Data Management

From Pig Data to Profit: How Accurate Records Drive 2026 Swine ROI

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:15:01 GMT

The days of collecting volumes of data from your swine operation and wondering what to do with it “someday” are largely past.

In 2026 it’s possible to crunch standard data points on pigs, and even additional specialized data, to come up with a whole operations picture that assists producers with faster, even more efficient decision-making. This translates to more accurate financial records to satisfy bankers and partners and help veterinarians solve or prevent health issues, as well as giving management the ability to focus more pointedly on big-picture plans for future return on investment.

But sharp, well-informed analytics is not possible without a solid foundation of accurate production records — which is also integral to the future of automation and artificial intelligence assistance for swine producers.

Clean and consistent

It is vital that the information a producer is amassing from their operation is clean and consistent, to build the best records database. A prime way to ensure this, is for the people collecting the data to enter it into your collection system in real time, or as close to real-time as possible.

Obviously the day-to-day work of pig production is going to be a producer’s, farm manager’s, or barn employee’s main priority. With that in mind, you can see it’s easy to get caught up in other immediate tasks and not finish entering all the data at the time you’re collecting it. You may think, “I can finish this in a little while; I’ll remember.”

Nobody believes they will forget important information, but waiting a few hours or longer to enter data from memory or incomplete or confusing notes means there is a high likelihood the information could indeed be forgotten — or at least misunderstood. If you are not consistent in entering data in a timely manner, it is less likely to be clean, accurate and useful.

Say you get most of a morning’s data entered correctly but are inaccurate on even one or a few points; that mistake can compound over time. This might impact how quickly you recognize a health issue in one or more animals and delay a critical response, eventually affecting the whole herd and costing extra in treatment and mortality. Conversely, inaccurate data could distort the picture of your healthy animals and create unnecessary concern and expense.

Collecting it right

There are two ways we help producers ensure they are recording this clean, consistent data. First, we work with a farm’s team to help them learn not just how to collect and enter data, but the ways in which it’s so important to the operation.

As I noted above, it’s easy to view data collecting as a distant or optional second responsibility to caring for the pigs. So we show them how the data is used to influence those day-to-day decisions, and why the quality of data matters to the speed of the farm being able to pivot on critical health or real-time financial information.

Second, we help producers understand the features of the data they can and do collect, based on the goals for their operation. There are different types of data collection software you can use, and each one has certain parameters you can choose to deploy.

For example, most sow farms collect basic, standard types of data on each animal such as vaccination, breeding date, farrowing, live-born, weaning and return to estrus. Some producers like to get much more detailed — such as recording every movement of the animal, specific genetic lines used in breeding, every medicine administered, total born including stillborn and more.

The accuracy is the point

When it comes to pig data — any data — it’s not only about what you collect, it’s about how accurate it is.

Part of what we do is to help producers make certain they are collecting the right data to inform the details of decisions important to their operation. I talk periodically with current producers to review the value of their data and records. We discuss if they are collecting the proper data, enough data — or too much. There is a difference between data, and data that matters.

One thing I sometimes encounter are producers who want certain insights but don’t know the type of data to collect, or they presume there’s no way to glean that information from data they’ve already collected. Or, they don’t realize their software can collect particular data — on health, management practices, performance or even environmental factors — to inform even more detailed decisions.

These are good problems to encounter because it means I can help them view data in a whole new light, and we can make their operation more efficient, profitable and meaningful through advanced technological tools in the long term!

Ashley Tanner is Data Operations Manager for Carthage Veterinary Service. A nearly 17-year veteran of CVS and an expert in sow production records, her role recently expanded to include finishing data, which gives her oversight across the full swine production lifecycle. In her role, she leads broader pig data management initiatives with an emphasis on efficient, strong data collection and integrity.

Inside The Tax Return of Your Farm's Future

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:31:53 GMT

The traditional process of preparing agricultural tax returns has long been defined by manual data entry and the complex reconciliation of income. However, the integration of artificial intelligence into financial systems is ushering in a more sophisticated era of tax management. For the modern farm, the future of filing lies in a seamless pipeline where software handles the heavy lifting of data organization, leaving the high-level strategy to human experts.

Comprehensive Data Integration

The foundation of a modern tax return is the accounting system. Platforms like QuickBooks, Xero or specialized farm management software are becoming increasingly autonomous. In the near future, these AI agents will do more than simply record expenses; they will analyze them in real-time.

With direct links to bank feeds and digital invoices, AI can categorize expenditures with precision. It can distinguish between capital investments, such as machinery or land improvements, and standard operating costs like seed and fuel. This continuous synchronization means by the end of the fiscal year, the financial records are already in a format that mirrors the requirements of a tax return.

Automated Document Reconciliation

A significant portion of tax preparation involves matching — ensuring the farm’s internal records align with the documents issued by third parties. A preparer of a farm tax return may spend more time making sure all of the income is in the right box then planning to optimize the income tax level.

AI is uniquely suited to handle this high-volume verification. The system can automatically ingest Form 1099-PATR (cooperative distributions), 1099-G (government subsidies) and other Form 1099s and W-2s and verify them against recorded deposits.

If a document is missing or a figure does not match the ledger, AI identifies the specific discrepancy immediately, allowing for a targeted correction rather than a manual search through months of records.

The Role of Human Oversight

While AI provides the technical framework for the return, the final stage remains firmly in human hands. Once the software has mapped the data to the appropriate tax schedules, it produces a comprehensive draft for professional review.

This allows the farmer or a tax consultant to transition from a data entry role to a strategic advisory role. Instead of spending hours verifying line items, the human reviewer can focus on critical tax planning decisions including accelerated depreciation choices or income averaging that require professional judgment and an understanding of the farm’s long-term goals.

The result is a more accurate, defensible and efficient tax filing process. By automating the clerical aspects of the return, AI allows agricultural producers to maintain focus on their operations while ensuring full compliance with the evolving tax laws.

How One Mississippi Farmer Turned Data Into $330K in Fertilizer Savings

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 20:38:40 GMT

As the planter rolls across a Mississippi Delta field, row by row, it’s making split-second decisions on how much fertilizer to apply, where to apply it and where to apply nothing at all — a task that’s doesn’t require any second-guessing.

The decisions aren’t happening by instinct nor by habit. The planting and fertilizer decisions on this farm are all driven by data.

For Adron Belk, who farms in the Delta’s rich soils of Sunflower County, that shift — from gut feel to data-driven execution — isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about survival in a tight-margin environment, and ultimately, about profitability.

