Beyond Dirt to Data: Connected Government and the IoT
As the sun rises over a 230 acre farm in Montana, a small family of five rolls out of their beds and prepares for the working day ahead. Every morning over breakfast, the family views the progress of their hard work using technological tools that have reshaped the way their family farms. The family’s management operations tool pulls in real-time data from environmental sensors that have been installed across their land allowing them to view any immediate weather and crop-related risks they need to address and prioritize for the day. Advancements in precision agriculture and data analytics, through the use of tools like management operations, help farmers and families like these all across the country manage larger plots of land more efficiently and effectively. The benefit realized from affordable data analysis tools is just one of the many examples of how the future of agriculture is making its way towards targeted and more efficient farming techniques through the use of technology.
One of the challenges facing the USDA is educating farmers on how to best meet their increasing production demands, while also utilizing available and affordable technology to do so. We worked hard to make this seemingly outsized challenge become digestible in Deloitte Reviews’ “From Dirt to Data: The Second Green Revolution and the Internet of Things” article published recently. Deloitte thought leaders in agriculture and the use of technology, demonstrate how agriculture can advance through the use of innovative technologies and systems — from gravitational research to aerial drones and more. We understand that many Federal Agencies don’t know where, or how, to begin addressing the technological challenges on the horizon. Therefore, our Government experts partnered together to identify three major ways that the internet of things (IoT) is going to revolutionize the public sector: eliminating routine tasks, enhancing capabilities, and engaging partners. While these are broadly applicable across the entire federal government, we think there are a number of ways that it can be applied directly to the USDA and its associated offices.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Extension understands the need to advance technology and inform farmers by taking the “knowledge gained through research and education and bringing it directly to the people to create positive changes” 1. Similarly, we propose using research to educate farmers in order to help them make informed decisions about their methods and techniques. For example, software is being developed which analyzes and constructs 3D maps of land to better help farmers manage large areas in less time. This application gives the view of a drone without the extensive training and scientific background to use one. We believe technology like this allows agencies (like NIFA Extension) to introduce new technology to farmers with little training required, saving time to focus efforts on other high priority issues. Extension agents could also use the IoT to monitor the crops of many growers in the area, to piece together comprehensive pictures of the environment in order to help all of their local growers make more informed decisions.
Additional technologies, even as simple as smartphones, could provide USDA agencies such as National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) with data to prevent and manage risks for farmers and rural communities. Such smartphone technology allows farmers to oversee their business by accessing information about weather, market prices, and even their crops and animals in the palm of their hand. We believe easily accessible technology like this could help NASS better obtain their mission to provide accurate statistical information and services to farmers in rural areas. Moreover, smartphone technology allows farmers to assess and address animal health risks; further technology, such as hardware sensors, identify illnesses in animals earlier to reduce sickness amongst herds and ultimately increase overall product yields. Tools like these tie closely to the goal of RMA by ensuring farmers have the tools necessary to manage their agricultural risks. The USGS is already using the IoT to monitor bacteria levels in rivers and lakes, and similar technologies could be applied to livestock and cropland.
With the pressure to conserve land, yet produce more output than ever before, it’s important for agencies such as the Economic Research Service (ERS) and companies such as ourselves, to understand the need to anticipate trends and emerging issues in agriculture and food, as well as inform the public and provide solutions to address these issues. Issues pertaining to food production and security are being combated with solutions like precision agriculture robots and improved seeds and fertilizers. Technology such as robots/drones allows farmers to identify and remove weeds in their fields while advancements in soil and seeds increases their resistance to harsh weather conditions, bugs, and disease. Partnered together, solutions like these can ultimately improve overall crop yields while conserving land.
Fascinating articles have been published recently illustrating the significance of water availability and the use of solar power technology to address issues around this topic. We know that resource conservation, and particularly global and domestic water availability, are top of mind at USDA agencies such as the NRE (Natural Resources and Environment), NRA (Natural Resources Analysis), and NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service). Therefore, it’s critical that business and Government agencies alike partner to harness the power of the IoT, determine where water is potentially being wasted, and identify the technological opportunities for cost savings in addition to resource conservation. It is important to note that merely collecting the information is the first step — making decisions (and enabling people to make decisions) based on the information is where the true value of the information and connectivity lies.
In a time when there are increasing demands placed on commercial and family farms all across the country, it becomes imperative for the USDA to find ideas and solutions to help farmers rise to meet the challenges placed on them. There are endless advancements, such as the use of precision agriculture, that can be brought to USDA’s stakeholders and help meet their overall objective to improve research, education, and technology. We believe the USDA and the government as a whole have a growing opportunity to empower farmers across the country through the use of precision agriculture and analytics to make more efficient and effective decisions. Join us on this journey to help USDA achieve its goals and explore all the possibilities that are opening up as a result of these technological advancements.
John Townsley, Kimberly Lavoie, and Devika Balachandran contributed to this piece.
