15 Modern Farming Technologies that are NEXT LEVEL

Aqua Bite: high-tech cameras for fish farming

• Aqua Bite offers fish farms a high-tech camera-powered system to manage large-scale fish farming.

• The system can determine the number of fish in a pen, the presence of sea lice, fish eating behavior, and the current size of the fish.

• Aqua Bite uses this information to suggest feed amounts based on fish size and activity, eliminating the guesswork in fish feeding.

• This technology leads to less wasted food and greater profit margins for fish farmers.

"Aqua Bite is trying to fix this problem by offering fish farms a high-tech camera-powered system that can pick up on not only how many fish are in a pen but also how many sea lice are present, how much fish are eating, and how large the fish in the pen currently are."

Vents: Fitbits for cows

• Vents has created a device that can monitor the health and well-being of cows and act as a virtual fence.

• The device can contain cows in a virtual fence while grazing and direct them back to their pasture at night.

• It eliminates the need for a rancher vehicle and dog to herd the cows, and provides real-time information on the cows' health.

• This technology enables farmers to make prompt decisions on cow treatment or butchering.

"Vents has made a version of [Fitbit] for cows. What Vents has done is create a device that, after being equipped to your cows, can not only monitor their health and well-being but can also be used to contain them in a virtual fence while grazing and then direct them to go back to their pasture at night."

Trap View: pest trap on steroids

• Trap View is a pest trap that not only catches bugs but also photographs them and sends real-time data to farmers.

• It allows farmers to make an educated response to pests, tackling them in the correct area of their fields.

• This technology saves money on fertilizer and reduces crop damage due to insects.

"Trap View comes into play. You see, this product is essentially a pest trap on steroids as it not only catches bugs but then photographs them and sends you the data in real time, allowing farmers to make an educated response that not only tackles the correct type of pest but does so in the correct area of their fields as well."

Self-driving tractor: automated and safe

• The agricultural industry has shifted from drivable tractors to completely automated ones.

• Self-driving tractors navigate using lasers and are often equipped with sensors to detect obstacles and ensure safety.

• They can be controlled remotely or operate autonomously, allowing farmers to manage their fields from home.

• As these vehicles become more economically viable, their popularity is expected to increase.

"In recent years, the agricultural industry has begun to shift from drivable tractors to completely automated ones...They're also often equipped with a number of sensors which allow them to stop for obstacles and thus not pose a safety threat to anything around them."

Full Harvest: connecting farmers with consumers

• Full Harvest is a B2B marketplace that allows farmers to sell surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste.

• Farmers can connect with consumers and ship their surplus food directly to the customer, getting paid instantly.

• This system helps farmers make profits off imperfect produce that would have been thrown away.

• It is a win-win situation for farmers and consumers, reducing food waste.

"Full Harvest is trying to change this narrative by creating a B2B marketplace where farmers can connect with consumers in order to sell off produce that they otherwise would have had to throw away...as a result, Full Harvest makes it possible for farmers to make profits off of what is essentially their garbage, making it a true win-win for all parties involved."

Terracentia: a robot for crop management

• Terracentia is a small robot that rolls between crops and collects data on plant health, crop physiology, and stress response.

• It uses various sensors, including visual cameras and GPS, to give detailed reports to farmers.

• The robot is self-learning and can receive updates through a cloud platform.

• Terracentia's capabilities include measuring early vigor, corn ear height, soybean pods, and plant diseases.

"As robots have become more and more popular around the globe, they have slowly crept their way into agriculture...This small robot rolls between the crops in a farmer's field and uses a combination of sensors, visual cameras, lidar, and GPS to collect data on plant health, crop physiology, and stress response...It then uses these metrics to give detailed reports to farmers, allowing them to make better decisions regarding the management of their crops."

Cray Technologies: unmanned drone crop sprayer

• Cray Technologies has developed the world's first digital and fully unmanned drone crop sprayer.

• The drone delivers on-demand fertilizers and pesticides directly to the farmer's fields.

• It visualizes the field in 3D and gives the exact amount of fertilizer necessary at the right times.

• The agricultural drone can cover a significant area and reduce labor costs for farmers.

"Cray Technologies has made this no longer a problem by developing the world's first digital and fully unmanned drone crop sprayer...With the machine having the capability of servicing just south of five square kilometers of crops per day, it, rather than simply spray arbitrary amounts of fertilizer, the agricultural drone is programmed to visualize a field in 3D, allowing it to give the exact amount of fertilizer necessary at the exact times that is needed."

