precision agriculture

Precision Agriculture

An International Journal on Advances in Precision Agriculture

• Addresses within-field natural resources variability, including soil and crop variability and characteristics.
• Explores engineering technology, focusing on sensor systems, computational techniques, positioning systems and control systems.
• Present content on Managing variability, including sampling techniques and methods, nutrient and crop protection chemicals recommendation and crop quality
• Covers topics on engineering technology, focusing on sensor systems, computational techniques, positioning systems and control systems for site-specific application
• Encourages submissions on measurement, management, technology and impact of spatial variability at the within-field scale.
• Prioritizes environmental coverage including sediments, leaching, runoff and drainage related to within-field spatial variability.
• Davide Cammarano

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Volume 25, Issue 3

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Practical methods for aerial image acquisition and reflectance conversion using consumer-grade cameras on manned and unmanned aircraft.

• Chenghai Yang
• Bradley K. Fritz
• Charles P.-C. Suh

Multi-modal fusion and multi-task deep learning for monitoring the growth of film-mulched winter wheat

• Zhikai Cheng
• Wenjing Cai

Hyperspectral sensing and mapping of soil carbon content for amending within-field heterogeneity of soil fertility and enhancing soil carbon sequestration

• Yoshio Inoue
• Kunihiko Yoshino
• Takashi Saito

Maize tassel number and tasseling stage monitoring based on near-ground and UAV RGB images by improved YoloV8

• Xiuliang Jin

A new method for satellite-based remote sensing analysis of plant-specific biomass yield patterns for precision farming applications

• Ludwig Hagn
• Johannes Schuster
• Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen

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Special issues in plant sciences, precision ag definition.

The International Society of Precision Agriculture ( https://www.ispag.org/ ) adopted the following definition of precision agriculture in 2019: 

‘Precision Agriculture is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated variability for improved resource use efficiency, productivity, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production.’

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Precision Ag Definition

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Precision Agriculture

Applying the right resources in the right place at the right time can be a win-win for farmers and the environment. This approach, known as precision agriculture , lets farmers use cutting-edge tools to get specific, detailed information on individual bits of land or even plants in their fields. This knowledge enables them to apply only as much fertilizer, water, or other inputs as necessary – producing better results for them and their crops. Overall, researchers have found that using these methods costs no more than traditional approaches, but produces more consistent crop yields, and improves soil and water quality by reducing excess nutrient run-off from fertilizer. ARS conducts research on precision agriculture as part of its long-term agroecological research project, which has locations throughout the country.

The secret to precision agriculture is understanding that plants, and land, are not all the same; some parts of a field may require more or less fertilizer, for instance. By figuring out what is, or isn’t, needed, and responding appropriately, farmers use scarce resources like water most effectively.  Watch our video to learn more about this innovative new approach that’s helping farmers grow their crops more efficiently – and sustainably.

June 26, 2017

Precision Farming Increases Crop Yields

Combining sensors and imaging of every plant with real-time data analytics improves farm outputs and reduces waste

By Geoffrey Ling & Blake Bextine

As the world’s population grows, farmers will need to produce more and more food. Yet arable acreage cannot keep pace, and the looming food security threat could easily devolve into regional or even global instability. To adapt, large farms are increasingly exploiting precision farming to increase yields, reduce waste, and mitigate the economic and security risks that inevitably accompany agricultural uncertainty.

Traditional farming relies on managing entire fields—making decisions related to planting, harvesting, irrigating, and applying pesticides and fertilizer—based on regional conditions and historical data. Precision farming, by contrast, combines sensors, robots, GPS, mapping tools and data-analytics software to customize the care that plants receive without increasing labor. Stationary or robot-mounted sensors and camera-equipped drones wirelessly send images and data on individual plants—say, information about stem size, leaf shape and the moisture of the soil around a plant—to a computer, which looks for signs of health and stress. Farmers receive the feedback in real time and then deliver water, pesticide or fertilizer in calibrated doses to only the areas that need it. The technology can also help farmers decide when to plant and harvest crops.

