IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2020 - 89

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPAA) to protect farm data [8]. This leaves farmers,
especially growers on small farms, vulnerable to
inequality and marginalization [11]. For example, a concern about aggregated agriculture data is whether it will
contribute to market asymmetries, where an actor can
take advantage of this "very good market information,"
which is not regulated, to move markets while excluding
other market participants [8], [25]. While this is a hypothetical consequence, there are farmer now who are
financially harmed by the practices of ATPs. ATPs make
billions off the data of farmers who grow just enough to
feed themselves or whose livelihood hangs in the balance every year [26]. However, farmers often have no
choice: they have to give up their personal information
about their farm in order to access the technologies that
will improve their yields and profits while the companies
that collect it keep them in the dark about its use [16].
The acquisition and access and use of personal data
raises privacy issues, and can be either misused or
abused, but also have the potential to better people's
lives. This is a fine line to walk [27].

Food Security
Agricultural big data will not only revolutionize how
farms operate on the ground but will feed into other
sectors such as food safety and breeding [30], [31]. With
real-time big data analysis, it is possible to have early
warning systems on a global scale for food security [15].
Telematics systems can provide tracking from "farm to
fork" which will allow for disease traceability and contribute to source verification to safeguard food security
[8]. Proper packaging and labeling, aided by big data,
will alleviate waste and food-borne pathogens [2]. Big
data and technology in agriculture can also bring consumers the unprecedent plethora of information to
empower them both to customize their nutrition and
avoid food made unsafe by contamination [2].
Big data in precision agriculture has the potential to
bring together grower's knowledge with climate data,
helping to create environmentally sound and productive
practices to alleviate the food security issue [30]. However, because most of PA has focused on increasing
yields, these goals have been met to the detriment of
other factors such as taste, nutrition, and biodiversity
[12], [21]. As a significant stakeholder in the agricultural
industry, it seems absurd that the opinion and needs of
consumers are largely ignored as policies of PA are generated. For example, it is suggested the best mechanisms for improving food security is to improve market
access and expand off-farm opportunities, not prioritize
yields [31]. To alleviate poverty, policies need to diversify employment sources, and not be laser-focused on
agricultural development.
SEPTEMBER 2020

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Ethics
Despite the challenges outlined above, precision agriculture has helped to save growers money and reduce
the environmental impacts [32]. For large-scale fields to
obtain these technologies, many have invested in purchasing the new equipment and sensors necessary for
implementing precision agriculture. While these upfront
costs can be staggering, the savings from reduced input
and the increased profits from improved yields help to
make up the difference. However, for smaller-scale
fields, assuming these upfront costs is unrealistic [33],
[34]. Over 72 percent of farms in the world are less
than 1 hectare, which makes many precision agricultural technologies that are sold by the ATPs inaccessible
[3]. Because of this, many smaller farms are not financially able to reap the benefit of the precision agricultural technologies.
In addition, challenges to using PA include learning
new skills to use the technology [32], [35]. While many
universities and government departments have extension offices that disseminate cutting-edge research
into the fields, such as the land-grant university system in the United States and the Rural Development
Agency (RDA) in South Korea, there is still room for
knowledge to be lost in transference [36], [37]. In addition, the newer PA typically utilizes specialized equipment that is either expensive or difficult to obtain. To
make PA more accessible, developing techniques that
use commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices should
become more of a priority for researchers and include
the growers in the technology design [38]. The development of open-source hardware (such as Arduino)
and availability of open-source software also makes
precision agriculture techniques more accessible [34].
This will make adoption less intimidating as it is using
equipment growers may be more familiar with. In addition, COTS will be less costly and easier to find for
many growers.
The automation of agriculture will reinforce socialeconomic and racial inequalities in labor. Because automation reduces the need for labor, and cuts operation
costs, it may disincentive farmers from improving the
working conditions of migrant farm laborers [39]. However, automation has the potential to fill in the agricultural labor gap. It is predicted that there will be a labor
shortage of 113 000 low-skilled labor positions by 2025.
With the rise of automation in the fields, there is another labor shortage of workers skilled with technology to
operate and troubleshoot the equipment. Farmers support government policy and programs that will teach
migrant workers these skills [39]. By focusing on developing the right technologies and providing educational
opportunities to the right workers, the negative affects
of big data in agriculture can be minimized.

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2020

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