Farmers, Ag Tech Providers Reach Agreement on Big Data

Three out of four U.S. farmers fear data they share with companies offering big data services may fall into the wrong hands or be used without their consent, including for commodity market speculation, according to a survey published this week, said Reuters.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) said in the survey of 3,380 farmers from late July to September that more than 82% of farmers are unsure how companies selling data-mining tools aimed at boosting yields and efficiency plan to use their data.

Despite the unease, more than half of farmers say they plan to invest in new or additional precision-planting or data-gathering tools in the future, according to the survey.

Those using precision-agriculture tools said they have reduced input costs by an average of 15% while boosting crop yields by 13%, it said.

Recently, a coalition of farm organizations and agriculture technology providers reached an agreement on data privacy and security principles that will encourage the use and development of innovative, technology-driven tools and services to benefit American agriculture. The coalition includes AFBF, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, USA Rice Federation, Beck’s Hybrids, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer, and John Deere. S