Ag and food technology is an attractive industry for innovators, which means an endless bevy of options for farmers looking to deploy the latest solutions. However, the finances to buy and integrate that technology probably isn’t infinite, says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer.
“From an integration standpoint, ideally we’d add all technology at one time, but that’s not realistic for most farms and budgets,” Bauer says. “That’s why having a technology plan for your farm is critical.”
The goal of a technology plan is to make sure all “smart” elements can communicate.
“The more you can look ahead and say, these are some of the things over the next three to five years we know we want to invest back into our farm, the better,” Bauer says.
Missing Links
While smart farming tools have come a long way, Bauer believes there are a few areas farmers should focus on:
Cellular/Wireless Data
“Data that’s getting transferred instantaneously is a big deal. The biggest advancement we’ve made is that more things are cloud based.”
Software-Driven Decisions
“I would be willing to bet of all the data we are collecting, we use about 30% to make true decisions on our farm. We can have lots of data, but if it can’t help me make decisions that improve my profitability then we’re spending money and not getting anywhere.”
Smarter Equipment
“Do you have scales on your grain carts? Knowing the true bushels coming off a field helps focus on field-by-field profitability and real expenses.”
Real-Time Decisions
“A SmartFirmer on a planter is basically a sensor running through the furrow mapping organic matter and conditions. I can look at that data and say, I’m planting 2" deep but maybe that’s not deep enough based on soil moisture info from the SmartFirmer.” FJ
