#Agricultural data analysis

[jcmarchi]

Harvesting Intelligence: How Generative AI is Transforming Agriculture

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/harvesting-intelligence-how-generative-ai-is-transforming-agriculture/

Harvesting Intelligence: How Generative AI is Transforming Agriculture

In the age of digital transformation, agriculture is no longer just about soil, water, and sunlight. With the advent of generative AI, agriculture is becoming smarter, more efficient, and increasingly data driven. From predicting crop yields with unprecedented accuracy to developing disease-resistant plant varieties, generative AI enables farmers to make precise decisions that optimize yields and resource use. This article examines how generative AI is changing agriculture, looking at its impact on traditional farming practices and its potential for the future.

Understanding Generative AI

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence designed to produce new content—whether it’s text, images, or predictive models—based on patterns and examples it has learned from existing data. Unlike traditional AI, which focuses on recognizing patterns or making predictions, generative AI creates original outputs that closely mimic the data it was trained on. This makes it a powerful tool for enhancing decision-making and driving innovation. A key feature of generative AI is to facilitate building AI applications without much labelled training data. This feature is particularly beneficial in fields like agriculture, where acquiring labeled training data can be challenging and costly.

The development of generative AI models involves two main steps: pre-training and fine-tuning. In the pre-training phase, the model is trained on extensive amounts of data to learn general patterns. This process establishes a “foundation” model with broad and versatile knowledge. In the second phase, the pre-trained model is fine-tuned for specific tasks by training it on a smaller, more focused dataset relevant to the intended application, such as detecting crop diseases. These targeted uses of generative AI are referred to as downstream applications. This approach allows the model to perform specialized tasks effectively while leveraging the broad understanding gained during pre-training.

How Generative AI is Transforming Agriculture

In this section, we explore various downstream applications of generative AI in agriculture.

Generative AI as Agronomist Assistant: One of the ongoing issues in agriculture is the lack of qualified agronomists who can offer expert advice on crop production and protection. Addressing this challenge, generative AI can serve as an agronomist assistant by offering farmers immediate expert advice through chatbots. In this context, a recent Microsoft study evaluated how generative AI models, like GPT-4, performed on agriculture-related questions from certification exams in Brazil, India, and the USA. The results were encouraging, showing GPT-4’s ability to handle domain-specific knowledge effectively. However, adapting these models to local, specialized data remains a challenge. Microsoft Research tested two approaches—fine-tuning, which trains models on specific data, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), which enhances responses by retrieving relevant documents, reporting these relative advantages.

Generative AI for Addressing Data Scarcity in Agriculture: Another key challenge in applying AI to agriculture is the shortage of labeled training data, which is crucial for building effective models. In agriculture, where labeling data can be labor-intensive and costly, generative AI offers a promising way forward. Generative AI stands out for its ability to work with large amounts of unlabeled historical data, learning general patterns that allow it to make accurate predictions with only a small number of labeled examples. Additionally, it can create synthetic training data, helping to fill gaps where data is scarce. By addressing these data challenges, generative AI improves the performance of AI in agriculture.

Precision Farming: Generative AI is changing precision farming by analyzing data from sources such as satellite imagery, soil sensors, and weather forecasts. It helps with predicting crop yields, automating fruit harvesting, managing livestock, and optimizing irrigation. These insights enable farmers to make better decisions, improving crop health and yields while using resources more efficiently. This approach not only increases productivity but also supports sustainable farming by reducing waste and environmental impact.

Generative AI for Disease Detection: Timely detection of pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies is crucial for protecting crops and reducing losses. Generative AI uses advanced image recognition and pattern analysis to identify early signs of these issues. By detecting problems early, farmers can take targeted actions, reduce the need for broad-spectrum pesticides, and minimize environmental impact. This integration of AI in agriculture enhances both sustainability and productivity.

How to Maximize the Impact of Generative AI in Agriculture

While current applications show that generative AI has potential in agriculture, getting the most out of this technology requires developing specialized generative AI models for the field. These models can better understand the nuances of farming, leading to more accurate and useful results compared to general-purpose models. They also adapt more effectively to different farming practices and conditions. The creation of these models, however, involves gathering large amounts of diverse agricultural data—such as crop and pest images, weather data, and insect sounds—and experimenting with different pretraining methods. Although progress is being made, there’s still a lot of work needed to build effective generative AI models for agriculture. Some of the potential use cases of generative AI for agriculture are mentioned below.

Potential Use Cases

A specialized generative AI model for agriculture could open several new opportunities in the field. Some key use cases include:

Smart Crop Management: In agriculture, smart crop management is a growing field that integrates AI, IoT, and big data to enhance tasks like plant growth monitoring, disease detection, yield monitoring, and harvesting. Developing precision crop management algorithms is challenging due to diverse crop types, environmental variables, and limited datasets, often requiring integration of varied data sources such as satellite imagery, soil sensors, and market trends. Generative AI models trained on extensive, multi-domain datasets offer a promising solution, as they can be fine-tuned with minimal examples for various applications. Additionally, multimodal generative AI integrates visual, textual, and sometimes auditory data, providing a comprehensive analytical approach that is invaluable for understanding complex agricultural situations, especially in precision crop management.

Automated Creation of Crop Varieties: Specialized generative AI can transform crop breeding by creating new plant varieties through exploring genetic combinations. By analyzing data on traits like drought resistance and growth rates, the AI generates innovative genetic blueprints and predicts their performance in different environments. This helps identify promising genetic combinations quickly, guiding breeding programs and accelerating the development of optimized crops. This approach aids farmers in adapting to changing conditions and market demands more effectively.

