Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii-based agriculture technology company Smart Yields has developed a new program to help small- and medium-size farmers form collaborative partnerships with research, educational, industry and community partners throughout the U.S. The #AlohaAg Challenge is designed around the needs of horticulture regions affected by climate and weather issues such as late frost.

The program focuses on workforce development through the deployment of technology and shared data. Smart Yields supplies state-of-the-art sensors to farmers to monitor everything from soil and water inputs to weather and pests, while partner agencies tap into a national network of data. This collaborative approach allows farmers to gain access to leading crop technologies for as little as 50 cents a day, while partners support agricultural best practices and the growth of agriculture jobs in local and regional communities.

“Smart Yields is building what we hope will become the largest public-private partnership of its kind through a unique service-based approach to agriculture technology,” said Vincent Kimura, CEO of Smart Yields. “By collaborating with a large network of farmers and stakeholders, we provide low-cost solutions for agriculture to thrive. This data cooperative opens investment opportunities in farming communities, which allows farmers to better invest in our future, because no farmer grows alone.”

Through shared data, the program is also designed to create and accelerate regional solutions to pressing challenges in agriculture, like climate change. Each community needs a stakeholder sponsor and a minimum of 42 farmers to sign up.

Farmers and partners interested in learning more are encouraged to visit smartyields.com/solutions or contact Smart Yields at support@smartyields.com for additional information.

Smart Yields connects farmers, agricultural researchers and their communities through crowd-sourced data gathered from a long-range network of integrated, state-of-the-art sensors that measure everything from soil health to inputs such as water, energy and nutrients. The company recently launched an extensive pilot program with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union in Colorado, covering nearly 1 million acres and supplying dozens of fruit growers with data that has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-value crop losses. The company’s global expansion includes markets in Europe and Asia, as well as the establishment of Centers of Excellence to encourage farming best practices.