As a result, precision farming can improve time management, reduce water and chemical use, and produce healthier crops and higher yields—all of which benefit farmers’ bottom lines and conserve resources while reducing chemical runoff.

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Many start-ups are developing new software, sensors, aerial-based data and other tools for precision farming, as are large companies such as Monsanto, John Deere, Bayer, Dow and DuPont. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration all support precision farming, and many colleges now offer course work on the topic.

In a related development, seed producers are applying technology to improve plant “phenotyping.” By following individual plants over time and analyzing which ones flourish in different conditions, companies can correlate the plants’ response to their environments with their genomics. That information, in turn, allows the companies to produce seed varieties that will thrive in specific soil and weather conditions. Advanced phenotyping may also help to generate crops with enhanced nutrition.

Growers are not universally embracing precision agriculture for various reasons. The up-front equipment costs—especially the expense of scaling the technology to large row-crop production systems—pose a barrier. Lack of broadband can be an obstacle in some places, although the USDA is trying to ameliorate that problem. Seasoned producers who are less computer-literate may be wary of the technology. And large systems will also be beyond the reach of many small farming operations in developing nations. But less expensive, simpler systems could potentially be applied. Salah Sukkarieh of the University of Sydney, for instance, has demonstrated a streamlined, low-cost monitoring system in Indonesia that relies on solar power and cell phones. For others, though, cost savings down the road may offset the financial concerns. And however reticent some veteran farmers may be to adopt new technology, the next generation of tech-savvy farmers are likely to warm to the approach.

The views, opinions and findings contained in this article are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies, either expressed or implied, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the Department of Defense.

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Precision agriculture technology helps farmers - but they need help

Stephen Fowler

Lee Nunn says he uses a lot of precision agriculture on his Georgia farm to save resources. Stephen Fowler/Georgia Public Broadcasting hide caption

Lee Nunn says he uses a lot of precision agriculture on his Georgia farm to save resources.

Lee Nunn has the first tractor his grandfather ever bought sitting at his farm in Madison, about an hour east of Atlanta: a 1968 John Deere 4020 that's gleaming green and still runs like a dream.

At the time, it was a technological marvel, with a 90 horsepower engine, a canopy roof – and zero computers.

"This was the first model of tractor back in the day – Now think, it's 1968 – that had an automatic cigarette lighter in 1968 and his people thought that was the best thing in the absolute world," Nunn said.

But a few rows down is what Nunn drives today, a behemoth John Deere 8360 machine that is outfitted with air conditioning, heated seats, tinted windows and other modern comforts that make those 10-12 hour days in the field a little more bearable.

"Farming's come a long way, we're a little bit ahead of the straw hats and the overalls days now," Nunn said, noting that his operation is a far cry from his grandfather's tractor.

Another thing that's come a long way is technology that guides a growing field in ag that marries innovative equipment with good old fashioned farming, also known as precision agriculture.

"Precision agriculture in most broadest terms would be a system whereby we can deliver exactly what a set of plants needs when they need it, no more, no less," said Eric Elsner, who runs the University of Georgia's J. Phil Campbell Sr. Research and Education Center.

"The precision ag technology can help that farmer make really complex decisions that are better decisions than if we just left it to the human brain and human nature," he said.

Precision agriculture helps farmers save money by using less water and fertilizer and releasing fewer pesticides into the environment. It harnesses real-time data to maximize their yields.

Practically speaking for Lee Nunn, that means having a GPS that guides the steering of his tractor with sub-inch accuracy, and the equipment it pulls has sensors that sends an array of data up to the cloud and into the palm of his hand.

"It records everything that it's doing: speed, direction, what type of seeds I'm planting, how many seeds I'm planting per acre per foot, the depth of the seeds," he said. "I've actually got one piece of equipment that measures the soil temperature and soil moisture as I go across the field."

Nunn grows crops like wheat, soybeans, corn and cotton across 1,500 acres and has witnessed firsthand the evolution in precision ag technology.

