News

Big data is a discussion driver

As the Indiana Farm Bureau annual convention nears, there’s more and more talk circling “Big Data”.  IFB president Don Villwock calls it a big freight train headed towards the agriculture industry.  “Some of the big seed companies and multi-nationals are looking at this as a way to differentiate themselves and give farmers more agronomic knowledge,” he says.  “I think farmers across the Corn Belt think that’s a good move on the agronomic side.”

But, Villwock tells Brownfield after the EPA released farmers personal information earlier this year, there are concerns about privacy.  “We wonder what happens to that data and how are we going to protect that data,” he says.  “We want to ensure that data stays in the hands of those that really need it and it doesn’t get confiscated by some government agency.”

The 2013 Indiana Farm Bureau annual convention is December 13 and 14 at the at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in downtown Fort Wayne.

AUDIO: Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau (3:00mp3)