Precision FarmingInter­ac­tive info­graphic: Preci­sion farming is picking up speed!

Perhaps the biggest gain from digi­tal­i­sa­tion. Targeted appli­ca­tions of fertilisers, pesti­cides and other inputs – and in the end more yield or less costs. The foun­da­tions for this are data, algo­rithms and auto­mat­i­cally controlled machines.

The machine itself is supplying more and more data – keyword Internet of Things, i.e. networked tech­nology. This makes it possible to avoid or signif­i­cantly shorten down­times. In the future, digi­tal­i­sa­tion in combi­na­tion with elec­tri­fi­ca­tion of agri­cul­tural tech­nology could bring even more advan­tages, such as finer moni­toring of machine func­tions.

Fleet manage­ment, harvest logis­tics or the trans­port of perish­able prod­ucts are still chal­lenges for agri­cul­tural produc­tion. Digital plat­forms and apps opti­mise logis­tical plan­ning. Espe­cially for contrac­tors, it is an impor­tant tool. Not only is money saved, but green­house gas emis­sions are avoided.

Having the tractor checked remotely by a tech­ni­cian or quickly sending a picture of a leaf disease to an advisor – twenty years ago it would have been unthink­able. Producers, service providers, coop­er­a­tives, trade… digi­tal­i­sa­tion will bring the players in the green sector closer together in the future.

The buyer must make sure that the manage­ment complies with the spec­i­fi­ca­tions. The author­i­ties need to be able to track the use of inputs. What used to mean a lot of paper­work or time-consuming spread­sheet manage­ment is now increas­ingly archived auto­mat­i­cally so that infor­ma­tion can be quickly down­loaded and shared.

The super­or­di­nate level. Collected data cannot only be utilised within a farm. In an anonymised form – where data protec­tion is the highest priority – they will help improve the compu­ta­tional models that make preci­sion agri­cul­ture possible.