According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the global market for precision agriculture solutions is forecasted to grow from € 3.1 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4 percent to reach about € 5.2 billion in 2027.

A set of technologies are applied in precision farming practices, which are aimed at managing variations in the field to maximise yield, raise productivity and reduce consumption of agricultural inputs. While solutions such as auto-guidance and machine monitoring and control via on-board displays today are mainstream technologies in the agricultural industry, telematics and Variable Rate Technology (VRT) are still in the early stages of adoption. Interoperability between solutions remains a challenge, although initiatives to provide common protocols and language structure for data sharing are making progress.

Most major agricultural equipment manufacturers have today operations related to precision agriculture with varying strategies. Leading vendors of precision agriculture solutions include the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment Deere & Company, followed by the precision technology vendors Trimble, Topcon Positioning Systems, Raven Industries and Hexagon. Major input manufacturers like BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta have entered the space primarily through acquisitions and focus on providing mapping tools and decision support for the purpose of input optimisation and yield maximisation. A group of companies have surfaced as leaders on the nascent market for in-field sensor systems. These include Semios, Pessl Instruments with its METOS brand, Davis Instruments and Sencrop.

The move from automation to autonomy is the next step in the evolution of the agricultural industry. “Although autonomy on a component level has been exploited by multiple manufacturers, autonomous agricultural operations on an equipment level are now on the rise”, said Veronika Barta, IoT analyst at Berg Insight.

Today, original equipment manufacturers are developing autonomous machines such as driverless tractors and seed-planting robots. Agricultural drones are the most advanced segment, performing autonomous operations by utilising multispectral cameras, LiDAR sensors and route algorithms. Aerial imagery for crop monitoring is the most common application area, followed by spraying operations of crop protection chemicals. Satellite navigation, sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the main facilitators of autonomous equipment in the future of farming.

The post The precision agriculture market to reach € 5.2 billion worldwide in 2027 appeared first on IoT Business News.

The intersection of agriculture and technology has given rise to a transformative movement in the form of Smart Agriculture, often referred to as Agriculture 4.0. The adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in agriculture is at the core of this evolution, allowing farmers to make data-driven decisions and optimize farming practices. In this article, we will delve into the world of IoT in smart agriculture, exploring its applications, benefits, challenges, and the promising future it holds for sustainable and efficient food production.

The IoT Revolution in Smart Agriculture

Agriculture has always been at the forefront of innovation, from the invention of the plow to the introduction of tractors and mechanized farming. Now, with IoT technology, smart agriculture is changing the way we cultivate and manage crops and livestock. IoT involves the connection of sensors, devices, and machinery to the internet, enabling data collection, analysis, and real-time decision-making.

Key Applications of IoT in Smart Agriculture

1. Precision Farming

Precision agriculture uses IoT to monitor and manage crops with precision, optimizing resource use. Sensors collect data on soil quality, moisture levels, and weather conditions. This information guides decisions about irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, reducing resource waste and increasing crop yields.

2. Livestock Management

IoT in smart agriculture isn’t limited to crops; it extends to livestock management. Sensors and GPS technology can track the location, health, and behavior of animals. This data helps farmers identify sick animals, manage herd movements, and improve breeding programs.

3. Climate Monitoring

IoT sensors can monitor environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and precipitation. This data assists farmers in predicting weather patterns and adapting farming practices accordingly.

4. Automated Machinery

IoT-enabled machinery, such as tractors and drones, can perform tasks like planting, harvesting, and monitoring fields autonomously. This automation reduces the need for manual labor and increases efficiency.

5. Supply Chain Management

IoT technology helps optimize the supply chain by tracking the location and condition of agricultural products during transportation. This ensures that produce reaches its destination in optimal condition.

6. Irrigation Control

IoT sensors in soil can monitor moisture levels and automatically control irrigation systems, ensuring that crops receive the right amount of water at the right time.

7. Crop Health Monitoring

Drones and sensors can assess crop health by detecting diseases, nutrient deficiencies, and pest infestations. This early detection allows for timely interventions to protect crop yields.

8. Food Safety and Traceability

IoT technology can help ensure food safety and traceability by tracking the journey of agricultural products from farm to table. This is crucial for meeting food safety standards and responding to recalls if necessary.

Benefits of IoT in Smart Agriculture

The integration of IoT in smart agriculture offers numerous advantages:

1. Increased Efficiency

IoT technology optimizes farming operations by reducing waste, automating tasks, and providing real-time data for decision-making. This leads to increased efficiency in resource use and productivity.

2. Cost Savings

By automating and optimizing processes, farmers can reduce operational costs, such as labor and resource expenses. This results in cost savings for both small and large-scale agricultural operations.

3. Enhanced Crop Quality

IoT technology enables farmers to monitor crop conditions closely, ensuring that crops are healthy and of high quality. This is essential for producing crops that meet market standards.

4. Sustainability

Smart agriculture promotes sustainable practices by reducing resource waste, minimizing the use of chemicals, and improving the environmental impact of farming.

5. Increased Crop Yields

IoT technology helps farmers maximize crop yields by optimizing conditions and taking proactive measures to protect crops from diseases and pests.

6. Climate Resilience

Climate monitoring and data analysis can help farmers adapt to changing weather patterns and reduce risks associated with extreme weather events.

Challenges and Considerations

While IoT in smart agriculture offers numerous benefits, it also poses challenges and considerations:

1. Data Security and Privacy

Collecting and transmitting sensitive agricultural data raise concerns about data security and privacy. Protecting this information is crucial for farmers and their partners.

2. Connectivity

Many rural areas lack reliable internet connectivity, which can hinder the adoption of IoT technology in smart agriculture. Expanding network coverage is essential for reaching all farmers.

3. Cost of Implementation

The initial cost of implementing IoT technology can be a barrier for some farmers, especially those with limited resources. Government support and subsidies may be necessary to facilitate adoption.

4. Education and Training

Farmers need the knowledge and skills to use IoT technology effectively. Education and training programs are necessary to ensure that farmers can take full advantage of smart agriculture practices.

5. Regulatory Compliance

IoT in agriculture must adhere to regulatory requirements, especially regarding data protection and food safety standards.

The Future of IoT in Smart Agriculture

As technology continues to advance, the future of IoT in smart agriculture looks promising. Here are some trends and developments to watch for:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

IoT and AI will work together to analyze vast amounts of data, providing insights into crop management, disease detection, and precision agriculture.

2. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain can enhance traceability and transparency in the agricultural supply chain, ensuring the authenticity of data and promoting trust among stakeholders.

3. Autonomous Farming

Autonomous vehicles and robots equipped with IoT sensors will become more prevalent, performing tasks like planting, weeding, and harvesting with minimal human intervention.

4. Digital Twins

Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical objects, like crops or livestock. These can help farmers simulate various scenarios and make informed decisions.

5. Remote Sensing

Advanced remote sensing technology, such as satellite imagery, will provide farmers with more data for monitoring and decision-making.

Conclusion

The Internet of Things is revolutionizing smart agriculture by offering precision, efficiency, sustainability, and improved crop quality. Challenges related to data security, connectivity, and education must be addressed to ensure that the benefits of IoT in smart agriculture are fully realized.

As IoT technology continues to evolve, it will remain a driving force in agriculture, offering a glimpse into a future where farming practices are more efficient, sustainable, and resilient, ultimately meeting the challenges of feeding a growing global population.

The post Cultivating Success: IoT in Smart Agriculture appeared first on IoT Business News.

• The partnership enables cattle owners to track and monitor animal welfare more effectively while reducing costs and time
• REDI solution pilot generated 81% accuracy of correct Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) diagnoses compared to 64% from human observation
• REDI identifies sick calves more accurately and up to a week earlier than human observers
• With support from Eseye, Precision Animal Solutions plans to launch the REDI solution in Q2 2024, with deployments initially focusing on North America

Eseye, a pioneer of high-quality global IoT connectivity solutions, today announced a new technology partnership with Precision Animal Solutions, a leading provider of animal behaviour monitoring set to revolutionise farming and agriculture using continuous monitoring IoT solutions developed with the help of Eseye.

The partnership combines Eseye’s award-winning global IoT connectivity solutions with Precision Animal Solution’s Remote Early Disease Identification (REDI) system to monitor animal behaviour and detect sickness symptoms, transforming collected data into actionable information using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that improves animal welfare management and treatment.

Farmers equipped with this new ground-breaking solution will gain real-time access to critical information, empowering them to make informed decisions and optimise operations while minimising resource consumption. Deploying these insights at scale increases cattle yield while improving animal welfare, ultimately strengthening the beef and milk supply chain while lowering costs.

Many cattle die each year from Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD), which represents the leading cause of mortality in growing cattle and causes an estimated $1bn in economic losses in the US beef industry. Cattle owners monitor each animal’s health which is costly and time-consuming when done manually. Additionally, the complexity of diagnosing a medical problem in an individual calf within herds of up to 500 at a time often leads to slow diagnosis and treatment, causing hardship for animals and economic loss for cattle operations.

Brad White, Veterinarian, Professor at Kansas State University, and partner in Precision Animal Solutions said “What we found through some of our research is if you actually monitor cattle behaviour — daily, hourly — what you find is early in the illness part, they actually spend a lot more time at the herd; they spend a lot more time trying to hide in the group early in the disease process.”

When suffering with BRD, cattle also eat and drink less than normal. To this point, BRD is a challenge to identify before it is too late. Precision Animal started exploring the development of the wireless-enabled REDI solution to automate the discovery of BRD for cattle producers. The REDI system uses animal behavioural data for cattle wellness determination and has been shown to increase diagnostic accuracy compared to a manual observation.

