Smart Farming Technologies and IoT: Ripe For The Taking
Changes in our ecosystem are happening at a pace that humanity is barely keeping up with. Shortages of raw materials, food, and other necessities are hitting countries all over the globe and one industry is trying to change all this — IoT.
IoT is going beyond transforming homes and urban landscapes, it’s changing the way we produce and manage the things we eat. Smart farming solutions are gaining popularity worldwide. Thanks to the innovations created — like the smart systems made by ag-tech startup Farmo — we are seeing creative ways for us to make sure all mouths around the world are fed.
IoT Sensors: Churning the Smart Farming Mill
One important aspect of IoT is the sensors — a way for each application to gather data about its environment so the data can be used to optimize the management of a particular system. In the case of smart farming solutions, sensors help farmers and agricultural groups assess, keep track of, and manage their land.
Sensors give insights into important details of the farming process, including pH levels of the soil, asset monitoring, and predictive maintenance of tools, among others. They help manage resource consumption and reduce farming costs by optimizing the way everything ebbs and flows. An example of an important IoT sensor for smart farming solutions is one that measures moisture and temperature. This sensor could help monitor irrigation and help give insights on how to maximize it for specific soil conditions and weather changes, thus conserving more water.
Another problem that sensors can address for farmers is livestock monitoring and asset tracking. Keeping an eye on all the animals can be laborious. With sensors like the WisNode TrackIt, it's as easy as pulling up your phone and seeing the location of your cow Bessie on the other side of the ranch.
Sensors give us the tools we need to talk to our environment so we can do our work easily and efficiently.
Harvesting Smart Farming Data with IoT Gateways
IoT sensors are changing the game when it comes to the creation of smart applications, but none of these systems can exist without a proper gateway. Gateways are the middlemen that turn sensors from solitary devices to a full-fledged data system ready for end-users to utilize.
The first step in building IoT applications like these is to figure out what gateway to get. An indoor gateway is perfect for smart homes or offices while outdoor gateways are a must for setups that face changing weather conditions. For smart farming applications, a commercial gateway like the WisGate Edge Pro is your best bet.
The WisGate Edge Pro has all that you need to build smart farming applications: Industrial-grade components, PoE and surge protection, support for WiFi, GPS and LTE, and dual LoRa® concentrators that support up to 16 LoRa channels. With an out-of-the-box experience like no other, you can deploy LoRaWAN® smart farming solutions in a flash!
In a time when our environment is in dire need of support to give us our needs, it’s in our best interest to start implementing solutions that not only reduce our ecological footprint but help restore and sustain our world. Smart farming will help give us a future worth living for.
