Future Farmer July/August 2021

Future Farmer JULY/AUGUST 2021

COMPLIMENTARY

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CONTENTS Sponsored Content: Steffes Group ................................ 8 Sponsored Content: QR Posts ........................................ 10 Sponsored Content: ReadiTech .................................... 14

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FUTURE OF FARMING 20 ASHLEY KORZUN

22 SPACE AG

22 JON RASK 24 DR. GARY STUTTE 26 LANNY FALEIDE 28 SHERRY FIEBER-BEYER 30 MICHELLE LUCAS 32 KRIS KIMEL 34 PABLO DE LEÓN

PLUG & PLAY

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36 LEO BARTON WOMACK

EMERGING PRAIRIE

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ON THE MOVE WITH PLUG & PLAY

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FARMGRID - CLOUD COMPUTING IN RURAL AMERICA

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WHAT PROJECTS ARE GOING ON AT THE GRAND FARM RIGHT NOW?

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SHARED PHILOSOPHY ON BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN INNOVATORS AND GROWERS

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[X]CUBE LABS AGRITECH REPORT

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July/August 2021 Volume 2 Issue 4

Future Farmer Future Farmer is published 6 times a year and is direct mailed to farmers throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. Find us online at Futurefarmermag.com.

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Mike Dragosavich Drago@SpotlightMediaFargo.com Brady Drake Brady@SpotlightMediaFargo.com

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Kim Cowles

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Jeremy Albright Emerging Prairie

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Christy German

ADMINISTRATION VP of Human Resources Account Strategist DISTRIBUTION Delivery

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Future Farmer is published by Spotlight LLC, Copyright 2021 Future Farmer. All rights reserved. No parts of this magazine may be reproduced or distributed without written permission of Future Farmer, and Spotlight LLC, is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to or reliance on such information. Spotlight LLC, accepts no liability for the accuracy of statements made by the advertisers.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

DELAYS IN MANUFACTURING OF NEW EQUIPMENT

INCREASES DEMAND FOR USED ccording to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers report, 166,512 new tractors were sold from January through June 2021, a 16.7% increase from the same months last year. Sales of new combines increased 11% to 2,276 over the same period. The heightened interest in new agricultural equipment has placed added strain on a supply chain that is currently dealing with other challenges. The high demand for farm equipment and issues in the supply chain have made it hard for dealers across the nation to keep their lots stocked. Orders for new equipment from several companies are taking months to fill, causing the demand for used equipment to drastically increase. Due to this increase in demand, Steffes Group continues to find new highs in low-houred, wellmaintained equipment sold at auction.

Manufacturers are seeing shortages of key elements Manufacturers are scrambling to keep up with the increase in demand due to disruptions along their supply chains that have left them with shortages of everything from steel to plastics, tires, semiconductors, labor, and transportation.

Almost every piece of new farm equipment has become increasingly computerized in recent years, so semiconductors have become an essential part of their systems. The shortage of semiconductors may impact all aspects of agriculture for the next two years and beyond.

This shortage is forcing farmers to plan ahead, as new equipment orders are taking months to fill.

To increase the production of farm equipment to adequately meet demand, equipment companies also need a sufficient supply of workers. Companies across the country are struggling to find skilled and unskilled labor including mechanics, diesel mechanics, welders, and some factory line workers, adding to the delay in the manufacturing of requested machines. The final struggle that equipment companies currently face is transportation.

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Not only of materials to the factories, but transportation of completed machines to dealerships. But transportation, whether by ocean freight, air freight, or trucking, is something equipment companies have to compete for within the industry and outside of it. When combined with the enhanced demand, these issues create a complex situation where equipment manufacturers struggle to get enough implements to dealerships to sell to the increased number of buyers, forcing buyers to look at the alternative – purchasing used equipment.

Used equipment finds new highs After years of less than favorable commodity prices beginning in the fall of 2014, and corresponding high inventories of farm equipment on dealers’ lots, commodity prices took off in the fall of 2020 and haven’t stopped.

Combined with low interest rates, farmers across the United States are flush with cash with the help of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) and are searching for farm machinery in preparation for this year’s harvest. However, the supply and demand of wellmaintained used equipment is beginning to reflect the new equipment business, making farmers turn to auctions to fill their equipment needs. On one recent Steffes Auction, a 2013 Case-IH Steiger 600 Quadtrac sold for an incredible $307,000, the highest price seen in over eight years.

The effects of the manufacturing delays extend beyond the agriculture market. From trucks to trailers, construction equipment, and vehicles, month to year-long waits are not uncommon. In late May, a 2020 Ford F250 with 28,171 miles sold for $66,500 on a Steffes Auction, simply because they are nearly impossible to find sitting on dealership lots.

These shortages are predicted to last a minimum of 18 to 24 months. If you want to take advantage of the increased demand we are seeing for used equipment, contact any of our sales representatives to discuss your options of selling with Steffes today.

SPONSORED CONTENT

FUTUREFARMERMAG.COM

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Levi Otis Co-Founder

Paul Ellefson

Customer and Farmer

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SPONSORED CONTENT

TRIED AND TRUE A Q&A Testimonial with QR Posts Co-Founder Levi Otis and customer Paul Ellefson As QR Posts continues to gain a lot of traction with its innovative technologies, features, and benefits, we wanted to take an inside look at just how easy the signup process is and how you can get started.

Q: How did you discover QR Posts?

Paul: I knew (Levi) already, and he told me about (QR Posts), and I honestly thought it was a great idea.

As a landowner, it's always frustrating to me to be posting your land constantly, rather than having someone else help regulate it.

trying to work–so QR Posts is really handy.

Q: Can hunters sign up for

Q: What were some of the biggest headaches you had to deal with before using QR Posts?

Paul: We usually identify or refer to the land by whom we bought it from (e.g. Steve's field), whereas out-of-state hunters aren't familiar with names, and are more likely to use street names (e.g. 40th ave sw). Most of our streets aren't actually marked, so I may not know what specific location the hunter is referring to.

time slots?

Levi: In development, there is the ability to change your farm to have multiple hunters book per day. Currently, it is firstcome-first-serve, and you can book access ahead of time.

