Technology and Agriculture

Technology and agriculture are normally not thought of in the same breath by people outside the farming sector, but a deeper look shows how much farmers heavily use technology and those without it are in danger of obsolescence.

Crop production efficiencies and crop genetics continue to fuel 1-2% annual increases in grain yield that have steadily boosted American farmer returns over the last half a century.  In the last decade a new tool, digital-precision agriculture, has begun adding to grower and investor returns.  This location-based revolution in agriculture is growing at a 14% annual growth rate and is expected to double over the next 5 years to over $10 billion.  No longer is precision ag the domain of start-up tech companies from Silicon Valley.  Mainstream companies such as John Deere are now firmly imbedded with GPS technologies and variable rate seeding and applicators.  Giants in the industry such as Monsanto now drive advances and have definitively entered the digital revolution with acquisitions of Climate Corporation’s Field View platform.  A host of digital dashboards and subscription services are now available to growers including Field View, Farmer’s Edge, Granular, Fulcrum, and many others.  Many companies have even tailored their products to the daily management of specialty crops such as orchards and vineyards.  These dashboards give growers access to real-time data and empower them to make informed decisions on their farms.

Here at Scythe & Spade, Kevin Petrik, our Manager of Geospatial Data Science, has joined with industry leaders and subject matter experts to build digital farm dashboards that facilitate the acquisition, management and divesting of U.S. farmland.  Our FarmBase © mapping-centered system allows for the fast and easy accounting of farmland assets to both prioritize farmland improvements, evaluate new properties and compare risks to existing property portfolios.  Our FarmBase© system simplifies the tracking of farm yields, irrigation practices, water infrastructure and other key metrics that drive returns.

Come see how Scythe & Spade can help jump start farmland property evaluation to strategically add to your property portfolio.