Eseye was able to work with Precision Animal and deliver the technology to take this from concept to reality and perform a successful field trial. Utilising specialist IoT hardware expertise, Eseye worked with Precision Animal to design and develop an industry-standard, animal-safe, reusable bovine tracker which enable REDI to continuously monitor cattle feeding and drinking frequency, social behaviour, and activity patterns. The solution combines edge processing capabilities to facilitate the receipt, storage, and subsequent transmission of the tracker’s data to the cloud. Coupled with Eseye’s managed connectivity services, the custom solution enables remote monitoring, access, and over-the-air (OTA) configuration of connected equipment, without physically mobilising staff and resources to sites.

The results of the pilot were profound. Previous research illustrated REDI generated 81% accuracy of correct disease “calls” compared to the human observation of 64%. When an animal of interest has been identified, a light on the wireless tracker will identify the cow so it can be quarantined, treated, and saved.

Eseye offered an end-to-end IoT solution including a unique blend of hardware and solution architecture expertise, device design services and hardware proof of concepts, combined with its multi-carrier and resilient IoT connectivity capabilities, deployment services and long-term device design, software, and hardware support services. Special consideration was taken to ensure suitability for a variety of environments, including different weather conditions and easy placement on cattle not interfering with normal operational flow.

Brad White, Veterinarian, Professor at Kansas State University, and partner in Precision Animal Solutions said, “We unsuccessfully tried so many other off-the-shelf technologies before we found Eseye. Eseye was able to provide a custom device-first approach to our unique use case, developed after a series of conversations. As our relationship evolved, it became clear that Eseye was the partner we needed to develop the IoT hardware solution for our project. The potential is well beyond just looking at respiratory disease. I don’t see it supplanting people that are doing those jobs but rather augmenting their ability to do them better. Looking into the future, with support from Eseye, we plan to start deployments in North America across a large number of connected cattle!”

Commenting on the partnership, Kieran McNamara, GM North America of Eseye said, “We are thrilled to be at the heart of this ground-breaking technology, bridging the gap between the digital and agricultural worlds, and proactively diagnosing BRD before it’s too late.”

“By enabling farmers to harness the power of IoT, we aim to revolutionise traditional farming practices, making them more efficient, sustainable, and ultimately more productive. This strategic partnership highlights Eseye’s commitment to drive technological advancements and foster economic growth within the agricultural sector.”

The post Eseye helps Precision Animal Solutions to Improve Cattle Disease Identification by 27% appeared first on IoT Business News.

Semtech’s LoRa devices and gateways utilizing LoRaWAN® help to improve farming practices, lower operational costs and increase crop yields.

Semtech Corporation, a high-performance semiconductor, IoT systems and Cloud connectivity service provider, announces that Sustainable Hrvest Sdn Bhd (SH) has deployed LoRa-enabled sensors and LoRaWAN-based gateways across its Durian fruit farms in greater Malaysia.

While one of the country’s most popular fruits, Durian trees are challenging to grow and harvest. These plants are sensitive to weather and moisture conditions and need 24X7 maintenance for high yield. LoRa-enabled sensors now give Malaysian farmers real-time data on the health of their farms every step of the growth cycle from pre-harvest, harvest, until post-harvest. This real-time visibility has made farmers’ lives easier, while also helping improve their bottom line.

LoRa is the de facto wireless platform of Internet of Things (IoT). Semtech’s LoRa chipsets connect sensors to the Cloud and enable real-time communication of data and analytics. This instantaneous management helps to enhance the efficiency and productivity of sustainable IoT use cases. Globally, there are more than 300 million LoRa end nodes deployed across a wide array of customer applications from agriculture and healthcare to industrial and transportation, and more.

“We founded this company to address the farming barriers and pain points here in Malaysia. To better serve our community, we knew that we needed to improve farming practices, reduce operational costs, and help farmers deliver better yields,” said Han Wei, co-founder, and chief technology officer at SH. “LoRa was an easy choice for our team. One of our biggest farms, Musang Valley Plantation, is more than 700 acres with 11,000 Durian trees. The land includes many steep hillsides which make managing the crops challenging.”

“LoRa monitors the trees, alerts the farmer if there is an issue, and allows them to take immediate action. This response saves not only time, but also mitigates potential tree loss and revenue. Sustainable IoT and LoRa have completely overhauled farming in Malaysia.”

Currently, there are 30 LoRa-powered farms in Malaysia with new plantations expected to go live in the coming 12 months. Designed by Sustainable Hrvest, the IoT nodes utilizing LoRaWAN implement LoRa’s low power, long range sensors and last upwards of four years in the field without needing replacement. This purpose-built chip-to-Cloud sensor platform monitors the flow rate and pressure of irrigation systems to maintain soil moisture levels. It also tracks the nutrients in the soil. The data-driven farming practice gives Malaysian farmers the ability to remotely care for their crops and helps to deliver a more sustainable planet for future generations.

The post Semtech’s LoRa® Chip-to-Cloud Platform Enables Sustainable Farming in Malaysia appeared first on IoT Business News.

The LoRa Alliance Membership will enable Agrology to quickly expand its network reach and engage in new partnership opportunities.

Agrology, the leading Predictive Agricultural company and a Public Benefit Corporation, today announced the company has joined the LoRa Alliance®, one of the fastest growing Internet of Things (IoT) alliances in the world.

Using LoRaWAN® Low Power Wide Area Networking (LPWAN) technology, Agrology is accelerating the development of its proprietary IoT network of GroundTruth sensors across rural farming communities. In addition, Agrology is engaging with LoRa Alliance members for new business opportunities.

The LoRa Alliance is an open, nonprofit association that has become one of the largest and fastest-growing alliances in the technology sector. Its members closely collaborate and share experiences to promote and drive the success of the LoRaWAN standard as the leading open global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWAN connectivity. With the technical flexibility to address a broad range of IoT applications, both static and mobile, and a certification program to guarantee interoperability, LoRaWAN has already been deployed by major mobile network operators globally.

“Our approach to agriculture technology has been unique since day one and our LoRa Alliance membership is the perfect representation of that,” said Tyler Locke, Co-Founder and CTO at Agrology. “LoRaWAN technology inspired us to enhance our approach by developing our own network that provides connectivity in the most remote locations. This not only advances our ability to deliver in-depth, real-time data to growers, but also keeps our highly advanced platform inexpensive to deploy.”

Agrology GroundTruth sensors gather multiple data points in real time. When cellular connectivity isn’t available, low-cost wireless technology like LoRaWAN enables Agrology to securely deploy private networks, ultimately creating a private, secure wireless network for Agrology customers. This solves a number of issues with agriculture technology deployments. Agrology is also supporting the LoRaWAN ecosystem and the development of technical standards for IoT connectivity by bringing carrier-grade IoT LoRaWAN connectivity to Agrology customers.

Locke added:

“We can now further our reach and gather the largest amount of data through low-cost IoT connected devices in fields everywhere,”

“I’m very excited to welcome Agrology to the LoRa Alliance,” said ​​Donna Moore, CEO and Chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance. “LoRaWAN represents a massive opportunity for smart agriculture because of its ability to transmit data over long distances for 10 years or more. By providing access to critical data, Agrology enables true precision agriculture that will optimize farm productivity and conserve water by reducing waste. Its understanding of this critical vertical market will add value to the alliance and further advance LoRaWAN’s use in smart agriculture.”

The post Agrology Joins the LoRa Alliance® to Scale Agrology’s IoT Network Across Rural Farming Communities appeared first on IoT Business News.

Deploying KORE IoT connectivity and IoT solutions, BinSentry dramatically increases feed mills’ operational efficiencies by modernizing antiquated processes.

KORE, a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and worldwide IoT Connectivity-as-a-Service (IoT CaaS), today announced that BinSentry, an international AgTech company, has selected KORE as its IoT partner-of-choice to modernize time-worn measurement systems and drive operational efficiencies.

The two companies are enabling sectors of the agricultural ecosystem to innovate and leapfrog current methods, resulting in reduced costs, product waste, and time.

For decades, farmers have used a manual process to forecast the amount of feed they order. Still today, farmers bang mallets against the side of huge silos and place orders with feed mills based on the sound made by the strike, causing inaccurate forecasts and resulting in under-filling, over-filling feed transfers and late deliveries to bins. This traditional method tends to be expensive and wasteful because an information deficit exists.

An average feed mill services a range of 500 to 5,000 bins to deposit with feed on a weekly basis at farms around the world. The logistics of delivering feed requires good data so that mills can operate efficient production and supply chain processes.

KORE President and CEO Romil Bahl, said:

“This is the ‘decade of IoT,’ and in many industries, like agriculture, healthcare, and fleet management, it’s an exciting time of exploration and innovation — much like what I imagine the Industrial Revolution was like at the turn of the 20th century.”

“Through our work with BinSentry, we’re providing an IoT one-stop-shop to some of the most recognizable commercial outfits in the farming industry, resulting in data-powered delivery route optimization, accurate feed forecasting and ordering, and increased automation of the inventory tracking and ordering process. With access to a conduit of IoT connectivity, asset monitoring, and APIs, the average feed mill has the potential to save millions of dollars.”

KORE powers the BinSentry automated feed ordering platform with a single-source of reliable IoT connectivity that makes it easy for feed mills to gauge quickly and accurately in-bin feed levels on vast farms located globally. The feed mills then acquire and manipulate critical data streaming off of those bins in real-time via APIs so that they can plan their supply and delivery based on real-time data at the individual silo level.

