FarmGrid precision ag project emerges from Trilogy Networks, Grand Farm linkage
Grand Farm, a research initiative based in Fargo, North Dakota, has launched the FarmGrid Precision Agriculture Solution as a collaborative project in partnership with Trilogy Networks and the Rural Cloud Initiative on Grand Farm’s Innovation Site. FarmGrid’s goal is to provide a way for new precision agriculture equipment to easily integrate with Trilogy Network’s FarmGrid edge computing and network services platform.
Precision Agriculture refers to farming technologies that increase the quality and production of agricultural crops. With the help of technology, Precision Ag promises not only to help farmers increase the volume of production but also reduce the cost of production.
“One of the major challenges currently faced by farmers deploying precision agriculture equipment is that today’s network cannot support tomorrow’s equipment requirements,” according to Brian Carroll, director of the Grand Farm Research and Education Initiative. “The FarmGrid Precision Agriculture Solution project allows us to research and test integrations on the FarmGrid platform and will position Grand Farm on the global stage as a true center of excellence, innovation and collaboration for the AgTech industry,” Carroll said in a prepared statement.
Trilogy Networks and their Rural Cloud Initiative members (GenXComm, Veea, Microsoft, Intel, Dakota Carrier Network, along with North Dakota State University) are working on an integrated solution so that farmers who purchase precision agriculture equipment can works seamlessly with FarmGrid. FarmGrid incorporates Trilogy’s LinX, ConEX, Edge and 5G wireless components “to facilitate the application of edge computing and 5G on the farm with multiple precision agriculture technologies,” according to Nancy Shemwell, Chief Operating Officer, Trilogy Networks.
Trilogy said the collaboration allows for the addition of partners with technology such as sensors, autonomous systems, machines, ag-centric subscription-as-a-service applications and other farm technologies. The products integrated into the FarmGrid framework would ultimately enable the purchase a “Smart Farm-in-a-box.”
Ranveer Chandra, CTO Agri-Food at Microsoft, said “Connected solutions for farms today are fragmented, making advanced AgTech solutions complex and expensive to implement.” The new project brings Trilogy’s edge processing capabilities, along with Intel’s Smart Edge Open and the data & AI of Azure FarmBeats and Microsoft Airband program together to make it easier for farmers to move into the Smart Ag era.
The framework will be deployed this year on the Grand Farm Innovation Site and then expanded to key locations throughout North Dakota’s Agriculture Experiment Station to demonstrate the abilities of edge computing in farming across multiple environments and different use cases.
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Article Topics
5G | Grand Farm | Intel | MEC | Microsoft | precision ag | rural broadband | Smart Ag | Trilogy Networks
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