IoT in Agriculture - Constant Contact

The Connected Conversation

Volume 2 / Issue 6 / September 2016

IoT in Agriculture The Cutting Edge in AG p. 3

From Farm to Freight to Fridge to Fork p. 5

Telematics Grows in “Farm-to-Fork” p. 8

Come See Us p. 9



News Flash:

Sensity Joins ThingSpace & Testing Drones on 4G

Verizon Expands ThingSpace with Sensity Systems Last month, Verizon purchased Fleetmatics for $2.8 billion to add to its telematics portfolio. This week, the carrier announced its acquisition of smart lighting solution provider, Sensity Systems, to bolster another portion of its IoT offerings. Verizon bought Sensity for an undisclosed amount—though it isn’t likely a multi-billion-dollar purchase—is set to wrap up at the end of the year. This seems to be a play for Verizon to expand its current ThingSpace platform, as Sensity provides “a large set of customers plus some specific applications of IoT architecture, as well as sensor points that can be used for a vairety of other big data plays.” (TechCrucnch). Source: TechCrunch

AT&T and Qualcomm Join Forces to Test Drones on 4G At CTIA Super Mobility 2016, AT&T and Qualcomm announced that they would be testing drone technologies that would run on 4G networks. This comes at a time when many companies are looking at sunsetting 2G and 3G networks in favor of faster connectivity speeds. With drone technologies running on networks with lower latency and constant connectivity, a drone’s ability to transmit and receive information will be greatly improved. These tests should enable nonline-of-sight operations in an effort to extend a drone’s ability to fly beyond an operator’s field of vision, improving delivery, remote inspection, and exploration capabilities. Additionally, these tests are also meant to gear drone technology up for “mission critical” use cases on 5G networks. Source: Mobile World Dive

110 E. Houston St., 7th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205 / 210.401.0051 / http://www.Jbrehm.com

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IoT: The Cutting Edge in AG Agriculture is not always considered to be a technology space, but if we go back through history, most technological advances have come through the AG channel due to our agrarian “roots”. By Bill Brehm Farmers are constantly innovating to get more productivity from their land. Fertilizers, crop rotations, farm implements, barn configurations, conservation tillage, terracing, artificial insemination, embryo transfer and cross breeding plants and animals are just a few of the areas in which the creativity of farmers have made drastic improvements in yield and profits. But now there is a new tool, the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT

space has enabled farmers to apply that creativity to a variety of use cases, including in-field monitoring of crops, connected irrigation systems, livestock sensors, and more. Field crops are probably the most vital products produced on farms, and getting from seed to grocery store can be complex. In order to overcome this, farmers have built technology into every step. To get information about the correct soil conditions, farms battle Mother Nature in every region of the world. Monitoring stations in the field, however, can collect information on air and soil temperature, solar radiation levels, precipitation, wind speed, and leaf wetness, just to name a few. By placing probes throughout the field, areas that need help can be pinpointed so that adjustments can be made quickly, resulting in increased yields and improving ROI. Water conservation and irrigation monitoring can now go hand-in-hand through the use of sensors in the field and on the irrigation equipment. It is estimated that the U.S. currently has 55,000,000 acres under irrigation and over 600,000 pumps under agricultural use. By monitoring sensors on the pumps and drip/water systems, efficiency is drastically improved and water loss kept to a minimum. One of the first uses of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication was tracking of moose in Sweden by Telia Sonera. Currently, livestock sensors are usually fall into two groups: the sensors that locate/track animals and


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those that are more related to animal husbandry that monitor an animal’s health. By monitoring and tracking large animals that are in lots and / or grazing via sensors, the time spent checking the herd is drastically reduced. This is especially important as the average cost of a cow is around $1300, and when the herd could be grazing an area equivalent to several thousand acres. Connected monitoring of cattle reduces the need for farmers and ranchers to go physically afield and the time it would take to do so, meaning farmers can focus on other tasks. The vast majority of animals that are grown for food are grown in a controlled environment. These confinement facilities need to be constantly monitored in order to regulate the temperature levels, water pressure, air flow and quality, power, generators and other sensors. Even minor changes in these measurements can damage productivity. This summer, USDA estimated the 2016 Market Hog inventory to be at 62.4 million head. With the highest percentage of production occurring in northern states where temperature changes can drastically affect overall herd health. By putting monitoring sensors in these facilities to measure temperature, moisture, air flow and quality, farms can better manage these environments and improve the quality of care for the animals.