“This whole field, see how it’s calling for 8 gallons right there? It tells it the target. We’re looking for 8 gallons of fertilizer, and it’s putting out real close to 8 gallons,” Belk says as he’s making a planting pass through the field. “There’s areas in the field where it calls for none. So where it calls for none, it actually cuts it off on its own.”

On this farm, data doesn’t sit in a spreadsheet. It moves. It acts. It makes decisions in real time as equipment moves across the field.
That level of precision means decisions aren’t just guided by data, but automated with every pass.

“Where our phosphorus and zinc levels are low, the starter system turns on and it applies it. And where the phosphorus and zinc levels are adequate, it cuts it all and don’t put anything,” he says.

A Farm That Functions Like a Test Plot

Every acre Belk farms doubles as a testing ground. Every pass is an experiment. Every season is another opportunity to learn something new.

That mindset even extends to what he plants.

“I have never planted cotton on my own. My dad was a cotton farmer until 2007, when he quit growing cotton. We’re going to plant just a little bit this year though, about 130 acres. We’re going to get it custom picked. We’re just really planting the cotton to get a little bit of experience with it on a very, very small amount of acres. I believe it’s the tool I need to have in my toolbox for the future. And right now, I don’t have that tool,” he says.

At a time when many farmers are moving away from cotton, Belk is moving toward it.

“Some would say I’m just a glutton for punishment, I guess,” Belk says as he laughs.

A First Generation Farmer

Belk’s approach to farming didn’t come from following a playbook. In fact, it started with the opposite.

“I’m a first generation/second generation farmer,” he says. “My dad does farm, but we do not farm together.”

That decision for Belk to farm on his own was intentional from the start.

“My dad came through the 1980s. He just had a passion for it — worked really hard, started off with with almost nothing,” Belk explains. “And he did really well, and he knew all the lessons that he had to learn from being on his own, and mainly from messing stuff up on his own and learning. He knew how valuable that was. And he just really wanted us to always enjoy each other’s company and never have work come in between us or our family.”

So when Belk wanted to farm, his father gave him guidance — but not a safety net.

“He said, ‘I’ll give you all the advice you want,’ but he said it’s going to be beneficial if you do it on your own,” Belk remembers.

Belk took that to heart, starting his own farming operation by renting a few hundred acres while still in college. And like many young farmers, he learned by trial and error.

“I have made a lot of mistakes, and if I would have been farming with my dad, I probably wouldn’t have learned from those mistakes. I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make them to learn on my own,” Belk says. “The mistakes I’ve made have taught me more than the things that I’ve done right, for sure.”

No Silver Bullet — Just Small Gains

While Belk admits he’s learned the hard way and made plenty of mistakes, in an industry often searching for big breakthroughs, Belk focuses on incremental wins.

“I think in farming, we’re all looking for that silver bullet that is going to get you 15, 20 bushels more per acre. But most of those big yield gains like that have already been discovered or have already been done, and so it’s very hard to find those silver bullets,” Belk says. “So, we are really tailoring our farm to finding the 2-, the 3-, the 5-bushel [per acre] differences,” he says.

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That mindset is what led him deeper into data.

“We started really trying to look at data. And when we first started, I thought we were doing it right. I thought were interpreting things the right way. And then realized that we really needed to be going a little deeper,” he says.

Data Into Decisions

That realization led Belk to work with Chad Swindoll, founder of J19 Agriculture, to bring a more advanced level of analysis to the farm.

“He is very honed in on how to analyze data. And working with him has really brought a whole new perspective to ‘Not only now that we have this data, how do we analyze it? And then once we analyze, what do we do with it?’” he says.

For Swindoll, that last question — What do you do with it? — is where many farms fall short.

“There’s lack of implementation on the farm,” Swindoll explains. “There’s a lot of technology that’s available. I mean, we’re with the United States. We’re a very sophisticated production agriculture, but the execution and implementation piece on taking the information that the technology will provide — and then using it to really make a decision beyond just something that looks cool or sounds cool — but really driving change on the farm, that’s very lacking,” he says.

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When Swindoll started working with Belk, he quickly realized Belk is different in not only the way he farms, but how he thinks about farming. What sets Belk apart, Swindoll says, is his willingness to act.

“He does a very good job of collecting the things that we need to make those decisions, and then if if the information is telling us we need this or that, he does,” Swindoll says.

Swindoll says Belk is a good executive, and that ability to not only know what needs to be done, but then implement it, is something that’s fueling Belk’s success.

“That’s something that I try to emphasize and talk about a lot in our industry and with my customers and non-customers. The farmer is the CEO, and an executive’s job is to make decisions,” Swindoll says. “And so we can get hung on a fence and make no progress. At some point, you have to move. And to be a good executive, it goes back to having the right pieces of information and the willingness to act.”

Swindoll says it also takes courage to do something different than what everybody else is doing.

“It’s not easy, because some of the things that we’ve found over the years are contrary to what we have been taught or told,” he says.

A $330,000 Turning Point

That willingness to trust the data — and act on it — led to one of the biggest financial shifts on the farm.

“About three or four years ago, we started really letting the data, we started analyzing the data and looking at it. And what we started seeing is, we were spending a lot of this money on fertilizer, and we didn’t really know if we’re getting a return out of it,” Belk says.

The result was a major change in how fertilizer was applied and how much was used.

“Three years ago, we cut about $330,000 out of our fertilizer budget that I would not have done without good sound data that we trusted,” Belk says. “Now, it took me a little while to get to that, to understand it. Then having J19 really run statistical data and showing us what was real and what was not. When you realize you cut $330,000 out of a fertilizer budget, and you still made the equivalent yields, that’s pretty eye-opening,” he says.

Finding Yield in the Details

While something like fertilizer savings have added major cost-savings to their farm, sometimes, the biggest gains come from the smallest adjustments. That includes what the data told them about tire pressure.

“Because we grow everything in the Delta on a raised bed, in between the tires it really pinches that row. We started noticing where we would run 20 lb. of air where the tire would kind of squat, it was pinching the row more, and we were getting more compaction under the tractor,” Belk says. “In some cases, it was costing anywhere from 10 to 17 bushels of yield on the rows just up under the tractor,” he says.

That prompted Belk to boost tire pressure to 30 lb. or air.

Rethinking the Playbook

On Belk’s farm, the field itself has become the ultimate teacher.

