Precision Agriculture has a Squirrel Problem
We found the following article from AG Professional magazine, written by Steve Cubbage, to be very applicable and worthy of sharing.
Precision Agriculture has a Squirrel Problem
I’m a big fan or Disney Pixar movies. Even though their characters are animated, they’re very real because they’re always telling us a story about the world in which we live.
So that’s why I’ve chosen the dog Dug from the Pixar movie “Up” as the character that best defines the current world of precision agriculture. Why? Well, Dug has an attention deficit disorder better known as a squirrel problem. Precision agriculture right now has that same squirrel problem.
You see, Dug’s really smart and loyal and can talk to humans via his fancy electronic translator collar. But in the movie, focus is not one of Dug’s strong suits because as soon as a squirrel shows up it’s all over. He’s done until the next squirrel comes along.
These distractions, or squirrels, have been the Achilles heel of precision agriculture from its beginning. Whether it is at the grower level or even at the industry level, we are easily distracted by anything new and trending. At first this was a manageable problem because there really were only two squirrels-yield monitoring and variable-rate fertility. Now, precision agriculture has squirrels everywhere from drones to big data to magical in-season nitrogen apps.
Since these new squirrels are faster and sleeker than their older cousins, they’re the ones who now have the attention of growers. If precision agriculture is to move forward, those that participate in this world need to start acting less like Dug and actually more like the squirrel. Even though it may not seem that way as they dart around the yard and scurry up trees, squirrels have a serious focus to gathering nuts; food for the future.
The precision agriculture industry seriously needs such focus right now and it’s not happening. Silicon Valley continues to roll out precision “apps” like Model T’s on Henry Ford’s assembly line. Every big company or big investor is hoping to be that next big squirrel that everyone will chase. Many of these offerings catch growers’ eyes by offering things for free, but boredom soon sets in, and that’s another precision chase abandoned.
Right now, the overall economics of agriculture is going through a rough patch and to the average grower many of these precision squirrels are being looked upon as more of a distraction than a true benefit. Plus, it’s hard work chasing squirrels, and many just don’t want to expend the effort.
If more and more growers continue to see precision agriculture offerings as expendable luxury items of a farming operation, then we have a serious problem developing. Ironically, many growers may be sacrificing precision practices and adoption of new technologies in the times when they can benefit them the most. For example, technologies like planter clutches should probably be on every planter more than six rows wide, but are they? Yield maps should be used to actually calculate nutrient removal, but are they?
Precision agriculture, at its core, is about efficiency; it’s not about some online app that claims to have signed up half the crop acres in the U.S. To what end? Growers need to have a focus and more importantly a game plan, and one app or one technology is not going to deliver the answers of the economics they are looking for.
Right now growers and the industry need to focus on the core issues; ROI at the grower level. What pays the bills? What technology makes the most sense? What are the top 10 precision squirrels that make the most sense to chase? When it comes to precision, the moral of this story is that it is okay to chase squirrels but just make sure you’re chasing them up the same tree! Focus!