Focus on the Farm of the NEAR Future with Agerpoint’s Dan Maycock

It’s all well and good to speculate about the farm of the future. But in a pragmatic industry, the future that really matters is the one that’s arriving soon. 

Agerpoint Chief Data Officer Dan Maycock shares his focus on the farm of the near future on The Point Cloud, Agerpoint’s interview series featuring leaders at the intersection of climate, agriculture, nature, and technology.

Hear the full interview above, watch and read highlights below, and listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

“Lasers and Gizmos and Gadgets”

As an industry, says Maycock, agriculture is pragmatic. He explains that a typical farm CFO is more interested in a 3-year payback period, not the exploration of “far-flung ideas - lasers and gizmos and gadgets.”

Maycocks see agtech trials that sputter out after a five-acre trial, pointing out that if technology can’t quickly prove benefits of scale and cost, “there's a lot more things farmers could be spending money on.”

Essential for success, says Maycock, is focus on data fundamentals.

“Much like you never see the foundation on a house, you should notice if it doesn't have one, I see much the same way about good data engineering, data capture, data quality issues in farming.”

Agerpoint’s Edge

For Maycock, Agerpoint technology is compelling for several reasons. The first is the ease of data capture.

“Being able to reduce the steps involved to get high quality data into the system is something that every ag tech company struggles with to some extent,” he says. 

“It's either too expensive, requires machinery for passive data collection, it requires complicated inputs, you have language barriers, you have cultural barriers, you have connectivity barriers. And Agerpoint's [in] large part solved a lot of those issues.”

Second, Agerpoint’s digital twin models can help answer a variety of questions. “A lot of scouting or expeditions look for one particular attribute, capture what they can, and then that point in time is lost forever,” he says.  “Having that digital record long term means I'm not just using that model for one thing. Potentially it could use it for a whole bunch of stuff.”

Third, Agerpoint is preparing for the advancement of AI and machine learning. 

Better Decisions

Maycock envisions a “digital farmhand” in fields of the future. Farmers might scan fields with a mobile device or drone and receive guidance on topics like pest control. 

This technology would not necessarily replace human workers but rather augment their capabilities, allowing for more informed approaches to agriculture. As Maycock sees it, this digital assistant could help boost yields, lower costs, and increase efficiency. The data-fueled technology could aid decision making across global agribusiness operations.

In the near term of course, Maycock has his eye on the near future - and the practical data foundation it takes to make it possible.

—-

Please subscribe, like, rate 5 stars, tell your friends, and join the conversation with Agerpoint on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).