Three incredible innovations: The agriculture of tomorrow

What the agriculture of tomorrow will look like

•  The use of drones;
•  Connected collars for cows;
•  Professional weather forecasting.

Here's a snapshot of the innovations we can expect in this sector. Innovations that are already making life easier for farmers and those that will change the way they work in the coming years.

The use of drones

The use of drones in agriculture started just as the general public began to embrace them. Today, one Frenchman holds several patents for their use after setting up his company Airinov in partnership with the National Institute of Agronomic Research (Inra).

This farmer's son has gradually developed a drone specifically designed to help farmers with a number of crop monitoring tasks. The sensors in these technology-equipped vehicles can quickly determine the need for certain crops. Is irrigation needed? Where are weeds located? Do crops need nitrogen? Many questions can be answered by this small French drone.

Connected cow collars

For a farmer, the comfort of his animals is of paramount importance. Throughout the day - and even at night - he makes sure his animals are comfortable. And if more and more people in human society are equipping themselves with connected items for entertainment or sport, there is no reason why animals shouldn't have access to them too! Such is the case with cows, which can wear connected collars thanks to a development by Lituus. The interest is obviously not aesthetic, nor is it to know how many meters a heifer can walk in 24 hours, but veterinary.

The data transmitted to the farmer and synthesized through the app allows him to monitor the health of his cattle live 24 hours a day. The connected collar also provides information on the animal's reproductive cycles and comfort. This is not only a valuable aid for livestock farmers, but also a money-saving opportunity: accurate knowledge of reproductive cycles makes artificial insemination operations more efficient. Artificial insemination accounts for up to 40% of births in France each year.

Professional weather forecasting

Doing the weather, or at least being on the same page with it! For several years now, more and more farmers have been using professional weather forecasts. The ones designed for farmers have an important advantage: they work well in places where cell phone service is weak. This is very common in some agricultural regions.

Other advantages are obvious. Thanks to the transmission of ultra-precise, frequent and localized data, a farmer knows how to organize his week and best manage the irrigation of crops, as well as anticipate the use of fertilizers for his plot.

Beyond these few examples, every day engineers continue to develop the farming tools of the future, sometimes expensive, but above all making farmers' lives and work easier. Some engineers, who themselves come from the farming world, are particularly eager to find solutions to the problems their relatives faced. The sector is soon to benefit from an explosion of knowledge in Big Data and data analytics.

What the agriculture of tomorrow will look like

Agriculture of tomorrow will be characterized by the widespread adoption of sustainable and innovative practices to address environmental challenges and global food security. Technological advances such as precision farming, the use of drones and IoT sensors, and plant biotechnology will play a critical role in optimizing crop yields while reducing environmental impact.

Vertical farming and regenerative farming practices will become increasingly important, contributing to efficient resource utilization and making agriculture more resilient to climate change. Crop diversification, agroforestry and local sustainable food systems will also be emphasized.