Even though farming is one of the oldest professions, it‘s relevant more so than ever because of the growing food shortages throughout the world. Global sustainable development will depend a greatly on farming in the next few years. The UN estimates that the global population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. This will create a significant increase in global agriculture production by 69%. It is crucial to opt for smart digital farming in the USA for better analytics and quality production to cater to the increasing demands.
Smart digital farming includes IoT that comprises advanced tools and solutions to improve overall yield in farms. It reduces energy waste with real-time data collection, storage, analysis, and platform development. One of the primary reasons to opt for USA smart digital farming is the efforts and acceptance of different governments throughout the world to increase quality production. Let’s get into the details of smart digital farming, starting with the farming challenges.
Source: Freepik
Farming Challenges of the Present Market:
The agricultural sector goes through significant challenges that impact productivity and sustainability. There are some common issues that affect the agriculture sector.
1. Labor shortages:
The farming industry is going through a major labor shortage, primarily because of a diminishing supply of available agricultural workers. This is what makes it difficult in finding and retaining a skilled workforce for cater to the demands of the farm operations.
2. Climate change:
The changing weather patterns and extreme events like floods, droughts, and heat waves bring a major challenge to farming. The unpredictable weather conditions also hamper the planting and harvesting timelines that affect crop yield. It increases the risk of diseases and pests.
3. Emerging costs:
The farmers have to contend with the rising costs of fertilizers, seeds, fuel, and machinery. The fluctuations in commodity prices and the increasing regulations hamper profitability, making it challenging for farmers to sustain their operations and invest in smart digital farming.
4. Availability of Land Resources:
With limited availability of farmland, higher land prices, and competition from the non-agricultural sector, it becomes troublesome for new farmers to enter the agricultural sector. Also, there is a scarcity of water resources for irrigation, especially in arid regions.
5. Technology Adoption:
Technological advancements offer multiple opportunities to increase productivity and efficiency, but the adoption of new technologies in farming would be a challenge. The cost to implement and maintain advanced equipment and the need to train about the technical details pose a barrier for many farmers.
It is critical that we eliminate these challenges by adopting smart digital farming. Let’s get started with the details of smart farming.
The Struggle with Food Supply and How Smart Digital Farming Helps:
Agriculture is struggling with food supply. The planet’s resources are not infinite. With the growth of the world population, food production might struggle to keep up with the demand. The farmers will need to produce 70% more food by 2050 to meet the requirements of the growing population (The Guardian, 2011). With time, the soil used for agriculture gets degraded and less productive for future crops. Therefore, farmers must be cautious about using their resources effectively and sustainably.
Producers must figure out ways to use the fields, pasture lands, and greenhouses in such a way that maintains high quality and high yield while also safeguarding the food production capability. This is where USA smart digital farming helps.
How Smart Digital Farming Helps?
Agriculture is adopting IoT technology to reduce costs, enhance production efficiency, and then figure out ways to use less and get more. A smart farm is managed with modern information and communication technology to increase the quantity and quality of the products and optimize production. A fully equipped smart farm has the following sets of technologies:
The Sensors – These are the devices that track soil quality, water pressure, temperature, and humidity.
Software – These are the solutions that are used to manage and run the smart farm efficiently.
Connectivity – Cellular connections and long-range wide-area network.
Location – Using GPS, the farmers can track the location of the equipment, packaged products, and livestock. GPS can also be used to precisely geo-locate field metrics like soil sample locations and physical anomalies in the field.
Robotics – These include modern tractors and autonomous processing equipment.
Data analytics – The different types of analytics offer data collected from IoT devices that analyze it and participate in strategic decision-making.
Let us share the advantages of the USA’s smart digital farming:
How is IoT Shaping Agriculture?
The benefits of USA smart digital farming with IoT are countless; here are the most important ones.
Better production:
IoT in agriculture helps with optimized crop treatment plans. These include accurate planting, fertilizing, and watering. The advanced care increases harvesting.
Saves water and fertilizer products :
Sensors that are used in agriculture allow precise analysis of the water and nutrient requirements to ensure optimal levels in the soil. The plants are fed and watered only when it is necessary.
Lesser operation costs:
IoT allows the automation of multiple routine processes and doesn’t involve human labor. Automated planting, harvesting, and treatment reduce resource consumption and costs.
Better quality:
Smart digital farming helps analyze treatment plans through IoT solutions in correlation with production quality and offers insights into how the complete process can be enhanced. Therefore, the quality of production can also be increased.
Reduction of footprint:
Farming leaves a huge footprint on the environment, and IoT can help in reducing it. With IoT, farmers will be able to control and reduce water usage and increase the production per land unit. This will directly enhance the environmental status of the farm.
In Conclusion:
Smart farming solutions help farmers to make the most of their resources. Using connected smart machines, farmers can get valuable insights into the different processes in crop production and track the progress. The massive amount of data collected through IoT allows the farmers to study the different factors and also apply new approach to the production. Smart digital farming in the USA is important to ensure better agricultural growth. It is crucial to know your field in the best possible way to implement smart digital farming. For the best field mapping and analysis, contact SoilOptix® today! Visit https://soiloptix.com/ for details.