Agricultural Technology for Smarter Farming

Farming and agriculture are the foundations that our modern society is built on. When early mankind discovered how to plant seeds and grow crops over 12,000 years ago, their lifestyle changed forever. They no longer had to roam the lands in search of food and were able to settle in one location all year round. These early settlements grew to villages, then towns and cities and developed into the civilisations that we know as everyday life nowadays. Therefore, it is obvious that without the development of farming our lives today would be very different. Agriculture and the process of farming has undergone so many changes since our ancestors scattered seeds on the ground and hoped for the best. From crop rotation to irrigation systems and mechanization, every generation has had its own developments to make in the field of farming. Nowadays, with the issue of global warming and concerns around the polluting impact of heavy agriculture, most developments relate to maximising farm efficiency and minimising environmental impact. Technology and information systems are key tools that modern farmers use to try and meet these aims.

As climate change causes areas to get warmer and land to dry out, drought becomes more of a possibility and the issue of water conservation becomes a very real and worrying concern for many farmers. Nowadays even farmers who don’t live in drought danger zones want to monitor the moisture levels in their land due to the benefits that they can extract from the extra knowledge. Sensoterra are a company that specialise in soil sensors. Their product allows farmers observe and analyse moisture conditions in the soil up to a metre in depth. They believe that their product can help farmers lower their costs and reduce water consumption by up to 30%. Given that agriculture accounts for 70% of the worlds water consumption (OECD, 2019), the potential benefits to this technology are incredible. Access to this information allows farmers maintain more precise moisture conditions which has numerous other benefits such as maintaining soil health and increasing crop yields.

Another development that threatens to change the face of agriculture as we know it is the increased use of big data analytics. Data analysis and “Big Data” are the next big thing in every industry at the moment and farming is no different. Farmers today have two options; embrace these changes or get left behind. Soil sensors, such as the ones I outlined above, tractors with GPS, and other outlets such as weather forecasts, provide a host of information to todays farmers that their predecessors could only dream about. This data allows them to analyse every facet of their processes and make improvements and adjustments as they see fit. For example, they are able to make better use of their key resources such as seed and fertiliser. The monitors and sensors can feed into predictive analytics which can even alert farmers to potential problems such as pests or disease before they become major problems (Schlam, 2019). These improvements have the potential to create significant cost savings for farmers and could insulate them against fluctuations in market prices. All in all these developments have already changed the farming sector and have the potential change it even further.

When we think of drones, we usually think of one of two things; either the flimsy children’s toys that usually get stuck in trees or the lethal remote-controlled weapons operated by the army. We don’t think of the impacts that they can have in other areas. The broad range of applications that they can have are used to great effect in the agricultural industry (Margaritoff, 2018). The main benefit of utilising drones is the increase in efficiency that they provide to minimize farmers workloads. This is primarily used for surveying land and monitoring livestock. Instead of needing sensors in the ground or even having to physically travel across the land to check on crops, a farmer can use a drone to assess the crops and make decisions. This can also be applied to livestock. Drones can be used to great effect during calving or lambing seasons. Instead of having to bring the livestock into sheds to give birth, a farmer can leave them out in fields and use drones to check on the birthing animals and intervene if necessary. This allows for a more natural birth for the animals and also makes the farmers life more efficient.

Its clear to see that technology is changing the face of agriculture, and its impact is only going to get stronger in the coming years. Who knows, maybe fully automated farms are only a couple of years away?

Bibliography

Margaritoff, M., 2018. Drones in Agriculture: How UAVs Make Farming More Efficient. The Drive, 13 February.

OECD, 2019. Water and Agriculture: OECD. [Online] Available at: https://www.oecd.org/agriculture/topics/water-and-agriculture/

[Accessed 12 March 2020].

Schlam, O., 2019. 4 ways big data analytics are transforming agriculture. Future Farming, 15 July.