Data and digitization in agriculture
Shifts in technology and science changing how we grow food
Recently, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the 2020 Foster our Future expo and discussion forum hosted by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). The panel, “A Farmer's Perspective on Agricultural Data Value, Usage and Privacy”, featured three farmers and ranchers - Aaron Ault, Dorn Cox and Meredith Ellis - who have each focused their efforts on changing the landscape of how we produce our food. The panel provided a glimpse of a broad and on-going effort to significantly shift the utilization of data to fuel decision making for farmers.
We are currently standing at a critical juncture for agriculture as we undergo a major paradigm shift in data and digitization. Data and digitization can help farmers across the U.S. and globally to increase production efficiency, improve resiliency and financial viability on the farm all the way through the ag and food value chain, and result in effective visibility and delivery to consumers. The value of data and digitization has only grown in the recent months as we grapple with numerous challenges in our ag and food supply chains further highlighted during the current pandemic.
To truly unlock this value, and in such a way that ensures that the benefits are equitably distributed across the value chain, especially for the farmers and ranchers who produce the data and bear much of the risk in the production system, we must address several “sticky” intertwined challenges, e.g.,
Major market inefficiencies. This landscape is ripe with a multitude of market inefficiencies (e.g., Information asymmetry, incomplete information, externalities not captured). These inefficiencies create numerous direct and indirect barriers, e.g., preventing effective entry of new players, solutions that are not deployed fully or optimized, farmers making sub-optimal decisions in the face of limited or incomplete information
Underutilization of extant data. We are not using data to the extent we could be or should be, due to major disconnects between where disparate data sits from the farmgate, through the supply chain. Significant amounts of data sit in areas where they cannot be fully accessed, whether due to legal restrictions for government data or for proprietary reasons for private companies. The lack of proper connection of these data results in farmers not being able to holistically view their own data and the impact of their decisions.
Mismatch between supply and demand. Historically, we have experienced a major gap between the technical solutions farmers need on their farms versus what is available, or being developed
Increasing environmental and climatic pressures. Environmental changes are creating increasing complexity for producers. Without the ability to quickly and comprehensively understand the impact on their operations, it is increasingly difficult to be proactive (even challenging to be reactive to these changes).
Disjointed or sub-optimal decision-making. Farming is a long-game where decisions made today are not fully realized for years. Coupled with numerous variables impacting the outcomes, robust decision-making requires the right, complete data in a form that is digested and usable. Decision-making tools are only as good as the data and algorithms underlying it.
Mindset regarding technology and digitization. Not unlike what we have faced as individual consumers, the shift towards increased utilization of data and usage came with a mindset shift. Similarly, major, multi-faceted mindset shift is needed across the full value chain to move towards full, comprehensive digitization
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it touches on the broader complexities in this space.
Agriculture, by definition, is tough. It is one of the few, if not only, industries where up to 100 percent of the outcomes can be out of your control due to environmental stochasticity. Ag production is subject to a myriad of variables over time and space. Such complexity requires savvy and collaboration. The challenges listed above are not new, but are more fully realized and understood. Ideally, efforts that address the root causes of these challenges will lead to lasting, sustaining shifts where we treat the cause and not the symptoms.
Numerous efforts are attempting to address elements of these barriers. For example, public- private partnerships have stepped up to collaborate. Efforts are tackling a range of areas to address the challenges above and create a functional, equitable playing field for farmers and others on the value chain, e.g.,
Stronger collaborations between researchers and producers. Stronger connections between researchers and producers to bring science and tech quickly to producers and have an iterative exchange. Aaron Ault, a farmer, rancher and programmer who is part of Purdue University’s OATS program and Trellis, and one of the panelists on the FFAR panel points out, “Agriculture technology has come a long way, but software solutions for bringing value to ag data often feel like a solution in search of a problem. Everyone knows there is value in ag data, but few feel like we’ve found it yet. Unrealized value means we need to lower the barriers to trying new ideas, building better community among developers and farmers on the ground by democratizing innovation through the open source culture pioneered in the tech world.”
Developing open source architecture. Open source creates the next natural step, as we saw in other industries and fields, allowing for accelerated shifts needed in this space. Putting the data into the hands of farmers, open source architecture (and related policy ad other changes) allow farmers to own data, be engaged, truly interact and see the impact of complex decisions over time and space. Dorn Cox, another panelist, a farmer and scientist at Wolfes Neck Center, for Agriculture and the Environment, leads the OpenTEAM effort. “Through an open technology ecosystem approach we create systems interoperability from the microbiome to the biosphere. For the first time we can put control in the hands of farmers and ranchers to share and co-design the tools to collect, interpret, and exchange data. This is a game changer to scale adoption, accelerate innovation and make new agricultural services visible, quantifiable, and valuable.”
Updating data privacy for farmers. Currently, we face a mosaic of data policies differing by states, sectors leading to inefficiencies and a lack of ability for farmers to properly access and manage their own data. Dr. LaKisha Odom, who leads the Healthy Soil Challenge area for FFAR, emphasizes the value of data privacy for farmers. “Data privacy is critical. There are many unanswered questions surrounding data privacy, including how we best manage, share and integrate data while ensuring holistic privacy for farmers without limiting their ability to access their own data.” FFAR convened a discussion on data privacy during the 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting in San Antonio. A broader dialogue, “Unlocking the Agricultural Data Revolution”, will build on the 2019 meeting and be held on September 24-25, 2020, organized by a wide range of groups and hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Research and Statistics in its Applications.
Establishing markets to internalize positive externalities for farmers. So much of the discussions about farmers overly focus on negative externalities of agriculture production (e.g., pollution, food waste) and overlook the positive externalities generated by farmers (e.g., carbon sequestration, water quality improvements, improved habitats) through the decisions they make on their lands. While some of these externalities can be addressed through government programs and policies, that is not sufficient nor efficient for wide scale impact and ensuring that farmers receive a true, timely “signal” for their choices. These type of market platforms require a tremendous amount of data and analysis to function efficiently. Meredith Ellis, another panelist, a rancher and sustainability advocate, who runs her family’s ranch in Texas underscores the role of markets, which require significant data and digitization. “Markets are critical for farmers and ranchers to support and sustain practice shifts. Efforts, like the Ecosystem Service Markets Consortium, are so important to helping farmers and shifting how we produce in agriculture”.
Additionally, Meredith highlights a critical point that is often overlooked - better equipping farmers and ranchers with data to support decision-making enables improved decisions for the environment. “We make a decision and one point in time, but the outcomes of those decisions may not be seen for years so we cannot easily assess the efficacy of our decisions. With better data, access to these data and the analyses, we can link our decisions over time and space to understand what works and what does not. We are stewards of our land but cannot do it without this information.”
Like shifts in other industries (e.g., health care, consumer goods, insurance, finance, tech), no individual player can address these cross-cutting challenges. It often requires a combination of overarching investment, coordination, transparency and sharing. Major innovation and step change comes on the heels of support from an entity much larger than one group and often, outside the academic or private sectors (e.g., government agencies and departments such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy).
The US has lost significant ground as the global leader in agricultural research and innovation. Through the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress formed the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to support innovative, applied research. The unique structure set forth by the Farm Bill requires the development of public-private partnerships by requiring at least a 1:1 non-federal match. This mechanism has brought together a myriad of organizations; FFAR has over 400 separate matching partners, and unleashed resources across the ag and food value chain, often in places that were not only lucrative or attractive to the private sector, but are also necessary foundational areas of research to drive technological change. Thanks to those who took the initiative, from the original idea in the Farm Bill, to FFAR, to the collaborators and partners, who are taking bold steps and major risks to create the change we need.