b'farmers achieve their goals. much information, but whatPrecision Ag has pro- Fulton anticipates there King anticipates that in theis it we are missing? Soilgressed in many ways acrosswill be an opportunity for next few years, prescriptivehealth improvement data?the globe but in differentone person to simultaneously analytics will be able to useSoil microbiology? We knowways. The shape of agricultureoperate several machines as multiple levels of data to reallythere are things going on inin Europe is different than itmore autonomous capabili-go to work and partner withthe soil that we cannot see.is here in the United States,ties become available. He says farmers.The addition of more dataFulton says. Recordkeepingdevelopers are still working This is putting moremay be helpful, but then thefor European farmers is at athrough concerns such as pressure on seed companies80/20 rule comes into play.higher level than here in theliability. to use data science to makeWith 20% of the data inform- United States since they areThere will be a need to more hybrids that can being 80% of our decisions, willrequired to maintain recordsbe an operator in the field or matched with the predictivemore data actually be helpful?to document compliance withmonitoring from a central con-analytics that are being madeMore data will be useful onlythe governments varioustrol station, but it will become available, he says. The moreto the extent it will help grow- farm programs. Europeanmore akin to babysitting the we work with prescriptiveers and their trusted partnersfarmers talk about using PAmachines instead of operat-analytics, the more we seemake better decisions tofor record-keeping, but theying them, Fulton says. I think new opportunities to think dif- improve profitability and sus- are using many of the preci- we will continue to see more ferently to get the right hybridtainability. sion ag technologies founddrone applications, whether in the right field at the rightTo maximize output, auton- here in the United States. EUfor spot spraying or for seeding rate.omy will become an integralFarmers need to maintainscouting during the growing Gunzenhauser agrees thatpart of their modeling applica- records in order to satisfy theirseason. They will be collect-modeling is an essential tool totion. The movement towardsgovernments requirementsing more data than we can get the most useful informationmanaging agronomic data willaround agricultural productionimagine. There will be more from the data being accumu- continue. Halliday says agri- practices.internet-of-things devices lated by growers. culturalists have just begun toThere are different levels ofcoming to agriculture. This With modeling algorithms,realize the value of agronomicPA depending on geographicmay open more opportuni-you can model almost everydata when making operationalregions and whether farmersties for artificial intelligence to decision an agronomist or adecisions. Machine learninghave predominantly small oroperate machines in response farmer makes, he says. Whatand artificial intelligence willlarge-scale farming operations.to real-time information gath-I am interested in is havingbecome an integral part of theWhile areas of the worldered by the machine.the tools to make the decisiondata management aspect ofsuch as the United States,In some areas, the inability processing better. How did wefarming. Strategic actions toCanada, Australia and Newto have that good internet make decisions before? Weincorporate more autonomyZealand have engaged inconnection is limiting the talked with others to gatherinto daily farming operationsmore advanced precision agri- progression of precision information, to see whatwith more robotic and droneculture, emerging countriesagriculture. If the communi-they did and how it workedtechnology will continue toare beginning to incorporatecation industry can improve out. We had our own mentalintensify.more basic principles into theirrural broadband in the United model to make decisions. operations, Halliday says.States, it will help move us The question is, WhatPA Beyond U.S. Borders They are starting to use moredown the road to a more additional information doU.S. and European farmersGPS and guidance technolo- wide-spread application of we need? Gunzenhauserboth use precision farminggies to gain the same benefitsprecision ag. SWsays. As we work on thesetechnology, but for somewhatthat we have appreciated for models, we already have sodifferent purposes.many years.ENDORSED BY 32/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2019'