"The accuracy of the GPS is one thing that amazes me: This tractor can drive itself within an inch every year on the same line."

Barriers and burdens to wider use

Nunn has been using precision agriculture in some form for the last decade and is an evangelist of the financial and environmental benefits it brings. But he said there are barriers to more widespread adoption among small and medium sized farmers.

If you can afford the expensive equipment, spotty broadband can make it hard to access the data created by the machines. And if you've got the internet speed, these ag tech innovations don't always play nice across different machines or brands, like trying to use an Apple cable to charge an Android phone.

In agricultural terms, that's owning a green tractor from one company and wanting to add a red plow from a different one, Nunn said, something that can't really work without getting a third party to help connect them.

"To be honest, that's just another added cost, another added headache, another added piece of electrical equipment on a piece of farm equipment," he said. "So what we would like to see is some sort of standard to where all these different manufacturers' pieces of equipment will seamlessly operate together."

That's something that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agree on. They're also pushing for grants to make precision ag tech more affordable.

Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune have a bill that would create standards for precision agriculture.

It also has incentives for companies to make sure those green tractors and red plows work better together.

Warnock recently met with Nunn and other farmers for a demonstration that included auto-steering tractors, drones and other precision technology at a University of Georgia farm. During a roundtable discussion they talked about ways the federal government could boost the use of these innovations.

"We saw today the huge difference that this technology is already making, but it could be much better," Warnock said to reporters after the visit.

"What I heard from these farmers again today is that it's important that these different technologies, whether it's drones or robotics or monitors, that they be able to talk to one another," he said.

Both farmers and lawmakers hope that legislation makes it into the omnibus Farm Bill later this year.

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U.S. Government Accountability Office

Precision Agriculture: Benefits and Challenges for Technology Adoption and Use

Precision agriculture uses technologies such as GPS or automation to make farms more efficient. For example, farmers can use auto-steering equipment to precisely plant a field, and activity monitors can help dairy farmers collect data about their cows' health.

In this Technology Assessment , we review the benefits and challenges of precision agriculture technologies. They can make farms more profitable and have environmental benefits—like reducing fertilizer runoff in waterways. But they can also be complex and have high up-front costs, making it hard for some farmers to access them. We examine policy options to help address these challenges.

Artist’s concept of an autonomous tractor working in a corn field

What GAO Found

Precision agriculture technologies can improve resource management through the precise application of inputs, such as water, fertilizer, and feed, leading to more efficient agricultural production. Precision agriculture can be implemented through a suite of technologies that can be used in isolation or in conjunction with other technologies. Examples of emerging precision agriculture technologies are in the table below.

Examples of emerging precision agriculture technologies

Source: GAO summary of literature, interviews, and agency documentation.  |  GAO-24-105962

While precision agriculture technologies, such as variable rate fertilizer applications and yield monitoring, have been available since the 1990s, only 27 percent of U.S. farms or ranches used precision agriculture practices to manage crops or livestock, based on 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reporting.

Use of precision agriculture practices by U.S. farms, June 2022–June 2023

Federal agencies support precision agriculture adoption, research and development, education, and training. USDA supports precision agriculture technology adoption with financial assistance and loan programs, such as through payments for implementing practices that provide a conservation benefit. USDA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have provided almost $200 million for precision agriculture research and development funding in fiscal years 2017—2021. This funding includes partnerships between the two agencies to support artificial intelligence (AI) research institutes.

Benefits to using precision agriculture technologies include: 

• Increased profits. Farmers can increase yields and thus profits with the same amount of inputs or achieve an equivalent yield with fewer inputs.
• Reduced application of crop inputs. Technologies can reduce the application of crop inputs such as fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and water. They can also address water scarcity by promoting the efficient use of water in agriculture.
• Environmental benefits. Technologies can prevent excessive use of chemicals and nutrients in a field, potentially reducing runoff into soil and waterways.