“That field is our textbook,” Swindoll says. “That’s kind of how we do this. If you read something in a book and it doesn’t line up, I think it was William Albrecht who said, ‘If you observe nature, and the textbook doesn’t agree, then you throw the textbook away.’ And we’ve had to do that in some cases.”

That philosophy carries through every decision Belk makes.

“Actually, my dad always told me, ‘Never tell somebody who asks you why you’re doing something, to tell them because your daddy did it.’ You know times change. I mean, we’re in a whole different world right now than we were even 5 years ago, especially 10 years ago. And so I feel like agriculture is changing very fast. I feel like we’ve got to learn to adapt and adopt really fast. Doing all this stuff has allowed us to stay kind of current with the changes in agriculture. It’s allowed us stay current with new products, with new things,” he says.

The New Equation for Farming

Farming has always involved risk. Whether it’s weather, markets or input costs, none of it is guaranteed.

But on this Mississippi Delta farm, the approach to risk is changing. It’s no longer just about taking chances. It’s about measuring them. Testing them. Understanding them. And ultimately, deciding which ones are worth it.

Because in today’s agriculture, that difference between guessing and knowing, may be what separates farmers who keep up from those who get ahead.

What's Wrong With Being Average? Q2 State of the Pork Industry Report is Out Now

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 20:43:04 GMT

In the second State of the Pork Industry Report , Farm Journal’s PORK editor Jennifer Shike joins Cara Haden, DVM and veterinarian with Pipestone; Randy Kuker, director of swine production for The Equity; Adam Annegers, sow production manager at JBS; and Brad Eckberg, business analyst with MetaFarms, to compare Q2 2024 sow and grow-finish performance data (obtained April 1 to June 30) to what the experts are seeing in the barns.

Watch or listen to their entire discussion on YouTube. These experts share takeaways from Q2 and how understanding percentiles can help your farm be more profitable now and in the future.

“I don’t like to be average,” Eckberg points out. “I think a lot of producers don’t want to be average. The pork industry is a very competitive business. We’re always striving to improve. Looking at average doesn’t tell the whole story.”

For example, in the Q2 data, the average pigs weaned per mated female per year was 26.8. The Top 10% was 31.3 and the bottom 10% was 20.1.

“The top 10% really gives you the genetic potential of the animals that you’re working with,” Annegers says. “If you just compare yourself to the average all the time, and you’re in the bottom 10%, you’re really not that far away. It’s like, ‘we could be better, but we’re fairly close.’ But when you compare that bottom 10% to the top 10%, there’s such a wide range there. It’s like, ‘whoa, guys, we’ve got the same genetics, very similar facilities, what is that top 10% doing that the bottom 10% is not?’ Most of the time what we find out is the percent of execution. We have an amazing protocol book. Those farms that really execute that and are bought into that protocol, those farms are normally towards the top 10%.”

Here are a few other points the experts discussed:

Total born average was 15.6 pigs – up 2 pigs from 2015.
“Increased numbers are a good thing for sustainability, but it is a huge challenge. In general, the more pigs that we get, the more we struggle with weights. That means it’s going to be harder to lower pre-wean mortality. Also, there’s only a certain amount of colostrum in every sow. When that colostrum gets spread between 20 piglets instead of 16, that’s just different and we need to be able to manage that appropriately or we’re not going to have appropriate health in those pigs. I think increase total born is a great thing, but it does pose more challenges for our caregivers in caring for those pigs.” – Cara Haden, DVM, Pipestone

Finishing weights averaged 285.5 lb., an increase of 2.8 lb. from a year ago. Ten years ago, finishing weights averaged 279.8 lb.
“We’ve tried different tactics like turning off water cups to get better feed efficiency during certain times of the year. We don’t do it in the summertime when there’s high heat and we’re trying to drive water intake. But we’ve done some different things to drive average daily gain and to drive those numbers to be more efficient to put more pounds on those pigs. We’ve had some pretty good success stories doing that. With the better markets we’ve got this summer, our customers want to drive pounds to the packer and take advantage of those weights now. I foresee in the next couple months we’ll start backing off on that a little bit and move back towards normal ranges here in the next two to three months.” – Randy Kuker, The Equity

Q2 2024 finishing average daily gain averaged 2.02 lbs, a minimal increase from the same period last year but a 7.4% increase from 2015.
“When we talk about welfare and growth, you can have very similar facilities that perform very, very differently. The only difference is the caregiver. I think from an average daily gain standpoint, the best caregivers are going in and assessing the environment and making changes to make sure that the pigs are comfortable so they’re going to the feeders all the time, they are checking feed and water and making sure that feeder settings are appropriate so pigs can get the feed when they want to, and they are getting right on top of treatments in a timely manner. All of those things that are so dependent on caregivers can have huge impacts on things like average daily gain.” – Cara Haden, DVM, Pipestone

In addition, the panelists explore a variety of topics from rubber flooring to euthanized mortality and from scoring systems to reactive caregivers. Check out the second State of the Pork Industry Report hosted by Farm Journal’s PORK on YouTube.

Data’s Role in Sustainability on Swine Farms

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:02:14 GMT

Technological advancements continue to shift the pork industry. While not new to producers, data is integral to furthering sustainable pork farming. Producers are experienced in recording data on various aspects of their operations — feed use, litter size, rate of gain and the list goes on — to ensure they run efficient and cost-effective operations.

A similar approach can be applied to better collect and leverage data to reach sustainability goals by measuring items such as estimated tons of carbon sequestered in soil, soil erosion rates, land-applied manure amounts, etc. By measuring environmental impact and outlining plans for improvement, producers are poised to minimize their impact and preserve their farms.

Data is a tool to gain public trust
Consumers are increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from. Data can help tell the story of a producer’s efforts and operation and establish trust. Producers can show consumers that they are responsible with the amount of feed, land and water used while also showing how they are tangibly working towards sustainability. For example, data can show how much organic waste is reused as fertilizer; how much carbon is emitted on a farm and how much carbon they sequester through crop growth; soil erosion levels; and percentage of no-till adoption, to name a few.

“I think data is all about using this formula: Principles + Practices + Proof = Public Trust,” said Jamie Burr, Chief Sustainability Officer at the National Pork Board (NPB). “The principles are the Pork Board’s We Care Ethical Principles, which include environment, animal welfare, food safety, people, public health and community. Then, practices are the things that we have underneath each of those ethical principles such as the carbon footprint calculator, certification programs, etc. Then, lastly, the proof is the data that shows a farm is following and collecting data on those practices. All the hard work to complete that formula equals public trust.”

