Page 59 - September October 2018 Disruption Report Flip Book

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM / FARMER MAC SEJPATN.U-AORCYT.20210818
How the fourth industrial revolution is impacting the agriculture sector
Down on the robot farm
Bringing Food Trust mainstream via IBM’s blockchain Farm credit institutions are helping go off the grid
AGTECH
How the fourth industrial revolution is impacting the agriculture sector
In the Report to the President Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue addressed the need to harness technological innovations in the ag sector, writing:
From agriculture to manufacturing to mining, innovative technologies and practices drive long-term growth and prosperity in rural America. The United States is the world leader in agricultural production and technology, and rural America is home to many of the best, and most innovative farmers in the world. Over the past 30 years, U.S. agricultural productivity has increased by nearly 50 percent, and by almost 14 percent in the 21st century (Wang et al., 2017). High productivity has enabled U.S. agriculture to be the world’s most dependable source of food surpluses to help feed a hungry world.
...Enabling technological innovation in agriculture will improve the efficiency of the American farmer, increase sustainable use of American resources, and enhance the quality of American agricultural output, all while creating new American jobs and increasing rural incomes. Over the past two decades, American farmers have led high rates of adoption of technologies including automated farm equipment, satellite and aerial imagery, variable rate technology (VRT), genome editing and genomic selection, and high-speed Internet.
Precision agriculture technologies that optimize input application using VRT are playing an increasing role in farm production. To determine the optimal application of inputs, farmers require data on field conditions to calibrate production practices. Technologies such as global positioning system (GPS) guided machinery, soil and yield mapping, embedded sensor networks, and aerial imagery increase capabilities to collect data with sufficient
© 2018 by Canfield Press, LLC. All rights reserved. www.canfieldpress.com 60