Bringing efficiencies to on-farm inventory monitoring, ordering, and restocking with IoT technologies and analytics has an important knock-on effect. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, agriculture accounted for an estimated 10.5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 of which feed deliveries are contributors. Farms and feed mills are already struggling with sustainable production on top of handling and organizing massive amounts of resources. With access to mission-critical information and data that is pulled from the IoT enabled monitors, feed mill trucks are able to deliver the right amount of feed at the right time to the right farm and travel between 15 percent to 25 percent fewer miles, significantly reducing the feed mills carbon footprint, reducing their labor needs and saving costs.

“BinSentry was founded four years ago to solve the information deficit that is a significant pain point in the relationship between feed mills and their farmers and growers,” said Randall Swartzentruber, founder and CEO, BinSentry. “Our goal with BinSentry is to close that information gap, and the best way to do that is with IoT connected devices sending accurate and reliable data to a comprehensive feed ordering automation software, enabled by the comprehensive and future-forward wireless networks being provided by KORE. Now, our feed mill customers can look at their dashboards and in real-time see exactly how much product exists in every single feed bin that they service, act proactively to manage demand and then plan accordingly. It takes only 15 minutes to install the IoT-powered sensors to solve a 40-year-old problem.”

The post KORE Selected by Agriculture Technology Innovator BinSentry to Revolutionize Monitoring of On-farm Inventory appeared first on IoT Business News.

LoRaWAN® Monitoring System at Large Solar Facility on Mushroom Farm Brings 30 Percent Reduction in Installation and Operating Costs Compared to Wired System.

Kerlink, a specialist in solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), and Cloud Energy, a Vietnamese IoT start-up serving smart verticals, are developing and deploying new solutions to meet demand for IoT services in rural areas around Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).

Expanding on their earlier collaboration on smart-building and energy-management projects in the city of nearly 9 million people, the two companies recently developed and deployed a fully wireless LoRaWAN® network to monitor and manage a 900 kWp solar-power installation on a mushroom farm 80 km from the city. The installation of the wireless solar-power system was chosen by NG Investment Co., Ltd. for its superior advantages: stability of data reading, ability to connect to different inverter brands and the cost savings on investment and maintenance.

The IoT upgrade included Kerlink’s long-range, low-power Wirnet iStation gateways and its Wanesy Management Center to operate and manage the new system, and Cloud Energy’s advanced LoRaWAN-based meter and devices for data management, optimized to meet the rigorous requirements of utility scaling. The system is expected to reduce the owners’ operation and maintenance costs by 30 percent annually compared to the previous system. New installations are expected to shave 30 percent off the cost of a new wired monitoring system.

Wired monitoring systems are expensive to install and challenging and costly to maintain, because employees must be sent to the site for regular inspection and repair throughout the year. A successful deployment of a wireless solar-farm management solution can achieve faster return on investment (ROI) compared to wired solutions using classic data loggers and non-real-time remote access.

“Integrating LoRaWAN® technology and solutions brought by Kerlink was a natural choice, as we previously gained significant expertise working with them in our energy-metering projects in Vietnamese cities,” said Tuan Anh Pham, founder of Cloud Energy. “Expanding our focus to potential IoT applications in remote areas allowed us to take advantage of Kerlink’s Wanesy Management Center platform bundled with its secured LoRa Network Server. That ensures that our client’s system and data are monitored 24/7.”

“Smart farming is one of the Internet of Things’ most important vertical markets in Southeast Asia, but it needs the breakthrough innovations that companies like Cloud Energy bring to new fields to reach its potential,” said Rene Arbefeuille, Kerlink’s vice president for Asia Pacific.

“Cloud Energy’s success in exceeding objectives set by end-users will pave the way for system integrators and financial institutions to invest in the expansion of smart-farming projects using private network infrastructure.”

“Together, Kerlink and Cloud Energy are helping producers maximize specific and tailored farming production yields, demonstrating again how LoRaWAN® IoT networks are enabling new opportunities in the agriculture sector.”

The post Kerlink & Vietnamese Company Cloud Energy Expanding IoT Market with Smart-Farming Initiative appeared first on IoT Business News.

IoT Business News : What IoT solutions has Sigfox created/been part of creating which are already enabling farmers to improve their productivity and optimize their supply chain?

Nicolas Andrieu (Sigfox): At Sigfox, we have long recognized that IoT has great potential to dramatically transform agricultural productivity, leading to greater food security and improved income for farmers.

Our company provides a ultra-low-cost and ultra-low-power 0G network and IoT (Internet of Things) services focused on asset visibility and tracking. Together with our wide ecosystem of partners – who develop, sell and support Sigfox connected devices – we are helping some agricultural companies and farmers accelerate their digital transformation, develop new services and create value.

One example in Kenya is Twiga Food’s Takuwa farm. Twiga Foods has demonstrated the benefits of adopting IoT solutions for precision farming. For example, it has reduced pesticide consumption. The smart weather station Twiga Foods has on its Takuwa farm provides real time data that helps farm managers deploy the most effective farming methods for irrigation and application of pesticides.

After deploying IoT solutions powered by Sigfox’s 0G network, Twiga Foods reported 30% less pesticide consumption.

Sigfox’s 0G network also assists Sencrop to deliver smart, connected agriculture solutions that use lower energy compared to other solutions, so they require less maintenance after in field installation. This allows for both a cost-effective approach in terms of battery life but also enables the final system to be frugal in terms of heat production. To connect Sencrop’s network of more than 12,000 farmers, all using its in-field ag-weather data platform, the company used Sigfox’s 0G network to transition and centralize information from widespread connected objects, to cover a much wider area in terms of connectivity.

Another example in France is Sigfox’s partner Javelot, which is developing probes to monitor temperature and humidity for grain storage silos (this is of tremendous importance to avoid fermentation and infestation).

Another example which we can see globally is the adoption of connected cattle collars to monitor the well-being, location and other vital parameters of the cattle. This is used especially for dairy cows.

IoT Business News : How is IoT revolutionizing the farming profession? Aside from enabling efficiency and productivity while reducing physical effort, what other benefits does IoT bring to the agriculture sector?

Nicolas Andrieu: Agriculture and farming are often seen as old and outdated. However, businesses are approaching our partners and actively looking to take advantage of IoT’s potential to transform everything from productivity, to internal processes and operations.

IoT Business News : How is Sigfox supporting the transformation of the agricultural industry?

Nicolas Andrieu: Sigfox works with an ecosystem of partners, including Weenat, Sencrop, Libelium, Evvos, Adeunis, Isagri to name just a few, to help the agricultural industry accelerate its digital transformation, develop new services and create value.

IoT Business News : How is the Twiga Foods real-life example showcasing how deploying IoT solutions has significantly increased productivity?

Nicolas Andrieu: Twiga Food’s Takuwa farm operates an agricultural IoT system to improve farm productivity. The system includes four different types of agricultural sensors: a comprehensive weather station, soil moisture and temperature probes, borehole water meters, and sensors for measuring irrigation water acidity and salinity.

These sensors provide critical information to the Twiga agronomy team. The smart weather station offers real time data that helps farm managers deploy the most effective farming methods for irrigation and application of pesticides. Furthermore, the water quality sensors deliver specific metrics that help the team to optimize fertilizer application. Additional data gathered and monitored on a real-time basis include temperature, humidity, rainfall, and wind speed.

IoT Business News : Does the Sigfox offering work with or benefit farm machinery and telematics too? If not, why not? Will these become part of the 0G network connectivity in time and when?

Nicolas Andrieu: Sigfox connectivity is available to all use cases and verticals, so any farm machinery or telematics can also benefit from Sigfox connectivity.

IoT Business News : What issues specifically affect farm machinery and telematics when they are out of cellular range, and is there a Sigfox solution that would keep data flowing in those situations?

Nicolas Andrieu: Sigfox’s 0G network coverage is often nationwide. However, if the coverage is insufficient, there are small easy-to-install base stations to ensure full coverage.

IoT Business News : What the sensor technology does at farm level is all pretty standard these days, but what does the Sigfox solution offer that competitors do not?

Nicolas Andrieu: We believe the future for the IoT lies in “mass IoT”, where billions of everyday objects are connected to the Internet. However, there are three key challenges to achieving this – energy consumption, cost and compatibility.

Our low-bandwidth dedicated 0G network, together with our partner ecosystem, solve these three challenges:

1. Lowest-energy consumption – Sigfox enables sensors to function without the need for batteries, which will remove the need for maintenance. Today, multiples sources of energy in the physical world can enable energy-harvesting, including solar, wind and electromagnetic waves. The simplicity of our technology means that we can provide the best possible user experience and lowest maintenance costs, and one day remove the need for replacing or re-charging batteries since the devices will generate energy themselves.

2. Lowest-cost: the cost and complexity of the required silicon to connect objects need to be dramatically reduced. The simplicity in our technology enables this. Today, a SIM card module often costs up to $40, but a module on our network can cost as little as a few dollars – at this cost, you can economically connect virtually anything. Sigfox’s ecosystem recently announced the world’s lowest cost modules starting at just $2. Sigfox also launched a simplified connectivity service that transforms any short range wireless device into a long range IoT device running on a module that costs just $0.20.

3. Complementary technology: Sigfox is compatible with Bluetooth, GPS 2G/3G/4G/5G and Wi-Fi. By combining other connectivity solutions with Sigfox, business cases and user experience can be drastically improved. The benefits of having both Sigfox and cellular based technologies in the same IoT devices offer additional security, reliability (backup and troubleshooting) and anti-jamming.

IoT Business News : How does Sigfox gather the data from farming devices? Is it a global, private Wi-Fi network that reaches areas that cellular networks don’t or is there more to it – and if so what?

Nicolas Andrieu: Our 0G network is used to connect devices that regularly communicate very small messages for agro-environmental data collection and other uses. Devices that transmit small messages are increasingly responsible for most IoT use cases – from tracking shipping containers and monitoring fire hydrants, to securing buildings and helping farmers monitor irrigation levels.