Smart Livestock Farming: Smart livestock farming leverages IoT, AI, and advanced control technologies to automate essential tasks like food and water supply, egg collection, activity monitoring, and environmental management. This approach aims to boost efficiency and cut costs in labor, maintenance, and materials. The field faces challenges due to the need for expertise across multiple fields and labor-intensive job. Generative AI could address these challenges by integrating extensive multimodal data and cross-domain knowledge, helping to streamline decision-making and automate livestock management.

Agricultural robots: Agricultural robots are transforming modern farming by automating tasks such as planting, weeding, harvesting, and monitoring crop health. AI-guided robots can precisely remove weeds and drones with advanced sensors can detect diseases and pests early, reducing yield losses. Developing these robots requires expertise in robotics, AI, plant science, environmental science, and data analytics, handling complex data from various sources. Generative AI offers a promising solution for automating various tasks of agricultural robots by providing advanced vision, predictive, and control capabilities.

 The Bottom Line

Generative AI is reshaping agriculture with smarter, data-driven solutions that improve efficiency and sustainability. By enhancing crop yield predictions, disease detection, and crop breeding, this technology is transforming traditional farming practices. While current applications are promising, the real potential lies in developing specialized AI models tailored to the unique needs of agriculture. As we refine these models and integrate diverse data, we can unlock new opportunities to help farmers optimize their practices and better navigate the challenges of modern farming.

[projectchampionz]

Explore These Exciting DSU Micro Project Ideas

Explore These Exciting DSU Micro Project Ideas Are you a student looking for an interesting micro project to work on? Developing small, self-contained projects is a great way to build your skills and showcase your abilities. At the Distributed Systems University (DSU), we offer a wide range of micro project topics that cover a variety of domains. In this blog post, we’ll explore some exciting DSU…

[airises]

"Revolutionizing Biotech: How AI is Transforming the Industry"

The biotech industry is on the cusp of a revolution, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is leading the charge. AI is transforming the way biotech researchers and developers work, enabling them to make groundbreaking discoveries and develop innovative solutions at an unprecedented pace. “Accelerating Scientific Discovery with AI” AI is augmenting human capabilities in biotech research, enabling…

[ceresana]

Tear-resistant and flexible: Ceresana examines the world market for plastic films Stretching towards success: Plastic films get stronger and more transparent if they are stretched longitudinally and crosswise during production. The "biaxially oriented" plastics polypropylene (BOPP), polyethylene (BOPE) and polyester (BOPET) are processed into packaging, bags and sacks, shrink and stretch films, but also, for example, agricultural films, insulation material and industrial films. According to the latest Ceresana study on the global market for flexible plastic films, which is already the third edition, the revenues generated with these films will increase to around USD 339 billion by 2032. Further information about the new market study “Plastic Films – World (3rd edition)”: https://ceresana.com/en/produkt/plastic-films-market-report-world

[ai-azura]

Using Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to Count Livestock with High Accuracy

Using Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to Count Livestock with High Accuracy

Technology can be used to improve various industries, including livestock farming. An artificial intelligence platform allows farmers and producers to count livestock with 99.7% accuracy. This is achieved through the use of computer vision, which allows the system to “see” and interpret data in near-real time. The data is gathered at the edge and analyzed at the right speed and velocity to…

[probablyasocialecologist]

RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau has shown for the first time, in a joint study with BOKU University, that permaculture brings about a significant improvement in biodiversity, soil quality and carbon storage. In view of the challenges of climate change and species extinction, this type of agriculture proved to be a real alternative to conventional cultivation—and reconcile environmental protection and high yields. Permaculture uses natural cycles and ecosystems as blueprint. Food is produced in an agricultural ecosystem that is as self-regulating, natural and diverse as possible. For example, livestock farming is integrated into the cultivation of crops or the diversity of beneficial organisms is promoted in order to avoid the use of mineral fertilizers or pesticides. In a study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, researchers from RPTU and BOKU have now, for the first time, comprehensively investigated the effects of this planning and management concept on the environment.

[...]

"Permaculture appears to be a much more ecologically sustainable alternative to industrial agriculture," said Julius Reiff . At the same time, the yields from permaculture are comparable to those of industrial agriculture, as the researchers' not yet published data shows. "In view of the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, the observed improvements would represent a real turnaround when applied to larger areas," says ecosystem analysis expert Martin Entling from RPTU.

4 July 2024

[cosmic-daydreamz02]

Career Reading

Placements to look at for your ideal career:

2nd house-how you make money

6th house-daily routine and work

10th house-career and public image

MC- career point.

11th house-social networks, long-term goals, opportunities for advancement (2nd from MC, so it shows the income from the career)

North Node - your life purpose and direction ; what you are meant to move towards in this lifetime

Part of Fortune - Where you find joy and success in this life, linked to both material and spiritual fulfillment

Vertex - represents fated encounters in your life. Where and how your destiny unfolds/ your turning point in life (not normally linked to career, but I think it can show what leads you to your true calling in this life especially if yours is in one of the money or career houses)

Saturn- rules discipline, structure, and long-term achievement, where you need to put in consistent effort to achieve success. Indicates your approach to responsibility in your career

Sun- core identity and life purpose, where you shine the most

Jupiter- expansion luck and growth. It shows your opportunities for success

Venus - where you can use your artistic abilities and social charm. It can also be how you attract money and resources

Signs and Career

Aries

• Career style: Assertive, pioneering, energetic, independent.

• Fields: Leadership roles, entrepreneurship, sports, military, anything involving action or competition.

• Drive: You take initiative and thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments where you can be first.

Taurus

• Career style: Steady, practical, patient, and value-oriented.

