December 8, 2014

By Shahnaz Mahmud

Sensor technology is poised to play a significant role in transforming the agriculture sector. This was a major takeaway from a Business Insider article written earlier this year. The article focused on the ag tech space and was based on a report, MetaScan 3: Emerging Technologies, by Policy Horizons Canada. Sensor technology’s importance lies in its ability to provide farmers with current production conditions in real-time, allowing for precise and efficient production decisions to be made. The technology will also allow farmers to diagnose the state of their crops and livestock and play a role in traceability, as it can be used to monitor products in the field. Because it enables precision farm management, sensor technology has been deemed as one of the world’s finest emerging technologies.

The Role of Sensor Technology in Agriculture

Air and soil sensors came to market in 2013 and should become mainstream and financially viable next year. Sol Chip, a company grounded in solar technology, has devised an application for agricultural sensors. Its wireless sensors have been used to monitor and collect data on soil water availability, soil compaction, soil fertility, leaf temperature, leaf area index, plant water status, local climate data, and insect-disease-weed infestation, among other data.

Equipment telematics gives machinery, like tractors, the ability to quickly alert mechanics that a failure is likely to happen. Many agriculture equipment companies were developing telemetic systems as far back as 2010, according to a press report by Western Farm Press, to be able to collect and manage data through their field equipment. At that juncture, telematics were being used to pinpoint the location of a vehicle but advances since that point are such that the technology can help troubleshoot remotely and increase efficiency of the farm equipment. The technology behind these capabilities is set to become mainstream within two years and become financially viable in 2017.

Sensors can also be used for livestock biometrics. Collars with GPS can track a cow’s movements, for instance, but the technology far transcends that. Animal behavior can be monitored, disease can be detected early, and sensors can provide climate, water and feed indicators. These sensors are expected to become scientifically viable in 2017 and subsequently becoming financially viable in 2019.

Optical sensors and drones can help boost crop health by arming farmers with current field conditions to make more informed crop input decisions. Ag Leader Technology, a provider of precision agriculture hardware and software, has housed a crop sensor product since 2009. OptRx measures and records data about crops in real-time using the reflectance of light shined on growing plants. The data is logged and mapped for use in further analysis – or for real-time variable rate applications. The crop sensor also helps farmers apply agrochemicals based on a crop’s vital signs. These sensors are slated to be scientifically viable next year and financially sound in 2019.

Infrastructural health sensors can be used for monitoring vibrations and material conditions in infrastructure, like farms, bridges and factories. This information can then be sent back to maintenance crews or robots and used to maintain farm infrastructure.These sensors are not as well developed as others and are targeted to become scientifically viable in 2021 and financially so in 2027.

Investments Into Precision Agriculture

With all of the attention being given to precision agriculture, it’s not surprising that deep pockets are following. This year a $50 million venture fund, the AgTech Innovation Fund, was created to solely focus on food and agricultural technology companies, according to a detailed Forbes article. The article also drew attention to 2013 data by Cleantech Group indicating that more than $203 million was invested across 29 deals across the spectrum for technology in the ag space, seeing the monetary value jump up 78 percent over the four-quarter running average. Cleantech Group also indicated that the number of individual deals was up 66 percent.

However, the industry still faces many challenges. Logan Handsaker, a Product Specialist for OptRx at Ag Leader Technology says the focus, specifically for crop sensors, has to be on educating the average crop producer to understand their value – before any new features should be added to its existing technology. Handsaker says it’s been a bit of an “uphill battle” for crop sensors in the marketplace. While studies have proven their validity, he says it’s difficult to get the industry on board. Why is this? “One of the biggest reasons is that in order to implement crop sensors, you have to develop management practices around them,” says Handsaker. He notes that many producers are set in their ways and so are not convinced that these new technologies will add greater value. Another reason, not surprisingly, is that it requires a big investment, he says. Other factors include gambling with weather conditions, knowing how much nitrogen to actually purchase. “So there’s a lot of risk involved for the farmer to do this and there’s also a lot of costs associated with getting the equipment for them to do it on their own,” says Handsaker. “Those are some of the kinds of hurdles we are battling as an industry.”

Nonetheless, Handsaker believes the industry will be successful in the future. “People want more data,” he points out. “They want to apply fertilizer more intelligently or strategically to get the most ‘bang for their buck’. What we have to think through is how to implement it to get it on a bigger scale.”

Given the investments and growing interest, crop sensors – sensors in agriculture overall – will scale significantly.