Sigfox’s 0G network covers a larger area with less transponder antennas (25Km range in free space). This is useful for broad coverage in rural areas. Also as we provide a single global network, clients benefit from a single contract with zero roaming costs. Sigfox is now available in 72 countries and regions across the globe.

IoT Business News : What are the costs and practicalities of farmers connecting their sensors to this network for data collection?

Nicolas Andrieu: Our game-changing approach makes it possible to send and receive data without the need for complex connections or SIM cards.

Devices simply listen in and capture specifically formatted radio messages from around the globe, needing something as simple, and as small, as the silicon chip that you find in a remote control.

The costs are made up of devices, the platform and the connectivity subscription. Keeping in mind that our mission at Sigfox is enabling data extraction at an unbeatable cost of production.

IoT Business News : How would aggregation work?

Nicolas Andrieu: The data coming from IoT devices is captured, processed and managed by Sigfox network and cloud, and then sent to the IT platform (owned by the farmers) where data is aggregated, stored locally and displayed on a dashboard providing invaluable analytics.

The post Interview with Nicolas Andrieu, SVP EMEA at Sigfox: How IoT has only just begun to revolutionise agricultural trade appeared first on IoT Business News.

According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the global market for precision agriculture solutions is forecasted to grow from € 2.7 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8 percent to reach about € 3.7 billion in 2025.

A set of technologies are applied in precision farming practices, which are aimed at managing variations in the field to maximise yield, raise productivity and reduce consumption of agricultural inputs.

While solutions such as auto-guidance and machine monitoring and control via on-board displays today are mainstream technologies in the agricultural industry, telematics and Variable Rate Technology (VRT) are still in the early stages of adoption. Interoperability between solutions remains a challenge, although standardisation initiatives led by organisations such as Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation and AgGateway make progress.

Most major agricultural equipment manufacturers have today initiatives related to precision agriculture although strategies vary markedly. Leading vendors of precision agriculture solutions include the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment Deere & Company, followed by the precision technology vendors Trimble, Topcon Positioning Systems, Raven Industries and Hexagon.

Major input manufacturers like BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta have entered the space primarily through acquisitions and focus on providing mapping tools and decision support for the purpose of input optimisation and yield maximisation. A group of companies have emerged as leaders on the nascent market for in-field sensor systems. These include Semios, Pessl Instruments with its METOS brand, Davis Instruments and Sencrop.

Dealerships play a crucial role in the agricultural industry as the customer base is dispersed across remote areas.

Fredrik Stalbrand, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight, said:

“The increasingly complex technological environment that farmers operate in demands dealers to offer a greater extent of services to integrate and support the range of solutions that are used in precision farming.”

Investments in dealership training and support enable companies to provide complete offerings including installation and integration with equipment that is used on the farm.
“New entrants are thus challenged not only to offer value for farmers but also dealers. Investments in channel partners will be key to expansion”, concluded Mr. Stalbrand.

The post The precision agriculture market to reach € 3.7 billion worldwide in 2025 appeared first on IoT Business News.

Data-led farming is improving security and preventing losses – with other benefits around safe, sustainable agriculture

In meeting food production demands, farmers face diverse daily challenges to achieve maximised yields and optimised profitability. The often remote locations and high-value assets of farms have long made them vulnerable to criminal activity. However, 2019 saw a 9% rise in rural crime at a cost of £54 million and, since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, authorities have noted an increase in livestock rustling and equipment theft according to the Financial Times. This trend has a severe impact on farmers’ bottom lines, necessitating a change in tack to avoid the costs, downtime and losses.

Securing the Farms of the Future

Precision farming using smart technologies is fast evolving to transform the traditional approach. While this has formed part of farming rhetoric for many years, a recent acceleration in technological advancement has seen smart technologies form the cornerstone of new age agriculture. From maximised yields and data-driven sustainable modifications to advanced security capabilities, farmers are embracing digital transformation for its cost-effectiveness, ease of integration, and wide range of benefits.

The Smart Way to Secure Farm Assets

Traditional farm security measures have failed to keep up with increasingly organised criminal syndicates. Many farms have dispersed assets spanning potentially vast distances, which are usually far from law enforcement. Smart security solutions use data to give farmers a constant, real-time view of their farming operations – information which can be remotely accessed at any time.

Access Control and Individual Asset Monitoring

Some smart technology solutions integrate with existing CCTV and security systems, but many can be tailored to specific concerns, infrastructure, and key assets and personnel for maximum effect. Using motion sensors, pressure pads, and tags, farm perimeters are easily secured and a system of access control is easily created. Individually tagged assets are simply tracked – and this allows farmers to strategically secure high-value or easily targeted assets for peace of mind.

Data-Driven Action. Enhanced Recoverability

Not only do farmers get a comprehensive, dynamic view of their entire farming operation, they also get pre-programmed alerts on an extensive range of metrics including unauthorised footfall, movement of tagged assets, the opening of doors and windows, and electric fence faults and breaches. From large, expensive farm equipment to bags of fertiliser, farmers use their data insights to drive a new and robust farm security system across the entire supply chain. Additionally, having a real-time view of assets means, in the event of theft, the chances of recovery are greatly enhanced (a factor which affects continuity of operations and may have a bearing on insurance costs).

Livestock safety

Livestock to the value of £3 million was stolen as of April 2020. Wearable technologies leave less to chance when it comes to the security and general wellbeing of livestock. GPS cattle collars are advancing, with far extended battery capabilities and visibility for effective herd management. Ingestible temperature monitoring technologies are also revolutionising the approach to disease management and calving, with increased viability of individual animals mitigating losses and increasing outputs and profits.

Food Safety

There is a growing concern amongst so-called ‘prosumers’ around the sustainability and safety of the food they buy. When used across different applications within the farming supply chain, these technologies have additional benefits around evidenced food safety. These data insights – from ground to grocer – provide improved traceability; simplified transport, storage, and packaging; greatly simplified compliance and reporting; and reduced food waste and shrinkage.

A Smarter Take on Sustainability

According to the United Nations, the global population is expected to grow by more than two billion people by 2050 and food production needs to increase by 70% to meet meat production demands. According to National Geographic, the third green revolution is underway and, as science has solved the problem of world hunger in the past, it seems digital solutions are geared to do the same going forward. By collecting and analysing data, farmers are empowered to make precision adjustments to hone irrigation, fertiliser, and pesticide use – and react to changes in growing conditions, the onset of disease, and so on.

The Art of Smart Farming

Digital transformation in farming for security, food safety, and sustainability relies on simplicity. From the hardware used to its zero trust Orion Data Network, one of the leading smart technology innovators, Smarter Technologies, has developed smart solutions which are accessible to farmers. Cost-effective, long-lasting, and fit-for-purpose, Smarter Technologies is helping farmers to collect, analyse, and pivot according to real-time data readings on their farm.

The post Smart Farm Technologies: Shaping Security on Farms appeared first on IoT Business News.

Globalstar, Inc. today announced that it has signed a commercial agreement with Ceres Tag, to supply satellite services to the livestock industry through the world’s first and only smart ear tag for traceability provenance, biosecurity, health, animal welfare, production improvement and theft reduction.

This agreement follows Ceres Tag’s recent success in winning the SVG Ventures THRIVE Challenge and their ear tag being named as the #1 Big Breakthrough Technology for Ag Change in the Next Decade by the AgJournal of Weekend Australian.

The Ceres Tag platform uses the unique capabilities of Globalstar to produce a small and light weight (just over one ounce) smart ear tag that attaches to the animal and automatically sends the data to the cloud via the Globalstar Satellite Network.

The Ceres Tag requires no infrastructure, no maintenance and has a battery capable of lasting the lifetime of an animal making it the lowest cost, scalable, plug and play option for ranchers to produce better performing animals at a greater profit.

David Smith, CEO of Ceres Tag, commented:

“With over 1 billion cattle in the world and a similar number of sheep and goats, we now have a low-cost limitless way to monitor our animals. There has never been a more important time to know where your food has come from than during this pandemic.”

The unique relationship with Globalstar enables Ceres Tag to supply an automated daily recording of animals including world exclusive capabilities on pasture feed intake, which is primary to determining feed efficiency, genetic selection and managing of greenhouse gas. Traceability, biosecurity, performance, health and welfare have never been under more scrutiny than they are now.

David Kagan, CEO of Globalstar Inc., commented:
“We saw an immediate match between Globalstar and Ceres Tag to deliver this unique monitoring capability to over 80% of the world’s livestock that are located in remote locations where there is no infrastructure and where you may only see the animals once or twice a year.”

Smith also commented, “Ceres Tag is quickly becoming one of the world’s most comprehensive animal monitoring companies with a wildlife and pet platform, also well developed in the pipeline and due for launch in 2022.”

Kagan added:
“With this partnership, Globalstar will be one of the world’s largest providers of LEO satellite enabled IoT solutions. This partnership builds on a strategy of unlocking the full scalability of devices across several sectors. Animal monitoring is one of these areas in which we see significant growth opportunity.”

The post Globalstar Signs Agreement With Ceres Tag, the World’s Only Direct to Satellite Livestock Smart Ear Tag appeared first on IoT Business News.

Mitigates the environmental impact of farming throughout Latin America, while reducing costs and preserving water.

ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, today announced that Ponce, an Argentinian IoT company specializing in agricultural efficiency, is helping farmers throughout Latin America gain substantial cost savings and preserve water through its irrigation solutions that utilize ORBCOMM’s satellite IoT technology.

