There was once a farmer who had an adult son. As the father knew he was approaching the end of his life, he sat down and told his son the story of a buried treasure that lay at the heart of their land.
“Where is this treasure?” The son asked incredulously.
“All you have to do is dig every field, and you just might find it,” the old farmer said.
That very same year, the farmer passed away, leaving the farm to his son with a detailed planting schedule and a note that said: “find the buried treasure” and the name of the buyer in town to whom he should sell his crop.
The young man dug every one of his fields, but he found nothing. Finally, he decided that he had to plant his crop.
Following his father’s instructions, he planted and tended the crop. Due to the extraordinary care that the son took, his harvest that year was abundant.
After he had harvested all of his fields, he took the yields into town to sell them. His father had left instructions on which merchant to sell to in town, and he found the man and struck a deal with him.
Immediately after striking a price, the merchant reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope which he handed to the young man.
Flipping it over, he read the words written on the envelope:
“Buried Treasure.”
The Future of Sustainability is Farmer-Led
Sustainable agriculture aims to create a future where we can continue to produce food without damaging the environment. However, for this to happen, we need to ensure that the farmers working hard to implement these practices are rewarded fairly. We need to articulate clear benefits for farmers if they adopt more sustainable practices, we have to give them a stake in the future, and sustainability needs to begin with profitability.
We believe this is possible if we create more accessible and usable technology on the farm, equipping farmers with technology that helps them monitor their entire agricultural supply chain – from soil to storage.
Aligning Towards a Better Future
To create a truly sustainable future for agriculture, we need to make sure that the technology being used is more accessible and usable for the farmers who are working hard to grow our food, fuel, and fiber. Technology can play a huge role in helping us become more sustainable, but it’s essential that it is easy for farmers to use and reasonably priced. If adoption and change are indeed our goals, then we need to make these things as easy to use as possible.
While we hear many people advocating for the climate crying out against agriculture and farmers, the reality is that there is no profession as devoted to sustainability as farming. It is practically encoded into the DNA of the job…
“Leave it better than you found it” has been at the heart of the profession for generations, and now we need to tap into that ancient wisdom and work alongside farmers if we are going to succeed.
The Solution We Are Building
We have built the Soiltech solution to be the first fully integrated soil-to-storage analysis tool. It begins with the sensor delivering data through the entire crop and product supply chain – from the soil planted as a seed to the storage facility, where it is transformed into fuel, food, or fiber.
Our comprehensive approach, coupled with our easy-to-use solution, enables farmers and their downstream partners to be proactive about their decisions throughout a product’s lifecycle. It also allows them to deliver better quality goods, enhance product value, validate sustainability, and solidify the partnership between the farmgate and customers.
The Soiltech ecosystem actively monitors real-time success factors, including soil moisture, temperature, humidity, damage, and location. These measurements provide growers, advisors, researchers, and downstream supply chain partners with critical insights, enabling optimal decisions and outcomes.
Learn more about how Soiltech Wireless can help you unlock the value of sustainable agriculture today.
