There are many different Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) that provide software to help farmers plant, harvest, spray, irrigate and manage their farm operations and equipment. But a major problem farmers have dealt with is a lack of synchronization across programs.
All of these programs, monitors and equipment manufacturers have their own unique file format, but a dozen leading farm organizations are urging FMIS companies to formally commit to integrating the Agricultural Data Application Programming Toolkit (ADAPT) framework into their systems.
AgGateway’s ADAPT framework was developed for FMIS companies to be able to export to and import from a common, open-source ADAPT file format. This will allow FMIS companies to program once and be able to receive data from all companies using the ADAPT format.
“Over the last decade, the most consistent concern raised by farmers using precision ag is that ‘different systems won’t work together,’” the letter states. “The farm and commodity groups are pleased that AgGateway member companies worked collectively to solve this problem by creating ADAPT.”
As AgGateway’s ADAPT is integrated into products, the grower will be better equipped to manage data across different precision agriculture systems—regardless of the system manufacturer.
“We are grateful for this truly impressive show of support from grower organizations, and are ready to assist companies—and get their feedback to continually improve ADAPT—as they incorporate this technology into their proprietary systems,” Mark Stelford, chairman of AgGateway’s ADAPT Oversight Committee and General Manager of Premier Crop Systems, said in a statement.
Several major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have made commitments to convert to the ADAPT Format.
Those OEMs include: AGCO Corporation, Ag Leader Technology, CLAAS, CNH Industrial, Deere & Co., Praxidyn, Raven Industries, Topcon Precision Agriculture and Trimble Navigation.
“Having these major ag tech providers supporting the initiative should drive others also to make such a commitment,” the letter states.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association and National Sorghum Producers are among the national farm groups pushing for manufacturers to implement AgGateway’s ADAPT for precision ag.
“ADAPT and the accompanying data format enables the interoperability between software systems, service providers and advisors that farmers need to perform their routine operations more efficiently and seamlessly,” Tarak Reddy, chair of AgGateway’s ADAPT Technical Committee and Delivery Architect of John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, said in a statement.
The ADAPT framework is comprised of an Agricultural Application Data Model, a common API (Application Programming Interface) and a combination of open source and proprietary data conversion plug-ins.
More information can be found here.