sist in maintaining product quality. The everyday tractor has changed with technological advances. It is now estimated that around 52% of farmers utilize some form of auto steer in their equipment, and that number is growing daily. But the use of self-driving tractors is just one of a number of bold steps towards change that farmers have taken. Automated strawberry harvesting machines that select, pick, and pack the crates with only one operator to supervise the operation have also come into use. There are also proximity sensors to connect the combine, tractor, and wagon to make unloading on the fly a precise operation. As the bin gets full, the tractor pulls up, the auger measures the wind speed and offloads the contents into the wagon with limited spillage. It took us 50 years to get from the horse to the car; so to get from the car to the autonomous vehicle, perhaps we should look at the self-driving combine or tractor for a ETA. All in all, IoT in the agriculture industry is playing a crucial role in how farmers and growers are managing and operating their business. From the IoT perspective, smart farming is just beginning to grow and is poised for upsurge as remote connectivity for sensor technology and applications become more widely adopted.

Grain storage issues can also impact a farm’s bottom line. Domestic storage capacities for more than a dozen kinds of grain and oilseed crops has reached 24.21 Billion bushels. Currently, farmers check the level of bins by hitting the side and listening for the “ping”. With M2M they can now view from a handset or tablet. Monitoring the volume, temperature, and moisture levels in these facilities can help to automate the drying and curing process in various industries such as popcorn, nuts, rice, sunflower seeds, even sweet potatoes, and as110 E. Houston St., 7th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205 / 210.401.0051 / http://www.Jbrehm.com

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From Farm to Freight to Fridge to Fork: How the Food Safety Monetization Act could impact IoT In June 2016, Kapowsin Meats recalled pork products due to possible salmonella contamination. By James Brehm In April 2015, ice cream maker Blue Bell recalled products and halted production over a Listeria scare. Tainted cantaloupes from Colorado killed 33 people in multiple states across the US in 2013. In late 2012, a strain of Salmonella found its way into the supply of the country’s largest organic peanut processing plant outside Portales, N.M. These are just examples of the thousands of food contamination scares seen in the U.S. each year. The burden of foodborne illness is considerable. Every year, approximately 1 out of 6 people in the United States (roughly 48 million + people) suffer from a foodborne illness, more than a hundred thousand are hospitalized, and several thousand die. How do we fix it? The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), passed by Congress on December 21, 2010 that was signed into law by President Obama, aims to ensure that the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it. For the first time in history, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a legislative mandate to

require comprehensive, prevention‐based controls across the nation’s food supply. It’s a transformative approach to an antiquated system in which the FDA played a reactive role in food safety by responding to outbreaks once they’d occurred and consequently people had gotten sick or died. The new mandate creates a proactive system that prevents outbreaks by requiring food facilities to evaluate the hazards in their operations, implement and monitor effective measures to prevent contamination, and have a plan in place to take any corrective actions that are necessary. Additionally, the FSMA requires FDA to establish scientific, fact‐based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables and safe collection of meat and dairy products to minimize the risk of serious illnesses or death. This new ability to hold food companies accountable for preventing contamination and cross-contamination is a significant milestone in the efforts to modernize the food safety system. And while the FSMA can be seen as a piece of cutting edge, transformative legislation; it is just legislation. The proactive and preventative approach comes when growers, producers, suppliers, shippers, wholesalers, retailers and others in the food-chain harness technology, sensors, gateways, telematics, networks, servers, big data, analytics, and cloud computing technologies to solve for the common


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good and launch Farm-to-Fork initiatives. The real impact will only be seen as technology-based Farmto-Fork initiatives actually transform the agriculture industry and food supply chain.

other physical parameters, to ensure that produce and meat remain fresh throughout the journey until it reaches the shelves of your local grocery store. It also monitors the real time position and state of the vehicle. All of this ensures that quality of produce is monitored across its journey from the farm to the fork, and corrective measures are taken on a predictive basis to mitigate risk to consumers and avoid quality deterioration. If and when quality is compromised, the solution provides traceability and audit data that prevents the re-occurrence of such events. What are the benefits of “Farm-to-Fork”?

