Ag Tech News

Cutting-Edge Technology Program to Enhance Crop Monitoring

Honolulu agriculture technology company Smart Yields and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) have launched a state-of-the-art pilot program to monitor crops and livestock using wireless sensors, hardware and data analytics. It is the first program of its kind in Colorado, spanning nearly 1 million acres of land.

The pilot program follows the successful implementation last year of Smart Yields systems at a Colorado orchard, which saved a key apple crop during a late-season frost.

The program will involve farmers, growers and ranchers throughout the state who will work with Smart Yields and the RMFU to implement a network designed to protect crops and optimize operations. Using an internet of things (IoT) framework, hundreds of Sensohive remote sensors and low-power, long-range Sigfox wireless networks are being deployed this year to provide real-time crop monitoring, weather alerts, trends, forecasts and recommendations via an intuitive mobile app.

“Designed to be simple and easy to use, Smart Yields seamlessly connects with a variety of sensors and hardware, and taps a diverse array of data sets to give users a flexible yet powerful tool for monitoring crops,” said Vincent Kimura, CEO of Smart Yields. “This helps mitigate damage from issues like late-season frost. This pilot program with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union is our largest to date, bringing together farmers, growers and ranchers from across Colorado to discuss data-driven solutions.”

Smart Yields and RMFU members will meet regularly with participants to test and deploy technology, gather feedback, and explore additional sectors where these systems may serve a critical role, such as pest monitoring. Designed around the needs of small- to medium-size farmers, Smart Yields technology is being implemented to monitor soil health, optimize carbon dioxide levels, modify water use, and identify value-added uses for crops.

Harrison Topp, director of membership at the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, said members are eager to test the grower-centric technology, which has formerly been inaccessible to many smaller agricultural operations.

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/