Farming technology and the IoT is constantly improving. While the basic design of the modern harvester has been around since the 19th century, its design has undergone a variety of improvements over the decades since. The latest is the inclusion of technology that monitors the speed of the machine and how quickly it picks up crops and other variables. Essentially, John Deere and others have turned their tractors into Internet of Things (IOT) devices.
Such additions are becoming increasingly common. John Deere even has a head of technology now. The reasons for this are simple. Farming like everything else is a highly competitive industry which means farmers are always trying to find new ways to squeeze a few extra dollars out of their crops. Combine that with a growing global population and increasing concern for the environment and farmers are perhaps under more pressure than anyone else to find new ways to use data to improve their operations.
What does this data tell farmers? Most obviously, it tells them how well their machines are running. If a combine’s fuel efficiency goes down or it deviates even slightly from a straight line, it can be an early indicator of a mechanical problem that it would be a lot cheaper to fix sooner than later. It can also tell you how well the crop is doing. If there is more or less wheat in a given acre than the next one, it can be indicative of a difference in soil quality, amount of sunlight, or even water distribution. Compared with data from previous years, it can track how well the soil overall is doing. Should there be a small drop in production, a farmer can check to see if his field is deficient in any way. The beauty of using data taken directly from the farmer’s machines is that even small deviations can be tracked, identifying issues long before all but the most experienced of farmers would notice them.
The downside of this is that often the farmers themselves don’t have access to the data that they are generating. It is far too common that the manufacturers are the only ones directly getting data from the machines they make. Typically, farmers see none of the data from the machine they bought. Unless this is your first time here, you know how we at TARTLE feel about that. We think everyone, especially farmers who grow the food we all depend on, should own the data they generate. Think about it, does it make any sense that a farmer spends tens of thousands of dollars on a tractor filled with sensors, do all the work with the tractor, and not own the data collected by those sensors? Can you imagine if the manufacturer actually sold the farmer the data he was already generating? It doesn’t seem exactly fair does it? If the manufacturer were to provide a full data analysis in return for some money that would be different, though it should still be the farmer’s choice to do so.
That’s exactly why both, the farmer and the manufacturer should sign up with TARTLE. That way, the farmer gets full control over all the data he is generating and can choose whether or not he would like to sell it to the manufacturer, the county he lives in, or an independent analysis firm. Or all of them. In this way, the famer isn’t getting taken advantage of, the manufacturer still gets what they need to build a better tractor in the next production run, and more data becomes available to third parties who would benefit from it, without shelling out a premium to the manufacturer. TARTLE and its members can literally help bring a little fairness and equity to the farming industry.
What’s your data worth? Sign up and join the TARTLE Marketplace with this link here.
We’ve spoken a lot lately about how agriculture is making use of Big Data to help improve its operations. Everyone from big companies like Monsanto and John Deere to little ones like Trimble are busy collecting and analyzing data to improve their operations. In and of itself, this is a very good thing. Anything that will help agriculture companies work more efficiently will be beneficial to everyone. After all, more efficient farming means more crops, which means being able to feed more people at hopefully a reduced cost. At least, that is what it should mean. What it winds up meaning in practice is often something different entirely.
A recent article on the Agriculture Analytics Market report attempts to analyze all the current conditions and make predictions on what is to come. Right away, you should notice something, namely the presence of that pesky little ‘p’ word, ‘predictions’. As long-time readers (or listeners of our podcast) will know, predictions are another word for ‘guessing’. At best, they are an educated guess. You can gather all the data you want about what happened in the past and what is happening right now and predicting what will happen in five years based on that is not likely to be reliable. To some extent of course, any organization has to plan for the future and that means making your best guess on what that future will be. So that isn’t the problem, the problem is that too many call their guesses ‘predictions’ and treat those ‘predictions’ as though they are prophecies. Projecting more than a year out has always been dicey but especially in the wake of COVID even a year seems like a distant, unknown land.
