AI Applications in Farming
AI tools offer farmers a wide range of capabilities, including:
- Soil Analysis: Sensors collect and analyze data to evaluate soil composition, pH levels, and moisture, providing recommendations for optimal planting strategies.
- Irrigation Management: AI can schedule watering to minimize waste and ensure proper hydration, contributing to water conservation.
- Fertilizer Management: AI helps avoid overapplication of fertilizers, reducing environmental impact.
- Seed Selection: AI assists in choosing seeds that best suit specific growing conditions by utilizing genetic analysis and planting density recommendations. Stevens highlights that AI uses a farm’s entire history and genetic information to provide farmers with the expertise of an agronomist. She notes that this feature is especially useful for those with less agronomic knowledge. She also points out that AI can identify diseases and pest issues early on, often before they become visible to the naked eye, by utilizing drones, satellites, and sensors. This can lead to significant yield improvements. “By the time you recognize some diseases in the field when you go out and walk them, it’s too late — you’ve got yield loss or have lost a whole field,” says Stevens. “Imagine if you had 10 extra days to decide if you needed to spray. AI can return yield back to the farmer because disease issues can be caught a lot sooner.” Stevens predicts that drones will eventually apply fertilizer and chemicals, reducing the need for tractors and sprayers. She pointed out that while a drone might cost $50,000, a tractor and sprayer could cost hundreds of thousands. AI reduces labor needs, which can reduce costs.
- Yield Prediction: AI analyzes historical data, weather patterns, and soil health to forecast crop yields. Stevens notes that tools can predict corn and soybean yields with a high degree of accuracy, potentially giving producers an advantage in marketing their grain.
- Historical Knowledge Preservation: AI helps preserve agronomic knowledge, which is especially helpful for young people entering farming. AI can store years of data on a farm to assist with decision-making.
- Automation Benefits: Stevens notes that automation can help the farm detect debris in the way of machinery, and can give producers more time with their families. She further explains that AI efficiently allocates resources, such as energy for equipment and irrigation systems, labor management, and risk mitigation strategies, including those for climate change and market analysis.
Stevens emphasizes that AI can integrate data from various devices on the farm, creating a “farm brain” to improve decision-making.
Livestock Applications
- Meat Production: AI can assist with health monitoring, early disease detection, nutrition management, optimal breeding schedules, and financial optimization.
- Dairy Farming: AI helps optimize feeding schedules, monitor health, detect disease, and boost production. Automated milking systems track milk quality and quantity, improving milk yield, fertility, and herd longevity.
“People think, ‘It’s all poison,’ or ‘We’ve been lied to.’ AI allows traceability of what’s actually in the (food) supply, and there’s power in that,” Stevens notes.
Cybersecurity Concerns
Stevens warns that agriculturalists must be vigilant about cybersecurity. Cybercriminals often target businesses with a smaller number of employees. Stevens offers these words of warning and advice, “An antivirus system may not always catch a financial breach — the average cost of a data breach could be more than $4 million.” She also notes that “82 percent of cybersecurity data breaches involve human error.”
- Be cautious of phishing attempts and email attachments.
- Use strong, complex passwords, and change them regularly.
- Implement two-step verification processes.
- Have a plan in case of a smartphone or internet outage, and back up information frequently. Stevens’s insights highlight the importance of embracing technological advancements while maintaining diligent cybersecurity practices. “}