The first step in being able to communicate data to stakeholders is obtaining and understanding on-farm data and facing the facts of how a farm is performing.

Collecting and interpreting data on swine farms
The Pork Cares Farm Impact Report, offered by the NPB, provides producers an opportunity to measure and document continuous improvement efforts on their farms. The NPB is partnering with Eocene Environmental Group, Nestlé and Ducks Unlimited to collect and interpret data for producers and provide grant opportunities for practice implementation. This service equips producers with data specific to their farms, as well as insights on what data means, all with the goal of improving sustainability and a producer’s bottom line.

Information from the report includes statistics producers would not be able to estimate otherwise, such as carbon dioxide emissions, sequestered carbon, soil erosion, manure application rates and conservation practices in use, among others.

“This report brings true value to producers,” Burr said. “It provides producers with their baseline and an opportunity report that details areas to improve sustainability practices. This is important because it outlines areas of opportunity the producer may not know are there. Participating in the report is the first step to taking ownership for sustainability needs that are unseen. For example, if they aren’t using cover crops, they would give them an improvement score if they were to implement them. Eocene helps producers truly understand what their data means and what they should do with it.”

The benefit of tracking data relevant to sustainability is two-fold.

First, producers have clear benchmarks for where they are and how they can improve. Data provides a tangible perspective on how to further sustainability goals.

Second, data tells the story of the hard work done by producers to become more sustainable. This is valuable information for pork consumers and will continue to be a critical point for consumers.

Trails End Farm uses data to make sustainable improvements
Dale Stevermer, along with his wife Lori, are owners of Trails End Farm and know first-hand the value of leveraging data to drive farm improvements. As fifth-generation farmers, and farmers of the land Dale’s father and grandfather farmed, they place a high value on their stewardship of the land.

Trails End Farm is a 500-acre farm that houses 4,000 swine with 2,000 in finishing barns at any given time. They also farm corn and soybeans as cash crops. The Stevermers work to balance innovation with reliability; they were quick to see the value in the Pork Cares Farm Impact Report and signed up to take part in it within its pilot year.

Stevermer, like most producers, was already collecting data about his herd, land and crops. He remembers the process of getting this data to Eocene being simple. Because Stevermer’s equipment logs data as he farms and applies manure to fields, he could easily pull the information.

“I gathered all the data I had into one place and sent it over to Eocene,” Stevermer reflected. “Then they created a report that’s two pages, and it outlines things you did and how they affect the environment. For example, how many pigs did you finish, how many gallons of manure did land apply, etc. It gets into environmental scores, too, so it tells you the estimated tons of carbon sequestered in your soil per year and your soil erosion.”

As Stevermer explained the report, he pointed out that data is compared to national and state averages to help producers understand how their farms are performing comparatively. After delivering the report, the Eocene schedules a time to call the producer and discuss the report in detail and answer any questions. Additionally, they help the producer set up a continuous improvement plan, outlining what practices they could add to positively impact their scores.

Farmers know that the bottom line is essential in their line of work. The Eocene helps producers estimate the potential return on investment of sustainability practices, for example, addition of solar panels or selling manure. Stevermer shares that the return on investment will not be immediate, but working with the Eocene helps producers make decisions that are best for their operations. The Stevermers chose to install solar panels to offset their electricity usage and Stevermer went as far as purchasing an electrical truck for his farm work. Additionally, Stevermer installed monitoring systems in his barn so he can closely monitor the temperature as well as water and power usage.

How to access the pork cares farm impact report
Pork producers from across the country can request a Pork Cares Farm Impact Report on the NPB’s website. The initial form takes only 30 seconds to complete. After the form is completed, a NPB staff member will reach out to schedule a 15-minute introduction call with Eocene. Staff from Eocene leads producers through the process of collecting and submitting data, analyzes data to create the report, walks through the report with the producer and provides insight for additional practices to incorporate.

Knowing this data is unique to each producer, the NPB and Eocene have gone to great lengths to ensure reports and documents stay private. All data shared is uploaded through a confidential, secure online platform. Individual producer data is not shared or made public in any way. Aggregate data, which is the collection of results, is used to tell all of pork production’s sustainability story on a broad level.

There is grant funding available for producers in Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota to implement sustainability practices following the results of the Pork Cares Farm Impact Report.

“Valuing sustainability is the right thing to do, which is something all producers believe,” Stevermer says. “But, if we look at sustainability as not just environmental sustainability, but also the ability to continue to operate and the potential to pass the operation onto the next generation, then it’s undeniably important.”

Additional sustainability resources from the National Pork Board

The NPB has additional tools for producers to aid in data collection and interpretation. The Carbon Footprint Calculator is an in-barn calculator to determine carbon output. This calculator provides in-depth data on carbon in swine barns.

Certifications such as the Pork Quality Assurance® Plus (PQA Plus) and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) allow producers to receive certifications confirming their commitment to animal well-being, environmental stewardship, food safety, worker safety, public health and overall quality throughout the pork life and production cycle. These certifications not only provide education to producers but speak volumes about their operations when they look to create business or financial partnerships.

“Pork producers are proud to create a healthy, reliable, ethical and delicious meat for consumers,” Burr says. “The Pork Cares Farm Impact Report, and additional resources, provides tools to continually invest in and strengthen their operations so they can continue to prosper while doing the right thing for people, pigs and the planet.”

There's a New Way to Cash in on Your CI Score on the Farm, Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 03:04:25 GMT

As a farmer, Kelly Garret is extremely carbon conscious. He grows 7,000 acres of no-till crops and switched from applying synthetic fertilizer to using regenerative wastewater as plant food.

“I believe in being collaborative with Mother Nature, not in competition. And this is a collaborative effort,” says Garrett, who farms in west-central Iowa, near Arion.

There’s no doubt Garrett is a forward thinker. He says he was the first farmer in the U.S. to sell carbon credits. Now, he thinks there’s a new opportunity coming for farmers to possibly cash in on.

“I believe in five years, almost every product that we buy, especially food-wise, will have a CI score affixed to it. I think as producers we need to educate ourselves and be at the forefront of that,” says Garrett.

How Much Your CI Score is Worth Down to the Bushel

CI score stands for Carbon Intensity score. Garrett says now, with the 45Z tax credit that was passed in the Inflation Reduction Act and slated to go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, your CI score will soon be worth even more, especially if your corn goes to an ethanol plant.

