More Than A Crystal Ball!

How digital agriculture can improve efficiency on your farm

My heart sank when I scrolled through some Facebook photos and discovered a classmate had aged rather too quickly. But on reading his update, I was relieved to notice that the photo was of his “future self”. My friend had used the photo editing app that predicts what a person might look like when they are old. The idea of seeing my wrinkled face at 92 doesn’t particularly excite me (hopefully before then somebody would have invented a better anti-aging cream)! However, I am excited about using digital technology to predict and manage important aspects of a cropping season. Now, that would be useful!

What is digital agriculture?

In general, digital agriculture includes tools that are used to collect, store, analyze, and share data and information in agriculture.  These technologies aim to provide information to make better decisions and improve productivity. The rise of digital platforms in agriculture has been called the “Digital Revolution”, the latest of the major revolutions in agriculture.

How digital agriculture can enhance efficiency on your farm

There are several examples of how digital agriculture can improve farm efficiency and resource management. Digital agriculture includes precision agriculture techniques that use sensors, GPS guidance, satellite imagery, and soil sampling to identify unique characteristics of different areas of a farmer’s field so that the farmer can allocate the right amount of resources to the right place at the right time. This is particularly useful under the present situation of high input costs. Digital agriculture also includes tools that use mathematical models developed from the relationships between complex variables, to guide farming decisions. For example, crop yield potential throughout a growing season can be predicted from variables such as available soil moisture, accumulative rainfall, and expected precipitation, giving farmers the information they need to decide whether adding more input during a growing season is justified. Furthermore, software that help record, store and manage farm and field activities are also part of digital agriculture, and can greatly enhance the efficiency of farm and field operations.

In conclusion…

There seems to be an app for everything these days, and the choices can be dizzying. Our world is suddenly looking like the Planet of the Apps! But changes in weather patterns, new and emerging pest and diseases, as well as market uncertainties mean that we can no longer rely on past and personal experiences alone. To remain profitable, farm management decisions must be data-driven using the right technologies. At SynergyAG, we evaluate various digital agriculture platforms and work with those that can bring value to our customers. Our approach is to combine eyes in the sky with boots on the ground. Please, talk with your SynergyAG rep to understand how our digital/precision agriculture platforms can help improve efficiency on your farm.

– Ikenna Mbakwe, PhD, PAg

  Head of Research

  SynergyAG