An Industry You Probably Didn't Know Is Digitized: Agriculture

Agriculture conjures up images of hard working farmers in dusty overalls working with their hands outdoors all day.

But much like technology has significantly changed industries like banking and media, agriculture has become heavily dependent on the latest gadgets, data collection and analytics tools.

Much like their peers in other industries, farmers are reliant on information technology to ensure that their crops are performing and their farms are productive.

Crop Monitoring

Farmers have begun to use tools like laser scanners to satellites to create the best possible environment for their crops.

Everything from the depth at which a seed is planted to the amount of water a particular crop receives can be tracked and monitored, leaving farmers with a precise, accurate way to ensure that their farms are as productive as possible.

Companies like Monsanto Company MON and E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co. DD have been working to develop "prescriptive planting" technology that follows a specific formula in order to yield the best possible output.

Related Link: AgriScience Makes Smart Soil To Improve Farming

Technology

One area that has received a lot of attention from the tech world recently is automobiles. The race to create a self-driving vehicle is on, and companies like Google Inc GOOGGOOGL have been working to do just that.

However, such cars wouldn't be the first of their kind; in agriculture, autonomous vehicles have already been in use for years.

John Deere's self-driving tractors have made the company the largest producer of autonomous, four-wheeled vehicles. The tractors are controlled by intricate software that is able to link up with other farming vehicles and accurately map large fields.