24 Many farmers tend to use their eyes to inspect their crops—a glance at a plant, pulling a few up to examine the root system—all in all, one gets a general idea of how things are going. But in reality, that plant health observation is just for that few plants in that general area. What about other areas? How many plants are you going to pull out? And is it really indicative of a crop’s health? To provide an honest answer to that, Taranis, Inc. offers crop intelligence through high-resolution aerial imagery via drones, planes, and satellites and then processes those images using its proprietary AI with results available in the Taranis dashboard, which can be accessed via desktop, tablet, or mobile device, which enables the viewer to prioritize crop threats in the field. The company is headquartered in Westfield, Indiana, with global offices located in Tel Aviv, Israel, and São Paulo, Brazil, with over 110 people working for it around the world. Farms.com Precision Ag Digital Digest talked with Jason Minton, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, to learn more about what its AI assistant can see better than what we humans can do unaided. “Along with providing crop intelligence, we also help unlock conservation funding and assist retailers and growers in maximizing USDA funds through conservation practices,” explained Minton. The product—Ag Assistant—processes a vast array of agronomic data, including collected leaf-level insights, weather patterns, satellite data, research and extension reports, soil and yield maps, seed and chemical information, industry trends, and much more. Said Minton, “The more information we can provide, the better the recommendation output.” When looking at the health and productivity of a field, many, many factors can be lost simply by eye-balling things, such as weather conditions, the traits of the seed hybrid used, nutrients in the soil, the prevalence of weeds, and the likelihood of herbicide-resistant strains, for example. As a tool for an agronomist, Ag Assistant gathers the various data sources, analyzes how it all fits together, and presents the agronomist with a clearer picture of just what is going on in and under the field. With the analysis, Ag Assistant offers actions to take to remedy problems or what to do next to maximize the fields’ productivity. THE AI AG-ASSISTANT An Artificial Intelligence Platform Provides Operators With an In-Depth View of Their Crop Health ANDREW JOSEPH FARMS.COM PHOTOS: DiedovStock – stock.adobe.com
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