Bounty Gel: soil additive for water retention

• Bounty Gel is a soil additive that absorbs up to 150 times its weight in water.

• It holds excess water near a plant's roots and releases it during dry spells, reducing plant stress.

• The technology ensures high crop yields regardless of wet or dry conditions.

• It helps conserve water and maintain the mechanical strength of the soil.

"Bounty Gel has been on a mission to make crop yields high regardless of whether a field is experiencing a wet or dry spell...It essentially works by holding excess water near a plant's roots in reserve, so that if a dry spell occurs, it can then release the water into the crops and keep them from drying out."

Bounty Gel additive

• This additive can improve crop yields and reduce water usage

• Researchers found that using Bounty Gel led to a 30% increase in broccoli crop size with 25% less water

"When this additive was used, it led to a broccoli crop becoming 30 percent larger, despite using 25 percent less water."

Trace Genomics soil analysis

• Trace Genomics analyzes soil biology and combines it with chemical data to assess soil strength

• This helps farmers determine if a plot of land is suitable for profitable farming

"Trace Genomics helps farmers eliminate guesswork by definitively determining whether or not a patch of soil is too degraded to grow crops on."

Indoor Vertical Farming

• Indoor vertical farming involves building up, using shelves and controlled environments

• This type of farming reduces water usage by 70% and leads to larger crops per resource

"In recent years, a very interesting new concept known as indoor vertical farming has taken root in more urban environments with limited land space."

Satellite Imagery

• Satellite services provide round-the-clock information about crops, such as crop health and yield estimates

• These satellites can also detect landscape changes over time to ensure environmentally friendly farming practices

"A number of companies now offer satellite services to fields that can give farmers round-the-clock information about their crops."

Drone Data

• Drones can collect data on crop health, light exposure, and more in a shorter time and closer proximity compared to satellites

• However, drones are expensive and have limitations in terms of large-scale farming

"Drones are able to work in a similar way to how a satellite would, taking to the air to take pictures and more importantly use a number of sensors to collect data on a given field."

Both Control app for cattle farming

• Both Control is an app that tracks various aspects of cattle farming, improving efficiency and profitability

• It provides detailed information on cows' age, size, vaccinations, and more

"Both Control, which has coined itself as the internet for cows, has made these problems a thing of the past."

Farmer's Business Network

• The Farmer's Business Network helps small farms with purchasing decisions, seed selection, and crop sales

• It provides data-driven insights to increase productivity and profitability in family farms

"Running a family farm is tough, and be it buying seeds, selling crops, or purchasing machines, small farms have perpetually been in need of a helping hand."

Glossary

• farming technology

• larger food yields

• sophisticated

• next level

• licensed

• creative commons

• video information

• website

• Top Fives show

• informational

• entertaining

• top five videos

• subscribe

• Facebook

Farmers Business Network helps small farmers compete with big farms

• The Farmers Business Network (FBN) is an all-around tool for farmers to manage every financial aspect of their business with ease.

• FBN provides a price transparency module that allows farmers to see the prices that other farmers pay for common chemical and seed inputs.

• The app helps small farmers save an average of 19% off the median price of chemicals and 10% off the price of seeds.

• FBN gives users access to yield and price information on over 1400 seed varieties, helping farmers increase their yield by an average of 18 bushels per acre.

"The Farmers Business Network is essentially an all-around tool to allow farmers to manage every financial aspect of their business with ease."

FBN's tech-related services

• FBN provides access to free satellite imagery, enabling farmers to easily monitor their fields.

• This access to satellite imagery saves farmers roughly $2 per acre on satellite imagery fees.

• With close to 14,000 active members, farmers can bounce questions and ideas off each other to make the best business and agricultural decisions possible.

• For a limited time, FBN is offering its services for free to all farmers.

"But the most notable being access to free satellite imagery that enables farmers to more easily monitor their fields which on average saves the farmers roughly two dollars per acre on satellite imagery fees."

Covercress revolutionizes crop rotation

• Typically, fields in the midwestern United States go through a two-crop phase of growing corn, soybeans, and then corn again.

• Covercress is a proprietary crop derived from a native plant called penny crest.

• Geneticists are converting penny crest into a crop that produces an oil high in protein, similar to canola.

• Covercress is meant to be grown during the winter and spring months when nothing else is growing.

• This crop helps prevent erosion and soak up nitrogen pollution while making a profit for farmers.

"Covercress is essentially a proprietary crop that is derived from penny crest, which is a native plant in the Midwest."

"What makes Covercress special is that it not only has the potential to be an attractive product, but it is also meant to be grown during the winter and spring months when nothing is growing anyways."