Download PDF
Making record keeping quick & easy
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Agriculture
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Farm Monitoring & Precision Farming
- Inventory Management
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
The Challenge
Whitesides Dairy had been looking for a record-keeping program to suit their operation for a few years but were unable to identify a tool that measured up to their standards. They needed a tool that could help them keep track of how much nutrition they apply to their fields, as they use most of the manure from their dairy in their cropping operation, as well as some commercial fertilizer. They also needed to track the EPA registration numbers with the rates and applications dates for the insecticides and pesticides they use on their crops. They had been using spreadsheets for these tasks, but it was becoming increasingly labor-intensive.
About The Customer
The Whitesides family started their dairy operation in Rupert, ID in the late seventies. Fast-forward forty years and much has changed: the dairy now milks 6,700 cows and grows their feed on 6,500 acres of adjacent land. The operation is currently managed by the second generation of Whitesides and, depending on the season, Whitesides Dairy employs around 100 people between the dairy and the farming operation. In the late 2000s, the market changed to where they needed to be able to grow their own feed as opposed to buying it from other people and so, when one of their neighbors was looking at selling his farm, they purchased a large area of land and started to farm themselves. They now mainly grow corn and hay with some rotation crops where they rent their potato or beet ground out to their neighbors.
The Solution
Whitesides Dairy decided to adopt Valley Agronomics' award-winning Platinum Precision Subscription Program, which is delivered on the Agworld Platform. The Agworld Platform is a cloud-based farm management software solution that simplifies record keeping and improves data accuracy. It allows the dairy to track the nutritional content of their manure and the EPA registration numbers of their insecticides and pesticides. The platform also eliminates the need for complicated spreadsheets, saving the dairy a lot of time.
Operational Impact
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Intelligent Farming with ThingWorx Analytics
Z Farms was facing three challenges: costly irrigation systems with water as a limited resource, narrow optimal ranges of soil moisture for growth with difficult maintenance and farm operators could not simply turn on irrigation systems like a faucet.
Case Study
Greenhouse Intelligent Monitoring and Control Solution
Farming Orchids is the most successful form of precision farming in Taiwan, and also the most exported flower. Orchids need a specific temperature and humidity conditions to grow and bloom, and its flowering time may not be in line with market demands, so the price collapses when there is overproduction. Therefore, some farmers began to import automated greenhouse control systems for breeding and forcing, which not only improves quality, but also effectively controls the production period and yield to ensure revenue. In 2012, an orchid farmer built a Forcing Greenhouse of about 200 pings (approximately 661 Square Meters) in Tainan, Taiwan. The system integrator adopted Advantech’s APAX-5000 series programmable automation controllers to build the control platform, coupled with Advantech WebAccess HMI/SCADA software, to achieve cloud monitoring. The staff of the orchid field can monitor important data anytime via smart phone, iPad, and other handheld devices, and control the growth and flowering conditions. System requirements: In the past, most environmental control systems of orchid greenhouses in Taiwan used PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller) with poorscalability and control, and could not be connected to the Internet formonitoring from the cloud. For advanced database analysis and networking capability, the PC platform must be adopted. Therefore, PAC Systems (Programmable Automation Controller) with both PLC programming capabilities andPC functions is a better choice.The environmental control of the Orchid greenhouse switches on and off devices like fan, shade net, cooling/heat pump, liquid flow control, water-cooling wall etc. It is controlled by a control panel of electric controllers, and is driven by a motor, to adjust the greenhouse temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions to the set parameters.
Case Study
Enabling Internet of Things Innovation in Agriculture
DigiBale, wanted to apply technology know-how and IP from implementations successfully to more agriculture sectors including cotton, forestry, sugarcane and cattle. However, farmers and growers still have worries about the connected technology.
Case Study
Precision beekeeping with wireless temperature monitoring
Honeybees are insects of large economic value and provide a vital service to agriculture by pollinating a variety of crops. In addition, bees provide us with valuable products such as honey, beeswax, propolis, bee venom, etc. Monitoring of honeybee colony health, population, productivity, and environmental conditions affecting the colony health have always been exceedingly difficult tasks in apiculture. Research has shown that even small deviations (by more than 2°C) from the optimal temperatures have a significant influence on the development of the brood and the health of adult bees.
