Ag Tech Talk Highlights Importance of Data Priority

In one generation, agriculture practices that traditionally relied on intuition and historical knowledge have turned to data, platforms, and software tools to support informed growing decisions. While this evolution of information helps producers, agronomists, and others in the industry make more strategic decisions, the sheer volume of data can be overwhelming.

“The greatest innovation in agriculture over the last 30 years is data,” Leon Zinck, DTN senior solution engineer and agronomist, told the audience at CropLife’s Tech Talk. “It has also been the greatest detractor in the last 30 years.”

Zinck’s presentation “The Best and Worst of Ag Data” covered the evolution of agriculture data, how to manage data volume, and what type of technology can support data-informed decisions.

According to the research firm IDC, the average farmer generates 500,000 data points every day. This comes from the breadth of data — everything from weather forecasts and soil conditions to seed types and chemical treatments — and the number of tools that generate the data. Today, internet-connected farm equipment, satellite imagery, sensors, and even machine learning models are generating gigabytes of data points, and by 2036, IDC predicts the data points will increase by 800%.

Zinck, who helps run his family’s farming operations, can attest to this. “We are swimming in a sea of data.”

According to the research firm IDC, the average farmer generates 500,000 data points every day. By 2036, IDC predicts the data points will increase by 800%.

In his presentation, Zinck said the key to managing the data is to prioritize the insights that are relevant to each farmer and their farming operations instead of trying to interpret every data point. This will be different for every farm. For example, a producer may be looking to improve soil health between a corn and bean rotation. The agronomy advisor needs to understand the field and the deficiencies to make the right recommendation based on solid insights from a hyper-local perspective.

“Sometimes less is more with data,” Zinck said. “If you are delivering accurate, focused information at the right time, it is providing more value to the producer and the farming operation.”

For example, evaluating data about everything from seed selection to the timing of herbicide application, emergency risk, and plant risk at one time may not be as beneficial as looking at the data points relevant to the growing cycle. Zinck suggests having multiple conversations or filtering data relevant to when decisions are made.

“The right data in the right amount will create confidence in data to make better in-season decisions based on the insights provided.”

“Sometimes less is more with data,” Zinck said. “If you are delivering accurate, focused information at the right time, it is providing more value to the producer and the farming operation.”

Another factor in managing data is simplicity — not in the type of information but in how the data is interpreted and displayed. Zinck recounted a conversation at the presentation that echoed a common sentiment among the attendees. An agronomist said he uses at least three different software solutions to get a single farming report, commenting, “I push so many buttons that I can’t get my team to adopt any of them.”

Software tools like DTN Agronomy help make things easier by streamlining farm and field data collection and agronomic insights with in-app communication; however, the industry still faces many single-use platforms. According to a recent McKinsey report, only half of the farmers surveyed are using farm management software.

Zinck said people in the ag space are open to innovation, but ultimately, it is about the value of the data being delivered.

“It is our goal to streamline the data-gathering process, integrate more data into one platform, and continue building better visualization tools,” Zinck said. “We want more farmers to harness the power of insights and reap the benefits of data-informed decisions.”

Learn more about how DTN Agronomy delivers streamlined data and quickly transforms information into actionable insights.