Challenges limiting the broader adoption and use of precision agriculture include:

• High up-front acquisition costs. Acquisition costs for the latest technologies can be prohibitive for farmers with limited resources or access to capital.
• Farm data sharing and ownership issues. Concerns regarding farm data sharing and ownership can pose obstacles to the widespread use of AI in agriculture.
• Lack of standards. An absence of uniform standards can hamper interoperability between different precision agriculture technologies.

GAO examined three policy goals and associated options that could help address adoption challenges or enhance the benefits of precision agriculture technologies. These policy options identify possible actions by policymakers, which include Congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, academic and research institutions, and industry. In addition, for each policy goal, policymakers may choose no additional policy interventions, maintaining the status quo by continuing existing activities.

Policy Goals and Options That Could Address Challenges or Help Enhance Benefits of Adoption and Use of Precision Agriculture Technologies

Source: GAO.  |  GAO-24-105962

Why GAO Did This Study

Precision agriculture involves collecting, analyzing, and taking actions based on data. It can help the agricultural sector meet increasing demand for food products, while also helping farmers improve efficiencies such as through reduced input costs.

The Advancing IoT for Precision Agriculture Act of 2021, contained in what is commonly referred to as the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, included provisions for GAO to conduct a technology assessment and review federal programs.

This report examines (1) emerging precision agriculture technologies and precision agriculture technology adoption; (2) federal programs providing support for precision agriculture; (3) benefits and challenges of adopting and using precision agriculture technologies; and (4) policy options that could address challenges or help enhance benefits of adopting and using precision agriculture technologies.

To conduct this technology assessment and review, GAO reviewed scientific literature and other key reports; interviewed officials and representatives from government, industry, academia, and associations; conducted two site visits to observe technology operations and obtain stakeholder perspectives; and convened a 3-day virtual expert meeting in collaboration with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. GAO is identifying policy options in this report.

For more information, contact Brian Bothwell at (202) 512-6888 or [email protected] , or Steve D. Morris at (202) 512-3841, [email protected] .

Full Report

Gao contacts.

Steve Morris Director [email protected] (202) 512-3841

Brian Bothwell Director [email protected] (202) 512-6888

Office of Public Affairs

Chuck Young Managing Director [email protected] (202) 512-4800

Exactly what is precision agriculture?

Precision agriculture – also called precision farming, digital agriculture and sometimes “smart farming” – is a management strategy that encourages the precise use of resources, technology and farming practices to increase the accuracy, efficiency, yields, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production. That’s a fairly simple definition of the term. The truth is that a wide variety of definitions have been put forth over the past 30 years with each one different depending on how ‘precise’ and detailed they try to be. In practice, precision farmers use GPS tracking systems, satellite imagery and a host of other technologies to monitor crop yields, soil levels, and weather patterns in order to increase efficiency on their farms.

In the early 1990’s Professor Pierre Robert, of the University of Minnesota, became a recognized authority on the subject after he co-organized six conferences on precision agriculture. These conferences, along with his academic body of work, earned him the title of the ‘father of precision farming’. One of Roberts first workshop was titled Soil Specific Crop Management . He furthered a simple concept of site specific management which called for applying the “right input at the right time, in the right amount, and at the right place ” into a revolution in agriculture. Today, some call it “Agriculture 4.0” believing that it represents the onset of the fourth agricultural revolution .

However, it is important to remember that whatever term used to describe the practice, they are all umbrella terms that refer to a number of different technologies and practices. There are advantages and drawbacks to each of them but one roadblock to full adoption are what can be significant entry costs and ongoing costs. The common technologies associated with precision farming include computer hardware and software, GPS and yield monitoring equipment, and equipment for variable rate applications. The cost for these technologies can range from several thousands of dollars to hundreds-of-thousands of dollars. On top of this, farmers face per-acre expenses to perform soil grid sampling and recurring fees for weather information, variable-rate application, and related services which together can add as much as $12 in operating costs per acre of land.

