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Developing a digital management plan for farms

An Ohio State researcher says farmers who utilize on-farm data in their operation need to have a plan to best use it. Dr. John Fulton says when farmers put together a data management plan – they need to ask themselves a few questions first.

“What data is important? Where should I store the data? How do I back that data up and who do I want to share or allow access to that data. All of those are very important conversations to have internal to the farm,” says Fulton.

Fulton tells Brownfield farmers who are concerned with how their data is used and accessed by third-parties can use the Ag Data Transparency Evaluator. It reviews business policies and practices of ag technology providers to help farmers choose between them.

“For companies that have gone through there, you can actually go through there and see the highlights of what third parties CAN they share data with and that kind of thing is right there for you if you’re thinking about doing business with some of those companies,” says Fulton.

The Ag Data Transparency Evaluator is a free service of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Click here to see the evaluator.

Audio: John Fulton, Ohio State University