• Fields: Finance, banking, agriculture, real estate, art, luxury goods, anything involving material wealth or beauty.

• Drive: Security, stability, and a focus on building long-term wealth. Aesthetic and sensory satisfaction are important.

Gemini

• Career style: Communicative, versatile, adaptable, intellectual.

• Fields: Journalism, writing, teaching, marketing, sales, technology, anything that involves communication or travel.

• Drive: Curiosity and intellectual stimulation. You thrive in dynamic, social environments where you can multitask.

Cancer

• Career style: Nurturing, protective, intuitive, emotionally driven.

• Fields: Healthcare, caregiving, real estate, hospitality, education, psychology, anything that involves caring for others.

• Drive: Emotional security and a need to create a safe, supportive environment. You work best when you feel connected to your work on an emotional level.

Leo

• Career style: Charismatic, creative, confident, leadership-focused.

• Fields: Entertainment, arts, fashion, politics, sports, anything involving self-expression and performance.

• Drive: Recognition, fame, and the desire to shine. You excel in careers where you can showcase your talents and leadership.

Virgo

• Career style: Detail-oriented, analytical, service-minded, organized.

• Fields: Healthcare, administration, research, editing, writing, data analysis, anything involving precision and service.

• Drive: Efficiency and perfection. You aim to serve others by improving systems or contributing to something meaningful.

Libra

• Career style: Diplomatic, collaborative, partnership-oriented, aesthetically inclined.

• Fields: Law, diplomacy, art, design, beauty, fashion, anything involving partnership or justice.

• Drive: Harmony and balance in professional relationships. You thrive in roles where teamwork, fairness, and aesthetics are valued.

Scorpio

• Career style: Intense, transformative, secretive, powerful.

• Fields: Psychology, research, finance (especially investments, taxes, inheritance), surgery, anything involving transformation or mystery.

• Drive: Power and control. You are drawn to careers that allow you to dig deep and uncover hidden truths or manage shared resources.

Sagittarius

• Career style: Adventurous, philosophical, expansive, freedom-loving.

• Fields: Education, travel, law, publishing, international business, anything that involves exploration and knowledge-sharing.

• Drive: Freedom and expansion. You seek opportunities that allow you to learn, grow, and explore new horizons.

Capricorn

• Career style: Ambitious, disciplined, authoritative, responsible.

• Fields: Business, politics, government, finance, engineering, management, anything that involves structure, authority, and long-term goals.

• Drive: Success and achievement. You are career-focused and work tirelessly toward building a solid reputation and legacy.

Aquarius

• Career style: Innovative, humanitarian, unconventional, forward-thinking.

• Fields: Technology, science, social reform, innovation, group work, anything involving progressive change or social impact.

• Drive: Making a difference and creating a better future. You work best in collaborative or unconventional environments that allow for innovation.

Pisces

• Career style: Compassionate, imaginative, spiritual, idealistic.

• Fields: Art, music, healing, psychology, spirituality, charity work, anything that involves creativity, intuition, or service to others.

• Drive: Helping others and finding deeper meaning. You’re drawn to careers where you can use your empathy and creativity to make a positive impact.

Houses and Career Focus

1st House (Self-Identity, Public Persona)

You identify closely with your career. You're meant for careers where you're the leader or face of whatever you do, you're meant to be in the public eye somehow.

2nd House (Money, Resources, Values)

Financial stability and security is what drives you in your career. You would do good in careers related to banking and finance or sales (more like selling luxury goods or real estate)

3rd House (Communication, Learning, Siblings)

Communication, education, and travel. Or working in media. Teaching, writing, or sales/ anything that involves exchanges of info

4th House (Home, Family, Roots)

Home design, family business, real estate. Care giving or working from home. Emotional fulfillment through your career

5th House (Creativity, Pleasure, Children)

Creative fields, working with children. Career allows for self-expression. performance or leadership roles

6th House (Work Environment, Health, Service)

Service industry, Healthcare (especially if you have heavy virgo/pisces or 6th/12th placements), administration, work that requires tedious precision and detail

7th House (Partnerships, Marriage)

Collaboration, requires partnerships in career. Law, any counseling/consulting work, diplomat

8th House (Shared Resources, Transformation)

Finance (other peoples money like taxes, inheritance, etc), psychology, research/investigation

9th House (Philosophy, Travel, Higher Education)

Higher education, travel, law, publishing, career could be linked to foreign lands, (travel vlogger, professor, resort owner?)

10th House (Career, Reputation, Public Life)

Leadership, recognition, achieving goals, public image and success are emphasized

11th House (Community, Goals, Social Networks)

Community service/humanitarian work, technology, collective work

12th House (Spirituality, Solitude, Healing)

Healing, spirituality, charity work, hospitals, or creative/behind the scenes work like set design, director etc

[reasonsforhope]

Determined to use her skills to fight inequality, South African computer scientist Raesetje Sefala set to work to build algorithms flagging poverty hotspots - developing datasets she hopes will help target aid, new housing, or clinics.

From crop analysis to medical diagnostics, artificial intelligence (AI) is already used in essential tasks worldwide, but Sefala and a growing number of fellow African developers are pioneering it to tackle their continent's particular challenges.

Local knowledge is vital for designing AI-driven solutions that work, Sefala said.

"If you don't have people with diverse experiences doing the research, it's easy to interpret the data in ways that will marginalise others," the 26-year old said from her home in Johannesburg.

Africa is the world's youngest and fastest-growing continent, and tech experts say young, home-grown AI developers have a vital role to play in designing applications to address local problems.

"For Africa to get out of poverty, it will take innovation and this can be revolutionary, because it's Africans doing things for Africa on their own," said Cina Lawson, Togo's minister of digital economy and transformation.