“It states that for every point an ethanol plant can get below 50, on their CI score, there’s a two-cent-per-gallon tax credit,” says Garrett. “The ethanol plants don’t have a lot of hope of getting below 50, not very far at least, without traceability of our corn.”

Garrett says, by his calculation, for every point below the current average of 29.1, it’s worth 2 cents a gallon, or 5.5 cents per bushel of corn.

“My [CI] score is a -6, because of the no-till, the cover crops and the regenerative things I do. So, my score is 35 points below the average. If you take 35 times 5.5, that’s just over $1.92 per bushel,” Garrett says.

(Farm Journal)

Regenerative Roots Solutions

Seeing how crucial farmers’ CI score will be to ethanol plants in the years ahead, Kelly saw a new opportunity for more than just himself. So, he teamed up with Peter Meyer, who worked in the energy space, Jarod Creed, who works with growers across the country and Mike Busing, who’s experienced in carbon markets, to create Regenerative Roots Solutions , a business designed to start educating all farmers.

“The four of us got together here in the last couple of months, and we’re really trying to hone in on what the opportunities are for our network combined. This is specifically geared towards these CPG programs and 45Z tax credits coming down the pipeline,” says Creed.

Peter Meyer says a farmer’s CI score is based on the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model. An essential update to the model is expected soon from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“The Greet Model here in the U.S. was originally geared toward ethanol for automobiles, and now we’re talking about a whole different energy source with sustainable aviation fuel,” says Meyer.

The Ethanol Business Can’t Survive Without Farmers

With 45Z now in the picture, the new tax credits for ethanol plants will also hinge on CI scores from farmers.

“I’m advocating for this, what’s very much a partnership with an ethanol plant,” says Kelly. “The tax credit is available to the ethanol plants, not to farmers. But the ethanol plant doesn’t have a lot of hope of gaining much of this tax credit without traceability to us.”

Adds Meyer, “The ethanol business cannot survive without the farmer. And this has to be, as Kelly Garrett said earlier, a 50/50 partnership.”

New Domestic Demand... and More Money for Farmers

The team at Regenerative Roots Solutions admits it’s still a bit of the Wild West when it comes to carbon and how much your CI score is worth, but Creed says more clarity is coming.

“Ten to 15 years ago, there was a tremendous amount of angst when ethanol started to come into the marketplace. And then here, most recently, the renewable diesel space of expanding the soybean crush in the U.S. market. And ultimately, all we’ve done is continue to create more domestic demand for our products as we’ve become less competitive with the rest of the world. The market dynamics have changed,” says Creed.

The team’s goal is to provide transparency and information to growers. But today, the biggest challenge is just how much misinformation is out there.

“Well, there’s an incredible amount of skepticism with farmers, starting with the carbon market as a whole, things like that government intervention,” says Kelley. “I think farmers are eternally skeptical, and a lot of times we’ve been sold a bill of goods, so you can’t necessarily blame farmers. But then when it comes to a CI score, there are a lot of questions or skepticism about how it’s calculated, whether the government is telling us how to raise our corn, and things like that.”

It’s All About the Data

Mike Busing has already taken a deep dive into the carbon market. Through his company, Windy Ridge Ag, he and his team handle the data collection for growers on current carbon programs that are available today.

“Over the last four years, we’ve brought a little over $10 million back to our grower base. It’s pretty incredible, and that’s what we hope to do with Regenerative Roots,” Busing says.

While those carbon contracts can be one-year contracts, Busing says 45Z has the potential to be a longer term, steady revenue stream for farmers.

“Data is going to be the key piece to everything,” Busing says. “We would all love to just have our growers walk in with a piece of paper that says, ‘My CI score is a 10, pay me for my grain.’ However, there will be a large data piece of this, it’s going to have to go through third-party verification, things of that nature. So, everything is tracked, we know the data is good and the plants can acquire that tax credit.”

The Future of CI Scores and 45Z

It’s a new opportunity for farmers to possibly cash in on, one the team at Regenerative Roots Solutions doesn’t see as a fad.

“I think there is already a smorgasbord of different programs that the producer is participating in, whether that be carbon programs, whether that be CPG programs,” says Creed. “I think this is just the icing on the cake. And it’s all in an effort to continue to find additional demand opportunities for the crop domestically, with less dependency on the rest of the world.”

“We’re advocating for the farmer to be educated about what practices he or she can employ to reduce their carbon intensity score to make it a little bit more palatable for the Greet model, and thus, end up with more money in their pockets at the end of the day,” Meyer explains.

As the team continues to explore how this partnership could work as 45Z comes into play, the best part for Garrett is he doesn’t have to change any production practices on his farm—or adopt something new—to qualify.

“Well, like most things in life, this is luck. These are things I was already doing, because I believe in this way of farming. I see it’s working,” says Garrett.

Creed says one of the biggest pieces of misinformation attached to this new opportunity today, is the belief that in order to qualify, producers will have to make major changes. Creed says Garrett is proof that a farmer doesn’t necessarily have to change how they farm.

Meyer says his biggest piece of advice for farmers is to look into what your CI score is, and if needed, for ways to lower that score. However, he says there’s no value in verifying your CI score until the updated Greet model is unveiled.

Farm Journal’s Smart Farming Week is an annual week-long emphasis on innovation in agriculture. The goal is to encourage you to explore and prioritize the technology, tools and practices that will help you farm smarter. Innovation today ensures an efficient, productive and sustainable tomorrow.

More Smart Farming content for you:

Choose Wisely: Smart Strategies to Select the Right Corrections Service

10 Easy Ways to Take Your Crop-Scouting Practices to the Next Level

You Can’t Afford to Be Complacent About Tar Spot

Here’s How to Bridge the Data Gap With Your Ag Retailer

Inside AMVAC’s Strategy To Widen Precision Agriculture Adoption

10 Tips to Shorten Your Cover Crop Learning Curve

John Deere, SpaceX Announce Starlink Deal

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 19:08:32 GMT

Deere & Company announced an agreement with SpaceX to provide Starlink network satellite communications (SATCOM) service to farmers. Utilizing the Starlink network, this solution will allow farmers facing rural connectivity challenges to fully leverage precision agriculture technologies.

“The value of connectivity to farmers is broader than any single task or action. Connectivity unlocks vast opportunities that were previously limited or unavailable,” said Aaron Wetzel, VP of production and precision ag production systems.

The SATCOM solution will connect both new and existing machines through satellite internet service and ruggedized satellite terminals. This will enable autonomy, real-time data sharing, remote diagnostics, enhanced self-repair solutions, and machine-to-machine communication, all of which help farmers work more efficiently while minimizing downtime, according to John Deere.

