Autonomous tractors and precision agriculture.

Precision agriculture has is a management system that is information and technology-based, is site specific, and uses one or more of the following sources of data: soils, crops, nutrients, pests, moisture, or yield for optimum profitability, sustainability, and protection of the environment. Autonomous, or operator-less technology, has found usefulness as a tool in precision agriculture. Autonomous tractors have increasingly found usefulness in material handling systems used in factories and slowly finding acceptance in automotive vehicle lane in agriculture. The self-driving models from manufacturers such as Tesla and Google – offer varying degrees of reduced operator input. Autonomous Tractor Corporation (ATC), headquartered in Fargo, ND, has introduced AutoDrive, a patented navigation system that combines GPS technology with two individual on-ground validation systems. At the heart of AutoDrive is ATC’s Laser-Radio Navigation System (LRNS), a Local Area Network (LAN) system based on Radio Frequency (RF) technology that utilizes artificial intelligence (IA) to “train” the tractor to do repetitive tasks without programming. AutoDrive is trained to perform the task just as the farmer does. when AutoDrive becomes proficient at that task and suitably trusted, slowly more tasks can be introduced. The parent farmer has no more trust for an autonomous tractor then for a son or daughter until a certain level of trust is developed over time. For safety, AutoDrive comes with a sonar-based detection system that will immediately bring the tractor to a halt when an object is detected 30’ away. When this occurs, a text is sent to the owner, who through two pan-tilt cameras can remotely access what has happened. Read

Big data technology ,precision agriculture and food security.

A self-driving John Deere tractor rumbles through Ian Pigott’s 2,000-acre farm every week or so to spray fertilizer, guided by satellite imagery and each plot’s harvesting history. The 11-ton behemoth, loaded with so many screens it looks like an airplane cockpit, relays the nutrient information to the farmer’s computer system. With weather forecasts and data on pesticide use, soil readings, and plant tissue tests pulled by various pieces of software, Pigott can keep tabs on the farm down to the square meter in real time without ever leaving his carpeted office. “This is becoming more standard,” says Pigott, who grows a rotation of wheat, oil seed, oats, and barley on his farm in the rolling Hertfordshire countryside an hour north of London.We can take our data, walk right into the fields with an iPad or iPhone, pinpoint exactly where we are ... and figure out what we should be doing with each parcel of land” German chemical company Bayer cited the growth in such digitally assisted farming as a key reason for its $62 billion bid for Monsanto, which has become a leading provider of analytics used by growers. Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann says Monsanto is at the “forefront of digital farming.” Acquiring the company would further Bayer’s goal of identifying and providing the best-suited seeds, fertilizers, and chemicals for farms around the world. Signs of the transition to precision agriculture are obvious ,the use of drones providing bird’s-eye views of fields; mapping software locating underground water sources; sensor- laden tractors monitoring harvests in real time. It’s happening outside the fields, too. Cows’ meal portions are adjusted automatically based on their milk output. Infrared cameras identify chickens with fevers, protecting flocks. A software offers farmers recommendations on what to plant and where to plant it and farmers are very excited about new technology. Read

25 billion naira for the National Egg Production (NEGPRO) scheme to boost poultry sector.

Investment into the poultry value chain just got a boost from the Nigerian government by injection of 25 billion naira through the national egg production scheme. NEGPRO scheme involves many farmers who are in the business of egg production. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Abuja, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth N25 billion on National Egg Production (NEGPRO) scheme, with Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited. The selection of Tuns Farms to lead the group of farmers was based on certain criteria, essentially anchored on the track records of performance. Under the terms of the deal, Tuns Farms will recommend eligible entrepreneurs to access the N25 billion facility as well as, endorse their loan requirements and application, and monitor their activities within the scheme. The Bank of Industry(BOI) has a role in providing finance for the takeoff of the scheme, an initiative aimed at increasing egg production and giving the poultry sector in the country a boost. This will ensure that about 50 million table eggs daily by 2018. The scheme, which would be funded by BoI, would create one million jobs at full capacity. more

Smart farming with solar powered irrigation system boosts farmers profit.

