Ag Data Predictions for 2017
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The clouds that house America’s agricultural data are going to see a lot shifting in 2017. Here are my predictions for 2017.
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The Janzen Ag Tech Blog contains articles about the intersection of agriculture, technology, and law. All articles are original content, authored by attorney Todd Janzen. Subscribe by email at the bottom of this page to receive new posts after they are published.
The Year in Reverse: 2016
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Here's a look back at the five biggest ag law and technology stories from 2016.
Read MoreThoughts from the (Ag Data) Road
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The past two weeks I attended two very different ag data conferences. The first was the Big Data Dairy Management conference held by the American Dairy Science Association. The second was AgGateway's annual conference. The audiences were different, but many of the issues were the same. Here are few of my reflections.
Read MoreMaking a Federal Case Out of Ag Data
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A closer look at the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016.
Read MoreData Use Policies: Start by Defining Your Ag Data Guiding Principles
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Is your ag technology company struggling to define how it treats ag data? Define your guiding principles first.
Read MoreThe Internet of Farm Things (IoFT)
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When the Internet of Things arrives on the farm, the change will be remarkable. This post explores some issues that may arise with the coming wave of interconnected devices.
Read MoreFive Things Every Silicon Valley Ag Startup Should Know About Midwestern Farmers
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Farming is different than other industries. This post explains why.
Read MoreAg Data Survey: Providers Must Do More to Explain How Data is Used
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American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) conducted a survey of farmers to determine whether their attitudes about ag data had changed since the prior survey a couple years ago. The results were very interesting. Most farmers still do not have a solid understanding on what happens to their data when they move it from on-farm storage to cloud-based storage with an ag tech provider (ATP).
Read MoreAddressing Ag Data in Custom Farming Contracts
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As custom harvesters make their way across the United States and Canada this summer, I keep wondering what happens to all that yield data these machines are collecting. I am sure much of the data is forwarded to the landowners and farmers so that they can make decisions for next year. I hope so. But do custom harvesters address this in their agreements? Here are some suggestions for how they should.
Read MoreFrustrations with the Cloud
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Janzen Ag Law recently converted from Windows laptops to Apple MacBooks. I could write a book about the changes from Microsoft’s Windows to Apple’s OS, but one thing is the same—both Microsoft and Apple are now insistent on forcing users to use their cloud platforms. Windows embeds its cloud, “OneDrive” into everything. Apple’s mandatory sentencing to iCloud is not much better. Avoiding these cloud servers takes time and effort. As a result, I cannot tell you how many times I have saved a document into a cloud drive when that was not my intent.
Read MoreSearching for Ag Data's ROI
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Countless articles have been written about the potential value of ag data. But the immediate question for farmers trying to decide whether to invest in an ag data product is what is the return on investment (ROI) for this year? Listening to grower panels at precision ag events has convinced me that most farmers still don’t know what the ROI is for most ag data products on the market.
Read MoreWhen Will Tesla's Electricity Come to the Farm?
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Tesla is revolutionizing the automotive industry. My new office is near a Tesla store so I frequently see the Tesla Model S driving by. For those not acquainted with Tesla, the company builds all-electric cars that have a range of over 250 miles per charge. No complicated hybrid drive. No gas required, ever. I keep wondering when Tesla will step into other markets and more importantly, will agriculture be one of them? This post explores whether the “all-electric” philosophy would work on the farm.
Read MoreThe Ag Data Transparency Evaluator
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The problems farmers have with embracing farm data programs are well documented, but I think it comes down to three things: trust, time, and complexity. Trust--many farmers don't know what happens to their data after they send it to an ag technology provider (ATP). Time--farmers are already busy. Who has time to read detailed privacy policies and data license agreements. Complexity--farm data contracts are different than normal farm contracts.
Read MoreDo Farmers Need Legislation to Protect Their Ag Data?
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Federal legislation often arrives in areas where state laws are so inconsistent that citizens or industries demand uniformity. We have seen this over and over in the history of the United States. For example, we are seeing inconsistent GMO labeling laws prompt a push for a national GMO labeling standard (Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act). GMO proponents would not normally want mandatory labeling, but a patchwork quilt state-regulatory system is much worse. Will the same issues arise with agricultural data?
Read MoreWhat Makes Ag Data "Ownership" Unique
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The concept of ag data “ownership” is not recognized by United States law. Farmers like to say “I own my ag data.” Ag technology companies like to say “the farmer owns their data.” And the industry representatives like to say “the farmer should own their data.” But the reality is that “ownership” is a legal principle that must be recognized by courts or a law, and that has not happened yet in the United States.
Read MoreFour Takeaways from the Ag Data Platforms Conference
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I recently attended the Precision Ag Data Platforms conference in Champaign, Illinois. Here are my reflections on the state of the ag data platforms industry.
Read MoreDoes Your Lease Address Farm Data?
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I've drafted and reviewed dozens of farmland leases over the years, but I've yet to see a lease that addresses the issues associated with ownership and transfer of farm data. As farmers embrace new data storage and analytic tools, it’s time to modernize the traditional farm lease to address farm data.
Read MoreIs Farm Data a Trade Secret?
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Is a farmer's farm data their trade secret? Is is protected under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act?
Read MoreAg's Junk Data Problem
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The rise of farm data collection programs in the last year has been amazing to watch, but I keep wondering whether some ag technology providers are collecting data regardless of its usefulness.
Read MoreDoes Your Co-op Own Your Farm Data?
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Recently I was asked this question: When a farm cooperative (a “co-op”) does work for a farmer and in the process generates agronomic data, does the co-op own that data or does the farmer? Many in the ag industry like to say “the farmer owns the data,” but the co-op’s generation of farm data presents a more complicated problem.
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All articles on the Janzen Ag Tech Blog are Copyrighted as of the date published by Janzen Agricultural Law LLC. Reprint only with permission.
