A month filled with celebrating agriculture? Sign us up!
As you may or may not know, March is National Agriculture Month. And though this industry should be celebrated and embraced every month, we want to take this time to showcase the successes we have recently seen within the industry. The point of having these celebratory days and months of an industry is to put its vitality to society on display.
And agriculture is key to the success of the world and society as we know it.
Regardless of the challenges posed by internal and external factors, the agriculture industry displays resilience time and time again. We have delt with dwindling resources, limited labor availability, rising costs, and more. From new innovative technologies to beneficial ag research efforts, agronomic leaders are consistently mapping out solutions to these issues.
There’s No Future Without Agriculture
Various forms of agriculture have been around since the beginning of time, constantly evolving into what we know today. And these changes in the industry are the reason we have been able to maintain the population on earth today. Unfortunately, food security is going to gradually become more and more difficult to maintain as the population continues to rise and resources fall.
The agriculture industry carries this burden of future success and sustainability on its back. It is essentially the backbone of society. Afterall, we wouldn’t have access to the majority of things we enjoy in everyday life.
Agriculture is constantly being challenged between the repercussions of climate change to even getting future generations to be involved in the industry. There are a wide variety of different roles in agriculture and each one is vital to the success of this industry. From research and product development to seed development and breeding, everyone plays a critical role in maintaining growing demands by boosting productivity and efficiency.
These advancements are needed more than ever – especially as population climbs and resources dwindle.
Moving Towards a Promising Future with Sustainable Agriculture
Over the past few years, sustainability has become a buzzword in nearly every sector as more and more people realize its vitality. While yes, this word is becoming more popularized within the media, different workplaces, and carries various meanings – it holds a different light within agriculture. Sustainability must happen to put it simply.
Especially in this industry, sustainability isn’t a trend, it is a dire goal that we are advancing towards with technology and critical decision-making. The population isn’t slowing down and land and resources aren’t magically appearing, so pinpointing potential solutions is vital for the future of food security and maintaining the growing population’s demands.
And this isn’t taken lightly in agriculture, each role in the industry is pulling their weight to boost productivity, efficiency, and reliability. By 2050, 70% more food will be needed to feed the growing population. So, how are we going to do that? Through the innovative technologies and practices created by product developers, researchers, farmers, and seed/plant breeders and producers.
Highlighting Revolutionary Technological Advancements
Each and every year we experience revolutionary technological advancements, but more recently many theorize we may be in the Fourth Agricultural Revolution. By trying to meet the demands of the growing population, we are beginning to rely more and more on technological advancements to get more with less. So, what are some of these revolutionary innovations?
Well, this Fourth Agricultural Revolution revolves around AI, data collection and analysis, and sustainability. We’ve seen self-driving tractors, automated drones, planting and harvesting robots, and countless other advancements that were once seen as science fiction – and it’s only getting more advanced from here. Innovation is based on challenges arising and being better than the last “best thing.”
Labor shortage? No problem, we have self-operating equipment to take the place of manual methods in every phase of the season.
Dealing with time constraints? What about data variability and subjectivity? Ag drones capture faster, more precise data allowing you to focus on what matters: powering agronomic decisions and validating outcomes.
Limiting resources? Producing too much waste? Precision ag pinpoints exact measurements of inputs needed and where they need to be applied.
Some more benefits of ag technology include:
- Higher crop productivity
- Decreased water use
- Reduced environmental impact
- Lower costs
These technologies have the ability to completely transform agriculture as we know it – it just comes down to it being adopted and investing the energy and time needed into it.
And so, as we look at honoring our industry this month, we know one thing is true: we have so much to celebrate! Our industry is filled with the best of the best – a group of leaders that are passionate about what they do. So, we can confidently say that we know there’s more great advancements around the corner.
What are you most excited about this year? Let us know!