Outreach

Piling up the Miles: AgGateway’s Work Spans the Globe

By Ben Craker, Portfolio Manager

This has so far been a busy year for anyone interested in agricultural data interoperability. That’s because virtual, hybrid, and in-person events showcased the value of the resources AgGateway has been developing for years. Below is an overview of three of the events I participated in so far.

1. I virtually attended the EPAC conference held in Melbourne, Australia, an event that brought together industry, regulators, and even a few farmers to discuss the future plant protection product regulation in the face of rabidly evolving technologies. There were great discussions on the implications of drone application, spot spray technologies, and being ready for autonomous operations.

For me, the regulatory perspective was fascinating as far as understanding what data collection and reporting requirements might be on the horizon. The discussions reinforced the value of tools like the ADAPT Standard and several of our Agrisemantic initiatives to meet the growing reporting requirements across the globe.

2. Next up, I made the trek to Europe to attend the ISO TC347 plenary in Cologne, Germany, hosted by GS1. This ambitious committee is now up to around 20 different sub- groups of varying types that are investigating potential scope and requirements for new international standards. These groups range across all segments of agriculture to cover data related topics. A few examples that show the range of diversity include a crop list based on AgGateway’s crop definition model, network protocols for controlled environments (greenhouses, etc.), smart beekeeping, field boundaries, responsible innovation, livestock activity management, smart irrigation, and enabling actionable insights from field operations data.

The plenary was a whirlwind of updates from the different teams within TC347 as well as updates from liaison organizations like AgGateway and ICAR, as well as other ISO technical committees with shared interests. One session in particular that resonated with the audience explained how the different layers of data build upon one another to enable interoperability. These concepts can trace their roots back to the SPADE projects many years ago when AgGateway first started working on field operations data.

3. AEF’s Plugfest brought together a variety of equipment manufacturers and other software and hardware providers to test the compatibility of their products. AEM hosted the event in Milwaukee, WI.

In addition to the engineers testing the compatibility of their “tractors” and “implements” following the AEF functionalities – essentially implementation guidelines for ISO 11783 – there was a series of side meetings. Some were general updates on different projects, while others built on the January trip to Manitoba where there is a growing push for better interoperability and innovation in the province and across Canada. The groups discussed the goals and next steps to address the issues relevant to the Canadian market.

Even with a blizzard hitting the greater Milwaukee area during the conference causing delays and frustration for many travelers, Plugfest still experienced a great turnout and excellent atmosphere with people working hard to resolve some tough problems facing the industry.

A very busy start to the year to be sure, but also clear validation that the work of AgGateway is recognized around the world and is helping to solve a wide variety of data exchange pain points across the industry.