By Karen Abrams, MBA
IT & Small Business Consultant
United States agriculture is estimated to be a nearly $400 billion industry. The global agriculture industry generates around $2.4 trillion for the global economy. Around the world, the farming industry employs nearly 40% of the population; the World Bank puts the food and agriculture sector at about $4.8 trillion.
The farm industry is another frontier in technology driven by the demand for data by farmers, government agencies, commodity traders, hedge funds, biotech companies and, seed, chemical and fertilizer manufacturers. Farmers want to improve yields, lower production costs and compete globally. Industry stakeholders generally want answers to questions like: Which seed varieties were the most successful and where? Which plant populations performed best? Whose recommendations (eg nitrogen programmes) outperformed their peers?