Another feature request we've had is if someone checks out early, it opens up for someone else to hunt later that evening.

Q: Before QR Posts, How did you keep track of communication with hunters?

Paul: Often we would have a family that likes to hunt, and it would get in the way with out-of-state hunters; it's just kind of a mess. Another issue is hunters parking where you're

Q: Does one have the ability to set directions and guidelines for hunters when they sign up?

Levi: Yes–no one knows Paul's field better than he does.

Anything he wants [hunters] to follow, he can put in there.

Q: What benefit of QR Posts are you most enjoying?

Paul: I can stay organized, and not have to worry about anything when I'm busy. They can just scan the sign and it's all done.

Q: Can hunters see when land is off-limits for the season, due to something like harvest?

Levi: We're working on the mapping feature now, where you can see the land before you even drive out there. Currently, We do have the ability to set restrictions and specifications for each plot of posted land (e.g. you can hunt waterfowl here, but no deer). These specifications can be updated or changed at any time.

Q: Can I view who is on my posted land at any time?

Levi: Yes–as a landowner you can view who is on which land at any point in time. Another feature we are working on is the ability to rate hunters, and attach notes.

Q: If some of our readers are considering signing up for QR Posts, what would you like them to know?

Paul: I'd recommend getting the permanent sign option (QR Posts also offers a temporary sign option). You just fill out the form, put up the signs, and you're good to go.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

HOW IT WORKS QR Posts makes it easy for you to manage who is accessing your land Enter some basic details about the land you are posting.

Customize and print your posted signs, then post your land.

Each posted sign has a QR code, when someone wants to access your land they scan the code with their phone.

They are brought to your personal request form, and they fill out their information.

You are sent a notification to approve or decline. You can also let us handle it and automate this process.

If you set up payments, they will pay with a credit card once approved.

That's it! If you require payment, we deposit the funds in your account on a daily basis.

To get started, visit qrposts.com

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A Seamless Experience of Business Security Q&A with Readitech and Abbiamo Pasta Plant Many moving pieces must work together to help make a business successful; many solutions must work seamlessly behind the scenes to ensure a business keeps moving forward. ReadiTech, a managed IT and broadband provider, is one of those moving pieces. We sat down with ReadiTech Sr. Sales Account Executive Brian Cox and Abbamio Pasta Company Co-owner Chuck Kessler to discuss how ReadiTech has made a positive impact on Abbiamo.

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Kory Johnson, Plant Manager, and Chuck Kessler in front of the Abbiamo Pasta Company in Casselton, ND

Introduce us to Abbiamo Pasta Plant Kessler: Abbamio Pasta Company was founded in 2013 by local farmers and experienced

industry professionals. We centered our core company values around outstanding customer service and finished products.

Abbiamo Pasta Company has been producing short goods pasta since 2014 and expanded its production capacity in 2017 to meet customer demands. APC is continuing to grow with a new production line that started in the Spring of 2021.

​ ur products are produced from O semolina and hard red spring wheat flour. The durum semolina is North Dakota grown and milled in Grand Forks, ND at the North Dakota Mill. NDM is a state-run mill that has been producing quality flour and semolina since 1922.

ReadiTech Sr. Sales Account Executive Brian Cox providing maintenance to the servers at Abbiamo Pasta Plant

Does Tell us about What were ReadiTech the security some of the also provide system IT issues you were facing before ReadiTech provides routers and access ReadiTech stepped to Abbamio Pasta points?

Company in?

Kessler: We wanted to work with a company that could provide us with all services; IT, security cameras and Internet.

Cox: We currently provide Abbiamo Pasta with a security system that not only allows for security surveillance around the plant but also helps their team monitor their machinery and production. This provides any of the primary office and control room staff the ability to see what is happening through the plant at any given time.

Cox: We provide Abbamio Pasta Company with a business class firewall to help them protect their network from external intrusions and also allows them the ability to connect to their business network remotely over a secured VPN tunnel. This provides them with the option to have remote workers to assist them.

We also set up the Abbamio Pasta Company with a wireless network throughout the plant that allows for them to have a secure network connection for work while also having a separate secure network for their robotic wireless equipment.

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Locations: NORTH DAKOTA

"We can have their backup spun up in a cloud environment in a matter of minutes and get them back to production"

SOUTH DAKOTA

Tell us about Many the secure businesses online backups struggle Readitech provides with spam, does ReadiTech provide a solution?

Cox: ReadiTech provides the Abbamio Pasta Company with a full metal backup solution for disaster recovery. In the event of a complete failure of their network server, we can have their backup spun up in a cloud environment in a matter of minutes and get them back to production while we work on the physical hardware that failed.

Cox: ReadiTech offers many cybersecurity solutions. We provide the Abbamio Pasta Company with email spam filtering solutions. This helps protect their email from unwanted spam or malicious email attempts that could cause issues or potential crypto/ransomware on their network.

1. Headquarters

9628 Hwy 281 PO BOX 69 Ellendale, ND 58436 877.559.4692

2. Fargo Office

4870 Rocking Horse Circle South Fargo, ND 58104 800.279.4796

3. Grand Forks Office

2600 Demers Avenue Suite 104B Grand Forks, ND 58201 800.279.4796

4. Casselton Office

42 Langer Ave North Casselton, ND 58012 701.347.2020

5. Aberdeen Office Learn more about ReadiTech at www.readitech.com Learn more about Abbamio Pasta Company at www.abbiamopasta.com

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9 5th Ave Southeast Aberdeen, SD 57401 605.262.1011

The Future of Farming You probably opened this magazine and wondered, 'what the heck does space have to do with my day-to-day farming operation?

Someone could say, "not much" but they would be wrong.

You have to look no further than your cell phone to see how heavily we already rely on technology that is outside our atmosphere. This is only going to increase. That's why we teamed up with the Grand Farm to highlight the incredible list of speakers that were featured at the August, 19 Space Ag Conference, a conference created to discuss what it will take to accelerate innovation and move forward with the Agtech industry.

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Aerospace Engineer NASA

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Why speak at the space ag conference?

