Start-up companies such as FarmLogs and 640 Labs are in the hunt for customers along with agribusiness giants Deere, Pioneer and Monsanto in the new agricultural field of Big Data, says Reuters. All of them offer software that identifies the high- and low-yielding areas in farm fields so growers can seed or fertilize more heavily in places that offer the best return rather than applying seed, fertilizer and herbicides at the same rate everywhere.
Climate Corp, owned by Monsanto, enrolled 50 million acres this year for its free Climate Basic package. FarmLogs, based in Michigan, counts 15 percent of U.S. farms as customers for its free service. All with free services, companies hope to recruit customers to services that, for a fee, suggest cropping or marketing tactics. The lure of Big Data is notably higher yields or more cash-efficient operations. Says Reuters, “it remains unclear how many growers will sign up for premium services with crop prices at the lowest in more than four years.” And there are questions about the confidentiality of the data.