“We are bringing satellite communications service to the farm at scale so farmers with cellular coverage challenges can maximize the value of connectivity to their operations,” said Jahmy Hindman, senior VP & CTO.

He adds that the SpaceX partnership “unlocks the John Deere tech stack so every farmer can fully utilize their current precision agriculture technology in addition to the new innovative solutions they will deploy in the future.”

But, by adding a third-party telematics solution into the data ecosystem, many online are wondering who controls the data (and access to it) as it passes through the Starlink system on its way to or from the Operations Center?

John Deere users with those concerns can rest assured that “we don’t anticipate any changes there, the customer still controls it,” said Mike Kool, senior product manager - connected fleets.

Kool also shared that John Deere has been working on its fleet connectivity project for the last 18-24 months. Starlink’s Leo constellation of low-orbit satelittes delivered the “high bandwidth and low latency” performance Deere was seeking.

“This solution fits our customer needs today and it also allows them to grow in the future,” said Kool. “The way I like to think about it is we’re giving our customers their time back, giving them more time to do the things they love to do. They have a very important job in feeding and clothing the world, and doing so on less arable land today. I believe wholeheartedly this will further unlock the power of our tech stack.”

Deere has yet to outline how the new Starlink features will be priced. Kool said those details are still in the works, so stay tuned.

To activate the Starlink solution, John Deere dealers will install a ruggedized Starlink terminal on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machine to the John Deere Operations Center.

The service will initially be available through a limited release in the United States and Brazil starting in the second half of 2024, according to the company.

PORK Perspectives: A Minute with Matthew Rooda

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:03:18 GMT

Matthew Rooda, co-founder and CEO of SwineTech, was born to think outside of the box. As a kid, he drove his four-wheeler to pig farms to do vaccinations. As time passed, he grew stronger and faster, but he still got paid the same. After a conversation with his father, a pork producer, Rooda decided to ask his employers if they would pay him per pig instead of by the hour. The answer? Yes.

This was a pivotal moment for Rooda. He began understanding the value of efficiency.

He started his career in the swine industry working in nurseries and finishers. When the manager of a sow barn took maternity leave, he stepped in to help. His education was also an asset to his experience. While attending Hawkeye Community College and later the University of Iowa for a genetics and biotechnology and business management degree, he worked for Schneider & Schneider Pork Farms as an assistant farm manager. In preparation for medical school, he eventually became a nurse’s aide and then a medication aide at a nursing home called Oaknoll. And that’s where things really got interesting.

“The University of Iowa had an opportunity for students to present business ideas for cash. I’ve worked a power washer a lot, so I’ve had plenty of time to come up with the world’s “greatest” ideas...and most of them were pretty terrible,” Rooda laughs. “But I had this one idea where we could use voice recognition to save piglets from getting laid on.”

Long story short, the idea won and he and his business partner were invited to be a part of a student accelerator program where they were later identified by the Iowa Startup Accelerator.

“They offered us $25,000 to participate in their program, but we had to drop out of school and we only had 24 hours to decide,” Rooda says. “We were going into our senior year. I was pre-med hoping to be an obstetrician and had the MCATs coming up. But my buddy and I decided we were going to do it. We hated it when athletes tried to stay in school when they had these amazing opportunities. We were like, ‘This is our once in a lifetime opportunity, we’re going to take it.’”

^{Matthew Rooda (right) with co-founder and SwineTech chief operating officer Abraham Espinoza.}

They dropped out of school and spent 90 days working 16 hours a day in the program. They had the opportunity to pitch their plan in over 25 business plan competitions during that time, racking up prizes worth over $350,000 at places like MIT, Microsoft, Princeton, Under Armor, Harvard and more. The prize money funded research to work on the piglet crushing prevention idea and validated the idea of using a chiropractic TENS impulse to alert a sow to roll over so her piglet won’t be crushed. This spurred the development of SmartGuard, a solution to help stop this problem. And then, the pandemic hit.

“Nobody was going to be investing in new technology during the pandemic,” Rooda says. “It just wasn’t going to happen. We had to pivot.”

Read on to learn more about Rooda’s business pivot, his leadership philosophy and his outlook on the pork industry.

Q. Why did you decide to pivot your business idea?
A. The COVID-19 pandemic gave us time to think more deeply about the problems we were seeing on sow farms. We had to sit back and think about what we could do to help mitigate the challenges we were facing with SmartGuard, but also help the industry in a bigger way. We scheduled interviews with over 200 employees representing 30 systems. We were able to validate this point: Unless we go in the farm physically, we really don’t know what’s happening, who’s doing it and if it’s compliant. When we talked to employees, they said, “We want to know what we need to do, when we need to do it and if we’re doing a good job.” The two really lined up incredibly well. That’s when we decided we were going to put SmartGuard on the backburner and build a new solution for farms around workforce management.

Q. Tell me about your business. What is your why?
A. When we look at how far our business has come over the past seven years, the initial goal was to prevent piglets and sows from dying. That started out by creating a voice recognition technology that could identify a piglet in distress, alert the mom to stand up and save that piglet’s life. But we quickly realized that in order to have sustained impact, all of the processes that followed saving that little pig needed to be well understood, managed and executed on. And we couldn’t control that. We wanted to step back and figure out how we could do that. That’s when we created PigFlow, a point-of-care platform for pigs, designed to help understand when and where people need to be and whether or not they did a good job. Our mission is to help producers streamline and monitor routine and emergency care, communication, daily workflows, administrative tasks, herd diagnostics, as well as record storage and transmission. We’ve put the pig at the core of what we’re focused on – the health of that pig and the care for that pig – modeling our approach from human health. The results from heightened accountability and ownership have been exciting with substantial improvements in employee efficiencies, engagement, and pig care.

Q. Describe a typical day on the job for you.
A. It starts with a morning standup where everyone on our team gets together to talk about what happened yesterday and what’s going on today. After that, it’s an open game. For me, it might be working on the business as a CEO, as a marketer, as a salesperson...a little of everything. Then you sprinkle in meetings and solving problems and it becomes a very dynamic day for me. I enjoy the opportunity to be a part of so many different things and have the confidence to offer value in all of those areas, despite not being able to spend a whole lot of time on them. I enjoy being able to provide input, guidance and hopefully empowerment to the team members who are actually working on those things.

