Editor’s Note: AgDNA is launching a campaign with AgFunder this month. The company will be hosting a webinar on April 9 for those interested in learning more.
Farming is growing smarter, but with so much disparate on-farm data amassed from precision ag equipment, it’s often tough to capture what matters and weed out what doesn’t. Paul Turner, the CEO of mobile management platform AgDNA, wants to make the data collection process a little less overwhelming. He launched the cloud-based data analytics platform in 2013 with the goal of putting vital information into the hands of growers, contractors, agronomists, and equipment dealers worldwide.
“Commercial farming is moving from manual records to machine generated data from tractors, irrigation equipment, and remote sensors. Now that we have all this data, how do we apply it?” said Turner. “Our algorithms could help farmers feed the world.”
By automating the delivery of precision ag data to Apple and Android devices, the platform is positioning itself as a one-stop data management tool for workers across the ag production spectrum. Founded in Brisbane, AgDNA has users in 156 countries with 2.8 million acres managed to date.
According to Turner, desk-bound data entry just isn’t practical for growers. “Farmers work long days. They don’t want to spend their evenings staring at a computer,” he said. “With AgDNA, farmers no longer have to be tied to the office.”
The platform processes machine-generated data—like seeding records, weather data, soil quality, and yield—and provides subscribers with real-time, geo-spatially accurate information about every acre of farmland. Growers can then benchmark progress, view seed prescriptions, assess equipment performance, and determine what crops will best thrive under current conditions.
In addition to its consumer-facing app, AgDNA has also developed “Platform-as-a-Service” white label precision farming apps for some of the world’s largest farm equipment dealers, including many under the John Deere umbrella. AgDNA is one of a select few companies licensed to access production data for MyJohnDeere.com, and has also fostered partnerships with Case New Holland, AGCO, Valley Integration, and Reinke Manufacturing, among others.
“You’d be hard pressed to find another system that does what AgDNA does—automating data collected from farm machinery and delivering useful insights directly to your phone or tablet,” he said.
The company is raising a $2.4 million funding campaign on AgFunder this month. If successful, AgDNA will broaden its dealer network to include all major international markets, and aims to have 40 million acres covered by 2018. Looking at the big picture, Turner hopes that the data-crunching platform will better connect the farming community and its burgeoning fleet of Internet-enabled machinery.
Agriculture has undergone four revolutions, he said. The first was mechanization, followed by plant nutrition and genetics. The fourth, Turner says, is data. “The data revolution is going to maximize the benefits of the first three and help feed the world’s growing population.”
Have news or tips? Email [email protected].
Guest article: AI can transform precision agriculture, but what are the legal risks?