IoT’s Role in Revolutionizing Agriculture
Perhaps no recent tech development has had a greater impact on the industry than smart technology, and this IoT data is being used to improve operations across nearly all modern farming operations around the globe. Here are a few examples.
Farmers were among the first to adopt GPS technology; John Deere was the first tractor manufacturer to implement GPS technologies in the early 1990s, and farmers quickly began using GPS assistance and even automated steering to reduce user errors. GPS technology can be combined with sensor data to create ultra-precise maps of varying factors. Knowing how soil quality varies across large plots of land, for example, can help farmers know which areas need which type of fertilizers. Although it’s often thought of as a somewhat rustic field, today’s agriculture depends heavily on computers. By using comprehensive and integrated systems, farmers are better able to plan their farms and more precisely apply various necessary elements of farming, including pesticides and herbicides, reducing costs significantly. Farmers often work on tight margins, and small inefficiencies can quickly make a farm unprofitable. Precision farming, powered by the IoT, is essential for remaining competitive, and consumers and the environment should benefit from the efficiency.
Agriculture consumes large amounts of two resources: land and labor. Already, farmers are turning to smart devices to automate tasks previously done by humans. Instead of having to hire a pilot for aerial photography, farmers today can rely on far more affordable drones and deploy them more frequently. Already, farmers are performing day-to-day tasks with robotics. Deepfield Robotics, for example, creates a “weed punching” robot, capable of detecting weeds and driving them into the ground before they consume valuable resources. Their robots can also automatically monitor soil conditions, eliminating the time-consuming process of sending people out to take soil readings. These robots are effectively roaming IoT devices, and they’re expected to become a mainstay of farming. Automation has long played a critical role in efficient farming, and bringing aboard robotics capabilities is a natural evolution.
Farming requires a long-term commitment, and making accurate predictions early in the process ensures greater crop yields.