"We need to use cutting-edge solutions to our problems, because you don't solve problems in 2022 using methods of 20 years ago," Lawson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video interview from the West African country.

Digital rights groups warn about AI's use in surveillance and the risk of discrimination, but Sefala said it can also be used to "serve the people behind the data points". ...

'Delivering Health'

As COVID-19 spread around the world in early 2020, government officials in Togo realized urgent action was needed to support informal workers who account for about 80% of the country's workforce, Lawson said.

"If you decide that everybody stays home, it means that this particular person isn't going to eat that day, it's as simple as that," she said.

In 10 days, the government built a mobile payment platform - called Novissi - to distribute cash to the vulnerable.

The government paired up with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) think tank and the University of California, Berkeley, to build a poverty map of Togo using satellite imagery.

Using algorithms with the support of GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that uses AI to distribute cash transfers, the recipients earning less than $1.25 per day and living in the poorest districts were identified for a direct cash transfer.

"We texted them saying if you need financial help, please register," Lawson said, adding that beneficiaries' consent and data privacy had been prioritized.

The entire program reached 920,000 beneficiaries in need.

"Machine learning has the advantage of reaching so many people in a very short time and delivering help when people need it most," said Caroline Teti, a Kenya-based GiveDirectly director.

'Zero Representation'

Aiming to boost discussion about AI in Africa, computer scientists Benjamin Rosman and Ulrich Paquet co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba - a week-long gathering that started in South Africa - together with other colleagues in 2017.

"You used to get to the top AI conferences and there was zero representation from Africa, both in terms of papers and people, so we're all about finding cost effective ways to build a community," Paquet said in a video call.

In 2019, 27 smaller Indabas - called IndabaX - were rolled out across the continent, with some events hosting as many as 300 participants.

One of these offshoots was IndabaX Uganda, where founder Bruno Ssekiwere said participants shared information on using AI for social issues such as improving agriculture and treating malaria.

Another outcome from the South African Indaba was Masakhane - an organization that uses open-source, machine learning to translate African languages not typically found in online programs such as Google Translate.

On their site, the founders speak about the South African philosophy of "Ubuntu" - a term generally meaning "humanity" - as part of their organization's values.

"This philosophy calls for collaboration and participation and community," reads their site, a philosophy that Ssekiwere, Paquet, and Rosman said has now become the driving value for AI research in Africa.

Inclusion

Now that Sefala has built a dataset of South Africa's suburbs and townships, she plans to collaborate with domain experts and communities to refine it, deepen inequality research and improve the algorithms.

"Making datasets easily available opens the door for new mechanisms and techniques for policy-making around desegregation, housing, and access to economic opportunity," she said.

African AI leaders say building more complete datasets will also help tackle biases baked into algorithms.

"Imagine rolling out Novissi in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast ... then the algorithm will be trained with understanding poverty in West Africa," Lawson said.

"If there are ever ways to fight bias in tech, it's by increasing diverse datasets ... we need to contribute more," she said.

But contributing more will require increased funding for African projects and wider access to computer science education and technology in general, Sefala said.

Despite such obstacles, Lawson said "technology will be Africa's savior".

"Let's use what is cutting edge and apply it straight away or as a continent we will never get out of poverty," she said. "It's really as simple as that."

-via Good Good Good, February 16, 2022

[mindblowingscience]

Tropical forests are essential to sustain high biodiversity and mitigate climate change. They suffer from deforestation, the cutting and converting of forests for agriculture, mining, or infrastructure purposes. However, significant human impacts on the remaining forests that lead to their degradation are often overlooked. By using multiple remote sensing data streams and cutting-edge data analysis, researchers have acquired an unprecedented view of the extent and long-lasting effects of such degradation in tropical moist forests. Their study, published in Nature, reveals that the effects of human-driven degradation and fragmentation are greater than previously estimated.

Continue Reading.

[jcmarchi]

Sumer Johal, CEO of Almanac – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/sumer-johal-ceo-of-almanac-interview-series/

Sumer Johal, CEO of Almanac – Interview Series

Sumer Johal is a global leader with over 25 years of professional experience in building and managing digital-first organizations across multiple industries and geographies.

Mr. Johal has spent the most recent decade of his professional career addressing systemic challenges in environmental stewardship and sustainability, food security, rural livelihoods and digital access equity – within agriculture- and rural-centric ecosystems. Mr. Johal sits on the Board of Agralogics, Inc. a global AgTech leader in data computation for agriculture. He also currently serves as the Executive Director of AgStack – a project of The Linux Foundation (non-profit) where he leads the development of the world’s first digital public infrastructure for food and agriculture, addressing global sustainability goals (SDGs) in agriculture through open-source technology and data.

Almanac empowers farmers by delivering actionable insights through a suite of products and digital tools as the trusted source of global farm intelligence.

It’s core product Semios leverages AI, big data analytics, and IoT to give specialty crop growers—farmers cultivating complex crops like almonds, apples, grapes, and citrus—real-time insights to manage their operations with precision. Through advanced tools, Semios empowers these growers to predict and control pests, monitor weather risks, and optimize water use, all within a single, seamless platform. This AI-driven approach not only supports sustainable farming by enhancing natural processes but also maximizes profitability, enabling growers to make impactful decisions when timing is critical.

Can you tell us about your journey from growing up in an agricultural setting in India to studying at MIT and eventually leading an AI-driven agriculture company?

