Adoption and "systems" approach are issues facing precision ag

More than 500 researchers and practitioners from 42 states and 35 countries gathered to exchange ideas and see where precision agriculture is headed next.

"I think one of the issues we have to work at is the convenience of precision agriculture," said University of Wisconsin professor Peter Nowak. "We have to remember the reason for engaging in this science."

Nowak said the industry needs to draw on a unified system that can incorporate diverse values - including irrigation, weed control and disease control - to reach the full potential of site-specific management techniques. The lack of an overarching "systems" approach is one barrier to wider implementation of precision agriculture technologies and knowledge.

"Adoption has been component-based rather than system-based," Nowak said.

Wider adoption would lead to increased profitability, quality and productivity in the eyes of other industry experts.

Improving the food production process should be the industry's main objective, said Marc Vanacht, the principal of AG Business Consultants.

"It's not about fertilizers," he said. "It's about food."

The capabilities and accuracy of precision technologies improved during the past decade, but Vanacht said the industry must take new mechanical ability and readily apply it to field situations. He also highlighted the need to give agriculture producers the resources and support they need to properly use new technologies.

"Precision Agriculture is very much a service activity," Vanacht said. "I've heard one company say the value of service will soon be 10 times larger than the value of the product."

Vanacht said food traceability is another segment of the industry with tremendous growth potential as site-specific techniques and information gathering can provide consumers with a wide selection of high quality agricultural products.

"The price of a bottle of wine is determined mostly by when and where the grape was grown," he said.

Vanacht told the audience about a conversation with a colleague working in the brewing industry, saying that farmers and brewers already cooperatively manage the specialization and quality of the barley they use through tracing technologies.

Tracing technologies enable the tracking of origin, pesticide applications and other details on the growing and processing of agricultural products. Producers and distributors can use this technology to facilitate recalls, remove low-quality products from the supply chain, and provide consumers with numerous choices on the content and processing of the goods they purchase.

Radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) represent the next generation of the tracing revolution. These smart labels encrypt information about a product and can track its location throughout a warehouse or store. The ability to follow a crop from seed to final product caused industry leaders to coin phrases like "from the field to the fork" or "from the plot to the plate."

Dr. Alex McBratney, director of the Centre for Precision Agriculture echoed his colleagues' sentiments, calling for a whole-farm focus that includes product tracking and environmental management. McBratney also suggested that the precision agriculture community develop protocols and standards to improve cooperation between all the agents involved in the agriculture industry.

"Precision Agriculture will only succeed when it can be framed in a context that appeals to politicians, non-government organizations and potential users," McBratney said.