According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the global market for precision agriculture solutions is forecasted to grow from € 5.5 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6 percent to reach about € 9.5 billion in 2028.
A set of technologies are applied in precision farming practices, which are aimed at managing variations in the field to maximise yield, raise productivity and reduce consumption of agricultural inputs.
While solutions such as auto-guidance and machine monitoring and control via on-board displays today are mainstream technologies in the agricultural industry, farm equipment telematics solutions and variable rate technology are not yet widely adopted. Interoperability between solutions remains a challenge, although initiatives to provide common protocols and language structure for data sharing are progressing.
Leading providers of precision technologies include Deere & Company, AGCO via its joint venture with Trimble, CNH Industrial with its Raven Industries subsidiary, Topcon Positioning Systems and Hexagon. These companies provide comprehensive portfolios of solutions for precision farming operations.
The agricultural drone market has recently emerged as a rapidly growing area in precision farming. The market is led by DJI with an installed base of more than 300,000 agricultural drones. The market for in-field sensor systems can be divided into three segments: environmental monitoring, pest monitoring and water management.
Semios (Almanac) is the largest vendor in the space with an installed base of over 500,000 sensor nodes, followed by Pessl Instruments and Davis Instruments with estimated installed bases of around 80,000 and 50,000 devices respectively. Additional players include Sencrop and Campbell Scientific with installed bases of 36,000 and 25,000 weather stations respectively. Remote in-field monitoring solution providers with around 20,000 connected devices include for instance CropX, Weenat, Trapview and WiseConn. There is also a long tail of smaller sensor system deployments by regional vendors worldwide.
“Today, autonomy is an increasingly important part of OEMs’ business strategies within agriculture”, said Veronika Barta, IoT analyst at Berg Insight.
Recognised by major solution providers, autonomous technology enables farming operations to accomplish more each day with fewer inputs. For example, Deere & Company aims to deliver a fully autonomous battery-powered electric tractor by 2026. Similarly, AGCO has an ambition to have a full line of autonomous solutions for every stage of the crop cycle by 2030.
“While drone technology is the most advanced segment in terms of autonomy, more and more autonomous agricultural equipment are on the rise”, continued Ms Barta.
In June 2024, Kubota unveiled the AgriRobo combine harvester that could harvest rice and wheat without a person operating it. In September 2024, Lely launched Juno Max, an autonomous feed pusher for large-scale dairy cow farms that is designed to push feed in multiple barns and feeding alleys.
Ms Barta concluded:
“Even though autonomy in agriculture is in the early stages of maturity, it will play a significant role in the future of farming.”
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