August Working Group Round-Up

Portfolio Management Center

August Working Group Round-Up

By Dan Berne, AgGateway Portfolio Manager

Here’s a brief summary of AgGateway’s Working Group activities this month, starting with the latest news. Want to get involved or start a group? Contact Member Services at Member.Services@AgGateway.org.

Quarterly Portfolio Reviews Coming

I’m pleased to announce that we will begin holding quarterly conference calls as an additional way to keep the membership informed about working group activities. We’re launching the updates based on feedback from AgGateway members who attended the design thinking sessions during Education & Action Week.

The sessions will be open to all members and will be scheduled each year for January, April, June (during the Mid-Year Meeting), September and November (at the Annual Conference). Our first portfolio review will be scheduled for September; we’ll be announcing the date and time soon. In addition, we will set up twice-yearly sessions for working group chairs and others to specifically look at areas of cross-over and leverage.

Working Groups Prepare for Next Phases at the Annual Conference

Over the past few months, several working groups have been completing their work, and have begun contemplating next steps. AgGateway’s Standards & Guidelines Committee has approved enhancements to version 1.0 of the Product Catalog JSON schema, and all new partners will use v2.0 (or newer). Members of the working group have been meeting with potential partners to understand their specific needs and to help them migrate to the Product Catalog API. Mike Altman and Scott Nieman will lead a session at the Annual Conference in November to define the next phase.

Likewise, members of the Mix Ticket working group will be meeting at Annual Conference to define their next phase. Initial thoughts include the development of a RESTful API.

The In-Field Product Identification group (WG01) together with the In-Field Product ID Plugins group (WG08) are creating a video to promote the benefits of the ADAPT Plugin and the shipped item JSON message. The video will be shown at the Annual Conference and shared other marketing and social media outlets. The In-Field Product Identification group will also be looking to define their next target during the Annual Conference. While the initial focus has been on seed products, the JSON messaging schema and ADAPT plugins are easily extendable to other product areas, such as crop protection and fertilizers.

Companies Express Strong Interest at Potato Provenance Meet-Up

Companies and organizations interested in the goal of tracking a specific batch of harvested potatoes to the field in which it was grown met on July 15 to discuss their requirements and to review an outline of potential work. European participants agreed that the first objective would be to gather as much field data about the potatoes as possible, including name, location and geometry of the field. Companies that participated were asked to invite their colleagues who work for FMIS potato providers, potato processors and potato producers, so that these stakeholders can be involved and can help recruit the best resources to address the objectives. There was also a strong desire to include representatives from France and Germany. AgGateway staff will help schedule a follow-up meeting. For more information, contact Conny Graumans or Dan Berne via Member.Services@AgGateway.org.

WG00: Agrisemantics

The group continues to provide guidance to the agricultural laboratory data group (WG04) on Modus controlled vocabularies. Having completed the work on soil testing, the working group members, including those from the National Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST), are creating a controlled vocabulary framework for plant tissue. Andres Ferreyra is assisting the Latin American-focused working group, Integração Dados Laboratório Solos (WG11), led by Ronaldo Oliviera.

WG04: Agricultural Laboratory Data

The working group is reviewing current models for soil health and manure. The team noted that Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) companies will drive adoption. Their goal is to complete the Modus work and publish the tables via a standardized API and schema before the Annual Conference in November.

WG06: Farm Inputs: Reference Data

The working group has completed a reference data model on crop protection and a Resource Development Framework (RDF) architecture on crop protection. These efforts were led by AgGateway member Lexagri-Wageningen University. The next step is to submit these deliverables to AgGateway’s Digital Resource Center for review.

WG07: Farm Inputs: Work Order and Work Record

The working group has completed its modified version of the enriched SMAG data model for crop protection. The next step is to submit these deliverables to the Digital Resource Center for review.

WG10: Ag Energy Ship Notice

The working group has paused, as it awaits technical support from within the members’ organizations.

WG11 Integração Dados Laboratório Solos (Regional Soil Lab Data Integration)

The working group has validated its scope and has begun reviewing the Modus model relative to tropical soil requirements. Chair Ronaldo Oliviera continues as an active participant in WG04.

WG12: Precision Ag Irrigation (PAIL)

The team continues to work towards completing a case study with a farm in Kentucky. Irrigation is set for August. Meanwhile the team is reviewing its JSON version of the schema with member companies. Working Group Chair Diganta Adhikari is also meeting with the Irrigation Innovation Consortium to identify potential synergies of work.

In the Pipeline: Closed Loop Spraying

There is interest in forming a working group around the topic of closed loop spraying. The intent is to create a system/protocol that ensures compliance and minimizes mistakes, by creating a way for the OEM machine, the farm management system and the input product to talk to each other. This is similar to an initiative by Crop Life Europe and others. A meeting is to be scheduled following the European August vacation period.