As part of the Barbican’s major summer exhibition AI: More than Human, the Connected Food panel brought together industry experts to discuss food production and farming, and how we will grow, harvest and distribute food in the near future. As part of the panel, Lindsay Suddon – Chief Strategy Office at Proagrica, one of the leading global providers of integrated digital connectivity solutions for the agriculture industry – made a strong call for improved connectivity in the industry in order to drive increased value and productivity.
“Data means absolutely nothing unless you have the means to ingest and analyze that data, compare it with other data, and come up with actionable insights,” said Mr Suddon. “Farming is increasingly producing a lot of data… however, you often find that what’s then being done with that data is very little, if anything. In itself, data is useless. You need the platforms through which data can be transformed into real insights that drive the valuable increases in compliance, productivity and profitability.”
In his responses, Mr Suddon addressed a key factor that has continuously undermined agribusinesses’ attempts to implement their own technological solutions: it’s simply not their strong point. “A lot of agribusinesses have spent quite a lot of money over the past few years coming up with their own data platforms,” he said. “A lot of the time that’s really been a bit of a distraction from their core business function. I think they’ve made a classic mistake in many instances of trying to create proprietary solutions and burning a lot of time and money doing it. Many are waking up to the fact that this is an unnecessary and costly distraction.”
Every link in the supply chain – from manufacturers through to farmers – stands to benefit from an industry that is connected and dynamic in their use of data. For farmers, this means a more informed and reliable supply chain behind them, in addition to the valuable data insights that help them to be more compliant, efficient, and profitable.
In particular, this will also help alleviate some of the pressures relating to climate change, making the required drastic structural shifts more accessible to the industry. For many agribusinesses, the will exists to mitigate the effects of climate change, but the solutions are out of reach. With complete insight into one’s own business practices and infrastructure – or, at the farming end, a firmer and more precise form of agriculture that lessens waste and boosts yields – these are made accessible and intuitive.
“Look at the drought affecting farmers in New South Wales,” said Mr Suddon. “Look at what happened to the farmers in the Mid-West of the United States with the frost and wet weather that just wouldn’t go away. We’ve got to actually start thinking in larger ways, understanding from a wide array of data sources what ‘good’ looks like and using an understanding of what happened during certain seasonal conditions in the past to instruct our predictive analytics and make more responsive and effective decisions.”
At its heart – as summed up by the chair, John Oswald – the debate focused on three main issues facing the agriculture industry. Firstly, agribusinesses usually don’t fully understand the value of the data they produce every day, primarily because the mechanisms by which to understand that value have largely been unavailable until recent years. Secondly, every party in the supply chain has certain responsibilities to one another, but those are often defined too vaguely and without robust systems to ensure all parties meet their obligations. Lastly, the concept of food production encompasses a lot more than we commonly believe: it’s soil, it’s climate, it’s water, it’s energy, it’s culture. We can forget the complexity of it. Whatever happens in agriculture, we need a solution ready to face those large implications.
Lindsay Suddon offered a more concise summary of Proagrica’s vision for the farming industry: “Connected, collaborative and insightful.”
Your business can become more informed, efficient and connected through improved data analytics. Visit Proagrica.com to learn more.
About Proagrica
Proagrica, part of RELX Group, is a global provider of independent connectivity and data-led insight across the agriculture and animal health markets. We deliver actionable intelligence to drive business growth across the value chain. Our superior products and services connect and empower industry participants to address their key needs around trading, productivity and compliance.
Our solutions are built around the key competences of data connectivity and data analytics delivering seamless supply chain management, supply chain standards compliance, and customer insight and engagement, essential for businesses looking to improve their value offering and expand in the modern marketplace.
Proagrica also encompasses performance-boosting farm management software brand Farmplan, and industry-leading media platforms, including Farmers Weekly.
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About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 30,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalization is approximately £37.2bn, €41.1bn, $45.6bn
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