It’s been an incredible journey. Growing up in a farming family in Punjab (India), I gained firsthand insight into the challenges and rewards of agriculture. I remember dining room conversations around weather, labor, prices and how it got worse every year. And despite that, I saw the determined and moral commitment to “feed the world.” My father worked for one of the earliest tractor companies in India and saw the efficiency that the tractor and its implements brought to farming. Those early experiences instilled in me a deep respect for the dedication and wisdom that define farming, and they planted a seed of purpose within me: to find ways to make farming a bit easier, a bit more predictable. Moving to the U.S. and studying computer science and electrical engineering at MIT opened my eyes to the transformative power of technology, especially AI. As I matured in my professional journey, I started to see its potential to alleviate some of the unpredictability that farmers face daily. I have spent the last decade of my professional life on that purpose in various leadership roles. Now, leading Almanac, my focus is to blend that timeless farming wisdom with advanced technology. Through AI-driven insights, we’re supporting farmers in making informed decisions, helping them adapt and thrive regardless of what challenges lie ahead.

Since joining Almanac, what has been your primary focus in transforming the company and its offerings?

My focus has been on guiding the company’s evolution into an integrated, technology-driven platform for agriculture – for all its stakeholders, but with the farmer at its epicenter. This transformation includes advancing our AI capabilities, strategic acquisitions, and a forward-looking plan that positions us to address the real challenges these stakeholders face today and in the future. We’re leveraging AI to enhance our platform’s ability to process real-time data and develop intuitive, powerful tools that help growers and their collaborators manage everything from water use to pest control. Our acquisitions over the past few years have been central to this evolution, allowing us to expand our offerings and bring more expertise under one roof. Looking ahead, our vision is to develop a platform that adapts and scales with our customers’ needs. We are a long-term data and technology partner for farmers, advisors and agriculture companies. We are equipped to evolve with them and meet the demands of the future.

How do you see the balance between traditional farming knowledge and advanced technology, and how does Almanac bridge this gap?

At Almanac, we believe in balancing the wisdom of traditional farming with the power of technology. We see tech as a tool that enhances—not replaces—the expertise farmers already have. Farmers bring a deep, intuitive understanding of their fields that’s invaluable. Our role is to create AI and data tools that respect and amplify that knowledge. With machine learning, Almanac bridges the gap by making sense of large, complex, orthogonal data sets. Our AI supports pest management by analyzing factors like weather, crop stage, and pest behavior to predict potential outbreaks. This helps farmers take precise, timely action, allowing them to reduce chemical use, optimize treatments, irrigate more efficiently and manage pests more sustainably. It also allows them to store their data, records and plans all in one place. We’re committed to making this technology accessible and interoperable, particularly for third parties, so farmers can consolidate all their information seamlessly. Through an easy-to-use interface, farmers can interact with Alma, our connected intelligence, which turns complex analytics, and a mountain of data, into straightforward, actionable insights. By designing tools that fit naturally into the decision-making process, we’re empowering farmers to make more confident, data-driven choices without losing the personal insights they bring to their land.

Can you explain what Alma is and how it will serve as a “Siri” for agriculture?

Alma is our connected intelligence and offers the most relevant insights from a farmer’s data, partner integrations, and the greater agricultural community. It helps farmers and advisors to spend less time sifting through reports and more time on the farm. For our users, Alma functions as a “Siri” or “Alexa” for agriculture, delivering timely, data-driven guidance to support their daily farming operations – with domain specificity around agronomy and cultural practices.

How does Alma use AI to generate insights for farmers, and what kind of data does it draw from?

Alma leverages AI to provide farmers with actionable insights by analyzing a diverse array of data sources. It processes information such as regional weather patterns, water demand, product labels, satellite data and pest activity. By integrating these data points with their farmer’s own data, Alma can predict optimized irrigation schedules, potential pest outbreaks, recommend optimal treatment times, and suggest other smarter farming practices – across geographies and crops.

Can you walk us through the process of how data from in-field sensors is collected, analyzed, and translated into actionable insights?

The process begins with instrumenting the fields—placing in-field sensors like soil moisture probes, weather stations, and cameras that monitor conditions in real-time. These sensors continuously collect data on vital factors: soil moisture levels, temperature, humidity, pest activity, and more. This raw data livestreams into our platform, where it’s immediately processed and aggregated. We then use AI to analyze this data. For example, in the case of pest management, the system can predict potential outbreaks by cross-referencing weather data with pest lifecycle models and ground-truthed pest trap data. This level of analysis enables highly tailored insights, specific to each field’s conditions. We then translate these insights into actionable guidance that fits into a farmer’s workflow. Through Almanac’s interface, these insights are presented in a user-friendly, visual format, coupled with specific recommendations.

Almanac recently launched an Open Source Project Office. What is this specifically and what led you to champion open-source technology in agriculture?

Our recent launch of the Open Source Project Office (OSPO) is a pivotal step in making advanced technology accessible and transformative for agriculture. The OSPO is designed to encourage open collaboration across agriculture and foster a global digital ecosystem where knowledge and technology flow freely and enable data interoperability and exchange standards. Championing open-source technology aligns with our vision to build a resilient and sustainable food ecosystem. By integrating open-source components into our crop management platforms, we’re not only strengthening Semios’ capabilities but also empowering a broader agricultural community to tackle pressing challenges—such as climate change, water scarcity, and food security. This approach is particularly relevant as we anticipate the need to double global food production by 2050 amid these growing challenges.

How do you envision open-source data impacting agricultural practices, particularly for small and medium-scale farmers?

Open-source data has the potential to be a game-changer, especially for small and medium-scale farmers. By removing the high costs and restrictions of proprietary technology, we’re enabling a new level of access to advanced tools and insights. This initiative empowers farmers to make data-driven decisions that were once out of reach, enhancing productivity and sustainability on their own terms.

