A FARMER in Pennsylvania,
TO THE INHABITANTS OF
THE UNITED STATES, 2024

Daniel Foy

Letter I:

AgriTech Revolution – The Value of Farm Data in Feeding the World Sustainably and Ethically

Opportunity:

• Value of data: We see the value of human data.
• Feeding the world with precision.
• Sustainability and Improve animal welfare
• Farm sustainability and vitality.

Challenges:

• Data profiling.
• Data ownership.
• Models and business structure.

The position these challenges place on farms calls for business independence. Will the future only bring a check for milk or meat, or will the data owned by producers add to that value?

My Fellow Citizens,

I am part of the livestock agriculture community, representing the 1.2% of workers at the farm level in the United States ¹. I live near the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, where I run a business with a small and committed team. As a member of the millennial generation, I am excited by the prospect of new ethical and economic advancements in rural United States enabled by a technological revolution.

Success for me is driven by knowledge, scientific inquiry, industriousness, and problem-solving. I’ve been humbled by the knowledge and insights of interesting and dynamic friends and colleagues, both in the US and Europe, who I am fortunate enough to learn and grow with on a variety of topics from ethology, technology, and animal science to economics.

From a young age, I was taught to cherish liberty and a love of nature. As a first-generation college graduate, leaving home, moving abroad, and now living as an immigrant, I have come from a place only celebrating 100 years of freedom from colonial rule while pursuing education in a country (Scotland) that still yearns for its own identity and freedom. Freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as well as capitalism being the market of choice here in the US, excite me as I call myself a naturalizing citizen.

In the US, where capitalism is the prevailing system, gaining sovereignty over our own data is crucial. From infancy, I was taught to love humanity and liberty. My still short and continued experiences have confirmed the necessity and excellence of these lessons. Benevolence towards mankind inspires wishes for their welfare, and those wishes are best fulfilled through liberty. Therefore, every person should support the cause of freedom at every opportunity. Just as a charitable but poor person does not withhold their small contribution because they cannot relieve all suffering, so should no honest person suppress their sentiments about freedom, however small their influence may be. Perhaps they may “touch some wheel” that will have a greater effect than expected.

With these sentiments, I offer you my thoughts on recent developments that I believe are of utmost importance. Conscious of my limitations, I have waited for others more qualified to address the subject. Disappointed by the delay, I now request the public’s attention, hoping these lines are read with the same zeal for America’s happiness with which they were written.

It is surprising that little action has been taken to enable farm data ownership by bodies and governments to protect farmers’ data as part of their new digital harvest. Data is a valuable asset for the next generation of farmers. We have seen a sharp decline in the number of farms in the 250 years since the first letter from a farmer in 1767, calling for a renewed call to attention.

Paying a tax for data raises the question: if we buy a data system, have we paid to become these other companies’ products and value? Where is the data going? Multinationals and entities outside the US control ~63% of it ². If start-ups are getting subsidies from governments and are being bought up and deployed in the US market, it creates an unfair advantage for US tech and farmers, which is actively happening today.

Farmers must own their data. Governance concerns have arisen from welfare activists or Silicon Valley companies, but what if it is the companies already working with farms that need to transition from their billion-dollar products? When we look at the Gilded Age in the US, where individuals and companies had unfettered control and monopolies on industries, we need to ensure that with the digital era and data in agriculture, we don’t find ourselves in similar situations but enable diverse and sustainable farming systems that generate new value for producers, and that enable small and local businesses.

Precision livestock farming, the value of data is in the trillions of dollars, and the transition to sustainability, which is also in the trillions, are key issues. At no point in history has there been more pressure on farmers. They are responsible for feeding an ever-growing population while saving us all from global climate and biodiversity crises, all while facing a decreasing workforce, higher input costs, and fluctuating pricing. Market forces continue to make the financial situation harder. Our policies must empower farmers to be the heroes we need them to be while also saving space for nature, improved welfare, and educating consumers on the importance of food animal products, where food comes from, and a balanced nutritious diet.

