The introduction of precision agricultural technologies in the early 1990’s was made possible through the utilization of global positioning system (GPS). However, unlike GPS which has worldwide coverage allowing field-level precision agricultural activities to occur. Collecting spatial and machinery data into a repository efficiently is not currently feasible in real-time due to lack of broadband and wireless connectivity in many rural areas even in developed counties. Lack of broadband access in these rural areas is not a new problem but it is becoming a hurdle to increase the efficiency of American agriculture. By 2050, world population is expected to grow to nine billion people and American agriculture will play a significant role in provide a safe and secure food supply for the growing population.

In order to feed this population American agriculture is going to have to increase the efficiency with which we produce food. Currently, a critical mass of cash grain farmers in the US employ at least one form of precision agricultural technology and the majority employ multiple precision agricultural technologies. The next big leap in efficiency gain for precision agricultural technologies could be the ability for various forms of this technology to be able to communicate seamlessly with one another wirelessly. Without broadband connectivity, it becomes very difficult and cumbersome to move and transfer data packets in a timely manner. Although it is possible to physically move data from field machinery to mobile storage media, it is very difficult to reliably transfer that data on to other uses. These gaps in the precision agricultural continuum impede the adoption of precision technologies because the true benefits and power of the technology is so hard to realize. Additionally, it can negatively impact the efficiency of the agricultural sector.

Not only is value lost to the individual farm that cannot make complete use of precision agriculture technologies, but there is an overall loss to the agricultural community due to incomplete data for BigData analytics.  The objectives of this presentation are: 1) develop a conceptual model to evaluate the potential value of precision agriculture not realized and 2) identify the variables needed to estimate the loss in value.