How Big Data Is Revolutionizing Farming

Farmers have access to more information today than ever. Will they be able to make sense of it in time to feed the world of tomorrow?

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In today’s information age, data is the coin of the realm. Disparate sectors, ranging from medicine and tech to sports and journalism, rely on unprecedented amounts of data and increasingly sophisticated machines capable of processing it to make sense of the world and inform key decisions.

The agricultural world is no exception. Increased agricultural yields with minimal additional inputs have never been more vital. A 2017 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that the global population will grow to roughly 10 billion by 2050, which will increase agricultural demand by 50% compared to 2013. Challenges like land scarcity, climate change, and environmentally taxing farming systems all present challenges to farmers, who must find more sustainable, efficient ways to improve their crop yields.

Fortunately, technology’s transformative powers offer some answers. For millennia, farmers have been some of civilization’s greatest data harvesters, collecting and passing down information on weather patterns, water levels, and climate shifts. The next generation of farm implements can help them gather huge amounts of information and use these data streams to their advantage. According to a study produced for the CTIA Wireless Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports wireless communication, technology is improving farmers’ decision-making power, which results in greater profit and water conservation and improved water quality, among other benefits. The study cites agriculture as one of the most fertile areas for connected devices.