I live and work in North Dakota, and the investments in technology here are remarkable and will provide valuable contributions to NASA's long term exploration goals.

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

What it takes to land exploration-scale payloads on Mars

Why is that important?

For humans to reach and survive on the surface of Mars, many new capabilities are required, particularly for entry, descent and landing.

The surface infrastructure necessary to support human exploration is significantly greater than that required for robotic exploration, where we have largely relied upon improvements to the system originally developed for the Viking landers from the 1970s. Automation, remote sensing, habitats, mobility and life support systems will be critical technology areas in achieving future exploration objectives away from Earth.

What are a few things you would like to say to growers out there?

Thank You! The development of agriculture spurred the development of human civilization and society. We simply do not survive without you. The investments in and adoption of technology, with the everpresent community spirit, in agriculture, set an exemplary standard for what people can achieve.

Why should we care about space exploration in general?

The public's return on investment in NASA is undeniable, with countless parts of every day life deriving from technologies originally developed to support space exploration and survival in extreme environments.

NASA's investments in small business, education and technology transfer continue to drive progress and grow knowledge about our planet and universe, how to be better stewards of the Earth and what it takes to achieve grand challenges.

Why should growers care?

Data and observations from space provide essential information on the environment and directly supports continued success and growth in agriculture, from soil and air moisture levels to data necessary to understand weather patterns and the changing climate. Autonomy, remote sensing, and biology advances in agriculture have the ability to impact humanity's ability to not just survive but to thrive both here on Earth and elsewhere.

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Director of Astrobiology Operations, Office of the Center Director NASA Ames Research Center

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What do you do in your current role?

I manage teams of scientists and engineers who conduct research and technology development related to Astrobiology and the search for life on other planets and moons. I also conduct independent research in the fields of astrobiology, space biology and human research.

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

Perspectives from a North Dakota Farmer on Space Life Sciences in Space Agriculture

Why should growers care?

By exploring the limits of life on Earth and on other planetary bodies, we learn more about the importance of life in the Universe, as well as how to improve the ways we produce food and manage our most precious resources: soils, atmosphere and water.

President SyNRGE, LLC

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What do you do in your current role?

The constraints of spaceflight demand innovations that increase reliability, improve performance and enhance understanding of physical and biological systems. The applications for agriculture are not always straightforward–but have been dramatic. Examples include the use of remote sensing Earth observation to be applied to crop predictions, satellite and GPS technology enabling precision agriculture and safe lighting systems enabling development of LED technology for greenhouse and indoor agriculture.

Why should we care about space exploration in general?

The exploration of space, and specifically the development of sustainable life support systems for long duration space missions, requires development and testing of technologies to achieve a truly sustainable system with minimum waste and maximum productivity.

These are issues that will directly affect our survival here on Earth.

Why should growers care?

The irrigation, lighting and sensor technology to remotely monitor, assess and control the water, nutrients and environment to achieve maximum growth in space will result in improved performance, higher yields and greater profits on Earth.

President and Founder Satshot

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Why speak at the space ag conference?

To show how to manage your farm more efficiently applying crop inputs based on field variability using space imagery technologies. Also to show how simple and applicable these tools are for effectively thriving in this agriculture industry.

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

What is available in Space based technology (satellites, sensors ans tools) for agriculture that is currently available and in the future!

Why is that important?

We must monitor and apply new management techniques of agriculture based on the earth's soil characteristics to better expand food production and make less impact on our environment for the better health of our planet.

Using our resources unwisely is not an option. Space based technologies can scale this information worldwide today to determine how to manage our crop and ranching production systems more efficiently and cost effectively.

What are a few things you would like to say to growers out there?

Let your crops tell you how to see your field's productivity and use technologies like Satshot's to help manage their growth. Empower yourself with your farms information.

It also is fun and enjoyable to see how we can grow a crop smarter and better through our knowledge. And, it brings the next generation into the agriculture environment using new methods and techniques.

Why should we care about space exploration in general?

Space technologies created by exploration open up so many new ideas and methods to advance our lives. The ability to see every acre on the planet using Satshot's technologies was derived from the first digital camera created for the moon landing in 1969. Without that goal of walking on the moon, many of the technologies that we use today would have been delayed in development or maybe not at all. We live in a time of great wonder, and curiosity. The technologies that will be developed for all of mankind through space exploration is profound.

Why should growers care?

We must strive to manage our field at the highest detail possible. Precision Ag technology that has developed, defines variability and can now help manage that variability by changing crop input amounts to each specific soil condition. It is also now commonplace with all the embedded technology in the machine available. These efficient methods keep the farmer on the land.

But the technology is also for all sizes and types of farmers and ranchers.

Our Satshot based technologies enables us to put information that we know through our already known crop growing insights, into a geographical environment so the machine can implement our knowledge effectively based on our input. Satshot is here to make sure the farmer and rancher can prosper on their land they manage.

Space based technologies in our present day are a major tool to do that.

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PhD, Assistant Professor University of North Dakota

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Why speak at the space ag conference?

I was invited to speak by the organizers because my research group is currently investigating the growth potential of asteroid soil simulant to grow crops in space.

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

Our research results using CI asteroid soil simulant developed by CLASS Exolith Lab.

Why is that important?

Our future depends on space in many respects. To leave our planet, we must be able to grow food off-world whether it be on a space station or on a small body. Secondly, and not discussed today, is Earth’s soil health. At some point, Earth’s soils will no longer be able to support plant life due to erosion, compaction, nutrient imbalance, pollution, acidification, water logging, loss of soil biodiversity and increasing salinity reducing its ability to grow crops.

Before this happens, we do have an opportunity to mine carbonaceous asteroids for their rich regolith and replenish Earth’s top soils by direct regolith transfer or possibly through hydroponic solutions. It may be far-off, but it is a prospect that we should consider and plan for.

Why should growers care?

Growers are the backbone of any society. Growers will be vital to ensure our long-term survival in space.