The goal of the farmer

The precision farm makes use of emerging technologies precision ag increases yields and profitability while reducing the levels of land, water, fertilizer, herbicides and labor needed by the farm. Although the systems and technologies applied may be complex and rapidly changing the precision farmer – or the smart farmer – has a simple goal: to apply available technology in a manner that will allow them to grow more crops and raise more livestock at a lower cost than techniques used in conventional farming. If they can do this while contributing to a more sustainable environment and preserving resources, all the better.

Associated tools and technologies include:

• Global Positioning Systems
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Remote and Local Sensing Technologies including sensors, cameras and drones
• Variable Rate Technologies – both prescription based and sensor based
• Yield monitoring and mapping
• Weather Modeling

Some helpful resources

A General Introduction to Precision Agriculture from GRDC

PrecisionAg’s  web portal

Precision Agriculture Center at the University of Minnesota

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Perspectives

Precision Agriculture: Potential and Limits

March 29, 2017

By David Cleary, Director of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy

Working on the interface between agriculture and conservation is usually an incremental thing: diligent and patient work over the long-term—gradually bending the curve in the right direction. But precision agriculture may in fact be different.

I came to this conclusion having seen a project in western Nebraska in the United States in which farmers were using new technology to reduce water and fertilizer use by at least 20 percent. Most importantly and interestingly, this had no impact on yields. That’s when I began to think of precision agriculture or smart technology as a game-changer.

This technology is being marketed and adopted for its impact on the bottom line, to save money. Conservation benefits come as a collateral benefit, but one which we should take note of.

The Promise

Digital technology applied to farm machinery and cloud-based information is making farming seem like science fiction in some places. Drones buzz over the landscape monitoring crop conditions and spotting problems, like pest infestations or weeds. Farmers receive personalized weather information which predicts how rainfall will vary from one field to the next. Soils are mapped at a level of precision unimaginable only a few years ago, and sensors tell farmers exactly how much water is being used at thousands of different data points.

The cabins of farm machinery are filled with GPS systems and drivers no longer drive. Instead, they sit in the cabin checking screens that control the appliances, which move across fields delivering precisely measured quantities of inputs in precisely the best place, at programmed times, in perfectly straight lines or contoured to the land—whatever the data determines will give the best yield.

All this innovation goes under the generic name of precision agriculture , and the results can be game-changing. Greater precision means water, fertilizer and other inputs can be reduced with no impact on yield. It is sustainable intensification in action: output increasing while environmental impacts, especially around water and fertilizer use, go down. That means more production, less water used, less nutrient run-off and higher water quality. In most places, fertilizer run-off is the main factor behind water pollution and coastal dead zones. What’s not to like?

The Problem

The issue isn’t with the technologies that make up precision agriculture, but the business model behind them. When it works, it is spectacular, but it only works in a few places—where farmers can pay for them. Precision agriculture is sophisticated but it doesn’t come cheap.

The companies that sell it recover development costs from farmers with deep pockets, who make the investment because they work on a scale that makes it economically viable. Neither is it simple to operate or to service precision technologies. Farmers need to be well-educated, or depend on an extensive network of third party providers. None of this applies to where precision agriculture is actually often most desperately needed—where resources and inputs are scarce, farmers are poor, and lives are on the line. How to get the benefits of precision agriculture spread more broadly around the world is probably the most important question right now because, just maybe, the future of the world food system could depend on it.

The Urgency

Precision agriculture is an obvious change for the better for farming. There is clear evidence that where precision agriculture is widely used, water and fertilizer use can go down by somewhere between 20 percent and 40 percent with no impact on yields, and even increased yield in some cases. Farmers who use precision agriculture do so on cost-benefit grounds.

Delivering exactly the right inputs in the right amounts at the right time in the right places could radically reduce the demand for new land by helping us operate much more efficiently on the land we already have. Increased efficiency is also central to us getting greater resilience from our food system, which it will need to endure the impacts of climate change. The only real question is how to make it accessible and available at scale to make the immediate conservation impact we so urgently need.

Originally Posted on  The Chicago Council on Global Affairs March 29, 2017

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What Is Precision Farming, And Who Are The Players To Watch?

