Over 90% of respondents find it hard to improve on-farm activities using the current data at their disposal, according to a 2023 AgriTech Trends report by The Yield Technology Solutions. While there has been a surge in digital transformation initiatives across businesses in the industry, many still grapple with deriving actionable insights from their data. […]
Over 90% of respondents find it hard to improve on-farm activities using the current data at their disposal, according to a 2023 AgriTech Trends report by The Yield Technology Solutions.
While there has been a surge in digital transformation initiatives across businesses in the industry, many still grapple with deriving actionable insights from their data.
According to the report — surveying 807 US-based workers in agriculture — the majority of firms are facing on-farm and off-farm challenges resulting from inaccurate yield predictions and inconsistencies due to complexities in data collection and analysis.
Nearly all (96%) respondents expressed the need for a consolidated platform to access essential data and apps for their operations from vendors.
“Despite a growing interest in and adoption of digital transformation initiatives, many agribusinesses today are struggling to get accurate yield predictions. The biggest challenge is leveraging available data effectively,” said Ros Harvey, founder and CEO of The Yield.
While nearly 80% of businesses are at the “data exploration” stage or beyond, only 21.3% have fully automated their data collection processes. The remaining majority still rely on traditional means such as machinery, field apps and sensors.
Consequently, the report claimed over 70% of businesses are dedicating 11 or more hours weekly just for data collection, consolidation and analysis. Over a quarter (26.4%) are spending more than 16 hours per week.
The survey emphasises the weight placed by agribusinesses on accurate yield predictions. Such predictions are vital not only for on-farm decisions but also play pivotal roles in logistics, distribution, post-harvest processing and achieving the best pricing.
Given the current state of data, the inaccurate predictions are posing significant risks throughout the supply chain.
“There exists a palpable need for improving consistency across data collection and interpretation methods, especially as businesses aim for higher yield outcomes at reduced costs,” added Harvey.
As businesses navigate the complexities of data management, Harvey said that digital transformation will be the beacon for a more efficient, accurate and sustainable future.
Almost all respondents also view artificial intelligence (AI) as crucial, transformative forces for their future, anticipating substantial changes in agriculture jobs over the next five years.
More than half of respondents plan to increase investment in on-farm robotics or autonomous systems in the next 24 months in the field (54.8%), for harvesting (60.5%) and for packing (51.3%).
And over 75% of agribusiness professionals believe that given the amount of data their organisation needs to analyse, AI can improve data analysis and the accuracy of yield prediction and estimation.
As we look to the new year, 60% of businesses are planning to increase their AgTech budget. Purchasing priorities are precision agriculture tools (66%), farm management software (60%) and data consolidation (45%). The top three areas of investment in specialty crops are precision agriculture tools, farm management software and data consolidation.
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