New Member: Ag Data Coalition

New Member

Ag Data Coalition

By Natasha Lilly, The Equity

Our newest member, Ag Data Coalition (ADC), is in fact not that new to AgGateway. This unique not-for-profit organization is made up of several AgGateway members, universities and other ag industry concerns. ADC describes its vision in the tagline, “Farm data. Farmer controlled.” Its goal is to create “a neutral, independent, farmer-centric data repository where farmers can securely store and control the information collected every day in the fields by their tractors, harvesters, aerial imaging and other devices…. [ADC] provides a privacy-ensured way for farmers to access markets; increase yields and profitability; and ensure unrestricted access to their data, services and products.” 

ADC will have a variety of its members participating in AgGateway’s Precision Ag Council, Ag Retail Council and Data, Privacy & Security Committee.

ADC came together, specifically, to provide a platform that allows growers to have their own bucket for their data – and to educate the industry on the need for that neutral bucket. The goal was to enable and encourage growers to have better control of their data and create more value from it. ADC promotes innovation and progress within the agriculture community through grants, education and coordination with other organizations. The coalition has recently collaborated with the Growers Agricultural Data Cooperative (GADC) to develop an independent, farmer-controlled data platform. This tool gives growers control of an independent data warehouse where they can control access to their data and leverage cloud-based data management tools through third-party Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

Ben Craker of AGCO (AgGateway’s Vice-Chair of the Precision Ag Council), spoke with me on behalf of ADC and the work it has done. Ben is one of the 14 founding members of ADC, which includes representatives from AGCO, Agri-AFC, the American Farm Bureau Federation, Auburn University, CNH Industrial, Crop IMS, Ice Miller, LLP, Iowa AgState, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, Mississippi State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Raven Industries and Topcon Positioning Group. The ADC team is excited to collaborate with AgGateway in the future to help unlock the potential of agricultural data for the benefit of growers and the industry as a whole. To learn more about the ADC or how to join, visit www.agdatacoalition.org.