Farmers are not technophobic.. its just we are mainly quite skint these days
Interested in helping British farmers get smart tech!
- Thread starter GrainBrain
- Start date
- Location
- Great Britain
Right, so while I don't want to scare people off who may not want change, or may not want to do it themselves, I'd like to help people understand the benefits by providing a place (like this forum) to ask questions.
Then, they could seek existing companies to implement it, hire someone, or DIY.
If people have some knowledge already, that's great!
There is information out there that this does work if done right, and if the farmer is aware of what they can get out of it.
Obviously these sensors would be no good if someone installed them and ignored all the data. The insights and metrics are the crucial thing here, not the sensors themselves.
That's why I want to try to make sensors low cost and widely available, so they can be bought from anywhere and even for smaller farms, or show people how to make them and connect them.
- Location
- Great Britain
Yeah, and of course I get that there is going to be a difference from one person/ farm to the next, that's why I'd like to try and get sensors widely available for about £50 or so each (probably £100 including waterproof housing, battery backup and solar panel), I hope it will be less than that if I start a co-op or something and if there's enough people to do a custom manufacturing job.Farmers are not technophobic.. its just we are mainly quite skint these days
I literally just need to know if people want them, and then it would be worth me spending time on it in terms of actual money (I mean, I'm skint too)
Then I'd build a bunch and test them, I just don't know any farmers who can test them for me, and therefore I had the (albeit bonkers) idea to work on a farm for a bit and maybe start a business partnership to branch out.
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- Location
- Great Britain
As an example, this event posted on this forum:
thefarmingforum.co.uk
Would be a great way to build infrastructure that farmers can use to run their own smart farm, and use the AI from that company for analytics; and also the data storage, and all done locally.
If farmers are willing to invest in that kind of diversification stuff, then in comparison, these smart sensors are far cheaper, and a breeze to install.
Hmmm; Maybe I should reach out to the event runners...
May Event: The most profitable farm diversification strategy 2024 - Mobile Data Centres
With just a internet connection and a plug socket you too can join over 70 farms currently earning up to £1.27 ppkw ~ 201% ROI Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-most-profitable-farm-diversification-strategy-2024-mobile-data-centres-tickets-871045770347 Tuesday, May 21 · 10am -...
thefarmingforum.co.uk
Would be a great way to build infrastructure that farmers can use to run their own smart farm, and use the AI from that company for analytics; and also the data storage, and all done locally.
If farmers are willing to invest in that kind of diversification stuff, then in comparison, these smart sensors are far cheaper, and a breeze to install.
Hmmm; Maybe I should reach out to the event runners...
I'm very interested in this sort of thing. I've got smart lights in the lambing shed and smart speakers controlling them. I did have a weather station that broke and I miss it, so I'm looking at building my own with sensors and raspberry pi type thing.
Have you checked out farmer eds shed? He's a farmer in Ireland with several sensors around the farm monitoring water tank levels etc as well as stuff around the house, and that is all linked to Home Assistant, so free software. This he also uses FarmOS for data collection and farm management. A lot of these sensors are just cheap off the internet stuck in a waterproof box.
It's all a lot of fun, but as others have said above, it doesn't really make a lot of sense financially or bring huge benefits. Don't really think it's worth making farm IOT sensors as such when the electronics are easily available anyway. I always think that when a new technology is available on farming, it's usually been used in other applications first and there's usually a cheaper solution.
Have you checked out farmer eds shed? He's a farmer in Ireland with several sensors around the farm monitoring water tank levels etc as well as stuff around the house, and that is all linked to Home Assistant, so free software. This he also uses FarmOS for data collection and farm management. A lot of these sensors are just cheap off the internet stuck in a waterproof box.
It's all a lot of fun, but as others have said above, it doesn't really make a lot of sense financially or bring huge benefits. Don't really think it's worth making farm IOT sensors as such when the electronics are easily available anyway. I always think that when a new technology is available on farming, it's usually been used in other applications first and there's usually a cheaper solution.
- Location
- People's Republic of South Yorkshire
Still a bit lost how your smart sensors going to help growing crops any better than what's out there now.As an example, this event posted on this forum:
May Event: The most profitable farm diversification strategy 2024 - Mobile Data Centres
With just a internet connection and a plug socket you too can join over 70 farms currently earning up to £1.27 ppkw ~ 201% ROI Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-most-profitable-farm-diversification-strategy-2024-mobile-data-centres-tickets-871045770347 Tuesday, May 21 · 10am -...
Would be a great way to build infrastructure that farmers can use to run their own smart farm, and use the AI from that company for analytics; and also the data storage, and all done locally.
If farmers are willing to invest in that kind of diversification stuff, then in comparison, these smart sensors are far cheaper, and a breeze to install.
Hmmm; Maybe I should reach out to the event runners...
Satellite imaging for N application rates and variable rate ferts based on soil maps, etc. What extra can your sensors do?
Hi @GrainBrain ...you want larger farmers?
I farm about 1700 acres, and 'share farm' a field nextdoor of 27,000 acres.
I'm really keen to know what you can do for me.
Best be aware, there's no electricity over 99.995 of the ground, mobile signal isn't much better.
A lot of it isn't very easily accessible either. You'll need a quadbike, and VERY good waterproofs.
PS, really sorry you've been having your leg pulled here a teensy bit. But I'm for real, at least
I farm about 1700 acres, and 'share farm' a field nextdoor of 27,000 acres.
I'm really keen to know what you can do for me.
Best be aware, there's no electricity over 99.995 of the ground, mobile signal isn't much better.
A lot of it isn't very easily accessible either. You'll need a quadbike, and VERY good waterproofs.
PS, really sorry you've been having your leg pulled here a teensy bit. But I'm for real, at least