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Founder & President Higher Orbits Foundation

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was raised in the Chicagoland area and found a passion for space very early in her life. She studied Aerospace Engineering, Communications & Space Studies at Purdue University and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. During this time, she conducted microgravity fluids research on NASA’s KC135 aircraft and also worked as a counselor at Space Camp in Florida. After graduation from college, Michelle spent 11 years working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She began on the Safety Reliability & Quality Assurance Contract as part of the Payload Safety Review Panel for experiments flying to the International Space Station. After this, she worked as a Flight Controller in Mission Control for the International Space Station for the Ops Plan Group and as a Astronaut Technical Instructor in the Daily Operations Group. Additionally, she worked with each of the International Partners (European Space Agency–ESA, Japanese Space Agency– JAXA and the Russian Space Agency) in the field of Daily Operations, Flight Controller and Instructor Training. Michelle was responsible for the basic instructional training of all technical instructors for in the US as well as for the ISS International Partners. Michelle was part of the Core NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) team for nine missions where astronauts would carry out analog space missions underwater in the Aquarius habitat. Along the way, Michelle found she has a passion for exciting the next generation and founded the non-profit Higher Orbits to use space to excite and inspire students about STEM, STEAM, Leadership, Teambuilding and Communication.

Higher Orbits flagship program is called Go For Launch! This program allows students to work with an astronaut and other accomplished individuals in the fields of Space, STEM and STEAM. In 2020, Higher Orbits was awarded the Patti Grace Smith STEM Award from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Michelle still also has a

technical consulting company called Space Inspired Solutions. Additionally, Michelle and a business partner run uniphi space agency–a talent management company for retired astronauts. Michelle is proud to be a Space Camp Alumni, AIAA Associate Fellow, member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the first ever Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Alumni Entrepreneur Award. She believes that collaboration in space and STEM is the key to the stars! Space Inspires!

Why speak at the space ag conference?

For humans to survive beyond low earth orbit for any extended period of time, food is going to be a crucial part of this. It's important to discuss the possibilities and brainstorm new ideas of how to make long duration and beyond low earth orbit space travel possible.

Have you or the organization you work for received any noteworthy awards? Any major milestones reached?

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

Space! How to engage students in STEM by using spaceflight and the experiments that students have done in space through our Go For Launch! program.

Why is that important?

Students are our next generation of STEMists and explorers, they are also the future workforce. Giving the real research opportunities is super important.

What are a few things you would like to say to growers out there?

Take everything you know about growing things... then take gravity out of the equation. What new ideas do you have based on that?

Why should we care about space exploration in general?

The human spirit has always wished to explore. Space is part of that. But it's not just about exploration. What we achieve in space supports and enhances life here on Earth. Space touches every person's life daily even if you don't realize it.

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Co-Founder Space Tango/ Lead Humanity In Deep Space Initiative

is co-founder of Space Tango headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. He is also the Lead on The Humanity In Deep Space Initiative including its emerging Interplanetary Agriculture Lab. Kimel is the former president of The Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation an independent nonprofit enterprise dedicated to advancing technology, entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation. He is originally from Miami, Florida.

What do you do in your current role?

Leadership, idea development and project execution.

What will you be speaking about at the conference?

Interplanetary Agriculture

Why is that important?

As our species transitions into deep space one of the hardest problems will be producing food and a diverse diet to allow humans not to just survive but thrive in space.

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exploration in general?

We are already a spacefaring civilization and off planet experiences and habitation is now part of our near future.

Why should growers care?

Innovative solutions and processes developed for the harsh environment of space can also lead to important contributions surrounding sustainable agriculture on Earth.

Professor and Chair, Department of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota

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What will you be speaking about at the conference?

The current facility at UND where we simulate long duration spaceflight, including a edible plants production module.

Why is that important? finding solutions to feed astronauts in deep space, including the moon and Mars is of paramount importance in support of long duration missions.

What are a few things you would like to say to growers out there?

What you know, your knowledge and expertise, will be vital to help us feed the space explorers of tomorrow.

Why should we care about space exploration in general?

It is the future of humankind. We will not able to support growth here on Earth without the resources from space.

Founder and CEO Eden Growth Systems

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What do you do in your current role?

Directing EDEN and its future.

Why speak at the space ag conference?

To help spread awareness about the need to implement future farming technologies and the struggles we as a species currently face because of that need.

What are a few things you would like to say to growers out there?

We can create a better world by using technology to empower the individual and local communities to create their own food, water and power.

Plug And Play

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Rowbot Systems LLC

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FungiAlert/Fa Bio

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SPONSORED CONTENT

We're in the midst of another busy summer in ag, meaning the Grand Farm is running at full tilt. In each issue of Future Farmer, Emerging Prairie offers up insight into what's new and notable in the cross-section of start-ups and agriculture.

This month, we get a glimpse into RDO's collaboration with the Grand Farm, the current projects happening at the Grand Farm and a comprehensive report from [x]cube LABS on the state of agritech

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CONTENTS 66

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FarmGrid - Cloud Computing in Rural America

At Cultivate Conference in July, Grand Farm, in partnership with Trilogy Networks and the Rural Cloud Initiative, announced the FarmGrid Precision Agriculture Solution as a signature, collaborative project on Grand Farm’s Innovation Site south of Fargo, North Dakota.

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Shared Philosophy on Bridging the Gap Between Innovators and Growers Add Description.

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[x]cube LABS Agritech Report Add Description.

68 What Projects are Going on at the Grand Farm Right Now? Add Description.

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FarmGrid - Cloud Computing in Rural America

designed to facilitate the application of edge computing and 5G on the farm with multiple precision agriculture technologies.”

The project is a partnership between Trilogy Networks and their Rural Cloud Initiative members. It intends to deliver an all-in-one solution for farmers to purchase precision agriculture equipment that integrates seamlessly on the Trilogy Network’s FarmGrid platform.

Trilogy Networks deploys a distributed multi-tenant cloud platform providing 1.5 million square miles of edge compute capability across rural America, providing the essential infrastructure for 5G, Agriculture, and Energy solutions and is the founder of the Rural Cloud Initiative, a coalition of 70+ rural telecom operators, technology and applications solution providers. The initiative is committed to promoting and accelerating the digital transformation of rural America.