F ood is perhaps the best known consumable product, and the economic laws of supply and demand are pointing to an emerging pain point unlike any we have seen in recent history. To combat this looming problem, the agriculture industry is embracing technology, much of which is similar to that housed inside the smartphones we use today, giving rise to the precision agriculture market.

The problem

The current average life expectancy in the U.S. stands at 78.8 years according to a National Center for Health Statistics, which was on par with the 78.6 years in Europe reported as of 2019. By comparison, historical data from the United Nations reveals life expectancy in 1950 was 65 years in more developed regions of the world and 42 in less developed ones. The increase is driven by several factors, including a healthier lifestyle, which in and of itself has been found to add up 6.3 years for males and 7.6 years for women, according to findings from the UK Biobank.

At the same time, the United Nation’s Population Division expects the global population to hit 10.9 billion by the end of the current century compared to 7.8 billion in 2020. Rising disposable incomes among the growing population is fostering greater demand for complex proteins. More people living longer poses a challenge to the nutritious diet aspect of that healthier lifestyle, given that arable land per person is shrinking.

According to the FAO, arable land per person stood at 0.23 hectares (ha), down from 0.38 ha in 1970 and is expected to fall to 0.15 ha per person by 2050. We at Tematica describe that situation as a pain point, and pain points tend to give rise to solutions. In this case, it means we need to make better use of our existing farmlands, and that has prompted farmers to adopt technology to boost yields while helping to manage costs.

This wave of technology-meets-farming has given rise to the precision agriculture market, which is expected to reach $12.9 billion by 2027, according to Grand View Research, up from $9.65 billion in 2019.

What is Precision Agriculture?

According to the International Society of Precision Agriculture, “Precision agriculture is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated variability for improved resource use efficiency, productivity, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production.”

In other words, it is about using high-tech tools to generate greater yield with less resources while minimizing any potential harm.

Just how important is this? The  World Economic Forum estimates  that if just 15% to 25% or farms were to adopt precision agriculture techniques, global crop yield could increase by 10% to 15% by 2030 while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water use by 10% and 20% respectively.

That sounds great, but do we really need to do this?

Soil today is  eroding up to 100 times  more quickly than it forms. Some research indicates that we may have already  lost more than one-third  of the planet’s arable land. Even more concerning, if the current rates of soil degradation continues, the remaining arable land could become unfarmable in the next 60 years.

How does precision agriculture help?

The market that would become precision agriculture started in the 1990s with the adoption of GPS that allowed farmers to gather data and steer equipment automatically. While it may seem somewhat pedestrian in today’s connected world, GPS tractor guidance helped farmers to improve crop production by reducing overlaps and gaps when planting, fertilizing, and protecting crops. Over the last two decades technological developments including telematics, robotics, automated hardware, agriculture drones, and variable rate technology have expanded precision agriculture to include equipment guidance and automatic steering, yield monitoring, variable rate input application, remote sensing, in-field electronic sensors, section and row control on planters, sprayers and fertilizer applicators, and spatial data management systems.

Much like we have seen technology enable a host of new applications such as video conferencing and streaming video that has altered how we work and play, technology has expanded the capabilities of precision agriculture as well:

• Choosing suitable crops with higher yields and more lucrative markets
• Measure the performance of the site by automatically capturing relevant data
• Increasing the farm’s economic and environmental sustainability
• Predicting climate changes and reacting to them proactively

Existing as well as up and coming precision agriculture players to watch

Companies participating in the precision agriculture market include agriculture equipment companies such as John Deere ( DE ), AGCO ( AGCO ), CNH Industrial ( CNHI ), and Kubota Corp. ( KUBTY ) and even drone company Aerovironment ( AVAV ). There are also the technology enablers that include GPS companies such as Trimble ( TRMB ) and the applied technology business at Raven Industries ( RAVN ) as well as the chip and sensor companies that range from NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) to STMicroelectronics ( STM ) that serve the “smart farming” market.

