Agricultural world: 3 examples of connected technology helping farmers

Connected technology adapted to the agricultural world is being deployed more and more in France. It should be said that connected agriculture is now part of the solutions for developing and improving farms throughout the country. In order to better understand how farmers use this data on a daily basis, we are going to look at 3 models of connected agriculture: silo sensors and the resulting stock management, weather and water regulation in agricultural plots, and finally, phytosanitary products with the implementation and monitoring of treatments.

While the Internet has allowed these 3 technologies to develop exponentially and qualitatively, they have rapidly aroused growing interest among farmers. Farmers have had to learn how to manage their plots, their stocks, and even their farms in a very different way than a few years ago. Today, many of them still trust these digital data, which few imagined could be applied to the world of agriculture.

As silo stocks are managed automatically, weather forecasts have become more refined, and the consumption of chemical treatments is more and more controlled, let’s discover in more detail this world of connected agriculture.

Connected silo sensors for the farmer and the agricultural cooperative

The connected silo sensors are among the finest examples of digital agriculture. They allow to :

• to know at any time the stock present in each silo;
• forecast the consumption of products for the next 4 days ;
• trigger an automatic delivery ;
• eliminate any risk of out-of-stock ;
• include the data in the company’s management software ;
• integrate new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Connected to an application, these sensors send their data via the Internet, before the farmer receives it directly, thanks to an application installed on his cell phone. This connected agriculture helps the farmer in the daily management of his crops and livestock, whether it be for seeds, phytosanitary products in the silos, medicines added to the feed, etc.

The sensor data provides accurate information on the stock status, and the application can trigger an automatic delivery with a single click, as soon as a silo’s stock is too low. This anticipation eliminates any risk of supply shortages and alerts the farmer in the event of abnormally high usage at one of the silos.

Weather and water management at the service of the agricultural world

The farmer needs to know the weather in an ultra local way, i.e. limited to the perimeter of his plots. However, weather forecasting is not just about the weather, since other elements are also important in the agricultural world. For example, this is the case with :

• the current weather on a given plot and the multi-day forecast ;
• hygrometry, i.e. the humidity level in the atmosphere;
• the outside temperature ;
• wind speed and direction ;
• Humectation of crops ;
• soil moisture, as well as soil salinity and temperature.

Some of this data is provided by the agricultural service of Météo France, because their platform allows to better delimit a sector and to receive very precise information on its weather.

It should be noted that the hygrometry, the humidification of the crops, the wind speed and the soil humidity also call upon the tools of connected agriculture, just like the latter:

• the connected rain gauge, a weather station located near the crops, which measures the cumulative rainfall, dry and wet temperature, ambient humidity, and dew point;
• the connected anemometer, which is used in addition to the rain gauge, to measure the speed and direction of the wind or even the gusts ;
• wetting sensors, which measure wetting, air temperature, hygrometry, dew point, and wet temperature at the crop leaves.

These 3 tools and sensors are complementary to each other, knowing that the data collected is always sent via the Internet network. The farmer can therefore check at any time the water needs of his crops, as well as the preventive treatment to be applied or the degree of protection needed for his crops.

The regulation of phytosanitary products in the agricultural sector

Environmental regulations require the keeping of a crop record book, which specifies, among other things, the use of phytosanitary products on the farm’s plots of land. Today, there are connected management tools that retrieve the data provided by the farmer and facilitate the keeping of these records. This makes it possible to know in real-time the contents of the crop book, but above all to implement a phytosanitary program that is more respectful of the environment.

While the farmer can be checked at any time by the competent authorities, the farmer must be able to present the records of the application of plant protection products kept up to the day in question. Through its technological innovation, connected agriculture thus plays a decisive role in the farmer’s daily life and facilitates his work by giving him access to a mobile application installed on his cell phone. He can thus connect from his plots of land or his tractor.

In the context of environmental protection, the data collected helps to raise awareness of the sometimes massive use of crop treatment products. This enables industry players to better regulate their consumption and participate in the preservation of ecosystems.

A management application of phytosanitary products allows in particular to :

• keep the crop notebook up to date;
• record crop treatment ;
• Note the transactions between the farmer and his distributor for professional use ;
• control the stocks of its products ;
• monitor consumption per plot, doses delivered, and product traceability;
• download all the data into a spreadsheet.

There is also a digital input/output management system for sanitary products, up to the controlled disposal of empty packaging. This tracking is, for example, ensured by RFID chips affixed to each package.

Agriculture therefore benefits greatly from new technologies, both in environmental management and in anticipating the needs of professionals in the sector. The farmer, by choosing connected agriculture, makes significant savings, but also saves time and lightens his workload, while benefiting from quality information and data.