“One of the major challenges currently faced by farmers deploying precision agriculture equipment is that today’s network cannot support tomorrow’s equipment requirements,'' says Brian Carroll, director of the Grand Farm Research and Education Initiative.

“The FarmGrid Precision Agriculture Solution project allows us to research and test integrations on the FarmGrid platform and will position Grand Farm on the global stage as a true center of excellence, innovation and collaboration for the AgTech industry.”

“This signature project will utilize Trilogy Networks’ FarmGrid, an endto-end Farm-to-Cloud, Cloud-to-Farm enterprise grade solution with our LinX, ConEX, Edge and 5G wireless components” according to Nancy Shemwell, Chief Operating Officer, Trilogy Networks. “The project is

This collaboration allows for the addition of partners with technology such as sensors, autonomous systems, machines, ag-centric subscriptionas-a-service applications, and other farm technologies. The products integrated into the FarmGrid framework would ultimately enable the purchase of out-of-the-box solutions that integrate seamlessly on farms similar to residential digital systems on the market today.

Caroline Chan, VP and General Manager of the Network Business Incubation Division within Intel's Network Platform Group says, “FarmGrid’s use of Intel’s Smart Edge Open for its multi-access edge computing capability accelerates development and commercialization of agriculture use cases. Enabling on-site and regional cloud native deployments provides the required agility to quickly integrate new applications into farming solutions.”

Ranveer Chandra, CTO Agri-Food at Microsoft, notes about the project, “Connected solutions for farms today are fragmented making advanced AgTech solutions complex and expensive to implement. We are excited to partner with Trilogy Networks and Grand Farm in innovating on ways to bring the Edge processing capabilities of Trilogy’s FarmGrid with Data & AI of Azure FarmBeats and the Microsoft Airband program, to showcase the benefits of data-driven agriculture at the Grand Farm site.”

The project will be deployed this year on the Grand Farm Innovation Site and then expanded to key locations throughout North Dakota’s Agriculture Experiment Station to demonstrate the abilities of edge computing through private, farmbased, wireless solutions in multiple environments and across multiple uses.

North Dakota Ag Experiment Station’s network of seven off-campus Research Extension Centers strategically placed throughout the state present excellent opportunities to demonstrate this framework.

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What Projects are Going on at The Grand Farm Right Now?

Projects, research, and demonstrations are the lifeblood of Grand Farm. With our neutral platform, we provide a space for organizations of all sizes to test their product in an actual field and controlled environment. This allows our partner organizations to field test products and get grower feedback and input faster and easier, ensuring that the products they are creating are usable and designed to benefit the farmer.

In this article, we’d like to highlight four important organizations and what they’re currently working on at the test site.

EarthScout | Agriculture and Soil Sensing EarthScout, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, began their engagement with Grand Farm as a startup with Plug-and-Play North Dakota cohort member. As Grand Farm and EarthScout developed a relationship, it became clear that their product and projects were perfect to implement and test on the Grand Farm Innovation Site.

In June 2021, EarthScout placed eight sensors on the Grand Farm to provide real-time data on soil health and weather conditions.

Utilizing a gateway that connects all these sensors, providing access to the data in a web interface, the sensors are providing data to partners doing crop work on the Grand Farm. These sensors provide readings of soil temperature, soil moisture, and electrical conductivity throughout the farm, allowing for a holistic view of the Innovation Site’s operations and many projects. The sensors are currently providing information to ProSeed, CHS, and Genesis Feed Technology’s Seed-to-Feed plots.

While Grand Farm does not have an irrigation system in place to control soil moisture, these readings go beyond this application. Soil moisture and temperature and weather readings provide key information to growers on the timing of spraying herbicide, pesticide, and fungicide throughout the season. For many crops, soil moisture and temperature are also very important metrics for planting and harvest.

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Signum | Collecting Real Time Data During the first season of the Grand Farm, North Dakota State University was working with data logging sensors collecting information on a unique geographical feature of the Innovation Site. The Signum team proposed a solution to North Dakota State University which would provide real-time data collection, through a public source that visualized the data. This sparked a collaboration between Signum and North Dakota State University’s research teams.

Over the off-season, Signum developed from scratch hardware that would provide a sensor agnostic platform for integration into NDSU’s current research efforts. This platform communicates via cellular to a website that provides real-time data visualization in a public channel. This unique equipment is being used on the Grand Farm Innovation Site in 2021 to help NDSU continue their work throughout the season to better understand how elevation changes in clay-like soils affect soil moisture, temperature, and electric conductivity.

The hardware Signum has developed is unique in the sensor and IoT environment providing a low-cost, easy-to-use, sensor agnostic platform. This allows growers to utilize any sensor they would want to implement in the field and collects data for them via a web interface.

See the real-time data for yourself at www.grandfarm.signumiot.com.

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ProSeed | Seed Variation ProSeed has numerous projects happening on the Grand Farm Innovation Site. Some of these projects include seed variation trials, the use of biologics to stimulate growth and nitrogen uptake, timing of input applications, timing of planting and harvest, and many more. These projects include many of the crops ProSeed provides to the growers throughout North Dakota and Minnesota.

ProSeed partnered with Grand Farm because they believe innovation and data-driven results through research is an important way to stay current amongst the constant changes in the agriculture industry. At Grand Farm, ProSeed is currently growing “An Agronomy Playground” wherein they take real-life situations the growers could experience and implement them into their research.

For example, they have corn, soybean, and sunflower planting date studies, corn and soybean population studies, corn depth trials, multiple treatment studies, and much more.

They want to present visuals for the growers to understand the effects of what they or others could possibly experience in a real-life situation on their farms. ProSeed does not believe in just handing out a pamphlet consisting of pictures and words describing any one of these situations. They believe meeting the growers in person and presenting something that can be seen and touched brings an experience to the grower that they will never forget.

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Seed-to-Feed | Agriculture Supply Chain At the start of Grand Farm, Brian Carroll and Dr. William Aderholdt attended a workshop at Microsoft’s campus highlighting the current gaps in big data in agriculture. This sparked the potential opportunity for work in supply chain and traceability the Grand Farm could contribute to helping fill this gap. During early discussions of HarvestTrace (earlier called Project X), Peter Schott, co-founder of Genesis Feed Technologies, became one of Grand Farm’s primary thought leaders and partners in this effort. Through multiple virtual events, discussions, and steering committee meetings, Peter continued to pave the way. Genesis Feed Technologies later launched Seed-to-Feed, a large-scale project, on the Grand Farm with multiple partners.