^{The SwineTech team at the Iowa Pork Congress.}

Q. How does your company help and work with its customers?
A. We believe in a partnership approach – the consult-join-counselor approach. We want to understand: What are the challenges being faced? How do we collectively create a strategy to start solving those problems? With SwineTech pivoting to a more holistic approach to pig care and workforce management, it has allowed us to step in and be helpful in many areas. That’s probably one of the most rewarding parts of what we do – being able to connect with people who are taking care of pigs and trying to grow their business, and strategically walking through solutions and strategies that can help make that better.

Q. What concerns do you have about the swine industry?
A. I believe labor, herd health, public perception and viability of our producers are the greatest concerns moving forward. I think another big challenge is that we are at a tipping point of whether or not the individuals who helped build the industry to what it is today want to stay in it. It will have a profound impact on what our industry looks like in five to 10 years. They all have the purview to make that decision for themselves and we’ll have to figure out how to move forward.

Q. What are the greatest opportunities in the swine industry today?
A. Production potential is a big opportunity because we do not maximize our current genetic potential today. We are, in most systems, hundreds of dollars per sow away from the biological limits or genetic potential of that animal. How do we help elevate our industry to that of the 90th percentile? We have so many resources with labor, genetics and so on, that we are just not maximizing. There will be people who figure out how we stay viable as an industry. There will be people who will figure out how we keep raising the bar of our potential. At SwineTech, our core focus is pig care, so how do we make the most of the resources we’re already paying for today? There’s so much opportunity that just lives within that bucket.

Q. How will the growing threat of foreign animal disease impact the U.S. pork industry’s future?
A. It’s going to push us to be better. Yes, Doomsday might happen. But until then, we’re continually refining our biosecurity approaches to be better. Whether we get ASF or not, I think we’re better for the threat existing. It’s in the back of our minds, right outside of our borders, pushing us to be better than what we would have been otherwise.

Q. What is your business philosophy?
A. Authenticity, ownership and innovation are our three core values. Authenticity is being who you are. Your unique self brings a perspective, a diversity in itself, that is special. As a society we always talk about diversity around race and gender. But we don’t necessarily talk about diversity when it comes to backgrounds and ideas. Even if you’re not in the swine industry, if you can come in open-minded and be who you are, you’re going to bring a new puzzle piece that we’ve never had before. We’re not going to succeed as an industry if we do the same thing we’ve always been doing. As a business, we need to be who we say we’re going to be, not just do what we say we’re going to do. If I say, I’m going to be the point-of-care platform for pigs, I need to go out there and invest in that. I need to be 100% committed to being that for our industry. Regarding innovation, we always say “Find the better way.” Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good enough. With those three values, we hope to be an authentic brand and a servant to the industry.

^{Matthew Rooda loves being a part of an industry that is constantly growing and evolving.}

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. I love being able to work with our customers, our partners, our team, to build relationships, which are often lifelong. My wife works in mental health, and I’ve got other friends in other industries. I’ve learned from them that people job hop between industries quite often. I think that a really cool thing about our industry is that usually when people are in it, they stay in it. That means every time we go to an event, I’m seeing customers that have been doing this forever. That knowledge and relationship is awesome. I also enjoy building a team. We’re in the trenches. Life is changing every day. We’re growing by leaps year over year. Challenges come our way, but we’re in it together and it’s just so much fun.

Q. Who inspires you?
A. My parents and my grandparents were my biggest inspiration growing up and in everything I do today. My dad has accomplished a lot within the swine industry and my mom was always supportive and a very strong person. My grandparents were entrepreneurs. My grandfather was a producer who didn’t pivot in a timely manner with the rest of the industry. But admirably, and in such a good work ethic kind of way, he persevered. My other grandfather was a schoolteacher who started a real estate management company while he was just having his first kids. He’s grown that into a very successful business that has been passed on within the family. It was really inspiring to be able to go work for both of my grandparents, whether that was on the farm or painting, scraping and evicting homes as a kid. They are two very different things, but they taught me a good work ethic.

Q. What will the business look like 20 years from now?
A. When I worked as a nursing aide and medication aide, in the most respectful way, I saw an opportunity for pig production to emulate that when it comes to providing high-quality individualized care. I think 20 years from now, our business will look like an imitation of workforce management in healthcare. I think we can use that system to provide transparent, high-quality care at an individual basis to pigs. We’ve got computer vision, sensors and technology that is becoming less expensive. I think we will be emulating healthcare on a day-to-day basis.

Q. If you could go back and do something differently in your career, what would it be and why?
A. I am happy where I am today. If I change something, that entire story is gone or could be changed. However, I do wish when I started working, someone had told me how crazy one year of eating out all the time will totally make a difference. I would have drank far less of those Starbucks double shots, and ate far less Casey’s breakfast pizza and fast food.

Q. What advice do you have for someone who might like to do what you do someday?
A. I always tell individuals thinking about an idea to go get involved in an industry that you’re passionate about and work your ass off to figure out what holds you back. Because whatever is holding you back from accomplishing your goals is likely holding the rest of the industry back as well. There’s your problem. Go passionately pursue the problem before you passionately pursue the idea.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Mental Toughness: Make the Most of What Life Throws at You

PIC Invests in SwineTech

Co-Ops Open the Door for High-speed Broadband and More Use of Precision Ag

Wed, 25 May 2022 03:56:51 GMT

According to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, agricultural cooperatives are in an ideal position to work with communication companies to deliver carrier-grade, high speed private wireless networks to their farmer members at costs that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Such networks allow for greater adoption of precision ag applications that can help farmers produce more efficiently.

“Offering these network solutions could be a new, reliable revenue source for U.S. farm supply cooperatives, helping them to offset the highly competitive and volatile business of fertilizer, chemical and other input sales,” said Kenneth Scott Zuckerberg, lead grain and farm supply economist with CoBank.

The lack of affordable, reliable broadband access in rural America, has hindered widespread adoption of precision ag technologies. That may be changing with the increasing availability of private wireless networks. Today a wide range of entities and organizations can enter the wireless network business and deliver broadband access in areas where it was previously scarce, if not unattainable.

While the idea that agricultural co-ops should take the lead in developing private wireless networks sounds aggressive, Zuckerberg said co-ops are in a much better position than individual farmers to do so for several key reasons, including greater financial resources and their service-based orientation.

Click here for the full report

The Federal Communications Commission’s decision in 2018 to make 150 MHz of spectrum available in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band was the catalyst for private wireless networks, said Jeff Johnston, lead communications economist for CoBank. With speeds in excess of 100Mbps and options for customization, these networks are a self-sufficient solution to support on-farm broadband demand for precision ag technologies.