As a confluence of factors have raised concerns over the long-term future availability of food, venture investors have been pouring capital into agtech startups. In 2019 alone, they invested $2.8 billion into the space across the globe, a fourfold increase over 2015. According to the 2019 AgriFood Tech Investment Review, investment in digital technologies (which combines the independent sectors of imagery, precision agriculture and sensors and farm equipment) made up about 41% of 2019 deal activity.

Some examples of these investments are Farmobile and its DataEngine that ingests and standardizes farming data so that it can be shared and used to create insights; Trace Genomics that provides soil DNA sequencing services to farmers and agronomists; and CiBo Technologies that allows farmers to create “virtual fields” with real-world inputs.

With greater adoption of artificial intelligence, big data, and the internet of things in the coming years we strongly suspect there will be new applications and further advances for precision farming, much like we’ve witnessed with the smartphone and the automobile of today compared to ten years ago.

Disclosures

• AGCO Corp. (AGCO), Deere & Co. (DE), Raven Industries (RAVN) are constituents in the  Foxberry Tematica Research Sustainable Future of Food Index

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Chris Versace

Christopher (Chris) Versace is the Chief Investment Officer and thematic strategist at Tematica Research. The proprietary thematic investing framework that he’s developed over the last decade leverages changing economic, demographic, psychographic and technology landscapes to identify pronounced, multi-year structural changes. This framework sits at the heart of Tematica’s investment themes and indices and builds on his more than 25 years analyzing industries, companies and their business models as well as financial statements. Versace is the co-author of “Cocktail Investing: Distilling Everyday Noise into Clear Investing Signals” and hosts the Thematic Signals podcast. He is also an Assistant Professor at NJCU School of Business, where he developed the NJCU New Jersey 50 Index.

Lenore Elle Hawkins

Lenore Elle Hawkins has, for over a decade, served as a founding partner of Calit Advisors, a boutique advisory firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, private capital raise, and corporate finance with offices in Italy, Ireland, and California. She has previously served as the Chief Macro Strategist for Tematica Research, which primarily develops indices for Exchange Traded Products, co-authored the book Cocktail Investing, and is a regular guest on a variety of national and international investing-oriented television programs. She holds a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Claremont McKenna College, an MBA in Finance from the Anderson School at UCLA and is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

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Unlock more precision from existing machines

More efficiencies. More productivity. More profitability. With a Precision Upgrade, it’s easy to get more out of your current equipment. Whether it’s tilling, seeding, spraying or harvesting, you’ll find a precision ag solution to help you get the most out of what you already own.

Data Management

Improve application rates, fuel economy, input placement, and land stewardship with John Deere displays and StarFire™ receivers.

Remote Management

See how your machines are performing and how jobs are progressing, anytime or anywhere.

Did you know AutoTrac™ hand-free guidance pays for itself in two years? It’s just one of many guidance solutions that can help you pull more accuracy – and profit – out of every field.

Variable Rate Application

Save inputs – and money – by putting down seed and chemical only where you need it most.

Field and Water Management

Manage your most precious resources with automated field and water management. From reducing irrigation costs to creating field levees, save time and money while protecting your soil and water.

Real farmers. Real stories. Real results.

How is precision technology shaping actual farm families? Find out with our Tech at Work Series, where we spend an entire growing season with real farm families as they put precision technology to work in their planning, planting, and harvesting.

Is technology helping you farm better?

Follow the Woolliams family this season as they use technology to make decisions that improve their farm.

Have you collected data about your farm that you’re not using?

Follow the Scott family’s progress on their year-long journey as they implement precision ag and their data to improve their operation.

Have you ever wondered whether precision ag is worth it?

Meet the Kilmer family and join them on their year-long journey as they add precision ag to their operation.

Fuel Your Farm with Data

Your local John Deere dealer can show you how precision ag technology can power improved yields and profitability for your specific operation.

Additional Resources

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• Build Your Own
• Order Online
• John Deere Financial
• Display Updates

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