Genesis Feed Technologies provides a platform that “combines formulation data with ingredient quality and price information.” This allows feed enterprises to “make informed, profitable decisions that reduce manufacturing costs.” This platform became the cornerstone of the Seed-to-Feed large-scale project Peter Schott began.

Seed-to-Feed is a collaboration between 10 organizations to provide a scale representation of the supply chain from seed to feed.

This collaboration includes Genesis Feed Technologies, Northern Crops Institute, Geora, Grand Farm, AgriDigital, ProSeed, AgLaunch, VeriGrain, Bushel, and Scio. The Seed-to-Feed project is happening on the Grand Farm Hub Site, with 5-acres dedicated to the work being accomplished. Since launch, several sensor/ IoT and drone companies have contributed data to the project including: Signum, SoilTech Wireless, RealmFive, Field-of-View, and North Dakota State University.

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Shared Philosophy on Bridging the Gap Between Innovators and Growers

The three-legged stool. This trusty, simple object does one job and does it well, but isn’t usually considered the most inspiring starting point for a speech, never mind an entire business philosophy. But, this simple object handily illustrated how RDO Equipment Co. sees the interdependence of three parties.

At the Cultivate conference held at Grand Farm in July, RDO Executive Vice President, Daryl Shelton explained that the threelegged stool was an easy way to understand the dealership’s role in agriculture technology.

Three Partners, Three Legs

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role, RDO sees its place as the connection between the innovators and the growers.

“Technology plays a big role in how we add value for our stakeholders, our customers and our manufacturing partners,” Daryl said. “For our customers, we can help them understand, manage and leverage all of the new functionality of technology.

We want to make sure they are getting all the benefit from their investment. For our manufacturing partners, we want to make sure that their innovations are being utilized to their full potential by the customer.”

This role, creating connections and bridging the gap between the innovation and end-user, is not unlike Grand Farm’s overall role. At another recent event, both Dr. William Aderholdt, Director, Program Management Office with Emerging Prairie

and Andrew Jason, Director of Ecosystem with Emerging Prairie, explained the evolution of the Grand Farm.

growers see face to face, such as an agronomist out in the field or precision product specialist at the dealership.

The original vision was to create a fully-functional autonomous farm. However, in reassessing the opportunities and priorities, the team reimagined the space as a living lab and space where innovators and growers would be welcomed. The Cultivate conference is just one event intended to bring those two stakeholders together, along with partners, like RDO.

“There is a whole team of support staff that works behind the scenes to make sure there is 100 percent connectivity to the customer, to that data and the management of that data,” he said, “so the grower can gain the productivities and minimize risk.”

Supporting Innovation for All

As a partner at Grand Farm, RDO also play a critical role in facilitating connections. In the partnership’s first year, the RDO team planted 70 acres of land.

Rather than conducting their own field trials and tests, RDO instead set up a space for other companies to test, trial and learn.

In many ways, RDO embodies that same philosophy internally, to deliver on its role for manufacturing partners and customers. Daryl touched on RDO’s culture, one that supports continuous improvement and a learner mindset for all team members. Team members are encouraged to get out into the field, attend events and participate in trainings. RDO also takes a more proactive role to create internal opportunities and events for team members to learn and share knowledge with one another.

That investment in time and resources for team members to learn and grow extends to every one of them, not just the ones

Making Innovation Work for All

There is no shortage of challenges facing growers today: shrinking acreage, labor shortages and thin margins.

But, these challenges have set the stage for real and meaningful innovation. With innovation comes change and making changes in an industry like agriculture isn’t easy, which is why all partners have to support each other and hold up that stool, so to speak.

“Every one of our team members is motivated by the success of our growers,” Daryl said. “We want to be leaned on to make the connection between the innovator and the grower, and we will continue to stay ahead of technology so we can continue to bridge that gap.”

Up next for RDO at the Grand Farm: The Autonomous Nation conference on September 16.

Visit RDOequipment.com to learn more about precision agriculture technology. Find informative articles, watch helpful videos, and listen to RDO’s Agriculture Technology Podcast.

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The [x]cube LABS

[x]cube LABS launched an agriculture industry-focused report titled ‘Agritech 2021: Transforming Agriculture with Digital Technologies’ in collaboration with Grand Farm, on July 15th, 2021 at the Cultivate Conference. Agriculture today faces challenges such as climate change, sustainability, shifting consumer demand falling grower income, and more. In this context, the report will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry and propose potential innovation opportunities that put the industry on the best course for the future.

The report, which is available for free, can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/37Aixfw The report starts by addressing critical challenges and threats in agriculture and examines how stakeholders globally are leveraging digital technologies to overcome them, giving rise to an all-new domain called agritech. The report also includes insights from our annual survey, “The Future of Agriculture Survey 2021.” Insights from the survey provide a clearer understanding

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of the challenges faced by key stakeholders in agriculture, how they plan to overcome them, what impedes their adoption of digital tech, and the direction in which the agritech industry is headed. The report extensively covers challenges and solutions from the perspective of each value chain stakeholder as well as their collective impact on an agribusiness as a whole.

Further, the report also envisions a model farm and discusses how it can be realized with a broader vision and an integrated approach resulting in improved operational efficiency, optimized consumption of resources, and so on. The report also includes insights from industry experts in the agriculture community, and further covers a high-level, far from comprehensive, overview of key companies and startups leveraging digital technologies to highlight how the agriculture industry is being redefined.

The report emphasizes the importance of addressing key gaps and highlights the need to achieve greater collaboration across the agri value chain: among businesses and technology partners, as well as academia and research institutions.

About [x]cube LABS Headquartered in Dallas, [x]cube LABS helps enterprises globally with digital transformation and digital technology adoption, with a deep focus on agri-tech.

