The increasing use of tech in agriculture

Did you know that Brazil has farms with areas larger than a thousand soccer fields? In fact, one of Hexagon’s sugarcane customers has fleet that drives almost 90 thousand kilometers per day, the equivalent of going around the world twice. This data provides an idea of how challenging it is to manage the immensity that represents an enterprise farm in Brazil. Just like in an orchestra, synchronisation is required to ensure tuning

The only way to manage this challenge is through technology. It’s important to choose the best partner that will provide the most intelligent solution and continually produce smart information from the agricultural data collected – which will provide solid basis for agricultural managers to make decisions.

At Hexagon, we see a farm as a big outdoor factory. A farm circulates machines, equipment and workers in the midst of raw materials such as soil, seeds, fertilisers, sun and rain. Like any industry, the field increasingly needs integrated and efficient processes and operations to leverage utmost productivity without increasing expenses.

Nowadays, this integration requires end-to-end technologies in areas of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data. HxGN AgrOn does just this. The platform integrates process optimisation tools similar to factories. It’s possible to better prepare the soil, identify the correct time to plant and harvest, monitor planting, estimate productivity and automate machines.

The platform also enables advanced analysis of data generated by machines and processes – this creates insights and recommendations for operations, team performance and optimised allocation of resources. All these predictions go through sensing, integration technologies and smart analysis of data.

One of the platform differentials is that it integrates the field from edge to edge. With AgrOn Cultivation, the farmer plans, monitors and evaluates all the planting processes, from soil preparation to planting. AgrOn Harvesting allows the farmer to manage and synchronise all the activities related to harvesting and raw material logistics.

The goal is to orchestrate field processes. This synchronisation is the main request of the biggest agricultural operations. They face many challenges, but none as significant as managing different resources and equipment. In increasingly large and complex operations, the opportunities for gains through connectivity, synchronisation and process optimisation are enormous.

Bernardo de Castro
President of Hexagon's Agriculture division