The USDA has launched a nationwide initiative called the National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech (NPG-AG), providing a testing environment for current and emerging technology solutions, which will generate data and insights to inform farmers’ tech investments.
NPG-AG is designed to help ensure “new technologies will deliver tangible value on the ground—whether through lower input costs, reduced labor demands, or greater overall efficiency,” the USDA shared in a press release. The program will bolster farmer confidence in adopting new technologies by sharing information on on-farm technology performance and the expected return on investment.
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will lead NPG-AG and will work with other research agencies. Also, land-grant universities across the U.S. will serve as primary research and testing partners.
North Dakota-based agtech ecosystem Grand Farm will serve as NPG-AG’s national program manager and will request start-ups and companies to share their commercial and pre-commercial agtech solutions, with enrollment forthcoming.
“Agricultural research in the United States has long supported the development of practical solutions that improve farm and ranch productivity while strengthening rural economies; indeed, innovation has been our competitive edge and ensured food security since the nation’s founding 250 years ago,” said Scott Hutchins, under secretary for research, education, and economics, USDA, in a press release.
He added, “By establishing a coordinated national research network to objectively validate new and emerging technologies, especially digital and AI-driven technologies, we are helping ensure row crop, specialty crop, and livestock producers all have access to reliable performance data for their investment decisions with a goal to accelerate adoption of AgTech innovations. Moreover, we fully expect that NPG-Ag will expand and facilitate the development and application of emerging technologies across the public and private sector to uniquely benefit U.S. agriculture.”
Is North Dakota becoming a center for agtech?
Started in 2019, Grand Farm has grown into an ecosystem of over 3,300 global organizations and has conducted over 80 field trials, per the organization’s website. Grand Farm is supported by a cooperative agreement between the agtech ecosystem and the North Dakota State University, which was established with the support of Republican North Dakota senator John Hoeven.
The Grand Farm-North Dakota State University ARS cooperative agreement has secured $11 million to-date, including $2 million in funding to help create an ARS work site, which will serve as NPG-Ag’s program management office, according to a press release from Hoeven.
“Grand Farm is about leveraging North Dakota’s global leadership in agriculture and the dynamic technology sector that we’ve built in our state to develop and implement the next generation of precision agriculture. That means reducing producers’ input costs, improving their yields and empowering them to continue providing the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. Moreover, by building upon the intersection of agriculture and technology, North Dakota will be positioned to realize new opportunities for investment and job growth for years to come,” Hoeven shared in a press release.