They have worked with some of the leading global enterprises in the agriculture sector as their digital innovation partners to solve critical problems by taking a highly collaborative approach across the entire digital transformation journey, from ideation and strategizing to experimentation and execution.

They’re a trusted partner for AWS and also one of the first 13 companies globally to be certified as a Google Developer Agency. [x]cube has delivered innovative digital technology-powered solutions for all key stakeholders across the agriculture value chain, including growers, input companies, distributors, and more.

Their agriculture innovation and solutions team has extensive domain knowledge, deep technical expertise, and the experience of orchestrating a mix of digital technologies to deliver innovative solutions, including IoT, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and more.

Agritech Report How [x]cube LABS is helping agribusinesses worldwide [x]cube LABS has delivered comprehensive and innovative agritech solutions that have enabled a number of agri enterprises to effectively counter the current agricultural crisis by optimizing productivity and output, and achieving efficiency through process transformation. From information sharing solutions and engagement platforms, to stock tracking technologies to dronepowered solutions, they have leveraged the latest emerging technologies to deliver solutions that address some key problems faced by the industry.

For an easy overview here, they have divided an agritech-based digital native organization’s digital needs into four broad categories: R&D, production, employee engagement, and supply chain and customer engagement. They have also listed solutions under each category that apply to most of the enterprises as they look to fulfill common requirements.

With their deep understanding of the agriculture ecosystem and the different stakeholders involved in the entire value chain--farmers, dealers, retailers, employees, factory operations, and more--they have also listed digital solutions relevant to each one of them. Here are some select and key solutions which they envision for various segments within an agribusiness.

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1.

SOME KEY AGRITECH SOLUTIONS DELIVERED BY [X]CUBE LABS

Counterfeit products identification in supply chain The Problem

Fly-by-night operators seeking to make quick money, lack of awareness in the farmers and the absence of a control mechanism have often contributed to the entry of counterfeit products in the agriculture market. Farmers and agriculture companies often have to suffer for it in terms of poor yield and financial losses. Lately, even governments across the world have swung into action and are seeking ways to use technology to reduce manual interventions and improve the efficacy of the testing process.

The Solution

In the light of the above-mentioned problem, [x] cube LABS has delivered multiple technology solutions for quality management of agri-Inputs, thereby empowering farmers with better decision making while procuring pesticides, seeds, fertilizers and other inputs. Here’s how they have resolved the problem.

Solution 1

[x]cube developed a platform where agri-Input companies, distributors, dealers, sample collection teams, farmers and related stakeholders can collaborate throughout the supply chain journey of the sample from manufacturing to enddelivery to the farmer. The automated workflows in the platform provide complete visibility of the movement, thereby bringing transparency and efficiency to the whole process. The transit journey and testing status can be viewed via mobile and web interfaces.

Solution 2 [x]cube built a mobile app for the sales representatives of an agri-input company that

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allowed them to scan QR codes to identify the probability of counterfeiting of the products. Sales representatives and farmers can report the product for further investigation after ascertaining the probability of counterfeits.

Solution 3 [x]cube used ML-based image recognition technology to identify the labels on the agri-input products that allow farmers to be able to identify genuine products while purchasing.

Results • Automated workflows and sampling automation techniques reduced manual interventions in the quality testing process and built trust in the quality management processes • Empowered the farmers to make informed decisions regarding their purchase of agri-inputs • The availability of a unified view of data brought transparency for manufacturers, distributors, dealers and farmers and reduced malpractices.

Technology Mobile APPs, Web Platform, Workflow & Collaboration platforms, AI, ML, Google ML Kit for QR Code identification, Computer Vision, Image Recognition, Data visualization, Dashboards and Charting, Cloud.

2.

Farmer Engagement & Retention The Problem

As the agriculture industry continues to reel under the pressure to meet global demand for food amid adversity, agri leaders worldwide are seeking ways to increase yield and maintain optimal profit margins. In order to achieve that, the focus must shift to modern farming practices which means that farmers must transition from traditional methods to modern and scientific methods of farming. To that end, agriculture companies worldwide need to engage farmers efficiently, educate them on emerging technologies and offer the right guidance and information such as crop advisory, weather advisory, pest advisory, online consultations, disease identification services and more.

The Solution

[x]cube delivered a mobile app for farmers that cover the entire crop lifecycle- from crop planning and sowing to harvesting and beyond. The app, designed using engaging workflows, not only provides personalized and contextual information to farmers but also guides them at every step to achieve optimal output by providing them detailed information related to agri products, weather forecast, news and trends, market prices and events, educational videos and much more. It serves as an all-informative resource that comes in handy for farmers and empowers them with the required insights to optimize their farms for high yield and engage them in more than one way.

enhancements and updates. Additionally, farmer’s feedback, push notifications, micro surveys, badges and other elements have made it more engaging and relevant.

Results • Farmer engagement and education through information-rich updates in the form of news, forecasts and more • Improved farm yield through a better understanding of company products and optimal use of resources • More conversion due to easy on-boarding and contextual relevance • Retention of existing users through feedbackbased updates • More informed and data-driven decision making for both farmers and related stakeholders • Improved productivity for farmers and better RoI • Quality produce for consumers

Technology Mobile APPs, Web Platform, Workflow & Collaboration platforms, Cloud, Data Analytics.

Features Other than the fact that the app engages farmers effectively, a key highlight of the solution is the ability to track each farmer's in-app behavior that helps to enhance the app functionalities and features to make them more contextual through iterative

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On-demand delivery platform for farmers The Problem

Farmers often face multiple challenges while sourcing agri inputs. These include lack of access to trustworthy information and advisories, inconvenient subsidies access, counterfeits products in the market, multiple options to choose from, and so on. Sometimes factors such as hoarding and other malpractices also put timely delivery of inputs on hold. This creates the need for farmers to have access to the right product at the right time and at a fair price. These problems are being faced by farmers across the globe and leading agri stakeholders and governments are looking for solutions that can ensure easy and fair access to agri inputs for farmers.

