Artificial intelligence (AI) remains light years away from displacing the farmer or agronomist in the agronomic decision-making process, but when it comes to crop scouting, AI is proving to be useful. Today, there are a handful of mobile-based crop monitoring programmes that use AI and machine-learning algorithms to convert data sets into actionable insights — and there’s more on the way.
Last year, Ethan Noll’s team at Ag Partners Cooperative, a retailer in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska in the USA, alerted its growers to potential yield robbing sulphur deficiencies in corn. They also used weed mapping to direct spot-applied herbicide treatments based on weed type. “AI and drone scouting has provided a level of transparency I don’t think agriculture has ever seen before,” explains Noll, who serves as the digital ag team lead. “It just brings a higher level of trust to our conversations with the producer.”
Drone Scout Methodology
AgCESS, the co-op’s precision ag programme, offers Taranis as part of its crop scouting services. Taranis has a network of drone operators who capture in-season, field-level data that retail partners can analyse alongside growers.
Since most AI scouting programmes are only offered through the retail channel, the price per acre will often vary based on retailer. Grower sources have said to expect to pay anywhere from $10-$15 per acre and up for AI directed scouting services. According to market research conducted by Taranis, the first-year ROI for using an AI digital scouting tool in row crops is three times (3x) more than traditional efforts.
Noll explains the process to his farmers in this manner: The drones are like a nurse; they collect a multitude of data points that are provided to the doctor, which could be a farmer or an agronomist, who then uses the data to make in-season management recommendations. The AI itself serves in a complementary role, helping the farmer or agronomist generate a fact-based recommendation quickly and accurately.
“Once we have their planting dates, we set up a five-pass scouting programme,” Noll says, noting different retail programmes will offer more or less than five passes. “We plug those into the system, and then based on growing degree days, we can schedule the passes.”
Kerrick Griffes, a seed sales rep with Nutrien Ag Solutions in central Michigan, is excited to put AI-directed, digital crop scouting in front of his growers. It’s a clear win-win for agronomists and farmers alike. “These AI-based programmes are going to make life easier. I can pull up my iPad, scroll through the dashboard and get a handle for what’s going on with my customers’ fields, and it will tell me where to go first,” Griffes says.
Jeff Schluckbier, a partner-owner with Zwerk & Sons Farms just outside Bay City, Michigan, is locked in for a six-pass programme on 1,600 acres of sugar beets. His first flight this season, taken 21 days after planting, revealed an initial thin crop stand and some frost-injured beets, but it was too early to make significant changes.
After his next flight, Schluckbier and Griffes will analyse data before locking in his fertiliser and herbicide programmes. The AI will tell them where to push fertility for higher yields, as well as what percent of weeds in each field are broadleaf versus grasses. It even tells them what type of weeds are present. “The thought is you can see weeds with a drone quicker than walking the field, and the same goes for insect and disease pressure,” Schluckbier explains. “It’s about being more proactive than reactive.”
Taranis is diving into Generative AI later this year, according to Katie Staton, director of customer success. Generative AI combs through huge amounts of external data to generate insights that would take humans days, if not weeks, to parse on their own. The as-yet-to-be-named Taranis product will aggregate massive amounts of agronomic and other farm data for users to access.
“Kerrick can make recommendations based off all the data plus his knowledge,” she says. “Taranis takes the trusted adviser role to a whole new height. That will never be replaced by AI alone.” Griffes seconds that notion as he heads into another season guiding growers in Michigan.
“The drone imagery, the AI insights and the dashboard, they’re not silver bullets, they’re more so another tool in the toolbox,” he says. “For me, it’s like using a laser scope versus iron sights on a hunting rifle.”