Multinationals and fund investments are imbalanced and unfairly weighted in capturing the value of data while lacking the education on livestock agriculture farming systems, rural communities, and practices necessary to differentiate from Silicon Valley models. Farmers need to see their farms as businesses and take control of their data. This is where new value lies as we progress to precision livestock farming. Many digital and software systems tout their solutions to the industry, but digital tools are still like the plow that changed crops and the tractor that replaced oxen and horses. We are yet to see a digital system that moves us in this way at the farm level and be ubiquitous across livestock farming systems. The good thing is, we have not yet had any major AgriTech unicorns dominate the market, but we do have large existing agriculture multinationals moving into the data space and dominating it.

When we think about personal technology, like how the iPhone and its manual-less delivery have changed our lives and are user-friendly, farmers need tools just like this for their adoption to truly take on the challenge of PLF. Farmers cannot be impeded from solving the problems in front of them because the technology is designed for a PhD, has decided to have a day off, or is on the fritz. Liability is a major concern; if companies have all this data and something goes wrong or makes animals sick, less productive, or negatively impacts welfare, what’s the clear line of engagement? There is none. Contracts and terms agreements have been touted as the biggest lie on the internet ³ , and no farmer has the time to read these, nor does anyone. Powerful and wealthy companies can have teams of people to hide the wording in these agreements, which is also actively happening today.

While we need more team members at the farm level and growth of support services to farms to transition to our sustainability goals and ensure the consumer of the ethics of our farming methods, let’s not give this up to companies whose visions are to make a profit and cut costs. Glorifying Silicon Valley models, designed for consumerism, is a different objective from livestock agriculture, where each farm’s story is needed to inform the consumer and produce food in the balance of an ecosystem. But also, nature doesn’t bend to an executive board’s wishes.

European regulations move forward toward mandating quarterly and more frequent mobility and hygiene scores for animals, as welfare measurements, which are essential for improving standards and consumer confidence. Yet, there is increased anxiety among farms about who is seeing the data from these systems, how the data is governed, and the possible police state. While Europe is quicker to adopt these systems for other successful outcomes, little is done to ensure the integrity of farm data, who has access, and what happens to it. In the US, with accountability by blind justice, it will be gone if the system isn’t fit for purpose. With the market facing the individual in the US, data and agriculture will become an excellent use case for data democracy and sovereignty.

I have observed the models of AgriTech companies to be driven by the success of farm numbers and cow numbers over other success markers. Others are buying up AgriTech to remove them from the market. With a young history in the AgriTech investment landscape, it’s hard to find early investors without being spoiled by funders without their own interests and objectives. New funding models and strategies are needed, including investor education.

The majority of AI research is happening outside North America ⁴. Is this because we have done a poor job in incubating our own AgriTech start-up scene? We need to bring this back to US shores, that shores up security. Data augmentation and creation, which is happening at our US farms, is the foundation of advanced intelligence, decision support, and value. We have to kick-start that here and not have our data move overseas. Stabilizing data standards is crucial. In the history of America, she is slow to start, but when she goes, she moves with all-knowing force and innovation. But small things start with grassroots efforts. The history of farming and adopting technology, from recording bartering thousands of years ago to the plow and tractors, shows that farmers will keep adopting technology but cannot be impeded by new tech. It will slow adoption, even stop it.

So, fellow farmers, we stand at the precipice of a new era in agriculture. The data we generate every day holds untapped potential that can revolutionize the way we farm and how our business operates. By owning and leveraging our data, we can make informed decisions that enhance productivity, sustainability, and profitability by owning and leveraging our data.

Imagine a future where our farming practices are guided by precise data, where we can anticipate challenges and seize opportunities before they arise. A future where our hard work and dedication are augmented by technology, ensuring that we not only feed the world but do so sustainably and ethically. While farm data itself holds potential tangible value for the farm business.

We have the power to shape this future.  Data ownership is tied to value, and value is tied to wealth. Data Infrastructure must enable ownership by farmers. By taking control of our data, we can drive innovation, improve our operations, and secure a better livelihood for ourselves and generations to come. Let us not be passive observers in this digital revolution but active participants who harness the power of data to transform our farms, lives, and rural environment.

The opportunity is here, and it is ours to seize. Let’s embrace the promise of data-driven agriculture and lead the way into a prosperous and sustainable future.

“Concordia res parvae crescunt”—Small things grow great by unity.