How does Almanac help farmers achieve more sustainable practices, particularly in water and pest management?

At Almanac, we’re all about helping farmers make sustainable choices, especially when it comes to water and pest management. With our platform, farmers get real-time insights from sensors in their fields which helps them optimize their water resource use. On the pest side, our AI examines variables like weather and crop growth stages to predict when and where pest issues might arise. By catching these patterns early, farmers can act precisely—treating only when and where it’s needed, which cuts down on chemicals and protects the environment.

Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals for Almanac, and where do you hope to see the company in five years?

I see Almanac expanding its role to enable global food intelligence through data and relationships at scale. We aim to enhance our applications to deliver clear ROI and “need to have” usage for our users. Third-party partnerships are also a core strategic focus, as they allow us to consolidate all user data in one place—where it can be synthesized and deliver real value. Enabling this kind of value is often challenging, as growers and farmers frequently face the frustration of managing multiple apps. The true value lies in the integration of data, not its isolation. Our strategy, built around understanding farmers’ pain points and economic needs, will drive rapid expansion in both user and partner engagement.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Almanac. 

[centrally-unplanned]

Listening to the Joe Rogan/Elon Musk podcast for the data gathering purposes, and you do have to hand it to Musk that this is him in his element, and you can see the weakness of politicians like Harris (or Trump) in comparison. The entire first 10 minutes is about video games, talking about (somewhat dubious but not awful) studies about how they boost surgeon's capabilities, how they compare to golf, and so on, with no stress that this is "filler", of a need to Get To The Pitch. He adds on, goes on his own tangents but they are always "idea tangents" Rogan can bounce off of. Rogan will jump in on how creatine helps people deal with sleep dep Because Studies and he yes-and's the fuck out of him asking questions and talking about his breakfast habits. The "I could have a beer with him" crowd is real, they actually value it, and tbh modern Dems struggle with it due to the PR Filter. And Trump is a deranged lunatic, little hard for him to pull it off these days. But Musk has it and you can see his value for a niche as a campaign surrogate.

Anyway on the creatine topic at one point when explaining "why They don't know this" Musk blames opposition to meat consumption, and tangents a little to let everyone know that meat consumption has absolutely zero contribution to global warming, noting "how would you even measure that? You can't". Amusing given all the decades of measurements of the emissions of the agricultural sector:

And input/production analysis of per-good emission rates:

Like obviously you get varying estimates but this isn't mysterious, carbon emissions are well understood and not typically difficult to calculate.

And I just, idk, I think it's amusing, watching someone pivot from casual conversation that is perfectly humanizing to transparent lies that he either did know better about but forgot due to Culture War Brain or, more likely imo currently does know are bullshit but doesn't care. I expect these things in a stump speech; it is off-putting in a hangout sesh.

[rjzimmerman]

Here's the link to the report from the Union of Concerned Scientists described in this story from EcoWatch:

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has found that Tyson Foods dumped hundreds of millions of pounds of pollutants into U.S. waterways from 2018 to 2022. The pollutants came from company facilities including slaughterhouses and processing plants.

UCS analyzed publicly available data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and found that Tyson Foods processing plants released 371.72 million pounds of pollutants into waterways from 2018 to 2022. Half of the pollutants were dumped in waterways of Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri. The group published the findings in a report titled Waste Deep: How Tyson Foods Pollutes US Waterways and Which States Bear the Brunt.

“As the nation’s largest meat and poultry producer, Tyson Foods plays a huge role in our food and agriculture system and has for decades exploited policies that allow big agribusiness corporations to pollute with impunity,” Omanjana Goswami, co-author of the report and an interdisciplinary scientist with the Food and Environment Program at UCS, said in a press release. “In 2022, the latest year for which we have data, Tyson plants processed millions of cattle and pigs and billions of chickens, and discharged over 18.5 billion gallons of wastewater, enough to fill more than 37,000 Olympic swimming pools.”

Waterways in Nebraska had the most wastewater pollutants dumped by Tyson Foods plants, about 30% of the total or 111 million pounds, UCS reported. The pollutants dumped in Nebraska included 4.06 million pounds of nitrate, which a 2021 study linked to increased risks of central nervous system cancers in children.

According to the National Provisioner, Tyson Foods is one of the top meat and poultry processing companies in the U.S. From 2018 to 2022, it generated 87 billion gallons of wastewater, based on EPA data. This wastewater can include pathogens and microorganisms (such as E. coli) and slaughterhouse byproducts, such as body parts of animals, feces and blood.

As noted in the report, the dumped pollutants contained high amounts of nitrogen (34.25 million pounds) and phosphorus (5.06 million pounds), which can contribute to algal blooms in waterways. As UCS pointed out in its analysis, many Tyson Foods facilities are located near waterways that are home to threatened and endangered species. 

The facilities are also positioned near historically underserved communities, leading to additional pollution near and burden on vulnerable populations.

“Pollution from these plants also raises environmental justice concerns,” Stacy Woods, co-author of the report and research director for the Food and Environment Program at UCS, said in a press release. “We know from previous research that almost 75% of water-polluting meat and poultry processing facilities are located within one mile of communities that already shoulder heavy economic, health or environmental burdens. In mapping these plants, we found Tyson largely fit that pattern, with many plants located near communities where people live with more pollution, less socioeconomic and political power, and worse health compared to other areas of the United States.”

The report provides insight into a larger problem. As The Guardian reported, meat processing pollution in the U.S. is much higher and goes beyond Tyson Foods.

