Big data: Fueling the next evolution of agricultural innovation

Abstract

Application of Big Data in agriculture could both contribute to economic gain and to reduction of environmental impact. Especially at the farming level, the high cost of measuring actual operations as they occurred historically restrained decision making in the sector. Currently several sensing technologies associated with Big Data are being evaluated and adopted within the sector. Their adoption offers the opportunity to alter that historic benefit/cost relationship. Combined with advanced analytics, measurement and analysis of diverse sources of data promise to create value for sector decision makers and society. While consumers likely will continue to be the ultimate beneficiaries of such advances, the pattern by which value is captured by entities in the sector remains uncertain. Factors such as organizational collaboration and the application of rules associated with intellectual property will have significant impact upon the evolution of Big Data’s implementation within agriculture.