Key Takeaways from the VISION Conference: Is ‘Agriculture 3.5’ a More Achievable Short-Term Goal?
Last month I, like many others, was at the VISION Conference in Glendale, AZ, to learn more about Agriculture 4.0 and what everyone’s thoughts on the future of agriculture is. With many fascinating panel discussions and engaging speakers on a wide variety of topics, I think everyone was able to find some very interesting sessions in which they learned a lot — at least I know I did.
After the conference ended, I was left wondering: so what about Agriculture 4.0? Some of the topics, like the metaverse, were interesting, but they are very far away from the current reality and most likely many years away from a meaningful implementation into our industry. Don’t get me wrong — it was great to learn more about this from an expert, but I just don’t think that agriculture will rush into investment in digital assets at scale any time soon.
Other topics, like imaging data, explore relatively mature technology that is not getting used to its full potential. Where the potential use cases are virtually endless, we currently don’t see a widespread implementation of any of these use cases. It felt to me like an increase in adoption in this case could be just around the corner, depending on the new and novel products and service models that might get introduced.
A common thread between many sessions was the need for a digital transformation in organizations that form the agricultural value chain. Whether it’s the further maturing of existing technologies or the introduction of new technologies, it’s important for organizations to know what is required in the short, medium, and long term. I am always surprised when I learn about how some of these, sometimes massive, companies operate. In some cases, digital transformation to them means migrating from faxes and letters to automated emails. With food companies and consumers demanding an ever-increasing amount of information, and farming businesses having an ever-increasing need to improve efficiency, the data to power these digital transformations is paramount in making them reality.
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The first session at VISION, “Harnessing the Power of Agriculture 4.0: Where Are We Going Next?”, spoke to the same issue as well. How can increased data availability accelerate the value of technologies available to us, and enable them to generate more value for everyone involved?
So, what was my key takeaway from this conference? To me it feels that “Agriculture 4.0” is still something that is quite far away. Although it’s a great goal to work towards, it feels to me that “Agriculture 3.5” is more achievable in the short to medium term. Agriculture 3.5 symbolizes the step in between our current reality and our future dreams.
If Agriculture 4.0 gets associated too much with technologies that are too far away from the current day reality, like the metaverse for example, it is too easy to dismiss the goal itself altogether. Whereas if we acknowledge that there are many other goals that we are able to achieve already, although might not be quite lofty enough for Agriculture 4.0, it might become easier to create tangible goals and action plans that organizations can start on today still.
I’m sure that everyone had different takeaways from the event, and probably even interpreted the individual sessions differently and my thoughts above or only just that: my thoughts. I enjoyed every session, and very much appreciate everyone that collaborated on creating this conference. Whether you agree or disagree with my points above — drop me a line, I love discussing these topics further with those that are interested too!
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