-spots from his site visit.
This spring, you’ll find CJ knee-deep in planting, utilizing Overyield in combination with other tools to enable field work. He often uses Overyield mobile while on-site, as well as Overyield exports in combination with Trimble GPS software for field marking. Avenza maps, DJI Drones, and BadElf GNSS also come in handy on-site to bring “as-built” planting data back into Overyield.
Want to connect with CJ? You can follow him on Linkedin.