Satellite Data for Agriculture: How Do We Unlock the True Value?

I recently came across an article at Agribusiness Global that discussed why satellites are still important and how they will help in the future. Now you’re probably thinking, of course satellites are important — they help steer my machine and track where I have been. Yes, that is true, but what we sometimes forget is that there are several different types of satellites that all are providing some different data.

There are four major groups of satellite constellations — GPS, GLONAS, BeiDou, and Galileo — helping people find there place on earth. South American farmers, just like farmers in the U.S., use these satellites to guide machinery around the field and track their position so that they can reduce the amount of skips and overlaps in the field. Now one thing producers in South America do not have access to, is a free correction source. This is where they have to rely on private companies to get corrections. Now this means they generally have a better correction source but may have spottier service.

The article focuses more on satellite imagery and how we can use all the sensors and data that is coming from these satellites and how to tailor that to individual regions of the world. This is where data analytics and AI can come in and be developed to service these very different areas to help farmers be more efficient with their fertilizer and chemical inputs. Companies with their own satellites are already working on these issues by recommending actions to be taken on specific areas to try and catch issues early so they don’t lead to major yield losses at harvest time.

Eventually, the data being collected may even help farmers know the soil moisture in the field. This will give them added confidence that when they go into the field with the planter or tillage equipment, that they don’t end up turning around and going home because the field is too wet, thus saving time and putting resources in the right place at the right time.

So if satellites can help with so many different things, why is everyone not using them now? The main reason I believe is the technology is not fully developed yet. Satellites are gathering way more data than we know what to do with or fully utilize. Different ways of picking apart data to provide accurate and consistent information about the state of a field is the key to unlocking the potential of the satellite in agriculture.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts on this topic by leaving a comment below.