4/22/2016

Top5TrendsInAgricultureTechnology|CropLife

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By: Joseph Russo | March 1, 2013

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Emergingtechnologyisarguablyoneofthemost
significantissuesaheadforagretailers.Itisinthat
spiritthatIpresentmytopfivetechnologytrends,
pickedoutasbeingthemostimportantfromthe
perspectiveofaninformationtechnologycompany.

April 22, 2016

Centennials Jim Fargo

Talks Ag Retail
April 21, 2016

1.Education.Thefirstandprobablythemost
importanttopiciseducation.Withtherapidadvances
incomputersandcommunication,ithasbecome
increasinglydifficultforanyoneintheagricultural
communitytokeeppacewithtechnicalchanges
impactingfieldproduction.Fromunderstandingthe
geneticsofseedrelativetoanenvironment,evaluating
thebestfertilizers,selectingtherightcombinationof
pesticides,orjustunderstandingthedaytoday
logisticsofafarmoperation,educationisparamount
forsuccess.
Inthenearfuture,successfulretailerswillnotbe
judgedbypricealonebutalsoaccordingtothe
materialstheyrecommendinproductionandtheir
supportofsustainabilitypracticesonafarm.
http://www.croplife.com/management/top5trendsinagriculturetechnology/

Purdue Program To
Focus On Making Better
Ag Business De
April 20, 2016

WinField US, Southern

States Ink Crop Input
Agreement
April 20, 2016

Valent Expands R&D

Efforts In Mississippi,
Illinois
April 19, 2016

Arysta LifeScience Expands South, East Sales

Teams
April 19, 2016

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Consequently,retailersmustdevelopamoreholistic
viewofafarmingoperation.Theymustunderstand
howeachdecisionthroughagrowingseasonimpacts
thenextdecisionandhow,collectively,decisions
impacttheenvironmentandthefinalproducedelivered
tothefoodsupplychain.Knowledgeofproduction
practiceswillbedemandednotonlybyregulatory
agenciesbutalsobegrowingsegmentofthe
consumingpublic.Theanticipatedupstreampressure
fromthefoodsupplychaincanbemetwithonfarm
operationthathasaccountabilityandtraceability.
Asubtlerneedineducationisthemodern
understandingofintegratedpestmanagement(IPM)
practices.Withtheriseofresistantpests,thechoice
ofpestcontrolsmustbedonemoreintelligently.
Controldecisionswillrequireseasonalobservations
onthepresenceandmovementofpestsalongwith
modelspredictingtheirfuturedevelopment.Visual
observationswillgivewaytodiagnostictestsand
writtenrecordswillbereplacedbyelectronicinput
usingapplicationsonsmartmobiledevices.Retailers
thatgravitatetothesenewtoolsandprogramswill
savetimeandresources.
2.BigData.Companiesinvolvedwiththe
processingandstoringofdatarefertoincreasing
amountsofcomputergeneratedinformationasthe
bigdatachallenge.Asinformationbecomescritical
forgooddecisionmakingwhetheraspartofthein
fieldsupportofacustomerorbetweenemployeesina
company,datamustbecollected,storedand
interpretedinatimelymanner.Thisdataprocessing
requiresthemaintenanceoflocalcomputersand
communicationnetworksandtheirintegrationwith
systemsovertheInternetorinthecloud.Becauseof
theoverheadcosttomaintainlocalcomputersand
networks,manyretailerswilllikelylooktocloud
solutionstoprocesstheirdata.Thatis,theywillpaya
fixedannualfeetoremotelyaccesscomputerand
networkservices.
http://www.croplife.com/management/top5trendsinagriculturetechnology/

Biotech Corn Drop More

Economics Vs.
Consumer Rejection
April 18, 2016

Defend Trade Secrets

Acts Impact On
Agribusiness
April 15, 2016

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Consumer Targeted
Modifications
April 15, 2016

Meister Media Worldwide

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With New Res
April 15, 2016

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Products to Market,
Ortho News
April 14, 2016

