Big data in agriculture focus of Houston conference Aug. 20-21

HOUSTON – High-tech devices in agriculture such as unmanned aerial vehicles and sensors are leading to immense growth in data collection and deployment, and a Houston conference Aug. 20-21 will feature scholars and industry experts discussing future applications in all aspects of production agriculture. The invitation-only conference, Identifying Obstacles to Applying Big Data in Agriculture, will be held at the Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. It is sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the U.S. Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture. "We have had advanced technologies like GPS in agriculture for over 20 years, but only a small handful of these technologies have made a significant impact," said Dr. Alex Thomasson, conference coordinator and Texas A&M AgriLife Research engineer in College Station. "Thus we want to cast a vision for the practical use of big data in production agriculture so we can take advantage of the current wave of attendant technologies like the so-called Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, wireless communications, the cloud, etc. "This conference will feature discussion with key business leaders and academics involved in a broad range of disciplines within big data and precision agriculture.