CALF_News_April_May_2018

40 CALF News • April | May 2018 • www.calfnews.net Big Data and New Technology By Blaine Davis Contributing Editor Beyond the Ranch Gate T he past several months have again taken me on several excursions beyond my proverbial “ranch gate,” across most parts of my native Kansas to Colorado’s Front Range and to my often written of northern New Mexico. Over the many miles of asphalt, I’ve enjoyed the varied agricultural ventures, the changing topography from the endless plains to mountain valleys providing many scenic vistas. But one site has been overwhelmingly common – the arid nature of it all. It’s dry! These road trips weren’t “recon” missions on drought condi- tions, but mostly to connect with specialized medical com- munities. In January, my 86-year-old mother had scheduled a complete knee replacement. She informed me this would be accomplished with a robotic-arm procedure. As techni- cally challenged as I can be, my thoughts immediately went to my daughter’s robotic vacuum cleaner chasing her new boxer puppy around the living room. Unlike past hands-on surgical procedures, new, sophisticated technology was emerging in the surgical suite. This new system is called robotic arm-assisted surgery with the doctor describing its use of a CT scan to create a three-dimensional virtual model of a patient’s unique anatomy. Then this digitized data is loaded into a specialized software program for the robotic-arm device to create a per- sonalized, pre-operative plan, much like GPS for navigation of farm machinery or the family auto heading for a mountain or seaside vacation. The surgical arm, guided by the parameters of the plan, allows the surgeon to perform a less invasive proce- dure with the accuracy in placement of the new joint within tolerances of less than one millimeter and one angular degree, dimensionally. With the intricate surgery taking less than an hour and a half, my hospital waiting time would now be devoted to that of her recovery and convalescing surrounded by a large stack of the neglected reading materials from my mailbox. In the most recent Farm Journal, Steve Cubbage wrote that technology is infiltrating all business sectors at lightning speed, much like I just witnessed in the field of medicine. With his background in mobile phones and the automotive indus- try, John Ellis spoke at a recent Farm Journal AgTech Expo, making the point,“It took 60 years for the telephone to be widely adopted in the U.S., but it took only 10 months for the iPad to reach similar critical mass.” As I have professed my aversion to technology at times and yearn for the days of pencils and t-squares, I relate more to that 60-year period of acceptance of the telephone. But realistically, I can’t go more than an hour without using my cellular phone or another wireless device for weather and market updates, emails, text messages, managing computer-generated drawing files, and of course calls to contractors, clients and ever so often to my tenant farmer. Cubbage, a precision agricultural consul- tant, goes on to say,“Although it is not the magic bullet to all the industry’s ills, technology has been one of the primary driv- ers of efficiency for decades. Continued strategic investment in technology and information services, even in down times, is essential to coming out of the tunnel on the other end.” Whether it be weather models, moisture sensor readings, thermal imaging from orbiting satellites, fertilizer application and planting rates, and the boots-on-the-ground experience of a crop consultants, it all add up to big data. What value it has and how it’s implemented in a successful agricultural operation are the questions here. In my field of expertise – architecture – this parallels the creation of a successful building project. By assembling data in the form of construction drawings and specifications that meet site and local conditions, municipal, state and national building codes, energy conservation stan- dards, aesthetics, functionality and, most important, budget constraints, a structure is created that satisfies an owner’s needs and enhances their well-being. Often like farming and ranching peers, I scratch my head to ask,“What does all this data mean and how can I manage it?” The significance of big data, and resulting value, seems a bit more manageable if you break it down into four components – data, information, knowledge and wisdom, says Jason Little, director of sales for Agrible, an agronomic services provider based in Champaign, Ill. “Data is a point. Information with purpose and wisdom is knowledge coupled with experience,” he says.“For example, data is acknowledging you have something in your hand. Information helps you identify it as a tomato. Knowledge tells you it’s a fruit. Wisdom is knowing you don’t put a tomato in a fruit salad.” Continued on page 41 