Agricultural intelligence in today’s market can broadly be divided into three categories:
1) Publicly available free data
2) Analysis provided by consulting/analyst firms
3) Proprietary data provided by agricultural intelligence companies
The largest and most important provider of agricultural intelligence falls into category 1 where the USDA is the leading provider and, in many ways, drives the overall industry and financial markets. Also in this category, are a number of university and research websites where local, regional or area of study information can be accessed.
Categories 2 and 3 are a mix of small, medium and a handful of large corporations that provide solutions ranging from analysis of publicly available information to information based on their own manual collection and sampling data to highly proprietary data based on satellite/airborne imagery, and/or mathematical models.
Each category has their advantages and disadvantages as shown below:
| Category | Advantage | Disadvantage |
| Publicly available free data | It’s free, well respected sources, broad range of raw data available | Hidden costs in gathering data, getting into usable format, combining multiple sources, database development and management |
| Analysis from consulting/analyst firms | Time savings, utilize industry expertise and experience, ability to utilize firm(s) with specific crop, commodity or regional expertise | High cost, limited differentiation from other customers using the same analysis, finding a firm you trust, little to no ability to get customized analysis without significant cost increases |
| Proprietary Data | Availability of newer technologies and promise of providing greater accuracy and much improved timeliness | Very high cost, limited differentiation from other customers using the same analysis, customized analysis not available or cost prohibitive to most. |
Do you use one of the solutions above? Do you agree with the advantages/disadvantages? Any you would add? What are your thoughts of solutions available today?
Share your experience and expertise through the comments section and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or through the available RSS feed.
Follow
