After 28 years away from an agriculture career, I am returning to this industry.
You might ask why I am returning at this point? Well, as the saying goes, if you like to eat, thank a farmer. Big or small, thank a farmer. As the population of the planet grows, we have some very serious challenges to overcome and I like a challenge!
I also like innovation. I also have a lot of IT and project management experience and I think I can combine all this and make a difference in the agriculture industry. I entered healthcare IT 13 years ago because it was behind other industries with IT and I wanted to make a difference. I remember being amazed at the amount of paper being handled in billing for services. It was an industry that could benefit from innovation and technology beyond the direct care of the patient.
Agriculture is catching up and also facing some serious challenges. In a recent article entitled “Ag’s Future Belongs to Open Source” (ASABE Resource magazine, March/April 2018), the authors begin with this statement.
“There are some common laments in agricultural data that seem to remain despite repeated attempts to address them: lack of interoperability, varying data privacy, varying data quality and difficulty attracting talent from a population increasingly disconnected from agriculture”
Wow! Except for that “difficulty attracting talent” part, it sounds a lot like the situation with healthcare.
Like healthcare, agriculture is getting attention from some big players in business. Would you believe Walmart has applied for six patents related to agriculture recently? IBM has a unit called IBM Research Precision Agriculture?
This statement from Microsoft’s Caglayan Arkins’ blog explains the why very well. (Read the whole post titled “Top Digital Trends Shaping the Future of Agriculture”)
“Globally, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) are undernourished. More than three million children die unnecessarily from malnutrition every year. Food production will need to increase by at least 60% over the next 35 years to provide food security for the nine billion people expected to be living on the planet.“
I had personally become more disconnected from agriculture as the years went by. Sure, I had my garden and yard and anyone who sees me these days knows I like to eat. But I was not up to speed on what was going on. In the span of six short weeks, I have met some fascinating ag entrepreneurs right here in my own backyard of east Tennessee. They are working on alternative protein sources, innovative uses of biomass byproducts, mobile apps, drones in agricultural production and sustainable agriculture practices.
There’s a common thread that runs throughout too.
Passion.
They are passionate about what they are doing. It’s invigorating. Its infectious.
And, I am working to join them!
WC
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