Webinar Schedule
April 14, 2016

NovaSource Announces
Two New Regional
Account Managers
April 14, 2016

Wheat Growers
Announces
Organizational Changes
April 13, 2016

Nutrients For Life

Foundation Launches
New Environmenta
April 13, 2016

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Top5TrendsInAgricultureTechnology|CropLife

Remoteaccesshasthebenefitofhavingathirdparty
hostingandmaintainingthecomputerand
communicationinfrastructure.However,onebig
negativeisthatretailersdata,becauseitisstored
offsite,willbeatthemercyofthethirdpartyssecurity
solutions.Consequently,aretailermustinvestigate
thesecuritytrackrecordofanythirdpartybefore
signingontotheirservices.
Assumingasecurecomputerandcommunication
infrastructure,whetherlocalorremote,theprocessing
ofdata,themselves,willcontinuetobeachallenge.In
ordertousedataindecisionmaking,aretailermust
ingestdata,useformulasormodelsandvisualization
toolstoconvertthemintousableproducts,integrate
thevariousproducts,whichcanbeintheformoftext,
graphs,tables,ormaps,tocreateanoperational
pictureofcropproductioninthefield,andfinally
interpretthispicturefortheappropriatedecisions
duringagrowingseason.Retailerswouldlikelyrelyon
informationtechnology(IT)companiestoassistinthe
processingofdataforproductiondecisionmaking.
3.Robotics.Roboticsistheuseofrobotsor
automatedmachinesinplaceofhumanstoprocess
informationortoperformphysicaltasks.Whenyou
mentionrobots,mostpeoplethinkofanassemblyline
withrobotarmsconstructingcars.Butroboticsis
muchmorethanthat.Itcanbeintheformvoice
recognitionsoftwarethatanswersverbalquestions
fromcustomers.Itcanbeintheformofsoftwarethat
processesdataandmakesrecommendationsfor
productionpractices.Inonesense,thissoftwarecan
bethoughtofasavirtualfieldmanager.Inthenext
fewyears,softwaremimickingthedecisionmakingof
amanagerwillbecomeincreasinglyimportant
becauseofthebigdatachallenge.Nohumancan
processthefloodofdataandotherinformationina
timelymannertomakeadecision.Consequently,
retailerswillhavetorelyonsoftwaretoingest,
convert,andintegratedataintoproductsand
recommendations.Managerswillstillmakethefinal
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decisionbutatamuchhigher,informedlevelby
viewingproductsandrecommendations.Thesame
softwareforprocessingdatacanbeusedtosend
alertstofieldmanagersaboutimportantevents,such
assevereweather.
Themoreclassicalroleofrobotswillalsobecome
evidentonthefarmbutatamuchslowerrate.
Autonomousmachinesthatareremotelydirected
usingtelematicswillbegintoappearinalimitedrolein
thenextfewyears.Thesemachineswillfirstbe
employedinrepetitive,simpletasks,suchasforthe
loadingandunloadingofmaterials.Eventually,these
machineswilltaketheformofautonomoustractors
plantingseed,spreadingfertilizers,applying
chemicals,andharvestingcrops.

TOPICS: Agriculture Apps

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5 comments on Top 5 Trends In

Agriculture Technology
Adam Ali Goni September 26, 2013 at 7:18 am
value addition to products has been the top trends in
our country Nigeria for now.These trends you have
mentioned are yet to be thought of.Indeed
Technology and production needs to be better up.
Reply
| says:
April 3, 2014 at 10:58 am
[] http://www.croplife.com/management/top-5trends-in-agriculture-technology/ []
Reply
http://www.croplife.com/management/top5trendsinagriculturetechnology/

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gmoneygoogle October 1, 2014 at 9:12 am

lol
Reply
Brandon March 17, 2015 at 4:35 pm
I find the concept of big data fascinating. Do you
have the names of companies who are already doing
this?
Reply
The Unexpected Impact of Technology - U.S. Green
Technology says:
May 4, 2015 at 10:48 am
[] technology has grown to a level that makes farming
more than efficient. Without technology, farmers would []
Reply

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