The Solution

[x]cube LABS has delivered a tech-enabled solution to facilitate on-demand delivery of agri-Inputs for farmers. Equipped with state of the art digital kiosks, touch screen, front camera, aadhar-enabled fingerprint scanner and other features, the solution provides information on market intelligence, market prices, information on procurement centers, weather forecasts and other services, apart from ensuring timely supply of agri-inputs to the farmers in their villages within 48 hours of ordering.

Features • Ability to place orders on the Kiosk app for procuring quality certified agri-inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and more which are delivered on time • Information dissemination to grass-root level, especially to the remote villages through digital kiosks • Information on market intelligence, real-time market data, and procurement centers information

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• Weather & pest forecasting • Details on agri & allied supplies at the village level to the farmers • Latest technology videos on crops through offline storage

Results The solution benefits farmers and stakeholders on multiple levels by providing: Guaranteed quality of service Elimination of middlemen in the procurement of agri-Inputs.

Transparency in the overall operation Improved farmer education Ability to forecast input demand and optimize the supply chain of inputs distribution, thus reducing cost overruns

Technology Retail Innovation platform - Nukkad Shops.

4.

Improving product traceability The Problem Agri-input companies often find it difficult to plan their inventory effectively due to lack of stock visibility beyond their primary point of sales. Especially if they have to deal with a multi-brand retail environment, it becomes essential for them to make data-driven decisions and conversations with distributors and retailers. In the absence of real-time information related to their stock movement, how can agri-input companies manage their inventories better? Not just inventory, the marketing and promotional activities suffer as well. This necessitates the need for a mechanism that can provide companies real-time updates related to their stock movement.

The Solution [x]cube LABS developed a retail enablement solution that leveraged QR technology to track products throughout the supply chain- from factory to farm. The solution also covered other critical aspects of supply chain management such as order management, order tracking, order fulfillment and intelligent engagement with sales teams. Altogether, the features delivered aided in building a digital backbone, transforming the way supply chain management was carried out previously by covering all critical stakeholders involved in the chain such as factory users, warehouse, users, distributors, retailers, sales team, market development offers and farmers.

The solution is further backed by the fact that the Indian government intends to bring seed traceability software by the end of this year.

Highlight What leveled up the solution’s engagement effectiveness is the fact that the engagement module was gamified. For instance, they developed a loyalty & reward system to engage agri channel partners and farmers using rewards & loyalty points that can

be earned either by purchasing products on digital channels or consuming marketing content related to products & services. Accumulated points could be redeemed against a discount on next purchase or participation in lucky draws. It also featured a leaderboard to show the ranking of various users and drive a sense of proactive competitiveness in a gamified manner.

Features • All products were coded with barcodes at the factory • The codes were scannable at the warehouse, distributor’s, retailers’ and farmers’ thereby giving complete visibility of the stock movement and consumption at each supply node • Ability to scan also helped to identify counterfeit products in the supply chain • Gamification, leaderboards and other forms of digital engagement with all the stakeholders in the supply chain • Advisory services for retailers and farmers on crops, products, weather, and others

Management dashboards for secondary sales analysis Results The solution offered multiple benefits such as: • Product tracking • Better inventory management • Identification of counterfeit products • Superior engagement for all stakeholders • Informed decision-making

Technology Web and Mobile application.

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Engagement app for sales teams The Problem

• GPS based location tracking

As the sales teams of agri-input companies have to be involved with stakeholders onground, they are often disconnected from the rest of the key players in the supply chain due to lack of a unified platform that makes coordination easier and brings everyone on the same page. There’s no real-time information on current stock inventory which hinders their communication with retailers and distributors, and makes it difficult to manage campaign planning, campaign execution and service requests. This creates a need for a platform which makes sales engagement easier and simplifies peer-to-peer The Solution [x]cube developed a mobile app that leverages state-of-the-art UI/UX capabilities to establish relevance with sales teams and execute iterative enhancements based on feedback.

The app focused on getting the core elements right, such as ability to manage leads and contacts, collaboration with peers, provide learning and training content, employee engagement mechanism and much more. [x] cube LABS’ proprietary engagement platform, Upshot.ai was used to achieve the desired adoption and engagement.

• Social media integration • Incentive simulation capability • Gamification • Compensation & benefit module • Attendance management • User administration and management • Lead capture module • Offline capability and more

Results The solution offered multiple benefits such as: • Hassle-free order management on-the-go • Real-time updates by allowing offline information capture • Better updates on orders by checking active and inactive orders

Features

• Easy complaint management

The app linked the company’s wants with the sales member’s needs and covered features and functionalities which addressed the challenges listed above by implementing:

• Decrease in TAT for processing requests

Technology Web and mobile application, Upshot.ai.

Synergizing the power of IoT and mobile for accurate access to weather forecasts

[x]cube’s client, a recognized leader in developing & manufacturing precision weather, marine and outdoor instrumentation, wanted to build a connected weather monitoring solution to enable better and accurate access to weather forecasts that can enable better farm preparation. [x]cube delivered an agriculture-focused decision-making mobile app, Mobilize, which can generate a seven-day forecast for temperature changes, frost likelihood, evapotranspiration (ET) and rain. The app also allowed the creation of custom views of farms and access to sensor data to track specific conditions related to weather, irrigation, growth cycle and more.

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8.

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Information access for farmers through image recognition

[x]cube developed a mobile-based application that helps growers to know details of the product by using image recognition for a sustainable non-profit organization.

Growers could access details like product information, usage details, do’s & don'ts and other relevant insights through the dedicated mobile app. This was particularly helpful from the ease-of-use perspective as the app could do all this without taking on too much cognitive load.

Funding grove development through blockchain [x]cube created a platform that facilitated donations from a global community of citizens and distributed those donations in a transparent and efficient way to communitybased regenerative forestry projects. To ensure the transparency and efficiency intended, the currency used for this project was blockchain-based, and similar to “green credits” for funding organizations.

Leveraging the power of drones and mobile for farm monitoring and more With the increasing use of drones to monitor farms and reducing manual interventions for growers, [x]cube’s client, a leading drone manufacturer, wanted to bring some basic drone controls to a mobile app. To that end, [x]cube delivered an app that allowed users to navigate drones in different directions, land them, record and stream videos, and more.

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