AgGateway: Warming To Collaboration In Chilly Vegas

After two full days here in frigid Las Vegas at the AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference, I’ve pretty much had my fill trying to absorb all the conversations and share some measure of what I learned. Frankly, that will take some time and mental digestion … more than I can present here. But I thought I should comment on a couple of things I observed:

Attendance at the conference topped 225, a new record for the fifth consecutive year. This was only my second year of attending and first full year of participation, but my perception is that things are moving along well on the precision ag standards front. The right discussions are being had and the right questions are being asked both inside meetings and at the cocktail receptions that follow. There is contentiousness to be sure, but also – at least from my perception – a deep sense of the need for the industry to collaborate, and sooner rather than later.

Last week in this space, I wrote about a data standards pilot, funded by John Deere with Monsanto, Syngenta, and AGCO as cooperators, that Deere would be demonstrating here at the Conference. In general, the comments I got were positive, but ultimately it will require approval by AgGateway and robust participation by the manufacturing community to succeed. Much more information will be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead on this standards initiative.  

All this work being done is so critically important to the broader adoption of precision agriculture. In my opinion, compatibility, or more simply put, ease of use, is the definitive reason so many growers have stayed away from precision agriculture. Growers don’t want to be computer programmers or data gurus – they want to farm. AgGateway is facilitating the discussions and work that, I hope and pray, will get us there.  

Or, to twist a phrase: “What happened in Vegas better not stay in Vegas.”