How ‘Big Data’ is disrupting agriculture from biological discovery to farming practices

Sometimes we only know there was a revolution by looking in the rear view mirror. That is not the case with the disruption in agriculture today. We can see the innovation and disruption that’s occurring in real time all around us. With the need to produce more food using fewer inputs, agriculture is seeking new products, practices and technologies. As a planet we must use fewer chemicals and less water. Subsistence farmers need to close the yield gap. Production farmers want yield boosts and cost savings. Consumers are demanding healthier, clean food and ingredients. Big data is causing the disruption to meet these needs. Start with the vastly increased supply of information everywhere from the plant genome to water management, fertilization, climate, soil, machinery, and crop protection systems. Add the expanding ways to get and use data both in both farming practices and advances in crop genetics. On the production side, this is changing the value chain in big ag as access to big data is transferring power to the farmer and smaller companies, while the big companies consolidate and struggle to innovate. More