Page 16 - Vol.36-No.8 issue

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT & SERVICE

NEW AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY IN

MODERN FARMING

Innovation is more important in modern natural sunlight, artificial grow lights are Livestock Farming
agriculture than ever before. The industry used.
as a whole is facing huge challenges, from Technology
rising costs of supplies, a shortage of la- From sustainable urban growth to max-
bor, and changes in consumer preferences imizing crop yield with reduced labor
for transparency and sustainability. There costs, the advantages of indoor vertical
farming are apparent. Vertical farming can
is increasing recognition from agriculture
corporations that solutions are needed for control variables such as light, humidi-
these challenges. In the last 10 years, agri- ty, and water to precisely measure year-
culture technology has seen a huge growth round, increasing food production with
reliable harvests. The reduced water and
in investment, with $6.7 billion invested in
the last 5 years and $1.9 billion in the last energy usage optimizes energy conserva-
year alone. Major technology innovations tion — vertical farms use up to 70% less The traditional livestock industry is a
in the space have focused around areas water than traditional farms. Labor is also sector that is widely overlooked and un-
greatly reduced by using robots to handle
such as indoor vertical farming, automa- harvesting, planting, and logistics, solving der-serviced, although it is arguably the
tion and robotics, livestock technology, the challenge farms face from the current most vital. Livestock provides much need-
modern greenhouse practices, precision labor shortage in the agriculture industry. ed renewable, natural resources that we
agriculture and artificial intelligence, and rely on every day. Livestock management
block chain. Vertical farms use up to 70% less water has traditionally been known as running
than traditional farms. the business of poultry farms, dairy farms,
cattle ranches, or other livestock-related
agribusinesses. Livestock managers must
Farm Automation keep accurate financial records, super-
vise workers, and ensure proper care and
Farm automation, often associated with
“smart farming”, is technology that makes feeding of animals. However, recent trends
have proven that technology is revolution-
farms more efficient and automates the izing the world of livestock management.
crop or livestock production cycle. An in- New developments in the past 8-10 years
creasing number of companies are work- have made huge improvements to the in-
ing on robotics innovation to develop dustry that make tracking and managing
drones, autonomous tractors, robotic har- livestock much easier and data-driven.
vesters, automatic watering, and seeding This technology can come in the form of
Indoor Vertical Farming robots. Although these technologies are nutritional technologies, genetics, digital
fairly new, the industry has seen an in-
Indoor vertical farming can increase crop creasing number of traditional agriculture technology, and more.
yields, overcome limited land area, and companies adopt farm automation into Livestock technology can enhance or
even reduce farming’s impact on the envi- their processes. improve the productivity capacity, welfare,
ronment by cutting down distance traveled or management of animals and livestock.
in the supply chain. Indoor vertical farm- The concept of the ‘connected cow’ is a re-
ing can be defined as the practice of grow- sult of more and more dairy herds being
ing produce stacked one above another in fitted with sensors to monitor health and
a closed and controlled environment. By increase productivity. Putting individual
using growing shelves mounted vertically, wearable sensors on cattle can keep track
it significantly reduces the amount of land of daily activity and health-related issues
space needed to grow plants compared to while providing data-driven insights for
traditional farming methods. This type of the entire herd. All this data generated is
growing is often associated with city and also being turned into meaningful, action-
urban farming because of its ability to able insights where producers can look
thrive in limited space. Vertical farms are quickly and easily to make quick manage-
unique in that some setups don’t require ment decisions.
soil for plants to grow. Most are either hy- New advancements in technologies
droponic, where vegetables are grown in a ranging from robotics and drones to com- Animal genomics can be defined as the
nutrient-dense bowl of water, or aeropon- puter vision software have completely study of looking at the entire gene land-
ic, where the plant roots are systematically transformed modern agriculture. The pri- scape of a living animal and how they in-
sprayed with water and nutrients. In lieu of mary goal of farm automation technology teract with each other to influence the ani-
is to cover easier, mundane tasks. Some mal’s growth and development. Genomics
major technologies that are most common- help livestock producers understand the
ly being utilized by farms include: harvest genetic risk of their herds and determine
automation, autonomous tractors, seeding the future profitability of their livestock.
and weeding, and drones. Farm automation By being strategic with animal selection
technology addresses major issues like a and breeding decisions, cattle genomics
rising global population, farm labor short- allows producers to optimize profitability
ages, and changing consumer preferenc- and yields of livestock herds.
es. The benefits of automating traditional
farming processes are monumental by Sensor and data technologies have huge
tackling issues from consumer preferenc- benefits for the current livestock industry.
es, labor shortages, and the environmental It can improve the productivity and wel-
footprint of farming. fare of livestock by detecting sick animals
and intelligently recognizing room for im-

14 Vol. 36 No. 8