Source: ConnectFood.com

What’s a Farm-to-Fork initiative and where does technology play a role? A “Farm-to-Fork” initiative is a solution that enables companies to use technology to transport produce and meat grown at farms hundreds of miles away, delivering it as fresh as if it were grown locally. Farm-to-Fork initiatives integrate the power of the Internet and other communication networks, telemetry, sensors, and various. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies to provide a comprehensive solution where mission-critical data is captured and sent to business analytics servers to enable real-time alerting and notifications on threshold violations.

While addressing the concerns of the FSMA, where improving food safety and the health and well-being of citizens is a top bi-product, improving the visibility of the food supply chain can also greatly reduce food waste. Today, over 45% of fruits and vegetables, 35% of fish and poultry, 30% of cereals, and 20% of meat and dairy are lost and discarded somewhere along the food supply chain. Per capita food losses and waste, at consumption and pre-consumptions stages, in different regions. (Source: FAO.org).

Measuring such things as soil temperature, moisture, mineral composition, air quality, water and waste water, oxygen levels, and 110 E. Houston St., 7th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205 / 210.401.0051 / http://www.Jbrehm.com

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Each year, estimates from independent and government sponsored sources show that more than 40% of all food in the United States goes uneaten. It’s just tossed out or left to rot. And that’s a fairly large waste of resources - $165 billion dollars-worth, give or take. Business Challenges The beginning of any Farm-to-Fork initiative starts by looking at processes and business challenges of the food supply chain. The biggest challenge we have is the number and diversity of suppliers. Considering the scale of consumption and the demand for a large variety of food items, it is next to impossible for retailers to source foods locally. Relying on farms across multiple countries for our food items can be a difficult and daunting task. First, sourcing can be incredibly hard for a grocer. How do you know the things your local buyer looked at are the same crops or produce that are being shipped to you? Next, compliance with various food and environmental regulation is a difficult task in and of itself. But perhaps the most important is freshness and maintaining the high quality of goods from source to destination. In an unconnected world, it was a challenge to guarantee the freshness of the food items over the distance and time. Now, continuous realtime monitoring of the condition of perishable goods at required temperature and humidity levels from the source to the final destination is a must. The Final Word Technology is changing the way food is produced and distributed by farmers and food producers. Traditionally, the food industry has been fragmented amongst many farmers, brands of foods, consumer packaged goods, distributors and wholesalers, as well

as restaurants and retail stores. Consumers expect restaurants and grocery stores to deliver fresh food. And food distributors must be careful when shipping perishable items like seafood, fruits and vegetables across the world. A great deal of fruits and vegetables are imported into the United States every year. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 15 percent of the food supply in the U.S. is imported, including 80 percent of seafood, 50 percent of fruit and 20 percent of vegetables. And vertical integration in some areas has led to mega-players controlling the industry from end-toend (think Chiquita bananas, Dole produce, Tyson poultry, Smithfield pork, and Tropicana with its Juice Train running the East Coast). Supply chain managers today want to use solutions that do more than simply track a shipment’s location. They want to monitor the temperature, light, pressure and motion. They also want to examine the conditions of their cargo along the supply chain to make better decisions. How can food suppliers go real-time to make sure produce arrives “fresh” at consumers? Who will be held accountable for cargo delays? How can fleet utilization be improved? What is the “pedigree” of the shipment of food? Is it fresh? Organic? Clean? Healthy? Cost optimized? IoT technology continues to improve how the food industry manages its supply chain. Farms, food distributors, grocery stores and restaurants now have solutions that can track and monitor cargo from farm to fork. IoT apps help them monitor virtually anything, anywhere. IoT technology can help food companies monitor shipments and reduce the potential for spoilage or waste. This will ultimately lead to lower costs and higher quality for consumers as we reduce unnecessary waste.


