Most people have heard about the IoT concept, but they don’t understand how it applies to their lives or the industries their businesses operate in on a daily basis.

In agriculture, IoT is changing the way farmers are cultivating crops on their lands.

Now, instead of entirely relying on manual efforts, farmers are automating many critical agricultural practices to gather real-time data on their fields.

Agriculturists then use the acquired insights to increase profits by determining the best soil or plant treatment strategies for their crops.

Smart agricultural technologies — such as soil moisture sensors — are transforming the way players in the vertical operate.

Why IoT technologies are changing the way businesses operate

The IoT concept doesn’t just apply to the home anymore, businesses across all verticals are investing in IoT technologies — and it’s because of a Single reason: There are opportunities.

Today, there are more than 26 billion IoT-connected devices worldwide. In a little more than five years, there will be close to 76 billion — essentially an increase of 192%, according to data published by Statistica.

Worldwide spending on IoT is forecast to reach $745 billion in 2019, an increase of 15.4% over the $646 billion spent in 2018, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Additionally, IDC expects worldwide IoT spending will surpass the $1 trillion mark in 2022.

With this momentum, IoT is no longer a concept businesses can ignore, especially those playing in the agriculture space.

The role of IoT in agriculture

Believe it or not, IoT is transforming the way agriculturalists farm — and the markets are responding.

For example, the agriculture equipment market is expected to exceed $200 billion by 2024, according to a report by Global Market Insights, Inc.

One of the driving forces behind the growing market is farmers are increasingly adopting IoT technologies. As a result, manufacturers are developing more connected products to satisfy growing customer demand.

These solutions seek to improve efficiency and productivity for farmers by providing remote monitoring and control of several farming processes.

With IoT technologies on the rise, sensors, drones, and unmanned vehicles are becoming increasingly popular.

These connected products are designed to increase production and reduce environmental footprint.

IoT’s impact on precision farming

IoT technologies are making precision farming simpler for agriculturists.

To increase crop yields, farmers are turning to a farm management concept called precision farming, which relies on IoT technologies, such as agricultural sensors, to precisely determine crop treatment.

Driven by the increase in use of IoT technologies, the global precision farming market is expected to reach $14.1 billion by the year 2026 (an increase of more than 166% from 2018), according to a Reports and Data report on the increasingly popular farm management concept.

To reduce human error, farmers are using IoT technologies — such as sensors, GPS and GNSS systems, and automated steering systems — for soil sampling, temperature monitoring, and field mapping and irrigation management.

Farmers are using agricultural drones in several ways, including crop monitoring, which enables farmers to monitor weeds and crop diseases, map soil properties and crop yields, and more.

U.S. precision farming market sales in 2018 grew to $1.3 billion.

Constructing a smart agriculture system is complex, so plan accordingly

A smart agriculture system isn’t right for everybody.

A lot of work goes into building one. Without the proper resources, a smart farm falls short of its potential, leaving its farmer in a vulnerable situation.

Before putting the wheels in motion, connect with a local IT provider to assist you with planning your smart farm.

While IoT is impacting industries across the board, farmers are gathering real-time data in their fields by using connected technologies to increase agricultural productivity.

It’s the way of the future for many agriculturalists.