Ponce’s solution is powered by ORBCOMM’s reliable, global satellite connectivity and connected to an ORBCOMM modem for real-time monitoring and management of irrigation equipment located in remote regions where cellular coverage is unavailable or unreliable. Ponce’s advanced system combines early detection of machine failure with accurate crop irrigation data to help farmers automate manual processes to inspect equipment, detect faulty machinery and conduct maintenance. The device reports machine position, water pressure, abnormalities and other critical parameters such as hours of use, water usage, water flow and rainfall measurement. The information is transmitted via satellite to Ponce’s data cloud, which sends alerts and reports to farmers’ mobile devices in real time, enabling faster, more informed business decisions about optimal irrigation schedules, maintenance activities as well as the movement and position of irrigation equipment.

Ponce works with some of the leading agricultural growers in Latin America, which report that the irrigation solution has helped them address critical challenges to their farming operations. One of Ponce’s customers, La Guía, which has over 2,000 hectares of land supported by 19 irrigation machines, saves an estimated 90 hours of water waste per year, a considerable environmental and cost savings. By implementing Ponce’s solution, La Guía’s team receives notifications of abnormalities that require further inspection immediately on their phone, decreasing field visits, reducing working hours allocated to inspections and minimizing human error in the operation of the equipment, leading to an average of 50% fuel savings and much less vehicle wear and tear and carbon emissions in the environment.

Christian Allred, ORBCOMM’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Global Sales, said:

“ORBCOMM’s reliable satellite connectivity is critical to the success of Ponce’s sophisticated solution, which has revolutionized irrigation operations for farmers, while helping reduce the environmental impact of farming and preserve water, both of which are integral to our corporate social responsibility mission.”

“We’re pleased to help Ponce enable farmers throughout Latin America achieve substantial savings in production costs, driven by improved equipment uptime, limited crop destruction and lower operational costs.”

“Thanks to Ponce’s solution, we have achieved significant efficiency in water usage and equipment failure responsiveness,” said Francisco Lodos, La Guía’s General Manager. “In the past, when a machine failed, we might not find out for hours, but now, Ponce’s system informs us immediately. Even better, if we don’t respond to the notification right away, we get a phone call to follow up and ensure the failure is resolved quickly, saving us substantial costs and helping protect our most crucial resource, which is water.”

The post Ponce Utilizes ORBCOMM’s Satellite IoT Technology to Enable Efficient Agricultural Irrigation appeared first on IoT Business News.

“The agricultural sector is an attractive revenue growth opportunity for IoT technology suppliers that can deliver an integrated solution.”

The agricultural sector has been considered to be a strong market for IoT, particularly since the advent of LPWA, but activity has been limited. However, some technology providers are now making progress in this sector, though some barriers, such as a fragmented upstream supply chain to the producers, still remain.

We estimate that the IoT revenue for suppliers in the agricultural sector will exceed USD6 billion by 2028, and that the majority of this revenue (USD5.7 billion) will come from applications and hardware solutions. The agricultural sector is therefore an attractive revenue growth opportunity for technology suppliers provided that they can deliver an integrated solution with hardware, applications and connectivity. Furthermore, investment to develop solutions in the agritech sector is growing. Indeed, agritech start-ups raised USD16.9 billion in 2018 (a 43% increase over 2017) according to the Agfunder Agrifood Tech Investing Report 2018.

Identifying channels to market is complex, and the need for end-to-end solutions deters some providers from addressing the sector

There are multiple challenges in delivering IoT services for the agricultural sector. Farmers require end-to-end solutions and services that are simple to install and operate. Suppliers do not always have the assets and skills to deliver such end-to-end solutions. They can only address this through internal builds, partnerships or acquisitions, all of which require investment and carry significant risk.

The agricultural upstream supply chain to farmers is fragmented, meaning that it is difficult for suppliers to identify channels to market. There are many small companies and only a few large ones (such as John Deere and Monsanto). It is more difficult for technology companies to identify key stakeholders in the agricultural sector than in the automotive or utilities sectors, which are more-concentrated industries.

Opportunities to sell IoT solutions in the agricultural sector may be as important in low- and middle-income countries as in high-income countries because agriculture accounts for a greater share of GDP in the former. However, the opportunity varies by country, and market structure and regulation must be factored into any market entry strategy. For example, governments may have established quota systems or subsidies, which by their nature undermine farmers’ incentives to increase productivity and hence adopt new technologies. The agricultural sector also has a large number of use cases, a fragmented customer base and a supply chain that differs by country, whereas the smart metering use case, for example, is similar in many countries, has a small number of buyers (utilities) and a relatively simple supply chain.

All of these factors make it difficult for technology suppliers to create scalable solutions.

Some companies are developing routes to market and creating innovative solutions

We evaluated the strategies of several technology suppliers that have developed IoT solutions for the agricultural sector in our recent reports, IoT in agriculture: the role of operators and IoT in agriculture: case studies and analysis. An overview of the approaches of these suppliers is shown in Figure 1.

The technology providers listed in Figure 1 are pioneers in providing IoT solutions to the agricultural sector. Some have identified sound routes to market, and others are developing solutions as a direct response to customer needs. Some are also addressing requirements in emerging markets. It is still too early to identify best practice, but the firms included in our research are demonstrating solid early progress.

• Mezzanine’s MYFARMWEB solution is a comprehensive precision farming platform that has been developed with Mezzanine’s partner and specialist agronomy consultancy, Agritechnovation. Mezzanine has understood the supply chain and this understanding has been key to its success.

• Libelium works with systems integrators and application providers to build solutions based on its sensor technologies. It also works with other institutions such as banks and the public sector to take solutions to market.

• Nokia WING has built smart agriculture and livestock solutions with partners and delivers them as SaaS to operators. It has developed interesting business models to lower the cost of adoption and is seeing growing demand in emerging markets.

Dedicating resources to developing IoT solutions in a largely unproven sector, such as agriculture, is high-risk and many technology providers will choose not to target this vertical with their IoT propositions. Those that do target the sector will need to develop solutions, build a solid understanding of the supply chain and channels to market and explore the opportunity in emerging markets.

The post IoT in agriculture: emerging markets provide important opportunities for operators appeared first on IoT Business News.

Collaboration Simplifies Access to Advanced Farming Technology Designed to Improve Growing Processes, Increase Crop Yields, and Reduce Input Costs.

Senet, Inc. today announced a partnership with Zenseio, an IoT System Integrator specializing in embedded technology and durable, ready-to-use sensors and telemetry devices for the agriculture and industrial markets.

Through this technology partnership, Senet has certified the Zenseio LSMP2 – Professional Multi-purpose Telemetry Station, providing the agriculture market with a pre-integrated, network-tested solution designed to modernize how soil conditions, water usage, weather conditions, and other parameters are monitored.

Senet has also added the Zenseio LSMP2 to its LoRaWAN end device Marketplace, a listing of hundreds of devices that are certified or at various stages of being certified to operate on the Senet network. Easy access to these certified devices can help reduce time to market and ensure optimal performance.

Built to withstand years of operation in harsh elements without maintenance, the industrial-grade, battery-operated LSMP2 Telemetry Station allows growers to more precisely monitor and control large-scale agricultural environments at a low capital cost. Certification with the Senet network provides customers with access to the largest public LoRaWAN network in the United States and flexible options to add coverage based on unique geographical and application-specific connectivity requirements.

Roman Staszewski, President of Zenseio, said:

“Today’s IoT sensors must be low cost, easy to install and last for long periods of time in the field. These characteristics allow growers to scale their deployments and benefit from true operational visibility.”

“Senet’s highly scalable LoRaWAN network provides a significant opportunity for growers to deploy low cost, low power sensor technology to understand more about their crops and take action to improve their operations, increase yields, and optimize resource usage.”

Until now, poor wireless coverage in rural areas has impeded the adoption of IoT solutions. Farmland is often isolated from cellular and Wi-Fi technologies and where they do exist, cost and complexity of deployment can be prohibitive. Changing the paradigm for how IoT services are delivered and monetized, Senet and Senet network operator partners provide extensive coverage options in rural areas, allowing for a multitude of agriculture and precision farming applications to be deployed today.

“We are excited to be working with Zenseio to provide secure, low power wide area IoT network connectivity for their Smart Agriculture sensors,” said Bruce Chatterley, CEO at Senet. “Growers have unique challenges in rural areas and the long-range network coverage and extended battery life features of LoRaWAN provide new opportunities for farmers to revolutionize traditional growing processes and produce the highest yields and quality possible.”

The post Senet and Zenseio Partner to Deliver Smart Agriculture Solutions appeared first on IoT Business News.

XAG announces that its Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) crop protection services have covered an accumulated farmland of 20 million hectares, amid a large-scale cotton defoliation operation in Xinjiang, China.

Among the first to introduce fully autonomous drones to transform the way crops are grown, XAG has become one of the world’s largest agriculture drone manufacturers and service providers. Its crop spraying drones have operated in 38 countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, Zambia, etc.

According to XAG Flight Information System (XFIS), up to September 11, 2019, the company’s total drone service record has exceeded 20 million hectares, which is 400% higher than that of a year ago. Particularly, this August, XAG conducted a record-breaking, single-day operation on as many as 140,000 hectares of farmlands, marking a milestone in the global UAS crop protection industry.

The 20-million-hectare service record indicates XAG’s enriched experience in drone-based crop protection as well as farmers’ strengthened trust on the new technology. The precision spraying solutions have been applied to sustainably safeguard a wide range of crops, including maize, cotton, rice, wheat and fruit trees, from harmful weeds and pest diseases.