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Telematics Grows in “Farm-to-Fork” The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in January 2011 is going into effect this month. By Randy Field The FSMA empowers the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to create standards for new technologies to improve U.S. food supply safety. By shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it, new supply chain “best practice” initiatives provide a regulatory ROI for incorporating new technologies to upgrade antiquated processes. New logistics contracts allows for the rejection of an entire shipment if the items are contaminated under the definition of the legislation. Since its inception, telematics has been used to track tractors, dry trailers, and reefers. The monitoring of these fleets has been mostly focused on location, on-time delivery, driver Hours-of-Service, fuel taxes reporting, preventative maintenance and mechanical alerts. In 1997, WalMart made a presentation to the ATA Logistics Council in Boca Raton, FL introducing their plan to track every package on every pallet using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Today, 20 years later, the plan has become a technical reality. In 2002, the international standards-development organization, SAE, issued Standard J 2497 Power Line

Carrier Communications for Commercial Vehicles (PLC). Using the tractor’s continuously activated ABS lamp connection to the trailer, SAE J2497 defines a method for implementing a bidirectional, serial communications link between tractor and trailer. This link includes 256 trailer addresses (0-255) for different sensors such as open door and contents. More than 10 years before IoT was a term, the PLC provided a standard for communicating cargo bay and content environmental data wirelessly to a vehicle gateway. Telematics and Food Transport Today The FSMA provided the needed push for the food industry to upgrade their practices. In the 1980s, Total Quality Management (TQM) was the prevailing method for providing quality through inspection at the end of the process. The TQM and other methods were followed by Six Sigma and, ultimately, Best Practices. Each program brought to it an advanced focus on customer requirements. The FSMA includes new requirements for the transportation of human and animal food. Maintenance of equipment to ensure that it does not cause the food that it transports to become unsafe, taking measures during transportation to ensure food safety such as adequate temperature controls, training carrier personnel in sanitary transportation practices – and, retaining records seems intuitive. Now, it is required. Recent advances in IoT sensors and wireless data networks have enabled carriers to more easily comply


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the new FSMA rule. Shipping solutions like OnAsset’s VISIONTM SAAS platform provide the tools necessary to define a route, including way-points with sensor based rules to send immediate alerts when problems arise. iGPS uses modern materials to provide lighter weight, sturdier and hygienic pallets with imbedded RFID technology to reduce shipping costs, load damage and contamination, respectively . Using these and other new technologies, shipments with marginal content life can be rerouted to the nearest alternate delivery location whereby saving the entire load from being refused. The “Farm-to-Fork” Movement The FDA’s ongoing pursuit to reduce food contamination

and improve freshness coupled with new technologies has made the Farm-to-Fork movement possible. Previously, Farm-to-Table focused on growers providing fresh, organic ingredients to local restaurants and grocers. Farm-to-Fork is the nation-wide expansion of this movement. The supply chain benefits have extended beyond carriers. In the past, Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers have merely acted intermediaries to connect customers. Today, they are starting to relate their customers’ food handling requirements to the carrier. In the end, the winners are animals and people. Ultimately, we all want our “best friend” to live a long happy life!

Come See Us CCA Annual Convention 2016 Sept. 20-22, Seattle Following on the heels of CTIA Super Mobility 2016, CCA will be held in Seattle, WA and will continue to cover all things Mobile. Not only will there be networking opportunities and presentations/discussions on the industry’s top trends, but attendees will also get to dive deeper into a series of session tracks, such as Business/Finance; Marketing/Customer Service; Technical; as well as Policy & Trends. If you are interested in meeting with James Brehm & Associates, please contact com in order to set up a meeting date and time.

info@jbrehm.

James Brehm & Associates is a consulting and marketing intelligence firm that provides project-based and retained strategic advisory services to technology companies worldwide. With a firm focus on the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications, and Big Data Analytics, Jame Brehm & Associates provides actionable insight and direction to a wide range of organizations including Communications Service Providers, Hardware Maunufacturers, Software Vendors, OEMs, Private Equity, and venture Capital Firms. Through projects on market size and share, competitive intelligence, product development, go-to-market strategy, and client-specific consulting services, we help companies reach their maximum potential. http://www.jbrehm.com If you’d like to continue to receive The Connected Conversation, please email [email protected] or call (210) 401-0051. 110 E. Houston St., 7th Floor, San Antonio, TX 78205 / 210.401.0051 / http://www.Jbrehm.com

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