Feed the World: How the USDA Is Using Data and AI to Address a Critical Need

By Microsoft News

Farmers around the world are facing the urgent question of how to sustainably feed a global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 — and the answer, in part, might be found nestled among the cornstalks and soybeans on a farm a short distance from Washington, D.C, writes Deborah Bach at Microsoft News.

The fields are outfitted with a network of high-tech sensors that could revolutionize how food is grown across the globe by putting data in the hands of farmers and scientists in ways unimaginable a few years ago.

The sensors are part of a groundbreaking new partnership between Microsoft and the USDA. The 7,000-acre farm at the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland is using FarmBeats, a project that aims to harness data and artificial intelligence to help farmers cut costs, increase yields and sustainably grow crops that are more resilient to climate change.

Continue reading at Microsoft News.