As annoying as the drive to try to predict the future can be, that isn’t the main problem we’ve noticed in the article. We identified a running theme, and one that we see far too often – how do we get more? How can we get 20% year-over-year growth every year forever? We touched on an example of this recently in the way that John Deere has been operating and interacting with data. They’re selling expensive farm machines loaded with sensors to gather information to help improve farming efficiency. All well and good, right? Wrong. Why? Because they sell that to other parties without rewarding the farmers for generating all that data in the first place. Rather than constantly looking for ways to double-dip, why not be content with making money, even if it’s only the same amount as last year? Why does it always have to be more? Why not, once the profit is made, turn some of those leftover resources to more directly helping people? Not just as a tax write-off but because helping people is the right thing to do.
Rather than taking all the data and selling it, John Deere could offer it back to the farmer, or at least it could do both. As an alternative to finding new mechanical means of squeezing every possible crop out of the soil, why not look for more natural solutions?
With TARTLE being in over 70 countries, it is possible to gather data on any number of small farms in a variety of climates. While there are averages to crop yields, it’s important to remember that those are averages. Those who do unusually well or unusually poor could be studied to find out that they are doing right or wrong. Such knowledge could then be duplicated elsewhere and possibly scaled up to work on the massive farms that inhabit the American Heartland. That is the real genius of TARTLE, we provide a data marketplace that allows the vast resources of the corporate world to support and amplify the knowledge and skill of the smallest farmer in a nearly forgotten valley, while still allowing that farmer to benefit from the exchange. That’s what we are about, that’s the TARTLE way.
What’s your data worth? Sign up and join the TARTLE Marketplace with this link here.
Farming lies at the base of our society, of nearly every modern society and has for millennia. As such, it has had to adapt to a variety of unusual circumstances and major shifts in other industries. Techniques have had to be altered or invented to deal with different climates, threats from insects or just more people that need to be fed. Then there are the technological changes that have led to inventions like combines, sprinkler systems and improvements in food storage. The data revolution is the latest development that the farming world is trying to adapt to. How has that been going?
In some ways, very well. As the market went from the local village to the whole globe, farmers adapted to be more efficient and profitable, allowing them to sell various grains for every low prices that have helped to feed the world. Yet, many of these techniques are damaging to the environment and may be reaching their limits anyway. We’re going to be crossing the 9 billion people threshold in fairly short order and if trends continue, it will be difficult to produce enough food for all those people.
Unfortunately, farming is both hard work and not nearly as profitable as one might think. Farmers tend to operate on razor thin profit margins, relying on sheer volume in order to make a living. Most of them don’t have the spare time or energy to devote to data analysis in order to find more efficient means of production. Instead, they either rely on their own understanding of nature or the tried and surprisingly often true Farmers’ Almanac. Yet, as the population grows, farmers large and small are going to need to make better use of data not just so they can adapt but also for the good of everyone else.
Fortunately, that is getting easier with the rise of Bluetooth technology being embedded in everything, even tractors. Farmers will better be able to track the efficiency of their operations and learn where they can make improvements. A largely data driven operation can also be an aid in identifying trends before they really take off. How so? By going directly to the people who make use of their products.
After all, while most farmers sell to grocery stores, it is still individuals that are buying things from them. As tastes and preferences change, people will buy more or less of a given item from the produce section. Any data the farmer gets from the store is going to be a lagging indicator. If you wait until the stores stop ordering so many avocados, that trend is already over and you might find yourself with a big crop of the mushy green fruit to get rid of. That’s why even farmers should sign up for TARTLE. They can log in and interact with people across the country and even the world. In doing so, the farmers would be getting direct input from the men and women who ultimately buy and consume their products. That way, they could see the move away from avocados even before it became apparent in the stores. Armed with that knowledge different crops could be planted and harvested before avocado is no longer in demand, allowing them to get ahead of the curve and minimize any losses.
Environmental impact can also be minimized. By studying the data, farmers can help find better ways to replenish the soil than using fertilizers. Better planting cycles can be utilized. Alternative ways of making use of or disposing of inevitable waste can be identified and instituted. It’s by making extensive use of data that farmers can learn how to take principles of small farming and apply them on a larger scale.
This information can also be gained by interacting with people willing to share their data at TARTLE. New techniques can be shared. The effect of different soils on growing different crops can be researched without any sort of third party filters being applied to skew the results or the conclusions reached. If that sounds good to you as a farmer, whether small or large, sign up at TARTLE.co and take advantage of the opportunities we offer for different people to learn from each other and build a better and sustainable world.
What’s your data worth? Sign up and join the TARTLE Marketplace with this link here.
