Not too sure what to give the farmer in your life for Christmas? Give the gift of technology!
A survey conducted by Ayrstone Productivity, a company which offers high-speed wireless networking services to farms in rural America, released the findings of a survey on technology gifts for Christmas. The survey results represent about 100 participating Midwestern growers. The survey findings seem to point to one thing specifically – farmers dig wireless technology.
One of the points indicated by Ayrstone is that “80 percent of those surveyed said they are frustrated that their wireless network does not extend to sheds, grain bins or nearby fields” and “nearly 50 percent would like a wireless farm network that extends up to 7.5 miles from their homes.” Consumer wireless devices were not developed with the farmer in mind. Rather, they were meant to provide a range that covers from one end of the house to the other. It becomes very difficult to meet a consumer’s demand, in this case a farmer, with a product that was never developed with their interests in mind.
If a farmer was interested in covering his/her home farm with a wireless network, standard consumer grade routers, it would take a significant amount of equipment and reasonable degree of knowledge to set it up and maintain it. The Ayrstone AyrMesh system provides a much simpler setup and covers a larger range with fewer devices. Not only does the farmer have the potential to cover their own farm, but there is also potential to extend the wireless network beyond the farm gate.
Considering internet accessibility seems to be one of the most significant factors which limit a farmer’s implementation of a greater variety of technologies on the farm, the Ayrstone system could be a step in the right direction. Want to setup a low-cost WiFi security monitoring system? How about real-time updates from sensors in your bins down the road? Or perhaps you want to track all of your livestock activities around the farm? With an expanded network, you could do all of the above, at a much more reasonable cost than was available before.
Now that you know what’s on top of the wish list for the farmer in your life, you can get shopping. Good luck!
More information about Ayrstone can be found at: www.ayrstone.com.