Closing Yield Gap for Maize and Cotton

In a series of recent drone attacks on the ‘crop devouring’ fall armyworm, XAG has demonstrated that its aerial spraying solutions are highly effective in controlling the spread of these prolific, fast-spreading pests on maize fields. This April, XAG teamed up with Bayer Crop Science to launch a joint emergency control operation in China’s Guangxi Province, where a swarm of crop spraying drones were deployed to kill the pests with a larval mortality rate of 98%.

Following the defeat over fall armyworm, XAG has initiated a large-scale cotton defoliation operation ‘Take off for Harvest Time’ in China for the third consecutive year. Over 1000 professional crop protection teams with an estimated 3000 sets of P Series Plant Protection UASs have gathered in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to meet the ever-increasing market demands from local cotton growers.

Up to mid-September, XAG’s regional service record in Xinjiang alone has reached approximately 4.8 million hectares. Compared to the same period of last year, 49% more cotton fields have been precisely sprayed and effectively defoliated by XAG’s agriculture drones.

Xinjiang accounts for 80% of the nation’s cotton production, where 2.6 million hectares of cotton have been planted this year. To ensure a high-quality machine harvest, farmers need to spray defoliant to remove all the cotton leaves. Compared with hand sprayers or tractors, XAG’s crop spraying drones precisely apply demanded dosage of defoliant to reduce cotton impurities and improve fiber quality, while minimising the use of chemicals and agricultural water. The UAS precision spraying technology is making cotton production more in line with environmentally sustainable standards.

Solving Local Problem in a Global Scale

Founded in 2007, XAG is a Chinese-based agriculture technology company and one of the world’s largest industrial UAS manufacturers. Through empowering farmers with precision technologies such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things (IoT), XAG has been committed to improving the productivity, quality and sustainability of agricultural production. Currently, it has established global partnerships with industry leaders and research institutions, such as Bayer, Alibaba, Huawei, Harper Adams University and Sydney University, to promote digital farming and enhance food safety.

Having transformed crop protection approach on 20 million hectares of lands, XAG’s smart agriculture solutions have been introduced into 38 overseas markets and adapted to the local agricultural landscape, such as bee pollination and weed control in Australia, the fall armyworm plague in Zambia and the aging rural population in Japan.

The post Chinese Agri-tech Giant XAG Defended 20-million-hectare Farmlands with Crop Spraying Drones appeared first on IoT Business News.

With an investment of less than 30€ annually per animal, ranchers have experienced return on investment in less than a year.

Semtech Corporation announced that itk, a leading French supplier of Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart agriculture applications, has developed a new cattle health monitoring solution based on Semtech’s LoRa® devices.

The FarmLife® smart agriculture service and its LoRa-enabled sensors detect cattle estrus, drive improved nutrition and predict the onset of disease to help ranchers better monitor their herd.

“Semtech’s LoRa devices provided the ideal platform on which to develop our cattle monitoring solutions,” said Eric Jallas, CEO at itk. “The IoT technology’s proven advantages for smart agriculture, including long range communication and ultra-low power consumption, were key characteristics for itk to develop its cattle monitoring sensors. LoRa devices’ flexibility in deployment makes a key difference for connecting animals and offers the potential for a significant return on investment (ROI). Our unique solution provides ranchers with tangible, actionable data on the health of their herd to remove variables from ranching and create productive, efficient and profitable ranches.”

Offering a flexible solution for the smart agriculture vertical, Semtech’s LoRa devices create applications that help minimize waste, maximize yield, reduce expenses, and offer farms and ranches an opportunity to operate as efficiently as possible.

itk’s LoRa-based sensors deploy simply through a collar equipped to each animal. The collar is non-invasive and immediately begins reporting data on the cow’s health upon deployment. Ranchers monitor their herd from this unique LoRa-based device, which provides the benefits of four value added services: Heat’Live® for heat detection, Feed’Live® for nutrition optimization, Time’Live® for animal welfare, and Vel’Live® for calving detection. These services are available through itk’s FarmLife Cloud platform. In total, deploying itk’s solution costs less than 30€ per animal annually.

In addition to the 300,000 cows already monitored in Europe, approximately 20 ranches have deployed itk’s FarmLife platform in North America, connecting cows to the Cloud through network connectivity from X-TELIA, a leading Canadian network provider. Following this initial deployment, farmers claimed they received an ROI in less than a year through an increase in ranch productivity and efficiency. X-TELIA and itk plan to continue the rollout of this smart agriculture solution in the Canadian market, adding itk’s San’Phone® cattle health monitoring service and its Thermo-bolus sensor to connect up to 2.4 million cows in the coming months.

“From measuring environmental conditions that influence crop production to tracking livestock health indicators, LoRa devices for smart agriculture enable efficiencies that reduce environmental impact, maximize yield and minimize expenses,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group.

“With LoRa, ranchers are empowered knowing that their animals are being monitored more accurately and efficiently than before. itk’s LoRa-based cattle sensor and the Thermo-bolus provide real-time data to enable ranches to operate as healthily and productively as possible.”

The post Semtech and itk Create Healthy and Productive Ranches with LoRa® Devices appeared first on IoT Business News.

Sponsored by the world’s leading telecom supplier Huawei Technologies, the Huawei Cloud City Summit, under the theme ‘Cloud for Good’, was recently held in China’s southern city Guangzhou to promote industry innovations driven by 5G technology.

As a global agriculture technology company and industrial UAS manufacturer, XAG was invited to attend the summit to share its prospect of 5G-powered agriculture in collaboration with Huawei.

At the summit, Justin Gong, Co-founder and Vice President of XAG, gave a keynote speech to explain the company’s multi-layer smart agriculture solutions. XAG has developed drones, internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital farming tools to help farmers effectively grow high-quality produce without exerting excessive environmental pressure on the planet. Specifically, with improved efficiency and user experience, 5G is expected to become a new catalyst to accelerate the development of intelligent agriculture.

This July, XAG partnered with Huawei on a smart agriculture project in which the two companies initiated joint experiments to explore the potential applications of 5G, AI and Cloud Computing in agriculture.

Since 2016, XAG has joined hands with Huawei in developing the Agriculture IoT System (XIoT), which aims to rebuild the trust between producers and consumers with a more transparent, traceable food value chain. XAG’s FarmMonitor and FarmCam can collect real-time meteorological and soil data, such as rainfall, wind speed, soil moisture and temperature, and capture HD field images to help farmers manage their lands more scientifically. These intelligent sensors are empowered with Huawei’s communication and HiSilicon imaging solutions that enable high-resolution, smooth monitoring of crop growth status while saving a huge amount of data usage.

5G has the potential to transform agriculture, as the development of smart farming is heavily dependent on both mobile internet and automated devices to achieve real-time, precise production and management. XAG’s cooperation with Huawei is expected to expand throughout the entire production system, with the emphasis on leveraging 5G technology to seamlessly interconnect people and a vast diversity of smart agricultural devices in new level of performance, cost-efficiency and immersive experience.

With a much higher peak data rate, lower latency and massive capability, 5G can not only raise the speed and precision of data transmission and processing but also improve the control accuracy and stability of drones and robots. When 5G combines with AI and cloud computing, new production scenarios such as live video monitoring, remote diagnostics and on-site prescription would emerge to enable precision agriculture.

For example, geographic and imaging data captured by XAG’s surveying drones can be real-time processed in the cloud, while Agriculture Intelligence (XAI) can immediately analyse those data to generate AI prescription maps on site to achieve the Variable-rate Application (VRA) of the plant protection drones or other automated agri-machineries.

During the past six years, XAG has developed a fully autonomous plant protection drone to replace physical labour on seeding, fertilising and chemical spraying. This means that a large amount of agricultural production data, including field edges, landforms, object location, crop growth, flight path and spraying dosage, have been accumulated for AI analytics and deep learning.

Moreover, the partnership between XAG and Huawei will also take further steps to elevate the agricultural application of IoT to a new height. With 5G and cloud computing, the growing condition of croplands would be streamed via live videos on mobile phones to improve farmers’ crop management experience and alleviate consumers’ concern on food safety. Farmers can conduct remote crop disease diagnosis more accurately without staying by the fields and sweating all over. And consumers will be well informed by the produce traceability system so that the trust gap between consumer and producer will close.

Since 2013, XAG has leveraged its smart agriculture technologies to serve over 4.7 million farmers worldwide and conducted precise, cost-effective UAS crop protection on more than 6 million hectares of farmlands. With the deepened cooperation with Huawei, XAG will strive to interconnect all its intelligent devices, including drones, sensors and robots, through 5G, AI and cloud computing to achieve automated agriculture and smart farming.

The post XAG and Huawei Cooperate on 5G-powered Smart Agriculture appeared first on IoT Business News.

Oizom’s LoRa-based sensors reduce farm water and electricity consumption by up to 26 percent.

Semtech Corporation announced that Oizom, an Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider for environmental applications, leveraged Semtech’s LoRa® devices and Tata Communications’ LoRaWAN®-based networking infrastructure for its new Agribot smart agriculture solution.

“As water becomes an increasingly rare and expensive resource worldwide, smart agriculture solutions with Semtech’s LoRa devices allow farmers to accurately monitor their irrigation systems,” said Sohil Patel, Chief Technology Officer at Oizom.

“The LoRa-based Agribot sensor is easy to install and leverages the LoRaWAN protocol to provide accurate soil irrigation data, even in areas without Cellular coverage. With access to sensor data, farmers can optimize their water usage and create smarter, more efficient and profitable farms.”

Agribot is a LoRa-enabled wireless IoT system that offers farmers real-time insight into the health of their crops by monitoring soil conditions including humidity and pH. The sensor also leverages LoRa to monitor water level for wet crops such as rice. Data from LoRa-based sensors allow farmers to make smarter decisions in the irrigation of their crops, improving crop yield.

