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INTERVIEWS
to cause in agriculture and how far off are these changes? CP: “Back in 2001, I was asked to give a presentation in California on technology in the wine industry. I recently had a look back at that paper and realised that all the concepts I was using in 2001 have industry names now. I was using a computer to remotely deliver data collected by devices in the field, bringing it to a central location remotely, applying software to process that data, displaying it in a logical format and making it relevant to the farmer, and I charged annually for it. Nowadays these
things have names – cloud computing, big data analytics, data mining, software as a service, agtech and of course the Internet of Things. “For me it’s been more of a way of doing, and as these emerging technologies come, I watch closely and try to understand if these are going to add value either to the business model, to run it more efficiently, or to create something different in the whole value chain. Will it actually improve and help the farmer or irrigator by adding value to their business? You have to be very careful about
backing a winner or a loser, and in these emerging markets you don’t know who’s really going to come to the top. Farmers are challenged with exactly the same thing when they buy technology for the farm – who is going to be around in five years’ time to support the tech? Are they going to come and go? Which methodology is going to survive and work? “Right now I think we are seeing the convergence of a whole lot of different pieces of software on the farm. Currently, farmers need for example five different types of software to run their business and perform different functions. I think where we’re moving to is a platform focus, where, for instance, I can use site specific data, like a sensor in the ground, and combine it with spatial data – such as from a satellite – to make the results more meaningful. Using satellite imagery to actually look at the different stages of the crop, you could determine water use for the next seven days using forecasted evaporation rates. “This platform is going to be able to bring in different data from all different sources, all doing different things but coming together as a combination that is greater than the individual components – that’s what I see as the next outcome. I see a lot of apps and start-ups coming up with a single sensor connected to a radio that only does one thing, but it’s not really addressing the farmers’ needs. Don’t think you’ve got the answer to the farmers’ problems by coming up with just another sensor or another radio or another app.” TAF: Where do you see the biggest lack of knowledge or understanding by farmers when it comes to agricultural technology? CP: “I think farmers will need to deal very soon with a big shift in financial models for their inputs and services, such as software and machinery. In the past, farmers have been very comfortable buying capital – paying cash for something they own. They budget for that and implement it on the farm and then depreciate it. But with the proliferation of all these start-ups with software-as-service or solution-as-service models with annual fees,
