Land degradation, rising food demand, and climate change are driving a food security crisis. Our hope is that over the next few years, Blues Wireless can help deliver data-driven insights in partnership with IoT device manufacturers in the digital and precision agricultural technology (AgTech) industry.
I have helped businesses across industries implement IoT solutions at all stages of development. I will be on-site at Tech Hub Live this July and would love to have an in-person conversation with you. You can also reach out to me directly on LinkedIn so I can share more details about our unique edge-to-cloud connectivity solution.
IoT and the Future of Farming
An estimated 30% of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Food waste amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year, worth approximately US$1 trillion. At the producer level, this waste could be due to inadequate storage, pests and disease ruining crops or affecting livestock, limited water resources, or many other reasons. This results in massive losses of food, land, water, and energy.
Data collected through the Internet of Things (IoT) enables the optimization of farming operations. IoT technology has been so rapidly adopted that experts predicted a trillion connected devices and $11 trillion in value by 2025, but those numbers seem unlikely as we get closer to the date. The level of technical complexity needed to start a project and exorbitant costs at scale has hindered progress. While we may not reach those goals, there is still growth on the horizon – especially in largely underserved markets such as agriculture.
The adoption of smart farming and smart greenhouse operations driven by IoT is increasing as we prove ROI and technology becomes more accessible. Improved yield, efficiency, and profitability are catalysts for innovation. Yet there are still barriers to adoption, as every industry segment dictates an individualized approach, and the nature of the work most often calls for cellular connectivity (a pitfall for many IoT projects).
Blues Wireless solves connectivity and data routing challenges elegantly and with a refreshingly simple approach at a tenth of the cost of competing solutions.
About Tech Hub Live
Tech Hub LIVE 2022 is the leading event for technological solutions in agriculture. Powered by CropLife Media Group®, the nation’s brand leader in agricultural retail communication, Tech Hub will provide tangible and actionable solutions that can be implemented this growing season.
With over 4,000 attendees across 40+ companies, the event will feature AgTech solution providers, manufacturers of dealer equipment, crop input suppliers, and independent crop consultants. Participants learn about issues impacting the industry, discuss new ways to improve farm operations, and foster relationships with other professionals.
One of the key themes across all the sessions at Tech Hub this year is a focus on digital transformation initiatives and best practices for the use of technology in farm operations.
Current Food Supply Challenges and How Technology Can Help
The advancements in AgTech have been striking, both in the rate of innovation as well as improved crop yields. Robotic farms, drones to help with precision agriculture, hydroponic farming techniques, autonomous farm equipment, labs creating meat – all these innovations have helped society.
Despite recent advancements, we continue to live in a world where a vast majority of farmers do not have access to the technology or financial resources to implement efficient systems and gain greater visibility into their operations.
Leverage Insights from Your Agricultural Assets
For agriculture to continue to feed the growing global population, farms must embrace best practices from the most elite manufacturers in the world with a razor focus on crop yields, sustainability, and freshness from farm to table.
Here are some use cases and customer stories from devices built using Blues Wireless, and how they could be applied to smart farming:
- Agricultural Machinery Condition Monitoring
- Cold Chain Monitoring from Ground to Grocery
- Greenhouse Condition Monitoring
- Livestock Tracking with GPS
- Pest and Disease Identification with Machine Learning at the Edge
- Soil & Water Quality Monitoring
Blues Wireless is an Extension of Your Development Team
At Blues Wireless, we believe remote sensing and control should be less expensive and less complicated. With our product and just a few lines of code, anything can be cloud-connected. This changes everything. But it can still be challenging to get started – where should farm operators begin their journey towards digital transformation?
Blues Wireless has a team of experts and experienced partners to help you move from pilot to a scaled deployment at a rapid pace.
For builders of IoT devices, Blues Wireless provides a fully integrated edge-to-cloud solution. The Notecard, our hardware component, provides instant cellular connectivity on a 35mm x 30mm System-on-Module. We also have a Wi-Fi version for fast prototyping and proof of concept. Our data routing service, Notehub, is a thin cloud communication layer. The JSON-based interface allows you to easily customize when and how your data is transferred, as well as where it is sent. There is no MCU or cloud lock-in, so you can fully customize your device to suit your business needs.
Most critically, our business model will not break your financial statements as you scale. Our commitment is that, unlike other solution providers in the market, you will never get locked into a long-term contract, and never get charged any of the following:
- Monthly data fees
- Activation or de-activation fees
- Monthly active SIM fees
- Monthly subscription fees
With Blues Wireless, you only pay for what you use, and you will never have to worry about monthly subscription fees or contracts. Usage is based on data routing services and events performed through Notehub, which are paid for using Consumption Credits. The purchase of a Notecard automatically credits 5,000 Consumption Credits to the associated billing account, and each account is refreshed to 5,000 credits each month. This is generally more than enough to get a project off the ground without paying any additional fees.
Next Steps for Making your Farm Operations More Efficient
Typically, the last hurdle that all AgTech solutions face lies within the final mile of solution implementation. There are many problems to solve when transporting data from a variety of sources at the edge – water, sub-soil, crops, flowers, cattle – to the cloud, or even gleaning useful insights from edge intelligence.
Blues Wireless solves your connectivity challenges with a secure edge-to-cloud solution that works out of the box. Contact me today to discuss the next steps for your business.