A recent pilot project of Agribot in Tirupati, India resulted in a reduction of farm water and electricity consumption by up to 26 percent following deployment. The sensors report soil condition data through Cloud-based servers using LoRaWAN-based networks from Tata Communications, a LoRa Alliance® member and leading global network provider. LoRaWAN-based networks provide coverage up to 30 miles in rural areas, allowing agriculture sensors to connect to the Cloud in areas with unreliable or nonexistent network coverage.

“Semtech’s LoRa devices provide the proven feature set necessary for real-time data monitoring and long range Cloud connectivity, making it the optimal IoT solution for smart agriculture applications,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “With LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol’s proven capabilities, Oizom is able to accelerate a product to market quickly while capturing a wide range of soil data in a variety of environmental temperatures.”

The post Semtech’s IoT Platform Monitors Soil Irrigation for Healthier Crops appeared first on IoT Business News.

Altair’s Cellular IoT chipset, ALT1250, provides LTE Connectivity for a host of inter-connected farming solutions in Brazil, where agricultural workers are embracing the IoT revolution, connecting millions of acres to a global cellular network.

Altair Semiconductor has announced that its ALT1250 dual mode CAT-M/NB-IoT chipset can now operate on the 450 MHz spectrum.

In an industry first, the ALT1250 chipset is powering the Asiatelco LM66 IoT module, which provides LTE connectivity for a range of connected devices, and has been developed to provide agricultural solutions for large-scale farming in Brazil.

Operating on the 450 MHz LTE spectrum and utilizing Ericsson’s LTE eNBs, Altair’s cellular IoT chipset enables agricultural companies using smart sensors and connected tractors applications to optimize farming practices. The solution uses location tracking, driver behavior monitoring, and fuel consumption optimization.

“Altair is looking to revolutionize cellular IoT connectivity across Brazil. The solution was field tested and demonstrated the potential of 450 MHz’s frequency reach in agriculture use cases. It will certainly enable an exciting range of transformative applications in rural areas”, said Paulo Bernardocki, Head of Solutions Radio, Ericsson LATAM South.

Altair’s dual-mode cellular IoT chipset, ALT1250, is the only available CAT-M and NB-IoT solution trialed to run on 450 MHz. ALT1250 is the most highly integrated dual-mode CAT-M/NB-IoT chipset, with the most extended battery life in the market. The chipset supports Global LTE bands within a single hardware design and supports both satellite and cellular positioning tracking. The Altair-powered LM66 modules are capable of connecting and delivering data over the LTE450 network as well.

“There’s a global trend resulting in a significant amount of 450 MHz spectrum being re-allocated for new use cases on LTE450 networks, as legacy 2G and 3G networks are being retired,” said Igor Tovberg, Altair’s Director of Product Marketing.

“450 MHz is ideal for agricultural IoT applications, providing superior network coverage essential for the wide and often remote farming locations that exist in Brazil.”

The post Altair Semiconductor Showcases First Ever Application of LTE CAT-M/NB-IoT Solution on 450 MHz appeared first on IoT Business News.

The 3rd AI for Good Global Summit, a leading United Nation platform for multilateral dialogue on Artificial Intelligence (AI), was kicked off in Geneva, Switzerland, May 28-31.

As the only Chinese agri-tech company to join the Summit, XAG presented its innovative solutions of combining drones with AI and IoT technology to achieve precision agriculture and induce transformational changes to the food system.

Bringing together over 1,200 interdisciplinary participants from 200 countries, the AI for Good Global Summit connects AI innovators with problem owners to identify practical applications of AI to accelerate process towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Speakers from industry giants such as Microsoft, Google, Mastercard, IBM, Airbus, Siemens, Danone and Roland Berger were present at the Summit.

“Zero Hunger” is one of the 17 UN SDGs expected to be achieved by 2030. According to the United Nations, up to 80% of food consumed in most developing countries are produced by smallholder farmers who, however, account for approximately 50% of the 815 million people suffering from hunger worldwide. At the Summit’s session on AI and Agriculture, Justin Gong, Co-founder and Vice President of XAG, together with other panel experts from Microsoft, Tata Group and Connecterra has proposed projects and initiatives to exploit new possibilities of AI technology to improve food security and end hunger.

Make AI-driven Precision Agriculture Practical

Artificial Intelligence, through continuously analysing massive data related to climate, lands, crop growing, etc., while automatically designing and optimising algorithms for decision-making, can help farmers diagnose plant diseases, predict natural disasters and employ appropriate resources to close the yield gap. At XAG, AI-powered intelligent devices such as drones and sensors have been leveraged to establish digital farming infrastructure in rural areas and enable precision agriculture which, for example, accurately target pesticides, seeds, fertilisers and water to wherever it is needed.

Justin Gong said:

“The diffusion of AI innovations is nonlinear. Unlike releasing new drugs or medicine which would totally disrupt the market, AI technologies are learning from countless applications and gradually entering our daily life.”

For the past five years, XAG has conducted UAS plant protection services on over 6 million hectares of farmlands, covering 255 crop varieties from rice and wheat to cotton and fruit trees. This has reduced more than 6000 tons of pesticides and fertilisers while conserving 1.4 million tons of agricultural water. In the meantime, the agriculture production data collected during the process will train XAG Agriculture Intelligence (XAI) to become smarter.

Besides, XAI has been developed to dig up the values behind field images and generate AI prescription map to assist high-precision operation. In the case of orchard management, farmers use XMission Multifunctional UAS mounted with a mapping camera to take high-definition images of the orchards. Based on the 1:500 HD field images, XAI can automatically identify the boundaries and obstacles as well as calculating the statistic of fruit trees in each orchard. The position of each fruit tree, including its centre and perimeter, can be accurately pinpointed, with the recall ratio and precision ratio reaching as high as 98.60% and 98.04% respectively. Thousands of fruit trees can be simultaneously located by XAI in only one second.

When analysing remote sensing images, XAI can go further to detect pests, weeds and diseases, recognise cotton boll opening rate as well as monitoring crop growth of a certain farmland. This enable AI prescription service which provides intelligent guidance for precision spraying.

Business Model Innovation Comes Along with AI and Drone

Through the development of Agriculture Intelligence, XAG has also driven collaboration between multi-stakeholders including farmers, service providers and traditional agriculture companies to promote a new business model that benefits all sides. As Gong presented, the cotton production business in Xinjiang, China has been disrupted by the diffusion of AI and drone technology. Compared to picking cotton by hand in the past, local farmers now primarily use large ground-based machines such as tractors to harvest cotton. Traditionally, in order to ensure a better-quality machine harvest, farmers tend to spray multiple times of defoliant to remove all the cotton leaves. This approach would cause overdosing that wastes a large amount of water and chemicals.

With four years’ field experiments on deep learning, image segmentation and convolutional neural network, XAG has taken the lead in utilising drones and AI to reduce the use and of defoliant. A large-scale cotton defoliation operation has even been initiated in Xinjiang during autumn 2018. Specifically, XAI could predict the cotton opening time and determine the best time to conduct spraying, through the analysis of meteorological data and the cotton growing status. Then, the amount of defoliant needed for different patches of land would be calculated to form an AI prescription map and therefore enable precision spraying.

This has completely changed the game for agriculture production. In the past, due to information asymmetry and lack of professional farming knowledge, farmers heavily relied on chemical distributors to decide what to buy and how much should be applied to the crops. Now with new technologies bridging the gap, the traditional chemical distributors must transform themselves to providing more reliable, guaranteed service based on the AI prescription map. As for the big players, Bayer, one of the biggest agrochemical producers, has partnered with XAG in developing UAS-specialised chemicals and delivering safer, more cost-effective plant protection service to farmers.

AI-backed Digital Finance for Smallholders

Another problem that XAG is trying to solve is lack of financial resources in the rural regions of developing countries. Smallholder farmers are dedicated their lives to producing food for the world, but without financial support to adopt new tools and approaches, most of them can hardly make ends meet on their lands.

Now with information such as farming, crop growth and transactional records being digitalised and shared, AI can be harnessed to build individual credit risk scoring system for farmers. In China, XAG has established strategic cooperation with some of the biggest national financial institutions to offer farmers, even those without credit card or collateral, convenient, equal access to loans and claims. Based on their accumulated digital credits earned from Alipay mobile payment, farmers and service providers can even rent the P Series drone without any deposit. This is making new technologies available to a broader group of smallholders, while helping them obtain necessary resources to improve productivity and generate decent incomes.

AI is making an impact on agriculture, despite the legal and ethical challenges associated with its adoption. As Justin Gong said, there are huge opportunities for the world, especially the developing countries, to adopt flexible, nimble technologies such as AI and drones to grow food more sustainably.

The post How XAG is Leveraging AI Technology to Transform Agriculture appeared first on IoT Business News.

Wireless, Soil-Moisture Sensors Designed and Built Using Kerlink Reference Design And LoRa® Technology Provide Farmers with Real-Time Conditions across Their Fields.

Kerlink and Sensoterra, a leader in wireless soil-moisture-sensor solutions, today announced a partnership to empower farmers to make data-driven, land-management decisions and reduce their water consumption by up to 30 percent.

Using Kerlink’s LoRaWAN®-based Low Power IoT Reference Design platform to produce a new class of soil-moisture sensors, Sensoterra will launch its new sensors in the U.S., Europe, and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region beginning this year.

Soil moisture data is becoming a key component of sustainable farming programs globally as producers contend with increasingly erratic weather patterns and drier growing seasons. Measuring precise moisture conditions in their fields helps farmers maintain soil health, improve water conservation, and increase yields.

