Agriculture technology leader honored by OSU

Friday, October 21, 2016

Technology grows and is harvested in the agriculture industry. There is no better proof of this than Matthew Waits and SST Software in Stillwater.

Waits graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, an educational backdrop with which he credits his professional successes. The CEO of the industry leader in agricultural information management, SST Software, was recently celebrated as a 2016 Distinguished Alumni of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

He was recognized at the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources’ Honors night for his tremendous contributions to the agriculture industry and unwavering support of his alma mater.

“In many ways Matt represents what we hope to accomplish through our academic programs,” said Tom Coon, DASNR vice president. “He’s been very successful in his career, with a degree in agricultural economics, and he and his company are transforming the world of agriculture. They have led the way in adopting data intensive decision making in agriculture.”

Waits began his career at the company upon graduating from OSU as director of the SST Information Lab. Just two years later, he guided the organization’s development of an enterprise-level data management platform for site-specific farm management.

Today, this platform is branded as agX and is the underlying infrastructure for data management for more than 100 million acres across 23 countries.

“They’re providing software that’s helping manage this overload of information that’s hitting farmers, and helping farmers make better decisions about which crops to produce on which parts of their land, about how much fertilizer to apply to which parts of their fields,” said Jayson Lusk, Willard Sparks Endowed Chair and professor of agricultural economics. “They are helping address this dual problem of feeding a growing world population, but doing it in a more responsible manner.”

In 2012, Waits assumed his current role as CEO and opened agX for integration throughout the farming industry. Since that time, this technology has seen rapid adoption by the top providers of precision agricultural products and services. Additionally, under Waits’ leadership, SST Software has grown into a worldwide enterprise with 80 employees and branch offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Illinois, Iowa, Brazil, Australia and South Africa.

“He’s gone out and made a positive difference in the world, both in his community and his business,” said Lusk. “He’s innovated, he’s hired people, so he’s a perfect example of the kind of person that we hope our graduates will be.”

Waits is a lifetime member of the OSU Alumni Association, where he serves on the leadership council. An avid supporter of his alma mater, Waits is a Posse Club member, football suite owner and basketball season ticket holder. Through the SST Software Endowed Professorship, Waits helps provide scholarships to five OSU students annually.