What is connected farming?

Agribusinesses – companies focused on farming, livestock, and other agricultural production – have evolved over the years by adopting increasingly sophisticated technology and automation. This evolution helps organizations meet the growing demands of a hungry planet. As a sector that handles the process of outputting crops and livestock from start to finish, agribusinesses are being challenged to increase production, decrease costs, and expand capabilities. With so many consumers and organizations depending on the market, agribusinesses have become more reliant on emerging technologies.

Connected farming employs IoT devices to optimize operations

By connecting equipment, crops and livestock, and workers through a network of sensors, mobile applications, and data analytics, agribusiness managers can make informed decisions. This benefits their bottom line—and those of us who benefit from their hard work at the grocery store.

Satcom’s Role in Connected Farming

Satellite communications (satcom) play a major role in helping agribusinesses keep pace with demand. Vast amounts of farmland extend beyond cellular coverage, which can complicate communication between agribusinesses and their equipment. Day-to-day responsibilities such as herd graze tracking, field plowing, crop irrigating, and equipment maintenance can often be done more efficiently through satcom. Regardless of whether work is being done on or off the grid, organizations need to continue monitoring and receiving critical information about their deployed assets.

Reaping the Benefits of Connected Farming

With our crosslinked Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, which provide truly global connectivity, agribusiness assets can remain connected even in challenging terrain or weather. They also don’t suffer from sustained line-of-sight blockages like geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite networks, where the parking of equipment or a herd grazing on the wrong side of a mountain can result in a loss of connectivity.

A dependable satellite network that works anywhere can help agribusinesses simplify tasks. Connected farming applications like soil moisture sensing, aquaculture, machine diagnostic reporting for preventive maintenance, and autonomous systems for 24/7 crop care are all possible with Iridium. Our network also supports dual-mode services, allowing devices to automatically switch between cellular and satellite connectivity when moving in and out of cellular range. This flexibility creates a more affordable solution and gives farmers more confidence knowing their devices can stay connected anywhere.

Connected Farming Solutions

Agribusinesses can choose from a variety of Iridium Connected^™ devices that allow them to monitor, track, and manage remote assets such as soil, crops, livestock, irrigation systems, and machinery. Reputable brands such as AGCO, AgSense (Valley Irrigation), Effortech, and Urbit are utilizing Iridium’s global advantages to enable connected farming solutions both close to home and in remote locations.

examples of Iridium Connected solutions available today:

Asset management and machine monitoring are crucial to keeping agribusinesses operating smoothly. A wide range of AGCO’s tractor options are currently Iridium Connected with a dual-mode telematics service that provides diagnostic reporting. This allows users to understand the current state of heavy-duty equipment wherever they’re deployed.

Understanding how weather is affecting crops in the field can be a game-changer when making irrigation management decisions. Iridium enables AgSense’s Aqua Trac Lite with reliable satellite connectivity, allowing farmers to track critical data, such as soil moisture, temperature, and salinity.

A successful agribusiness requires constant monitoring and management therefore needing to keep a variety of devices connected 24/7. Urbit’s LoRaWAN Outdoor Gateway utilizes dual-mode capabilities so that devices can automatically switch to cellular coverage when in range, keeping it cost-effective for agribusinesses.