This post originally appeared on Agri-Pulse. Editor's note: Agri-Pulse and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs are teaming up to host a monthly column to explore how the U.S. agriculture and food sector can maintain its competitive edge and advance food security in an increasingly integrated and dynamic world.
By Ron LeMay, Chairman and CEO, FarmLink
During the past months, US agriculture policies occupied a low profile in Iowa and New Hampshire. While finer points of old policies were discussed, the opportunity for new innovation to close the global productivity gap in a sustainable manner and increase overall profitability for farmers remains a persistent and growing challenge. Now is the time to lead a moon shoot for agriculture—rooted in data science.
And, the clock is ticking. Global economic pressures promote a dangerous hunker down survival mindset, limiting adoption of new tools and perspectives. While many farmers in the US decry the cost of precision agriculture technology, the industry is running up a mounting bill for imprecision. The cost of imprecision, in good and bad times, is enormous and growing. Alleviating this problem in the US is the first step to scaling up this technology globally.
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