SunCulture designs and sells solar-powered irrigation systems that make it cheaper and easier for smallholder farmers to grow high-value fresh fruits and vegetables. The company’s AgroSolar Irrigation Kit increases farmer profit by $14,000 per acre per year — based on fuel, fertilizer, and labor savings and crop yield increases. SunCulture’s Co-Founders Samir Ibrahim (CEO) and Charlie Nichols (CTO) met in New York and launched SunCulture out of the New York University Stern Venture Competition. The company launched in mid-2013 and has since installed 500+ systems across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan. SunCulture was recently awarded $2m in funding from USAID’s Powering Agriculture program to support scaling up across the East African region. By 2030, the World Bank projects Africa’s farmers will create a trillion dollar agribusiness market if they can access the capital, knowledge and technology necessary to increase yields — which trail world averages by as much as 50%. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence of undernourishment in the world — almost one in every four people is undernourished. However, Africa possesses 50% of the world’s unused arable land and can feed itself — and help feed the world too. In Kenya, where SunCulture operates, 75% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture and the sector contributes 30% of GDP. Smart farming technologies like SunCulture’s solar powered irrigation systems — which increase yields by up to 300% with 80% less water than traditional farming methods and use clean and affordable solar energy — present an exciting opportunity to sustain-ably address the yield gap on millions of smallholder African farms to improve food security and enhance economic growth.More

Field Organizer and politics.

How A 2008 Field Organizer Became One Of Hillary Clinton's Top Directors.The unglamorous job of going door to door can teach you a lot about political leadership and organizing. Every morning Brynne Craig arrives at the Hillary Clinton headquarters in Brooklyn by 7 a.m. to do a load of campaign tasks—planning state outreach, reaching out to coalitions, prioritizing new small-scale projects—although they change everyday. This week, with the Democratic National Convention her schedule will be even crazier There she'll be keeping tabs on all the projects she currently mans while helping to facilitate the quadrennial conference. Craig is Clinton’s National Deputy Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement She’s been working with the campaign on and off for nearly a decade. I recently chatted with her about her .Politics in 2016 is dizzying—social media has made it possible for more people to participate and for more constant barrages of voices. Honing this constantly changing landscape requires a knowledge of how to excite and engage people. trajectory. Field work and organizing, however, defined the political person she is today. To this day she says that being a field organizer was one of her best positions. "You had to go in everyday and organize a community. read

An entrepreneur with autism and popcorn.

Joe Steffy, who was born with down syndrome and later diagnosed with autism, was told he would likely never be hired for a normal day job. Officials at his school told him he would struggle to communicate, have a difficult time caring for himself, and likely always be dependent on others. They were right about one of those things: Steffy may never be hired.That’s because he’s too busy running his own successful company. With help from his parents, Steffy, now 30, started Poppin Joe’s Gourmet Kettle Korn in 2005. “My business works for me,” Steffy said recently. “It creates new opportunities for me to grow as a person, and to be an engaged, valued member of my community.” Today, Steffy is a sole proprietor and employs seven seasonal workers. In 2016, he brought in $67,000 in gross sales (up more than four-fold from the $15,000 he made in 2005). Steffy shared his story with the U.S. House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee in May as part of a larger conversation in Washington about why it’s important for disabled Americans to be given more exposure to entrepreneurship opportunities. “The worst disability there is that of low expectations,” Steffy told the committee. “They said I would never hold a job, that I had no attention span, could not focus, would need to live in a group home and go to a sheltered workshop. My parents disagreed.”read

AGRIBUSINESS: How to start a farm in your bedroom and make millions.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to start a farm in your bedroom and make millions. Small indoor farms in garage or bedroom are growing in popularity where vegetables and other plants are cultivated and used for salads or sandwiches and make millions are generated.This kind of farm has no fields, ploughs or even soil or sunlight. The new "vertical farm", as it is called, needs very little space and could even be located in the city. This is popularly referred to as vertical farming,the hydroponics system. This kind of farming is referred to as Controlled - environment agriculture (CEA) which means technology-based food production that provides protection to plants and maintains optimal growing conditions throughout the development of the crop. Production takes place within an enclosed growing structure such as a greenhouse or building with controlled parameters. Watch how they are producing greens in trays (http://MarxFoods.com/Farmbox-Greens) AGRIBUSINESS: How to start a farm in your bedroom and make millions. A vertical farm uses hydroponics technology with plants sitting in trays stacked vertically to save space.In hydroponics, plants are grown "using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil" (see Wikipedia here). The roots of the plant sit in water to which nutrients have been added and instead of sun, LED lights shine on the plants. The plants grown are called micro - greens and they take only two weeks to grow. The hydroponics system is a money spinner generating millions fro farmers that are using the technology in homes,bedrooms or even roof tops and how the technology can be adopted to ensure food security. See