This startup produces nut and citrus orchard management software that uses satellite data. The data is granular enough to provide tree-specific information, like the size of the canopy or the trunk diameter.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Agerpoint Inc., a Florida-based analytics company offering remote scanning services to growers of permanent crops, a Section 333 Exemption and a blanket Certificate of Authorization that will allow the firm to fly gasoline-powered, fixed-wing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) anywhere in the U.S.

In addition to DJI and DroneDeploy, following is a sneak preview of a handful of representative companies that have signed on so far to exhibit. Dozens more will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

New technologies that promise to change how food is grown, transported and sold are attracting increased interest from the kinds of investors that have fueled Silicon Valley powerhouses.

Big data is playing an ever-increasing role in fields ranging from healthcare to education to media. Unknown by many people, however, is the impact big data is having on agriculture.

Daytona Beach, FL based Agerpoint is really looking to make its mark in that realm. It is one of five participating companies in The Yield Lab accelerator that draws agriculture technology companies from around the world to St. Louis.

“2015’s most promising RoyseLaw AgTech Incubator companies have been selected to be featured at the annual RoyseLaw Silicon Valley AgTech Conference, to be held on May 11, 2015 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California,” announced Roger Royse, founder of the RoyseLaw AgTech Incubator.

Agerpoint provides precision agriculture solutions for tree and vine crops, like citrus, fruit, and wine. It could be a single tree you need information for, several groves, or even urban or community farms, which are gaining popularity in cities all over the world. The vehicle-mounted scanner drives through the groves or orchards and accesses real-time data. It also takes photos and compiles them, getting down to the details like leaf color and number of blossoms.

Agerpoint is redefining analytics for fruit-bearing trees and vines to better assist growers.

The Yield Lab, the new St. Louis-based agriculture technology accelerator program, on Wednesday handed out five $100,000 equity-investments to a group of five agtech startups.

While corn and other grains have been the main focus of precision agriculture, Florida-based Agerpoint seeks to do the same for fruit trees and vineyards, using laser scanning to give producers data on plant health, and early hints on diseases and other problems.

We are on the cusp of a technological revolution for our industry. Developments in 3-D laser scanning (LiDAR) and multispectral imaging are changing the way that we look at our crops — literally.