Does investing in custom technology pay off for small farming operations?
Not sure where to start?
June 25, 2021
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All farmers feel a connection to their land and a desire to be good stewards of the resources available. A part of being responsible with what you have is making sure you’re getting the most out of what nature provides. Adding technology to the mix can help make sure your way of life can continue to be profitable and plentiful.
Small farm operations often back away from technology adoption because they’ve been successful for years, or decades, with the methods and practices that are in play today. The idea of paying for something new to optimize that, to them, often seems unnecessary. But, the idea of technology adoption goes beyond the stigma of paying for something you’ve had for free and acknowledges that the world is changing. With climate change, natural disasters, and dwindling amount of available land, the ability to optimize your business can only be done with technology. Yes, you’re running a successful business now, but what if you suddenly increased profits and the only change you made was adopting technology that works for your individual needs?
If you’re operating a small or medium-sized farm (less than 1,000 acres), you may think technology, like custom software, precision farming tools, or data analytics are out of your reach. These technologies may seem like an expense that only the largest farms can afford or see value from, but that’s not the case. Instead, smaller farm operations should look to the success that larger farm operations have had as a successful use case. According to a study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, nearly 95 percent of farmers using precision agriculture and data management technology said their investment was worth it. Most (70 percent) even said their profits increased because of their investments, so the opportunity to do more with what you have is there if you’re open to looking at your land a little differently.
We’ve hit the tipping point in this industry where digital transformation is critical. A few ways to adopt custom technology include:
Cost is always a concern when you talk about integrating technology into your operation, but if you make the initial investment in a custom-tailored system, you are more likely to end up with a solution/partner that can evolve as your farm changes. The easiest way to digitize is with processes that are already in place. Start with a smartphone app that gives you water readings, from there you can utilize GPS for mapping and then advance to a fully-connected farm that collects data and provides you with an operating analysis. This step-by-step approach will gradually show you how a better understanding what you have could enhance your profitability.
Over the next decade, the agriculture industry is going to see an increase in data application adoption. IBM estimated that in 2019, farms produced 500,000 data points every day while another company expects farms to generate 4.1 million data points a day by 2050. This data comes from what is being planted, to where it’s being planted and how it’s being harvested. There is no replacement for being hands-on with your land, but just think of what you could learn if every aspect of your farm were reporting back to you with status updates whenever you asked?
Jeanae DuBois is an accomplished marketing and branding leader with over 20+ years in the industry. Joining Bitwise Technology Consulting in September 2019, Jeanae manages an integrated marketing team, focusing on in-bound and outbound marketing strategy, campaign execution, branding, client development, public relations, corporate events and internal sales enablement.
This article was originally published on AgDaily. https://www.agdaily.com/technology/investing-custom-technology-pay-off-small-farming-operations/
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