Common problems uniting agriculturalists

When problems arise that are common among a large number of individual producers, technology has the opportunity to make a big impact across an entire industry rather than specialized solutions, Noglows pointed out.

“There are a lot of commonalities … the water problems are not over. I’d say this year the major topic is labor having a tremendous impact. Across the country you have issues of immigration and minimum wage. Certain farms are saying, ‘We don’t know how we’re going to do this,” he said. 

In more technology-focused industries, open sourcing and standardization are common practice for implementing technology in a systematic way. The agriculture industry is starting to leverage this approach as well in order for technology to have a greater impact, according to Noglows.

“We need the agriculture industry itself to get really get together. I think sometimes there … this is looked at as competitive advantage. … We are going to move beyond competitive advantage to what’s good for your plant or your farm and really start applying this across the agricultural system,” he said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the FOOD IT: Fork to Farm event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for FOOD IT: Fork to Farm. Neither Western Digital Corp., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE