The transition from connected agriculture to robotic agriculture

Agriculture in France is in constant evolution thanks to the use of a set of technologies and computer tools for the operation of farms. Today’s farmer, who has grown up with computers, digital technology and the Internet, is therefore surrounded by computer data and new technologies that provide him with concrete help for the overall management of his farm and his daily work.

The development of wireless technologies and online information processing allow all tools and technical data to be linked and communicated without mechanical or physical links, thus generating the notion of connected agriculture.

We invite you to discover the growing importance of digital applications and services dedicated to the different actors of agricultural production, as well as the future prospects of agriculture that tends towards the use of more and more robotized tools.

Zoom on connected agriculture

Farmers and the entire agri-food sector are at the heart of the economic and environmental issues of our time, focusing the expectations of a society in search of healthy food that is produced while limiting its impact on the environment.

In this respect, connected farming is a step towards precision farming, providing farmers with accurate data and analysis of their crops and farms. All of this information gives them the ability to make better decisions, at a given time or place.

For example, a farmer connected to digital services is able to accurately determine an area requiring treatment, fertilizer application, or irrigation system positioning. This precision in the analysis of farm data allows farmers to make better choices, choices that benefit their production and reduce consumption of resources such as water.

These multiple assets make connected agriculture a solution encouraged and recommended by the F.A.O. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), within the framework of climate change management and a better use of resources and soils dedicated to agriculture or animal husbandry.

Sensors and robots to collect information in real-time

The technologies implemented in the world of connected agriculture are based on two complementary aspects. Firstly, it is necessary to have connected objects capable of collecting data, which can vary according to the sector of activity of the companies.

These sensors and probes can take many forms: sensors placed directly in plots of land, in and outside silos, in containers of phytosanitary products, but also mobile sensors installed on agricultural machinery or drones.

This “digital data” is then analyzed by software that integrates predictive models and precise local weather data to provide farmers with a range of adapted solutions or automatically send them alerts on their smartphone or digital tablet.

The permanent innovation that accompanies the development of connected and robotized agriculture thus results in better management of soils, crops and harvests, a valuable aid to decision-making, and improved yield and management of farmers’ working time.

In order to demonstrate the extent to which the “connected farmer” has become a concrete reality in France, it is possible to refer to some particularly explicit figures: 85% of farmers use the Internet at least once a day in direct connection with their farming activity and 75% of these farmers have several professional applications on a digital tablet or smartphone.

Connected robots invite themselves to the plots and farms.

The use of robotics by farmers is, logically, the next step in the introduction of digital and artificial intelligence on farms.

Agricultural robotics deploys autonomous technological means and tools whose purpose is to perform numerous automated interventions by taking into account the information collected in real-time by sensors, by cross-referencing them with available databases. Robotics concerns the entire agri-food sector, from production to marketing, including product processing.

The robots and autonomous agricultural machines most frequently encountered in the world of agriculture and breeding are the following: the milking robot, the feeding robot, or robotic agricultural machines capable of weeding, seeding, fertilizing and applying an adapted treatment.

Every year, the agricultural show is packed with novelties and innovations aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of these robots at the service of farmers and companies or cooperatives marketing products from agricultural production, helping to make the industry more efficient and environmentally responsible.