“Opening up the CBRS band essentially democratized building and owning carrier-grade wireless networks,” said Johnston. “Prior to this, schools, cities and businesses in unserved areas would either have to beg the national operators to build coverage where they needed it, or build their own Wi-Fi networks, which are far inferior to the standards-based private wireless networks.”

With CBRS, organizations now have access to the same spectrum as well as standards-based equipment that the national operators use since CBRS has fostered a broad ecosystem of manufacturers, added Johnston.

The Three Things You Need to Know to Keep Your Farm Data Safe

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 21:55:32 GMT

Cybercrime has become an increasing threat to today’s farmers. Ransomware and cyberattacks targeting the food and agriculture sector has been on the rise, and unfortunately, no operation, whether large or small, is immune from this risk.

According to dataprise, an IT management and consultant business, the infrastructure in the agriculture industry is becoming more enticing to cybercriminals because the sector has adopted more smart technologies that open doors to other crime opportunities.

Experts warn that as an industry, agriculture has a very soft digital underbelly that’s easily breached due to very limited investment in cybersecurity to date. While it’s easy to think, “That will never happen on my farm,” cyberattacks happen every single day, and they’re creeping into rural America.

Doug Jacobson and Ally Frickel, electrical and computer engineering specialists at Iowa State University, offer these tips to help prevent cybercrime from happening on your operation.

Keep an Eye on Your Email

“Email is a huge opportunity for attackers to trick victims into downloading malware,” the pair state. “This tactic is called phishing. In emails, senders will disguise themselves to sound like someone important to the victim. In regard to farmers, attackers may pretend to be a cooperative, supplier, implement dealer - anyone that is critical to farmers’ jobs.”

For a phishing attack to work, it requires the email recipient to click on a link or attachment that is connected to the malware. This will cause the computer to download and install harmful technology to their device.

To prevent this from happening, Jacobson and Frickel suggest the following: “Trust your instincts. If the email looks fishy, it probably is. Do not trust unfamiliar email addresses. If you suspect an email is a phishing email, do not click on any link or attachment. Delete the email.”

Protect Your Passwords

We’re all guilty of using the same password over and over again, but this can be a dangerous practice for your operation.

When creating a password, the duo encourages farmers to focus on password strength. This means creating a password no one can guess. Additionally, this may also mean creating dozens of different, hard-to-remember passwords for various websites and programs.

“It’s understandable to be a bit overwhelmed,” the team shares. “One suggestion is to write the passwords down in a small notebook and keep it in a safe place. Do not create a document on your computer with account information and passwords.”

Lastly, it’s important to not share passwords with others. This may seem obvious but think about all of the different people involved in your operation. If the password is shared amongst other, it may put your farm’s private information in jeopardy.

Backup Your Data

If a cybercrime were to happen on your farm, it’s possible you could lose valuable information forever.

“To prevent losing this data, perform a periodic archive to secure storage,” the duo adds. “The point to backing data up to a secure storage - the cloud - is to be able to recover the data later.”

Another way to help make sure your information isn’t lost is to backup data via cloud storage or via a USB device. However, the key to making sure information isn’t lost is to backup data on a routine basis. Don’t wait until it is already lost!

To learn more on how to prevent a cyberattack, read:

Cyber Threats Are A Real Threat To Modern Agriculture’s Expanding Digital Infrastructure

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:05:40 GMT

A malicious cyberattack in late May 2021 forced the shutdown of all of JBS’ beef plants and many of its pork and poultry plants. This attack on the world’s largest meat processor spotlighted the vulnerability of another critical American industry. This time, agriculture was the target.

According to the Harvard Business Review, the amount that companies paid to hackers grew by 300% in 2020. In the first 10 months of 2021, just six ransomware groups were responsible for breaching the cybersecurity defenses of 292 organizations. From those attacks, these criminal organizations had tallied up more than $45 million in ransom money.

Of all the cyberattacks and ransomware attacks in 2021, the breach of Colonial Pipeline in late April had the most news coverage. A ransomware group known as DarkSide with ties to Russia was responsible for the attack that shut down 5,500 miles of pipe and halted the flow of countless barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard. To avoid further disruption, Colonial Pipeline eventually gave in to the ransomware group’s demands and paid the group $4.4 million in bitcoin.

Agriculture Is An Easy Target

Experts warn that as an industry, agriculture has a very soft digital underbelly that’s easily breached due to very limited investment in cybersecurity to date.

For an industry that is betting the farm on becoming increasingly digitally connected and automated, this should set off alarm bells in all sectors and all levels of agriculture—from the back 40 to the halls of Congress. As more devices are hooked up to networks and more tasks are turned over to automation, the opportunity and potential reward for cyberattackers will only grow exponentially during the next several years.

According to Vantage Market Research, the size of the global agricultural robot market is expected to reach $15.93 billion by 2028. That’s up from $3.63 billion in 2020 and represents a compound annual growth rate of 20.31% during the forecast period—2021 to 2028.

A private industry notification issued by the FBI’s cyber division on Sept. 1 listed five major attacks that occurred in the food sector since November 2020. The list included everything from a bakery company to a well-known beverage company to a large farming operation. Two more attacks—on grain co-ops, Iowa’s NEW Cooperative and Minnesota’s Crystal Valley—came less than a month after the FBI’s warning.

As with many of these “events,” the aftermath involves plenty of finger-pointing. In the fallout of the JBS attack, a good deal of blame was shifted on the government for not creating cybersecurity guidelines and compliance mandates for agriculture.

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst from Iowa recently went to the floor of the Senate to stress that more must be done related to cybersecurity within agriculture. They advocated: “Agricultural security is national security.”

It is foolish to think government alone can fix the issue or prevent future attacks. But, government can develop guidelines and performance goals. One of the first things that could be done is to adopt standards related to manufacturing automation equipment that is secure by design. IoT devices need to have additional security measures before they are deployed to the field. Because of the lack of a law, both the users and manufacturers blame each other for not adopting even minimum security measures for these pieces of equipment. This issue has become a significant cybersecurity liability.

What you can do

The rest of us must become increasingly aware and vigilant in fighting this war. Pardon the pun, but one could “lose the farm” because of an unforeseen cyberattack. Whether you are a CEO of a multilocation co-op or an individual farmer who has connected your operations and data to the “cloud,” you are a target, and this threat is not going to go away.