Sensoterra has been working with growers since its founding in 2014 to bring smart soil-moisture solutions to market. In addition to providing soil monitoring for row-crops, orchards, and soft fruits, the company’s technology also supports efficient water use in public and private landscaping projects and municipal parks and sports fields. The company’s current line of probes can measure soil-moisture down to 36 inches with 99.5 percent accuracy and the company’s software allows users to zoom into conditions around individual probes.

Christine Fraser-Boer, chief operating officer, Sensoterra, said:

“Less than 2 percent of agricultural land worldwide is equipped for soil-moisture measurement, which presents a very large market for wireless soil-monitoring and a big opportunity to improve water conservation.”

“Sensoterra is targeting that space, and Kerlink’s LPIoT Reference Design platform significantly lowered R&D costs and shortened time to market for our new moisture sensors. We expect U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) certification of our new probe this year so that we can offer these sensitive, smart-farming sensors in the U.S. by year-end. Incorporating this platform in our sensors also allows us to quickly follow our U.S. rollout with launches in Europe and APAC.”

“Kerlink’s off-the-shelf Low Power IoT Reference Design and production-ready bill of material eliminates up to 12 months of development time for LoRa devices, and cuts their R&D costs by up to 30 percent,” said Yann Bauduin, Kerlink’s vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “It is a powerful way for Sensoterra to bring its new soil-moisture-monitoring sensors to market quickly, and expand its business in a crucial smart-agriculture application.”

The post Kerlink and Sensoterra Launch Partnership to Help Farmers Reduce Water Use By Up To 30% appeared first on IoT Business News.

This extension of LoRaWAN-based network coverage adds three million hectares to NNNCo’s publicly available smart agriculture network.

Semtech Corporation announced that the National Narrowband Network Co (NNNCo), an Australian carrier, is deploying a publicly available network based on the LoRaWAN protocol that will leverage Semtech’s LoRa® devices and technology to build Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

The network is being rolled out with Goanna Ag, a major Australian agriculture company, with the goal of bringing smarter irrigation management solutions to Australian cotton growers.

The network, an extension of NNNCo’s existing LoRaWAN-based network coverage, covers an area of about three million hectares, stretching across Murrumbidgee irrigation area and the Murrumbidgee, Lachlan, Gwydir MacIntyre, Namoi, and Macquarie valleys. NNNCo plans to expand the LoRaWAN-based network throughout 2019. The network will be used to bring low-cost Cloud-connected sensors and data analytics to growers, combining soil moisture data via installed probes, local weather data and satellite imagery to optimize irrigation scheduling.

“Every day a cotton crop is under stress can cost a grower over $100 per hectare,” said Alicia Garden, CEO of Goanna Ag.

“We help growers schedule and apply just the right amount of water to use on crops at just the right time so they can optimize performance and profit. Connectivity has always been an issue for regional and rural areas due to lack of coverage and the relatively high cost of connection.”

“Semtech’s LoRa Technology and LoRaWAN-based networks have proved ideal for agriculture due to the low cost of sending essential data on very low power.”

As the new cotton season begins, NNNCo and Goanna Ag will deploy their first 100 gateways in New South Wales and Queensland, along with over 2,000 sensors across cotton farms. LoRa-based sensors will include soil moisture probes, rain gauges, weather stations, and water and fuel tank monitors among others.

NNNCo is delivering a nationwide network and end-to-end platform to enable solutions for agriculture, cities, utilities, buildings and logistics. NNNCo is also providing the essential data layer platform (N2N-DL) behind the interface for farmers, simplifying the aggregation of data of any device into the visualization and analytics platform.

“The network will significantly drive down the cost of connection for data communication and the cost of sensors using this technology,” said Rob Zagarella, NNNCo Founder & CEO. “This will make the difference between isolated usage and widespread deployment of the sensors, which will in turn provide more granular information and higher value to the industry. NNNCo has a strong partnership with Goanna Ag and has been working with them on network extension across regional areas for over 12 months.”

“IoT solutions for smart agriculture based on Semtech’s LoRa Technology enable farmers to easily create smart solutions to better monitor their crops and improve their yields,” said Vivek Mohan, Director of IoT in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “NNNCo and partners such as Goanna Ag are delivering smart solutions that help farmers keep up with increasing demands while closely monitoring overhead costs. Commercial farms are increasingly turning to LoRa Technology with its flexible and proven capabilities to help maximize their farm’s efficiency and create a smarter planet.”

The post Semtech’s LoRa Technology Creates Smarter Farming Networks in Australia appeared first on IoT Business News.

LoRa-based sensors track cattle wellbeing and location in real time.

Semtech Corporation announced that lar.tech, a Russian smart technology innovator and member of the LoRa Alliance, has created an Internet of Things (IoT) cattle monitoring solution leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® devices and technology.

The LoRa-enabled GPS tracker and biometric sensor monitor the animals’ vitals and whether animals have strayed from their designated areas.

“IoT solutions built on LoRa Technology represent an important emerging trend in ranching and smart agriculture,” said Alexander Trubitsin, Head of Development at lar.tech.

“Up-to-the-minute communication from sensors give ranchers the capability to monitor their livestock much more closely and act faster in the event of an abnormality – either in a cow’s health or its location.”

The lar.tech LoRa-based device is tagged on a cow’s ear and wirelessly transmits real-time data on the cow’s location, reducing the chances of wandering or theft. Additionally, the tag monitors animal motion, letting the rancher know if the animal is over or underactive, as well as observes the animal’s body temperature and detects estrus. Applications continuously scan the data, and notify ranchers immediately in the event of an abnormality.

“Smart agriculture solutions are benefiting from LoRa Technology which is a proven IoT choice for ranchers around the world,” said Vivek Mohan, Director of IoT in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group.

“lar.tech’s LoRa-based solutions are scalable based on the needs and size of the ranch. The smart solutions enabled through the technology allow the rancher to better predict and prevent cow disease, creating a healthier and more productive ranch.”

The post Semtech and lar.tech Enable Smart Ranching with LoRa Technology appeared first on IoT Business News.

Teralytic’s soil sensors monitors soil quality to maximize crop yields and reduce over fertilization.

Semtech Corporation announced that Teralytic, a manufacturer of wireless soil sensors, implemented LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology) in its wireless sensor to detect nitrogen, phosphate and potassium (NPK) levels in soil to help farmers reduce waste and to improve crop yields.

According to recent reports, between 70% and 80% of agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions, such as nitrous oxide, come from the production and use of nitrogen fertilizers. Farmers need real-time visibility into soil conditions while working in their fields. During growing season, manual soil tests fail to provide the data growers need and this can cause farmers to either over fertilize or under fertilize, harming profits and/or the environment.

The Teralytic sensor is a battery-powered, meter long device that farmers stick into the ground. Packed inside are 26 different sensors that measure the surrounding soil’s NPK levels, pH levels, soil moisture, temperature, and aeration, as well as the temperature and humidity above ground.

“Lack of soil data during growing season lowers yields and profits as well as harms the environment. Farmers want a solution that allows them to maximize their profits,” said Steve Ridder, CEO and founder of Teralytic. “With Semtech’s LoRa Technology, we’re able to provide a sensor that is low cost, long-range and low power, which is essential for smart agriculture solutions.”

Vivek Mohan, Director, Wireless and Sensing Products Group at Semtech, said:

“Teralytic provides farmers with real-time data so they are more efficient with their fertilizer and generate better crop yields.”

“Teralytic LoRa-based solution is empowering farmers to leverage low cost, low power technology that enables them to improve people’s daily lives and create a smarter planet.”

Teralytic launched its LoRa-enabled NPK soil sensor at the recent World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco on March 20, 2018.

The post Semtech’s LoRa Technology Enables Smart Soil Sensors appeared first on IoT Business News.

Kerlink is supporting Spark, New Zealand’s leading digital-services company, to roll out its nationwide LoRaWAN Internet of Things network.

In areas where the network already operates, Spark has partnered with users eager to experience the energy-efficient, cost-effective benefits of connecting their devices and receiving the valuable data they provide.

Partners include Farmlands and Ballance Agri-Nutrients, two of the country’s largest farmer-owned co-operatives, which have created smart-farming use cases. Farmers can get real-time information about their operations through an array of sensors, enabling them to analyze the data in real time from multiple areas to support farm decisions.

Other early adopters of LoRaWAN™ connectivity include the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Spark also is targeting key sectors such as health, safety, transportation, asset tracking and smart cities.

LoRaWAN™ is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) solution for wireless, bidirectional and secure connectivity of battery-powered devices in regional, national or global networks. This technology also enables device native geolocation using the radio network and geolocation-ready LoRaWAN gateways like those provided by Kerlink.

End users are also strongly supported by the LoRa Alliance™, a global, 500-member-plus ecosystem of companies and organizations that share their experiences operating the network and that provide the different building blocks of successful end-to-end IoT solutions.

The deployment extends Kerlink’s rapidly growing international footprint, following nationwide rollouts launched in India and Argentina this year.

Kerlink, a co-founder and board member of the LoRa Alliance™, is providing its Wirnet™ iBTS Compact stations that meet Spark requirements for quality, reliability and robustness, including bidirectional data exchange and geolocation capability. The system operates on a local ISM band (923 MHz).

“Working closely with Spark, Kerlink again demonstrates the performance, scalability and flexibility of its stations and its focus on customer success,” said Arnaud Boulay, Kerlink’s Asia Pacific sales director.

“Spark already has created use cases that will demonstrate the LoRaWAN™ network’s energy-efficient, geolocation connectivity that is well suited for both the wide-open spaces and urban centers of New Zealand.”

The post Kerlink Supports Spark’s Nationwide IoT Network Rollout In New Zealand appeared first on IoT Business News.