2021: The Top Trends Redefining the Agriculture Industry

The year 2020 is wrapping up. Looking back, we can all remember the bad, but let us take some time to reflect on all the good. The agriculture industry consistently puts food on our tables, and during the pandemic, farmers ensured no shelves went empty. The new agricultural trends developed this year have paved the way for the industry’s future.

Animal Vaccines

To maintain animal health, government agencies and animal associations are initiating new plans to stop the spread of disease. The industry is increasing efforts to make animal vaccines more available, and they are creating stockpiles in case there is a disease outbreak. For example, the United States is setting up a vaccine bank to combat foot-and-mouth disease. A disease that is highly contagious and considered one of the most serious. This disease affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, deer, and pigs. With the vaccine bank initiative, there will be 25 million doses on hand rather than 1.75 million.

Crop Monitoring with Drones

Personal drones found their way into the market years ago; these drones are being reprogrammed into agricultural drones.  These drones fly over croplands collecting data and providing farmers with extremely localized weather information. Farmers use this data to determine when they should plant and harvest their fields. If a farmer knows there will be a torrential downpour, farmers can hold off on planting crops. This is to prevent seeds from floating away and to prevent the soil from becoming so drenched, it will trigger nutrient deficiencies in plants.

Water Conservation

In the United States, 80% of water consumption comes from the agriculture industry. This year, farmers focused on ways to reduce this percentage. Farmers are finding ways to store more rainwater, following best practices for better soil quality, and adapt their irrigation schedule with current conditions that the new drones are helping to provide. In addition, many farms have started perusing dry farming. This means that these farms solely rely on soil moisture and special tilling practices.

All of these trends will help establish a more sustainable future for our world.









LifeSciences@nch.com