Farmers are using IoT to take the guesswork out of growing

Business Insider

01-05-2025

This article is part of " Build IT: Connectivity," a series about tech powering better business.
Stakes are high for farmers.
Surveys have found they're eager to save time, cut costs, and use resources wisely. "To meet the needs of a growing population, we need to make things more efficient and increase production," said David Cappelleri, a professor at Purdue University and a site director for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture research center, or IoT4Ag. "One way to do that is by adding new technologies to the process."
Precision agriculture technologies have emerged as a way forward, with a particular interest gathering around Internet of Things technology. These IoT systems combine different pieces of technology to collect, communicate, and apply real-time data. Tools include devices equipped with sensors, wireless technologies like cellular networks, and data processing technologies such as machine learning.
A soil sensor, for example, can detect the conditions needed for better crops. Bringing together IoT-collected data allows farmers to better manage soil, fertilizer, and water, and reduce losses.
Cappelleri said that while we're still in the initial stages of IoT-fueled precision agriculture, the technology has the potential to make a significant difference. Along the way, he added, there will be hurdles, like expanding connectivity coverage and simplifying the use of this tech.
"The technology is ripe for this to happen now," Cappelleri told Business Insider. "We have a way to use data, and the key is to show the value to farmers."
Harvesting data: IoT and precision agriculture
Precision agriculture is an approach to farming that uses data, such as crop health measurements, to help growers make more targeted decisions and speed up their farming practices. While the concept has existed for over 30 years, the advancement of IoT allows different technologies to work together to build a better farming system.
Cherie Kagan is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the center director of IoT4Ag. Launched in 2020, the US research center, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, brings together faculty from different universities, industry professionals, and farmers to support the development of precision agriculture IoT technologies.
Kagan said in recent years, there have been major advancements in hardware technology, data science, and information technology, all of which support IoT.
"When starting the center, we realized this exponential growth meant the time was right for a very different, and very important, opportunity for this tech," Kagan said.
Center researchers work on all parts of an IoT system, such as the sensors that collect data, the communication network that helps send the data, and the infrastructure — cloud or edge computing — that stores, processes, and analyzes the data.
For example, as part of IoT4AG, Kagan is developing biodegradable sensors for soil and leaves. Leaf sensors can measure moisture and temperature levels, and soil sensors can detect essential nutrients like nitrate, offering a unique way to monitor crop health and spot issues in the field.
Meanwhile, Cappelleri and his team are working on ground and aerial robots that use sensors to measure crop health and work together with in-field IoT sensors, like the sort Kagan is developing. For instance, if a sensor is buried in the ground, the robot can drive over it, read the data, and wirelessly send that information to a cloud platform through a communication system, such as a 5G cellular network.
Cappelleri told BI that consistent measurements, enabled by this type of tech, could tell farmers what is and isn't working. This could help farmers make decisions "in season, week by week, rather than waiting until next season," he added.
Growing smarter
When Caro Córdova talks to farmers in Nebraska about what's most important to them, they're quick to mention saving time and resources.
Córdova, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, works closely with these farmers to improve soil health, which is vital to food production. She's working with soil sensors to see how the tech compares with traditional ways of analyzing soil in a lab.
"Having sensors in place that monitor properties like moisture, nutrients, and pH helps us monitor the soil in real time and manage resources more effectively," Córdova said. "We could, for example, minimize the application of fertilizers or reduce water use."
One product on the market is the soil probe developed by Teralytic, an agriculture technology company. It has 26 sensors and can measure various elements, including soil moisture, salinity, and the presence of nutrients, at three different soil depths. If more nutrients are needed in the soil, fertilizers can supplement them.
The sensor-collected data is wirelessly transmitted via LoRaWAN, tech that sends information through low-power, long-range radio waves. From there, the data makes its way to Teralytic's cloud platform, where the company runs analytics. The findings are displayed for the user on an online dashboard with real-time charts.
"Growers might have a field with a trouble spot, but they've lacked the understanding of what's exactly wrong because normally you would have to go out and physically collect soil samples," Ryan Mansergh, the vice president of research and development at Teralytic, told BI.
"This is where IoT really helps, because instead of waiting for the results of that long process, they can now have a really clear picture of what's happening," he said.
Getting more farmers connected
Luke James, a dealer-success manager at Ag Leader, a precision agriculture company, has seen the technology evolve in his nearly two decades at the firm. He said the past five years had been especially transformative.
"It's really exploded," James said. "You see a lot of the consumer technology making its way into agriculture. Companies are now figuring out how to leverage a lot of that technology and helping growers benefit from it."
James said farmers appreciate the IoT process because of the insights and ease of use. "You can see what's happening in real time across the operation," he added.
But he said that some of his customers are in rural areas where cell coverage, like 5G, and other types of connectivity are difficult to access, limiting the agtech available to them. "We're pushing hard for our growers to get connected because it does open up another swath of offerings," he said.
A 2024 paper published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems suggested connectivity issues were one of the primary factors limiting the adoption of digital agriculture, which includes precision farming. A 2023 US Government Accountability Office study found that 27% of US farms or ranches used precision agriculture practices.
Córdova said that while IoT data could be sent in several ways, how much data can be moved depends on the network. If 5G isn't available, farmers can try to use other communication networks, like WiFi and satellite communication.
Córdova said high costs and a technology learning curve were other barriers to IoT adoption. She added that there's also a need for more data analytics services to provide farmers with clear and useful feedback.
"These sensors are collecting data in real time, sometimes every five seconds," she said. "That's an incredible amount of data, but to be useful, it has to be part of a feedback process."
Kagan said that overcoming these obstacles would require more collaboration between researchers, policymakers, the tech industry, and farmers. Precision agriculture powered by IoT is already helping farmers operate, she said, but further partnerships and the right investments could facilitate a more resilient food system.
"Our challenge is bringing together all these technologies in a way that provides solutions," Kagan said. "It's also very important to have these different stakeholders work together. We need each other's input to really make it happen."