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In 2024, Artificial Intelligence (AI) swept the internet, news pages and airwaves. There’s always some fear and apprehension around the unknown and the conversation around AI in agriculture is proving that statement to be true.
Not to be left behind, agriculture is also at the forefront of AI, with the technology helping to revolutionize the information a farmer and their advisory team have access to. Unfortunately, skepticism persists, and myths have emerged making many question the application and efficacy of what AI can deliver to the farm. We’re working to absolve the industry of those myths and shining a light on the truth:
AI will change the future of agriculture for farms of all sizes in an efficient and cost-effective manner while making human capital as imperative as ever for day-to-day operations.
Here are the top five fallacies we hear:
Not just no, no way! AI will never replace humans on the farm.
We see how it’s easy to come to that conclusion watching a fully autonomous tractor or sprayer do its thing. But that’s not AI – there’s confusion between the two. AI streamlines data and turns it into information that you can use. It is a decision-making tool that will always need a human to weigh in and make the more complex decisions. AI handles the repetition and, with Taranis, replaces the monotony of crop scouting with an acre-by-acre leaf-level view of every field enrolled. It’s all about actionable insights – staying ahead of Mother Nature – using AI-powered information to be proactive.
AI is an assistant and will always need an agronomist’s expertise and experience. Agronomists play a crucial role in interpreting AI-generated data and making context-specific recommendations.
At the end of the day, agriculture is about relationships, trust and loyalty. AI will never be able to replace the human component in agriculture.
Expense is parallel to ROI. Profitability per acre is the goal of every farmer, and AI puts the information needed within reach to align operational budgets with both in and out-of-season needs. For example, seed selection is paramount to profitability. Taranis’ AI-driven insights put stand count and population information at your fingertips faster than ever before possible. What’s more: Taranis is going to give you a play-by-play on every acre, showing flags where planter performance can be evaluated.
What’s more costly? Spending a few dollars to utilize the AI insights that allow you to be proactive, or finding out mid-May…or worse, mid-October…that your planter was malfunctioning.
That’s just one example.
No matter what business you’re in, you have to spend money to make money. Taranis is proving acre after acre that it isn’t an expenditure, it’s an insurance policy.
The truth is, AI can be as hands-on or hands-off as a grower wants it to be. For an ag retailer, no technology advancement has improved time management and labor efficiency to the extent of AI.
Scouting is a daunting task. There are thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands—of acres to cover on foot or with a four-wheeler, which means that only a fraction of a field gets seen…, and only a fraction of the issues get seen.
Taranis removes the “scout” from scouting, putting the same field images in the hands of ag retailers and farmers simultaneously and enabling a level of decision-making that has never been seen on the farm.
Implementing AI-driven insights isn’t time-consuming, in fact, the contrary is true. There’s never been a tool on the farm equipped to free up more time and manpower.
Investing in AI has been compared to a long-term investment in farm productivity.
No two farms are the same and the value of AI can be found on farms of all sizes. Information is paramount to productivity and profitability no matter the scale of a farm.
AI-powered imagery helps farms of all sizes offset the challenges of labor shortages and unneeded input costs by putting the information farmers need at their fingertips. Better–managed resources benefit farms of all sizes.
By using Taranis, smaller farms receive the same level of detail and attention as larger farms, and because Taranis’ proprietary AI is trained using data that Taranis has collected, the onus to provide data is never on the farmer. Taranis only needs a planting date and a field boundary to get started!
AI, especially Taranis AI-powered imagery and insights, levels the playing…cropping field!
A common misconception is that AI solutions are generic, much like the content ChatGPT creates, the information lacks. That isn’t the case with Taranis’ AI-powered insights.
There’s nothing cookie-cutter about the approach, the technology or the crop insights Taranis delivers. The experience and information are unique to your growers’ fields and your service goals. AI is not NDVI, and what is delivered doesn’t require a decoder ring. Taranis delivers information, not raw data that you have to decipher.
See for yourself!
Technology across agriculture is evolving daily, and AI is among the leaders. Much like GPS changed the face of production agriculture in the mid-2000s, AI will change the paradigm moving forward.
Cutting your technology spend when commodity prices are low may be a nail in the coffin for your crop’s yield potential and a forfeiture of the opportunity to save input costs with dialed-in, precise application.
With an eye in the sky so powerful defoliation can be matched to the insect that caused it, Taranis’ AI-powered crop intelligence doesn’t just deliver data—the tool delivers insights, information, and, ultimately, action plans. Taranis’ value propositions have been nearly limitless, with operations finding ROI in having insights at their fingertips for accelerated decision-making.
Starting a new lease off on the right foot is beneficial for both the landowner and farmer and can be achieved by aligning goals and establishing a transparent relationship built on honesty and trust.
