Technology in Agriculture: Data-Driven Farming
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S. HRG. 115–645 TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE: DATA-DRIVEN FARMING HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION, PRODUCT SAFETY, INSURANCE, AND DATA SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 14, 2017 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 37–228 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 VerDate Nov 24 2008 08:08 Aug 05, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\37228.TXT JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts DEAN HELLER, Nevada CORY BOOKER, New Jersey JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma TOM UDALL, New Mexico MIKE LEE, Utah GARY PETERS, Michigan RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois CORY GARDNER, Colorado MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire TODD YOUNG, Indiana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada NICK ROSSI, Staff Director ADRIAN ARNAKIS, Deputy Staff Director JASON VAN BEEK, General Counsel KIM LIPSKY, Democratic Staff Director CHRIS DAY, Democratic Deputy Staff Director RENAE BLACK, Senior Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION, PRODUCT SAFETY, INSURANCE, AND DATA SECURITY JERRY MORAN, Kansas, Chairman RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut, ROY BLUNT, Missouri Ranking TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota DEB FISCHER, Nebraska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts DEAN HELLER, Nevada CORY BOOKER, New Jersey JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma TOM UDALL, New Mexico MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire TODD YOUNG, Indiana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 08:08 Aug 05, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\37228.TXT JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on November 14, 2017 ...................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Moran .................................................................................. 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 Statement of Senator Blumenthal .......................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Inhofe ................................................................................... 4 Statement of Senator Young ................................................................................... 4 Statement of Senator Fischer ................................................................................. 51 Press Release dated November 8, 2017 entitled ‘‘Lindsay Corp President and CEO Speaks to U.S. Senate Committee’’ ............................................. 51 Report entitled ‘‘FieldNET AdvisorTM Irrigation Management Decision Support Tool’’ by Lindsay Corporation ........................................................ 52 Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 61 Statement of Senator Lee ....................................................................................... 63 WITNESSES Justin Knopf, Vice President, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers ................ 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 Jason G. Tatge, Co-Founder, President and CEO, Farmobile ............................. 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 Shannon L. Ferrell, J.D., M.S., Associate Professor, Oklahoma State Univer- sity Department of Agricultural Economics ....................................................... 15 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 Todd J. Janzen, President, Janzen Agricultural Law LLC .................................. 34 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 36 Dr. Dorota Haman, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida (UF/IFAS) ................................................................................................ 45 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46 APPENDIX Hon. Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator from Florida, prepared statement ...................... 77 Timothy Hassinger, President and CEO, Lindsay Corporation, prepared state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 78 Deere & Company, prepared statement ................................................................ 78 Response to written questions submitted to Justin Knopf by: Hon. Jerry Moran ............................................................................................. 81 Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto .......................................................................... 83 Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Shannon Ferrell by: Hon. Jerry Moran ............................................................................................. 84 Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto .......................................................................... 89 Response to written questions submitted to Todd J. Janzen by: Hon. Jerry Moran ............................................................................................. 92 Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto .......................................................................... 93 Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Dorota Haman by: Hon. Jerry Moran ............................................................................................. 94 Hon. Bill Nelson ............................................................................................... 95 Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto .......................................................................... 98 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 08:08 Aug 05, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\37228.TXT JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 08:08 Aug 05, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\37228.TXT JACKIE TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE: DATA-DRIVEN FARMING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION, PRODUCT SAFETY, INSURANCE, AND DATA SECURITY, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:32 p.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jerry Moran, Chair- man of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Moran [presiding], Blumenthal, Blunt, Fischer, Inhofe, Lee, Young, Klobuchar, Hassan, and Cortez Masto. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS Senator MORAN. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us this morning. Our Subcommittee’s hearing is on ‘‘Technology in Agriculture: Data-Driven Farming.’’ That’s this Subcommittee, and that hearing will come to order. The agricultural community’s adoption of field sensors, drones, satellite imagery, advanced machinery, and similar technology is increasing at an incredible pace. Our Commerce Committee and this Subcommittee have been paying a lot of attention to those issues. And the result of that increasing pace is greater crop yields and improved sustainable practices in farming. The most profitable farms are often the most sustainable ones. This rapidly evolving technology will have a vital role in preserving farmers’ most impor- tant assets—their land—with the potential increase farmers’ mar- gins to unprecedented levels. The collection and analysis of data has enabled farmers to reduce costs through more efficient applications of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides; improve production decisions through enhanced rec- ordkeeping and more accurate yield predictions; and enhance land stewardship and sustainable practices by removing inefficiencies in planting, harvesting, water use, and the allocation of other re- sources. With an increasing volume of quality data, in tandem with improved data analysis, data-collection technology has the potential to dramatically increase farm productivity and profitability. The collection and use of such data raises issues regarding con- trol of the data, transparency of agreements between farmers and data firms, and barriers to expanding internet access to rural America. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 08:08 Aug 05, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\37228.TXT JACKIE 2 Additionally, as data collection and sharing practices become more popular across the ag economy, farmers are well-positioned to benefit from their ‘‘commoditization’’ of data collected from their land, especially as equipment manufacturers, service providers, co- operatives and other businesses seek access to that data. The goal for this hearing is to educate and empower our nation’s farmers to understand the value of the information they are cre- ating, and certainly to allow Members of