IoT AB Agriculture Subgroup

April 18-19, 2023

Members: Ranveer Chandra, Nick Emanuel, Ann Mehra
Opportunities

• Drive adoption of Precision Ag, also helps with farmer income

• Increase agricultural productivity

• Improve efficiencies & reduce cost

• Increase adoption of sustainable agriculture

• Reduced use of chemicals, water

• Better decision making

• Livestock management + aquaculture

• Health, disease detection, animal welfare, reduced use of 

antibiotics

• Improved supply chain management

• Tracking goods from farm to table, improve inventory management, 

reduce waste, timely supply chains
Barriers

• High initial investment

• Limited internet connectivity

• Lack on interoperability: IoT systems are typically closed

• Data privacy + security concerns

• Complexity of implementation

• Resistance to change

• Lack of standards

• Environmental factors

• Energy access
Recommendations list (summary list)

• The federal government should consider subsidizing the use of IoT in 

farms

• The federal government should consider fully funding the deployment 

of a “farm of the future” setup in every land grant university 

nationwide. This nationwide test-farm IoT network should span 

different forms of agriculture, including, but not limited to broadacre, 

horticulture, livestock, and aquaculture.

• The federal government should consider increasing funding and 

accelerating implementation of broadband deployment across rural 

America. 
Recommendation #1 (details)

The federal government should consider subsidizing the use 

of IoT in farms

Recommendation 

The federal government should consider 

programs to help growers and producers 

adopt IoT technologies. This should include 

subsidies around connectivity, sensors, and 

digital applications. The programs could be 

similar to other subsidies that the USDA has 

for farmers around agricultural inputs or 

climate smart agriculture. The use of IoT in 

agriculture will benefit all stakeholders, 

including the farmer, the policy makers, the 

agricultural companies, and the consumer.

Justification 

• The upfront cost of IoT typically limits the 

adoption of data-driven agriculture

• Subsidies can help scale the technology, which 

will drive down costs

Implementation Considerations:

• Public/private/academia partnership

• This should leverage Ag Extension Centers as 

well

• Marginalized farmers and smallholder farmers 

might need more help to leverage this 

technology
Recommendation #2 (details) The federal government should consider fully 

funding the deployment of a “farm of the future” setup in every land grant 

university nationwide. This nationwide test-farm IoT network should span 

different forms of agriculture, including, but not limited to broadacre, 

horticulture, livestock, and aquaculture.

Recommendation

The proposed initiative advocates for the federal 

government to allocate sufficient funding to implement a "farm of the future" setup in all land grant universities 

across the United States. This would involve creating a 

comprehensive IoT network that spans various forms of 

agriculture, such as broadacre, horticulture, livestock, and 

aquaculture. By establishing a nationwide test-farm IoT 

network, the government can significantly enhance 

agricultural productivity, while also promoting sustainable 

agricultural practices. The implementation of this initiative 

will require substantial financial investments from the 

federal government. However, the benefits of having a 

comprehensive agricultural data network in place will likely 

lead to better decision-making, increased efficiency, and improved sustainability across the agricultural sector. 

Justification

- Showcase for farmers for a region on how to 

collect & analyze data

- Will help build better AI/ML algorithms

- Help universities share data & insights with each 

other 

- Help advance R&D

Implementation considerations:

- What IoT tech to use?

- Each university has different readiness

- Need to be inclusive, including HBCUs

Barriers:

- Limited IoT knowledge

Federal considerations:

- Minimal cybersecurity requirements
Recommendation #3: The federal government should consider 

increasing funding and accelerating implementation of broadband deployment 

across rural America.

Description

The federal government currently offers limited 

funding and grants (ex. Department of 

Agriculture – Community Connect Grant Program) 

to help fund broadband deployment in rural 

communities, however, these opportunities have 

not advanced quickly enough to provide 

broadband coverage for certain areas of rural 

America. Increasing the broadband infrastructure 

across the U.S. will be a critical component for IoT 

connectivity in agriculture.

Justification

• 60% of US farmland doesn’t have good Internet 

connectivity

• Point to point solutions, or satellite-based 

connectivity, quickly become expensive, and do 

not get connectivity to the middle of the farm

Implementation considerations

• Mandate broadband infrastructure deployment 

across rural areas until U.S. coverage is complete.

• Current federal funding operates across several 

programs making it difficult to identify and find 

the opportunities available to specific areas. 

Although there are initiatives to increase 

awareness of the funding, the processes need to 

be simplified to accelerate implementation.

• Funding may include options for supplying energy 

sources such as solar power, wind power, or micro- hydro power where access to reliable electricity is 

limited.