What a Farmer Can Teach Us in the 21st Century

The New York Times had an insightful article yesterday on Kip Torn, a seventh-generation family farmer - Working the Land and the Data: Technology Offers Some Family-Owned Farms a Chance To Thrive and Compete With Giant Agribusiness.  The article looked at the role technology plays in modern farming.  Several interesting quotes and observations from the article.  Regardless of the business or industry that you are in, the story of how technology changed and is changing the family farm is an important one to follow.  From the local water utility exploring the value of asset management to a construction company thinking about upgrading it's fleet of excavators - - you need to get "hooked on a drug of information and productivity."

From the article:

• "I'm hooked on a drug of information and productivity."  Farmers are aggressively thinking in terms of their farms as computer networks.  The modern barn has a server room.
• "Mr. Tom is as much a chief technology officer as he is a farmer."
• The modern farm is a collection of sensors, GPS data from satellites, cellular modems on tractors, and iPhone apps for the irrigation system.
• The modern tractor and combine is covered with sensors, computers, and communication equipment.
• The investment in technology is producing growth in productivity.  Not just the work of computer and networks - - the world of biology and genetically modified crops is having an impact on productivity also.
• Farmers want to incorporate drone technology into their toolboxes.
• Farmers are thinking in terms of real-time data - - soil moisture, market prices, yield, crop stress areas, etc.
• Look for self-driving tractors to be the first of the autonomous vehicles.
• Tom thinks better uses of data analysis raised his ROI to 21.2%.
• 4-H is still important - - but so is the local elementary school's robotics club.
• Tom quote of the day - - "We're a business, and if you don't keep up, you get left behind for good."