“There are over 5,000 meat and poultry processing plants in the United States, but only a fraction are required to report pollution and abide by limits,” Goswami told The Guardian. “As one of the largest processors in the game, with a near-monopoly in some states, Tyson is in a unique position to treat even hefty fines and penalties for polluting as simply the cost of doing business. This has to change.”

[she-is-ovarit]

Women and girls are oppressed on the axis of sex:

Economic

 Around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2022 report. In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.

Globally, women still have only three quarters of the legal rights afforded to men -- an aggregate score of 76.5 out of a possible 100, which denotes complete legal parity.

Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty: it is estimated that 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls. (Source: WFP Gender Policy and Strategy.)

Less than 20 percent of the world's landholders are women. Women represent fewer than 5 percent of all agricultural landholders in North Africa and West Asia, while in sub-Saharan Africa they make up an average of 15 percent.

In the United States, the labor force participation rate among females is 56.5% and among males is 67.5% for 2022

Vulnerable employment among women [in the US] has remained nearly the same since 1991. Workers in vulnerable employment are the least likely to have formal work arrangements, social protection, and safety nets to guard against economic shocks; thus they are more likely to fall into poverty. Vulnerable employment among women is 3.9% and among men is 4.6% in the United States for 2021.

In the United States, women spend 1.6 times as much time on unpaid domestic and care work than men. In 2019, women in the United States spent 15.3% of their day and men spent 9.7% of their day on unpaid work. 

A 2013 study revealed that 7.6% of lesbian couples in the United States live in poverty compared to 5.7% of married different-sex couples. Similarly, one-third of lesbian couples without a high school diploma were in poverty compared to 18.8% of different-sex couples.

Study: Stereotypes of middle-aged women as less ‘nice’ can hold them back at work.

Women hold 66% of all student loan debt. 41% of women undergraduates take out student loans, compared to 35% of male undergraduates. Women take an additional two years on average to pay off student loans.

Education

Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people.

While progress has been made in reducing the gender gap in urban primary school enrollment, data from 42 countries shows that rural girls are twice as likely as urban girls to be out of school.

Male violence against women

In the United States, the share of women who have experienced intimate partner violence is nearly the same as the world average, 27%. Intimate partner violence is by far the most prevalent form of violence against women globally and is defined as the percentage of ever-married women (ages 15-49) who have ever experienced physical or sexual violence committed by their husband or partner.

35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.

1 in 3 women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.

Globally, 7% of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner.

Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.

Violence against women in Mexico rises to over 70%, study finds

7 in 10 human trafficking victims are women and girls.

Women and girls represent 65 per cent of all trafficking victims globally. More than 90 per cent of detected female victims are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Politics, power, and Influence

28.7% of seats in national parliament were held by women in 2022 in the United States

Metadata analysis shows biographies of women on Wikipedia are deleted and marked non-notable at a significantly higher rate than those of men.

Women continue to be underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, representing only slightly more than 35% of the world’s STEM graduates. Women are also a minority in scientific research and development, making up less than a third of the world’s researchers.

Medical discrimination, medical violence, and female healthcare

 Women 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon

Women are over-medicated because drug dosage trials are done on men.

Women are sometimes forcibly sterilized, without consent, across the globe.

Mental Health

A 2016 study investigating physical and mental health, and experiences of violence among male and female trafficking survivors in England found 78% of women and 40% of men reported high levels of depression, anxiety, or PTSD symptoms.

Female people in the US attempt suicide more frequently than men.

Adult women have higher rates of mental illness than adult men

Discrimination, bias, and sex-based stereotypes

 UN report finds 90% of men and women hold some sort of bias against females.

Men were 93 percent more likely to have their loans discharged when disclosing a medical condition, as compared to women who disclosed medical conditions.

We historically are not included in research, and when we are, are grouped in with men which is unhelpful (bonus question: What does this mean, then, if male people who "identify-as-women" are grouped in with women and not considered a separate category?)

The Madonna-Whore Dichotomy (MWD) denotes polarized perceptions of women in general as either “good,” chaste, and pure Madonnas or as “bad,” promiscuous, and seductive whores. Men who reported higher endorsement of the Madonna-whore-dichotomy rated their partner as less entitled to sexual pleasure. Women who reported higher endorsement of the Madonna-whore dichotomy devalued their own pleasure by rating their partner as more entitled to sexual pleasure than themselves.

“Their Great Shame is Poverty”: Women Portrayed as Among the “Undeserving Poor” are Seen as Deserving Sexual Assault

The Impact of Media Use on Girls' Beliefs About Gender Roles, Their Bodies, and Sexual Relationships: A Research Synthesis.

Mothers in China for decades pressured their daughters to bind their feet - often destroying the function and formation of their feet - in order to please and service men.

My one disclaimer to this post is that there is a tremendous amount of information left out of this post. This is because it is impossible to capture the vast amount of research and details within studies illuminating the sex-based oppression of women and girls. I have not gone into depth on the impact of media on teenage girls' body image, the role of trauma in girls influencing them to hate their bodies, FGM, the Iranian protests, etc. I hope others reblog and add more information.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Won't someone think of the egg prices!

By John Lindt

KERN COUNTY – The price of eggs is often used as a barometer for the economy, but this fall’s high prices are not the work of market factors, but rather migratory flights.

Avian flu is spreading along the path of birds’ southern migration for winter across California. As of Nov. 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that a large egg ranch in Kern County has been impacted by bird flu resulting in the destruction of 2.15 million egg layers. This is the first case of HPAI in Kern County during the 2022-24 bird flu outbreak as it spread south heading into winter. Kern County is home to some of the state’s largest egg ranch operations.

