As California dries up, the absolute necessity of ag tech goes up.
Our food chain now includes devices and systems integration. Farmers, packers, processors, logistics managers and retailers are exploring new ways to manage suddenly scarce water – as well as energy, air quality, soil and, depending on your point of view, chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides.
Tech Wire tech savvy readers – consider a bit of sociopolitics. No wait, really. You owe it to everyone who eats.
Especially you system integrators. There are a bunch of smart people inventing really cool devices and apps for ag. Of course, there’s always room for one more.
And the money will migrate. VCs have a nose for the next next big thing.
But the real ag tech need is how to make all these cool devices and apps talk across (sorry for the inevitable ag pun) silos. And then how to integrate and manage the big data.
Yes, really big data. Consider that ex-Googlers at Climate Corp. of SF are managing 50 terabytes from 2.5 million locations in real-time.
Consider that Monsanto, as we’ve discussed, recently bought Climate Corp for nearly $1 billion. Then, last week, the boyz and grrlz at the new Monsanto subsidiary rolled out the new products, including “agronomic services” across multiple devices, equipment and operations:
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/01/23/climate-corporation-precision-planting-offer-smart-technology-for-farmers/
John Deere is also aggregating and analyzing crop, soil, moisture, weather, climate, chemical and other data — and selling the information stream to growers.
John Deere brings to mind tractors, of course. Those big behemoths you drive past on I-5 or I-10 or I-80 or&helliphey, you see them everywhere. Costly machines, easily in the couple-hundred-thousand-dollar range.
With as much applied computing power as the first round of Space Shuttles. Great big green data machines.
Which gets us to the sociopolitical and ethical question:
Is it a good thing to have databases containing the automated instructions to planters, tillers, chemical applicators, sprinklers and harvesters? The American Farm Bureau Federation urges caution. NPR did an excellent segment:
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=264577744
The table stakes are high. Agribusiness is one of California’s few growth industries, generating $44 billion in 2012 in "farmgate" alone, not counting the significant number of mulitpliers.
It’s one thing to lose Target. Our food supply is worth pondering.
This is a tech leadership question you cannot ignore. What are your answers? Maybe we should talk about this and act. Hmmmm. Stay tuned.
