Farmers rely on connectivity and data to support a growing population
For most people, a drop in Wi-Fi connection can be frustrating, but it’s usually nothing more than a minor inconvenience. For many farmers, who use mobile technology to monitor their work and plan their operations, a lack of connectivity can have a significant impact. It can affect an entire year’s work, the profitability of the operation, and how much food they produce for you and me. And while connectivity is so important, most of the farms that produce food for our world are located in rural areas, where connectivity is challenged the most.
Why is this so important? Consider this: One American farm feeds approximately 166 people worldwide each year. With the global population expected to rise to nearly 10 billion by 2050, the burden on farmers’ shoulders will only grow. At the same time, they face a myriad of challenges, including labor shortages, changing weather conditions, and tight time windows to complete tasks. Farmers need every advantage they can get, and leveraging technology enabled by connectivity is one of those advantages.
Chief Technology Officer at John Deere.
How data is used on the farm today
Data is used on the farm in two ways. The first is to use the agronomic and operational data from one growing season to improve results in the next growing season. Think about it: the average farmer in the Northern Hemisphere plants and harvests a crop about 40 times in their career. So they have about 40 opportunities in their life to find ways to optimize their operations to improve their results. Data is key to this because it allows farmers to monitor and analyze their results over time and use those insights to make more informed decisions.
Farmers have always used data. But what was once in a paper notebook now finds its home in digital databases, accessible via mobile applications. And with that transition, farmers can get more information out of that data by overlapping jobs, years, and comparing results based on weather and inputs. Simply put, digitalization has allowed farmers to use the data they collect in meaningful ways that can impact their bottom line and make them more productive year after year.
For example, during harvest, yield data (amount of grain produced) provides insight into how the season went for farmers. They learn how much money their business will make and the results of their previous decisions. Think of it as a report card. And now that farmers know the results of all their decisions, they can analyze how different combinations of fields, seeds, soils, and fertilizers performed. They will use all this data in the coming months to shape their plans for the next season.
A second way data is used on the farm is in “real time.” Farms are complex operations with many moving machines, trucks, and people, especially during planting and harvesting times. These operations are also spread out over large tracts of land with fields and farms sometimes 10, 20, or more miles apart. Managing farm operations becomes significantly more efficient when the farmer knows where every piece of equipment and farm worker is located and can communicate with both the machines and the people who help run the operation. In an environment where connectivity is not available, the farmer is challenged to make this happen. Connectivity can mean the difference between driving 2 hours to a field to talk to an operator or spending 5 minutes wirelessly sending work instructions to the operator and the machine. The impact of connectivity on a farm operation for real-time communication and operational decisions is enormous.
For example, imagine you’re a farmer working in a rural field, miles away from technicians when something goes wrong with their machine. In agriculture, time is money, and every minute of downtime can cost a farmer’s bottom line. When connected, farmers can benefit from remote diagnostics technology, where the dealer can essentially share their screen with the farmer and provide immediate assistance.
At the same time, the farmer can connect to other machines in his fleet and make any necessary adjustments, no matter where he is. But it’s not just about farmers talking to their machines. It’s about each of their machines talking to each other. For example, when spraying, it’s common for multiple machines to be working on the same field at the same time. It’s a challenge for a farmer to visibly distinguish which areas have already been sprayed, so the ability for those machines to know where the others have been is crucial so that work isn’t duplicated, time isn’t wasted, and excess product – which costs money – isn’t sprayed. This coordination is facilitated by connectivity, which enables seamless communication between machines.
Real-time data collection helps farmers do more with less
Farmers need connectivity to reap the benefits of data and remote management. It’s critical to their businesses. And it’s critical to all of us who depend on farmers to provide food, fuel and fiber for our growing global population. Let’s support farmers and provide them with the technology – and connectivity – they need to provide for all of us.
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