The same day USDA also announced that avian flu hit two Fresno County poultry ranches, one a broiler ranch resulting in the killing of 237,700 chickens being prepped for meat and a turkey ranch requiring the destruction of 34,800 toms, or male turkeys. The news follows recent reports about avian flu spreading to Kings County poultry ranches resulting in the loss of over half a million birds and at another Fresno ranch. On Nov. 14, USDA added three more poultry ranches to the list of affected including one in Merced County, a turkey ranch with the loss of 53,200 birds and another one in Fresno County.

The locations of the poultry ranches are not far from the Pacific flyway, a major migratory route in the Western United States. In the case of Kern County, the egg ranch was close to the Kern Wildlife Refuge as well as nearby dairies. This is worrying observers that there appears to be a connection between all three vectors for the rapidly mutating virus.

Northern California poultry operations have been hard hit as well. Nationwide, outbreaks have claimed more than 21 million hens, so far in 2024.

Egg Prices In California the impact on egg prices has been significant.

On Nov. 13, the USDA reported that a dozen large, white cage-free eggs cost about $5.26 per dozen in California. This is according to USDA market data for the week of Nov. 8. USDA says this is a “benchmark” price. The price is up from $2.81 a month earlier. That is almost double the benchmark, but may not reflect retail.

The last time California eggs were this high was in February when California egg prices – cage-free egg prices – peaked at $5.59 per dozen.

The cases of infected birds correspond with fall bird migrations that are spreading the virus throughout the state. Detections are higher in fall and spring as wild birds spread the virus when they migrate. This year the bird flu has taken its toll with the outbreak of H5N1, a highly transmissible and fatal strain of avian influenza, or bird flu. The outbreak started in early 2022 and rapidly grew into the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history.

Most recently, outbreaks affecting more than 2.84 million egg layers were reported in October at commercial facilities in Oregon, Washington and Utah, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of Nov. 8, the virus has affected over 105.2 million birds in the U.S. since January 2022, according to the CDC. The California egg shortage will likely have a pocketbook impact on holiday baking activity as the nation prepares for Thanksgiving; however, a recent USDA analysis suggests consumers may not see a huge jump.

“Large volume grocery retailers across the nation have launched their shell egg feature campaigns targeting holiday demand at relatively attractive price levels. Much of this is attributable to changes in the way shell eggs are being marketed with an increasing share (estimated at over half of all shell egg volume sold at retail) tied to production cost agreements not prone to fluctuation common in formula trading.”

There are about 378.5 million egg-laying chickens in the US. As of last year, there were 9.4 billion broiler chickens and 218 million turkeys processed, according to the USDA. Advocates note the high cost of the influenza just in the egg market. “With domestic sales of shell eggs and products amounting to seven billion dozen, consumers paid an incremental $15 billion as a result of the prolonged and uncontrolled infection.”

While bird flu is impacting poultry farms, another strain of the virus has impacted Central Valley dairies as well, spreading quickly since September to 291 dairy farms as of press time. Unlike poultry, dairy cows typically survive the virus, although milk production is expected to be impacted.

Avian flu is a worldwide phenomenon. In the past two weeks, the first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the fall season have been reported in Albania, Great Britain, Romania, and now regions of Germany and Ukraine.

Despite the increase in US egg prices this holiday season, turkey prices are down from last year when supply was also affected by bird flu. Across the country, a 15-pound turkey costs an average of $31.16 ($2.08 per pound) in 2024, compared with $35.40 ($2.36 per pound) in 2023. That price reduction represents a price decrease of 12% from last year to now,” a report said. The lower price comes even as a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed turkey production dipped more than 6% compared to this time last year.

Hen and Hoof The spread of this strain of the virus appears to be affecting both the Central Valley poultry and dairy industries at the same time.

Just before Sept. 1 there were no reports of the virus in the Valley’s dairy industry. But as of Nov. 15, there are almost 300 diaries, mostly in Tulare and Kings Counties, impacted with new ones being added every day.

The Valley poultry industry has been on a similar viral timeline which coincides with the annual bird migration along the Pacific flyway that happens each fall. H5N1 largely infects wild birds, with waterfowl such as ducks and geese being the natural reservoirs for H5N1 viruses. Most H5N1 viruses are highly pathogenic avian influenza, meaning spillovers into other bird populations can lead to high mortality rates, including domesticated poultry.

A compounding factor for the spread of the virus is that both livestock are often on land located right next door or just down the road. The Central Valley is home for both industries with animals, transported in and out, and service vehicles going in and out of these large facilities every day.

The industry website Egg-News this week pointed out that research shows that the infections can be transmitted over a distance of up to a mile while attached to dust particles. Fall is harvest for a number of crops, including the nut industry, sending up plumes of dust in the Valley sky, at times associated with winds.

Egg-News points out that dairy cow-associated H5N1 viruses have jumped back into wild birds, and recent outbreaks in domestic poultry resembled H5N1 in dairy cows.

In an editorial Egg-News said “APHIS Needs a New Approach to Control HPAIr.” They recommend that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) adopt vaccination as a disease control strategy for bird flu, with promising results from clinical trials. In May 2023, the U.S. authorized the vaccination of California condors against a type of avian flu.

Also, the USDA has approved field trials to test vaccines that could prevent dairy cows from getting the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The USDA approved the first field trials for the vaccine in September 2024. The USDA’s Center of Veterinary Biologics (CVB) is overseeing the trials. At least 24 companies are working on the vaccine, including Zoetis and Merck Animal Health.

If vaccines can save the U.S. poultry and dairy industry over the next year, the industry may have to worry about who heads up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency which authorizes vaccines for animals and humans. Nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has made it clear he is anti-vaccine but has yet to comment on the use of vaccines in agriculture if he is confirmed for the role.